I want to die!

Chapter 4 Hanako's House

"A promising talent..." Li's mother couldn't help but laugh out loud, but before her laughter faded, a look of worry appeared in the corner of her eye:

"Xuanqing, you should put aside your business outside. The seventy taels of debt owed by Zhao Shan's family is not something for a half-grown child like you to worry about."

"Besides, there's a famine outside right now, and there are refugees everywhere. I'm afraid your trade won't be very easy to start..."

"There's also a band of mountain bandits outside the city called 'Mountain Wind,' who can't even leave the vicinity of the county town..."

A debt of seventy taels was no small matter for the Li family, which was in decline.

Zhou Xing compared his memories from both lifetimes and realized that one tael of silver in the Great Mang Dynasty today had the purchasing power of nearly a thousand dollars in his previous life.

Seventy taels of silver is enough to support an ordinary family of three for a year.

He had risked his life to have a chance to wipe out his debts, no wonder his predecessor, Li Xuanqing, died with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

"...I know."

After rambling on and on for almost fifteen minutes, Zhou Xing finally found an excuse to go into the inner room to sleep.

...............

The next day.

As dawn broke, Zhou Xing tiptoed out of bed.

He was woken up by hunger.

He groped his way to the stove in the dark and reached into the rice bin next to it.

Only a shallow layer remains, about the depth of a finger joint.

It's probably enough for the Li family of three, enough to last them a few more days.

"We're running out of food soon, and there's still famine outside..." Zhou Xing glanced at the faint light of dawn outside the window.

I returned too late yesterday, so I had to return the oxcart to my neighbor, Uncle Li Yingjie, this morning.

Once everything was done, they could go to the beggar's house in the county town to collect the debt.

As he was pondering this, a dark figure suddenly leaped out from the shadows beside the stove, holding a sword to his neck.

"Hey! Take this!"

Zhou Xing looked down.

His younger sister held up a tree branch in front of his neck and gestured with it, her big, dark eyes staring at him.

Zhou Xing hesitated for a moment.

"Ugh---" He clutched his neck in pain, leaned back, stumbled back a few steps, picked up a thin piece of firewood, and started playing ping-pong with his younger sister.

Naturally, the sound of "ping-pong" is what the mouth says.

"Your skills are superb, heroine! I will definitely come back!" After a tense and exciting ten-thousand-word battle, Zhou Xing covered his neck and begged for mercy, panting as he walked out.

"You incorrigible devil—" Little sister Li Ziqing, tired of playing, squatted on the threshold, cupping her face in her hands as she looked at him, her voice gradually softening, carrying a worry rarely seen in her age:

"You'd better come back alive."

............

Zhou Xing did not leave immediately, but instead drove the oxcart to his neighbor's second uncle's house.

"Huh? You're not dead?" Second Uncle Li Yingjie frowned and looked out from the door.

"I've returned the oxcart to my second uncle. Thank you for yesterday." Zhou Xing parked the oxcart under the old locust tree at the door and dusted off his hands.

Second Uncle Li Yingjie then slowly strolled out. He was wearing an old, faded scholar's robe, his chin slightly raised, and he frowned as he scrutinized Zhou Xing.

"Ha, they're tough enough." He carefully inspected the oxcart, his expression remaining indifferent.

"The foolish things your father did back then ruined the family business, and now you, a half-grown boy, have to risk your life to fill the hole. It's truly a misfortune for our family."

The situation outside is far from peaceful. Famine is raging, and refugees are everywhere. The other day, someone fleeing from the south said… they've witnessed the horrific sight of people exchanging their own children to eat them.”

"With so many starving people, where will you get money from?"

Li Yingjie truly couldn't bear to see his elder brother's branch of the family in such a sorry state.

The eldest brother squandered the family fortune, abandoned his wife and children, and disappeared after leaving his hometown. His son became a street hustler who extorted money from people. Yesterday, he almost had his brains knocked out.

He was at least a scholar, though a bit old, and he didn't want to get involved with his nephew's family, who were beggars.

Just as Zhou Xing was about to take his leave, he saw his second uncle, Li Yingjie, extend his hand again:

"Two hundred coins."

Zhou Xing was slightly taken aback.

"This is the rent for the oxcart that we agreed on yesterday. In this kind of year, nothing can be used for free," Li Yingjie added.

Zhou Xing glanced at this cheap uncle twice.

It's reasonable, but there's really no real family affection involved.

One tael of silver can be exchanged for a thousand copper coins, so yesterday's body collection was indeed not cheap.

"I'll definitely pay my second uncle back when I get back from 'work'," Zhou Xing said, turning to leave.

