The Escort

The West District of the Outer City, the slaughterhouse.

Li Yun had barely stepped inside when a wave of stench hit him.

The smell of blood, the stench of rot, and the sour reek of livestock droppings all mingled together.

The slaughterhouse was a cacophony of noise.

The dull thud of cleavers chopping bone, the workers' shouts, and the scrape of iron hooks dragging chunks of meat all blended into one.

People bustled back and forth inside, all of them broad-shouldered butchers.

Dark red beads of blood dangled from the butcher knives at their waists, and blackened bloodstains and grease crusted their coarse clothes.

When they raised their hands to wipe away sweat, their fingers were smeared with black and red grime.

Li Yun stopped a worker carrying half a pig carcass and cupped his hands in greeting.

"May I ask if Steward Lu Yongfeng is here?"

The worker stopped and looked Li Yun up and down.

The man before him wore a short jacket washed so pale it had nearly lost its color. The fabric was ordinary, but his posture was upright and his eyes clear.

He was obviously no ordinary person.

The worker jerked his chin toward the inner rooms.

"They're getting a shipment ready, so Steward Lu should be inside checking the accounts."

Following the worker's directions, Li Yun headed deeper inside.

At the end of the passage was a room with its door open.

There was a square table inside, and behind it sat a man in his forties or fifties, head bowed as he fiddled with the abacus on the account book.

Li Yun reached the doorway and rapped twice on the frame with a knuckle.

The man looked up. Seeing Li Yun, he asked in some confusion, "Who are you?"

"My name is Li Yun. I've come to take up an attachment."

Li Yun remained still, his tone steady.

At the words "take up an attachment," the confusion in Lu Yongfeng's eyes eased somewhat. He nodded.

"You're Lu Kuan's junior fellow disciple, Li Yun?"

"That's right."

As he spoke, Li Yun took a letter of recommendation from inside his robe and handed it over.

Lu Yongfeng took it, glanced over the paper, then casually set it on the corner of the table and got straight to the point.

"Come to the slaughterhouse every day at the hour of the Tiger, and deliver the meat to the designated location before the hour of the Dragon.

Your monthly pay is five taels, plus ten jin of meat.

Any questions?"

"No."

"Zhuo Yong."

Lu Yongfeng nodded and called out.

Then he turned to Li Yun.

"You'll be on Zhuo Yong's team for now. Get familiar with the process, then make the deliveries on your own starting tomorrow."

"I didn't expect you to take up this attachment too, Junior Brother Li."

"I had no choice. If I didn't go out and earn some money, I wouldn't even be able to pay next term's tuition."

Even a hero could be brought low by poverty, and a single coin could stump a true champion.

At the mention of money, Zhuo Yong sighed too.

"Come on, let's talk as we walk. I've been doing this for over a year. I'll give you a rough idea of how it works."

Li Yun followed Zhuo Yong out of the slaughterhouse. Behind them, two workers bent over and strained together to pull a flatbed cart.

The meat was lashed tightly to the wooden boards with coarse hemp rope. Dark red blood seeped through the gaps and gathered in a small puddle beside the wheels.

Once they left the slaughterhouse gate, Zhuo Yong didn't head for the bustling main road. Instead, he turned into a narrow alley nearby.

"For this run, we have to cut through the alleys of the West District of the Outer City, pass through the Inner City gate, and deliver the meat to a stall on the western side of the Inner City.

Taking the main road would slow us down a lot.

People buying meat aren't going to wait that long."

Zhuo Yong paused, his tone carrying a hint of something hard to put into words.

"They hire us because we take the alleys.

You'll understand when you see it."

The four of them followed the alley inward, and the farther they went, the narrower it became.

Their feet crunched along the uneven dirt path, while the cart wheels ground over loose stones with a creaking, grating sound.

Here and there, beggars huddled beneath the walls on either side of the alley.

Their clothes were ragged, patch upon patch.

They were skin and bones, their eyes dull and lifeless.

