The Howling Patterned Tiger took a stick from his underlings and was about to strike when he suddenly stopped and touched Bai Fan's leg bones. He couldn't help but think to himself, "The bones are strong and the flesh is well-proportioned. This body actually has the strength of a ninth grade martial artist. It would be a pity to cripple him. Why don't I let him suffer a little and break his spirit before keeping him for my own use …"
Having made up his mind, he said indifferently, "I see that you are a good talent. It would be a pity to cripple you. However, no one has ever dared to break the rules of the Howling Patterned Tiger. If I don't let you suffer a little, where would I put my face? Just accept it." After he finished speaking, he grabbed Bai Fan's finger and broke it.
"Ah …"
The ten fingers were connected to the heart. The pain of the broken finger bone was fatal. It was a pity that he had to suffer such physical pain at such a young age. Halfway through his scream, he fainted from the pain. When he woke up again, he was lying on a straw mat with a thin blanket over him. Judging from the sunlight, it was already the morning of the next day. Even though sunlight shone through the hole and shone on his body, he still felt cold and painful. His broken finger was swollen like a steamed bun, but the finger bone was back in place.
Ma Shun walked in with a broken bowl filled with noodle soup. He sat down on the straw mat and asked, "Are you feeling better?"
"Brother Ma … why are you … here …" Bai Fan said weakly.
Ma Shun smiled helplessly and desolately. "This is my home. The bed you sleep on is my bed. If I'm not here, where else would I be?" It seemed like he had experienced the hardships of the mortal world at such a young age. "I told you to listen to me, but you didn't believe me. They left you here. Even though I can't protect myself, how could I bear to leave you alone? Come, drink this bowl of noodle soup. I got it from Boss Jia. It would be a pity if it turned cold. "
After drinking the noodle soup, Bai Fan was slightly touched. He choked and said, "Brother Ma, thank you …"
"We are both in the same boat, so there is no need to thank me. But … "Ma Shun said hesitantly.
"But what?" Bai Fan asked.
Ma Shun said, "Before Lord Tiger left, he said that the matter of the mountain visit is over. However, you have to pay tribute like me in the future. Otherwise, he will beat you to death the next time he comes back."
Bai Fan gritted his teeth and said, "I won't beg even if I die!"
Ma Shun kindly advised, "Donglai, listen to your big brother, don't go against me. In the future, when you work with me, we'll split the money you earn from begging equally. The daily tribute is twenty copper coins, so we only need to beg forty to complete the task."
"I'd rather die than beg!" Bai Fan would not change his mind once he made up his mind.
"Sigh, it's up to you." Ma Shun sighed, and before he left, he said, "Lord Hu left a message. He said that if you dare to run away, you'll have to pay with my life. My lowly life is really insignificant. Donglai, take care of yourself from now on … "
Bai Fan's body stiffened as he tried to prop himself up, and he fell back down powerlessly. He was young and did not know what loyalty was. He only had the belief that he could not implicate Ma Shun, even if it would cost him his life.
The Whistling Patterned Tiger arrived at night with his men. Seeing that Bai Fan was still lying there motionless, he said coldly, "Didn't that dirty Ma Shun tell you?"
"I did," Bai Fan said expressionlessly.
"You're still not willing to listen to me?" The Howling Striped Tiger's face was filled with killing intent, condensing in his thick palms.
"I won't beg even if I die!" Bai Fan shouted fearfully but without any regrets.
"Good, good, good!" The Howling Patterned Tiger said the word "good" three times in a row. He raised his palm and grabbed Bai Fan's head.
Bai Fan had long known that the Howling Striped Tiger was a sixth-grade martial artist and knew that he was no match for it. However, in the face of adversity, he erupted with extraordinary courage. After dodging the claw, he fiercely struck the Howling Striped Tiger's chest with the strength he had accumulated for a whole day.
Bang!
This punch did have some effect, causing the Howling Striped Tiger's Qi and blood to churn, but that was all. The Howling Patterned Tiger was enraged by Bai Fan's counterattack. With a backhand slap, he sent Bai Fan flying into the broken wall on the other side of the straw mat.
Bai Fan fell to the ground. He felt his internal organs shifting, and he vomited blood uncontrollably. He was in pain, despair, and sorrow, but he still stared at the Whistling Striped Tiger stubbornly. "Even if I die … I won't beg … beg for it.
