Fists of Fury

  Outside the temple gate, the snow had just begun to melt, and icicles hung from the eaves, dripping with water droplets that refracted into a kaleidoscope of colors in the sunlight.

  Through the temple gate, a willow tree has begun to sprout new buds, and a vast expanse of river water stretches out before his eyes.

  On the vast river surface of nearly one kilometer wide, dozens of large and small boats are floating on it, busy back and forth.

  Among them, the most eye-catching was a large, three-story-high, luxuriously decorated barge with colorful silk and satin ribbons fluttering in the wind. On it could be seen several beautiful women wearing thin, light-colored blouses, occasionally emerging from the wooden building on the boat to walk onto the deck. Some fetched water from the river to wash their hair, while others chased each other around the deck, laughing and playing, with their clothes disheveled. The scene was one of enchanting beauty, but had nothing to do with him.

  Apart from the lavishly decorated barge, there were several others following closely behind, arranged in an orderly manner. In stark contrast to the luxurious one at the front, these barges had their surfaces wrapped in a layer of metal. On the bow of each ship, there was a lifelike lion's head with its teeth and claws exposed. The barges were surrounded by guards holding gleaming spears standing watch.

  Apart from this, there were also some small flat boats that were much smaller than the houseboats, with fishermen on board casting their nets to catch fish. When they saw the houseboat approaching, they all kept a safe distance away.

  This is the ancient landscape of rivers and mountains, everything seems to have walked out of a painting, without the pollution of modern industry, the water is so clear, the sky is so blue, the air is so fresh, and the grass and trees are especially full of life.

  Zhenming gazed out at the boats coming and going on the river, lost in thought for a while before turning around to take in her surroundings.

  Here is a small temple built on a hill by the river, from the occupied area of the broken temple, it's just a quiet river god temple, now it seems to have been abandoned for a long time, not even a person burning incense.

  The plaque on the large gate of the broken temple has fallen from the door frame, split in two, and scattered on the stone steps at the entrance. One half of it has a seal character "temple".

  He bent down and turned over the other half of the signboard, and when combined with the first half, it read "Jilan Temple" in three ancient and vigorous seal characters.

  From the several obvious scars on the door that were cut by some sharp objects and a few large footprints, it can be seen that the people who demolished this temple at first were so disrespectful to the gods worshipped inside.

  Along the downhill road, he walked all the way to the riverbank, and then along the riverbank, occasionally one or two farmers carrying hoes, wearing simple clothes, woodcutters passing by him, seeing him approaching, hastily dodging away.

  It was not easy to stop an old, deaf and hunchbacked old woman. She was probably stopped because she was less mobile than him. When he asked her what dynasty it was now, he had to repeat himself many times before the old woman finally understood his half-classical, half-modern Mandarin. After a long time of chatting, Zhen Ming Ku finally caught the words "Sheng Kehan Emperor" from her unclear and heavily accented speech.

  After finishing speaking, the old woman walked away with her cane, leaving Zhen Ming alone standing there in a daze, racking his brains to think back.

  "Sheng Kehan Emperor?" Zhen Ming was never really interested in literature and history, otherwise he wouldn't have been unaware of who Sheng Kehan Emperor was.

  Just then, a sudden horseshoe sound came from behind, turned around to see a soldier in military uniform riding a yellow-maned horse flying quickly from afar.

  Behind the saddle, a black flag was inserted with a seal character "station" written on it.

  Before long, they arrived in front of Zhen Mingshu. Zhen Mingshu hastily limped to one side with the help of his crutch, but before he could dodge, a whip came swishing down from mid-air and landed on his body with a loud crack.

  Immediately afterwards, another kick came, and Zhen Ming was kicked to the ground with his four feet in the air. He fell to the ground, hitting his head on a stone by the side of the road, and his eyes were filled with stars as he felt dizzy and disoriented.

  All he heard was a soldier on horseback shouting angrily: "Don't you dare block the way! You've delayed an urgent military dispatch of 800 li, I'll have your whole clan put to death!"

  It was just a short while, and the sound of horseshoes had already run far away.

  Zhenming lay on the ground in a daze for a while before coming to, then reached up to touch the bump on his head where he had been knocked.

  He struggled to get up with his crutch and hobbled in the direction where the courier had gone.

  ……

  ……

  One month later.

  "Hurry up and open the door! Get ready with your bowls, once the door opens, you, you, you, and you, huddle together, surround me and charge forward together. Don't mind those troublemakers from Hubei, just charge forward with all your might, to the very front. Once we get the reward money and buns, we'll settle accounts with them later. Did everyone understand?"

