Chapter Twenty-Two: The Boxing Match

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  "Brother Li, judging from what you've said, how powerful is the Luoyue bow compared to firearms?"

  "Within 100 meters, those hit are either dead or injured. Its power is slightly inferior to that of a rifle. Beyond 100 meters, it is not as good as a rifle."

  Lu Kai smiled slightly, saying that it was contradictory. Since coming to this era, Lu Kai had been vigorously manufacturing firearms on the one hand, and on the other hand, he was very interested in cold weapons. However, in his heart, he did not underestimate the power of bows and arrows.

  He met with several of his men at the entrance to the weapons shop, and was led by that same driver and guide. Luo Kai's group set off in a grand manner towards the west of Samma Town.

  "What's your name? How should I address you?" Luo Kai suddenly realized that he still didn't know the name of this driver cum guide.

  "My name is Chen Fusheng, but you can call me Shouxishi." The coachman's face showed a mixture of fear and respect, his heart racing with excitement that someone had finally asked for his name, and it was the most important person on this trip who had asked.

  "Floating Life and Guardian Stone, these two names are well-chosen." Luo Kai nodded and said.

  "Heh heh, Young Master is wise, others all say that my name is well-started." Chen Fusheng seeing Luo Kai's mood wasn't bad, forced a smile on his face.

  "Shi Gu, do you know where the largest and most luxurious inn in Samar Town is?"

  "To say that the largest and most luxurious inn in Samat Town is Fenglin Pavilion, only an inn like Fenglin Pavilion is worthy of your status as a young master."

  "Shou Shi, what are you still dazing about? Lead the way!" Luo Kai gestured to Chen Fu Sheng to lead the way.

  Chen Fusheng responded with a sound, still not daring to walk in the front, only using his hand to indicate the direction.

  Luoke and his party headed west towards the small town. The west side of Samma Town was a place for entertainment and rest.

  In the era without TV and computer, people's entertainment usually included Cuju, playing chess, drinking wine, dragon boat racing, admiring lanterns, hunting, watching singing and dancing, appreciating opera, and drinking wine.

  However, the late Qing dynasty was plagued by political corruption, declining national strength, and a huge gap between the rich and the poor. The trend of gambling became prevalent. Healthy entertainment activities gradually became linked to interests and wealth. The development of commodity economy created many wealthy merchants who were frequent visitors to casinos. There were too many idle people in society, they relied on gambling for comfort, leisure and profit, and were also frequent visitors to casinos. After the Opium War, some Western-style gambling techniques were introduced into China, making gambling activities even more rampant. Under this influence, some Han Chinese brought this unhealthy trend to Taiwan, resulting in a special entertainment project in Samah Town, that is, boxing betting.

  Sama Town holds a hundred ethnic boxing match every year. The hundred ethnic boxing match originated from the Ming Dynasty's boxing masters. Two hundred years ago, when the Qing dynasty entered the mainland and the Ming dynasty was destroyed, Luo's ancestors led a large number of Han people to settle on Taiwan Island, among whom were some Ming Dynasty boxing masters. National martial arts are only for killing, not for performance, and actual combat is essential. After leaving the vast land of China, the Ming Dynasty boxing masters turned their attention to the indigenous people of Taiwan Island, and a challenge began.

  As time goes by, the challenge of the late Ming dynasty's boxing masters has been continued to this day and has become a stage for various ethnic groups in Taiwan to show off their strength, known as the "Hundred Tribes Boxing Competition" among Taiwanese people.

  Sama Town is located at the intersection of the three major ethnic groups in Taiwan, and its unique geographical location has made it a fixed venue for the annual Hundred Tribes Boxing Competition. Every May, the Hundred Tribes Boxing Competition attracts people from all over Taiwan to watch, making Sama Town the most lively time of the year.

  As we entered the western part of the town, people on both sides of the road gradually became more crowded.

  "It's the Hundred Tribes Fistfighting Tournament, and it seems we've arrived just in time." Luo Ke had only been in this world for a little over a month, and although he knew that Samma Town held an annual Hundred Tribes Fistfighting Tournament, he didn't know it was held in May.

