A Chicken

"The meat's right there. Grab a piece and you'll live."

"Grab it now, before it's gone."

"Even if I die, I'll die with a full belly."

Words of incitement kept rising from the crowd.

There were simply too many beggars.

The beggars were packed together so tightly that heads bobbed in a surging sea.

They shoved and trampled one another. Someone was knocked to the ground.

The people behind immediately trampled over them. A brief wail rang out, then fell silent.

Zhuo Yong guarded the handcart at the front, his brows knotted.

His gaze swept over the mass of people, searching for the source of the incitement.

But their twisted faces overlapped, and their voices surged in from every direction.

It left him feeling helpless, with no idea where to begin.

"Push faster! Don't stop!" Zhuo Yong ordered the two workers.

The two workers had already turned pale with fear. At his words, they hurriedly put their backs into it, gripping the handcart's reins with all their might.

They couldn't understand it. They'd never encountered anything like this before.

What on earth was going on today?

Zhuo Yong stopped trying to find the source. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he struck harder than before.

When a beggar came howling toward him,

he grabbed the man by the back of his collar and swung him up as if he were lifting a sack of rags. With a sweep of his arm, he hurled the beggar into the oncoming crowd like a heavy sandbag.

Thud~

The beggar crashed into the crowd. A string of dull thumps followed, and a swath of people fell, briefly opening a gap.

But the beggars behind acted as if they hadn't seen a thing. They kept charging forward, trampling over their companions.

The situation was urgent.

Li Yun held back no longer, following Zhuo Yong's example.

He leaned aside to dodge a gnarled hand reaching for him, then caught the attacker by the shoulder and used the man's forward momentum to fling him away.

The beggar staggered into the people beside him, knocking several of them down as well.

The situation eased a little.

Hidden in the crowd, Xu Zhiyong saw that the chaos he'd worked so hard to stir up

was actually being suppressed.

He grew anxious.

He quickly glanced at Li Yun. The young man was striking harder than before, but he still wasn't going for the kill.

Xu Zhiyong gritted his teeth, his gaze turning vicious.

"I'm going all in!"

He tossed aside his cudgel, then used the momentum of a beggar charging past him to stick close behind, like a plaster, keeping his eyes fixed on Li Yun's movements.

The beggar ahead howled as he lunged at Li Yun, his bony claws reaching for Li Yun's shoulder.

Li Yun shifted aside, twisted his wrist, and shoved the man backward. The beggar stumbled into the crowd.

In that fleeting opening, Xu Zhiyong suddenly darted forward. His arms clamped around Li Yun's waist like iron hoops, his veins bulging with the effort.

"I've got him! Hurry and grab the meat!"

Xu Zhiyong bellowed.

The shout was like another ladle of hot oil poured onto the flames. The crowd, which had briefly slowed, surged forward again.

Li Yun's brows drew together. How could he let himself become the breach?

He stepped back half a pace, set himself in a bow stance, and powered through his waist and abdomen. Dropping his shoulder and elbow, he slammed an elbow strike into Xu Zhiyong's back.

Thump~

The dull sound was like a heavy object striking a sandbag.

Xu Zhiyong felt a stabbing pain lance through his back. His insides seemed to shift, and his arms instantly went limp.

He let out a scream and rolled straight to the ground.

His whole body convulsed with pain, but he didn't dare waste time. He didn't even bother crying out as he scrambled toward the corner.

He was terrified of being trampled to death if he was a moment too late.

His back scraped over broken stones, but he didn't feel a thing. Only when he curled up in the shadow of a broken wall did he dare catch his breath.

He poked his head out and saw Li Yun still standing firm at the rear.

His desperate gamble to buy time hadn't even held them off for a moment.

Frustration and fury flared straight to his head. His eyes turned venomous.

"Useless! You're all useless!"

Xu Zhiyong was clenching his fists and cursing viciously when the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Fang Ming nearby.

His livid face froze, then lit up with startled delight.

As it happened, one of the beggars Zhuo Yong had thrown had landed in the middle of the road, his body stiffly curled up.

The two workers were already so rattled by the chaos that they'd lost their wits. They hadn't noticed a thing beneath their feet.

The handcart jolted as its wheel rolled over the body, and a chicken tumbled off the cart.

Fang Ming had been nearby, waiting for Xu Zhiyong to create an opening.

Being close at hand gave him the advantage.

Now the plump chicken had fallen right at his feet. It was a gift from heaven.

Quick as a flash, Fang Ming reached out, snatched it up, and clutched it tightly to his chest.

Afraid someone might see him, he hunched over and dashed into the side alley to the east without looking back.

"Got it!"

Xu Zhiyong was elated. He suppressed a smile, crouched low, and quietly slipped after Fang Ming toward the eastern alley entrance.

Li Yun, bringing up the rear, saw the whole thing.

The slaughterhouse's rule was that goods lost while being escorted had to be paid for twice over.

All things considered, the loss from a stolen chicken would add up to no small sum.

Li Yun made a mental note of it, but for now, his first priority was getting the handcart safely out.

So he didn't give chase.

The beggars in the alley charged forward like madmen, but before a Body Tempering Realm martial artist, they were ultimately no more than a nuisance.

Zhuo Yong's fists and kicks were vicious, while Li Yun struck with clean precision. The two of them, one at the front and one at the rear, stood like sturdy barriers, keeping the frenzied crowd firmly away from the handcart.

Not a single person got within two steps of it.

In the end, they made it out of the alley without further incident.

Zhuo Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead. His coarse-cloth clothes were already soaked through.

The two workers were practically limp, leaning on the handcart handles as they panted. Their faces were pale, and their eyes still held the lingering terror of what they'd just escaped.

"Damn it!

What rotten luck!"

Zhuo Yong cursed, his voice carrying a trace of lingering fear.

"I've escorted goods so many times, and I've never seen a mob this crazed.

Good thing you were with me today, junior brother. Otherwise, who knows how much we'd have had to pay out."

Li Yun pointed toward the side alley to the east.

"Senior brother, the handcart jolted just now, and a chicken fell off. A beggar picked it up.

I'll go after them and try to be back within half a quarter of an hour. It won't delay the meat delivery."

Before Zhuo Yong could reply, Li Yun set off toward East Alley.

Zhuo Yong paused, then looked at the handcart and called after him.

"Be careful. Come back quickly."

They'd already lost a lot of time on the road. The meat had to be delivered to the designated location before the hour of the Dragon.

Li Yun wasn't planning to chase them far, just to scout the eastern alley.

If he could get the chicken back, all the better. If not, he wouldn't waste time over it and risk delaying the real job.

Perhaps hunger had addled the two fleeing men. They kept their heads down and rushed ahead, oblivious to the dark red blood dripping from the chicken in Fang Ming's arms.

It left a trail of intermittent drops.

To Li Yun, who'd grown up as a hunter, the trail

was unmistakable.

When it came to tracking animals through the mountains and picking out scents, even the faintest trace was as clear as a signpost.

East Alley was narrower than the main alley. It had plenty of forks, but the blood trail was impossible to lose.

Li Yun moved swiftly, and before long he'd turned into a dead end.

As he neared the alley's entrance, he heard a hushed argument from inside, mixed with the sounds of a scuffle.

"Xu Zhiyong... What gives you the right..."

"Fang Ming..."

Li Yun stopped. He didn't barge in, but pressed himself against the wall and quietly peered inside.