Promise!

Chapter 2, Road Blockage

"Little mute, I heard that you got rich today. Congratulations to your brother!"

A tall man who looked to be in his thirties, with a scar on the corner of his right eyebrow, was holding a water and fire stick and leading six or seven little beggars, blocking the front. Among them was Xiao Erduo, whose face showed hatred and pleasure. It was obvious that he had failed to steal Zhuang Jin's skills before and was beaten, so he held a grudge against him.

'Little Mute' is Zhuang Jin's nickname. His previous life suffered a great change and became a beggar, so he was naturally taciturn. When he traveled through time, he did not change in order to hide his identity, based on the idea that the more he spoke, the more mistakes he made.

"Tan San." Zhuang Jin looked at this person and frowned.

Tan Sanben was originally from a good family, but he loved gambling. He eventually squandered his family fortune and became a beggar. Even as a beggar, he remained lazy and greedy, bullying smaller beggars with his size and strength. He also loved to borrow money, but of course, he never paid it back. Today, this was a case of "forced borrowing," or rather, robbery.

"I think it was because some beggar saw the small change I received as a reward today and told Tan San about it, which is why this happened... As for the informer..."

Zhuang Jin looked at Xiao Erduo, who was standing behind Tan San and had a gloating expression on his face. He guessed that this was probably the person, and couldn't help but look at him deeply.

Little Ear subconsciously avoided the gaze timidly, but then he realized that with so many people around him, what was there to be afraid of? The one who should be afraid should be Zhuang Jin. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sway his body from side to side, straightened his chest, and stared at Zhuang Jin with wide eyes.

——This is exactly the same as the lackeys around the rich young master, and the appearance of the little boy who relies on the power of others is vivid.

Zhuang Jin's eyes swept over the beggars and settled on Tan San, knowing that he was the real key figure. "Tan San, you usually force other beggars to borrow money, and now you're intimidating them and bringing them to rob. Have you ever thought about the Marquis? Don't bring disaster upon yourself."

This "Hou Ye" wasn't a real Hou Ye, but a nickname. The man in question was Hou Yong, the chief beggar in this area, collecting monthly protection fees from the beggars. Tan San, Zhuang Jin, Little Ear, and the others were all considered Hou Ye's subordinates. Tan San had been "borrowing" money from the beggars without Hou Yong's knowledge, and now he was even trying to rob them. If Hou Yong found out, Tan San would be in big trouble.

This is my point, Tan San. Don't bother me, and I won't meddle in other people's business and complain to the Marquis. Let's go our separate ways and keep out of each other's way.

Tan San naturally understood what he heard. He didn't expect that the "little mute" who usually kept silent could say such words. However, he saw that Zhuang Jin didn't want to cause trouble and regarded it as weakness. For him, who always bullies the weak and fears the strong, he would instinctively go up and bite you hard when he sees you are weak. How could he let you go?

At the same time, the threat in Zhuang Jin's words really hit his soft spot, making him quite angry. Especially when he saw the little beggars beside him shrinking their heads like quails when they heard the name of the Marquis, his anger was amplified: "It's none of your business whether I bring disaster upon you or not. You should worry about yourself first!"

"Oh, if I don't teach you a lesson today and make you know what to say and what not to say, you are not worthy of being called Tan!" As he said this, he winked at the little beggars behind him and asked them to surround him.

"If you were a smart person, you would have taken the opportunity to leave, but unfortunately you ran into a fool."

Zhuang Jin was no pushover, but he was thinking about tomorrow's martial arts recruitment and didn't want to cause any more trouble today. Seeing Tan San's attitude, he knew that today was not going to end well, so he gave up the idea and said to the six or seven beggars, "Tan San forced himself to borrow money from you, but he kept it a secret from the Marquis. Why don't you quickly tie him up and take him to the Marquis? Then, maybe we can even get the money back."

"You don't have to worry about Tan San's revenge. Given the Marquis's personality, if Tan San is kidnapped, he will surely die a miserable death!"

As soon as these words were spoken, six or seven little beggars, including Xiao Erduo, stopped what they were doing and thought secretly. They all felt that these words seemed to make sense and were slightly agitated.

"Good boy!"

Tan San had not expected that the usually silent 'little mute' was so powerful. With just one sentence, he almost instigated these little beggars who were forced to come here to rebel. Even he himself was frightened by the consequences. He secretly regretted provoking Zhuang Jin, and felt that he was in a difficult situation. However, he also knew that he must not show weakness at this moment, otherwise this group of bullies would rush up and turn Zhuang Jin's words into reality.

"Who dares to touch you, Master Tan?"

