Chapter 30: Meeting the Master

  Fists come and feet go, barely another fifty moves.

  Xu Chu let out a furious roar, his breathing growing more urgent, clearly his physical strength was nearly exhausted.

  Zhou Jian, despite being drenched in sweat, still had some energy left and his forte was close-range hand-to-hand combat. After fifty rounds, he completely overpowered Xu Zhu.

  Free Fist, the essence of Chinese martial arts.

  Zhou Jian's empty-handed attack, every part of his body was a weapon.

  Some of the moves were so dirty that they made the righteous warriors in the Zhuangzi watch with indignation, but their lethality was astonishing. If it weren't for Dian Wei standing guard at the gate with an air of killing intent, these outraged soldiers would have probably rushed up to surround and beat Zhou Jian.

  Xu Chu's clumsy body was becoming increasingly less agile, somewhat tired of parrying.

  Bang!

  After the lily passed by, in the midst of a dull thud, Xu Chu's sturdy chest finally took a solid elbow strike.

  "Oh! Someone is going to fight you."

  Xu Zhu suddenly let out a furious roar, his face twisted in a terrifying scowl, and he was extremely frightening. He didn't dodge or evade, but instead stretched out both hands to grab Zhou Jian's right arm, wanting to drag him down together.

  Zhou Jian's face was icy cold, his eyes flashing with a fierce killing intent. He suddenly pounced forward, colliding into Xu Zhu's embrace.

  Xu Chu was originally retreating after being struck, and didn't expect Zhou Jian to suddenly rush over and grab him. Caught off guard, he was tripped up by Zhou Jian's Mongolian wrestling move, and immediately lost his footing, stumbling and falling heavily to the ground.

  Bang!

  Another heavy blow.

  Xu Chu was hit twice in the chest with solid elbow strikes. Under the urgent fire attacking his heart, a mouthful of blood arrows sprayed out.

  Zhou Jian jumped up, but instead of taking advantage of the situation to kill him, he retreated three steps and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

  Xu Zhu sprang up and roared loudly: "You scoundrel, I'll fight you to the death!"

  Zhou Jian clenched his fists and shouted loudly: "Xu Zhu, are you going back on your word?"

  Xu Zhu's forward momentum suddenly stopped, and the corners of his eyes actually cracked open, with crimson blood flowing down his cheeks. His expression became even more ferocious and terrifying, and his eyes flowed with intense resentment and pain.

  Zhou Jian's expression was stern and his eyes were filled with a fierce intent to kill, waiting for Xu Chu to pounce on him, he would show no mercy and strike him dead on the spot.

  Xu Chu's throat rolled for a moment, the madness and killing intent in his tiger eyes gradually faded away. He then knelt down on both knees, bowed his head, and said with a tone full of strong resentment and tragic heroism, "The humble one... pays respects to my lord."

  In this era, gentlemen attach great importance to their promises and it is extremely rare for someone to go back on their word.

  Even some petty people, unless their lives are threatened, would not lightly break a promise, otherwise they would be despised by the world. The idea of being strict with oneself and keeping promises has almost been ingrained in every scholar since birth.

  Xu Chu was a straightforward person and also a man of his word. Although he was extremely reluctant, even if it meant death, he would absolutely not betray his promise.

  "Leader."

  The onlookers were wailing in grief, their emotions stirred up, and they were about to rush forward.

  Right!

  Dian Wei clashed a pair of large iron halberds together, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent, and the enraged volunteers were shocked into stillness.

  Zhou Jian took a deep breath and loosened his clenched fists, saying calmly: "Get up!"

  Xu Chu stood up and stood on one side, his expression was wooden, without saying a word.

  Zhou Jian didn't bother to comfort him and immediately said: "Quickly bring up those few brothers of mine."

  Xu Zhu loudly responded and turned away with an expressionless face, the unyielding and sorrowful look in his tiger-like eyes flashing by.

  Not good at martial arts, Zhou Sheng and three Han men were brought up.

  However, all four of them were covered in scars and their breathing was weak, obviously having suffered greatly after being captured.

  "My lord, I have let you down."

  Zhou Sheng rushed in and immediately kowtowed, his face filled with shame, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

  Three men looked at each other in dismay, their eyes wide with uncertainty.

  "Get up," Zhou said calmly. "Xu Zhu's bravery is no less than mine, you're lucky to have escaped with your life."

  Zhou Sheng's complexion slightly improved, he hastily stood up and moved to one side, as for the injuries all over his body, he didn't put them in his heart.

  Zhou Jian glanced at Xu Chu, who was standing expressionless on one side, and suddenly said: "Xu Chu."

  Xu Zhu said: "Yes."

