Chapter Seven: Unfair

  "What's going on?" "Move back a bit." The people who were squeezed out by Xu Xian immediately expressed their dissatisfaction.

  Xu Xian, relying on his youth and strength, ignored the complaints and continued forward. Until he felt a void in front of him, he arrived at the center of the crowd. He saw an old fisherman begging a man in his thirties, who was none other than Li Si, a notorious local rascal from Qiantang County.

  Xu Xian had already understood the situation in the crowd, and the fish in the old fisherman's bucket jumped out and hit Li Si, splashing him with mud again.

  For ordinary people, they would just admit their bad luck and scold a few words. But when encountering Li Si, this unreasonable rascal, it's like the sky is falling down. He says his clothes are so valuable and insists that Old Han accompany him with two taels of silver.

  This old man sells fish for a day and can't even collect two taels of silver, where does he have the money to compensate him, so he can only kneel on the ground and beg repeatedly. Li Si is used to bullying people in the countryside, it's rare to have an opportunity to extort others with reason and evidence, of course, he won't let go easily.

  He continued to bow in all directions, saying: "Everyone has seen that this is not me, Li Mingde, causing trouble. It's this old man's fish that got my body smelling of stench. Don't look down on these clothes, they're made of the finest materials and were tailored by a master craftsman from the capital. If I had to pay two taels for them, I'd be losing money."

  Everyone knows what kind of person he is, who would believe him? But usually they fear him like a tiger or wolf and don't dare to argue with him. Some unknown traveler wants to speak up, but when he glares at them with his triangular eyes, they retreat. They just whisper among themselves.

  "Li Si, this clothing is still made from the fabric of Lao Wang's tailor shop that you cheated last year and haven't paid for yet. How dare you say it was made by a master craftsman in Beijing?" A voice suddenly rose above the murmurs of the crowd. The whole scene fell silent, and the onlookers became even more interested, as if this was even more exciting than the big wave earlier.

  Li Si glanced over, who didn't know each other in the countryside for over a decade? "I was wondering who it was, turns out it's the stupid kid from the Xu family. Hurry back and drink your milk! Don't delay your grandfather's business, scram!"

  The fierce light in his eyes came straight over, but fell into Xu Xian's clear and clean eyes, without any effect as if facing an ordinary person.

  Xu Xian just wanted to quickly resolve the matter and ignored those slanderous words. "The clothes are dirty, and someone helped you wash them clean, your clothes wouldn't even cost half a tael of silver if they were new, let alone used ones. One must be reasonable when dealing with people."

  "How dare you, you son of a bitch, to teach me how to be human? Don't think that just because your sister is married to a constable, I'm afraid of you. You call me 'Fourth Master' and get out of here quietly, otherwise I'll cripple one of your legs and see how you take the imperial exam." Li Si said, pulling out a cowhorn knife from his waist, shining with cold light.

  "Ah!" The crowd let out a cry of surprise and immediately dispersed in all directions. Those who knew him rushed to persuade him.

  Both were famous men of Qiantang County, one with a good reputation and the other with an evil one. The reason they had never clashed before was that previously Xu Xian's family was poor, so there was nothing to extort, and later his brother-in-law was a constable, Xu Xian also passed the imperial examination as a scholar, Li Si didn't dare to provoke him easily. And Xu Xian wasn't some kind of heroic champion of justice either, he just wanted to live a peaceful life and didn't think about upholding justice everywhere.

  Having met, I couldn't help but take care of it. Not taking care of it would be a heart disease. For the time being, I forgot about the pros and cons, just because there was still a sense of justice in my chest.

  Xu Xian stepped forward instead of retreating and said loudly: "If I don't care about you, what's the use of reading books? It's you who should get out."

  At this time, dark clouds were pressing down, and a heavy rain was imminent. Xu Xian's piercing gaze spoke these words, his body radiating a brilliant light, symbolizing great righteousness. His eyes made Li Si dare not look straight at him, and he involuntarily took a step back.

  Xu Xian didn't understand any magic, it was just that in that instant his temperament coincided with the Taoist method, producing an overwhelming majesty, but after all, it couldn't last. Li Si came back to himself and immediately became furious, this kind of person who had no shame, was precisely the one who cared most about face, taking a step back made him feel as if he had suffered a great humiliation.

  He immediately raised his ox horn knife and took two steps forward, determined to take down Xu Xian, no longer caring about the consequences.

  At this time, an unexpected scene occurred. Xu Xian suddenly shouted loudly: "Fourth Master, turn around!"

  Li Si was pleased with himself, he thought of many things, that a fool is after all just a fool, that he would not bypass Xu Xian, that he would severely punish Xu Xian, and prepare to establish his prestige through this matter...

