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墨書 Inktalez
Lu Chen suddenly stood up and looked in the direction where Spirit Light had flown away. It seemed that Su Wutong had succeeded, and a sense of relief flashed through his heart.
"I should be on my way too," he said, raising his hand to wipe the dew from his forehead. Lu Chen set off overnight towards the Central Plains Nineteen States.
These past few days felt like a dream, and his fate was about to undergo a significant change.
Killing Green Mountain covered hundreds of miles, and the roads were difficult to traverse. Lu Chen spent nearly three hours before finally making his way out, arriving at the first county town in the Central Plains, Fufeng County.
"This is where my master used to serve as the county magistrate," Lu Chen said as he walked onto the street, brushing past merchants and travelers.
This was also a remarkable county town where many events had taken place, including that the Azure Field Matriarch had cultivated on a nearby mountain called Azure Field Mountain. However, now all of that had become history.
After walking for a while, he suddenly heard a commotion ahead; someone was arguing.
With nothing else to do, Lu Chen walked over to take a look. Pushing through the crowd, he discovered that a scuffle was occurring. A boy dressed in Mayi, about the same age as him, was kneeling on the ground with a sign hanging around his neck, clearly marked with a price of two taels of silver.
The boy wore a sorrowful and resentful expression, being pointed at by others and enduring humiliation without saying a word.
Beside him stood a middle-aged man dressed in silk clothing, occasionally striking the kneeling boy and cursing at him.
Those who could afford silk were either wealthy or noble. Since this man wasn't wearing official robes, he must be a local rich landlord. At that moment, the landlord's face was dark with anger as he treated the boy very roughly.
It appeared that this was an auction for slaves!
Lu Chen overheard the discussions among the bystanders. The gist was that this boy was a long-term worker for the landlord but had been beaten severely for taking something from him and was now being sold off.
Looking at the boy's honest face and determined spirit, it seemed he neither admitted guilt nor tried to argue; he only accepted his fate. There must be some injustice in this matter.
Lu Chen felt a sense of injustice in his heart. He had once been a servant himself, often subjected to unfair treatment, and now witnessing this scene resonated with him.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the hierarchy of officials, farmers, artisans, and merchants was not just a saying but a reflection of social status. Officials held the highest status, above the law; next were the farmers, who ranked below the officials; then came the laborers and tenants, whose status was even lower than that of farmers; finally, there were the merchants, whose status was considered inferior to that of farmers.
However, in reality, merchants often lived more comfortably than farmers. Farmers were the foundation of the country, and placing their status above that of artisans and merchants was merely a formality.
Servants and slaves had no status at all; their position was the lowest, and anyone could buy or sell them as they pleased.
"Two taels of silver for sale," Lu Chen said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two taels of silver, placing them before the landlord.
His monthly allowance from Han Wangfu was not much, but aside from his own expenses, he had saved a little money, so he could afford two taels.
However, Lu Chen's act of throwing the money on the ground angered the Middle-Aged Landlord. The landlord looked up and saw Lu Chen dressed in tattered Supreme Garment, appearing like a beggar. He snorted coldly and approached.
"Do you want to die? Do you think I care about your two taels of silver?" The Middle-Aged Landlord was about to make a move.
Lu Chen intended to humiliate him. This man had no Qigong cultivation; he relied solely on his wealth and power to bully others.
In just a few punches and kicks, Lu Chen knocked him down to near death, causing him to wail in agony.
Now he finally behaved himself, lying on the ground in fear and looking at Lu Chen without daring to move.
"Giving you money is giving you face. If I didn't give you face, I would have killed you directly. Now get lost," Lu Chen scolded disdainfully.
The Middle-Aged Landlord picked up the silver and hurriedly ran away, earning applause from those around them.
Lu Chen walked up to the young man and removed the sign from him, saying, "You can see clearly now, he doesn't truly want to sell you; he just doesn't want you anymore from the bottom of his heart."
With force, he slammed the sign onto the ground and told the young man, "I have redeemed you. You are no longer a slave; you are free now."
After that, Lu Chen stood up and prepared to leave.
Not far from where he walked out, Lu Chen heard someone chasing after him from behind.
He thought it was the landlord coming for revenge, but when he turned around, it was the young man, wearing a pair of tattered straw sandals with his toes sticking out, panting as he caught up. He heard him say, "Young Master, I will be your person from now on."
"Don't follow me; I don't need you. I'm not a Young Master, and I have no parents," Lu Chen rejected.
He didn't want to have someone else around him because it would bring unexpected troubles.
The young man lowered his head. Hearing that Lu Chen had no parents, he immediately changed his words and said, "Master, you have redeemed me. From now on, whether I work like an ox or a horse, I am your person."
Lu Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise. Just a few days ago, he was still a servant and a slave; now he unexpectedly found himself in the position of a master. However, he never intended to have someone like this by his side.
"Quickly go back to your home; I really don't need you. And don't call me Master," Lu Chen felt uncomfortable being addressed that way.
"Master, my parents are both deceased; I no longer have a home," the young man replied calmly and politely, perhaps due to years of being a servant.
He seemed to think that since Lu Chen was looking at him, he should try hard to show off his strengths in hopes of winning Lu Chen's favor so that he could be taken in.
