Chapter 32: Daishan County

Seeing such a miserable sight, Feng Zi naturally lost his leisurely mood for sightseeing.

He immediately engaged his core, walked briskly toward Daishan County to the south, and slowly quickened his pace without compromising his combat readiness.

Before long, a county town of modest size appeared before his eyes.

And just as Feng Zi stepped into the market outside the county town, before he could carefully observe the situation in Daishan County, a figure flew out from a shop in front of him.

Almost at the same instant, a square table was also smashed out of the shop door!

Seeing that the poor man was about to be severely injured by the impact, Feng Zi stepped forward quickly and caught the table gently.

The next moment, a young man with terrible taste in clothes, embodying every stereotype people have of street thugs, walked out cursing:

"Damn it, ever since I started following the eldest young master of the Sun Family, I've never paid for a meal. You actually dare to ask me for money?"

The other party was in the middle of his tirade when he suddenly saw Feng Zi blocking the path in front of the poor man, and he froze subconsciously.

But seeing that Feng Zi was dressed like an ordinary hunter, the thug-like youth cursed even more vigorously:

"Which family's hunter are you, you bastard? Don't you know I'm with the Sun Family? Get lost!"

Feng Zi had originally wanted to ask about what happened, or at least go through the "process" of being polite before resorting to force.

But seeing that the person before him was so unreasonable, he understood that there was only one language the other party could understand: fists.

Thinking of this, Feng Zi did not hesitate; he simply lifted his foot and kicked a small pebble at his feet.

The force he used was not great, merely that of an ordinary Martial Artist, but the next moment, the youth who was struck in the lower leg slowly knelt down from the pain.

Yet even so, the other party still spouted wild words: "Do you know who you've provoked? I am a man of the Sun Family!"

Seeing that this person was so oblivious to the disparity in strength, Feng Zi no longer held any expectations for his intelligence, and simply extended his leg to gently kick him over:

"An ordinary person, lucky enough to become a lackey for a powerful clan, and you think you're superior to others?"

As he spoke, he walked forward, stepped on the youth's chest, and said calmly:

"I am a Martial Artist—tell me, will your master behind you offend a Martial Artist like me because of a brainless piece of trash like you?"

Under the crushing weight of strength, the youth trembled all over and said cowering: "Martial Artist master, it is I who failed to recognize Mount Tai. You... you are a great person, please don't hold a grudge against a small person like me."

Having said that, the other party actually raised his hand and slapped himself in the face without hesitation.

Watching the youth continuously slapping his own cheeks, Feng Zi couldn't help but be stunned for a moment:

He naturally understood that the social status of an ordinary Martial Artist was indeed higher than that of commoners, but back in Wutai County, there was no essential difference between the two.

Yet here in Daishan County, the situation seemed different?

But Feng Zi did not hesitate for long before kicking the youth away and saying casually: "From now on, if I see you bullying the common people again, I will certainly not spare you!

"If your master is dissatisfied with my attitude—heh, rest assured, it won't be long before I pay them a visit personally."

To tell the truth, Feng Zi disliked this style of bullying the weak, and he disliked even more this style of not finishing the job.

But in order to break the deadlock quickly, he had no choice but to do so.

Even though the provocative youth's cheeks were slapped red and a trace of blood had seeped from the corner of his mouth, the other party still kowtowed repeatedly and said: "Many thanks for the great mercy of the Martial Artist master!"

Having said that, as if afraid that Feng Zi would change his mind, the other party scrambled to his feet and limped away.

Seeing that this small disturbance had been quelled, Feng Zi turned around to look at the person behind him.

That was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, one who would be completely unremarkable in a crowd.

Looking at the shopkeeper covered in wounds, Feng Zi bent down and asked with concern: "Are you alright? Can you stand up on your own?"

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper hurriedly shook his head and said: "Martial Artist master, I cannot dirty your hands. I can do it myself, I can do it myself."

Even so, the other party was truly badly injured; even after struggling several times, he could not stand up.

Seeing this, Feng Zi stepped forward to support the other party's arm and applied a little force: "I see your body is very weak, don't force yourself."

Having said that, he helped the other party back into the shop and brought the square table that had been thrown out along with him.

The poor shopkeeper sat and rested for a while before he finally regained some strength, managed to stand up, and closed the shop door:

"Sigh, it's my own fault for being so foolish as to dare to collect meal money from the Sun Family's thugs.

"Now look, not only is today's business ruined, but I've even implicated a Martial Artist master!"

Feng Zi heard this and subconsciously retorted: "A transaction should be settled with money and goods; this is the law of the Great Xia Dynasty. How can there be a rule that allows people to dine and dash so openly?"

In his memory, in Wutai County, even if the County Magistrate went out to eat, he would never fail to pay the bill!

The shopkeeper, who was slowly walking toward the counter, said helplessly:

"Money and goods settled... that is the rule of the imperial court, not the rule of this small border county where even the County Magistrate was intercepted and killed by mountain bandits."

It sounds like this place has already become a lawless zone where the strong prey on the weak?

Feng Zi pondered this in his heart, and seeing the shopkeeper struggling to find something, he asked subconsciously:

"Are you looking for medicine? You are so heavily injured, let me help you."

Hearing this, the poor man was so panicked that he ignored the pain in his body, hurriedly stood up, and waved his hands:

"Master, Martial Artist master, judging by your appearance, you must be from elsewhere. I beg you, please do not dirty your hands—

"It is already a grave sin to have you help me up. If others find out that you condescended to do things for a lowly person like me, my entire family's heads will not be safe!"

Seeing the other party's words were so sincere, Feng Zi understood the shopkeeper's persistence and waved his hand helplessly: "Very well, you may treat your wounds yourself...

"When you are finished with your tasks, chat with me about the situation in this county—surely sitting and chatting with a Martial Artist shouldn't be a capital offense, right?"

"Many thanks, Martial Artist master, I will! I will!" The shopkeeper, hearing this as if granted amnesty, agreed repeatedly.

After such a turn of events, Feng Zi naturally had his own calculations in mind:

One can catch a glimpse of the situation from what just happened; this Daishan County can already be considered a "lawless zone" where some official power is absent.

If this conjecture is true, the local powerful clans may have already become the local warlords of this region.

Following this line of reasoning, in troubled times, what is most important?

There is only one answer: strength!

Since that is the case, even if the powerful clans of Daishan County made the wrong choice and cooperated with the bandits who destroyed Bao Jia Zhuang, he would not feel the slightest bit surprised.

Therefore, the most important thing right now is to understand the situation here as much as possible.

Coincidentally, this shopkeeper appears to be a kind-hearted commoner, and what he says might be relatively trustworthy.

Even more coincidentally, he just helped the other party get out of a spot of trouble—towards him, the other party's current mood should be one of both admiration and gratitude.

Under these circumstances, according to Feng Zi's judgment, the other party's credibility is at least eighty percent.