"So you didn't get a single tael of that hundred taels of silver you earned working on the street yesterday? And you came back to pay me back after 'finishing work'... The money's already in a beggar's bowl, and you want it back?" Li Yingjie shook his head and just sneered.

"Then you don't need to return the two hundred coins."

"When you ever end up selling your meat as a lamb to pay off your debts, don't forget to save two pounds for your uncle."

"Of course, of course. I know Uncle is in poor health. I'll leave the whip for Uncle to soak in wine to nourish his body."

After exchanging sarcastic remarks, Zhou Xing turned and left.

He changed into his business attire and prepared to go to work in the county town.

I didn't see it clearly last night, but when I looked again this morning, the road to the county town was indeed in a state of disrepair.

The dilapidated thatched cottage had a crumbling fence, empty windows, and spider webs trembling in the wind.

Three or five refugees huddled under the earthen embankment by the roadside, their cheeks sunken.

In the distance, through the dust and smoke, another group of families came staggering along, carrying tattered mats on their shoulders, their steps unsteady, some of them collapsing in the dust as they walked.

Occasionally, a passerby would walk by, but they would simply walk past indifferently; the road was littered with the bones of those who had starved to death... This scene was clearly no longer uncommon.

"No wonder the original Li Xuanqing wanted to become a beggar who self-harmed to beg for money... it was all a forced decision."

"There are few tough jobs that no one can handle; even a beggar would be unemployed."

The town of Baxiang is not far from Huazifang, which is located south of the county seat.

After walking for half an hour, a dilapidated courtyard came into view, with the three characters "Fuxingju" faintly discernible on the crooked plaque above the door.

Several hemp ropes hung from the eaves, swaying in the wind.

It wasn't just the hemp rope swaying in the wind; there were also pungent odors mixed with the smells of urine, feces, sour food, and human sweat, which made people's eyes sting.

Hanako-fu, Fukō-ju.

Fuxingju was originally a welfare home built after the appearance of celestial beings, but it later fell into disrepair, with its walls crumbling and windows decaying, and was occupied by local beggars.

There were about a hundred beggars gathered inside, which had become a small beggar gang.

Li Xuanqing didn't live here when he was alive; he had his own place to live.

The beggars here are the real beggars.

Early in the morning, beggars lay sprawled on the courtyard floor, covered with dirty straw mats and tattered cotton wadding.

On the east side, leftover chicken bones were piled up haphazardly, and a broken wine jar rolled to one side, while there were obvious urine stains on the base of the west wall.

In the center of the courtyard was a stone altar, covered with chicken bones, fish bones, and rotten vegetable leaves.

It was still very early in the morning, and the beggars were all still half asleep. But when some of them opened their eyes and saw the figure standing in the courtyard, they all cried out in surprise:

"It's haunted!"

"The vengeful spirits have come to claim our lives!"

The beggars screamed and ran away in a panic, some trampling each other, some covering their eyes and screaming, and some climbing over walls only to have their pants pulled down and used as stepping stones by those behind them. It was complete chaos.

Until a shout came from inside the courtyard:

"What's all this chaos? Our Little Qing is back. He's tough; he just fainted yesterday."

The chaos around him subsided briefly. Zhou Xing looked up and saw a thin, dark-skinned old man with a round face emerge.

The old man looked thin and short, wearing a patchwork robe with many patches, but when he spoke, the surroundings gradually quieted down.

"Little Qing didn't nail himself to the ground, did he? Or did he just faint?"

"Huh? He's still alive?"

"He's really tough; he survived seven hits." The crowd's expressions were somewhat strange.

If they hadn't killed him yesterday, these beggars who were trying to save their own lives would have really offended this young man, Xiao Qing.

Zhou Xing watched quietly as the round-faced old man walked forward.

Begging is considered one of the lowest professions.

Those who frequently beg for food know that even among the lowest classes of beggars, there are different levels, and the hierarchy is even more rigid.

Li Xuanqing, a martial arts beggar, earns his living by enduring beatings and self-harm.

The beggars who stood behind them and gave orders were naturally considered to be of a higher status.

The round-faced old man who came out was the leader of the begging team, known as "Luozitou," who was the strategist in organizing the beggars' begging.

Zhou Xing, however, did not look at him.

His gaze fell on the scattered chicken bones, pork ribs, and a few broken wine jars on the ground, and then he glanced at the greasy collars of the beggars.

"After watching last night, I realized there was something very happy happening in Hanako's room."

"What windfall have you struck it rich with? Why didn't you wait for me to come back so we could eat together?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the surrounding noise quickly subsided. The beggars looked slightly embarrassed and exchanged glances for a moment, but soon some of them burst into laughter.

Are you kidding me? Would someone with a conscience be treated like a beggar?