  But his imagination could only go that far, because a fist had already struck violently into his nose, followed by the second and third punches all rushing towards Li Si's face. The bullhorn knife in Li Si's hand was taken away at some point.

  The crowd was shocked, and even the old man on the ground stared blankly at the elegant young man who had taken justice into his own hands. Suddenly, he launched a fierce attack, his face twisted in a ferocious scowl as he pummeled Li Si. Li Si lost the upper hand, and although he struggled to pull away, he soon began to wail under Xu Xian's powerful fists.

  Xu Xian understood that no one would be moved by his words, and in this world, there was no such thing as justice prevailing. Only those who were smarter and stronger would emerge victorious. Although he had never learned martial arts, Xu Xian's past life experiences had taught him to recognize the danger of fighting a grown man armed with a weapon. So he pretended to yield, and it worked.

  Real good people never lack the power and courage, jumping into icy lake water in winter, facing knife-wielding thugs with bare hands, which one doesn't require great courage. It's just that most of the so-called good people in the world are simply powerless or dare not do evil.

  Li Si's wailing turned into begging for mercy, but Xu Xian ignored him. He knew that petty people were like evil spirits and could only be intimidated once, otherwise they would cause endless trouble.

  Li Si was left with only enough strength to groan, and fell to the ground like a lump of mud. Xu Xian kicked him twice more and asked: "Do you admit defeat?"

  Li Si just groaned and didn't say a word, Xu Xian took two steps back and picked up the bull horn knife that had been thrown to the ground. Li Si suddenly wailed: "I surrender, I surrender." He was really afraid that this young man would take his life in anger.

  "Clang!" Li Si was shocked to find the bullhead knife thrown in front of him. Xu Xian said, "I know you're not convinced, if you're not convinced, pick up the knife and let's try again."

  Li Si's eyes flashed with a sharp light, thinking to himself, "After all, you're just inexperienced, wait till I pick up the knife and slaughter you." But his fingers moved slightly, yet he didn't dare make a move.

  Xu Xian's eyes were fixed firmly on Li Si's hand on the ground, and if he dared to pick up the knife, he would immediately step on his hand and beat him again.

  Finally, Li Si stopped moving. Xu Xian kicked the knife away and helped the old man up, saying: "Old fellow, if he comes looking for you again, tell me. My brother-in-law is a constable. But it's best not to come to Qiantang to sell fish anymore. Hurry up and pack your things and leave!"

  The old man thanked him and quickly gathered his things to leave. The crowd cheered, and Xu Xian also felt relieved and pleased. However, looking at the new clothes that had been torn and stained with mud and water, he could only shake his head and smile wryly. Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Xu Xian straightened his clothes and walked towards Wangjiang Tower in big strides.

  There were already people waiting downstairs to greet him, and they looked at Xu Xian's tattered appearance with strange expressions. Xu Xian didn't rush even when he arrived at this moment. Being a good person doesn't necessarily bring good rewards, but rather often comes with some costs, yet there are things in life that must be done, not doing them would mean being untrue to oneself. Since it was done, no matter the outcome, there's no regret.

  Everyone's eyes were on Xu Xian as they went upstairs. Xu Xian was calm and fearless, lightly bowing to say: "Student Xu Xian, greetings to all the adults."

  Wang Xuezheng's face was as calm as water, his emotions unreadable. He said lightly, "Get up and let's talk."

  But before anyone else could speak up, Old Song suddenly rushed over and grabbed Xu Xian's ear, scolding: "You rascal, kneel down for me at once."

  Since Li Si started making a disturbance, the crowd heard the news and moved to another window on the other side, seeing from afar that a group of people had surrounded someone, with two men in the middle fighting. Someone had already gone down to investigate, but found out that Xū Xiān was actually fighting with someone. This not only made Xū Xiān's teacher unhappy, but also displeased the officials in the county.

  Mr. Song scolded Xu Xian severely, then suddenly knelt down and said: "It's my fault for being incompetent and not teaching properly, resulting in such a useless thing. Please don't mind, sir, I'll go back and discipline him well." At this moment, he didn't think about relying on Xu Xian to gain honor, but only hoped that Xu Xian's future wouldn't be affected.

  Xu Xian was deeply moved, knowing that this usually sour old scholar had today abandoned all dignity and face for his sake. But at the same time, he felt bitter and hard to speak, is this the price of being a good person? Even if everything has been prepared well, there are still some prices that make people feel unbearable!

  Xu Xian gritted his teeth and forcibly pulled the old man up from the ground, proudly saying: "This matter has nothing to do with you, sir. It's my own fault for wanting to see the world, but I didn't expect to encounter such a thing. Please, sir, punish me."

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