Three Kingdoms: A Million Soldiers Grown from the Fields

Chapter 12 Fairness (Please continue reading)

The little girl hugged her chest tightly with both hands, and closed her eyes in fear as the slap came.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from the air.

The spear lashed out like a whip at the man's hand. In pain, the man instinctively released his grip, and the terrified child, whose face had turned purple, collapsed to the ground and fainted.

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged woman scrambled over and hugged her daughter tightly.

The jovial men stopped laughing and drew their weapons, instantly creating a tense atmosphere.

The woman hugged her daughter like a quail, burying her head and trembling.

Pedestrians and vehicles on the straight road cast some glances, but they didn't look too closely. When traveling, everyone tends to prefer avoiding trouble.

"Damn it, who are you?! I must have encountered a ghost today. A bunch of stinky Taoist priests just left, and now another nuisance has appeared! Damn it."

The man who had been shot felt the pain subside slightly, and he started cursing while clutching his hand. The others glared angrily at him as well.

"Who are you, brat! State your name! I won't kill nameless nobodies!"

Swords and daggers flashed wildly, and seven or eight men pointed at Zhao Yun and started shouting.

"If you want to fight, then fight! Why all this nonsense!"

Zhao Yun rode his horse sideways and stood between the group of ruffians and the mother and daughter.

"Hey, you little brat, you're really arrogant! Who are you from? State your name!"

The hooligans still didn't step forward; instead, they shouted even louder, as if they would attack if Zhao Yun said he wasn't from one of the families they remembered.

"Hmph, Brother Xian was right after all. You're a bunch of cowardly thieves who only dare to bully the weak. You're not even as good as the bandit Wang Xige!!"

With a loud shout, Zhao Yun suddenly lowered the tip of his spear, leaping off his horse and sweeping the shaft of his spear like a dragon towards the knees of the three men in the front row with astonishing speed.

click!
"Ouch!"

With a crisp, bamboo-like crack, the three rascals fell to their knees in unison, hugging their knees and wailing.

Before the three men behind could react, Zhao Yun flicked his wrist, and the tip of his spear struck the fourth man's shoulder. The man felt a numbness in half of his body, and his ring-pommel sword clattered to the ground.

The fifth man froze for half a second, looked around at his companions, and then swung his axe at them with a dumbfounded roar. Zhao Yun didn't even glance at him, but thrust his spearhead forward, hitting the man squarely in the chest. The burly man's face turned red, and he staggered back three steps, falling hard into the pit and rolling his eyes back.

The last two, including the leader, saw that things were not going well and turned to flee, but they saw a brown horse coming, followed by a carriage.

"Hero, spare our lives!" Upon seeing this, the ruffians immediately knelt on the ground. Having frequented Zhen Ding County, they naturally recognized the unique mark belonging to the Guo family on the carriage.

"Alright, let's stop fooling around here." Zhang Xian reined in his horse, dismounted, and gave Xiahou Lan a look. The latter then jumped off the carriage and went to check on the mother and daughter.

Zhao Yun also came over from the other side leading his horse. Several ruffians he had knocked to the ground were clutching their wounds and howling in pain. He twirled his spear and placed it on the shoulder of the leader ruffian who was kneeling on the ground.

"Listen to my older brother's lecture!"

"Yes, yes, yes, we're listening, we're listening." The group nodded vigorously, their previous arrogance towards the mother and daughter completely gone.

Zhang Xian quietly gave Zhao Yun a thumbs up; this immediately boosted his morale.

Zhao Yun on the other side returned a look that said, "It's nothing."

Withdrawing his gaze, Zhang Xian looked down at the person on the ground and said, "Tell me, what did that mother and daughter do to offend you?"

"I didn't offend them, I was just teasing them, trying to scare them a little before I left."

"Playing around?" Zhang Xian's tone suddenly rose. "Then shall I let my brother play around with you all a little longer?"

"No need, no need, no need," the kneeling people quickly shook their heads.

Seeing that Zhang Xian was still looking at them, the leader of the hooligans said in a trembling voice, "That girl stole some meat strips while we were talking and laughing. I was so angry that I lost my mind and that's why we started the fight."

"Well, so they're the ones who were in the wrong first."

"No, no, it was my fault for being foolish. It was wrong of me to get angry with a child." The ringleader wanted to admit that it was true, but how could he dare to do so now? The clan's young men had read too many stories and were now going out to become heroes. He had to make sure the young men of noble families had fun in order to protect himself.

Maybe they'll get carried away and just ignore them.

Zhang Xian did not follow the man's words. Instead, he looked at both sides carefully and nodded, saying, "There is no need to make excuses. Judging from the appearance of that mother and daughter, they are capable of stealing. I only do fair things. If they were wrong first, then they were wrong first."

"How much food did they steal from you?"

"Not much, not much, just a little over half a pound of meat strips that were originally meant to be fed to the dogs."

"Half a pound of meat strips. Hmm." Zhang Xian turned and walked towards the carriage.

The food prepared for them by the Guo family also included meat. He cut off about half a pound from a piece of smoked meat and threw it to the ruffian.

"Those mother and daughter were destitute and their theft was wrong, but it can be forgiven. This half-pound of fine smoked meat is what I returned to you on their behalf. Can this matter be considered settled?"

"No need, no need. I was so angry that I hit a child. I should be the one apologizing to them." The ruffian dared not accept the offer.

Zhang Xian ignored him and continued, "The matter of stealing food is settled. Now let's talk about your intention to commit violence."

"According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, how should a perpetrator who commits violence against a young child be punished?"

Zhang Xian's tone became more serious, and Zhao Yun, behind the leader of the ruffians, also pressed down harder on the gun.

The ringleader, his body trembling like a leaf, stammered, "I...I don't know."

"I don't know," Zhang Xian laughed. As for the reason for his laughter, it was naturally because he didn't know either.

He gestured with his lip: "Go, apologize and make amends, and this feud will be over."

Upon hearing this, the ringleader dared not refuse and quickly got up to go toward the mother and daughter. Zhao Yun also put away his gun at the opportune moment.

Zhang Xian didn't watch the apology process. He looked around and found that many pedestrians, porters, and carriages who were originally on their way had stopped and were curiously watching this side.

Well, although it's better to avoid trouble, there will always be people watching the show.

He cupped his hands in greeting to those around him: "The minor conflict has been resolved. Everyone can disperse now. It's not good to block the straight road."

Everyone laughed and continued on their own journeys, but this would give them one more story to tell in their casual conversations.

People streamed along the straight road, and the rascals, having apologized, helped each other away.

Xiahou Lan approached Zhang Xian and asked, "Are we just going to let them go like this?"

Zhang Xian glanced at him and laughed, "Otherwise what? With so many eyes watching, we can't really kill them, can we?"

"They are, after all, ordinary people. If something happens, the county government will have to take care of it. They will inevitably come after us. We'll just give them a lesson and let it go."

Xiahou Lan stared at the departing figures of the group of ruffians for a long time, and finally turned her gaze to the mother and daughter and sighed: "Alas, for the wanderers, no one cares about their life or death."

"Then why don't you, Brother Xian, take care of it?" Zhang Xian chuckled, patted him on the shoulder, and walked towards the mother and daughter.

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(End of this chapter)