North of Shuofeng City stood an ordinary little courtyard.
At dusk that day, a slightly plump man with a sinister face led a middle-aged man in his forties through the gate.
"Steward Wang, this is my humble residence."
The slightly plump man ushered the middle-aged man into the courtyard.
After entering the courtyard, the middle-aged man swept his eyes around and commented, "Not bad. Who would have thought Fatty Zhou would be living in a high-walled courtyard now?" His tone seemed to carry a hidden meaning.
Fatty Zhou was naturally the slightly plump man. Hearing this, he hurriedly explained, "Steward Wang, please see clearly. I bought all this with the sect's rewards and the offerings from below. I absolutely wouldn't dare embezzle anything."
"I believe you wouldn't dare."
Steward Wang let out a cold snort.
Seeing this, Fatty Zhou relaxed inwardly and hurriedly said with respect, "Steward Wang, please come inside and sit."
"No need."
Steward Wang clasped his hands behind his back and turned to face him. "I sought you out today because there's something I need you to do."
"I'll do exactly as ordered." Fatty Zhou hurriedly bowed, putting on an expression of attentive obedience.
"Mm."
Seeing this, Steward Wang nodded in satisfaction and reached into his robes. "Here's a banknote for one hundred taels. Take it and go to Jade Wind Hall tomorrow. Tell them it's compensation for the medicine expenses of the disciple the Beggars' Sect injured the day before yesterday."
"Huh?"
Upon hearing what the task was, Fatty Zhou's eyes bulged. He had been frightened.
Recently, the Beggars' Sect and Jade Wind Hall had clashed repeatedly over control of a restaurant. If they had not been wary of City Lord's Mansion and the other factions, they would have long since come to blows.
It could be said that the two sides were already locked in mortal enmity.
Sure enough, the day before yesterday, disciples from both sects had encountered each other in the street, and then naturally started fighting.
Because the Beggars' Sect Leader's son had been present, they had won a great victory, while the Jade Wind Hall disciples had suffered terribly. He had heard that several of them were already beyond saving.
So for him to take a mere one hundred taels to pay for their medicine expenses was practically an insult.
And insulting someone in their own stronghold—whether he could walk out in one piece would be a question.
It could be said that this was sending him to his death.
Damn it. As far as I know, I haven't offended anyone in the sect. Why would they hand this task to me?
His thoughts raced, and he soon thought of one possibility: the Sect Leader needed an excuse to start a war.
Although Shuofeng City was home to all sorts of factions, they generally maintained relative stability under the pressure of City Lord's Mansion.
Large-scale clashes were exceedingly rare.
Now, sending him to deliver one hundred taels in medicine money clearly meant using his death as an excuse.
It was easy to imagine what would happen when the other factions came to demand an explanation. The Beggars' Sect could say: Look, we specifically sent someone to apologize in person, hoping to ease relations.
But the other side was too overbearing. Not only did they reject our goodwill, they even killed the person we sent.
We have to fight.
"What? You're unwilling?"
Seeing that Fatty Zhou had remained silent for so long, Steward Wang narrowed his eyes, revealing a frightening aura.
It seemed that if Fatty Zhou said no, he would die on the spot.
Fatty Zhou's heart clenched. He could only force himself to say, "Steward Wang, you're joking. Of course I'm willing."
As he spoke, he accepted the banknote with trembling hands.
"Relax. This task was personally assigned by the Sect Leader. If you complete it well, you certainly won't be short of benefits. For example, you'll be taught the complete Grass-Parting Staff Technique."
Seeing that he had accepted the task, Steward Wang's expression improved considerably. He casually left him with those words, then turned and departed.
After seeing him off, Fatty Zhou collapsed onto the ground as if all the strength had been drained from his body. Then his eyes shifted, and he sprang back to his feet in excitement.
"Right, I can have someone else do it!"
Having thought of a solution, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Just then, another knock sounded at the door.
Fatty Zhou glanced at the sky and knew who was outside. As it happened, he needed to find someone, so he went to open the door.
A frail beggar stood outside.
"Greetings, leader. I've come to deliver today's offering."
Fatty Zhou looked at the beggar's filthy palm, where a lonely dozen or so copper coins lay. He withdrew his gaze and frowned. "Why are you alone today? Where's Li San?"
A strange look flashed across the beggar's face, and he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the leader, Li San... Li San froze to death in the street last night. The City Lord's Mansion's soldiers carried his body to the mass grave outside the city this morning."
"Is that so?"
Fatty Zhou took the copper coins from the beggar's hand and examined them one by one, his tone somewhat cold. Clearly, he did not quite believe him.
"I wouldn't dare lie."
The beggar spoke in panic.
Steward Zhou let out a cold snort. Knowing that the other man was hiding something from him, he said, "There's something I need you to do. Come in first, then we'll talk."
