Chapter 86

As the gangsters, who had just thrown a man out and were leaving the brothel, froze at the sight of Zhang Jian on horseback, they exchanged glances and one of them spoke up, “What are you looking at? Just go on your way.”

Zhang Jian, who had been quietly observing their surly expressions, raised his hand and pointed at the brothel, as if indicating that it was his destination.

The gangsters, who had been frozen in place, read his gesture and exchanged glances again, chuckling. “Well, in broad daylight?” “This young master seems to be in quite a hurry. If you’re going, why not go to Jianshanlou instead? That’s the best brothel around.” “Hey, from the looks of it, you’re a wanderer. Do you even have the money to go there? Stop talking nonsense.”

The last gangster, who seemed to have decided that Zhang Jian was not worth paying attention to, walked over to the man lying on the ground and crouched down, grabbing him by the collar and slapping his already distorted face. “You bastard, say it again. What did you just say?”

The man, trembling either from pain or fear, could not answer properly. The gangster, growing angry, shouted, “Why can’t you speak! If you don’t want to pay the protection fee, just say so! You were so bold just a moment ago, why can’t you speak now?”

“No, no. I’ll... I’ll pay the protection fee. So...”

“Why are you changing your mind now? You said you didn’t want to pay, and that you already pay the martial alliance and the Jianshan cooperative. Why should you pay us too? Why are you changing your mind, you bastard!”

The gangster, shouting, struck the man’s cheek hard. The sound was a sharp crack, and the man’s body spun and fell. He didn’t even have time to scream. Instead, it was Guan Liang, who was standing next to Zhang Jian, who suddenly shouted and rushed forward.

“Hey, you damn bastards!”

Seeing the man fall, Guan Liang’s eyes widened, and he charged at the gangster with a surprising agility for a young boy, attempting to kick the gangster’s head.

However, this was only surprising by the standards of a child. The gangster easily caught Guan Liang’s leg with his left hand, lifted him up, and stood up. Guan Liang was left hanging upside down, struggling.

“What’s this kid doing?” “Let me go, you damn bastards!”

The gangster, muttering, noticed the people inside Taipinglou, who were screaming and panicking. “Liang! No!” “Why did he have to do that now...”

The gangster, hearing this, alternated his gaze between the struggling boy and the fallen man. If the man’s face hadn’t been so battered, he might have looked like the boy. The gangster chuckled, finding the situation absurd.

“Let me go! I’ll kill you!”

“Why is this kid’s mouth so foul? These brats are really causing trouble.”

The gangster, muttering, shook his head and raised his right fist. Whether the target was a child or an adult, he couldn’t let them go after attacking him. There were many people watching from the windows of the surrounding brothels.

If the boy got hurt, the people of Taipinglou would be even more frightened. The gangster, intending to injure the boy’s internal organs, clenched his fist tightly, infusing it with his shallow internal energy. The fist, which would cause even an adult to suffer for a while if hit directly, trembled as it was clenched.

At that moment, Zhang Jian, who had been sitting on his horse, dismounted.

For some reason, everyone’s attention was drawn to this simple action. The gangster about to strike, the two others who were laughing, the people inside the brothel who were panicking, and even Guan Liang, who was hanging upside down, all turned to look at Zhang Jian.

His face was half-hidden by his hat, and a thin stream of smoke rose from the cigarette in his mouth. He took a light puff and exhaled the smoke.

“...Just ignore it and go about your business. You’ll only make things worse for yourself if you get involved.”

The gangster, who was holding Guan Liang, glanced at the sword hanging from Zhang Jian’s waist and said this. But Zhang Jian, instead of answering, took another puff of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke, saying, “Put the kid down.”

The gangsters’ expressions hardened. The one holding Guan Liang furrowed his brow and gathered his strength, preparing to strike again. But at that moment, Zhang Jian slightly raised his head, and his eyes met the gangster’s from under the hat.

The gangster’s body stiffened. He felt as if an invisible blade had pierced his body from Zhang Jian’s eyes. If his martial arts skills were at a higher level, he would have recognized this as the aura of a master, something only seen in imperial guards or noble warriors.

But the gangster, who only engaged in street fights and bullied the weak, did not recognize it. Instead, he realized he was afraid and felt a surge of anger.

Of course, despite his anger, the gangster released Guan Liang. He then laughed, pretending not to be afraid.

“What are you, some kind of hero? Why are you interfering in someone else’s business?”

Zhang Jian did not answer. His eyes were on Guan Liang, who was crawling over to the fallen man, shaking him and shouting, “Dad! Wake up, Dad!”

“...Is this kid ignoring me? Do you want to die!”

Zhang Jian’s hand began to crush the gangster’s fist. The gangster’s hand, which was tightly clenched with internal energy, made a cracking sound as it was crushed. The pain was so intense that he couldn’t even speak and naturally fell to his knees.

Zhang Jian, who had made him kneel, released his hand and said, “Take your friends and get out.”

The gangster, holding his crushed hand, trembled and looked up at Zhang Jian. “...D-Do you think you can handle it?”

