Promise!

Chapter 12, Find

That morning, a group of martial artists, including Zhuang Jin, came to the training ground as usual, waiting for the distribution of Kailuo Soup.

At this time, a middle-aged man with a long face, a crew cut, wearing a gray robe with two lines on the shoulders, walked in with Hou Yong.

"Hou Yong? How did he appear here? And the man next to him, wearing a gray robe with two silver lines on his shoulders, is he a two-line servant of the Shen family?"

Zhuang Jin's heart skipped a beat, his mind racing, and he soon came up with a guess: "There's someone behind Hou Yong, but I never knew who it was. I originally thought it was a minor official in the government office, but now it seems it's probably this two-mark servant from the Shen family."

"As for why Hou Yong came to me today, I think it was because I had to pay the fee yesterday, and something happened to me. Hou Yong couldn't find me, so Xiao Zhugan remembered what happened when I signed up that day and told him about it. Hou Yong was worried, so he used his connections to find me."

He instantly guessed what had happened: "It's a little unexpected, but it's still within control. From the last time we recruited martial artists, a two-mark servant's martial arts instructor hid his secrets and accepted benefits privately, and ended up having his meridians severed and his martial arts skills crippled. We know that the Shen family attaches great importance to recruiting martial artists and will not tolerate their subordinates' reckless behavior."

"Now that I have entered the Shen family to learn martial arts, even if my identity is revealed, as long as I deny it, will the two-striped servant dare to forcibly abduct me? Besides, things are far from that point yet. I have already changed my appearance. Even if Hou Yong came before me, as long as I don't reveal my flaws, he might not recognize me."

"Well, tearing off one's face and denying it is ultimately a last resort. The best plan now is to deceive Hou Yong and keep it a secret for the time being."

Zhuang Jin's mind raced through all this, and his slightly tense body suddenly relaxed as he got into the mood. Like the other martial artists watching the fun, he looked around openly and curiously.

Well, the main point is that it’s none of my business: You, Hou Yong, are looking for the beggar 'Little Mute' under your command, what does it have to do with me, Zhuang Jin?

Hou Yong followed behind his patron Guo Jun, his eyes wandering among the martial artists, and soon locked onto Zhuang Jin, secretly sighing: "No wonder Xiao Zhugan said they look alike. This figure is indeed similar, but upon closer inspection, it's not. The appearance is obviously different. But since I'm here, I still need to confirm it."

He called Zhuang Jin over through Guo Jun.

"My surname is Hou, and my given name is Yong. May I know your name, little brother?" Hou Yong introduced himself while staring closely at Zhuang Jin's expression.

"My name is Zhuang Jin." Zhuang Jin answered calmly.

"So it's Brother Zhuang. I asked you to come over because I want to ask you something."

"Oh? Brother Hou, please go ahead." Zhuang Jin asked curiously.

"I wonder if Brother Zhuang knows a little beggar called 'Little Mute'?"

"Little beggar?" Zhuang Jin's expression was natural. He frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "I don't know the man that Brother Hou is talking about. I wonder what crime he has committed?"

"Hey, I have a bad guy under my command. It's okay if Brother Zhuang doesn't know about it."

Hou Yong waved his hand, his expression aloof, as if to say, "It's best not to air dirty laundry in public." His suspicions about Zhuang Jin largely dissipated, but out of caution, he deliberately engaged in a few more words. Seeing Zhuang Jin's refined and fluent conversation, a skill his "little mute" couldn't match, his remaining suspicions vanished, believing that Zhuang Jin simply resembled his "little mute" in stature and appearance. "Sorry to bother you, little brother," Guo Jun observed Hou Yong's slight shake of his head, and with a calculated thought, he bowed to Zhuang Jin.

"It's okay." Zhuang Jin said, knowing in his heart that this hurdle was probably over.

