Disaster Victims Everywhere

The rickshaw sped out of the alley.

The woman in the carriage clutched her child tightly, still trembling. It was impossible to tell whether she was cold or terrified.

"Where are you from?"

Without looking back, Lu Zhen kept walking.

"Yu...nan. There was a flood. We fled the famine all the way here."

"Where's your man?"

"He died on the road. Starved to death. Some said it was the plague..."

Lu Zhen did not ask any more.

In times like these, such things were all too common. Hear them often enough, and one became numb.

He weighed his options.

Taking them home was impossible. His own household was already scraping the bottom of the pot. Besides, he had just killed someone; if the patrolmen followed the trail to his door, it would be a colossal disaster.

"Hold on tight."

Lu Zhen yanked the rickshaw around and ran toward the City God Temple in the west of the city.

He remembered overhearing people chatting when he had gone out with the rickshaw that morning.

To earn a reputation for "loving the people as his own children," Chief Zhao of City Hall had set up a porridge station outside the City God Temple.

There was also St. Mary's Church nearby. That blond-haired Father Tom was handing out black bread as well.

Lu Zhen knew perfectly well that none of them were true bodhisattvas.

Chief Zhao wanted to gather the refugees in one place so he could pick out the strong ones to dig mines, build roads, and serve as unpaid laborers.

As for that foreign priest, he wanted to use the opportunity to draw people into his faith and turn them into some sort of "lost lambs."

But so what?

Even being a laborer or a lamb was better than freezing to death on the street, or being ravaged by that Eastern Foreigner beast from before.

Live one day at a time.

By the time they reached the square before the City God Temple, the place was already packed shoulder to shoulder.

Several huge iron pots had been set up in the open, firewood burning beneath them as steam bubbled up from the pots.

The porridge was so thin one could see their reflection in it, and it was mixed with plenty of sand and moldy rice. But in the eyes of the starving, it was a life-saving elixir.

"Get down."

Lu Zhen stopped the rickshaw at the edge of the square, finding a spot against a wall that offered some shelter from the wind.

The woman climbed down with the child in her arms, her legs giving way so badly that she nearly dropped to her knees.

"Benefactor..."

She had barely begun to kowtow when Lu Zhen caught her by the arm.

"Go line up."

Lu Zhen pointed at the queue that stretched like a long dragon.

"The foreigners over there are handing out food too. If you can't get any here, go try your luck there."

"That foreign priest takes in women and children. There are plenty of rules, but if you obey them, at least you'll have a roof over your head."

The woman thanked him again and again.

Lu Zhen did not linger.

A place of trouble was no place to stay long.

That Eastern Foreigner had died under suspicious circumstances. Though he had cleaned up the scene, if anyone started investigating, his rickshaw would stand out far too much.

He lifted the shafts, preparing to turn and leave.

Just then, the roar of an automobile came from nearby.

A black Ford sedan slowly pulled up beside the porridge station.

The door opened. First out came a little maid in a pink padded skirt, followed by a young lady in a purple Western dress draped in white fox fur.

It was Xiao Yuqing.

She had come with her father to inspect the disaster situation, and incidentally put on a show on behalf of the Martial Alliance of the World.

The maid, Xiao Ran, carried an exquisite bamboo basket filled with white-flour steamed buns.

The moment she looked up, she spotted Lu Zhen.

It could not be helped. Lu Zhen's build was far too conspicuous among the refugees, and with that rickshaw beside him, he was impossible to miss.

Sharp-eyed Xiao Ran immediately saw Lu Zhen leave the disheveled woman and child by the roadside, then turn to leave.

The woman was still reaching after him as though she wanted to keep him there, her face full of misery.

"Miss, look!"

Xiao Ran curled her lip in disgust and pointed at Lu Zhen's retreating back.

"Another one of those heartless, rotten men."

"I've seen plenty of them these past few days."

"Whenever disaster strikes, these lowborn men are the most selfish of all."

"To save one more mouthful for themselves, they dump their wives and children at the porridge station and run off alone."

"They claim they're sending them here to beg for food, but they're really abandoning them! They're leaving them to fend for themselves!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became. Looking at Lu Zhen's broad back, her eyes brimmed with contempt.

"What a waste of that big, strong body of his, with both hands and both feet to pull a rickshaw."

"He can't even support his own wife and child, yet he heartlessly throws them into a heap of refugees. He's nothing but an animal!"

Xiao Yuqing's expression remained cold.

"That is the way of the world."

"For poor, humble couples, every matter brings sorrow."

"When people are poor, their ambitions shrink. There are too many things like this."

She watched the rickshaw recede into the distance, her brows knitting slightly.

On the way home, the wheels crushed over broken snow with a creaking crunch.

Lu Zhen pulled the empty rickshaw, his heart heavy.

The world was becoming more chaotic by the day.

That Eastern Foreigner had dared to commit murder in an alley beside the main street. Law and order had long vanished from this city.

Only his little sister was at home. That broken plank door kept out gentlemen, not villains. If anything else happened...

Should I send Wan'er to stay with eldest sister for a few days?

The thought had barely arisen when Lu Zhen's steps slowed.

Eldest sister's place was safe enough, a deep courtyard behind high walls.

But the moment he thought of his brother-in-law Zhou Wenjing's lofty, mean-spirited face, Lu Zhen felt a tightness in his chest.

Even when he brought over some cornmeal, he had to watch their expressions. If he sent his little sister there to stay for good...

Caught in the middle, eldest sister would probably suffer from both sides, endure plenty of cold looks, and have an even harder life.

"Forget it."

Lu Zhen shook his head and exhaled a cloud of white breath.

Better rely on yourself than beg others.

As long as his fists were hard enough, anywhere could be a safe haven.

By the time he reached the entrance of Pig Cage Alley, the sky had turned completely dark.

A few unfamiliar faces were squatting beneath the broken oil lamp at the alley entrance again.

Thugs were like chives in a field.

Lu Zhen had just wiped out one bunch of them a few days ago, yet another group had already sprouted up.

Kill Zhang San, and Li Si would follow.

The men hunched their necks and smoked dry tobacco. Hearing footsteps, they glanced over sideways with cigarettes dangling from their lips, the flesh on their faces quivering with menace.

One of them was just about to spit out a few filthy insults to establish his authority over this lame coachman.

But in the dim yellow light, they made out the dark blue short jacket Lu Zhen wore.

It was a martial arts hall uniform.

The two black characters for "Iron Arm" on his chest stood out sharply in the wind.

The thugs' expressions changed.

The curses at their lips were forcibly swallowed back down.

The leader tossed his cigarette butt to the ground. Not daring to look at the newcomer's face, he lowered his head and shuffled two steps aside, clearing a path.

Expressionless, Lu Zhen walked past without even glancing sideways.

That was what having a skin meant.

In this man-eating world, that skin was worth more than a human life.

The next day.

Before dawn had fully broken, Lu Zhen was already up.

He loosened his muscles and bones with a few simple exercises in the courtyard. That deep, vigorous strength surged through his body like a river that could not be contained.

On the way to the martial arts hall, Lu Zhen took long strides.

For once, a trace of restlessness and excitement stirred in his heart.

Mid Force Refining Realm.

To ordinary people, those five words were nothing more than a term.

But to martial artists, it was a threshold—a dragon gate.

Out of ten practitioners who trained through the bitterest winter and hottest summer for their entire lives, if two or three could cross it, that was already the patriarchs feeding them from their bowls.

Once they crossed it, they went from "apprentices" to "skilled hands."

Status, reputation, and wealth would all follow.

The gates of the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall stood before him.

Lu Zhen took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and strode over the high threshold.