Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 3 Black Tiger Hall

Jiang Xun's feet felt like they were nailed to the ground; he couldn't take another step.

He just stood there, watching the man in black turn his head away and continue looking down at the old man.

After a long time—perhaps only a few breaths—the man in black reached out and gently closed the old man's eyes.

Then he stood up, walked past Jiang Xun, left the dilapidated temple, and disappeared into the morning light.

He didn't say a single word from beginning to end.

Jiang Xun stood still until the person's figure completely disappeared, then, as if released from a spell, he suddenly rushed towards the old man.

"An old man? An old man!"

He knelt down and reached out to check the old man's breath—

It's cold.

died.

Jiang Xun was stunned.

He looked down at the old man's face.

His eyes were closed, and a faint smile played on his lips, as if he were asleep, sleeping even more soundly than last night.

Jiang Xun just squatted there, staring for a very long time.

Then he slowly reached out and smoothed the smile from the old man's lips.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered the look the old man had given him last night.

He seemed to understand a little now what was in that glance.

That was a farewell.

"elder brother?"

Ah Li's voice came from behind, sounding groggy, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Xun took a deep breath, stood up, and turned around.

"It's nothing," he said calmly. "The old man is gone."

Ali froze, her eyes reddening.

Shiliu and Xiaoqi also woke up and sat there blankly, not knowing what had happened.

Jiang Xun walked over and patted each of their heads.

"Don't cry," he said. "The old man has lived enough, and he's leaving without suffering, which is a good thing."

He paused.

"We have to bury him."

An hour later, Jiang Xun buried the old man in the open space behind the dilapidated temple.

There was no coffin, no tombstone, just a mound of earth.

Jiang Xun knelt before the mound and kowtowed three times.

"Old man, thank you for these seven years," he said. "May you be reborn into a better place in your next life, and never come to this wretched place again."

Ah Li and the other two also started kowtowing, getting their heads covered in dirt.

Jiang Xun stood up and patted the dirt off his knees.

"Let's go back and pack up, we still have to..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Because a group of people suddenly rushed into the alley.

There were at least twenty of them, a dark mass, all carrying weapons.

The leader was a bald man with a face full of scars, wearing a black jacket with a menacing black tiger embroidered on his chest.

People from the Black Tiger Gang.

Jiang Xun's expression changed.

The bald man walked up to him and looked him up and down.

"You're Jiang Xiaogou?"

Jiang Xun didn't say anything.

The bald man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Liu Wei is one of my men. Did you kill him yesterday when he died in the alley?"

Jiang Xun clenched his fists.

"I don't care how you killed him," the bald man said. "A life for a life, a debt for a debt. You're coming with me today."

He waved his hand.

The twenty or so burly men behind him immediately surrounded him.

Jiang Xun took a step back, then another, shielding Ali and the other two behind him.

Jiang Xun's palms were sweaty.

More than twenty people surrounded him and the three younger ones. The bald man stood at the front, holding a gleaming machete with a black tiger engraved on the blade.

Jiang Xun knew about the Black Tiger Hall in Jiangzhou City, of course.

In this area of ​​the eastern part of the city, who dares to mess with the Black Tiger Gang?

If a lowly leader like Liu Wei can act with impunity, then this guy in front of us—with a black tiger embroidered on his chest, a privilege reserved for the head of the gang.

"So?" the bald man tilted his head, looking at him. "Are you going to walk by yourself, or have the brothers help you?"

Jiang Xun didn't move, his mind racing.

Run? With three little ones in tow, there's no way to escape.

Fight? Who knows if that heat wave will come again? Even if it does, how many of the twenty-odd people could he kill?

"Brother..." Ali tugged at his clothes from behind, her voice trembling.

Jiang Xun turned around and glanced at her.

The little girl's eyes reddened, but she bit her lip and stubbornly refused to cry out.

Shiliu and Xiaoqi huddled together, shivering, but neither of them cried.

Jiang Xun suddenly smiled.

He didn't know why he was laughing, but he just laughed.