Guo Jun and Hou Yong were about to leave. At this time, Hou Yong suddenly seemed to think of something. When he passed by Zhuang Jin, he deliberately looked at Zhuang Jin's neck. Then he was stunned. He actually saw a round birthmark on Zhuang Jin's neck, close to the back of his head.

At that moment, his mind exploded with thoughts as if an electric shock had struck him. He recalled what Tan San, Xiao Erduo, and the others had said before: that the little mute's behavior that day was completely different from usual, like a completely different person, eloquent and sharp-tongued. He immediately, relying on his intuition, called out, "It's you! It's you! You are the 'little mute'!"

"You've probably disguised yourself before, haven't you?" Although it was a question, Hou Yong's tone was affirmative: "Good boy, if it weren't for the birthmark on your neck, you would have fooled me!"

"Birthmark?!" Zhuang Jin's heart skipped a beat. This was something he hadn't known before. Although he had inherited the memories of his predecessor, the memories of his predecessor over the past decade were so complex and disjointed, so vast that it would be difficult to retrieve them all at once unless someone specifically mentioned them.

As for discovering it himself after traveling through time? When he traveled through time, he had already become a beggar and had no means to look in the mirror. The most he could do was look at it in the water when washing his face. Besides, the location of the birthmark was such that he couldn't see it at all!
"Why didn't my mother cover it up? Oh, my uncle and my family weren't close, so they didn't even know about the birthmark, so there was no need to cover it up."

"Then why did Hou Yong know? Perhaps it was because I had just become a beggar and my body was not too dirty, so Hou Yong happened to see it and remembered it. I took a bath before joining the Shen family's martial arts recruitment, so it was particularly obvious at this time."

Zhuang Jin's mind raced as he figured it all out. He knew he'd been exposed in front of Hou Yong, but he couldn't admit it at this moment. His face and voice suddenly turned cold. "Mr. Hou, what do you mean by that? Why do you have to fabricate something out of nothing and call me a 'little mute'?"

Immediately, he looked at Guo Junyi and clasped his fists, saying, "Sir, you said this person came to question me. I came here and answered his questions in a friendly manner. But he suddenly lost his mind and started talking nonsense, insisting on calling me a beggar. This is a huge joke. It's not an insult like this. Isn't it too much?"

Without waiting for Guo Jun to speak, Zhuang Jin shouted to the people around him, "I'm here to participate in the Shen family's martial arts recruitment. Since joining the Shen family, I've always behaved well and focused on practicing martial arts. How could someone suddenly come and call me a beggar? How can this be unreasonable! The Shen family is the most charitable in the city, and in such a place, such a scoundrel would come and make trouble? I would like to ask the other elders of the Shen family to judge and uphold justice!"

At this moment, the worst situation had come to light. He decisively took the initiative and wanted to make the matter bigger, using the Shen family as a cover to make Hou Yong's patron Guo Jun afraid to act rashly and get through this hurdle first.

When Guo Jun heard Zhuang Jin's step-by-step preparations, linking today's events with the recruitment of martial artists and the Shen family's reputation, his expression changed slightly.

He knew that his superiors attached great importance to the recruitment of martial artists. If he brought outsiders in privately and interfered in the martial arts affairs, once this matter was put on the table, even for the sake of the Shen family's reputation, he would definitely suffer a heavy punishment, not to mention being Hou Yong's backer. Once the matter was exposed, it would be a big trouble.

On the other side, Hou Yong was so angry when he saw Zhuang Jin's sharp tongue, confusing right and wrong, and even pointing at his nose and calling him a "scoundrel and pauper". He was about to argue again and expose Zhuang Jin's true face, but he saw the majestic look from Guo Jun and had to shut up.

"My little brother..." Guo Jun stopped Hou Yong and was about to speak.

"What happened here?" At this time, a voice suddenly sounded. It was Chen Yun. Song Lan had caught a cold in the past two days. It was Chen Yun who was distributing Kailuo Decoction for her and came over at this time.

……

(End of this chapter)