… "
"I'll grant your wish!" The Howling Striped Tiger expressionlessly walked up and raised his foot, intending to stomp Bai Fan to death.
"Lord Tiger, please have mercy, Lord Tiger …" Ma Shun suddenly rolled in from outside. With a swollen face, he handed a ragged cloth bag to the Howling Striped Tiger. "This, this, this is forty copper coins. This lowly one and Donglai's share. Please don't, don't kill him …"
The Howling Striped Tiger squinted his eyes and counted the coins. His killing intent gradually receded, and he glanced at Ma Shun. "Since you want to take his life, if one day you don't hand over the money, I'll cut off your flesh and feed it to the dogs!" After saying this, he turned around and left with his men.
"Big Brother Ma …" Bai Fan was shocked. He never thought that Ma Shun would treat him like this. Looking at the injuries on Ma Shun's face, he could imagine how much suffering Ma Shun had suffered for his share. He couldn't help but be moved to tears.
"Donglai, quickly lie down. I'm fine." Ma Shun smiled as he helped Bai Fan lie down on the straw mat and covered him with a thin quilt. He sat down against the corner of the wall. "Today is really bad, and I can't get anything to eat. Just bear with it. Tomorrow morning, I'll go to Boss Jia and ask for a bowl of soup. If I beg him to give me some noodles, he should be willing … You'd rather die than beg for food. Donglai, to be honest, I respect you very much. I used to study and can be considered half a scholar, but I don't have a backbone like you … From now on, Donglai, as long as I have something to eat, I won't let you go hungry. I'll think of a way to pay the daily tribute. Don't worry, just focus on recuperating … "
Bai Fan knew that it wasn't easy for him to get forty copper coins. How would he dare to ask for food? Hearing Ma Shun's words, Bai Fan could only silently shed tears. He secretly swore that when he returned to Yongling and found Aunt Yun, he would repay this kindness.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the weather began to warm up.
Bai Fan's injuries gradually improved, and he got used to such a hard life. However, when he saw Ma Shun go out every day and come back with new injuries on his body, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He had to rely on Bai Fan to beg for food, and he had to hide his identity.
That night, he decided to tell Ma Shun everything.
"Big Brother Ma, actually, my name isn't Ma Donglai." He pulled Ma Shun to sit down.
"Ah?" Ma Shun was startled, but he quickly smiled and said, "For people like us, it doesn't matter what our names are. What's important is how to survive."
Bai Fan said, "Big Brother Ma, we're finally friends, right?"
Ma Shun said, "Of course, you're my only friend."
Bai Fan was overjoyed and said, "Big Brother Ma is also my only friend. Big Brother, listen to me. My real name is Bai Fan, and I'm the son of the empire's cavalry general, Bai Chongxi. My father was slandered for rebelling, and now he's been beheaded. However, my father has a sworn sister, which is my Aunt Yun. She's the biological sister of the late Empress, and as long as my aunt is here, she'll definitely be able to redress the injustice. "
Ma Shun was stunned, and it took a long time for him to recover, "Donglai … no, Young Master Bai, why, why are you telling me this?"
Bai Fan said with a smile, "Big Brother Ma, you've read books and know the geography, so you definitely know where Yong Ling is. Bring me back, and after I redress my father's injustice, I'll definitely ask Aunt Yun to find you an official position in the imperial court. It's better than begging here, don't you think so, Big Brother? "
"Is, is this true?" Ma Shun's single eye widened.
Bai Fan solemnly swore, "If there's a single lie in my words, tell Aunt Yun to never speak to me again!" Even though he had encountered extraordinary suffering, he still retained the heart of a young child. Now, to him, this was the greatest disaster.
"Alright, I'll bring you back to Yong Ling!" Ma Shun agreed.
Bai Fan was extremely excited, and he discussed the route with Ma Shun throughout the night. When the sun was about to rise, they agreed to escape together at noon. Then, drowsiness overcame him, and he fell asleep. When he woke up again, he didn't know why he couldn't move his hands. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was no longer lying on a straw mat. His hands were shackled, and his legs were shackled. He was lying on the cold limestone floor.
"Bang!"
A loud bang jolted him up from the ground, and he looked around. He didn't know how he'd ended up in the yamen.
