Causing Trouble

Qin Fang was stunned for a moment, but immediately after, as if realizing something, he looked at Old Wu in surprise.

After hesitating for a while, he finally nodded slightly at him, then closed his eyes.

Old Wu was somewhat surprised by the series of reactions Qin Fang displayed before closing his eyes.

But seeing his gaunt, filth-covered frame, riddled with scars, he fell silent again.

He began to pack up, bundling his small knives and other tools together and tucking them under his arm before walking to the door and opening it.

Several members of the Iron Tiger Gang were waiting outside.

When Wang Hu saw the door open, his eyes lit up, and he immediately asked impatiently, "Is it done? Is he awake?"

Old Wu's cold voice drifted into Qin Fang's ears: "Awake? Do you really think I'm a deity? With wounds this severe and a fever... it's still uncertain whether he'll even pull through."

"Huh?"

Several surprised voices rang out, followed by the voice of the man with the mole on his lip—the one who had previously doubted if Qin Fang still had any money: "He won't die even after being sent to you, will he? Wouldn't that mean we've suffered a huge loss?"

"Old Wu, you've already taken the money. No matter what, you have to save him... at least make him wake up."

The burly man with a face full of flab was also getting anxious.

"If you doubt me, take him away right now. But I've already administered the medicine, and you know the rules: medical fees are non-refundable."

Old Wu clearly had a temper as well, and he immediately made his stance clear.

"Hey, no, no, how could we not trust you? Who doesn't know you are the famous Yama's Rival in our True Martial?"

Seeing Old Wu lose his temper, and seemingly afraid that he might actually stop the treatment, someone immediately began to curry favor.

Old Wu let out a cold snort before saying, "Since that's the case, don't be impatient. What's the rush?"

The men muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Alright, alright, scatter, scatter."

The old man finally spoke again.

"What about this guy?" the man with the mole asked hesitantly.

"What? Do you want to carry him back?" the old man asked. Before they could answer, he continued, "Fine, fine, take him away, take him away. Go find someone else more capable; I don't have the energy to waste on this..."

"No, no, don't, please don't be angry, that's not what we meant."

"I don't care what you meant. Once he's carried away, don't bring him back. Otherwise, if he dies, who is to blame? You lot figure that out yourselves."

Old Wu's voice gradually faded into the distance.

After a long while, someone asked hesitantly, "Brother Dragon, what do we do?"

Brother Dragon hesitated for a good while before gritting his teeth and saying, "Forget it. We've already sent him here and spent the silver. Either way, it's only a matter of three or five days... let's wait a bit longer."

"Damn it, we spent a full ten taels of silver to save this brat, and his chain was factored in too. If this kid dares to play us... hmph!"

Someone grumbled.

Clearly, although they were driven by greed to save him, they were actually feeling uneasy.

After all, until the silver was in hand, anything could happen.

It was just that they were more willing to believe that the other party still had money.

"Alright, alright, damn it, a whole day's work for nothing. Let's go, let's go, we'll come back to check tomorrow..."

Brother Dragon gave the order, and the sound of their discussion faded away.

Inside the room, Qin Fang finally let out a long sigh of relief and slowly opened his eyes.

The room was quiet; he was all alone.

He looked around the room. It was small, and there wasn't much to see. The old man had blown out the oil lamp when he left, and only the moonlight filtering through the window lattice broke the darkness.

Qin Fang stared blankly for a while before his brow furrowed again.

His physical condition was terrible; he felt sore, aching, and his head was dizzy.

He knew his safety was only temporary.

These people were clearly no good, and they were members of some gang.

Once they discovered he had no money left, he feared...

A gloomy look flashed in the depths of Qin Fang's eyes.

But there was no other way.

His body couldn't hold on any longer; he had to find a way to seek medical help.

There were too many people at the settlement, and he had to find a way to leave.

But refugees weren't allowed to leave the settlement, and there were people patrolling everywhere to stop them.

He had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure: finding the ones who looked the most greedy and using that greed to lure them into saving him.

It was the optimal solution under the circumstances at the time.

What else could he do?

Find a real "good Samaritan"?

Look at the bodies strewn all over the refugee settlement.

Where would a real good Samaritan even come from... and why would he be lucky enough to run into one?

...A life of exile had made Qin Fang see through many things.

When it came to human nature, he dared not trust easily.

Better to rely on greed than on kindness!

The gold necklace was something he had scavenged from a dead refugee, and he had kept it hidden inside his crutch ever since.

Aside from that, where else would he have any money?

He had no choice but to deceive them.

Otherwise, there was a high probability they would simply take the chain and leave him there to wait for death...

Still, for the moment, he was safe.

But what about afterward?

Qin Fang's mind wandered aimlessly.

Gradually, his body began to feel uncomfortable again.

He hadn't eaten for another whole day, yet he didn't feel particularly hungry at this moment...

This showed just how dire his physical condition had become.

Forget it.

He couldn't think that far ahead right now; he would just have to cross that bridge when he came to it.

At the very least, he had to survive.

His gaze gradually hardened.

He had persisted through the entire journey of exile, and now that he had survived the "natural disaster," he was determined to live!

In a daze, he drifted into a deep sleep.

When he woke again, Qin Fang was roused by a series of chaotic noises.

The clamor poured into his ears, now distant, now near, causing him to knit his brows before slowly opening his eyes.

It was chaotic outside, with faint sounds of moaning and weeping.

Qin Fang stared blankly, taking a long time to regain his senses before instinctively looking toward the door.

The crying outside merged into a chorus, punctuated by occasional shouting.

What was going on?

He hadn't fully processed the situation when the door creaked open. An old man with a furrowed brow hurried in, his eyes locking onto Qin Fang's.

Qin Fang recognized him; it was Old Wu who had saved him yesterday.

As the door was pushed open, the chaotic noise from outside surged in, growing even louder.

"Awake? How are you feeling?"

Old Wu was stunned for a moment before asking Qin Fang.

Qin Fang checked his body; it felt significantly better than before. His wounds felt cool and refreshing, no longer aching quite so sharply.

He was still weak and terribly sore, though.

At least his head didn't hurt as much... it seemed the fever had broken.

"A lot better than before..."

Qin Fang replied, though his voice remained raspy.

He then instinctively looked toward the door behind the man. The daylight outside was bright, and the shouting was incessant.

"What's happening out there?"

Old Wu remained silent for a short while before saying calmly, "A group of refugees suddenly rioted, causing many casualties."

"What?"

Qin Fang's expression shifted slightly.

Almost instantly, the faces of those people from the previous group flashed through his mind.

"Why did they suddenly riot?"

Qin Fang's brows were tightly locked.

"I don't know... I won't say more. Rest easy; I'll have someone bring you some food in a bit."

Old Wu clearly didn't know the reason either. Without further comment, he rummaged through the room, grabbed a few things, and turned to leave.

Watching Old Wu's hurried footsteps, Qin Fang frowned, listening to the commotion outside.

A riot without a cause?

His intuition told him that this likely had everything to do with that group of people!