Chapter 6: You Want to Rebel

  That yelling man was only in his teens, but he was a six-foot-tall, six-foot-wide fatso with a red face, panting and shouting as he drove the servants to chase after.

  "My goodness, what kind of living conditions would it take to raise such a majestic mountain of flesh?" Feeling the tremors on the ground, looking at the fat man struggling to move his feet like a penguin, he exclaimed with excitement.

  The target of the fat man was a shabbily dressed, unkempt youth who clutched a bulging purse to his chest and darted through the crowd with swift steps, occasionally glancing back. Six or seven sturdy house servants were hot on the youth's heels, chasing after him.

  Those family members rushed forward violently, their actions extremely rough, and countless screams of abuse erupted.

  Suddenly, the happy face changed, tens of meters away, a 7 or 8-year-old child, chasing after a fallen toy, came onto the road. At this time, those fierce family guards were rushing towards him. Seeing that the little boy was about to be knocked flying, the women on the street couldn't help but scream in terror and close their eyes, unable to bear watching the birth of tragedy.

  Before he could finish speaking, the happy man had already moved swiftly like an arrow shot from a bowstring and appeared beside the child, picking him up. He sidestepped, stretched out his leg, and backed away.

  "Ah......" A series of miserable cries rang out, but it was the family servants who were chasing after them and got tripped up, forming a human pyramid. The person at the bottom looked particularly miserable, having lost his front teeth and spitting blood from his mouth.

  Handing the child over to his mother, he said with a warm smile: "Little brother, it's dangerous on the road, don't run around again!"

  The child's mother looked at him gratefully and said, "Thank you, young master, for saving us. Otherwise, San Mao would have..." As she spoke, the mother's eyes turned red, thinking about what had just happened, and she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

  Just as he was about to comfort her a few words, a noisy voice came from behind.

  "You little brat, you've got the guts of a leopard! How dare you stop us from catching the thief!" By now, the household guards had gotten up from the ground and understood what was going on. They glared at Gaoxing with anger and ferocity.

  Looking at the child, his mother's face was full of worry and concern. He smiled happily and shook his head, turning around to glance into the distance. The boy's figure had just turned a corner, and in the next moment he disappeared from sight. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he suddenly remembered something, and his mouth involuntarily curled up into a beautiful arc.

  "What are you bunch of fools doing, letting them get away? You're just standing here, what's the point?" The fat man panted and shouted as he caught up from behind.

  The crowd murmured in agreement, and one of them pointed excitedly, saying angrily: "Young master, it was this man who caused trouble, we fell to the ground and lost our grip on him, he must be an accomplice of that rabbit thief!"

  The fatty's originally narrowed eyes suddenly opened wide, his pupils flashing with a fierce light. He bared his teeth and snarled: "You little brat, you dare to add fuel to the fire for me? Today I'll make sure you can neither live nor die!"

  Gao Xing's lips curled up in a sneer, and he glanced at the group of people with a faint smile. He slowly said, "Today, I have something to attend to, so I'll let you off this time. If you're not satisfied, you can go to the Nei Shi Fu to find me, my name is Gao Xing." After finishing speaking, Gao Xing didn't look at them again and walked out of the crowd in a few steps, leading his horse, chasing after the direction that the shabbily dressed young man had left.

  Delighted, she followed the young man out of Xuyi City and arrived at a farmhouse outside the city. The house was already very dilapidated and had not been repaired for a long time. At this time, the sky had darkened, the moonlight was very weak, and the house was pitch black without any light. Obviously, this family lived an extremely miserable life.

  "Big brother, you're back! How was your harvest today?" As soon as the young man entered the courtyard, four other youngsters came up to greet him.

  Delighted, she nimbly flipped into the courtyard, hid in a secluded spot, and listened quietly.

  "Today I met a fat sheep, and the old lady's illness has been settled." Although the young man deliberately lowered his voice, it was not difficult to hear the excitement in his heart.

  "Great!" The other boys heard it and couldn't help but feel delighted, suppressing a cheer.

