EFB Chapter 2 I, Prince Teng, will ensure you stand on the wooden stake!
Chapter 2 I, Prince Teng, will ensure you stand on the wooden stake!
Zhang Yuan not only saw the black iron plaque, but also shared a room with its owner.
He called the dark-skinned, thin child who always kept quiet in his room "the mute."
It's normal not to know the names of orphans.
The mute man starved to death three days ago.
Before he breathed his last, he was still clutching a dark iron plate tightly to his chest.
Zhang Yuan and Wang Ziteng carried him to the broken wall in the backyard and buried him hastily.
As they were burying him, Zhang Yuan caught a glimpse of the plaque slipping out from the mute man's tattered collar. It was dark and dull, with little luster in the moonlight, and looked exactly like the one they had described!
It turns out that the mute man was the only son of Captain Zhang!
Zhang Yuan felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight up to the top of his head.
The Green Bamboo Gang kidnapped him and then let him starve to death...
And now, the county magistrate is looking for him to wipe out the Green Bamboo Gang!
A tremendous sense of crisis and a crazy idea were churning in Zhang Yuan's mind at the same time.
Without further hesitation, he quickly crawled out from under the stove, grabbed a few cold steamed buns and stuffed them into his pocket, then slipped out of the canteen silently like a shadow.
Instead of going straight back to his dilapidated house, he went around to the backyard to the outside of the mud wall that had mostly collapsed.
The pale moonlight shone on a small mound of earth.
Using his broken sword as a shovel, Zhang Yuan quickly dug through the loose soil, soon revealing the mute man's thin, already decaying body.
The strong stench of decay almost made him vomit.
But he forced himself to do it, his hands trembling, and pulled the cold, heavy, earthy, and death-laden iron plaque from the mute man's neck.
Back in the dilapidated courtyard, lying on the creaking wooden bed, Zhang Yuan's heart was still restless.
He held the cold, black iron plate tightly in his palm; the touch seemed to carry the mute man's last grievances.
He lowered his head and, by the moonlight filtering through the hole in the roof, carefully examined the iron plaque that would determine his fate.
It is dark and dull, without any luster, and feels cold and heavy to the touch.
On the front is a ferocious tiger head relief with bold lines; when turned over, the back is indeed engraved with a simple and ancient character "Zhang".
The only way to survive...
A resolute glint flashed in Zhang Yuan's eyes.
He took a deep breath, wiped the dirt off the sign, put the thick rope with the iron sign around his neck, and stuffed the black iron sign into the innermost part of his tattered clothes, pressing it tightly against his chest.
The cold metal plate was quickly warmed by his body heat, and it weighed heavily on his heart.
Exhausted and overwhelmed by the mental shock, Zhang Yuan finally drifted off to sleep.
In his dream, he seemed to see that silent, mute child standing in a mist.
No longer the emaciated woman she once was, she was dressed in clean clothes, quietly looking at him, her lips moving silently as if to say, "Live on for me..."
Immediately afterwards, the mist shifted, and the agile figure of the swordsman reappeared.
The longsword danced in his hands, slashing, thrusting, pointing, dragging, and carrying...
The sword light flashed like a bolt of lightning, again and again, as if trying to imprint some kind of power deep into Zhang Yuan's bones.
The trial at Guzhu Hall began the next day.
The dilapidated Green Bamboo Gang headquarters had its central open space cleared out, and a simple platform was temporarily erected there.
The air was filled with an enticing, long-lost aroma of meat.
Several large buckets of steaming hot meat broth and several bowls of glistening braised meat were placed on the table.
There were also several jars of opened, fragrant, cloudy wine nearby.
The gang members were sitting around, feasting and shouting.
The remaining broth, wine, and food were also distributed to the orphaned children participating in the trials. One of the gang members shouted, "Eat more! You'll have the strength to fight!"
Another person, patting a wine jar, chimed in, "Yes, we need to give them courage. Let the kids have a couple of sips too!"
Before the words were even finished, dozens of starving orphans pounced on the meat like little wolves, tearing at the glistening chunks and gulping down the murky broth. Some of the bolder ones even grabbed bowls of wine and poured it into their mouths.
