Might Makes Right

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Though winter was approaching, the weather in Nan Commandery showed no sign of cold, remaining as mild as spring or autumn.

The Four Directions Teahouse sat beside an official road at a three-way fork. The teahouse itself was not large, but every traveler passing through on any of the three roads heading to Flying Bird City would stop in for a rest, so business had always been good.

That day, the weather was clear and fine. Customers trickled into the teahouse, and soon several tables were packed with patrons. Even those who arrived later mostly had to wait a while before a seat opened up.

"Boss Zhou, look, there's a teahouse! Let's go in and rest a bit."

As the words were spoken, four figures appeared on one of the fork roads.

They were three males and one female, all young. The girl looked to be only about ten years old, still very much a child.

These four were none other than Shen Zhou and the three little ones.

After setting out from White Sheep County, Shen Zhou and his group had traveled westward. At first, everything felt novel, and walking didn't seem like much of a chore. But once the novelty wore off, exhaustion set in.

Fortunately, they hadn't traveled too fast, and they'd even hitched a ride with a traveling merchant along the way, so they managed to hold up.

When they arrived at the teahouse, it was packed with customers and there were no empty seats, so the four of them waited under a large tree nearby.

As they waited, Ximei listlessly leaned against Shen Zhou to rest, while A Dai and San Mazi also looked wilted and lacking in energy.

Shen Zhou, on the other hand, wasn't too tired. He sat down against the tree and kept rubbing his right palm, then sighed. "Sigh... we've been walking for so many days, and I still don't know when we'll reach Flying Bird City. If I'd known, I would've bought a carriage back in White Sheep County before we left."

Hearing this, San Mazi perked up a bit and replied, "Boss, we're almost there. At most another day's walk. We might even be able to have a good meal at Hongbin Tower in Flying Bird City by tomorrow noon."

A Dai looked at him in surprise. "San Mazi, how come you seem so familiar with Flying Bird City?"

San Mazi grinned. "Strictly speaking, I'm from Flying Bird City. I only ended up wandering to White Sheep County later."

Shen Zhou asked curiously, "Then why did you go to White Sheep County? Was there no food to beg for in Flying Bird City?"

San Mazi: "Uh... no, it's just that there are too many strong people here, life is stressful, and it's hard to get by."

Shen Zhou and A Dai exchanged a glance.

Since when did even beggars care about whether a place was easy to get by in or not?

A Dai shook his head, then noticed Shen Zhou still rubbing his palm and said, "Boss Zhou, that 'sword' on your palm still hasn't rubbed off?"

At this, Shen Zhou let out a melancholy sigh.

Back when they were leaving White Sheep County, he'd been pondering the question, 'A wooden sword is a sword, so isn't an ink sword also a sword?' Later, to test it, he'd found some wild fruits and tender grass leaves in a roadside grove, mixed them together, squeezed out the juice, and drawn a sword on his right palm.

The result proved that an 'ink sword' was not a sword—at best, it was an ink painting.

In the end, he hadn't managed to exploit the bug. Aside from being a little disappointed, Shen Zhou hadn't thought much of it. But what he hadn't expected was that, whether it was the wild fruits or the grass that was the problem, the juice stain simply wouldn't wash off. The difficulty of removing it was almost comparable to that blue mark stamped on pig carcasses in his past life—it was utterly infuriating.

"Forget it. If it won't rub off, it won't rub off. It'll fade with time."

Seeing that the mark was still clear, Shen Zhou gave up completely.

Just then, some customers left the teahouse. Shen Zhou and his group quickly grabbed a seat and ordered a table full of food.

As they ate, San Mazi reminded him, "Oh right, Boss, we've spent quite a bit on this trip. We only have a little over a hundred taels of silver left now. Once we get to Flying Bird City, we're probably going to be short on money again."

Shen Zhou paused for a moment before replying, "It's fine. If worst comes to worst, we'll just challenge another martial arts school. Flying Bird City is a big city, so there should be plenty of training halls there."

