Saving People, a Bountiful Harvest

"R-really?"

The slightly plumper of the two hesitated, but still asked, trembling with fear.

"Of course it's true. What would I gain by lying to you? You little underlings make no difference to me, dead or alive. So why don't I trade your lives for some information? What do you think?"

Lu Chen asked with a smile.

"Yes, yes! Whatever you want to ask, we'll tell you everything we know!"

The two nodded like they were pounding garlic.

Who would choose death if they could live?

"Where does Zhao Defu usually live? Does he have any family?"

The plumper man hurriedly said, "I know! He lives in Yongfu Alley on Dajiang Street in the west of the city. His house is the one with a pair of little lions at the gate! I only know that he usually lives alone. I've never seen his family or heard him mention them."

"I know about that! Once, I saw him come out of a place, and someone carrying a child saw him off. I ran into him there twice more after that. His woman and child must be living there!"

The other man was upset that the fat man had spoken so quickly and hurried to add his own answer, afraid that if he spoke too late, the blade at his neck would come down.

"Very good! Then tell me where that place is."

"Go to the end of Yuanhua Alley and turn left. It's the house there, the one with a jujube tree in the courtyard."

Lu Chen committed the two addresses to memory and continued questioning them. "Does your Black Pole Gang have any other locations besides this one?"

"No, just this one. We usually go about our own business. This place is generally only used to receive and train the goods... Don't, don't, don't, don't kill me!"

Lu Chen's gaze turned icy.

Receiving and training goods clearly referred to the children who had been abducted or snatched away.

"Who finds these goods for you? And how do you deal with them?"

A chill crept into Lu Chen's voice.

"W-we find them ourselves. As for what happens to them, if they have good aptitude, they seem to get taken away. I don't know exactly where. Those with ordinary aptitude stay here. The obedient and better-looking ones get sold. The disobedient ones have their arms and legs broken and are sent out to beg."

Lu Chen's breathing grew ragged.

These beasts!

He gritted his teeth and held back his anger. "Do you know what relationship Zhao Defu has with Wang Xiong?"

"Huh? Who's Wang Xiong? Registrar Wang Xiong from the county?"

Both men looked utterly bewildered.

Lu Chen frowned.

They don't know?

"Why did your Black Pole Gang join the other gangs to deal with the Green Bamboo Gang this time?"

"Th-that... I heard the Flying Eagle Horse Gang sent someone to talk to the gang leaders. It seemed Wang Hu didn't agree, and then..."

After a moment's thought, Lu Chen understood the gist of it.

It was probably about the iron mine.

The waters here really were too deep; he couldn't handle it.

What did a horse gang formed by men from the border army want with an iron mine?

Were they planning a rebellion?

Still, whatever they wanted to do had nothing to do with him.

"Does your Black Pole Gang have branches anywhere besides Shahu County?"

"Branches? I think I only heard about some Beggar Gang in the neighboring county. Their boss knows ours. I saw him once before."

Lu Chen's brows knitted when he heard that.

Is the Black Pole Gang only called that in Shahu County, and uses another name elsewhere?

Lu Chen asked a few more questions, but then heard someone wailing not far away.

He stood and looked toward the source of the sound.

It was the man with messy hair who had been whipped.

He was holding a child with a numb expression and broken arms and legs, weeping so bitterly it broke the heart.

A chilling coldness appeared in Lu Chen's eyes, enough to make one's heart tremble. Without realizing it, he pressed the blade in his hand into the fat man's neck. The fat man didn't dare move a hair and could only beg softly, "Sir, sir! Didn't you say you wouldn't kill me? I've told you everything I know, sir!"

Lu Chen put away his blade and said calmly, "I keep my word. I won't kill you this time. Go on. The next time we meet, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

The two exchanged a glance, their faces full of delight and disbelief.

He's actually letting us go?

They hurriedly ran outside.

Two throwing knives appeared in Lu Chen's hands.

"Courting death! You dare show your faces in front of me again? Die!"

He roared, and the throwing knives flew out one after the other, burying themselves in the men's backs.

"Fuck you..."

Lu Chen strode forward and finished them off with two slashes.

"You fools courting death, I already spared you once, yet you still refuse to mend your ways! Hmph!"

Lu Chen snorted coldly.

[Through the host's actions, the fates of Meng Tie and one other have changed.]

