Cruelty

It went without saying why Wang Long and the others had come looking for him.

Qin Fang fell silent for a while, then tamped down the restlessness in his heart. Since he could no longer avoid it, he might as well lay everything out and see what happened.

"About this, I must sincerely apologize to you, big brothers... You all saw what state I was in at the time. I truly had no other choice, so... I did deceive you. But I remember the life-saving favor you did me. I'll repay you in the future."

Qin Fang simply came out and said it.

At his words, Wang Long and the others' expressions darkened at once.

"So... you really did lie to me back then?" Wang Long asked, his face gloomy.

"Yes." Qin Fang nodded.

"You didn't have any gold left outside the city?" the man with the mole beside his mouth asked urgently.

"No." Qin Fang shook his head. "I'm just a homeless refugee. The gold chain I gave you all that day was something I'd happened upon by chance. I'd meant to keep it for a rainy day once I'd settled down. But I gave it to you that day, so I really don't have any left."

"Then why the hell did you say there was more outside the city?!" someone asked angrily.

After a moment of silence, Qin Fang replied, "If I hadn't said that, would you have saved me?"

The question left everyone there silent.

If they hadn't been hoping for more gold... would they have gone out of their way to save him?

When they first took Qin Fang away, they hadn't brought him to Spring Return Hall, but to one of their temporary hideouts. That alone proved they hadn't intended to save him at all.

Besides, even then, they'd vaguely suspected Qin Fang might be lying.

But greed had given them room to hope, to think, What if he really does have more?

That was why they'd spared no expense to get him treated.

Now that hope had been dashed.

One could imagine how they felt.

"Kid, I'm afraid this won't be easy to settle... Now tell me, what do you think I should do with you?"

Wang Long's face turned completely grim. He stared at Qin Fang, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

Clearly, Qin Fang's trickery had sent him into a blazing rage.

"I was forced into it. I truly never meant to toy with you."

Qin Fang drew a deep breath and lowered himself as much as he could. "But it's a fact that you saved me. I'll remember this great kindness, and I'll repay you in the future."

"Repay me? What can you possibly give me?"

"For now, I really can't give you anything... But if you'll just give me some time, once I've settled down in True Martial County, there'll naturally be plenty of benefits in it for you, big brothers."

Qin Fang spoke earnestly.

"Hahaha, once you've found your footing in True Martial County, you'll repay us then?"

Wang Long burst out laughing, then his expression abruptly fell. "Kid, do you take me for a fool?!"

Before Qin Fang could say another word, Wang Long strode right up to him.

Qin Fang's heart lurched. Before he could speak, Wang Long had already swung a slap at him.

It was lightning-fast. Qin Fang flinched and instinctively raised his left arm to block, but the next moment, a bang rang out, and the force sent his whole body flying.

Bang!

His back slammed hard into the doorframe. He let out a muffled groan, pain flaring through his back as he crumpled to the ground.

The blow hadn't hit his face because Qin Fang had managed to block it with his arm in time.

But the arm that took the hit throbbed as if it had been broken.

In an instant, cold sweat covered Qin Fang's forehead.

Wang Long had struck without warning, giving him no chance to react.

The pain left him unable to speak. All he could do was look up at Wang Long.

Wang Long crouched down and stared at Qin Fang, cruelty surfacing in his eyes. "Kid, let me teach you something. If you give your word, you have to keep it. If you don't, you'll pay the price."

Before Qin Fang could speak, Wang Long grabbed one of his fingers.

Qin Fang's face changed, but Wang Long gave him no chance to say anything. He wrenched it back hard!

Crack!!

A sharp snap rang out.

Qin Fang couldn't hold back a scream.

Wang Long had snapped the index finger on his left hand!

The searing pain made Qin Fang's eyes fly wide. For a moment, he couldn't even speak.

Only then did Wang Long release him, satisfied. Qin Fang's left index finger had twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Call that a little lesson. You ought to remember not to go around lying to people now, right?"

Wang Long smiled menacingly, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth.

But Qin Fang could no longer speak. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead as he curled up on the ground, clutching his left hand.

"One finger to teach you a lesson. But we're not done yet."

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Didn't you take Old Wu as your master? Good. I'll give you three days... Three days from now, have fifty... no, one hundred taels of silver ready for me, and we'll call it even. Otherwise..."

He gave a cold smile. "Kid, you've still got plenty of fingers and toes... We can take our time."

After that, he glanced around and sneered. "Old Wu treats you pretty well, doesn't he? I hear he even fixed up your house especially for you lately. One hundred taels of silver shouldn't be much for Old Wu, right?"

Qin Fang curled up on the ground, clutching his broken finger. The pain left him unable to speak.

"Go look around. See if there's anything worth taking."

Wang Long gave the order coolly.

At his words, the others all sneered, then barged straight into Qin Fang's house.

Before long, the sound of clattering and smashing rang out. They deliberately smashed the tables, chairs, and stools... Clearly, this sort of thing was right up their alley.

In no time at all, the house that had just begun to feel like a home was left in complete disarray. Qin Fang even saw Mole-Face deliberately stomp on the table again and again, stopping only when the tabletop finally broke.

The teapot and other things Elder Wu had brought were tossed carelessly to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Oh, you can even afford meat? That's a huge piece. Just right—our mouths have been so starved for the taste of meat these past few days."

Someone came out of the kitchen carrying a long strip of pork.

His master had only brought it over yesterday.

Qin Fang held back his labored breaths and turned his head to look, saying nothing.

Wang Long's voice rang out again. "Kid, maybe you really had no choice back then, and you were only trying to stay alive. But I don't owe you a damn thing. You came to me and made a promise, so you have to keep it. Isn't that right?"

"Remember, you've only got three days. If you don't have the silver after three days..."

Wang Long didn't finish, but his two cold laughs said it all.

Qin Fang struggled to look at Wang Long. The mockery and cruelty in his eyes were plain as day.

Qin Fang said nothing more. Wang Long gave another cold laugh and stood up.

"Enough. We'll come back in three days. We ought to give him a chance to raise the money, shouldn't we? Let's go."

Wang Long got up and left. The others followed, wearing vicious smiles as they cursed their way out.

"Trying to play dirty? I was using tricks like that while this kid was still pissing in the dirt and making mud pies."

"Hahaha."

As Mole-Face passed Qin Fang, he even kicked him where he lay before chuckling and leaving.

At last, Wang Long and the others were gone.

Qin Fang lay on the ground for a long while before slowly getting back to his feet.

He clenched his left hand and looked down. His index finger was twisted at an unnatural angle, and the pain kept surging through it.

His gaze swept around... The room he'd just finished fixing up was now a complete mess. The teapot, tables, chairs, and stools his master had brought had all been deliberately wrecked.

Qin Fang knew they hadn't done it just to cause damage. More than anything, they meant to intimidate him.

He slowly got up and walked to the kitchen.

The kitchen was a mess too. They'd even smashed a huge hole in the pot with a brick. The bowls on the stove had also been broken and scattered across the floor.

Qin Fang slowly turned his head toward the gate.

He tightened his grip on the flying dart he'd been hiding in his right hand.

Then, without stopping, he clutched his left wrist and walked straight out of the courtyard.

His eyes fixed on the men who were nearly at the end of the alley.

His face expressionless, he left the gate open and, still clutching his wrist, slowly followed them.