Chapter Eight: One Fist

  Zhu'er turned her head to look at Su Tang, her expression was very excited. In the past when encountering such things, Young Master would scold her and then apologize to others, but today Su Tang's performance was undoubtedly supporting her. However, she still had to comfort Su Tang a few words: "Young Master, don't worry, that guy surnamed Liu has no other skills, he only knows how to intimidate people, it's nothing serious, just wait for Chang'an to come back and it will be fine."

  Su Tang smiled and slowly lowered his head. Zhu'er had no idea that from the brief unfriendly conversation just now, Su Tang had already understood a lot of things.

  You can sum up the malice, resentment and sarcasm revealed in Niú Míng Shēng's eyes as he walked away with three words: "Wait and see!"

  Liu Ming Sheng must have had something in mind. He seemed to have anticipated that Kobayakawa's fortress would not be able to repay the debt, which means that there might be a change on the side of the house managed by Chang.

  There is another important message, the Liu family had long been harboring intentions to seize control of Xiaolinbao's property rights. This matter has nothing to do with Liu Ming Sheng, it was all manipulated by the elder members of the Liu family. Liu Ming Sheng heard some rumors at home and felt that Xiaolinbao was doomed, so he brought his guards to show off their might and satisfy certain desires. Although they suffered a head-on scolding, Liu Ming Sheng still had reason and did not reveal the inside story, only leaving behind some messages that sounded like angry words and harsh words.

  That was enough for Su Tang to make a judgment.

  So Ryū Meishō would show a mocking expression when he was about to leave, as he ridiculed the people of Kobayakawa who were unaware that they were on the verge of death.

  "Where are you going, young master?" Zhu'er asked.

  "Zhu Er Jie, we're going to see Shang Shu," Ke Er added, she didn't dare call Shang Bin "Shang Blind Man" like Su Tang did.

  "Really?" Zhu'er was even more delighted: "Great, I'll go with you guys too."

  Shang Bin's place was not far away, just in the mill on the edge of the inner city wall. Because it had not been renovated for many years, the mill looked a bit dilapidated and didn't smell very good.

  Zhu'er called out several times, but there was no response from inside the house. Instead, the servant girl walked quickly and familiarly to the backyard, followed by Su Tang and the others. As soon as they entered the backyard, they saw a burly man lying on a haystack, snoring loudly and sleeping soundly.

  That old man sighed and said in a low voice, "This mill is not a place to live... there's nothing here. Now it's still okay, but winter will be even harder..."

  That old Ding saw that Su Tang had a regretful expression, so he dared to say this. Zhu Er and Ke Er didn't utter a word, secretly looking at Su Tang's expression on the side.

  Su Tang revealed a bitter smile and nodded slightly with his chin towards Shang Bin, indicating that Old Ding should go wake the person up.

  "Shangtou, wake up, Young Master has come to see you, Shangtou!" The old servant walked over and pushed Shangbin a few times.

  Shang Bin slowly opened his eyes, saw that Ding, waved his hand impatiently and said in a careless tone: "Scram scram, don't bother me..."

  "Shang tou, is young master, young master has come to see you!"

  Shang Bin was taken aback, and suddenly sat up with a start. He saw Su Tang, Zhu Er, and Ke Er standing at the door, and his face lit up with surprise and delight. He looked around the room, trying to find a place for Su Tang to sit, but all he saw was a pile of dry hay and an abandoned millstone. Shang Bin's expression turned slightly awkward, and he rubbed his hands together in embarrassment, forcing out a laugh: "Young Master, what brings you here?"

  Su Tang only felt a sour nose, he didn't think that Shang Bin would be so down and out, the guilt in his heart became even heavier.

  "Uncle Shang, I was just saying a few angry words at the time..." Su Tang said softly: "If my old man were still here and saw this... he'd definitely skin me alive! Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Uncle Shang, is there anything you haven't packed? Gather your things and come back to Nei Bao with us."

  Shang Bin was stunned, the change came too suddenly, if it were someone else, they might have made some excuses, saved face and then spoken, but Su Tang had already brought out Su Xiang's corpse, leaving Shang Bin no choice but to agree. Moreover, Shang Bin was a straightforward person who liked to get straight to the point and didn't like to beat around the bush. If he had known some of the skills of concession and compromise, he wouldn't have been driven out of the inner city by Su Tang that day. "Shang Shu?" Seeing Shang Bin still stunned and motionless, Su Tang spoke again.

  "Hmm." Shang Bin responded with a nasal sound, his eyes also slightly red. He thought it would be like this for the rest of his life, but he never expected Su Tang to suddenly appear and make an indirect apology, which was enough for him. However, Su Tang's change was somewhat strange, had something happened? Shang Bin couldn't help but look at Zhu Er, who gave him a signal with her eyes.

  Sangbin didn't have much either, two sets of clothes, a carrying bag, and a bundle. The several wine jars stacked against the wall were naturally not taken away. Soon, the group left the mill.

  Zhu'er quietly pulled on Shangbin's sleeve, and the two of them deliberately fell behind. To be strict, Zhu'er's expressive ability was quite good, she told Shangbin about the events of the past few days one by one, Shangbin listened with a face that turned pale and red, and finally even stomped his feet repeatedly.

  Although Sangbin was expelled from the inner city due to his self-esteem, he did not easily leave the mill after being driven out. After all, he could meet a few servants who came to the mill to store grain, and he didn't hear any news, there must be a reason for this.