In a moment of urgency, Tan Sanda shouted, revealing his fearless, unflinching demeanor. This gave him quite a bit of authority, and combined with his previous prestige, he frightened the six or seven beggars into dreading a single move. He then gritted his teeth and promised, "'Little Mute' has begged for a dime today, worth at least several dozen coins. I'll give it to you later and give you ten coins each."

Ten coins! This is what most beggars earn after begging for several days!

For these short-sighted beggars, this was a great temptation. They immediately put aside the idea of ​​tying up Tan San and looked at Zhuang Jin with fierce eyes like hungry wolves.

"A mob is not worth conspiring with!" Zhuang Jin sighed, his expression suddenly changing: "My Lord, why are you here?!"

The word "Marquis" immediately awakened six or seven little beggars from their greed. They subconsciously turned their heads to look. The one with the biggest reaction was Tan San. He shuddered and almost collapsed to the ground.

——This was the foreshadowing that Zhuang Jin had just done, describing the consequences of Tan San falling into the hands of the Marquis. Now he falsely claimed that the Marquis had come, which almost frightened Tan San to death.

At this moment, Zhuang Jin suddenly moved, and the sharpened dog-beating stick in his hand stabbed Tan San's wrist, causing the Yamen Water and Fire Stick in his hand to fall. Then, he hit Tan San's right leg hard with the stick, forcing him to half-kneel.

The stab and the smash were so fast and fierce that the pain seemed to be transmitted in the next moment, causing Tan San to howl miserably.

The six or seven little beggars found that there was no marquis behind them and realized that they had been deceived. They were about to turn around to find trouble with Zhuang Jin, but suddenly they heard a scream. Turning around, they saw Tan San half-kneeling on the ground, his face pale, with large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, and a bloody wound on his arm was bleeding profusely, which was extremely glaring. They were all frightened by the scene and stepped back. Then they met Zhuang Jin's arrogant gaze and did not dare to look at him. They all lowered their heads, each one as timid as a lamb.

The overall situation is decided!

Zhuang Jin knew the temperament of this group of people very well. They were both fierce and weak.

——They are called vicious because this group of people live at the bottom of society and compete with wild dogs for food. If you expose your weaknesses, these people will pounce on you like mad dogs and tear you to pieces without leaving anything behind. As for being weak, it is because these people are bullies who only bully the weak and fear the strong. Tan San, relying on his tall and strong physique, can borrow money from them repeatedly, making them dare not speak out.

At this time, he beat down the leader Tan San and frightened them with cruel means. These little beggars would then show their weak side and become as obedient as lambs. It could be said that at this time, even if you stabbed a knife into their necks, they would not resist. They would only bleat helplessly, begging you to be gentler with the knife.

"Tan San!" Zhuang Jin calmed down the six or seven little beggars, then turned his gaze towards Tan San with a cold expression on his face, tightening the dog-beating stick in his hand. The moment Tan San met Zhuang Jin's gaze and noticed the subtle movements of Zhuang Jin's hand, goose bumps appeared on his back. His intuition and instinct seemed to foresee his death, which instantly dispelled his original intention of scolding Zhuang Jin for being 'unfair' and making threats. He realized that this was a ruthless man who might really dare to kill. He swallowed the curse that was on the tip of his tongue, endured the pain, and gasped for mercy: "Hiss! Master, I am a rotten man. It is not worth it for you to get your hands stained with blood because of me. Spare me! Spare me!"

As he spoke, he seemed to recall something and shouted, "It was Little Ear, it was Little Ear who told me you had gotten a dime. It was he who instigated me to come here!"

When Xiao Erduo heard what Tan San said, he turned around and wanted to run away, but before he could take a step, Zhuang Jin hit him on the back with a stick, making him stagger. Then two clever little beggars nearby held his arms and forced him over with ingratiating smiles.

Seeing Zhuang Jin's cold gaze and the blood-stained dog-beating stick in his hand, Little Ear seemed to see himself like Tan San, being stabbed and smashed, his limbs crippled. Even if he didn't die, he would never be able to beg again, and would die of hunger and cold on the street...

The foreseeable fear made his whole body go limp. All of a sudden, snot and tears started to flow out. There was even a fishy smell under his body. With lifeless eyes, he begged repeatedly, "Mercy! Mercy!"

Zhuang Jin glanced at Xiao Erduo with disgust, then looked at Tan San. After some consideration, he gave up the idea of ​​wiping the roots out. Hurting people would be one thing, but if he killed them, the matter would become a big deal. The backlash against the Marquis, the government... would come too quickly and too suddenly.

"But it would be too easy to let it go so easily."

He thought for a moment and pointed the dog-beating stick at Tan San: "Hand over the money you have."