"Okay." He turned his head, looked at the bald man, and said, "I'll go with you."

The bald man raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that he agreed so readily.

"but--"

Jiang Xun paused, then pointed to the three people behind him, including Ali, "They have nothing to do with this. Let them go, and I'll go with you. Do with them as you please."

The bald man smiled.

He laughed very loudly.

"Let them go?" He finished laughing, narrowed his eyes at Jiang Xun, and said, "Jiang Xiaogou, huh? Don't you fucking understand the situation?"

He took a step forward and poked Jiang Xun's chest with the tip of his knife.

"Liu Wei is my man. You killed him, and you alone can't compensate for it."

Jiang Xun felt a sharp pain in his chest from the knife tip, but he didn't flinch.

"So what do you want?"

"How about it?" The bald man grinned. "These three lives, plus your own, should barely cover half of the losses."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Jiang Xun and landed on Ali.

"This little girl is quite pretty; she could fetch several dozen taels of silver if sold to a brothel. Those two younger ones, they could be sold to wealthy families as servants, and they'd get a few coins for that too—"

"Shut up."

Jiang Xun's voice suddenly changed.

The bald man paused for a moment and looked at him.

Jiang Xun's eyes reddened again.

Just like yesterday in the alley, it's frighteningly red.

"I said," he said, emphasizing each word, "let them go."

The bald man squinted.

He's been around for so many years, what kind of people hasn't he seen?

He could tell at a glance whether someone was all bark and no bite, all bravado and empty threats.

But he couldn't quite figure out this kid in front of him.

Just a moment ago he was acting like a coward, but now his eyes look like those of a wolf about to bite.

"Oh ho?" The bald man laughed and waved his hand behind him. "Brothers, this kid's about to go berserk. Let's bring him back to his senses."

Four burly men immediately surrounded them.

Jiang Xun did not move.

He just clenched his fists.

The heat surged through his body again, rising from his stomach to his chest, his arms, and his fingertips—he could feel it was stronger and more intense than yesterday, as if it were about to set him on fire.

"Come on," he said, staring at the bald man, his voice hoarse. "Come on, you guys."

The bald man felt uneasy under that gaze and was about to speak...

"Walk!"

Jiang Xun suddenly turned around, shoved Ali and the other two aside, and then lunged at the bald man.

"Oh shit!"

Caught off guard, the bald man staggered back two steps as he was tackled.

But the Black Tiger Gang members reacted even faster.

Before Jiang Xun could pounce on the bald man, he was hit on the back with a stick.

Then came the second blow, the third blow...

He groaned and collapsed to the ground.

The sticks rained down on him, hitting his back, legs, and arms.

Jiang Xun held his head, curled up in a ball, and remained motionless.

"elder brother!"

Ah Li's scream rang out, followed by chaos.

Pomegranate was crying, Xiao Qi was shouting, and the Black Tiger Gang members were laughing.

Jiang Xun wanted to look up and rush over, but he couldn't move.

Too much.

Too many people.

The stick kept falling, once, twice, three times... The pain was so intense he almost fainted.

I don't know how much time passed, but then the stick stopped.

Jiang Xun lay on the ground, panting heavily, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.

"Alright."

The bald man stepped on his head, pressing his face into the ground.

"I'm taking these three kids with me. If you're lucky enough to survive, bring fifty taels of silver to the Black Tiger Hall in three days to ransom them. If you're short even a coin, you can expect to collect their corpses."

"take away!"

Jiang Xun was lifted up from the ground.

He vaguely saw that Ali and the other two were being dragged away by several burly men.

Shiliu struggled, but was slapped across the face and immediately became obedient.

Xiaoqi is crying, crying her heart out.

Ali didn't cry. She just desperately turned around, looked at Jiang Xun who was being trampled on the ground, and her lips moved—

elder brother.

Jiang Xun tried to shout, but his mouth was full of blood and foam.

Then I felt a pain in the back of my head, and everything went black before my eyes; I couldn't see anything anymore.