Sam immediately patted his thin chest, his face full of determination as he said, “Little Ethan, say no more! I’ve already made up my mind to join Tianying Sect and become a great hero of the martial world. Anyone who tries to stop me will have a problem with me.”

If it had been just a couple of days ago, he would have been content to stay at the inn as a busboy, never even considering venturing into the jianghu—the world of martial heroes seemed far too distant for someone like him.

But after chatting all night with Ethan Brooks last night, his heart had long been stirred, igniting an unquenchable, raging fire within him.

He yearned to one day rise above others, to gamble for great fortune. This urge could no longer be suppressed—how could he possibly keep hiding away in this dead-end inn?

Ethan Brooks nodded vigorously, about to leave the backyard with Sam. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mr. Foster Sr. appear outside the backyard gate.

Ethan Brooks was startled.

This Mr. Foster Sr. was no ordinary fierce man—he couldn’t tolerate even a speck of sand in his eyes. Fearing he’d get Sam in trouble, Ethan Brooks quickly retreated into the woodshed to hide, so as not to cause Sam to be scolded by the head manager because of him.

Sam’s face also changed dramatically, panic-stricken.

Though he was determined to leave, the head manager’s long-standing authority still lingered—he dared not provoke his wrath. Sam hurriedly lunged at an old hen clucking in the yard, pretending to help the cook catch chickens for slaughter, to show he wasn’t slacking off.

Usually, Mr. Foster Sr. was extremely harsh with the staff, always beating or scolding them. No one in Tianying Inn dared to talk back to him.

Mr. Foster Sr., accompanied by a well-dressed boy of about thirteen or fourteen, swaggered into the backyard with his big belly, exuding authority.

Mr. Foster Sr. didn’t notice Sam at all, and, quite uncharacteristically, didn’t scold any of the staff. Instead, he smiled at the cooks and workers in the yard and said, “Everyone, today Tianying Sect is recruiting apprentices. I, your head manager, am taking my son to participate in the inner sect disciple recruitment. You all stay here and work hard. If my son passes the test and gets into the inner sect, when we return I’ll give each of you half a jin of rice and flour, and two liang of pork to celebrate!”

Mr. Bolton, who was busy in the backyard, along with several cooks and many helpers, immediately stopped what they were doing, all looking excited and loudly offering congratulations.

“Thank you for your generosity, Head Manager!”

“Head Manager, you’re so kind and generous. The young master will definitely pass the Tianying Sect’s inner sect test this time!”

Everyone in the inn knew that Mr. Foster Sr. himself was an outer sect disciple of Tianying Sect, and had spent decades of hard work to climb to the position of head manager of Tianying Inn, managing this wealthy establishment for the sect.

But Mr. Foster Sr.’s greatest regret in life was not becoming an inner sect disciple of Tianying Sect in his youth. Otherwise, his prospects would have been even better—he’d have made a name for himself in the jianghu long ago, instead of being stuck as the head manager of an inn, serving martial world guests.

So he pinned all his hopes on his precious son, carefully nurturing him, hoping he would pass the Tianying Sect inner sect test and become a top figure in the martial world.

Although the young manager had failed the inner sect test several times over the years, he had never given up.

After instructing the staff in the backyard, Mr. Foster Sr. put his hands behind his back and left the inn’s backyard with his beloved son, heading to the city’s Tianying Sect to report in.

Mr. Bolton’s chubby son, Jack Bolton, looked up at Mr. Bolton with hope and blurted out, rather inappropriately, “Dad, I want to go to Tianying Sect to be an apprentice too…!”

Mr. Foster Sr. had sharp ears. Hearing this, his face immediately darkened and he stopped in his tracks.

He had just said he was taking his son to the Tianying Sect test, and now Mr. Bolton’s son was saying he wanted to go too. What did that mean—was he trying to embarrass him?

The atmosphere in the courtyard instantly became heavy.

All the cooks and helpers were terrified, silent as mice.

Mr. Bolton’s face changed. He quickly slapped his chubby son Jack Bolton away, sending him tumbling, and angrily scolded, “You fool! Take a look at yourself—do you really think you can go to Tianying Sect? That kind of luck only comes once in eighteen generations!”

After that, ignoring his bawling son, he hurried to flatter the head manager, “Head Manager, my stupid boy doesn’t know any better—please ignore his nonsense. By the way, my wife wants to visit her family in Zhouzhuang today, so I’d like to ask for a day off to take her and the boy back to the countryside.”

“Fine, you can have a day off! Like father, like son. Butcher Bolton, your boy was born to be a butcher—don’t get any wild ideas, or you’ll just make people laugh!”

Mr. Foster Sr. shot Mr. Bolton a disdainful look, snorted, and finally left with his son, satisfied.

Once Mr. Foster Sr. was gone, everyone in the backyard breathed a sigh of relief. No one dared gossip about what had just happened—they all got back to work. The sounds of slaughtering pigs and sheep filled the yard, and soon the usual chaos returned.

……

Ethan Brooks and Sam waited until Mr. Foster Sr. was far away before quickly sneaking out the back door of Tianying Inn and onto the bustling, lively streets of the county town.

Ethan Brooks wanted to go to the Medicine King Gang outside the city, while Sam was headed to Tianying Sect inside the city—their paths diverged.

“Little Ethan, let me walk you to the Medicine King Manor outside the city first.”