Chaos

Creak, creak~

The cart wheels ground over the pitted mud road, the friction against loose gravel sounding jarringly sharp in the silent alley.

It was like a dull saw slowly grinding against wood.

Xu Zhiyong curled up behind a broken wall, his brows knitting into a knot as he caught sight of Zhuo Yong and Li Yun walking alongside the cart.

His lips pressed tight involuntarily, his heart skipping a beat:

How could there be two martial artists?

Xu Zhiyong had been waiting here for days, and usually, there was only one martial artist escorting the cart.

He never expected an additional young man with such an upright posture.

With steady steps and clear eyes, it was obvious at a glance that he was also a trained fighter.

Damn it, if there are two of them...

Xu Zhiyong's fingertips gripped the broken wooden club hidden behind his back with force.

But the cart drew closer, and the smell of fresh, raw meat drifted on the wind, intoxicating him.

There was no time to hesitate.

Gritting his teeth, his gaze hardening, Xu Zhiyong thought to himself:

Whether it's one or two, there will still be an opening once things turn chaotic.

Just then, a series of light, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from afar.

Xu Zhiyong swept his peripheral vision across the scene, his heart leaping with joy.

A child, lured into a daze by the scent of meat on the cart, was stumbling toward it.

His small steps were unsteady, as if he might fall at any moment.

Xu Zhiyong shrank further into the shadows, softening his breathing, his eyes locked onto the child's back.

It wasn't just Xu Zhiyong; everyone nearby was watching the child.

A small figure intruded into his line of sight, but even though it was just a child, Zhuo Yong did not relax in the slightest.

He sank his waist and twisted his hips, throwing out a punch.

The wind of the punch carried a fierce, whistling sound, yet it stopped abruptly less than half a foot from the child's face.

His five fingers splayed, turning the fist into a palm, and he pulled his strength back, striking the child on the shoulder instead.

The child, already swaying and unstable, was pushed by the force.

His small body fell backward like a withered leaf, rolling twice in the mud.

His small arms and legs were smeared with black sludge, and he only stopped when he hit the broken bricks at the corner of the wall.

He didn't cry, nor did he shout in pain.

He simply propped up his upper body, wiped the mud from his face with a small hand, and revealed a pair of eyes glazed over with hunger.

There was no fear in that gaze, only a fixated stare glued to the chunks of meat on the cart, not even blinking once.

At the base of the alley wall, a woman with disheveled hair struggled to prop herself up.

Seeing the child fall, she rose tremblingly and shuffled to his side.

She stretched out her withered, thin arms, pulling the child tightly into her embrace.

She was like an old hen protecting her chick.

Through the gaps in her messy hair, a pair of cloudy eyes glanced timidly at Zhuo Yong and Li Yun, filled with terror.

Yet, she couldn't help but steal glances toward the cart, hiding a sliver of irrepressible yearning.

Many people quietly raised their heads, their gazes darting back and forth between the child, the woman, and the cart.

The "creak" of the cart did not stop.

It continued to move forward.

Perhaps the child had lit the fuse, or perhaps they had reached the limit of their hunger and lost their reason.

Under the wall, the beggars who had previously been curled up and motionless began to rise one after another, as if pulled by invisible strings.

They slowly approached the cart.

Zhuo Yong, in the lead, held back no longer.

He threw a punch at each of them.

The beggars he struck fell straight into the mud.

They twitched twice before curling up and lying still, whether unconscious or...

Yet the beggars behind them acted as if they hadn't seen it, continuing to surge forward.

Zhuo Yong struck without hesitation, blocking left and swinging right, every punch landing with solid, heavy force.

The beggars who were struck either slammed into the walls and slid to the ground or rolled into mud pits; not a single one could crawl back up.

Yet, figures continued to pour out from the shadows at the end of the alley, dense and swarming.

Like an ant colony in a rising tide, they seemed to be gathering in ever-increasing numbers.

Li Yun stopped watching and stepped half a pace to the side, shielding the rear flank of the handcart.

"Senior Brother, take the cart and go first. I'll hold them off."

Zhuo Yong was stunned for a moment, but seeing Li Yun's steady stance and clear, composed eyes, he nodded immediately.