San Mazi was stunned when he heard this. "Challenge again? Boss, this isn't some remote little county like White Sheep County. This is Flying Bird City, the biggest city in Nan Commandery. Let alone the martial schools, noble families, and merchant guilds in the city... even the rogue cultivators are a dime a dozen. If we mess up here, it could cause a huge disaster. Boss, let's play it safe."

Shen Zhou, however, didn't seem concerned. "Plenty of strong people? How strong can they be? Can any of them be stronger than me? Don't worry, it'll be fine!"

San Mazi was speechless.

He knew Shen Zhou was strong, but he didn't believe the latter was already powerful enough to take on a noble family—especially those with old monsters sitting at the helm. Those kinds of figures were the most terrifying.

But San Mazi had a lot he couldn't say, so he could only suppress these thoughts for now.

"Hyah!"

"Hyah!"

"Whoa!"

As they were eating, a group of people suddenly galloped down one of the fork roads in the distance.

There were about fifteen or sixteen of them, all dressed in dark green-black martial attire. They rode strange beast-horses, and the aura emanating from them was sharp and fierce, clearly indicating they were no ordinary cultivators.

When they reached the teahouse, the group reined in their mounts and stopped. A young man of about seventeen or eighteen jumped down first.

This young man was clearly the leader. His white brocade robes were especially eye-catching, and with his handsome features, cold gaze, and especially the overbearing air he exuded in every gesture, he was not to be underestimated.

Once inside the teahouse, he casually tossed out a ten-tael piece of red gold and ordered in a tone that brooked no argument, "Boss, I'm taking over your teahouse. Bring out your best wine and food, and be quick about it."

The shop owner was reluctant at first, but when he caught sight of the gold-inlaid jade pendant hanging from the young man's waist, engraved with the character 'Xu,' his heart skipped a beat. "Could it be the Xu family, one of the five great noble houses of Flying Bird City?"

Flying Bird City was teeming with experts and filled with countless families, but only five could truly be called 'noble houses.'

These five families weren't just powerful and influential in Flying Bird City—more importantly, each of them had at least three to five great experts at the Celestial Firmament Realm guarding their household. Without that, they couldn't hold their position among the 'Five Great Noble Houses.'

The Xu family was one of the newly ascended Five Great Noble Houses.

With that status, it was no wonder the young master was so arrogant.

As they spoke, the Xu family's young master's men had already begun shoving people out of the teahouse, drawing complaints from the customers.

Some were unwilling to give way, but they were no match for the sheer numbers and the backing of such a powerful family. Unable to afford a confrontation, they could only leave in frustration.

Soon, it was Shen Zhou's table's turn.

Seeing that Shen Zhou and his group were young, Young Master Xu's men took them even less seriously.

Three of them swaggered forward. One man reached out, grabbed San Mazi by the collar, and lifted him up, then shooed them away: "Scram, scram, scram... you little brats, get lost. This spot belongs to us big shots now!"

Shen Zhou and the others had been traveling for days, already exhausted and hungry. They'd waited a good while without a seat, and now, just as they started eating, they were being kicked out without reason. Who would put up with that?

So, before Shen Zhou could explode, San Mazi couldn't hold back and roared: "What do you think you're doing? Let me go. We got here first. Why should we leave?"

Seeing that San Mazi was putting up a fight, those Xu family men paused for a moment, then burst into loud laughter.

The guy holding San Mazi by the collar was especially unceremonious. He lifted San Mazi into the air, then said with a mocking grin: "Why? Because I'm from the Xu family, and because my fists are bigger than yours, got it? If you don't leave now, I won't go easy on you!"

With that, he casually tossed San Mazi aside.

"You... you..."

San Mazi got up from the ground, his face flushed red, but for the moment, he was helpless.

At that point, Shen Zhou finally stood up. He stared at the three men and said: "So, from what you just said, whoever has the bigger fists is in the right?"

