“Walk, walk, walk, I walk and walk, until I reach the gates of Xiangyang...” Eric Ford really needed to let out his inner joy, so he sang as he walked, returning to Xiangyang.

Chapter 7: The Know-it-all

After entering Xiangyang, Eric Ford was dumbfounded. Why did I come back!! Wasn’t I supposed to go to Wudang to become a disciple? What am I doing back in Xiangyang?

In his confusion, he suddenly remembered—oh, I came to ask for directions, I still don’t know how to get to Wudang!

He randomly grabbed someone nearby and blurted out, “Do you know how to get to Wudang?” He was secretly pleased, “This simulation is great! Even asking for directions is convenient!”

But the person replied impatiently, “How should I know!”

He asked several people in a row, but they all said they didn’t know. Of course, these Axe Gang members are just like me—if I don’t know, of course they don’t either. I need to ask a master like Jack Armstrong.

Thinking of Jack Armstrong, he quickly opened his friends list and sent him a message.

A master is truly a master—his answer, “Take a carriage at the Xiangyang city gate,” was split into a whole conversation!

“How do I get to Wudang?”

“Take a carriage!”

“What kind of carriage?”

“A horse-drawn carriage!”

“What kind of horse-drawn carriage?”

“The carriage to Wudang!”

“Where is it?”

“Xiangyang!”

“Where in Xiangyang?”

“The post station!”

“Where’s the post station?”

“At the city gate!”

Eric Ford hurried to the city gate, and sure enough, there was a post station. He went up to ask the coachman, but Eric Ford discovered another problem he couldn’t solve at the moment—he had no money! And this coachman was clearly just a worker, so he had no authority to let him ride on credit.

How am I supposed to get money! There must be rich players, like masters such as Jack Armstrong, but in such a realistic game environment, it’s really hard to ask for money.

Who would have thought that being broke in a game would make it so hard to get anywhere! Helpless, Eric Ford wandered aimlessly through the city. The joy from leveling up earlier had completely vanished.

Just as he was about to get lost again, Eric Ford suddenly saw a lot of people running in the same direction, many of them shouting as they went, “There’s a fight! Hurry and check it out!”

Hearing this, Eric Ford perked up. He’d never actually seen a fight in this martial arts game before—today he could finally see one. He quickly ran along with the crowd.

As everyone ran together, their leg skills immediately became apparent. Some ran fast, some slow; most of those lagging behind were Axe Gang members, while Eric Ford, dressed in Axe Gang attire, blended in with the crowd of heroes. People behind him were already pointing and whispering, “Look! See that one? Another guy pretending to be weak but is actually strong!”

Thanks to his above-average speed, Eric Ford managed to grab a spot in the front row! The main reason was that the real masters had climbed onto the rooftops for a better view, so those standing on the ground were mostly Axe Gang members or people who had just left that group.

The crowd formed a circle around two people in the middle, who were already locked in combat. Luckily, their outfits were very different, or it would have been impossible to tell them apart.

One was using a staff, the other a sword. Staff and sword clashed fiercely. Eric Ford couldn’t help but marvel—no wonder so many people were watching, this was as good as any martial arts movie!

The swordsman’s moves were especially impressive, spinning the sword in his left hand, drawing circles with his right, the sword light forming all sorts of strange shapes as it flew toward the staff user. But every time it was about to hit, the staff user would smash it away with a loud clang.

The crowd played along—even as the staff smashed the sword away with a clang, everyone would exclaim “Aiya!” in unison. Quite a few people took the opportunity to give live commentary, gesturing as they explained.

Eric Ford heard someone behind him say, “This ‘Iron Chains Across the River’ is really something, but it’s a defensive move, no attack power—what a pity!”

“‘Iron Chains Across the River’—isn’t that the move Paul Brooks was bragging about yesterday morning?” He couldn’t help but turn to look, but it was pointless—everyone looked the same, and their clothes were pretty generic now, so there was no way to tell.

The person behind smiled at Eric Ford, and Eric Ford couldn’t help but ask, “So the staff user is using ‘Iron Chains Across the River’?”

“Yeah, he keeps using that same move!”

“And the swordsman can’t do anything about it? He’s not that great, then!”

“That’s not it—the swordsman’s level is definitely higher than the staff user’s, but ‘Iron Chains Across the River’ is just too strong defensively! And his attacks are too weak!”

“How can you tell?”

“Look at how fast the swordsman’s moves are—someone at a low level couldn’t possibly be that quick!” The person’s expression showed clear disdain that Eric Ford didn’t even know this.

“Maybe he’s practiced some martial art that boosts speed!”

“That’s possible, but as far as I know, there aren’t any speed-boosting martial arts in ‘Jianghu’ yet!” The person said it was possible, but his expression clearly said otherwise.

Eric Ford really wanted to show off his own insight on the spot, but then thought it’s better to be modest, so he held back and just said, “Really?”