Chapter 31: 031: City Appearance

Inside the courtyard, two men and one woman sat with their hands bound behind their backs.

The three of them knelt together at Shen Tang's feet, trembling like sieves.

"Who was it just now that said they were the Heavens?"

Shen Tang used the stick in her hand to lift one person's chin.

She asked with a smile, "Was it you?"

The person named shook their head like a rattle, constantly flinching backward while trying to avoid the stick, yet terrified that she might lash out. They had no idea how things had escalated like this, and combined with the beating they had received, they were completely dazed.

Shen Tang used the stick to lift another person's chin.

"Was it you?"

The person named was Lai Tou, the one who had tricked Shen Tang into coming here.

"Not me, not me—"

His voice was choked with sobs, and his speech was broken; he was so terrified that tears were welling up in his eyes.

It wasn't surprising that he was so afraid.

When Shen Tang delivered that wall-kicking strike, he hadn't even had time to process the pain before four or five of his upper and lower teeth were kicked out. The remaining ones were wobbling precariously, and blood from his gums smeared half his face.

What followed felt like a dream: three grown men had been subdued by a young girl.

With absolutely no ability to resist!

And that was how they ended up in this situation.

"Not you either?" A smile played at the corners of Shen Tang's eyes as her long stick lifted the third person—the only woman among the three. "Was it you?"

The woman betrayed Lai Tou without hesitation, screaming in a shrill voice, "I didn't say it, I really didn't! It was Lai Tou who said it!"

Shen Tang's gaze fell upon Lai Tou, her eyelids narrowing slightly.

"Lying even when death is imminent—that's an extra offense!"

At the mention of the word "death," Lai Tou was instantly struck with terror, tears and snot flowing uncontrollably as he knelt on the ground, incessantly kowtowing to Shen Tang to beg for mercy. After only three kowtows, she pressed her laundry stick against him and said indifferently, "Seeing as you might have a shred of remorse left, I might give you a chance to redeem yourselves through merit. Speak—besides me, where are the innocent women you've tricked using this method?"

She had checked; there were no other abductees in the courtyard.

If she had known this, why would she have gone through all this trouble?

"All... all... all sold off..."

Lai Tou was so terrified that his tongue wouldn't obey him, and he began to stutter.

"Sold off? Sold where? How many people in total? How much money was made in total? Confess everything, detail by detail!" Shen Tang sat on a small stool, her left foot resting loosely and her right leg bent, allowing her hand to rest on her knee as she held the stick.

Her rapid-fire interrogation left the three of them wanting to cry but without tears.

How were they supposed to answer?

If they didn't answer, they would die; if they did, they would die even faster.

The two men were at a complete loss, terrified that a single wrong answer would result in Shen Tang cracking their skulls. However, the woman had a suspicion—she felt that Shen Tang had read too many street stories and longed for the life of a wandering swordsman, running out to seek justice before her hair had even fully grown.

There was a way to deal with such a hotheaded youth.

She began to weep, "Little lady, you've misunderstood us. We only made mistakes two or three times; we truly haven't done anything else heinous."

Shen Tang sneered, "Two or three times? If you had that kind of luck to run into me, why wouldn't you go buy a lottery ticket?"

The woman clung to her excuse.

"We did sell a lot of 'goods'... but we were doing it to save people." She cautiously watched Shen Tang's expression out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that she wasn't angry, she continued, "The ones we sold were all 'goods' bought legitimately; their parents took the money. In this world, buying a person only costs a few coins. We were just blinded by greed and made a great mistake. We'll never trick anyone again!"

Shen Tang laughed upon hearing this. "Save people?"

Seeing that Shen Tang seemed reasonable, the woman felt a surge of hope and argued, "There has been war for years; no one has it easy. Families with many children have so many mouths to feed—how can they raise them? If we didn't buy and sell them, those children would either starve to death or be traded to other families to be eaten. Being sold at least gives them a place to go and a meal to eat."

Shen Tang was laughed into anger by this reversal of right and wrong.

Pressing the stick against their throats, she gave a cold final ultimatum: "Stop your sophistry and confess! Otherwise, I'll shove this stick straight in. You've felt my strength; I guarantee this pole can go from front to back, and then I'll string all three of you onto one stick."

She applied just a little pressure, leaving a dark bruise on the woman's Adam's apple, making the latter howl in pain.

"I'll confess! I'll confess!"

"Great warrior, spare our lives!"

Only then was Shen Tang somewhat satisfied.

***

The butcher glanced at the sun outside from time to time, looking more and more anxious as he watched. He rubbed his hands nervously, sighing heavily.

"Old thing, is what you said actually going to work?"

Unexpectedly, the customer picked up the packaged lotus leaves with a smile, gestured toward the end of the street with a tilt of his chin, and laughed, "This round, I won."

The butcher poked his head out and squinted toward that direction for a long time—due to his profession, he began slaughtering meat before dawn, and over time, his eyes had worn out. Anything even slightly far away appeared as a blur. He squinted until his eyes felt like they were cramping, but he still saw nothing.

He only noticed the commotion in the crowd in that direction.

It wasn't until Shen Tang approached that he saw clearly what was happening.

He saw that the handsome little lady... no, little young master, was riding on the back of a beautiful mule, chewing on something, and slowly swaying back.

She was holding a rope, and the rope was strung through two men and one woman—

All three were bruised and swollen, walking with limps.

However, for those who frequently did business in this area, they could recognize these three cursed nuisances even if they were turned to ash.

Shen Tang returned to the side of the tavern and continued to sit on her small stool waiting for people. She flicked her fingers, and three round, green plum pits flew out. The three of them went *thud, thud, thud* as their knees hit the ground directly.

The dull sound made everyone's scalp tingle and their own knees ache in sympathy.

Shen Tang pointed at the three, radiating killing intent: "All of you, kneel."

The three of them swallowed their cries of pain, not daring to offer the slightest resistance.

The customer: "..."

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He had thought Shen Tang would kill the thugs with ill intentions.

What kind of display was this?

"Why didn't the young master just kill them?"

The onlookers had gathered to watch the spectacle and were gradually dispersing. The customer stepped forward to strike up a conversation with Shen Tang. Shen Tang was boredly gnawing on a green plum, complaining to herself about why Qi Shan hadn't arrived yet; hearing this, she turned her head toward the newcomer.

She pointed at herself: "...You called me 'young master'?"

The customer: "Is there something wrong?"

His gaze paused for a second on the "Literary Heart" flower pattern at Shen Tang's waist before moving away.

Shen Tang: "No, no, nothing's wrong. Brother, you have a keen eye!"

Everything was fine, except he was as blind as Qi Shan!

As for his previous question—

"Why not kill those three? Because killing people is against the law, of course. As a law-abiding citizen and a defenseless artist, how could I do something so bloody? No matter how much they deserve death, they should be handed over to the Xiaocheng Prefecture Office to deal with..."

And the real reason—

That courtyard was too remote and deserted. If those three were killed there, their bodies would be left exposed, rotting and attracting maggots without anyone to handle them, which would greatly affect the urban appearance of Xiaocheng.

Furthermore, it wouldn't look good for an artist to be killing people left and right.

So, she decided to cultivate her character and obey the law.

The customer could barely follow Shen Tang's string of complaints and said, "If you hand them over to the prefecture office, they will be free in a few days."

Shen Tang paused her chewing of the plum and said hesitantly, "Then—should I drag them outside the city in a bit and then kill them?"

(End of Chapter)