  The young thief who stole money smiled and said: "If I hadn't met a kind gentleman, I'm afraid I would have been caught today and wouldn't be able to come back!"

  "One of the young men said, 'Then next time we'll thank him properly.'"

  "It should be so, but I stole his money just the other day." The young thief said with a worried tone.

  "Ah?" The other four boys exclaimed in surprise.

  "Cough, cough, is Shun back?" A weak and hoarse female voice sounded.

  The crowd of young people suddenly fell silent, and the boy who had stolen the money said: "Yes, I'm back." As he spoke, several people entered the house together, and soon the dim light inside the house lit up.

  "It's good that you're back, cough, cough, you've been busy all day, aren't you tired? Hurry up and go eat, cough, cough..." The woman in the house seemed to be ill, and she couldn't stop coughing after just one sentence.

  "Alright, big sister. Today we got paid, tomorrow we'll go into town to see the doctor." replied a young thief named Shun Zhi.

  "Alas, the old lady's illness is incurable, you don't have to waste your efforts anymore." The woman said with a cough, her voice hoarse and sorrowful.

  "How can this be? If it weren't for you, Granny, taking us in, we would have starved to death long ago. You are like our own mother, how can we just let you fall ill and not care for you, that's worse than beasts!" Shunzi said urgently.

  "Yes, big brother is right." The other four youngsters echoed in agreement.

  "Cough, I'm a bit tired, want to rest early, you all go rest too, whatever it is can be said tomorrow." The woman coughed and finished speaking, her breathing was rough and disordered.

  "Alright, Big Sister, you rest, we're leaving." Shun said.

  A moment later, the five of them quietly exited the house. Just then, a stone flew in from outside the courtyard and made a faint "pa" sound.

  "Who?" The five men were startled, looked at each other, picked up wooden sticks and rushed out of the yard in a state of high alert.

  Under the faint moonlight, a youth wearing Hu attire stood quietly there, his face adorned with a faint smile.

  Several people were stunned, staring blankly at the young man, quite astonished that a person's appearance could be so beautiful.

  "Is it you?" Shun looked at the young man in surprise.

  The young man nodded and said, "It seems your memory is good, you still remember me."

  He swallowed his saliva, glanced at the four young men beside him, took two steps forward, slightly raised his head and said: "You came all the way to find me? Unfortunately, I've already spent your money, so I won't be able to return it. As long as you promise not to harm them, Zhang Shun will let you deal with him." He threw away the wooden stick in his hand and looked at the Hu attire youth with a firm gaze.

  "Big brother!" The other boys woke up with a start, grasped their wooden clubs tightly and gathered around Zhang Shun's side, eyeing the barbarian boy warily.

  The young man in Hu attire laughed and said: "Don't be nervous, I'm called Gaoxing."

  Zhang Shun looked at him with a puzzled expression and said, "Then what was your purpose in following me?"

  Delighted to see the sky, he smiled strangely and said: "Tomorrow at noon, go to the Neishi government office to find me, I will tell you. Remember, no delay." After finishing speaking, Gaoxing didn't look at the five young men, turned over and rode away on his horse.

  Five people stared blankly at the happily departing figure, unable to make sense of it.

  "Big brother, what should we do?" said the shortest of the five men.

  "I'll be on time for our appointment tomorrow." Zhang Shun said slowly.

  The other four people immediately anxiously said: "How can you take risks alone? No way, absolutely not!"

  Zhang Shun firmly said: "He is a person from the Neishi Fu, as long as he moves his fingers, our little lives will not be preserved. So I guess he has no malice, you don't have to worry. It's late, hurry up and rest, tomorrow you still need to take your wife to see a doctor!"

  He galloped all the way to the city gate, only to find it already closed. Fortunately, he had his token with him, and the soldiers on duty knew who he was, so they made an exception and let him in.

  Gao Xing had just entered the door when Zheng Shi hurriedly came to greet him, and after a round of polite inquiries, Gao Xing felt both warmth and embarrassment in his heart, and hastily promised Zheng Shi that he would return home earlier next time.