  It's now late May.

  "Isn't the young master here to watch the Hundred Clans Fist Tournament?" Chen Fusheng blurted out, suddenly realizing that these were not topics for someone of his status to discuss, and hastily changed the subject. "The champion of the Hundred Clans Fist Tournament has been won by Wang Junsheng of the Zhao Clan Martial Arts Academy for three consecutive years, and many Han people have come specifically to see him compete. However, it seems that this year Wang Junsheng does not plan to participate in the Hundred Clans Fist Tournament."

  Chen Fusheng's face lit up when mentioning Wang Junxiong, and he looked disappointed when talking about Wang Junxiong not participating in the competition. In fact, among the Han people, there are still many fans of Wang Junxiong.

  "Wang Junsheng of the Zhao Clan Martial Hall! I wondered how he had such rich combat experience to be evenly matched with me, who has traveled tens of thousands of miles. The answer lies here, and it's clear that the brutality of the Hundred Clans Fist Tournament far exceeds my imagination." He suddenly realized. Not many people can catch Lü Jingcang's attention, but Wang Junsheng is definitely one of them. Lü Jingcang has a premonition that he and Wang Junsheng will be lifelong rivals.

  "Dragon Head? Are all winners of the Hundred Clans Fist Tournament called Dragon Heads?" Luo Kai asked in doubt.

  "Master is wise, the term 'dragon head' has always referred to the leader of outstanding figures and is also an alias for the champion, so we call the winner of the Bai Zuquan competition the dragon head." Chen Fusheng explained.

  Lu Ke's interest was piqued as he nodded his head.

  Compared to the east, the pedestrians in the west of the town are truly endless, one after another. Luo Kai and his group hadn't even reached the martial arts arena when they saw that the area around the arena was packed with people, applause thundering, cheers shaking the sky, the scene was truly extraordinary.

  Of course, even in the dense crowd, they couldn't stop Luo Kai and his party from advancing. The eight warriors, either robust or muscular, with a slight squeeze, opened up a path of sunlight, and those affected didn't dare to make a sound.

  Several people stopped in their tracks and looked towards the arena from a advantageous position they had rushed to occupy.

  The platform is nearly one meter higher than the ground, and it's a long rectangular field with one side being fifteen meters long. The ground is paved with bluestone bricks, and there are no ropes around it. The field can be considered quite large.

  On the stage, two figures clashed with each other, their movements intertwining like dog's teeth, fighting intensely.

  "Mr. Luo, the rules of the Hundred Tribes Fist Tournament are that anyone can step onto the stage to challenge the person on stage, as long as they persist in five matches without defeat, they can become the champion and take a break after becoming the champion. The identity is greatly different, only the champion can challenge the champion, and if the champion persists in five matches without defeat, they can become the leader. Similarly, the leader can only challenge the leader, and when all leaders are defeated, they can become the dragon head and win the Hundred Tribes Fist Tournament. The winning dragon head can receive a reward of 5,000 taels of silver from the organizer. However, it is extremely rare for someone to become the dragon head in the Hundred Tribes Fist Tournament. Throughout history, only four people have won the championship, among them, Master Zhao and Master Wang of the Zhao Martial Arts Academy have each won three times on behalf of our Han people, a Mongolian person has won once, and a Moqi person has also won once."

  Chen Fusheng feared that Luo Kai did not know the rules and went all out to explain them.

  "Five thousand taels of silver." Luo Kai couldn't help but secretly whistle, the purchasing power of late Qing dynasty's silver was quite strong. Luo Kai estimated that one tael of silver was equivalent to about 250 yuan in modern times, so five thousand taels of silver would be equivalent to over a million RMB.

  However, these 5,000 taels of silver are not easy to obtain. Those who can confidently take the stage are all top-notch players, and the champion is selected from among them. The leader is selected from 25 people, and becoming a leader is already a remarkable achievement. The gap between each other will not be large, and being able to defeat all leaders means having the strength to continuously defeat multiple leaders.