Rumors and Slanders

Duan Rong appeared to be blocking Shen Mizhi's fragrant shoulder as they fell backward, but the hand he had pressed against her shoulder had actually swept fully and firmly across her chest before landing there!

The two crashed to the ground, with Duan Rong on top of Shen Mizhi. His left hand pressed against her shoulder, their heads and necks nearly touching, while his heavy breaths drilled straight into her collar...

Shen Mizhi was proud and aloof, and she had always been a clean freak. Instantly ashamed and enraged, she flung an arm and bent a leg, kicking Duan Rong flying!

Shen Mizhi's kick struck Duan Rong in the abdomen, sending him skidding nearly a zhang across the ground. His clothes scraped against the earth and tore. He curled up like a shrimp, his organs churning, then braced himself with his right hand and vomited stomach acid and bile with a wail...

Shen Mizhi had been lying on the ground just now and could not exert her strength properly, so she had not put her full force into that kick. Besides, Duan Rong had already completed the first level of internal breath and had trained in the second for over ten days.

Otherwise, in her shame and fury, that kick could have crippled Duan Rong!

After vomiting, Duan Rong had even choked out tears and snot. He turned to look at Shen Mizhi, his eyes blazing with anger!

Seeing that Duan Rong was unharmed, Shen Mizhi still wanted to press the matter, when she suddenly caught sight of the fallen voluptuous woman. Terror filled the woman's eyes, and a ring of bloody lines circled her neck, blood seeping downward from them.

Shen Mizhi abruptly stopped. If this man had not grabbed my shoulder and knocked me down, I might have pierced that woman's throat in the middle of the street!

Murdering someone in the street over a token!

Not only would she have brought disaster upon herself!

If that woman's family made a big issue of it, it might even bring calamity upon her father!

And with such a mark on her record, she would lose her qualifications for Taiyi Sect's Registered Disciple selection next year...

But this man was far too hateful. Where else could he have touched her? Why did it have to be...

By then, Duan Rong had struggled back to his feet. Shen Mizhi flushed as she looked at him. His face was dark and sallow, his square face slick with grease, and the brown short outfit he wore had been scraped into tatters across the ground. His chest and the corners of his mouth were covered in saliva. He looked exactly like a beggar!

Shen Mizhi thought of how proud she had always been, yet she had been molested by such a filthy thing. Worse, for various reasons, she could not take action against him and could only swallow her grievance. Her fury surged up and nearly burst through her hair!

She pointed her sword at Duan Rong from a distance. Trembling with rage and agitation, the blade shook without stop...

"Miss, I was only saving someone. I had no other intentions." Duan Rong spat out the remnants in his mouth, backed away two steps, and explained with sincere eyes.

He knew perfectly well what had just happened. If this girl lost her head, she might really come after him!

Shen Mizhi stared at Duan Rong, her silver teeth clenched tight. After several breaths of silence, she suddenly sheathed her sword, turned, and strode past Qiu Hen, shouting furiously, "Come!"

Qiu Hen shuddered at Shen Mizhi's shout. Her pretty face reddened, and she immediately hurried after her at a quick trot.

Duan Rong watched Shen Mizhi's slender, graceful back merge into the crowd. Then he lowered his head to look at his left hand. That fleeting soft sensation still rippled faintly through his heart...

Only then did the voluptuous woman rise to her feet, her soul finally returning to her body. Fear still lingered on her face. She knew full well that she had just taken a trip outside the Gates of Hell and had nearly lost her life!

She cast a grateful glance at Duan Rong's back, then pulled the Goose Feather Saber embedded in the street from the ground, sheathed it, and quickly departed...

Duan Rong had acted only because he did not want to watch those two cause a death while fighting over a token.

If a murder had happened in front of the portrait stall, he, the one who had started it all by handing out tokens, would inevitably have been implicated as well...

Yet he had never expected that after saving someone out of kindness, not only would he receive no gratitude, but he would also get kicked. His clothes had been scraped to rags, and he had vomited all over the ground.