“Why? Are you going to call more of your friends?”

Zhang Jian, looking down at him, lightly stroked the hilt of his sword with his left hand. The gangster, seeing this, paled and quickly looked down, crawling over to his friends. He carried one of the unconscious gangsters on his back and dragged the other as he fled.

As the gangsters fled, Zhang Jian approached Guan Liang and the unconscious man.

“Let me see.”

“Y-Yes?”

Guan Liang, who had seen a glimpse of Zhang Jian’s skills, asked in a dazed manner. But Zhang Jian flicked away his cigarette and sat down next to them, feeling the unconscious man’s neck.

After checking his pulse, he flipped the man’s eyelids to examine them and wiped the blood on his hands on the man’s clothes.

“He’s just unconscious. Let him rest.”

“R-Really?”

Guan Liang looked at his father’s battered face. It was swollen and torn, bleeding in several places. It didn’t look good at all.

“His face is a mess, but he’ll be fine.”

Zhang Jian, ruffling Guan Liang’s hair, stood up. As he did, the people in the brothel, who had been hesitating, rushed out to the man.

“Quick, take him inside! Someone, go get a doctor! Hurry!”

They carried the unconscious man into the brothel and began to clean up the broken window and the messy front. As Zhang Jian watched from a distance, someone approached and bowed deeply.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t helped, the brothel owner and Guan Liang would have been seriously injured. Thank you very much.”

The person bowing was a young woman. Her plain face and unadorned appearance stood out. Zhang Jian, looking at her, said, “I’m Zhang Jian.”

“Oh, you’re Zhang the Hero. I’m Zhang Aying. On behalf of Taipinglou, I would like to—”

“Just call me by my name or as a warrior. Don’t call me a hero.”

Zhang Aying, who had introduced herself, paused and looked up at Zhang Jian. Seeing his calm face, she bowed again and replied, “Yes, Warrior Zhang. I will do that. From what I’ve seen, it seems you’ve come here with Liang’s guidance to stay. Would you like to come inside?”

“Is it business as usual despite the commotion?”

Zhang Aying smiled gently. “This level of commotion is nothing. And since it’s already over, why would we close the brothel?”

Zhang Jian chuckled at her natural response.

“Good. Then I’ll stay for a few days.”

“Warrior Zhang, welcome to Taipinglou.”

Thus, Zhang Jian stayed at Taipinglou in Jianshan City. During the fight with the gangsters, his horse, Zhaozao, which had seemed indifferent, snorted and grinned as the women of Taipinglou led him to the stable. Recently, he had been rejected by mares and now seemed to like any female, whether horse or human.

As Zhang Jian entered the brothel, he shook his head slightly, feeling sorry for the horse.

* * *

Zhang Jian sipped his wine, facing a well-prepared meal.

As a token of gratitude for saving the brothel owner and his son, he was given a room on the fourth floor of Taipinglou. Unlike the third and second floors, the fourth floor had only three special rooms. After saying he wanted to eat first, the meal was now in front of him. Zhang Aying, who had greeted him earlier, had also come in and was sitting next to him, refilling his wine glass.

However, despite the luxurious meal and the woman, Zhang Jian only ate enough to feel full and then just sipped his wine. In fact, he was thinking about how to find the Qing She, the black snake, from the Snake Palace.

The black spear tip, obtained from the field spirit, would vibrate and indicate the presence of the Qing She when it was nearby, as Bi Lang had said.

However, it was unknown how close the spear tip needed to be to the Qing She to vibrate, especially since it had already lost much of its power from showing the past. If he wasn’t careful, Zhang Jian might have to wander around Jianshan City all day with just the spear tip.

Zhang Jian took a deep drink from the wine glass refilled by Zhang Aying.

He had no intention of aimlessly wandering around Jianshan City. Beating up the Qing She was just that, and he didn’t plan to dedicate his life to it. Therefore, he needed to broaden his approach.

In the last memory, the Qing She had said he was going to fix a broken line in Jianshan City. From this, Zhang Jian could guess who the Snake Palace’s contact in Jianshan was. It was Xue Weiliang, whom he had fought and robbed. His backer was the head of the Jianshan cooperative, a Mr. Sun. Zhang Jian only remembered that he was surnamed Sun.

When Xue Weiliang died, the Snake Palace’s contact in Jianshan was revealed. The Dark Dragon Corps likely moved, and the imperial guards also acted. With the head of the snake in Jianshan gone, a new one must have arrived.

Zhang Jian took another drink from the refilled wine glass.

Finding the Qing She would be quite complicated. If the Snake Palace still had influence in Jianshan, they would be scattered and hiding after the imperial guards’ pursuit and attacks. If the Qing She had joined them, their movements would be even more secretive and unpredictable.

If the Snake Palace’s influence in Jianshan had been completely eradicated by the imperial guards, the Qing She would be rebuilding the network from scratch. Either way, he would need to avoid the enhanced Dark Dragon Corps to find him.

Zhang Jian played with the wine glass on the table, refilled by Zhang Aying.

Ultimately, Zhang Jian