That's Nothing

The beggars scattered like birds and beasts, leaving the space in front of Zhang Xiu much clearer. He couldn't help but muse to himself, Flag Commander Lin looks so gentle, yet he certainly knows how to intimidate people.

However, a ragged woman still approached, her face etched with sorrow. As she walked, she gestured with her hands and muttered, "Kind sir, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he loves to smile. He wears a peach-wood peace charm around his neck."

When no one responded, she simply drifted past the right side of Lin Xuan's carriage and continued asking the empty air, "Kind sir, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he loves to smile. He wears a peach-wood peace charm around his neck."

A sense of pity stirred in Zhang Xiu's heart. Unlike his attitude toward the vicious beggars earlier, he muttered indignantly, "Another poor soul whose child was snatched by traffickers! These kidnappers deserve to be hacked into ten thousand pieces!"

"Another? As a major hub between the north and south, does this happen often in Wuqu Province?" Lin Xuan lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the woman.

She was still gesturing at the air, muttering, "Kind sir, have you seen my son? He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he loves to smile..."

Zhang Xiu nodded. "Yes, it's precisely these large places that are hard to manage. They hide all sorts of filth. It's not like a small place like Liang City, where there are fewer people and it's easier to keep order."

Lin Xuan sighed softly. In his past life, with such advanced technology and information, it was already difficult to find abducted children, let alone now. Once taken by traffickers, they were often lost forever.

"Your son? He's probably dead, ha-ha!" The vicious beggar who had just been whipped by Zhang Xiu, still nursing his resentment, couldn't help but jeer when he saw the madwoman's frantic state.

Hearing this, Lin Xuan grabbed his military staff, stepped off the carriage, and stared at the beggar.

"M-military officer... do you need something from me?"

Before he could finish, the iron staff struck his abdomen. Lin Xuan delivered a blow that sent the beggar flying half a zhang away.

"Pfft!" The beggar spat out a mouthful of blood.

The surrounding members of the Beggar Sect, who had been scattering, froze in place, their faces turning deathly pale as they fell into a terrified silence.

They were used to running rampant in the streets, extorting passersby and bullying the weak. Relying on their numbers, they were so brazen that even local vendors and low-level bailiffs avoided them. They had never imagined that this young officer, who looked so gentle, would be so ruthless.

Half a zhang away, the ragged madwoman remained oblivious, continuing to shuffle along with a vacant expression, her hands futilely tracing the shape of a child as she repeated her murmur: "Kind sir, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he loves to smile..."

Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Xiu completely discarded his initial impression of Lin Xuan as "gentle and mild," replaced by a heart full of awe.

Pedestrians on the street stopped to watch. Some nodded in secret approval; these beggars had bullied the market for so long that everyone harbored deep resentment, and it was a relief to see someone finally punish them.

Others, however, looked on with numb indifference, hurrying past with their heads down, long since accustomed to the bullying, suffering, and violence of the city.

As for the archers at the city gate, they turned at the sound of the commotion, feeling both annoyed and curious. "Who is that? Bold enough to cause trouble right at the city gate?"

But after one look at Lin Xuan's attire—the standard daily uniform of a Garrison officer—and the military staff in his hand, they simply glanced away and pretended they had seen nothing.

"Oh, it's just a military officer. Nothing to worry about."

Lin Xuan looked down at the beggar, who was lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping for air. His voice was calm.

"You are strong and healthy, yet you refuse to earn an honest living. Instead, you band together to commit evil, bully the old and weak, and mock the suffering! This blow today is a lesson. Reflect on it."

With that, he didn't spare the groaning beggar another glance. His gaze fell upon the wandering madwoman, and a heavy, indescribable gloom settled in his heart.

He had held back his strength with that strike—using only twenty percent of his power. Otherwise, the beggar would have been lucky to be dead on the spot; at worst, he would have been reduced to a pulp of bruises.

"Let's go. We need to find an inn," Lin Xuan instructed Zhang Xiu.

Soon, the two arrived at an inn. Zhang Xiu took out the money to book one superior room and one inferior room. This money had been provided by Thousand-Household Commander Su, who had ordered him to look after Lin Xuan along the way; whatever remained was to be Zhang Xiu's reward.

Zhang Xiu had originally intended to book a medium room and an inferior room to keep more of the reward for himself. But after witnessing Lin Xuan's actions, he felt a surge of respect and secretly upgraded Lin Xuan's room, deciding he was worth it.

Stepping into the lobby, they were met with a cacophony of voices from merchants and martial artists.

Lin Xuan found a seat by the window, his gaze drifting back to the street, though the woman had long since vanished into the crowd.

His martial prowess could punish the wicked and aid the good, but it could not cure the deep-seated suffering of the people.

"Flag Commander Lin, it's getting late. Let's eat. I asked the waiter for the menu; see what you'd like."

Lin Xuan stopped his brooding, took the paper menu, and ordered a few of the more expensive dishes.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiu's face turned pale with embarrassment. If he had to pay for these, not only would the money from Thousand-Household Commander Su be insufficient, but he would have to dip into his own pockets.

But then he heard Lin Xuan say, "I'll cover the cost of this meal. Uncle Zhang, thank you for driving me all the way here these past two days."

Zhang Xiu felt a wave of relief, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. "N-not at all! It is my honor to take on the task of escorting you."

The two ate and drank, waiting for the morrow.

"You're saying... you provoked a military officer?" The Beggar King of Wuqu Province heard his subordinate's report and couldn't help but doubt his own ears.

The man across from him was the same beggar who had been struck by Lin Xuan earlier. He had mulled it over and over, unable to swallow his anger, and had come to find the Beggar King.

"Yes, Boss! Can you teach him a lesson for me?"

The Beggar King flew into a rage upon hearing this, greeting his subordinate's face with a heavy punch: "Damn it all, let me teach you a lesson first!"

"You are truly stupid to the core.

For the current military official, destroying our den of beggars would be as simple as crushing a nest of ants.

Damn it all, it was bad enough that you provoked him, but you actually want me to help you take revenge?"

The wicked beggar was left dazed by the blows; already severely wounded, he succumbed to the Beggar King's relentless kicking and gradually stopped breathing.

Seeing the man was dead, the Beggar King felt not a shred of panic: "Carry him out tomorrow morning and say he starved to death."