The beggars scattered like birds and beasts, leaving the area in front of Zhang Xiu much clearer. He couldn't help thinking, Flag Commander Lin looks kind enough, but he sure knows how to scare people.
Even so, a woman in tattered clothes came toward them. Her face was sorrowful as she walked, gesturing with her hands and murmuring, "My lord, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he likes to smile. He wears a Peachwood Peace Talisman around his neck."
When no one answered, she simply passed the right side of Lin Xuan's carriage and continued asking the empty air:
"My lord, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he likes to smile. He wears a Peachwood Peace Talisman around his neck."
A trace of pity stirred in Zhang Xiu's heart. Unlike the way he'd treated the other wicked beggars, he looked at her with sympathy and muttered indignantly, "Another poor soul whose child was snatched by kidnappers! Those bastards deserve to be hacked to pieces and have their corpses chopped into a thousand bits!"
"Another? Has this sort of thing happened often in Wuqu Province, a major hub between north and south?" Lin Xuan lifted the carriage curtain and looked at the woman in front of them.
She was still gesturing at the empty air, murmuring, "My lord, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he likes to smile..."
Zhang Xiu nodded. "Yes. Places this big are hard to govern. They're full of filth and corruption. It's not like a little place such as Liang City. There aren't as many people, but it's easier to manage."
Lin Xuan sighed softly. In his previous life, technology and information were so advanced, yet it was still incredibly difficult to find children once they'd been kidnapped. There was even less hope now. Once a child was snatched by kidnappers, the odds of seeing them again were slim.
"Your son? He's probably dead! Hahaha!" The wicked beggar Zhang Xiu had just whipped had been holding in his anger, unable to find a way to vent it. Now, seeing the madwoman behaving like a lunatic, he couldn't resist mocking her.
At that, Lin Xuan grabbed a military baton, climbed down from the carriage, and fixed his eyes on the beggar.
"Mi... military lord... Did you need something from me?"
Before he could finish, the iron baton slammed into his abdomen. Lin Xuan struck him in the gut, sending the wicked beggar flying half a zhang.
"Pfft!" The beggar spat out a mouthful of blood.
The Beggar Sect members who'd been scattering in every direction froze in place. Their faces turned deathly pale, and they fell silent as cicadas in winter.
They usually strutted through the streets, extorting passersby and bullying the weak. Backed by their numbers and shamelessness, they were so brazen that even ordinary peddlers and low-ranking constables avoided provoking them. They'd never imagined that this young military lord, who looked so mild-mannered, could strike with such ruthless force.
Half a zhang away, the ragged madwoman seemed not to hear a thing. She continued to shuffle about in a daze, her hands futilely sketching the shape of a child as she repeated the same words over and over:
"My lord, have you seen my son? His name is Fu Bao. He's about this tall, with fair skin, and he likes to smile..."
Sitting in the carriage, Zhang Xiu had completely abandoned his earlier impression of Lin Xuan as "kind and mild-mannered." All that remained was awe.
Passersby stopped and looked over. Some secretly nodded in satisfaction. The Beggar Sect's wicked beggars had oppressed the streets for a long time, stirring up public resentment. At last, someone had stepped in to punish them!
But others looked on with numb indifference. They glanced over before lowering their heads and hurrying along, long accustomed to the bullying, suffering, and violence in this city.
As for the archers at the city gate, they heard the commotion and turned to look. They were baffled and annoyed. "Who's that? Bold enough to cause trouble right here at the city gate?"
But after taking one look at Lin Xuan's clothes, they recognized the standard attire of a Garrison officer.
He also had a military baton in his hand, so they merely glanced at him, then looked away and pretended they hadn't seen a thing.
"Oh, it's a military lord. Then it's fine."
Lin Xuan glanced down at the wicked beggar lying on the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. His voice was calm.
"You're strong and healthy, with all four limbs intact, yet you won't earn your own living.
"Instead, you gang up with others to do evil, bully the old and weak, and mock those who are suffering!
"That blow was a lesson. Think about what you've done."
With that, he didn't spare the groaning beggar another glance. His eyes settled on the madwoman, still wandering without purpose, and a heavy, indescribable sadness welled up inside him.
He'd held back just now, using only two-tenths of his strength. Otherwise, that wicked beggar would have been lucky to die on the spot. The worst he could have hoped for was to be bruised black and blue, inside and out.
"Let's go find an inn," Lin Xuan instructed Zhang Xiu.
Soon, the two arrived at an inn. Zhang Xiu took out some money and booked one upper-grade room and one lower-grade room. The money had, of course, come from Thousand-Household Commander Su, who had ordered Zhang Xiu to look after Lin Xuan along the way. Whatever money was left over would be Zhang Xiu's own pay.
Zhang Xiu had originally intended to book one middle-grade room and one lower-grade room, and pocket a little extra pay.
But after seeing what Lin Xuan had done, he felt a deep respect for him. So he secretly upgraded Lin Xuan's room by one tier. Lin Xuan deserved it, he thought.
The inn's main hall was bustling when they entered, filled mostly with merchants and people from the martial world.
Lin Xuan chose a seat by the window. His gaze kept drifting toward the street outside, though the woman had long since vanished into the crowd.
With his martial strength, he could punish evil and uphold justice, but he couldn't cure the hardships of ordinary people.
"Flag Commander Lin, it's getting late. Let's get something to eat. I asked the waiter for a menu. See what you'd like."
Lin Xuan snapped out of his daze, took the paper menu, and ordered several of the more expensive dishes.
Zhang Xiu's face suddenly went pale, and he looked a little awkward. If he had to pay for all this, Thousand-Household Commander Su's money wouldn't cover it. He'd have to pay some out of his own pocket.
But then Lin Xuan said, "I'll pay for this meal, Uncle Zhang. You've worked hard driving me all this way these past two days."
Zhang Xiu let out a breath of relief, and a smile immediately appeared on his face. "W-what are you saying? Being entrusted with escorting you is an honor."
They ate, drank, and waited for tomorrow.
"You mean... you picked a fight with a military lord?" The Beggar King of Wuqu Province could hardly believe his ears when he heard his subordinate's story.
The man standing before him was the very wicked beggar Lin Xuan had struck with a baton that afternoon. He'd turned it over and over in his mind, but he still couldn't swallow his anger, so he'd come to the Beggar King.
"That's right, boss. Can you teach him a lesson?"
The Beggar King flew into a rage. He punched his subordinate right in the face. "Damn you! I'll teach you a lesson first!"
"What an idiot.
"If a serving officer wanted to wipe out our beggar den, it'd be as easy as crushing a nest of ants.
"Damn it, you picked a fight with him, and now you expect me to help you get revenge?"
The wicked beggar was dazed from the beating. He'd already been badly injured, and now the Beggar King was punching and kicking him too. Before long, he stopped breathing.
When the Beggar King saw that the man was dead, he didn't panic in the slightest. "Carry him out tomorrow morning and say he starved to death."
Before you continue