Chapter 8

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 8: Aftermath

Back at home, Zhang Cai and the others had already cleaned up. Everyone was seated on chairs waiting for them, even the old lady lying in bed had gotten up. Guo Sufei quickly had Zhang Xiaolong talk to his grandmother, explaining that his arm wasn’t a big issue. Only then did the old lady relax and go back to rest in her room.

Seeing Zhang Xiaolong enter the house with his arm properly bandaged, Zhang Cai knew it wasn’t a serious issue and felt relieved. Only then did he start to feel the pain all over his body, feeling extremely exhausted. He quickly asked Guo Sufei to arrange a place for the two girls to stay. This posed a challenge for Guo Sufei, as there weren’t many rooms in the house, and Zhang Xiaolong and his two brothers were already crowded in one room. Seeing Guo Sufei’s dilemma, Liu Qian said: “Aunty, we can manage for just one night. Please don’t worry about us.” After some thought, Guo Sufei decided to vacate her own room for the two girls to stay in, while she sent Zhang Cai to stay with Zhang Xiaolong and his brothers in their small room, while Zhang Xiaohua would sleep with his grandmother. Thankfully, everyone had a place to stay.

Seeing the two girls go to bed, Zhang Cai took out the medicine given by Wen Wenhai and gave it to Zhang Xiaolong and his brothers. He also applied the external medicine to Zhang Xiaohu and Zhang Xiaohua before letting the three brothers go to sleep.

Once the children had gone back to their room, Guo Sufei grabbed Zhang Cai and asked about what had happened. After Zhang Cai recounted the events of the day to Guo Sufei in detail, she turned pale with fright. Her body trembling slightly as she sobbed softly, repeatedly saying: “Husband, we almost lost you all. Just going to the market for New Year’s almost led to such a disaster.”

Zhang Cai comforted her, saying: “It’s alright, dear. Everything’s fine now, isn’t it? Hurry and keep this token and the money safe. When daylight comes, we’ll send the two girls back and give them half as well.” Guo Sufei replied: “There’s so much money. We won’t see this much in our lifetime. Shouldn’t we just return it?”

Zhang Cai solemnly said: “We don’t know who they are. Besides, what our benefactor said makes sense. If we hastily return it, they might even demand our lives, our lives as farmers aren’t worth anything. If they come for it later, we’ll give it to them.” Guo Sufei nodded in agreement.

After the old couple finished talking, Zhang Cai finally took the medicine and let Guo Sufei apply the external medicine to him. He then lay down where Zhang Xiaohua usually slept. Once Zhang Cai was settled, Guo Sufei checked on the three brothers, who were all asleep, before returning to her room.

The two girls in the room had been exhausted after a day of turmoil and had fallen asleep as soon as their heads touched the pillows. They were unaware of Guo Sufei entering the room. Guo Sufei looked at the peaceful faces of the two girls, smiled kindly, and then seemed to think of something, becoming thoughtful.

In the afternoon, after leaving the medicine for Zhang Cai and the others, Wen Wenhai and his junior sister displayed their lightness skill for a while. As they neared the main road, they halted their steps. Wen Wenhai said: “Junior sister, we’re almost at the main road. We can’t use the lightness skill anymore. We spent the afternoon busy saving people and left our horses in the town. What should we do next?”

His junior sister replied softly: “I’ll follow your arrangement, Senior Brother.” Her voice remained pleasant but also carried a hint of indifference.

Wen Wenhai smiled wryly and pinched his nose, saying: “Junior Sister, you usually show indifference towards people and matters, so why were you so eager to rush with me to save people this afternoon, and even leaving your token behind—if those farmers misuse it, what will we do? You won’t be able to explain it to Master.”

His junior sister replied: “I’m grateful for your help this afternoon, Senior Brother. As for the token, I will report to Master. I believe Master will understand me.”

Wen Wenhai sighed: “Never mind, let’s go back together and explain everything to master. I should taken action this afternoon too. It’s our responsibility as martial artists to fight against the strong and help the weak. It’s only because we have a mission that I didn’t act earlier, otherwise, I would have intervened and prevented Zhang Cai’s family from getting hurt.”

His junior sister smiled and said: “I knew Senior Brother has a kind heart. You wouldn’t just stand by.”

Wen Wenhai chuckled: “You little brat, you have always been cold-tempered with a warm heart since you were a child. We’ve grown up together, do you think I don’t know your thoughts? But it’s still early, and according to the innkeeper from yesterday, there’s still quite a distance from here to there. We can’t delay any longer. Let’s go fetch the horses and ride on.”

His junior sister still said the same sentence: “I’ll follow your arrangement, Senior Brother.”

Wen Wenhai pondered for a moment and said: “Junior Sister, wearing a veil attracts more attention. Wait here for me. I’ll go to the inn in the town to fetch the horses.” Without waiting for his junior sister’s response, he strode towards the direction of Lu Town. She didn’t utter her usual ‘I’ll follow your arrangement, Senior Brother’ this time.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the sound of horse hooves could be heard from the direction of the main road. The junior sister looked up and indeed saw Wen Wenhai riding towards her. When Wen Wenhai’s horse reached her, she took the reins he tossed over, stepped into the stirrups, and mounted the horse. With a flick of the reins, she dashed away like an arrow, leaving behind a cloud of dust along the main road. Wen Wenhai shook his head and smiled, laughing as he spurred his horse to catch up.

