Trouble

Da Hu shoved Li Ping'an aside and planted himself in the doorway.

He leered at Miss Wang and grinned.

"So, have you scraped the money together yet? The people above me are breathing down my neck."

Miss Wang looked troubled. "Please give me a little more time. I can't come up with that much money right away, but I promise I'll pay it back."

"Promise you'll pay it back?" Da Hu snorted. "When, in the year of the monkey and the month of the horse? Selling a few blocks of tofu a day? Dream on."

"But I really can't come up with that much."

Miss Wang's lips trembled uncontrollably. She was scared half to death, yet still forced herself to stay calm.

Da Hu raised his eyebrows, a mocking smile curling his lips.

"Either hand over the money or hand over yourself."

"I really don't have any money right now."

"Then it's simple. You've still got yourself, haven't you?" Da Hu said casually.

The lackeys behind Da Hu all laughed, and someone let out a lewd whistle.

Miss Wang clenched her fists, her face burning red.

She wanted to do something to stop these men from behaving so brazenly.

Yet as a mother alone with her child, she had no way to fight back.

Da Hu continued, "A beauty like you would have no shortage of admirers in a brothel, especially since you've had a child.

"You have no idea. These days, some men have a particular taste for other men's wives.

"To their eyes, those untouched girls just don't appeal."

As he spoke, Da Hu glanced back at his men. "Any of you like this type?"

"Yeah!! Me, me, me!"

"Get lost. Does that thing of yours even work?"

"Hahaha."

Another roar of laughter broke out.

Miss Wang bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. She wished she could dash her head against something and die right there.

If she really were sold to a place like that, she would be better off dead.

But what would happen to her child...

Da Hu had plenty of experience.

He knew that after wielding the stick, it was time to offer a sweet date.

So he grabbed a stool and sat down.

His tone changed, taking on a hint of tenderness.

"I know you've got it hard, raising a child on your own. I don't want to make things difficult for you either.

"But the people above me keep pressing me. What can I do?

"Young Master Guo said that if you still haven't paid before the New Year, I won't be the one coming next time.

"Then just think about your son..."

He left the rest unsaid. Miss Wang was already frightened out of her wits.

"Then... what am I supposed to do...?"

Da Hu rubbed his hands together and chuckled. "With my relationship with Young Master Guo, I could put in a word for you.

"Getting you another six months or a year would be nothing."

Miss Wang looked at him doubtfully. "You can help me?"

"Of course, as long as..."

Da Hu reached out and patted Miss Wang's clenched hand.

His meaning could not have been clearer.

Slurp, slurp~

Da Hu was reaching out to stroke Miss Wang's delicate face when an unwelcome sound suddenly came from the doorway.

It sounded like some pig eating.

Da Hu frowned.

"You can get a word in with Young Master Guo? How strange. I've never seen a dog get a word in with its master."

Da Hu was stunned. It took him a moment to react.

The blind man had said that to him.

Had this bastard... lost his mind??

But Da Hu didn't care whether he had lost his mind. He was going to chop his tongue off today.

Da Hu's lackeys had already dragged Li Ping'an over.

Da Hu planted his hands on his hips, the fat on his face twitching with fury.

"You fucking looking to die?"

"This has nothing to do with him. Ping'an, you should go," Miss Wang said urgently.

Da Hu drew a gleaming cleaver from his waist.

His weapon had originally been a short, thick wooden club, but after following Young Master Guo into the Fire Bear Gang...

He had traded his bird gun for a cannon, replacing the wooden club with a cleaver.

The cold blade pressed against Li Ping'an's cheek.

"Blind man, instead of begging on the street, you've come here to play the hero and save the beauty? Piss yourself a puddle and take a good look at your reflection."

The instant he finished speaking, a blade flashed.

Da Hu felt the cleaver in his hand flip up and down, sinking and rising.

The next instant, its edge was against his own neck.

Blind Li, whom he had bullied countless times before...

Now stood before him, holding the blade.

A chill pierced him to the bone!!

Da Hu's eyelids twitched.

A bead of cold sweat slid down his back.

"I work for Young Master Guo! If you've got the guts, cut me down!"

Da Hu didn't believe this blind man dared strike.

Li Ping'an drove the hilt hard into his chest, sending a burst of agonizing pain through him.

With a retch, Da Hu spat out a mouthful of blood.

It splattered onto the ground, staining it red.

[Turtle Breath Technique (60%)]

Practitioners breathed slowly and deeply, drawing in air and holding it for a long time. It was an internal cultivation technique.

Li Ping'an had already cultivated well over half of it, and his internal energy ran deep.

Had he used a little more force, Da Hu's internal organs would have been shattered on the spot.

Da Hu's eyes bulged. He couldn't catch his breath.

His lackeys were all scared stiff.

These men usually did little more than get into fights and brawls. They had never seen anything like this.

Looking at the blind man who normally let them bully him, they couldn't help feeling he had become a stranger.

"Get lost."

Supported by his lackeys, Da Hu fled in panic.

Li Ping'an handed the bowl to Miss Wang and wiped his mouth. "Thank you."

"...You should go somewhere else and lie low for a while. Those men will come looking for trouble."

Miss Wang was full of worry.

Although she was grateful to Li Ping'an for standing up for her, Da Hu now worked for Young Master Guo.

He was not someone ordinary folk like them could afford to offend.

Li Ping'an pressed down the straw hat on his head, turned, and left.

But he didn't go far. Instead, he hid in a nearby alley.

Leaning against the wall, he pulled Old Ox over and sat down.

Li Ping'an took two flatbreads from inside his robe, gave one to Old Ox, and put the other in his mouth.

Another layer of black clouds gathered on the horizon, and the sky gradually darkened.

The sound of cloth shoes treading through snow rose in the darkness.

More than twenty men marched down the street in a great procession, carrying all manner of weapons.

Some of them looked like vicious fiends, out in this freezing weather.

Their chests were bare, exposing fearsome muscles.

This was the first time Da Hu had suffered such a crushing defeat, and at the hands of a blind man, no less.

If he didn't win back his face today, he might as well give up running with the gangs.

"Move! Move!!"

There were still plenty of ordinary people on the street. At the sight, they hurried aside, not daring to breathe too loudly.

The man leading them was named Zhang Wu, a hired thug of Young Master Guo's household.

He carried a gleaming Japanese sword. Though short, he radiated the menace of a vicious fiend.

The people of Great Sui prized martial prowess, and wars raged endlessly in those days.

Grown men always took pride in wearing a weapon at their waist when they went out.

The men headed straight for Miss Wang's home, but suddenly stopped as they passed the alley.

Li Ping'an leaned against one side of the wall.

An old ox stood behind him, blocking the alley completely.

"Brother Zhang, that's the brat!"

The moment Da Hu saw Li Ping'an, his fury blazed three feet high.

"A blind man?"