  Su Tang is in a critical condition, Xiao Lin's future is uncertain, and even the servants are worried. Shang Bin will definitely return to the inner castle once he receives the news, and it will be extremely difficult for them to smuggle anything out at that time. Moreover, Shang Mangzi is a seasoned warrior who has been on the battlefield before, and if provoked, he would dare to kill someone on the spot!

  So, everyone who met Sangbin unanimously chose silence.

  While they were talking, Su Tang and the others had already returned to the inner city. He instructed Zhu'er to arrange Shang Bin back to his original place. Su Tang then took Ke'er back to his own courtyard. The family servants saw that Shang Bin was back and wanted to come over to congratulate him, but seeing that Shang Bin's face didn't look good and he was talking in a low voice with Zhu'er, they didn't dare to intrude and just greeted him before retreating.

  In the end, Zhu Er mentioned the recent situation in Neibao, and Shang Bin asked back with a huff, why didn't he let people go find him?

  Zhu'er was at a loss for words, and to put it bluntly, the emotions between people are always changing. When Shang Bin was driven away, Zhu'er would often go visit him every now and then. On one hand, she wanted to make up for Su Tang's absurd behavior, and on the other hand, she was worried that Shang Bin would leave Xiao Linbao in a huff and seek out a new path. However, Shang Bin was depressed and unhappy, drinking all day, which made Zhu'er feel uneasy. As a result, the intervals between her visits to Shang Bin gradually grew longer. In the end, when Su Tang fell critically ill, Zhu'er felt as though the sky was falling, crying day and night, and she couldn't even think about Shang Bin anymore.

  ****

  The next morning, Su Tang brought Ke'er to the martial arts arena early and had someone go call Shang Bin, specifically going to bring Shang Bin back. It wasn't just to make up for his previous absurdity, but also because he really wanted to learn the martial skills that Shang Bin had mentioned before.

  It was said that Young Master wanted to practice martial arts, Shang Bin was overjoyed and hastily wiped his face before rushing to the training grounds in big strides.

  "Master, Sanzi just said... You want to practice martial arts?" Shang Bin asked straightforwardly.

  "Hmm." Su Tang nodded in response.

  "Master has really grown up..." Shang Bin sighed, at this moment he really wanted to cry, heaven is blind... Master finally returned from his mistakes and did something right. Next, Shang Bin changed the subject: "However... I also know how much strength Master has now, so here's what we'll do, Master, come on, hit me with all your might." This is a common problem among educators, first trying to crush the student's confidence, making them feel worthless, in order to inspire their desire for self-improvement.

  "With all your might? You're going to punch me?" Su Tang was somewhat taken aback.

  "Young master, it's nothing." Shang Bin patted his own chest: "Go ahead and hit me."

  "I really hit it off then..." Su Tang said, having obtained two spiritual souls. He could clearly feel that his spirit and physical strength had become exceptionally abundant, and he still wanted to go and compete with Zhao Ironsmith in the fort. Now the opportunity was delivered right to his doorstep, and Shang Bin was much stronger than Zhao Ironsmith.

  "Master, use your full strength." Shang Bin smiled foolishly.

  Su Tang slowly bent down, raised his right fist, and just as he was about to concentrate and swing his punch, a surge of instinct gushing out from the depths of his soul enveloped his body and mind. Under the cover of his eyelids, Su Tang's eyes had turned cold and ferocious, and then he threw a punch.

  In Su Tang's imagination, the front Shang Bin has become a section of annoying rotten wood, and his fist is a shocking thunder that shakes the heaven and earth, and nothing can withstand it!

  This punch, he vowed to blast the rotten wood in front of him into dust, and firmly believed that he could do it.

  In fact, if Sangbin's strength was a bit stronger and his eyesight was higher, he would definitely be shocked by this punch, because the fist wind wrapped around Sutang contained the kind of perfect and thorough punching intent that only those truly great figures could release.

  No matter how many tricks you have up your sleeve, I'll take you down with just one punch!

  Unfortunately, Sangbin was just a servant and couldn't see what kind of talent Soo Tang had.

  Puff…… Su Tang's fist, along with half of his wrist, sank into Shang Bin's abdomen. As he suffered the punch, Shang Bin bent down at the waist, his one eye bulging out in a circle, almost popping out. The veins on his forehead and neck stood out straight, his entire body turning into a statue.

  Su Tang withdrew his fist, and his expression had returned to normal. He shook his hand, let out a satisfied sigh, and felt more and more fond of this feeling of releasing power. Only then did he notice that Shang Bin was somewhat off, and asked tentatively: "Shang Shu, you..."

  Shang Bin's hands were clasped together in front of his abdomen, as if he was trying to hold something back, but he was making a great effort to control himself. After a while, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead: "Young Master... I... need to... go and relieve myself..." As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't wait for Su Tang's agreement and turned around, stumbling towards the side door.

  Ke'er looked puzzled: "Young master, what's wrong with Uncle Shang?"

  "I don't know either, did I hit him too hard?" Su Tang said suspiciously: "Ke'er, go and follow him to see."

  Ke'er quietly followed him out, and after a while, she tiptoed back, leaned into Su Tang's ear, and whispered: "Young Master, you really made Shang Shu suffer... I just saw him kneeling there, pounding the ground with his hands, it looked so painful..."

  "Unbelievable... " Su Tang scratched his head, he didn't have the skills, how could Shang Bin dare ask him to go all out? It shouldn't be!