There were rumors that some of them had actual powers, but Li Chun and the other two had never seen such beings before. They did not know if it was true or not and only thought that an ignorant villager had been deceived and spread rumors.

Zhou Jing however remembered it in his heart, planning to revisit this topic again in the future.

On the way, other than cultivating himself, he also taught Zhang San and the others martial arts.

Of course, what he taught was not the martial arts of the main world, but the “Mid-level spear technique” and some practical blade techniques.

Zhang San and the other three followers were all farmers in the past. They did not know martial arts at all and had been malnourished for a long time. They suffered from illness everywhere and had a poor foundation.

If they wanted to achieve success in martial arts, they would need years of nourishment and hard work. It was impossible for them to achieve anything in a short period of time.

However, Zhou Jing did not expect them to be able to take charge quickly. It was good so long as they did not remain weak. Therefore, he only taught them some simple and practical moves.

For example, those who used the staff only practiced basic movements such as sweeping, stabbing, and slashing. They did not learn any other advanced movements or tricks.

This way, Zhang San and the others were actually practicing martial arts meant for the battlefield.

Zhang San and the others were determined to follow him. They were also grateful for Zhou Jing’s teachings and thus trained hard.

In addition, when Zhou Jing was teaching Zhang San and the others, he did not avoid letting Li Chun and the other two view. When it came to using blades, it attracted Lu Xinniang’s interest.

Lu Xinniang was also an expert in blades. When she realized that Zhou Jing also knew how to use a blade, she looked for him to spar and exchange experience.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they interacted, she realized that Zhou Jing was experienced in using blades, above her own skill. She could not help but have the thought of asking him for guidance.

Zhou Jing was not stingy and gave some pointers.

Although this apostle had never practiced blade techniques, the knowledge and skills in his mind would not disappear. With his previous Lv8 blade experience, it was more than enough to teach Lu Xinniang.

Along the way, Zhou Jing roughly understood the personalities of Li Chun and the other two.

Li Chun served as the strategist for their stronghold, so his resourcefulness was top-notch. However, he had his own way of speaking and doing things. Usually, he would be the one to interact with others.

Lu Yunzhao had been trained in martial arts since he was young. He was quite straightforward and liked to befriend people, but he always gave off the feeling that he had been educated by a rich family. Although he was not polite, he did not seem like someone who had been an outlaw for long.

On the other hand, Lu Xinniang was different from her brother. She valued the loyalty of the people in the Green Forest more and was even a martial arts fanatic. She did not like women and loved weapons instead.

Zhou Jing had a pleasant time interacting with the three of them. He had also obtained a lot of information and had a deeper understanding of the current world.

…

The group walked and stopped. After seven to eight days, they were only dozens of kilometers away from An Lin Prefecture.

At noon, the sun was shining brightly down on them.

Seeing that the weather was hot, they wanted to find a place to rest.

After walking for two to three miles, everyone discovered a wine tavern by the side of the road. They walked in, planning to eat lunch before continuing on their way.

There were only two tables of customers in the tavern.

There were a few customers dressed as merchants at one table. They were chatting casually. Seeing that Zhou Jing and the others did not seem to be easy to provoke, they quickly stopped talking and buried their heads in their food.

At the other table was a square-faced man wearing a bamboo hat and green clothes. There was a whip wrapped around his waist, and beside his hand was his luggage and a red wooden staff. The two ends of the staff were wrapped in iron.

The square-faced man was drinking wine and eating meat. When he heard someone enter the shop, he turned to look at everyone. His gaze circled around before finally landing on Zhou Jing, sizing him up curiously.

Zhou Jing and the others split and sat down at two tables. They called the waiter over and asked for food and water.

The square-faced man beside him kept looking over, as if he was trying to identify something.

Seeing this, Li Chun’s heart skipped a beat. He simply picked up a bowl of wine and raised it at the square-faced man from afar.

“Sir, if you don’t mind, why don’t you come over and drink with us?”

The square-faced man did not refuse. He cupped his fists and excused himself before taking his luggage and staff to sit at Li Chun’s table.

Li Chun cupped his hands and asked, “Sir, how should I address you?”

The square-faced man returned the greeting, “This one is named Fang Zhen.”

Zhou Jing could not help but glance at his face.

As expected, his face was indeed square…

(TL Note: Wordplay on his name, Fang Zhen loosely translated means “square indeed”.)

Li Chun, on the other hand, exclaimed in surprise. He hurriedly said, “Could it be Brother Fang Zhen, who people call the Grand Scholar?”

“Yes, that’s me.” Fang Zhen looked around and cupped his fists solemnly, “If I’m not wrong, are you the leader of the Red Cloud Mountain, the Clear Wind Fan Li Chun, Divine Mace Lu Yunzhao, and Embroidery Blade Lu Xinniang?”

(TL Note: Li Chun’s title of Breeze Fan changed to Clear Wind Fan since it flows better.)

“That’s right.”

Li Chun stroked his beard and smiled, his eyes fervent.

This Fang Zhen was a wandering powerhouse of the forest. His martial arts were outstanding and he was quite famous. What was rare was that he had yet to join any of the Green Forest strongholds.

Meeting such a talent on the way, Li Chun’s old habit acted up. He had the intention to recruit once more, inviting this powerhouse to join their stronghold.

Fang Zhen said that he had heard a lot about him. Then, he turned to look at Zhou Jing and cupped his hands solemnly.

“And this burly man, if I’m not wrong, you’re the Death Beckoning Yama King, Brother Chen Feng, right?”

“I’m Chen Feng.” Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “Death Beckoning Yama King? When did I have such a nickname?”

Fang Zhen laughed heartily when he heard this.

“Haha, brother, you don’t know that your deeds of fighting against the Wu Family Village alone have already spread throughout the entire Jing Province. I wonder who gave you the title of Yama King? I happened to pass by and heard about this. I really admire your skills, and I’m also very impressed by your generosity. Now that we’ve met, how can I not get to know you?”