Chapter 36: Lingering Fear

He had barely taken a step when a sharp pain shot through his ribs. Turning, he saw a young man dressed like a wealthy scion standing to his left. The thug, furious beyond reason, thought to himself, To hell with it, I'll go all out and take you on — even if I get beaten, I'll still land a few hits on you. With a roar of curses, he raised his fist and charged.

But as he lunged forward, the young man suddenly sidestepped. Before the thug could even turn, another piercing pain struck him under the armpit — a vital point on the body. His whole frame convulsed and he collapsed to the ground. Wang Zhaojing stepped back and twirled the short cudgel in his hand with a satisfied flourish.

The last remaining thug had already panicked. He no longer cared about fighting back or getting revenge; all he wanted was to break through and flee. Ji Xiang had already planted himself in the man's path. The thug cursed and threw a punch. Ji Xiang failed to dodge and took the blow square on the shoulder, staggering back a step — but Shi Manqiang, crouching low, charged in and wrapped his arms around the thug's waist, rolling with him to the side. The thug lost his balance, and Ji Xiang leaped up and kicked him in the lower back, sending him straight to the ground.

Of the five thugs who had come swaggering in with such ferocity moments ago, not a single one was still standing.

Still, people have a herd mentality. The boys had been too scared to act at first, but now that the fight was on, they swarmed forward in a frenzy. Zhao Jin and the few who had struck first had already stopped, but the others had surrounded the thugs — eight or nine boys around each one, stomping down furiously.

"This is our turf! If you want to come here and stir up trouble, you'll have to ask us whether we agree!" Zhao Jin shouted. His words had barely faded when the boys roared their assent in unison.

At that moment, Mu Shulan ran up to Zhao Jin's side, her face full of concern, and asked, "Brother Xiaojin, are you all right?"

"Zhao Jin, well done!" Before Zhao Jin could answer Mu Shulan, Chen Sheng loudly praised him. Wang Zhaojing also walked over and said with a smile, "Brother Zhao is impassioned and unyielding — truly admirable!"

Sun Dalei, Liu Yong, Shi Manqiang, and Ji Xiang gathered around as well, their eyes and faces alight with both admiration and excitement. Zhao Jin nodded to them all, then raised his voice and shouted, "Stop hitting them! Let them go!"

In winter, people wear thick padded clothes, and the strength of boys and youths is not that great — but if the beating went on too long, it could still easily cause real harm. Zhao Jin knew when to stop.

Unfortunately, the other boys were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Many had cowered when the thugs first arrived, but now that they were kicking a drowning dog, everyone was scrambling to be first. The noise was a clamor, and hardly anyone heard Zhao Jin's words.

"Big Brother Zhao told you to stop! Are your ears all deaf?!" Before Zhao Jin could shout again, Ji Xiang bellowed at the top of his lungs. He had strong breath and a booming voice; with that one yell, all the boys heard him and gradually stopped.

"Let them go!" Zhao Jin said once more. This time, no one dared make another move. In the fight against the thugs just now, Zhao Jin's courage and victory had thoroughly established his authority.

The boys on the goods yard looked at one another, then all began walking toward Zhao Jin. Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing stood behind Zhao Jin; Shi Manqiang, Ji Xiang, and Sun Dalei stood in the third row; Liu Yong stood beside Ji Xiang, half a step back; and the rest of the boys automatically and consciously arrayed themselves behind.

In the fight just now, everyone's strength and weakness had already sorted itself out, and they all instinctively arranged themselves according to this order.

Thick padded cotton clothes resist blows, and the strength of boys and youths is limited. Before long, all five thugs had clambered up from the ground. Every one of their faces was bruised purple and blue, three of them were bleeding from the mouth and nose, and they stood there swaying unsteadily.

The triangular-eyed Brother Hu wiped his face with a hand, as if he still hadn't grasped what had just happened. Finally, he shook his head, fixed his stare on Zhao Jin, pointed at him viciously, and said, "You little bastard, you—"

Zhao Jin stamped the butt of his wooden pole on the ground and said coldly, "Get lost now, or I'll beat you to death!"

The moment the wooden pole struck the ground, Brother Hu instinctively stumbled two steps backward, his feet tangling, and sat down hard right there. The other four thugs hurried forward to help him up. The triangular-eyed Brother Hu shoved the people beside him away and walked out with his head down, not looking back. The thug had stood up cursing viciously, looking as if he would never let this go, and the boys had all been a little nervous — they hadn't expected the man to not dare face them again and simply slink off in disgrace. A wave of jeering laughter erupted at once.