  Zhou Jian said: "You temporarily serve as my attendant, and if there are merits in the future, rewards will be given accordingly."

  Xu Chu was expressionless and replied woodenly: "Yes, sir."

  Zhou Jian knew that the man had a knot in his heart, although he was forced to submit due to his promise, but in his heart, he was stifling his breath. However, he believed that as time passed, Xu Chu's heart would gradually fade away, and he would truly be loyal to him.

  The matter has been settled, so there is no need to stay in Quxian anymore.

  Local officials, if summoned by imperial decree, are strictly forbidden from leaving their jurisdiction.

  Zhou Jian did not dare to delay, and immediately ordered Xu Chu to pack up his family's belongings, bring his family, leave the Xu Family Village, and set off on their journey back home.

  The brave men of Xujiazhuang were all local people, most of whom had families and only more than 20 idle rascals without families. They usually respected Xu Zhu's bravery and followed Xu Zhu to Jiwu, but in their hearts, they secretly suspected Zhou Jian's identity.

  Xu Chu's family was not wealthy, his parents had passed away early, he only had a wife and a son, they drove a cow cart, and didn't bring much money or wealth.

  Traveling by night and lodging by day, when I returned to my abode, it was already late afternoon of the next day.

  Zhou Jian first went to a manor outside the east and west of the city in the north, while Zhou Sheng took the remaining 46 men to train.

  The Zhuangzi occupies about six mu of land, which was bought by Zhou Jian and Chen Fang in their personal names. It is specially used for Hu San to recruit ironworkers to make iron armor and weapons. One hundred water bandits were recruited as guards, and there are people on duty at all times, so outsiders cannot enter.

  Zhou Jian and his group of over twenty people arrived at the entrance to Zhuangzi's residence. The gatekeeper, a water bandit, saw them from afar and opened the tightly closed wooden door early on.

  Xu Chu's face was expressionless, but his more than twenty heroic followers looked curious.

  As soon as everyone entered the village, Jiang Qin, who had received the news, hurriedly came to meet them. He took a glance at Xu Chu and more than twenty fierce militiamen behind Zhou Jian, and asked in a low voice: "Sir, is Zhou Sheng's brother all right?"

  Zhou Jian nodded and pointed at Xu Chu, saying: "This is Xu Chu. From now on, he will live in this villa. You arrange it."

  Jiang Qin responded with a sound, but in his heart he was secretly guessing, wondering who Xu Chu was!

  But looking at this build, it's actually comparable to Diwen, just one look and you can tell he's a fierce warrior, I'm afraid I'm not his match.

  Zhou Jian said, "Xu Zhu's bravery is not inferior to mine, and He Yanwei is only slightly better than me. From now on, the defense of this village will be his responsibility, and Gong Yi will follow me, I have many things to discuss with you."

  "Your subordinate obeys orders."

  But in his heart, he was truly shocked, this person's martial prowess was unexpectedly not below Zhou Jian's, it was really hard to believe.

  Jiang Qin couldn't help but secretly admire, first there was Dian Wei, and now there's Xu Chu who can rival him. With the bravery of these two men, where in the world can they not go? Only someone like Milord is worthy of their loyalty!

  Zhou Jian said to Xu Chu, "The matter in the village is extremely confidential and cannot be leaked out. With Zhong Kang's ability, it is unlikely that even a small thief can sneak into the village. The 100 brothers in the village are all under Zhong Kang's command, and they must take good care of their guard duties."

  Xu Zhu was a man of his word and didn't say much, he simply replied woodenly: "Yes, sir."

  Zhou Jian said: "Your more than 20 subordinates are new and unfamiliar with the situation, so they may not know what to do. Zhong Kang needs to strictly discipline them."

  Xu Zhu's face showed a displeased expression, and he said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, milord. I understand."

  Zhou Jian nodded and stopped talking.

  Jiang Qin was also shocked, and from this one call, many things could be heard.

  Xu Chu addressed Zhou Jian as "Master", which means he took Zhou Jian as his master and regarded himself as a family general.

  Jiang Qin and Chen Fang, Hu San, Dian Wei and others followed Zhou Jian, but they did not necessarily take Zhou Jian as their master, so they only called him "Daren" (adult) rather than "Zhugong" (master), which is a fundamental difference.

  The family and subordinates are two completely different identities.

  However, seeing Xu Chu's displeased expression, Jiang Qin was even more perplexed in her heart, but she didn't dare ask further.

  Zhou Jian again called Hu San to instruct him, after settling all matters, and arranged for Xu Zhu's family and more than 20 local militiamen to stay in the village. He then changed into official attire in the village, took Jiang Qin and Zhou Wu with him, and returned to the city.