The surrounding area erupted in laughter:

"Young Master Qing, we were enjoying your feast last night and forgot to inform you. We're so sorry."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Master Qing."

"I'm sorry, Master Qing, but your money is too tempting. As the saying goes, a man's knees are worth gold. How about we kowtow to you? Bang bang bang..." A beggar actually chuckled and kowtowed to him several times.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Xing already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on.

Beggars don't have the habit of saving money. It's hard to say how much of yesterday's hundred taels of hard-earned money will be left after one night.

But to say that it was all eaten in one night is also nonsense.

Zhou Xing snorted coldly and stepped onto the stone altar in the center of the courtyard:

"You ate a hundred taels of silver in one night, were you munching on Marshal Tianpeng or the Sun God last night?"

As Wei Liu, this time was different when facing the cunning and manipulative owner of the cold jelly shop, Manager Huang. This time, he couldn't just act recklessly.

This time, Zhou Xing was faced with about a hundred shameless beggars. None of them were immune to taunts, and their words were useless.

Zhou Xing's superior intelligence told him that it was time to use his superpowers.

Zhou Xing just sneered:

"My fee for risking my life is seventy taels. Since you've swallowed it, I'd like to know how much your lives are worth?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Zitou's round face frowned slightly.

Several tall beggars stood up immediately. The one in the lead was a bald man who was nearly 1.9 meters tall with a face full of scars. He was holding a half-eaten lamb leg in his hand.

There are about a hundred beggars in the beggar's hut, and Li Xuanqing is not the only martial arts beggar.

Although these martial arts beggars couldn't be called highly skilled fighters, they were all ruthless people who made a living by self-harm, so they were naturally even more ruthless when stabbing others.

If Li Xuanqing, as a martial beggar, dares to offend the head of the beggar's room, he will at least be chopped into eighteen pieces.

"You call yourself Brother Qing? You've really got a big mouth now?" Several tall, burly martial arts beggars came over and pointed at them.

"Everyone knows your life is worth seventy taels, but over a hundred people in our brothel have eaten your food. Do you think we'd cough up the money?"

The tattered burlap sack he was wearing was already in tatters, and now the tall bald man ripped it off, revealing his upper body covered in scars.

Amidst the shoving and jostling, the nail head embedded in Zhou Xing's forehead was revealed.

Many pairs of eyes turned in horror as this person walked in with a long nail driven into his head.

When the surroundings quieted down, Zhou Xing felt it was very noisy.

He seemed to hear the sound of blood flowing through his veins, a sound so loud that the surrounding noise seemed to fade into the background.

His skin quickly turned bright red, and a strange power surged through his limbs and bones.

This power does not belong to Li Xuanqing's body, but comes from a soul that has transmigrated here, and is also derived from the power of the previous person who died a violent death.

Exhibitionist (Blue): Enters a berserk state of euphoria when exposing oneself, unleashing monstrous strength capable of overpowering ferocious beasts. The more exposed one is, and the more people one attracts, the stronger the effect.

He took a deep breath and then lifted his foot.

Click----

He crushed a blue brick under his feet.

Zhou Xing casually grabbed the stone altar, held his breath, and with a burst of strength, actually managed to lift it up with both hands.

The hundred or so beggars all changed color abruptly.

Their daily business is all about deception and trickery. They can conjure up all sorts of things, like hiding pig's blood in hair or crushing bricks on their chests. No one knows better than them how to fool people with fake tricks.

But this altar in the flower room... it's made of stone, weighing at least a hundred or two hundred pounds, and it usually takes two or three people to lift it.

But the boy with coffin nails nailed to his forehead grabbed them with both hands and swung them like weapons, smashing them at the beggars in front of him.

That's really weird, where does this kid get his bravado from?

With a loud crash, the stone table fell to the ground, its surface shattering into pieces, with fragments scattering in all directions.

If this happened to a person, it would be more than just bruises and welts.

But as fellow martial arts beggars who had also made their living through trials and tribulations, Baldy and his companions were no pushovers either, and their reactions were quick.

Even if you are Lu Zhishen reborn with unparalleled strength, am I not just a bandit seeking food in the world?

Before the stone table could even hit them, the bald leader swiftly dodged, followed by a powerful tiger-landing kowtow.

"Have mercy, sir!"

The four or five martial arts beggars behind him reacted quickly, kowtowing several times.

There's a reason why these beggars ended up as beggars.

Dignity and integrity have never been associated with them.

In the end, beggars are still just a motley crew. When they run into a tough opponent, even the seemingly ruthless beggars become soft-hearted faster than anyone else.

While kowtowing, he made way for the player standing behind him, revealing the player's position.

Luo Zitou's face immediately turned pale.