As the rumble of the cart drew closer, the beggars, who had been listless moments before, suddenly seemed to awaken.

The dullness in their eyes gave way to a glimmer of light, and they all turned to stare at the meat on the cart.

Desperate hunger surged in their eyes. Some couldn't help shifting in place, low whimpers rising from their throats.

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Zhuo Yong stiffened, his back and shoulders held taut. His clenched fists bulged with veins, and he let the fierce aura of his body spill out without restraint.

His ruthless gaze swept over the beggars huddled beneath the walls, carrying an undisguised threat.

The beggars' movements stalled under the pressure of his presence.

But the hunger in their eyes didn't fade in the slightest.

Unlike Zhuo Yong, who stood ready for a fight, the two workers seemed quite relaxed.

They knew that with the hired martial artists there, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Besides, Zhuo Yong wasn't the only one on this run. Li Yun was with them too.

With two martial artists present, even the maddest beggars couldn't stir up trouble.

Li Yun furrowed his brow slightly.

He wasn't afraid. With his strength at the Body Tempering Realm, a few ordinary, bare-handed men couldn't even get near him.

Much less this bunch of beggars who were starving until they were nothing but skin and bones.

If it came to a fight, dealing with them would be as easy as taking care of a group of toddlers.

Unless he ran out of stamina, he had nothing to fear, no matter how many came.

What he was wondering was how much strength he should use if a fight really broke out.

When people starved until food was all they could see, the force driving them could often overpower their fear of death.

In a situation like this, if someone took the lead, it was possible they would rush the cart.

A quarter of an hour earlier.

"Brother Xu, are we... are we really going to steal it?

Those martial artists escorting the meat look fierce. They could beat us to death!"

In the shadow beneath the alley wall, two beggars huddled close, their heads nearly touching as they kept their voices low as a mosquito's buzz.

The one asking was a young man who was little more than skin and bones.

His cheekbones jutted out, his lips were cracked and peeling, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

Xu Zhiyong, the one they called Brother Xu, was a little sturdier than him. Mud smeared his face, but his eyes held a shrewd, ruthless glint.

He raised a hand to wipe his face, rubbed his fingertips against the corner of his mouth, and slowly nodded.

His voice dropped even lower, coaxing.

"Xiao Fang, do you want to eat meat?"

"Yes!"

Fang Ming blurted out the answer, then immediately shrank his neck. The desire in his eyes was swallowed by fear.

"B-but I don't want to get beaten to death."

"Don't worry. You won't die."

Xu Zhiyong nudged his waist with an elbow, a calculating smile curling his lips.

"I didn't tell you to charge straight at them. That'd be no different from throwing your life away.

We need to come up with a plan."

Fang Ming's eyes brightened a little, and the fear on his face faded. His voice still sounded weak.

"As long as I don't get beaten to death, it's worth dying for a bite of meat."

"It's not that serious."

Xu Zhiyong cut him off. He flicked a quick glance at the beggars huddled around them, his eyes darting as he lowered his voice.

"See them?

When the time comes, we'll blend in with the crowd and stir things up with a few words.

We'll say, 'The meat's right there. Grab a piece and you can stay alive.'

Once someone takes the lead, they'll all rush in like a swarm."

"No matter how skilled the martial artist is, he's only one person. He can't cover one side without leaving the other exposed, so things are bound to turn into a mess.

We'll use the chaos to sneak a piece of meat.

Don't get greedy. Just one piece.

Once we have it, we'll run down a side alley. I guarantee no one will catch us."

Fang Ming's eyes grew brighter as he listened. The timidity he'd shown earlier was gradually smothered by his hunger for meat.

He nodded hard and swallowed, his throat dry.

"Understood! Brother Xu, I'll listen to you. Whatever you say to do, I'll do!"

Xu Zhiyong nodded in satisfaction and edged farther back into the shadows.

"By our usual timing, they'll be here soon.

When they arrive..."