[Fate Value gained: 290, Luck Value gained: 2]

[Total Fate Value: 1967]

[Total Luck Value: 21]

Hearing the notification, he turned to look at the children in the cages, who had long since been awakened by the commotion.

The children stared blankly at him.

Lu Chen's face, wrapped in black cloth, turned slightly red, a rare occurrence.

Ahem.

After picking up all the throwing knives and iron pellets, casually wiping them clean on a corpse, and putting them back in his bag, Lu Chen approached the man wailing with the child in his arms.

"Stop crying. Is this your son?" Lu Chen glanced at the child.

The child's face was injured, and his eyes were fearful and shrinking, though the numbness from before was gone.

"I suggest you take the child right now and..."

As Lu Chen spoke, he glanced at the other children in the cages again. Many of them now wore expectant, pleading expressions.

An idea occurred to him.

There were so many children; he couldn't take care of them all.

But Wang Hu had said he could work with Hu Bufan...

Though he didn't know whether Wang Hu was setting him up, he chose to take the gamble.

He thought for a moment, then said to the disheveled man, "Would you be willing to do me a favor? It could be dangerous."

The man was Zhao Mancang. Hearing Lu Chen's words, he glanced at his quietly sobbing son and hesitated for a moment before nodding firmly. "Yes! What do you want me to do?"

Lu Chen pointed at the children around them. "There are too many of them for me to take care of. We need someone from the authorities to handle this. But for now, I don't want to meet or deal with them, so I need you to come forward!"

Lu Chen explained what he had in mind.

The man nodded silently. "No problem. Rest assured, benefactor. Even if you want my life, it's yours to take! The only one I can't stop worrying about is my son, Xiao He..."

Lu Chen thought for a moment. "I can't look after all the children, but one is no problem! Once you've found someone, I'll return your child to you safely... If something really does happen to you, I can guarantee he'll grow up safe!"

"All right!"

Lu Chen watched the man called Zhao Mancang go to Hu Bufan's residence and knock on the door.

After a while, the gatekeeper came out and, upon seeing him, impatiently tried to drive him away.

But Zhao Mancang said a few quiet words, and the gatekeeper hurried off to fetch someone.

Before long, a square-faced young man appeared at the entrance.

Holding the child and hiding in the shadows, Lu Chen saw Hu Bufan's expression turn grim after Zhao Mancang spoke a few words to him. After questioning Zhao Mancang further and looking at his appearance and the whip marks on his body, Hu Bufan didn't even take the time to put his outer robe on properly. He gave the gatekeeper a few brief instructions, took his weapon, and dashed straight out.

Lu Chen waited a while, and Zhao Mancang appeared before him from another direction.

"Benefactor, I've told him everything!"

"Good. Go on! Take this money and find a better doctor for the child. It would be best to hire an ox cart and leave as soon as the city gates open. It might not be safe to stay here. Have a safe journey, and live well!"

Lu Chen gave him some of the money he had looted from the Black Pole Gang, then turned and left.

"Xiao He, kowtow to our benefactor!"

Tears streaming down his face, Zhao Mancang knelt with his son and kowtowed more than a dozen times to Lu Chen's retreating figure, their heads thumping against the ground. Only when Lu Chen had disappeared from sight did he wipe away his tears, pick up the child, and limp away.

Lu Chen had returned to the vicinity of the county yamen.

At that moment, Hu Bufan stood at the Black Pole Gang's base, his face ashen. Looking at the children curled up in the iron cages, the corners of his eyes twitched. His heart ached and burned with anger, and he cursed beast under his breath. He came to Zhao Defu's corpse, wishing he could bring him back to life and kill him again.

"In all my years at Sand Lake, I never managed to find a chance to kill you. I never thought you'd die such a quick death this time. You got off easy! And Wang Xiong, Meng Ping, Li Ziren... One day, I'll tear you all out by the roots!"

Suddenly, his ears twitched. "Who's there?"

He rushed up from underground, but there was no one there.

Lu Chen had long since run far away.

As he ran, he checked what he had gained on this trip.

[Through the host's actions, the fates of Zhao Xiao He and 37 others have changed.]

[Fate Value gained: 760, Luck Value gained: 38]

[Total Fate Value: 2727]

[Total Luck Value: 59]

"What a haul!"

Now, it was time to loot their homes!