"Bloody bad luck!"

After that incident, the people waiting in line for portraits did not leave. Instead, a circle of spectators gathered around.

Especially beneath that crooked-necked Willow Tree, where a mass of heads crowded together.

Clutching his stomach, Duan Rong walked to the portrait stall and said, "No more portraits today. Everyone, disperse."

Seeing the artist clutching his stomach, his clothes scraped into tatters, those waiting in line could not say much. They could only disperse one by one.

Duan Rong packed up his things and returned to Yuan Shun Escort Agency in a rather miserable state.

It was dinner time, when people either gathered in teahouses and restaurants, spread out among roadside stalls, or rested in the shade beneath trees. It was precisely the hour when all kinds of news flew fastest...

Thus, not long after Duan Rong left, all manner of rumors and slanders slowly began fermenting among the gossip at street corners and alleyways...

"Two young women started fighting in the street over lining up for portraits..."

"They were both martial artists, too. Someone nearly died!"

"If someone had died in the street, that would have been outrageous!"

"Exactly! And both girls were as lovely as flowers and jade..."

"I heard that artist charged ten taels of silver for a portrait..."

"I also heard he was an escort from Yuan Shun Escort Agency?"

"Does anyone even get to live these days? An escort should be escorting goods, not painting pictures..."

Duan Rong hung his head as he crossed Yuan Shun Escort Agency's Martial Arts Field. It was already time for dinner to be served in the dining hall, and there were not many people on the Martial Arts Field.

Even so, Duan Rong still felt somewhat embarrassed. No one wanted others to see them wearing a set of ragged clothes.

This had been the most miserable day since his soul had crossed into this world.

His short outfit was already in tatters, half his body was covered in dirt and dust, and vomit remnants still clung to the chest of his lapel...

In the evening glow, Duan Rong returned to his dormitory, put away his things, balled up the tattered short outfit, and tossed it outside the dormitory door.

Duan Rong went naked to the well and washed himself thoroughly. After drying off with a towel, he took another clean short outfit from the wardrobe.

These two short outfits had been issued to him back when he was still a Menial Disciple.

Yuan Shun Escort Agency had many rules as well. Different positions came with different attire.

Though he had been selected as an apprentice, before completing his apprenticeship and becoming a Trainee Escort, he was still not allowed to wear an escort's clothing.

Duan Rong changed into a fresh short outfit and washed himself until he was clean and refreshed. At once, he felt as though all his bad luck had been swept away.

He picked up the ball of tattered clothes by the door, locked the dormitory door, left the dormitory courtyard, and headed for the dining hall.

Outside the alleyway leading from the dormitory courtyard, at the corner of the courtyard wall, stood a brick-walled garbage heap filled with dead branches and fallen leaves.

As Duan Rong passed by, he casually tossed the ball of tattered clothes into the garbage heap.

The front, middle, and rear courtyards of Yuan Shun Escort Agency all had people specially assigned to sweep them.

Among the menial workers, sweeping the courtyards was considered easy, leisurely work. Without some connections, such a job would never fall into your lap.

By the time Duan Rong reached the dining hall, only a few people remained. There were only scraps and soup left in the food basins. Duan Rong ate two steamed buns with cold vegetable soup, but his stomach still felt hollow. So he strolled out of the escort agency, drank another bowl of steaming meat soup at a roadside stall, and ate two baked flatbreads.

After eating, Duan Rong wiped his mouth in satisfaction, patted his belly, and strolled back to Yuan Shun Escort Agency's Martial Arts Field.

Reaching the corner where he usually practiced his stance, Duan Rong did not waste any time. He straightened his spine, sank his waist into an empty seated posture, bent his legs like bows, held his hands loosely before him as if embracing something, and assumed the Hun Yuan Stance!

This ancient stance art had no distinguishing features, yet it had been passed down across the Nine Provinces Continent for tens of thousands of years.

Whether you were a rookie or a prodigy, you began with this stance art!

The plainer and more ancient something was, the less likely it was to have any problems!