  "Don't worry, boss, it's not our first time for all of us brothers."

  A tattered and dirty beggar with disheveled hair and a foul odor glanced at the young man crouched in the corner, coughing violently as if his lungs were about to burst out. A hint of fear flickered across his face as he whispered to others: "Don't compete with him, keep a distance."

  "I know."

  A young man with scars on his face and noticeably cleaner than the other beggars was squatting in a corner, coughing desperately, stumbling to his feet and walking into the crowd.

  Others see him coming and scatter far away, not daring to approach within three feet of him.

  The young man glanced up at the large gate of the backyard, which opened and several beautifully dressed maidservants walked out from inside, followed by several slaves wearing uniform clothes, carrying several large buckets of steaming hot rice porridge and buns.

  A group of beggars swarmed forward, and he followed suit, squeezing his way in...

  ……

  After drinking a bowl of hot porridge and two steamed buns, Zhenming felt a bit more comfortable, lay down in the corner by the wall, and basked in the sun.

  A month ago, he mixed in with a group of refugees and entered the city of Luoyang. He wandered aimlessly around the city and unintentionally arrived at the rear alley of this large compound. Seeing a crowd gathered at the back door of the Hong Xing Inn, he thought it was some street performers or jugglers setting up shop. Only when he drew closer did he realize that someone was giving out free porridge here.

  This is the rear gate of a wealthy mansion called "Hong Xiang Bie Yuan", surrounded by high, thick and crimson walls, with towering buildings inside, all of which are 4 or 5 storey magnificent wooden structures.

  It is said that driving a horse-drawn carriage around this wall takes half an hour.

  Every morning, several neatly dressed young maids would open the back door and carry out several buckets of steaming hot porridge and buns, placing them at the entrance to distribute to the elderly, weak, sick and disabled beggars.

  At first, some disabled and weak elderly women and children could get relief. Later, this matter spread in Luoyang City, and beggars from all over heard the wind and came, and soon this place became a gathering place for young and strong, greedy and lazy beggars.

  Every day at this time, these people gang up and block the back door, waiting for the person inside to send out food.

  Sometimes late, some people scold loudly.

  More and more beggars gathered, with many monks but little porridge, the porridge water gradually became insufficient to be distributed, so some people at the back of the queue couldn't even get a bowl, therefore every day at noon when it was time for food, there would be a crowd of people squeezing in front of the gate queuing up, fearing that if they came late, they wouldn't get any porridge.

  At the most critical moment, he was in an unfamiliar place, covered in wounds, suffering from hunger and cold, so hungry that his eyes were dizzy. Seeing someone distributing porridge, he followed others to push forward, but didn't know these people were all beggars who had become experts, huddled together in a group, several people becoming one person pushing forward, and he alone couldn't push past them.

  Originally weak body, two days down, can't even get a steamed bun.

  Finally on the third day, he was squeezed to the front and got two steamed buns. Unexpectedly, just after eating a few bites, he was surrounded by a group of people who beat him up indiscriminately.

  If it weren't for a beautiful young maid in her teens who came out of the big courtyard in time to stop these people, he would have almost become the male lead in a bloody case.

  At that time, the pretty girl saw him being beaten until he was covered in blood, felt a little pitiful, specially sent him two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge, he barely managed to survive.

  Later, some kind-hearted beggars saw that he was new and didn't understand the rules, so they couldn't help but give him a few hints in private. Only then did Zhen Mingxu realize that even among beggars, there were distinctions of seniority and rank.

  Not paying homage to the mountain head, not entering the gang, casually begging and so on is against all beggar gangs. Wherever you go, there will be people driving and beating you. Begging for a share of territory, like this place where someone sends porridge every day, is a first-class fertile water area. Those who can come here to beg are some dignified beggars.

  Most of them are elder figures from certain beggar gangs, and apart from having a bowl with no missing corners, they also have a bamboo stick.

  The bamboo pole is a symbol of status, representing that he has been living on alms for some years, equivalent to official rank.

  Like a newcomer who has just arrived, without experience and without any backing, queuing up casually will get you beaten.

  However, the paradoxical part of this rule is that he cannot cut in other people's lines, but it does not mean others cannot cut in his line.

  After all, this is actually a world where the strong prey on the weak, and the rule is that violence is supreme.

  Having made up his mind, he started hitting people.