The Matter Comes to Light

Two or three hurried days passed. Zhuang Jin remained as focused and disciplined as he had been on the first day. Beyond the regular training hours, he added extra Stance Training after lunch and dinner. This even spurred some of the other Martial Students to follow along. If he did not leave, neither did they, as though they were competing against him and trying to outdo him.

Xiong Lei also trained diligently in the mornings and afternoons, but after lunch and dinner, he still went to engineer awkward chance encounters. Miss Yun was a thoughtful person—how could she fail to see what he was after? She merely turned him down gently and told him to focus on Martial Practice. Only after several repeated refusals did the fellow restrain himself somewhat.

During this time, Qian Wende brought up practicing Stance Training together once more, only to be politely refused again by Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei. Yet he remained all smiles, still trying to ingratiate himself with their little group and sharing the bits of insider information he had gathered.

Wang Rui, who shared their dormitory, continued asking everyone about their progress each day. Zhuang Jin and Xiong Lei always gave vague answers, while the other Martial Students in the dorm said they had made no real progress either. Only Bi Kai boasted daily about his incremental improvements, basking in the envy and flattery of his dormmates.

Zhuang Jin lived a peaceful life of Martial Practice in the Shen Family Outer Courtyard, but Lord Howl, Hou Yong, had not been in a very good mood these past two days.

Yesterday had been the day when the Beggars under him handed over their monthly Tribute Money. The Beggars Zhuang Jin had robbed naturally could not scrape together the money in just two or three days, so they could not pay up. Tan San's arm and Little Ears's broken leg would not heal in two or three days either, and there was no way to conceal them. As expected, Zhuang Jin's actions had come to light.

As for Tan San forcibly lending money to the little Beggars, Hou Yong had informants planted among them, so he knew about it. But Tan San had only been making small-time moves. Hou Yong had intended to fatten him up first, then settle accounts when the time was right.

Hou Yong had also learned through his informants among the Beggars about Zhuang Jin's affair on the very next day. He did not really care that Zhuang Jin had stabbed Tan San. What sort of trash was Tan San, that he dared imitate him and throw his weight around? It was good for him to suffer a little. Besides, the more the Beggars beneath him fought and bit at one another, the easier they were to control.

But Zhuang Jin had touched the Tribute Money those Beggars were supposed to hand over. That crossed a line. When Hou Yong learned of it, he had nearly laughed from rage. Had he looked too much like he had taken up vegetarianism and prayer lately, too softhearted and merciful? Not only were there people learning from Tan San, some had even grown bolder than him. They truly did not know how many eyes Lord Ma had!

Yet just as Zhuang Jin had expected, angry as Hou Yong was, he did not believe Zhuang Jin could escape his grasp. He was in no rush, thinking to fatten him up a little more before making his move on the day Tribute Money was collected and dealing with him then.

But when yesterday's collection day arrived, Zhuang Jin had vanished!

Hou Yong's anger rose another threefold. If everyone could be like Zhuang Jin—cross Lord Howl's taboos, then hide away and be fine—how was he supposed to remain Lord Howl? He wanted to see just where someone could hide! He immediately ordered his Beggars to search.

Then...

Then they failed to find him.

Zhuang Jin seemed to have grown wings. He could not be found in the places he frequented, and even after expanding the search area, they still found nothing. When they questioned people more closely, none of the other Beggars had seen him these past two days either.

Early that morning, Hou Yong looked at the Beggars before him, all shrinking their heads like quails. His expression revealed neither joy nor anger. "You searched all day yesterday and still haven't found Little Mute?"

No one made a sound.

"Useless! A whole pack of useless trash! You can't even find one person—what use are any of you?"

As Hou Yong spoke, he looked at Tan San and Little Ears standing at the front. "Especially you two. Little Mute left you like this. I gave you the chance to find him so I could deal with him personally, and you still couldn't manage it!"

One of Tan San's hands was bandaged. He bent at the waist and smiled obsequiously. "Lord Howl, it's not that we didn't search our hardest. Little Mute is just too cunning. Who knows where he's hiding!"

Little Ears had one leg broken by Tan San and leaned on a stick. His eyes shifted, and he maliciously diverted the trouble elsewhere. "Lord Howl, Little Stone was close to Little Mute. They were even pooling together to get by. Little Stone must know!"

Hou Yong immediately looked at Gao Shi.

"I haven't seen Little Mute these past two days either. I don't know where he went," Gao Shi said softly with his head lowered.

"You really don't know?"

Gao Shi stiffened his neck. "I don't know."

Bang!

Hou Yong stepped forward and kicked Gao Shi to the ground, then kicked and slapped him repeatedly. "You don't know? I'll show you what it means not to know!"

He was venting all the rage that had built up over Zhuang Jin onto Gao Shi.

