Chapter 42: A Call for Aid in the World of Martial Artists

Chu Feng ignored the fat martial artist’s questioning, crouched down, and gently placed a hand on Xiao Li’s shoulder. “Xiao Li? Are you Xiao Li?”

“I… I am! You… are you… are you Uncle?!”

Xiao Li, trembling with fear, had been thoroughly intimidated by the two fierce martial artists. But the moment she recognized Chu Feng, surprise and delight flooded her face, and she blurted out “Uncle” without thinking.

To make traveling easier, Chu Feng’s current appearance matched what Xiao Li remembered from before: that of a man in his thirties, unmistakably someone she would call “Uncle.”

“That’s right, it’s me! Did you borrow money from these two?” Chu Feng asked, “How much do you owe?”

“I… I owe a lot!” Xiao Li bit her lip hard, her face full of shame and embarrassment, unable to bring herself to say the number out loud.

“Hey, kid, are you this girl’s uncle? Planning to pay her debt for her? She borrowed high-interest money from our Great Qian Guild, and hasn’t repaid it for a long time. The principal was two thousand silver, but with compound interest, it’s now five thousand!” said the dark-faced martial artist.

Xiao Li nodded, acknowledging the debt.

“Here are three silver notes worth a thousand each. Take them!” Without another word, Chu Feng pulled out three notes from his storage pouch and tossed them to the dark-faced man.

“It’s not three thousand, it’s five! Where’s the other two thousand?” the man demanded.

“There’s interest on loans, but don’t you get interest for beating someone? You just hit her—how are we calculating the price for your blows and insults?” Chu Feng replied coldly. “I’m giving you three thousand. If that’s not enough, hand it back.”

“Kid, are you new to Hengshan’s outer town? Don’t you know the power of the Great Qian Guild?” The fat martial artist stepped forward, his voice low and threatening.

“Hmph!”

Chu Feng snorted disdainfully and ignored the two, turning to Xiao Li. “Can you walk? Let’s go.”

“Think you can settle this with three thousand? It won’t be that easy to leave!” No sooner had these words left his mouth than the dark-faced and fat martial artists, one on each side, placed their hands on Chu Feng’s shoulders.

Both men wore sabers at their waists, adept with external weapons, at least third-level body refinement martial artists. Yet the moment their palms touched Chu Feng’s shoulders, it felt as if they were pressing into cotton—they couldn’t exert the slightest force.

Unmoving as a mountain, Chu Feng smiled coldly. Suddenly, there was a thunderous crack as the muscles across his chest and back bulged out, and two fist-sized knots of muscle at his core surged up to his shoulders.

“Ah!”

“Ah!”

With two cries of pain, the fat and dark-faced martial artists were flung away, crashing down hard nearly twenty feet off, each clutching their wrists in agony.

Clearly, their wrists had been broken by Chu Feng’s explosive strength.

“You’re tough, I’ll give you that!” Exchanging a glance, the two men dared not linger. They scrambled to their feet and left in haste.

“Uncle, you actually drove them off? You’ve gotten even stronger since I saw you last!” Xiao Li looked up at Chu Feng in disbelief, sitting on the ground. “Uncle, did you have some kind of amazing encounter recently?”

“Never mind me, you should worry about yourself first.” Chu Feng shook his head with a wry smile. “I’ve matters to attend to. I’ll be on my way—you take care.”

“What? Uncle, you’re just leaving like this?” Xiao Li’s voice was filled with despair as Chu Feng turned to go.

“What is it?” Chu Feng stopped.

Seeing Xiao Li in distress, he couldn’t help but recall their first meeting in the market. He had once taken advantage of her, so now that he had the strength, he couldn’t just stand by and watch her suffer, or his conscience would not allow it.

The “advantage” he had taken was when he had used conjured silver and battle-shadow iron from his storage pouch to buy fifty pounds of beast meat from her. Even if the conjured silver could pass as real, in truth, he had used counterfeit money to buy real meat, and his intent at the time was somewhat deceitful. Saying he had swindled her was no exaggeration.

Because of this, Chu Feng always felt indebted to her, and this debt was not something that could be repaid with just fifty pounds of beast meat.

“Uncle, give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime! You helped me pay off three thousand in debts, and chased off those thugs from the Great Qian Guild—I’m truly grateful. But can’t you show me a way to stand on my own? Or at least, you can’t just abandon me like this! My leg’s hurt, I can’t walk, I have no money—if you leave me here in the street, is that not leaving me to fend for myself? Uncle, you can’t do that!”

Xiao Li’s eyes, brimming with despair, fixed on Chu Feng, her face already streaked with tears.

“Xiao Li, what are you saying… Are you accusing me of being heartless and faithless?” Chu Feng, never much of a debater, was momentarily at a loss for words. But she was right: he should see things through. If he left her now, she really would be in trouble.

Chu Feng returned to her. “How is it? Can you walk?”

“I can, but the pain is excruciating!” Xiao Li bit her lip.

“Come, I’ll carry you.” Without another word, Chu Feng crouched so Xiao Li could climb onto his back.

“Yes, yes, all right!”

Overjoyed, as if she had been waiting for this, Xiao Li immediately clambered onto his back, her filthy arms clasped tightly around his neck.

Though she was a young woman, her chest pressed against his back, Chu Feng felt nothing untoward—Xiao Li was simply too thin.

Slender, but lacking fullness.

Carrying her was effortless, as if she weighed nothing at all.

“Uncle, you really are a good man! Would you help anyone in distress like me?” Xiao Li asked in his ear.

“That depends on my strength,” Chu Feng replied with a shake of his head.

He empathized deeply with her plight. Just over a month ago, he himself had experienced the same—a fugitive from Kong Sect, wandering the wilds, dreading pursuit, living under the shadow of a giant cage and feeling utterly helpless.

It was because he knew so well the hardship of being down and out that he helped Xiao Li now.

“Xiao Li, there’s a tavern up ahead. I’ll give you some silver—go in, have a good meal, wash up, and buy some clean clothes.” Chu Feng pointed to a tavern.

“All right, and then?” Xiao Li asked.

“And then? Then you do what you need to do,” Chu Feng replied.

“Do what I need to do? Heh, heh…” Xiao Li suddenly gave a strange, mocking laugh.

Chu Feng, unable to stand her sly tone, asked, “What are you laughing at? What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you’re willing to help me, why not go all the way? I’m in dire straits now—three or five hundred silver won’t save me!” Xiao Li said dejectedly.

“Is that so? Then there’s nothing more I can do.” Chu Feng shook his head.

As they spoke, they arrived at the tavern. Chu Feng let her down, took out a five-hundred silver note from his pouch, and said, “Take it. It’s not a huge sum, but enough to cover your room and board for a year!”

He held the note out to Xiao Li, but she clasped her hands behind her back, refusing to take it.

“What’s wrong? Too little?” Chu Feng waved the note, thinking, If you think it’s not enough, you really are spoiled and greedy!