But no one expected that when Brother Hu reached the street corner, he would turn around again, point at the crowd, and say through gritted teeth: "You little bastards, go ahead and laugh. You think Grandpa doesn't know who you are? You — aren't you Old Roast Chicken's son? Tomorrow Grandpa will smash your family's stall. You — tomorrow I'll add a little fire to your family's blacksmith shop. And you—"

Ji Xiang, Shi Manqiang, Liu Yong, and several others were all singled out by name. Zhao Jin, thoroughly annoyed by this, raised the wooden pole in his hand and hurled it straight at him. Brother Hu was so frightened he dared not say another word. He led his men running off for some distance before turning his head and shouting, "Just you wait!"

"Cowardly rat!" Zhao Jin sneered. Chen Sheng and Wang Zhaojing laughed as well, but the impassioned atmosphere from moments before had vanished. Only the three of them were laughing across the whole yard. Zhao Jin found this puzzling and turned to look back — he discovered that most people's expressions were tense, and quite a few even looked terrified. Sun Dalei, however, wore a completely unconcerned look.

Zhao Jin shook his head and said, "Ji Xiang, you and I still haven't fought. Let's have our match!"

Ji Xiang waved his hand, his face full of gloom, and answered, "Big Brother Zhao, I concede. You win."

In the past, Ji Xiang would fight with everything he had even when he knew he couldn't win, and his attitude was always good — he'd say with a grin, "Even if I can't beat you, I can still learn something." But today he was thoroughly dejected.

Zhao Jin was taken aback. Connecting what had just happened with what came before, he quickly understood. The threats the five thugs had hurled as they left had taken effect, making these people worried and afraid.

This was precisely the trouble with thugs and ruffians. They might not be particularly good at fighting, but they had no bottom line and would harass you endlessly. Few common folk were willing to get involved in lawsuits, and even if you went to the yamen to file a complaint, these thugs were like blunt knives — utterly unafraid. Ordinary people simply didn't have the time or energy to wear them down. And from ancient times to the present, commoners have always been reluctant to go to court or face officials.

Over time, these thugs and ruffians became the kind of people you absolutely could not afford to provoke — once provoked, they became a huge problem you couldn't shake off.

Everyone had enjoyed the fight just now, but afterward, once they cooled down and heard the threats, once they thought about the consequences, it all felt very serious. These boys and youths were not very old, but they spent their days out on the streets; they had seen and heard enough to know what kind of trouble this meant.

However, those five thugs recognized Ji Xiang, Shi Manqiang, and the others, but they did not recognize Zhao Jin or Chen Sheng. Most likely, these thugs had mutual impressions of Ji Xiang and his group from around the Black Tiger God of Wealth Temple in the southern part of the city, while Zhao Jin and the others, children of wealthy families living in the northern quarter, were complete strangers to them.

"Who told them? Who did such a rotten thing?" Shi Manqiang shouted beside him, half frantic with rage. The boys all stood there with their heads lowered. The news about the goods yard's daily sparring matches and prizes had long since spread throughout Xuzhou — anyone could have told them.

Zhao Jin patted Shi Manqiang on the shoulder and advised, "Don't go looking into that."

"Big Brother Zhao, this... what do we do?" Liu Yong hesitated for a moment, then finally asked. He was actually older than Zhao Jin, but after what had just happened, the address came out with perfect naturalness.

Zhao Jin looked over and saw that Liu Yong looked as if he were about to burst into tears. Zhao Jin could roughly guess why, but he still asked, "What's the matter?"

"... They live not far from my place. If this gets back to my mother, I'll get a beating. But if I don't tell her, they'll still come looking for trouble at my home. What am I supposed to do?" Liu Yong's voice carried a tearful note.

Liu Yong, who usually acted so domineering, was wearing this expression. Zhao Jin just wanted to laugh, but he forcefully held it in. He also noticed that it wasn't just Liu Yong — the rest of the boys and youths were all just as frightened and worried.

Zhao Jin pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and shouted, "Everyone! Today we all fought together and drove off those ruffians and thugs. Everyone contributed. Come on, let's divide up these things and eat!"

Zhao Jin and the others had brought quite a lot of food. Even though the thugs had ruined some of it, there was still enough left for everyone to have one piece.

At the mention of good things to eat, everyone's spirits lifted a little at last. They crowded around, each taking one, and began eating. Chen Sheng and the others looked completely unconcerned. Zhao Jin stepped up onto the earthen platform and asked loudly, "Is everyone coming back tomorrow?"

Many of these boys and youths had nowhere else to go and didn't want to be cooped up at home; they came here every day. The question was practically pointless. But today was different. As soon as Zhao Jin spoke, someone below hesitantly said, "Big Brother Zhao, tomorrow... tomorrow I won't dare come."