A kick! A slap! Then another kick!

Gao Shi curled into himself and covered his head, but his face was soon bruised and swollen all over.

Of course, though Hou Yong was furious, he still measured his blows. Gao Shi was a tool for making money, after all. Hou Yong deliberately picked where to strike, ensuring he would not beat Gao Shi badly enough to affect his begging.

After a good while, Hou Yong had vented his anger. Seeing that Gao Shi truly seemed not to know anything, he finally stopped and spat out a thick gob of phlegm. "Pah! If I find out you knew and dared lie to me, I'll have your hide!"

The other Beggars watched this scene with looks of amusement and schadenfreude on their faces. Their lives were so bitter that only seeing someone else suffer worse misfortune could bring them a little enjoyment.

Amid all those mocking and derisive gazes, Gao Shi trembled as he slowly rose to his feet. He lowered his head and wiped the phlegm from his face, finally making up his mind.

These past two days, he had been hesitating over whether to join the Medicine King Gang's Martial Student Recruitment. The reason for his hesitation was exactly as Zhuang Jin had said: if he failed, he would be made a herb-gathering boy... Though he himself had said that Beggars like him, who fought stray dogs for scraps, had lives as cheap as dirt, this was still a matter of life and death. Naturally, he had hesitated.

Hou Yong's beating made Gao Shi steel his resolve. Go! He would join the Medicine King Gang's Martial Student Recruitment!

He realized that if he did not take a gamble, he would never become the "great man" Zhuang Jin had spoken of. He would never make his hopes of "eating his fill, having meat at every meal, and never being beaten by anyone" come true!

He had given himself the surname Gao precisely so he would remember that he had to become a great man—so that no one would ever dare look down on him again, and no one would ever dare bully him again! If he could not do that, he might as well die sooner rather than later!

No one present knew of the change in Gao Shi's heart. Lord Howl's attention remained on Zhuang Jin. "All of you think carefully. Before Little Mute disappeared, was there anything suspicious? Where else could he have run?"

At that moment, Little Bamboo Pole opened his mouth, then hesitated.

Hou Yong noticed at once and fixed his gaze on him. "Little Bamboo Pole, what do you want to say?"

Little Bamboo Pole shrank his neck in fright and muttered, "Well... Lord Howl, I remembered something. I don't know if it was Little Mute?"

Hou Yong glared at him. "How the hell am I supposed to know if you don't tell me? If you've got something to say, spit it out!"

"Y-yes! Yes!" Little Bamboo Pole agreed, then spoke of the person who had looked very much like Little Mute on the day of the Shen Family's Martial Student Recruitment registration. "I think..."

Before he could finish, Hou Yong swung a slap at him. "It's broad daylight, and you're telling me dreams?"

Little Bamboo Pole covered his red, swollen cheek, aggrieved beyond words. You told me to speak, then hit me after I did. If he had known, he would not have said anything.

Yes, when Hou Yong heard Little Bamboo Pole say that Zhuang Jin had registered for the Martial Student Recruitment, his first reaction was disbelief. He thought the boy was talking in his sleep. Where would Little Mute get the money to register for the Shen Family's Martial Student Recruitment? Even if he had robbed the Tribute Money from those few Beggars... hm?

Hou Yong pondered in secret. Little Mute begged for a bit of broken silver, robbed Tan San, and took the Tribute Money from several other Beggars. That would be five or six hundred coins altogether. If he had quietly saved some more himself, gathering one tael of silver would not be impossible.

Though he still did not really want to believe that Zhuang Jin had the money or the wits to join the Shen Family's Martial Student Recruitment, he had to guard against it out of caution. Better safe than sorry. If that person really was Little Mute, and he entered the Shen Family to learn martial arts, what if he actually amounted to something? He might even turn around and bite me back.

No, why am I scaring myself? Even if Little Mute was that person who joined the Martial Student Recruitment, after entering the Shen Family, how could he possibly have the fortune to become a true martial artist? Even I...

Hou Yong had participated in the Shen Family's first Martial Student Recruitment. Yes, he had gone to the Shen Family's first Martial Student Recruitment, because the backer behind him was a Shen Family Two-Striped Servant named Guo Jun, who had learned the news in advance.

—The Prefecture City was vast, but every radish had its own pit. Though Hou Yong bore the nickname Lord Howl and seemed magnificently imposing before the Beggars, he could only hold onto the begging business of a few streets. Naturally, he had a backer behind him. A Two-Striped Servant was nothing within the Shen Family, but outside, he already carried considerable intimidation. Hou Yong had only managed to establish that connection after much twisting and turning.

After thinking it over again and again, Hou Yong still felt uneasy. He prepared to seek out his backer, use the man's connections, and go to the Shen Family Outer Courtyard to confirm it for himself.