I Use My Secondary Job To Add Talents

Chapter 16: Red Tiger

Passing River City is more than a hundred miles away from Stone Bull Village, and with Song Fulu's current pace, it took several hours to arrive just before dark. Along the way, there were hardly any breaks, and fortunately, it was relatively peaceful. They didn't encounter any fierce beasts or bandits, only a few corpses lying by the roadside, clearly recently deceased.

Some of these corpses had been torn apart by fierce beasts, while others had been directly killed by people. It's unclear whether Song Fulu was lucky or if he was simply not a target for the beasts and bandits.

Of course, wearing coarse clothes and carrying a tattered bag played a role as well. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that he was just an ordinary young mountain dweller, usually associated with poverty.

Song Fulu's appearance was not particularly attractive, neither in his past life nor in his current life, and even less so after transmigrating. Although his features were well-proportioned, his skin was dark and rough, with a weathered look that revealed his mountain-dwelling origins.

Looking at the towering city walls dozens of meters in front of him, Song Fulu was also somewhat amazed. It was indeed a county town with a population of over a million, and its appearance was extraordinary.

Based on the information obtained from Stone Forest Town, Song Fulu knew that Passing River City covered an area of tens of thousands of acres, nearly a hundred square kilometers, which would rival the size of some municipal cities in his past life.

And this was just the urban area of Passing River City. If you added the towns and villages, the total area would reach several million acres, about three thousand square kilometers.

The size of this world was beyond Song Fulu's imagination. The jurisdiction of a county town here was comparable to that of a city in his past life's China.

The same applied to the towns and villages. The size of a town here was equivalent to a county town in his past life, while the size of a village was comparable to a town, although the population was far less.

To enter the city, one needed a guide and an entrance fee. The guide was provided by the village, and the entrance fee was only a pound of dried Stone Bull meat, which was not expensive.

After smoothly paying the entrance fee and entering Passing River City, Song Fulu was greeted by an ancient and picturesque world, resembling the ancient cities of ancient China, only larger.

Song Fulu first found a small inn to stay in and then began to inquire about the situation in Passing River City.

Although he had some understanding of Passing River City through the villagers and people in the town, it was all hearsay. It couldn't compare to firsthand information.

After several days of inquiries, Song Fulu finally had a preliminary understanding of Passing River City.

Passing River City was mainly controlled by four major forces: the government, the clans, the Crimson Tiger Gang, and the Passing River Association. In addition to these four major forces, there were also some small gangs and factions intertwined with them. However, these small gangs and factions were often involved with the four major forces.

The strongest force was not the government or the clans, but the Crimson Tiger Gang and the Passing River Association, especially the Crimson Tiger Gang, which claimed to have thirty thousand members and ruled over half of Passing River City.

The Passing River Association was the only force in Passing River City that could contend with the Crimson Tiger Gang. Both of these factions far surpassed the government and clan forces. Faced with the suppression of the Crimson Tiger Gang and the Passing River Association, the government and clans could only tremble in fear.

Fortunately, the rule of the Crimson Tiger Gang and the Passing River Association was relatively stable, barely maintaining order within and outside of Passing River City, preventing it from descending into chaos.

Since Song Fulu wanted to join a faction, naturally he had to choose a powerful one. Only such a faction would have more and better martial arts manuals. The Crimson Tiger Gang and the Passing River Association became his targets.

After some inquiries and understanding, Song Fulu ultimately set his sights on the Crimson Tiger Gang. The reason was simple: compared to the Passing River Association, which favored nepotism and mainly recruited disciples from Passing River City, the Crimson Tiger Gang was more inclusive. Moreover, they were generous towards their members and as long as one had the ability, they could basically rise in rank. They were also not stingy when it came to martial arts manuals.

The Crimson Tiger Gang had the most martial arts manuals among the four major factions, and they recruited disciples from various regions, not just Passing River City. This suited Song Fulu perfectly.

After careful consideration, Song Fulu bought a clean set of clothes, carried a hundred taels of gold obtained by exchanging most of his pills, and headed towards the place where the Crimson Tiger Gang recruited disciples.

Based on Song Fulu's understanding over the past few days, gold was the hard currency both inside and outside Passing River City, unlike the severely inflated copper coins and silver. Not only did gold not experience inflation, but its value kept rising.

Carrying such a large bag of pills was too burdensome, so Song Fulu exchanged most of them for gold, totaling a hundred taels. This amount could sustain an ordinary family of three for a lifetime in Passing River City, making it a considerable fortune.

The Crimson Tiger Gang was located in the southwest of Passing River City, with its headquarters covering thousands of acres, spanning the western and southern parts of the city. This was the main area of influence for the Crimson Tiger Gang.

The Crimson Tiger Gang had four main halls: Battle Wolf Hall, responsible for combat and killing; Golden Toad Hall, responsible for making money; Iron Bee Hall, responsible for gathering intelligence; and Hunting Panther Hall, responsible for monitoring and enforcing punishments.

Among them, Battle Wolf Hall and Iron Bee Hall had the most members, while Hunting Panther Hall had the fewest. Song Fulu wanted to join Golden Toad Hall, which had a moderate number of members.

What he desired was a stable and peaceful promotion, without excessive fighting. Combined with his abilities as a secondary occupation, Golden Toad Hall was the most suitable for him.

The place where the Crimson Tiger Gang recruited disciples was at Zhongyi Gate. One had to pass the corresponding assessments and reviews in order to join the Crimson Tiger Gang as an official disciple.

The assessments were not too difficult, but there were certain thresholds to ensure that every member of the Crimson Tiger Gang had value. The assessments for each hall were also different.

With Song Fulu's current strength as a secondary occupation, it was easy for him to join Golden Toad Hall.

Song Fulu went directly to the courtyard where Golden Toad Hall recruited disciples. There were several ordinary members responsible for the assessments inside. When they saw Song Fulu, they asked him to wait behind the other candidates preparing for the assessments.

Zhongyi Gate of the Crimson Tiger Gang was almost always open, with permanent members specifically responsible for recruiting disciples. There was no need to wait, so it seemed that there weren't many people signing up every day.

Golden Toad Hall was divided into different departments, such as the Pharmacy Department, Blacksmith Department, Planting Department, and Dietary Department. The responsibilities of each department could be inferred from their names.

Among the candidates ahead, some wanted to join the Dietary Department, some wanted to join the Planting Department, and some wanted to join the Blacksmith Department. None of them wanted to join the Pharmacy Department, as its threshold was relatively high.

Different departments had different assessments. Only by passing the assessments could one join and become an official disciple of the Crimson Tiger Gang.

Due to the small number of people, the assessments were conducted separately, so it was soon Song Fulu's turn. The member conducting the assessment directly asked Song Fulu which department he wanted to join and which aspect of the assessment he was prepared for.

After a brief consideration, Song Fulu chose the Pharmacy Department.

(End of this chapter)