"Big, Big Brother Ma …" He saw Ma Shun standing beside a yamen runner, and asked in a daze, "What, what's going on here?"
Ma Shun didn't respond, and only stood there respectfully.
"Hey, what's the name of the criminal in the hall? Quickly report it!" The county magistrate shouted under the plaque that read "Just and Honest".
Ma Shun immediately went to the front of the hall and knelt down, "Milord, this person's surname is Bai, and his name is Fan. He's the son of a criminal general, and I accidentally caught him. It took me two whole months to finally get the truth out of his mouth, and it wasn't easy. I hope that milord can reward me with the ten thousand taels of silver. I'll be eternally grateful, and I'll definitely repay you. "
These words were like a bolt from the blue, and Bai Fan's old and new wounds flared up. "You … you …" He didn't even get a breath out before his consciousness sank, and he fell unconscious. When he woke up, he was already detained in the rancid prison.
"They said that a big shot from the imperial court will come to take you, so you don't have to worry about your safety for the time being." Ma Shun stood outside the prison, and a beam of orange light shone on his face through a crack in the wall, making his expression clear in the dark prison.
"You betrayed me!" Bai Fan angrily rushed over, wanting to grab Ma Shun, but with the prison door blocking his way, it was naturally futile.
"Hehehe …" Ma Shun's expression gradually became cruel, "Bai … no, it's easier to call you Donglai. Donglai, you might not know this, but I have a photographic memory. I've only seen the arrest warrant once, and I've already remembered your face. I've long recognized you as Bai Fan. "
Bai Fan gritted his teeth, "Then … then you could've reported me a long time ago. Why did you suffer so much for nothing?"
Ma Shun's rather young eyes actually shone with a malicious light. He slowly took off the sackcloth covering his head, revealing an ugly head.
Bai Fan was dumbstruck, and he finally understood why Ma Shun wrapped his head in sackcloth. It was because if he exposed this hideous part, no one would be willing to give him a single copper coin.
There was not a single strand of hair on the head, and it was covered with black tumors. The tumors were even trembling, like the eggs of strange living insects. Some of them had broken skin, and black and yellow pus oozed out. It was both horrifying and disgusting.
No one was willing to expose their shortcomings. At this moment, Ma Shun's face was extremely sinister, and his eyes were extremely malicious, "I was born with this strange disease, and was abandoned by my birth parents. They threw me in the wilderness, but I survived. I've told you before that I've read books, but actually, that's not it. Because of my photographic memory, I went to various bookstores to eavesdrop, and because I can recognize many words, I know how unfair this world is to me. Although you're in trouble now, you're from an illustrious family, so how would you know the suffering of people like me? "Speaking up to here, he laughed bitterly," Do you really think that Boss Jia is so kind? If I didn't expose this ugly face in front of him and tell him that if he doesn't give me the money, I'll wander around his shop every day, and he won't be able to do a single business! "
Hearing this, Bai Fan couldn't help but feel nauseous. He endured the discomfort and said, "That's not a reason for you to suffer so much!"
Ma Shun laughed viciously, "Because I don't like to make people despair too quickly. Watching you gather hope bit by bit and fall into despair in the end is not only interesting, but it's also a great skill. Oh, by the way … "His smile became mysterious," I didn't tell anyone the reason why you were captured. Other than the people in the county office, no one else knows your true identity. "
"So what?!" Bai Fan said coldly.
"That's why I still have a way to save you." Ma Shun laughed.
"Save me?" Bai Fan was stunned.
The viciousness in Ma Shun's eyes didn't diminish at all, and he continued to laugh, "As long as I tell Howling Tiger that you have a peerless technique on you, he will definitely risk his life to break you out of prison."
"What benefit does that bring you?" Bai Fan asked.
Ma Shun gnashed his teeth, "Howling Tiger, that bastard, actually dared to enslave me to beg. In this world, anyone who is involved in rebellion will die! Even if he doesn't die, he can't continue to act like a tyrant in the future. This is my punishment for him! "
Bai Fan was completely stunned. This was the most important lesson he would learn in the future of his life of suffering. Ma Shun didn't need to say anything else, because he already understood. How could he not know the importance of techniques to cultivators? Falling into the hands of Howling Tiger, he would die if he didn't hand over the technique, but if he did, he would die. He had no choice.
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