Zhao Quansheng from the Evil Tiger Gang, accompanied by the two fatties and a group of crestfallen servants, walked back with heads hung low. Along the way, numerous people noticed them from afar and quickly avoided them. Many observed that they seemed less audacious than usual today, which left them puzzled. The two fatties were the sons of wealthy merchants in Lu Town. They often engaged in mischief, bullying others, and causing trouble. Today, their family had invited influential figures from Lu Town to their home for a banquet, including members of the Evil Tiger Gang. This afforded the two the opportunity to slip away and enjoy themselves freely.

By the time the banquet ended, only the leader of the Evil Tiger Gang and the wealthy merchant remained in the garden. When they saw Zhao Quansheng and his companions returning in low spirits, their happiness evaporated, replaced by confusion. They couldn’t help but call them over to inquire. Zhao Quansheng, seeing the two fat young masters meekly nodding without speaking, stepped forward and reported everything. When he mentioned the incident where they had harassed two village girls, the wealthy merchant glared at the two fatties but remained silent. However, when Zhao Quansheng mentioned that a few villagers had dared to resist, the merchant furrowed his brow and said: “Where did these peasants come from? How dare they cause trouble?”

Zhao Quansheng didn’t answer him and continued speaking. When he mentioned that two martial artists had appeared, the expression on the wealthy merchant’s face changed. The fat on his face trembled slightly as he looked towards the leader of the Evil Tiger Gang. This leader was his relative, so they were always close. However, even the leader furrowed his brow but remained silent, simply taking a sip of tea. However, when Zhao Quansheng finished speaking and mentioned the token the white-robed scholar had produced, the leader’s hand paused, and he nervously asked: “What was written on it?”

With a frightened expression, Zhao Quansheng replied: “Piaomiao!”

“Bang~” The leader’s teacup slipped from his hand, crashing onto the ground and shattering into pieces. While the wealthy merchant wasn’t overly concerned, seeing his usually composed relative react like this startled him. He quickly inquired: “Third Brother Zhao, what does ‘Piaomiao’ mean?”

‘Third Brother Zhao’ didn’t answer his question. He stood up, approached the two fat men, and raised his hand, landing a series of resounding slaps. Their faces immediately swelled, with blood seeping from their mouths. Terrified, they begged for mercy, calling out to “Third Uncle” Brother Zhao, visibly angered, scolded them: “You good-for-nothings, you often do bad things like bullying men and harassing women, causing trouble wherever you go. Your father even provided you with four concubines, isn’t that enough? Were those village girls really beautiful?”

Seeing the two remain silent, he pressed on, demanding: “Tell me, were they beautiful?”

They hesitated before replying: “Not particularly stunning, just had a delicate appearance that caught our eye, made our hands itch a bit~”

Third Brother Zhao laughed in anger: “So you harass someone not even that pretty, and your hands get itchy? I should cut off those hands of yours. Do you realize the trouble you’ve caused?”

At this point, the merchant also realized the seriousness of the situation and hurried forward, asking: “Third Brother, is the trouble significant?”

Zhao San-ge didn’t directly answer his question. Instead, he squinted his eyes and thought for a moment. Then, suddenly, he remarked strangely: “You two came back perfectly all right?” The suddenness of his question left the two stout men unsure how to respond.

Zhao Quansheng took over and said: “Hall Master, here’s what happened.” Then he recounted the subsequent events in detail. Third Brother Zhao, on the other hand, sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and remained silent, as if contemplating something. One of the fat men who had just been slapped muttered indifferently: “They said it was two hundred taels of silver, and I didn’t count it much before giving it. We ended up giving five hundred taels of silver notes. Tomorrow, when things quiet down, we’ll have to find out who’s responsible and make sure they return this silver.”

Third Brother Zhao opened his eyes, slapped the table in anger, and exclaimed: “You bastard thing, I dare you go! From now on, you’re not allowed to think about getting this silver back. That’s your money to buy your lives.”

The merchant leaned in and said: “Third Brother, why are you acting like this, confusing this little brother? Five hundred taels of silver isn’t a small sum, you have to let me know the reason behind it.”

Third Brother Zhao smiled bitterly and said: “Little Brother, do you know about Wu Jian Sect?”

The merchant puzzledly replied: “Of course, isn’t that the big backer of your Evil Tiger Gang, Third Brother? Of course, I know about it.”

Third Brother Zhao continued: “Do you know about the Lotus Flower Escort Agency?”

The merchant nodded, indicating he was aware.

“Between the Lotus Flower Escort Agency and Wu Jian Sect, which one is more formidable?” Third Brother Zhao inquired.

The merchant smiled and replied: “Both have comparable influence, there’s no clear distinction.”

Third Brother Zhao chuckled bitterly: “Little Brother, you’re overestimating us. Wu Jian Sect is far inferior to the Lotus Flower Escort Agency by more than a mile. This is common knowledge among people in the Jianghu, there’s no need to embellish our reputation.”

“But then, what’s the connection between the Lotus Flower Escort Agency and ‘Piaomiao’?” The merchant asked, puzzled.

“The Lotus Flower Escort Agency is just a branch of the Piaomiao Sect’s outer hall!” Third Brother Zhao’s words hit the crowd like a huge hammer. The two fat men were stunned. They hadn’t expected that their harassment of two seemingly ordinary village girls in this small town would lead to such immense trouble! They couldn’t help but feel grateful to Zhao Quansheng for making them compensate with silver earlier, even though they had been extremely reluctant to do so. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable for the two fat men.