The Fifteenth Section: Chenghuang Temple (Part 2)

  The City God Temple of Kuaiji County is located in front of the riverbank dock, and in front of the temple is a wide square. On ordinary days, many merchants gather here to sell things and make a living. Today, coincidentally, it's a big fair, and the market is even more crowded, with people calling out, hawking, talking, laughing, and scolding, the sounds mingling together, buzzing incessantly in one's ears.

  Standing outside the market, he was silent and found it difficult. In this crowded place, where could he find his father? On the other side, Shen Jing's face was full of excitement, and she chuckled: "The big girls and daughters-in-law of Man Market, why not go in?"

  The old man gave a silent glance and nodded at his eldest son, saying, "We'll go in, you keep an eye on the writing stall." His eldest son nodded, "I'm watching."

  The three of them squeezed into the crowd, and before long, they couldn't tell east from west. The eldest son held Shen Mo tightly, and Shen Jing also held Shen Mo tightly, both fearing that they would get separated... This time, poor Young Master Shen was tossed around miserably, one moment being pulled by the eldest son to the east, the next moment being pulled by Shen Jing to the west, and from time to time, he was accidentally bumped into by passersby, his clothes were torn apart, and he even lost a shoe.

  Shenmo felt that his two arms were no longer his own, but with people pushing and shoving each other, he could only go along with them. 'Just pretend to be a piece of wood...' Shenmo comforted himself.

  It wasn't clear how long they had been pushing, but suddenly the tall boy on the left stopped. Shen Mo didn't have time to react and bumped into his back. Behind him, Shen Jing also bumped into Shen Mo's back, causing Shen Mo to be sandwiched between them, his chest pressed against the other boy's back, and he let out a loud cry of pain.

  Shen was very depressed and thought to himself, "I haven't even called out yet, what's the point of shouting?" However, the eldest son seemed to have found Shen He, and he didn't have the mood to chat with Shen Jing either. He grabbed onto the eldest son's neck and shouted loudly, "What did you see?"

  "I saw your dad being beaten!" The eldest son suddenly shouted, pushing the pedestrians to one side with his arms, then covering his chest with both hands and rushing forward, causing the passersby to stumble.

  He silently sprinted forward along the path opened up by Zhangzi, and before passersby could react, he had already dashed past them.

  Shen Jing was left behind, and the surrounding environment was chaotic again. By the time he reacted, wanting to run after them, he was blocked by a crowd of angry people, who grabbed his clothes and accused him: "You're running so fast, are you in a hurry to report your first child? Or is there a golden treasure waiting for you up front?" There were also those with bad tempers, waving their palms and wanting to hit him, which frightened Shen Jing's face pale.

  Just as he was about to be overwhelmed by the angry crowd, Shen Jing suddenly came up with a clever idea and shouted loudly: "A female corpse is floating down the river!" As soon as his voice fell, all eyes turned eastward, and for a moment no one paid attention to him. Shen Jing took advantage of this opportunity to escape from the crowd.

  This kid, although uneducated and untalented, is very cunning. His short sentence contains suspense, horror, detective work, eroticism, ethics, and the supernatural, making it possible for people to find something that interests them, regardless of age or sex. He also said "on the river", diverting people's attention eastward while he himself ran north, truly a sly move.

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  Chinese people have a hobby of watching excitement, whenever there are weddings and funerals, fights and scuffles, even when a donkey gives birth to a foal, they will gather around with great enthusiasm. For thousands of years, this has not changed. Moreover, in the long history of onlookers, a set of rules for watching excitement has been formed... Voluntarily giving way to those being watched is one of the most striking ones.

  Today, a sudden fight broke out in the market, and that strange rule immediately appeared. The originally crowded crowd gave them a diameter of one zhang (about 3.3 meters) of space, and then surrounded them with three circles inside and outside, densely packed. Everyone was excitedly asking each other what had happened, and the story spread quickly through the crowd... It seemed that someone had suddenly smashed a stall selling calligraphy, overturning tables and chairs, scattering pens, ink, paper, and inkstones all over the ground. The scholar who wrote the calligraphy was angrily arguing with them, but was knocked to the ground, punched and kicked in the face.

  There were also those who couldn't bear to watch and hid in the crowd, advising: "Spare him when you can, don't hit him anymore, or you'll end up in court."

  A burly man with a menacing tiger tattoo on his shoulder turned around, pulled up his short jacket and growled: "Mind your own business, or you'll be included in the expenses too!" People took one look and realized he was a Triad brother, so no one dared to speak up anymore.

  That big fellow was in the midst of brandishing his might, when suddenly a big guy stumbled out of the crowd, who turned out to be Yao Changzi, the vanguard.

  Only to see the eldest son rushing forward with a punch, shouting loudly: "Stop... oh..." but was tripped by someone and flew out straight.

  Dahan heard a commotion behind him, let out a cold laugh and said: "Dare to launch a sneak attack?" Then he used the move 'Turning Back to Look at the Moon', twisting his waist and turning his body, swinging his massive fists, shouting as he turned back to strike.

  Before he could finish speaking, the eldest son flew in low and hit him right on the waist, causing the big man to let out an "oh" as half his body lost all sensation, and that punch naturally fell short.

  Everyone only saw the big man being knocked to the ground by a large figure rushing out horizontally, and then heavily pressed on top of him. Before he could react to what was happening, they saw a slender young man rush out.

  That young man was silent, and when he saw that the one being beaten in the field was his own father, his eyes were about to split open, his hot blood rushed to his head, and with a random swing of a stick, he started hitting the three thugs who were committing the atrocity without any care.

  But he had lost his suddenness, and the three thugs who were surrounding Shen He immediately turned around, parrying Shen Mo's stick with a few moves, and then suddenly kicked him in the stomach, sending him tumbling to the ground.

  The eldest son on the other side panicked and rushed to save Shen Mo, but was held down by a big man who fell to the ground and was thrown into a dog-eating feces. He had no choice but to turn his head again and desperately entwine with the black big man.

  Three rascals sneered and surrounded the fallen Shen Mo, ready to deal with him in the same way as they did with that scholar who sold books. But what they didn't expect was that although Shen Mo was small and weak, he was extremely fierce and brave, hugging one of their legs tightly and biting down hard.

  The bitten villain suddenly wailed, trying to shake his legs to throw him off, but only got more forceful bites from Shen Mo. Despite the other two thugs punching and kicking him, he refused to let go, and the scene was chaotic.

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  "Don't hurt my brother!" Just then, a loud shout rose from the crowd... This time, the onlookers quickly made way for a path, and Shen Jing rushed over with two gleaming kitchen knives. No wonder...

  A young man holding a kitchen knife came rushing over with a ferocious expression, and the group of thugs exchanged glances. They were just a bunch of hoodlums who made a living by taking people's money and venting their frustrations for them, but they didn't have any deep-seated grudges. Now that they saw more and more people on the other side, each one more reckless than the last, they naturally began to feel like retreating.

  In a flash of inspiration, Shen Jing rushed forward, looking at the sharp kitchen knife, and chopped it down without hesitation. The two thugs took off running immediately.

  As for the one who was bitten to death, a friend in need is a friend indeed, but a poor friend is better than no friend at all. Good luck to you, brother...

  Division line

  I revised the plot this morning and now I'm posting it. However, the three chapters won't change.