Chapter 148: Chapter 120: Flower... Monk
Five or six people lay scattered about the room in disarray.
They all bore injuries to some degree, and some even had broken legs.
It was freezing cold, and inside the crude dwelling, they shivered under thin straw mats, their bodies racked with injuries. When he saw the hateful glares from Susu and the others, Zheng Xiu had the fleeting thought that he must look like the Great Evil Person.
After a while, Zheng Xiu finally understood the whole story.
In the alley earlier, the young man had repeatedly mentioned the "Black-clothed People," leading Zheng Xiu to vaguely guess that they had encountered Ye Weiyang before his arrival and had some sort of unpleasant run-in.
This group of children, who called themselves the "Gentlemen’s Alliance," consisted of sixteen members.
The oldest, at twenty-two, was the group’s leader, the young man Zheng Xiu had beaten up a short while ago. His name was Pang Shengyun.
And the little girl who had dared to steal Feng Bei’s waist token was only fifteen. Her name was Chu Susu.
The sixteen of them had one thing in common: they were all orphans who relied on one another, making a living as thieves.
Pang Shengyun’s parents had died in the civil unrest twenty years ago. Only two years old at the time, he was taken in by an old thief and naturally fell into a life of petty crime.
The old thief, who had been like a father to him, was mauled to death by a rich man’s dogs during a burglary, leaving Pang Shengyun all alone.
Chu Susu’s past wasn’t quite as turbulent as Pang Shengyun’s. She didn’t even know who her birth parents were, having been abandoned on the streets as a child.
After learning of their pasts, Feng Bei’s gaze toward the youths in the room softened, perhaps because their circumstances were similar to her own.
"It was that black-clothed beast with the heavy sword!" Chu Susu’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the orphans with their broken limbs. She gritted her teeth, her eyes burning with hatred. "We could tell they were trouble from the start, so we didn’t provoke them! Who would’ve thought they’d come after us just to find some painting!"
"When they found out we weren’t the real Gentlemen’s Alliance, that beast flew into a rage and beat them into this state!"
Jin Niu and Xu Shu had arrived here ahead of them.
「A few days ago.」
Although Xu Shu was just one of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, his investigative abilities were formidable. He had easily tracked them to General Town.
He had intended to use the local power brokers, the "Gentlemen’s Alliance," but when he discovered this group of brats was merely posing as them, he flew into a rage and broke several of their limbs.
Hearing this, Feng Bei snorted coldly.
The local hoodlums, led by Pang Shengyun, had made a living from petty theft for years.
It was just as Si Youqing had said: there is the path of light, and there is the path of shadows. Though their work was not respectable, they had managed to survive tenaciously in this remote corner through their shady "business."
They were smart enough not to target locals, preying exclusively on outsiders.
This time, they had also avoided provoking the outsiders, Xu Shu and his companion, yet still suffered a major loss at their hands.
No wonder Chu Susu’s resentment was so hard to quell when she saw the second group from Ye Weiyang enter the city. Relying on her boldness, born of great skill, she had stolen Feng Bei’s waist token.
’Of all people, why did she have to steal from the most ruthless one?’
When Zheng Xiu asked this question, somewhat amused, Chu Susu replied meekly that she had originally wanted to steal from the youth who looked like the easiest target.
But the two of them had come and gone in a flash, leaving the city for the mountain after only a short while. Before Susu had a chance to act, Yue Yan and Dou Xie were gone.
Zheng Xiu nodded at her words. "You’ve got a good eye," he praised.
’A thief has a thief’s eye. She at least had that much sense.’
’Dou Xie was clearly the weakest link.’
’It was obvious at a glance.’
"Hey, wait for me at the door. You’re coming with me."
Zheng Xiu got up and beckoned to Feng Bei.
Feng Bei nodded and obediently followed him outside. When she turned around, Zheng Shan had vanished.
She opened her mouth, displeased, but still waited for a while by the hole Zheng Xiu had kicked in the wall.
A short time later, Zheng Xiu reappeared. He then took Feng Bei to a local apothecary to pick out medicine.
Now that Zheng Xiu knew where Chu Susu and her group had their "den," he wasn’t worried about them running off.
’As the saying goes, the monk can run, but the temple can’t. The room is full of casualties; where could they run?’
His [Medical Principles] Ability, now upgraded to the "Masterful" level, was incredibly useful. Not only could he identify all sorts of medicinal ingredients and their effects at a glance, but he could also now concoct a total of five recipes: [Golden Wound Medicine], [Soporific Medicine], [Calming Powder], [Dream of Spring], and [Bone-setting Ointment].
Every single one was an essential formula for anyone roaming the Jianghu.
They could staunch bleeding and regenerate flesh, improve circulation and set bones, or knock a person unconscious. Guaranteed effective, they were enough to handle any situation.
At first, Zheng Xiu didn’t tell Feng Bei why they were going out.
And Feng Bei didn’t ask.
Feng Bei followed Zheng Xiu to the apothecary. As she watched him bustle about, personally brewing the [Bone-setting Ointment] and [Golden Wound Medicine], she found herself staring dazedly at his broad back.
It was as if she could see him again, twenty-one years ago—that kind-smiling Mighty Man, laughing heartily:
"Zheng Shan! My ’Zheng’ is the same as the great Zheng Haoran’s, and my ’Shan’ means ’Goodness’ itself!"
Zheng Xiu waved a few tightly wrapped packets of ointment in front of Feng Bei’s dazed face. "Let’s go! What are you staring at?" he said with a laugh.
Zheng Xiu had brewed ten portions of each of the two medicines. When he turned around, he saw Feng Bei staring at him, lost in thought.
’Inspiration struck.’
’Zheng Xiu wished he could grab a brush right then and there and draw a comic strip about Feng Bei.’
’A pity the timing wasn’t right.’
On the way back, Feng Bei walked behind Zheng Xiu.
She didn’t foolishly ask why Zheng Xiu was helping them.
In Feng Bei’s eyes, "Zheng Shan" was simply that kind of person.
Time could flow and the years could pass, but Zheng Shan would always be Zheng Shan—a steadfast hero, dedicated to righting the world’s wrongs.
