As Li Ji exited the town hall, a few lackeys had already followed him. These people were all from broken families in the town, relying on borrowed power to earn a bit of food and pocket money.
Do not underestimate this aspect; in Cixi, there are really not many who dare to show their strength on the streets. Think back to when the original Li Ji first arrived here a year ago—he didn't understand human relationships and had no solid martial skills. He was arrogant and dismissive, and as a result, within a month, he was ambushed and humiliated, benefiting Wei Guoguang for nothing.
Over the past year, the newly reborn Li Ji had accomplished several remarkable feats. Six months ago, he captured the border bandit Huadao Kou Dan Feng alone; three months ago, he led the villagers to resist the pirates from Zuotou Mountain, personally killing nineteen bandits; and just yesterday, he had a glorious performance in the water dispute with Wanghou Village. This finally made his status truly deserving of the title "Youjiao." Of course, being generous and open-handed was something that people like him didn't need to be taught.
Heading north from the town hall, not far away was a flower alley where several brothels in Cixi were located, with their doors half-open. As a few people strolled by, unexpectedly a basin of foot-washing water was splashed down from above. Fortunately, Li Ji was agile enough to dodge it, but he couldn't avoid getting some water stains on his trousers.
"Do you sell meat, you filthy swine? Are your eyes in your ass? Almost splashed me all over!"
Before Li Ji could say anything, his lackeys started cursing at the window. The culprit upstairs had already closed the window and said nothing. A few lackeys rolled up their sleeves and were ready to rush up to grab the culprit. This kind of thing was their favorite; not only was there food and drink, but they might also get some cheap thrills. Li Ji waved his hand to stop them, which made the broke aristocrats feel even more anxious.
Li Ji was not a good-natured person without temper; he knew his own affairs. That basin of water was probably thrown at him on purpose, and he could even guess who the culprit was—the courtesan Xiao Taoxian from the Zongxiang Building.
This was a bad debt left to him by the original owner. This guy had barely been in Cixi for a few days and, without any leverage, had become involved with the courtesan Xiao Taoxian, with the two of them flying together like a pair of lovebirds, completely wrapped in sweet nothings.
Li Ji had seen Xiao Taoxian later on; she was about ten or so, short and thin, with makeup so thick it was thicker than the sole of a shoe. Although she had some looks, her juvenile appearance did not interest him at all.
In this world, thinness is considered beauty, with bones being the best. Li Ji actually preferred women who were a bit plump! So it wasn't that he was pretending to be a saint; he genuinely didn't find her appealing. In such a lowly place, what if she picked up some disease?
Thus, he distanced himself from her, but in Xiao Taoxian's eyes, things were different. She complained that Li Ji had forgotten old friends now that he had become successful, leaving him in a position where he couldn't say anything. They were both unfortunate people; she was a weak woman—was he really going to beat her up? He could only swallow his anger and avoid provoking her.
Not far from the flower alley, there was a large estate with an old tree in front, quite impressive. Inside, there were sounds of children reading. The lackeys all knew Li Ji's temperament and quickly dispersed. Li Ji adjusted his clothes and quietly slipped in through the side gate; he was also here to read, of course, but not with the children.
Among the three best libraries in Cixi, there was the house of Qiang Laoxu Jihai, the rich Wang family, and the Ming Shitang in front of him. Books in this world were incredibly precious. Ordinary families struggled for a living every day; who had the spare money and time to buy books?
Among the three families, Qiang Laoxu Jihai had many books, but most were about the imperial examination, which were useless to him. Li Ji couldn't curry favor with Wang Dahu, and he wouldn't lower himself to do so. Only at Ming Shitang was there the esteemed Mr. Zhu, known for his integrity and extensive knowledge, who had a great reputation in Cixi.
To be allowed to read at Ming Shitang, Li Ji had put in a lot of effort. The Zhu family wasn't short on money, so Li Ji took on all the laborious work like fetching water, chopping wood, cleaning, and replacing tiles. After a month of hard work, Mr. Zhu finally allowed him to read for two hours a day. However, reading did not mean apprenticing; in Mr. Zhu's eyes, Li Ji was too crude, like a piece of rotten wood...
Li Ji read a wide variety of books. Aside from the imperial examination texts, he read everything. He especially loved reading about geography, local customs, biographies, and historical anecdotes. In Mr. Zhu's words, he was a fool who read everything except serious literature. He didn't understand Li Ji; for him, these miscellaneous books were the best window to understand the world.
After more than half a year of reading and continuously integrating his own memories, Li Ji had roughly grasped the overall situation of this world.
This continent is called Beiyu Hanzhou, one of the seven landmasses of this region. Beiyu Hanzhou is divided by the Yunhan Tianling, roughly splitting the entire land into northern and southern regions. The northern region has forty-three countries, while the southern region has fifty-eight countries.
Cixi belongs to the country of Nanli, one of the fifty-eight in the south. Through extensive reading, Li Ji learned a lot, but he also had many questions. For example...
The changes of dynasties in this land were quite stable. In Li Ji's previous life, a dynasty lasted only a few hundred years at most, but here, there were countless dynasties lasting over a thousand years, some even reaching three thousand years. This was simply unimaginable...
Wars between countries were rare. In a continent with hundreds of countries, they coexisted harmoniously. Were they all pacifists?
The lives of the people were quite stable; perhaps not abundant, but at least he hadn't seen anyone starving to death. How was this managed? Where were the treacherous ministers? The unscrupulous merchants? The land monopolization? The rebels who claimed "I can take over"? The heroes who said, "Is there any distinction among kings, ministers, and generals?"
Perhaps Li Ji was not seeing the full picture; after all, discussing it on paper always seemed shallow. He had not yet had the chance to go out and truly see the world, but many things indeed puzzled him, as if he had missed something very important...
Two hours quickly passed in the sea of books. After hastily eating something for lunch, Li Ji headed straight to his next destination—the Qianji Pharmacy, the largest pharmacy in Cixi.
He wasn't there to buy medicine but to learn about the distribution of acupuncture points from the resident doctor. If the morning was for learning literature, then the afternoon would be for learning martial arts. The Qianji Pharmacy had the best resident doctor in Cixi, rumored to be a medical master returning home from Shuangcheng, so teaching about acupuncture points would be easy for him.
After a day, Li Ji felt very fulfilled. It was not the exhaustion of running around for cars and houses in his previous life. This sense of fulfillment made him feel like he was improving every day. His sword was getting faster, his internal strength was becoming more abundant, and his understanding of the world and his body was deepening. He was preparing, preparing for the day when he could fearlessly explore this world.