Zhuang Jin didn't want to cause trouble, but since he had, he had to maximize his benefits.

Tan San didn't dare to resist and took out his purse. Zhuang Jin took it and weighed it, estimating that there were about a hundred dollars in it. He was a little surprised. Maybe this guy was lucky recently and won a little?
"Master, please leave me fifty coins. The day to pay the dues will be in two days, my lord..." Tan San said mournfully.

"My Lord Marquis?" Zhuang Jin snorted coldly. He had already offended the Marquis by escaping tomorrow to participate in the Shen family's martial arts recruitment, so he didn't mind offending him even more severely.

When people are under someone's roof, Tan San saw that Zhuang Jin didn't want to listen, so he didn't dare to say more.

With Tan San leading the charge, how could the other beggars dare to resist? They all handed over their money, totaling over three hundred coins, plus Tan San's hundred-plus coins, making it nearly five hundred coins.

Zhuang Jin understood that these little beggars were worried about hiding the money and felt safer carrying it with them. In addition, they had to pay the dues to the Marquis in two days, so they had so much money.

"Sure enough, killing people and setting fires will earn you a golden belt. The way to make money is written in the imperial law! One tael of silver is just the basic entry fee. With this money, I will be able to learn martial arts more easily."

Zhuang Jin thought to himself, put the money away and left calmly.

……

After Zhuang Jin left, Tan San and six or seven other little beggars felt as if a huge stone had been lifted from their hearts and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the atmosphere in the field became a little strange.

Six or seven little beggars looked at Tan San, some of them ready to make a move - Tan San was injured and weak at the moment, and his embarrassed and cowardly appearance when facing Zhuang Jin before made their fear of Tan San lessened a lot. They wondered whether to join forces to tie Tan San up and take him to the Marquis.

"What a bunch of bastards, your skin is itching again!" Tan San knew these little beggars inside and out. As soon as they raised their butts, he knew what kind of shit they were going to poop. How could he not know what these people were thinking at that moment?
"Little Ear, come here!" He suddenly smiled and waved to Little Ear.

Little Ear was just breathing a sigh of relief, feeling lucky to have managed to keep his hands and feet safe from Zhuang Jin, when he heard Tan San calling out, and he called out "Master Tan", and subconsciously came over.

Bang—crack!
The smile on Tan San's face disappeared in an instant, turned into a fierce look, and he picked up the water and fire stick and hit Xiao Erduo's leg with it. There was a muffled sound accompanied by the sound of a bone breaking.

"Ah, my leg... it's broken!" Little Ear screamed while holding his right leg.

His leg was not broken by Zhuang Jin, but was broken by Tan San instead. This whole process was quite dramatic.

The other beggars were terrified by this scene. For them, a broken leg made begging inconvenient, their income was reduced, and they were likely to die of hunger and cold on the streets. It could be said that Tan San's blow had nearly killed Xiao Erduo. Such a brutal act had frightened them to death. They no longer dared to think about tying Tan San up and taking him to the Marquis. They lowered their heads like quails.

"What are you barking about? Grandpa Tan is in this state because of you, an unlucky thing. Pah!"

Tan San spat on Xiao Erduo and looked at the others: "Do you think that just because I'm injured, I can't deal with you? You're really crazy! If you want to challenge me, wait another eight hundred years!"

After scolding these little beggars, and seeing the same fearful expressions on their faces as before, Tan San knew that his trick of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys had worked, and he was pleased with himself: "If I can't deal with the little mute, how can I deal with you?"

"Little Bamboo Pole, Little Wotou, come here quickly and help me get some medicine from Wang Damazi... Oh my, this little mute is really cruel!"

Tan San stood up with a groan, supported by the little beggar. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him: "How about going to the Marquis and complaining about that little mute?"

In the past, he would just "borrow" money, but only one or two cents each time, for he was afraid that if he "borrowed" too much, the little beggar would not be able to collect enough regular money and would be exposed to the Marquis. This time, Zhuang Jin was too ruthless and even violated the taboo of touching the regular money. If the Marquis knew about it, he would probably be punished.

However, just as the thought of complaining came to his mind, Tan San recalled Zhuang Jin's cold gaze, shuddered, and instantly gave up the idea.

Then, he realized that he was afraid of Zhuang Jin, and he was a little angry. However, after hesitating for a long time, he still didn't dare to do anything. He could only comfort himself secretly: "I'm not afraid of the little mute. It's just that in two days, it's the day to pay the dues to the Marquis. I don't need to complain. These little beggars can't come up with the dues. There's no way to hide it. I don't need to complain. The Marquis will find out and deal with him!"

……

(End of this chapter)