Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, dusk had arrived.
Lu Chen estimated that the Wild Wolf Gang’s people would show up soon, so he stood and stretched a bit.
At this moment, the old beggar was still napping in the corner, leaning against the wall. Jiang Qingyu sat under the eaves, diligently weaving straw sandals. The little girl worked very earnestly, and several finished pairs were already placed by her feet. She could sell these at the market for a few copper coins.
Normally, Jiang Qingyu would be humming cheerfully while working. But today, every time she remembered that they had eaten a 40 copper coin rooster for lunch, she felt terribly upset.
“Xiao Yu, go to the kitchen and cook dinner. No matter what noise you hear later, don’t come out,” Lu Chen said as he walked over and patted her little head.
“Hmph!” Jiang Qingyu swatted his hand away and stomped angrily into the kitchen. If Lu Chen hadn’t insisted on buying the Three-Yellow Chicken, that stinky beggar wouldn’t have been brought here in the first place. Now their family savings were gone, and they even had a freeloading mouth to feed.
Still, no matter how upset she was, she always listened to Lu Chen.
The moment Jiang Qingyu stepped into the kitchen, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard wall.
Right after that, a coarse voice shouted at the door, “Open up! The Wild Wolf Gang is here to collect tribute!”
The man’s loud voice startled several neighbors who were working in their courtyards. When they heard it was the Wild Wolf Gang, they quickly shut their doors and hid inside.
“They’ve finally come,” Lu Chen muttered with a cold sneer.
He walked over and opened the gate.
“Lu Chen, the deadline we agreed upon is up. Hand over the 100 copper coins!” one of the muscular men barked arrogantly, a blade slung across his back.
Lu Chen patted his pockets and feigned surprise, “Huh? Where’s my money? I swear I’d saved up exactly 100 coins…”
The man’s expression turned vicious instantly. “Trying to mess with me?! If you can’t pay up today, you’re coming with me to mine in the west!”
To the west of Luo City was an open-pit mine, where the laborers were basically slaves. If Lu Chen were sent there, he wouldn’t survive long.
In the past, Lu Chen would’ve begged pathetically, but now, he calmly replied, “And what if I refuse?”
“Then die!” the brute snarled, eyes fierce, drawing his blade and swinging it straight at Lu Chen’s neck.
Just as the sharp edge was about to strike—
Clang!
A pebble shot through the air, smashing precisely into the blade. The force made the man stagger back several steps.
“Who attacked me?! Come out!” the man roared, suddenly on high alert, eyes darting around the courtyard. The other brute also drew his blade, ready to fight.
At that moment, the old beggar who had been dozing in the corner stood up and stretched.
“Kid, I’ve been wondering why you insisted on feeding me that Beggar’s Chicken. Now I get it—you wanted me to deal with these two, didn’t you?”
Lu Chen quickly backed into the courtyard and bowed, “Senior, please save us. You can scold or punish me afterward—I won’t complain.”
The old beggar yawned and said, “Fine, I’ve eaten your food, so I’ll lend a hand.”
The two Wild Wolf Gang thugs had expected a martial arts expert in hiding. When they saw it was just an old beggar, they relaxed.
“You filthy beggar! You must be tired of living, daring to mess with us!” one of them shouted and lunged at the beggar with his blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Several pebbles flicked from the beggar’s hand, piercing through the man’s wrist, chest, and neck.
Before he even realized what happened, the man collapsed to the ground, dead.
The second man turned and bolted, but the beggar gave him no chance. In one swift leap, he blocked the escape, grabbed the man by the neck, and twisted hard—
Crack!
His neck snapped like a twig.
In just moments, both members of the Wild Wolf Gang lay dead.
The danger had passed.
Lu Chen quickly cupped his fists and bowed deeply, “Thank you for saving my life, Senior.”
But the old beggar frowned and said, “Those two had wolf head tattoos on their arms. They’re clearly from the Wild Wolf Gang. Now that I’ve killed them for you, the gang won’t let this go. What are you and that little girl going to do next?”
Lu Chen was stunned. He had been focused on solving the immediate danger and hadn’t thought about the consequences.
After a moment of thought, he said, “If trees can move to survive, so can people. Worst case, Xiao Yu and I will leave Luo City.”
The old beggar sighed, “With the chaos out there, do you really think you’ll be safe once you leave Luo City?”
“That…”
Lu Chen couldn’t think of a better plan, so he asked sincerely, “Please, Senior, save us to the end.”
“Fine. For the sake of that Beggar’s Chicken, I’ll help you one more time.”
The old beggar pulled an iron token from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Chen, “Take this to the Lin Martial Hall in the east of the city. Tell them you’re a disciple of Hong Qi, and explain everything to Master Lin. He’ll take you and the girl in.”
“In all of Luo City, only Lin Martial Hall can protect you both.”
Lu Chen took the token and dropped to his knees. “Disciple Lu Chen pays respects to Master!”
The old beggar waved him off, “I only told you to say you’re my disciple to give you an excuse to take shelter. I, Hong Qi, have roamed the world for decades and never taken a student. No one is worthy.”
“If it weren’t for you spending all your savings to feed me that Beggar’s Chicken, I wouldn’t have helped at all.”
“Enough talk. I only came to Luo City to settle a score with the Wild Wolf Gang’s deputy leader.”
“That bastard killed many of my Beggar Sect’s disciples. It’s time to make him pay.”
At this, the old beggar glanced toward the kitchen.
Inside, Jiang Qingyu was sulking as she washed rice and prepared dinner, unaware of what had happened outside.
“Kid, take good care of that girl. Her innate potential far exceeds yours.”
“If I get the time, I might take her as my last disciple.”
With those words, the old beggar leapt a few times and vanished over the rooftop.
Lu Chen stood there, stunned. “Xiao Yu’s innate potential is even better than mine?”
“Forget it. No time to dwell on that.”
“The priority now is to go to Lin Martial Hall for refuge.”
With that in mind, Lu Chen quickly searched the corpses of the two thugs.
To his surprise, he found two bulging coin pouches.
When he opened them, he saw shining pieces of silver.
Weighing them in his hand, Lu Chen estimated there were at least several dozen taels.
One tael of silver could be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins.
That meant these silver pieces added up to tens of thousands of copper coins.
Enough for him and Jiang Qingyu to live without worry for years.
“Damn! I just hit the jackpot!”
Lu Chen looked at the money bags in his hands, heart racing with excitement.