The young man paused for a moment and then said, "I have studied for a few years; I can do accounts, cook, and tend to gardens and fields. As long as you provide me with food, I can do anything."
"I am not rejecting you; I truly have no use for you. I am a person living on the edge, without even a place to stay. If you follow me, you'll only suffer endlessly." Lu Chen felt a pang of sympathy upon hearing that the boy was orphaned; his situation was quite similar, as he too was an absolute weakling. He thought to scare him off, hoping he would retreat.
However, the boy lowered his head again and said, "Sir, I am not afraid of hardship or anything else. You have redeemed me and paid with silver; even if I starve or die poor, I am still yours."
"What should I do now?"
Lu Chen's nose twitched at this. The boy had been a servant and slave for so long that his will and mindset were very stubborn; he only knew how to obey and comply. It would be difficult to reason with him about what he believed.
The only solution seemed to be to knock him out, leave him somewhere, and quietly depart. By the time he woke up, Lu Chen would have already gone far away.
Just as Lu Chen was contemplating this plan, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
A group of muscular men dressed as martial artists rushed out from a nearby alley, quickly surrounding Lu Chen and the boy.
Lu Chen focused his gaze and realized these men were hired by the landlord from earlier—about fifteen or sixteen of them. The landlord stood not far away, a cold smile on his lips as he looked arrogantly at Lu Chen.
"Sir, you should leave quickly; I'll hold them off," the boy surprisingly bravely stepped in front of Lu Chen.
"Beat them to death!" the landlord shouted from a distance.
At the landlord's command, more than ten martial artists raised their clubs and charged forward.
In the chaos, Lu Chen pushed the boy aside. He swiftly grabbed the first martial artist who charged at him, snatched the club from his hands, and kicked him away.
Then he faced the others; within just a few exchanges, he had already knocked down seven or eight of them lying on the ground.
Suddenly, seven or eight of them fell down, leaving the remaining people feeling uneasy as they surrounded Lu Chen and the young boy in the middle, yet they did not dare to attack.
These individuals had no Qigong cultivation; they were merely relying on their numbers and were no match for Lu Chen.
Surrounded, Lu Chen remained calm. These people were truly overestimating themselves and deserved a good lesson.
Suddenly, a Martial Artist standing behind Lu Chen attempted to launch a sneak attack. Gritting his teeth, he mustered his courage and raised the stick in his hand to strike.
This scene was witnessed by the slave boy nearby. Seeing someone trying to ambush Lu Chen, he disregarded everything else and rushed over in his hard straw sandals, grabbing hold of the Martial Artist attempting the sneak attack.
"Hit him hard!" shouted the landlord from a distance. In his eyes, this slave was also to blame for making him suffer Lu Chen's blows.
Two or three Martial Artists closer to the boy surrounded him, swinging their sticks furiously. The boy was determined, holding onto the Martial Artist without letting go, even as he was beaten until he spat blood.
Lu Chen turned around and was instantly furious. He had never expected that this boy's mindset would be so resolute, showing loyalty to the point of not fearing death, yet he could not understand why he had drawn the landlord's disdain.
With bloodshot eyes, Lu Chen unleashed the Crazy Serpent Seven Star Classic, his body moving in an unusual manner as he floated forward.
As he channeled Qigong, Lu Chen felt the Supreme Garment emanating waves of heat throughout his body, invigorating him and making him feel incredibly strong, as if he had limitless energy.
These Martial Artists had never practiced Qigong; they were unworthy of being called Martial Artists. At most, they were just street thugs who had come to watch. They had never even seen high-level martial arts like the Crazy Serpent Seven Star Classic.
Lu Chen stepped into the Seven Star Step, his flesh twisting as he advanced with a serpentine movement, launching a flurry of punches.
"They are all deserving of death."
This time, Lu Chen showed no mercy. His fists struck like heavy iron hammers, landing on those guys with precision and speed. The sound of breaking bones echoed like the cracking of bamboo, and those hit were left with at least broken limbs.
He took care of the remaining people as well. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen individuals lay on the ground—some dead, some injured—blood and flesh scattered everywhere, a scene of brutal carnage.
The landlord in the distance was startled to see that more than a dozen people were no match for Lu Chen. With a cry of despair, he turned to flee.
Lu Chen would not give him the chance. Spotting a large wooden stick at his feet, he took a deep breath and kicked out forcefully.
Qigong emphasizes Yang Yuan, or True Qi; the thicker the True Qi, the greater the power. Lu Chen was currently only at the first level of Qigong, in the Body Refinement Explosive Qi Realm, but Body Refinement Explosion was not as simple as it sounded.
For example, holding your breath to catch fish means diving into a pond while holding your breath to grab slippery live fish. There’s also blowing open doors by taking a deep breath and then forcefully exhaling to knock down a tightly closed door.
Lu Chen had struggled for survival over the years but never forgot to solidify his Qigong cultivation. He learned little by little whenever he could, accumulating knowledge over time.
After enduring hardships to reach his current level, he kicked out with all his strength, shattering the front half of the wooden stick as if cutting through sugarcane. The remaining half flew out directly.
In the blink of an eye, that flying half of the stick pierced through the landlord's back, leaving a gaping hole.
The landlord stiffened and fell to the ground, dead!
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