  Gao Zhang Gong didn't say much more, only reminding him that if he came back late in the future, he should let his family know.

  The next day at the fifth watch, he went to the military camp as usual. After two days of formation training and improved food, the entire team's morale had a significant improvement, no longer slack and lazy.

  Delighted to have arranged a new training task: running from five miles to seven miles, after breakfast are fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, followed by two thousand long gun stabs per person, and then standing at attention for half an hour, repeated after lunch.

  After demonstrating all the actions, he handed over the responsibility of supervision to Shang Buqi and left the military camp with joy.

  In the distance, Gao Xing saw a shabbily dressed young man standing quietly beside the gate of the Neishi Mansion. He looked up at the sky and smiled to himself, saying, "Not bad, pretty punctual."

  That young man was Zhang Shun who had come to the appointment, and he didn't know what he was thinking about. When he came to his side with excitement, he also didn't notice.

  "You're here, come on in." He happily jumped off his horse and handed the reins to Gao Fu, who had come out of the mansion to greet him.

  "Ah? Oh." Zhang Shunzhi came to his senses, hastily responded with a "yes", and followed behind Gaoxing, walking into the Neishi Fu with some awkwardness.

  Delighted, Zhang Shun led him into his own courtyard, asked him to sit down, and without saying a word, quietly sized him up.

  Zhang Shun was fourteen or fifteen years old, thin and frail in build, with an ordinary appearance, but his two eyebrows were very hard, his thin lips tightly pursed, and his complexion somewhat waxen, probably due to a life of hardship.

  Zhang Shun felt somewhat uneasy, his brow furrowed slightly, and he suddenly stood up straight, his neck stiffened, and said in a hard tone: "I was wrong to steal your money, I'm also very grateful for your help yesterday. As for how to deal with me, I'll listen to whatever you decide, as long as it doesn't harm the other brothers and the old lady."

  He burst out laughing and said, "Your mental quality is not up to par, it seems that you still need to strengthen your training."

  "What are you laughing at? Do whatever you want to do with me, I won't resist." Zhang Shun looked puzzled and glanced at Gao Xing, then closed his eyes resolutely.

  Delighted for a moment, he thought to himself: "I'm going, and you're not even a beauty, what can I do?" He glanced at Zhang Shun with an air of disdain and said: "A trifling sum of money is nothing to me. I called you here to help you."

  Zhang Shun looked at Gao Xing with a suspicious face, "Help me? There's no such thing as a free lunch. State your purpose, or I'll leave."

  "There's a condition, I like it." His eyes lit up with excitement, he sat up straight and said straightforwardly: "I am the current Neixi County Magistrate, the eldest son of Neixi Marquis Gao Changgong. Follow me, and the past grievances will be written off, and I'll also give you everything you want!"

  Zhang Shun stared at Gao Xing in shock, momentarily unable to react.

  He stood up with a smile, slightly tilting his head and narrowing his eyes to gaze at the dazzling sunlight. He said slowly: "Chen Jun's invasion has caused countless civilians to suffer. How many orphans like you are struggling to survive, unable to fill their bellies or cover their bodies? Some have ended up on the streets, begging from village to village, while others have turned to a life of crime, stealing and cheating. Have you ever thought about helping them?"

  "I can barely take care of myself, how can I help them?" Zhang Shun looked down at himself with a self-deprecating smile.

  Delighted, he suddenly turned around and stared at Zhang Shun's eyes: "I have a way! I will form the Beggars' Sect, all beggars in the world can join it, what a huge power that will be."

  Zhang Shun was shocked and said: "What are you trying to do? Are you going to rebel?"

  Rejoiced, a black line straightened on his forehead, he said: "Rest assured, the Beggar Gang will be a gang with justice, its purpose is to help the weak and small, how can it rebel?"

  "What should I do then?" Zhang Shun breathed a sigh of relief, afraid that the excitement was for the purpose of rebellion, and he accidentally got on the wrong boat.