The man glanced contemptuously at Shen Zhou and said: "What, you little brat not convinced?"

"That's right!"

"Oh ho, a stubborn one. Then let me—"

"Go to hell!"

Before the man could finish, Shen Zhou flipped his palm, and a short wooden sword, about a handspan long, instantly appeared in his grip.

This little wooden sword was something he'd modified earlier on the road because carrying a full-length longsword was too troublesome. This way, it was easy to carry and easy to hide.

He had more on his waist and legs, just extra preparations—better safe than sorry.

The moment the wooden sword was in hand, power surged through his entire body.

Then he spun around, jumped onto the table, kicked out, and sent the man flying—all in one smooth motion.

Crack!

The sound of ribs breaking rang out. That Xu family henchman was sent flying, landing more than ten meters away, rolling three times before spitting up blood nonstop. Then he twitched a couple of times and went still.

It all happened so fast that the other two Xu family men didn't even react in time.

Once they steadied themselves, they roared in fury: "You dare to throw a punch?"

Slap! Slap!

Without a word, Shen Zhou swung his hand and delivered two resounding slaps, knocking them to the ground. Then, looking down at them, he said: "You just said it yourselves—whoever has the bigger fists is in the right. Unfortunately for you, my fists aren't small either!"

Clatter, clatter, clatter...

The commotion finally drew the attention of the other Xu family members. In an instant, over a dozen men surrounded them, all with hostile looks.

One of them stepped forward, staring coldly at Shen Zhou: "Kid, who are you? Daring to lay a hand on the Xu family—are you tired of living?"

Facing the encirclement, Shen Zhou showed no sign of panic. He said: "So what if it's the Xu family? Does being the Xu family mean you can act lawlessly and unreasonably? I hit them, and now what? What are you gonna do about it?"

The Xu family men's eyes widened.

Usually, they were the ones throwing their weight around. Today, something was off—someone actually dared to throw it back at them!

Some wanted to act, but then thought of something. They all turned and looked toward that White-clad Young Master.

That Young Master Xu had already sat down at a table. He'd seen everything that happened, but he didn't seem bothered. He just poured himself some tea and said casually: "Since you've already started fighting, don't stop. Didn't he say whoever has the bigger fists is in the right? Then weigh him up—see just how big his fists really are!"

The bystanders who had been chased away earlier couldn't help but shiver at those words.

Though it was just a simple sentence or two, the arrogance, tyranny, and confidence this Young Master Xu revealed sent chills down their spines.

The power of a noble clan was plain to see!

Shen Zhou frowned slightly and muttered: "This guy's really putting on airs, huh?"

With the order given, the Xu family men no longer held back.

A young martial artist stepped forward first and said: "Kid, let me see what you're made of. Make your move!"

Seeing the Xu family men pull back into a circle, as if tacitly allowing a one-on-one spar, Shen Zhou suddenly grinned. He said: "Good, very good. I love unreasonable people the most, because that means I can be even more unreasonable. But... you taking turns one by one—do you think I'm playing games with you?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Shen Zhou's expression shifted. He casually swung the short wooden sword in his hand, and with a whoosh, a sword light over ten meters long swept out horizontally.

"What? Sword light?"

"Shit, fall back!"

"This kid's an expert!"

The Xu family men's faces twisted in shock. By the time they tried to retreat, it was already too late.

The sword light swept through everything in its path.

Those Xu family disciples who had been waiting to take turns were instantly sent flying, trailing a series of blood blossoms through the air—a gruesome sight.

Shen Zhou's figure flickered, and in the next moment, he was standing right in front of that Young Master Xu.

Catch the thief by catching the king!

Then, under the latter's shocked and disbelieving gaze, he grabbed him with one hand and yanked him in front of himself, before ruthlessly slapping him twice across the face without mercy.

"What the hell are you putting on airs for? Weigh me? Come on, you weigh me..."

"Come on, weigh me!"

"Young Master Xu was stunned by the beating.

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