"Be careful."

He turned and shouted to the two workers:

"Push, quickly!"

The three of them dragged the handcart and picked up their pace.

Li Yun stood in the middle of the alley, his posture as upright as a pine, radiating a certain imposing aura.

The beggars surging forward were swept by his gaze, their footsteps instinctively faltering; some even shrank back, causing the crowd to stall for a moment.

But eventually, a few who had been driven mad by hunger, their eyes blood-red, threw themselves forward regardless of the consequences.

Li Yun did not hold back, side-stepping the lunging figures and landing palm strikes on their shoulders and backs.

The force was just enough to flip them over without harming their vitals.

The struck beggars fell to the ground, groaning for a long time without being able to rise, yet they were in no danger of losing their lives.

By the time Zhuo Yong and the others were about to turn out of the alley, Li Yun shifted his feet, dodged the last beggar trying to grab his hem, and turned to follow them at a brisk pace.

"Xu Zhiyong, they're about to leave.

They're almost out of the alley.

Didn't you say you were going to incite the others to rob them?

If we don't act now, we won't even get a drop of soup."

The rubble in the corner was uncomfortable, and Fang Ming hunched his neck, his palms slick with sweat.

He couldn't help but tug on Xu Zhiyong's tattered sleeve, his voice urgent and trembling.

His gaze was glued to the receding handcart, his Adam's apple bobbing rapidly, his face full of resentment.

Xu Zhiyong didn't respond.

His brows were knitted, his eyes narrowed into slits, staring fixedly at Li Yun's back.

He naturally knew time was running out, but letting himself charge up first to be a target was absolutely out of the question.

"What's the rush?

That burly man hits too hard; there's no opening at all."

Xu Zhiyong's gaze was like a hook, locked onto Li Yun, his speech slow and filled with certainty:

"Look at that young martial artist in the back. When he was blocking people just now, wasn't his strike lighter than that burly man's?

Those he knocked down can still groan and move; not one of them stopped breathing.

He's soft-hearted—that's our chance."

Fang Ming was stunned for a moment, followed his gaze, recalled the scene just now, and nodded hurriedly:

"Right!

He didn't seem to use lethal force!"

Xu Zhiyong's voice revealed a ruthless edge:

"In a moment, I'll rush up and entangle that young one. Then I'll incite the others."

He turned to stare at Fang Ming, instructing him heavily:

"While I'm at it, you sneak around to the side of the handcart, steal a piece of meat, and run.

Don't be greedy; one piece is enough.

Duck into the side alley to the east, and I'll follow shortly after. Understand?"

Fang Ming's eyes were filled with a craving for meat as he nodded fiercely:

"Understood! Xu Zhiyong, you have to keep him occupied; I'll definitely be able to grab some."

Xu Zhiyong took a deep breath, suppressing the tension in his heart, and slowly stepped out of the corner.

He squeezed into the midst of the restless beggars.

Straightening his back, Xu Zhiyong let out a gravelly roar that pierced through the alleyway:

"The meat is right there! Grab a piece and you'll live!

All of you, get in there!

Seize it!"

As he finished shouting, he violently grabbed the arm of a tall, thin beggar beside him and shoved him forward with all his might.

He then kicked at the person curled up in front of him.

Using that momentum, he swept up three or four others around him, surging like a murky wave straight toward Li Yun at the back.

Live!

Those two words were like a spark dropped into an oil drum, instantly igniting the crowd of beggars.

The figures who had been numb and collapsed seemed to have the last shred of their sanity ripped away, their eyes suddenly turning blood-red.

Some struggled to climb up against the wall, their withered legs shaking, yet they ran with incredible speed.

Others threw themselves onto the ground, using hands and feet to crawl forward, fingernails digging into the mud.

Still others shoved and trampled one another, all to get a single step closer to the cart.

The alley, previously filled only with the sound of cart wheels, was instantly flooded with earth-shattering roars and screams.

A pack of starving, crazed beggars, ignoring everything else, lunged forward like beasts that had lost all control.

Xu Zhiyong blended into the crowd, charging forward while continuing to howl:

"Hurry and grab it!

If you're too late, it'll be gone!"

The scene.

Began to descend into chaos...