The beggar was somewhat flattered. Normally, this Zhou Skinflint would not even let them step over the threshold, afraid they would dirty the floor.
Yet today, he was letting him inside.
Fortunately, it was because he had a task for him.
"What are your orders, leader?"
The beggar became even more cautious.
"Impudent!"
After closing the door, Fatty Zhou did not answer. Instead, he suddenly shouted, frightening the beggar into dropping to his knees.
"Leader, w-what do you mean, impudent?"
"Hmph. Where exactly is Li San? Is he alive or dead? Did he escape or hide? Aren't you going to tell me the truth?"
Fatty Zhou had already picked up a smooth bamboo rod, his gaze cold.
Under the questioning, the beggar's entire body went limp on the ground. He had never expected Fatty Zhou not to believe his earlier story. Combined with Fatty Zhou's fearsome reputation, it instantly left him trembling with terror.
"L-Leader, I didn't lie."
"Hmph. You're still being stubborn. Looks like I'll have to make you suffer a little, or you'll forget what I'm capable of."
Fatty Zhou approached with the bamboo rod in hand.
At his words, scenes from the past involuntarily surfaced in the beggar's mind. He grew even more flustered and, fearing to conceal anything, shouted, "I'll talk, I'll talk! Li San really is dead, but he didn't freeze to death. He was killed."
"Oh?"
Fatty Zhou stopped and frowned. "Explain."
He guessed that perhaps this was Jade Wind Hall's revenge. If so, he would have to be careful whenever he went out in the future.
Contrary to his expectations, however, Li San's death had nothing to do with Jade Wind Hall.
It turned out that when Li San and another man had spent the night in a dilapidated temple, they had unexpectedly encountered someone suffering from severe injuries. They had then developed evil intentions, only to be struck by the dying man's counterattack and killed with a single palm strike.
"He was seriously wounded, yet still managed to kill someone with one palm. That person must have been a martial arts expert."
Fatty Zhou narrowed his eyes. He had originally only wanted to use the interrogation to bring the beggar before him to heel, then make him carry out tasks for him wholeheartedly. He had not expected an unexpected windfall.
He shouted again, "Tell me what you got from that person. Hand everything over, or else..."
The beggar knew he could no longer hide it. Gritting his teeth, he pulled a thin booklet from inside his clothes, raised it above his head, and offered it up. "I wouldn't dare deceive you, leader. This is what I obtained from that person."
"Just this? No money or anything else?"
Fatty Zhou took the booklet.
The beggar hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the leader, I searched his entire body. This was the only thing there. I didn't even find a single copper coin."
"I believe you wouldn't dare deceive me again."
This time, Fatty Zhou had little doubt. After all, if the beggar had found a large amount of money, he would have disappeared long ago. He would never have come back to see him.
Thus, he asked no more questions. He opened the booklet, and the moment he saw the several large characters on it, he was instantly overjoyed.
"Soaring Cloud Skill. It really is a martial arts manual—and a lightness skill at that. Its grade has actually reached Human-tier Mid-grade."
The more he flipped through it, the more delighted he became.
On the ground, the beggar was also excited when he heard that the booklet he had obtained was indeed a martial arts manual. But when he remembered that the manual had been taken from him and there was no hope of getting it back, his heart sank again.
He could only grit his teeth and say, "Congratulations, leader, on obtaining this divine martial arts manual. From now on, you'll soar to the heavens. I only hope you'll take care of me a little. Even if you keep me by your side to work like an ox or a horse, it would be better than begging for food outside every day."
After saying this, he repeatedly knocked his head heavily against the ground, then looked at the other man expectantly.
Fatty Zhou neither agreed nor refused. He merely slowly closed the booklet in his hand, then asked, "Who else knows about this?"
The beggar naturally knew he was asking who else knew about the manual, and hurriedly replied, "Only I know. I didn't dare tell anyone."
"Mm."
Fatty Zhou nodded. His gaze suddenly turned sharp. Raising the bamboo rod in his hand, he swiftly jabbed it toward the beggar's throat.
Crack!
His throat instantly caved in.
"You... you..."
The beggar's eyes widened. He wanted to say something, but no words came out, and soon he fell to the ground in extreme unwillingness.
"Don't blame me, either. You can't imagine how precious a martial arts manual is. What's more, this is a Human-tier Mid-grade manual. Even the Sect Leader would snatch it if he saw it."
Fatty Zhou's expression was indifferent, as though killing a man were no different from slaughtering a chicken.
Then, without even looking at the corpse, he walked toward the room. He needed to hide the manual first.
However, the moment he stepped inside, a sharp gust of force came sweeping toward his face, instantly making his hair stand on end.
"Who!"