Wang Ziteng squatted down next to Zhang Yuan, his eyes fixed on the steaming chunks of meat and the bubbling broth, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, his mouth almost watering.
He licked his chapped lips and instinctively tried to get up.
"Don't eat it!"
"We haven't had any meat in so long, our stomachs can't handle it, and then there's the alcohol. If we drink too much, our legs will go weak and we'll fall into the river before we even have time to call for help!"
Zhang Yuan suddenly grabbed Wang Ziteng's sleeve, his voice extremely low.
He quickly stuffed the two steamed buns, which he had secretly hidden the night before and which had now become cold and hard, into Wang Ziteng's hands.
"Eat this."
Wang Ziteng was taken aback, his face showing confusion and reluctance. He looked at the steamed buns, then at the meat and vegetables in the distance, and finally swallowed hard and nodded.
He took a big bite of the cold steamed bun and chewed it with difficulty.
"Hey, Wang Ziteng, are you stupid? You have meat but you're eating steamed buns instead?" A burly child next to him sneered, holding a piece of fatty meat he had just been allocated, eating it with his mouth full of oil.
The other children who managed to grab the wine and meat also joined in the laughter.
Wang Ziteng glared at the man and shouted indistinctly, "What do you know! I'm so hungry my stomach is practically glued to my spine, my intestines are practically thin! If you suddenly stuff all this greasy, meaty stuff into my stomach, believe me, I'll immediately get intestinal cramps and diarrhea. I won't even have time to go to the toilet, let alone fight! And that horse piss—"
He pointed at several sallow-faced, thin children who were secretly sipping wine, and raised his voice even higher: "Look at your bodies! Half a bowl of that yellow liquor and you'll be dizzy and your legs will be wobbling! This trial is on wooden stakes over the river; if you slip and fall in, you won't even have time to struggle, you'll just be fed to turtles!"
These words were both crude and harsh.
In particular, he pointed out "intestinal colic," "diarrhea," and "falling into the river to feed turtles," which made several orphaned children who were tearing at fatty meat tremble, turn pale, and freeze completely as they reached for their wine bowls.
Not far away, Grandpa He, a middle-aged man with a sharp face, who was in charge of teaching the children martial arts, glanced at the noisy children, and paused for a moment on Wang Ziteng and Zhang Yuan.
When he saw Wang Ziteng resisting the temptation to eat a steamed bun, and heard his words, his eyes flickered slightly, and he slowly put down the bowl of murky wine in his hand that had not been touched, as if deep in thought.
Just then, a slightly hoarse but extremely penetrating cough came from the high platform.
A figure stepped onto the stage, surrounded by several gang leaders.
This man was about fifty years old, thin, wearing a worn silk shirt, with a hooked nose, deep-set eyes, and sharp, piercing eyes that revealed a sense of scheming and ruthlessness. He was Xu Changhe, the leader of this branch of the Green Bamboo Gang.
His gaze swept coldly over the noisy children below the stage, a barely perceptible sneer playing at the corners of his lips.
"quiet!"
The leader's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the room.
He pointed to a wooden platform built of large, round logs that extended several meters into the river, and said loudly, "The rules are simple! See that platform? That's the 'Lone Bamboo Stake'!"
"Whoever holds onto it and is still on the stage at sunset is the winner! Guzhu Hall will only accept ten people this time!"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over all the children with a chilling indifference: "The rest of you, get out of the Green Bamboo Gang's territory today! Whether you live or die is up to fate!"
Before the words were even finished, it was like pouring a bucket of cold water into boiling oil; the nearly one hundred children instantly erupted in chaos!
The pressure to survive and the fear of the future overwhelmed everything. The crowd, like a flock of sheep being driven, cried out and rushed toward the wooden platform on the riverbank, pushing and shoving each other, creating a chaotic scene.
"Walk!"
Wang Ziteng reacted extremely quickly, grabbing Zhang Yuan's arm and roaring like an angry calf. He used the brute force of his shoulder and body to smash aside the children blocking their way, and pulled Zhang Yuan towards the wooden platform.
He remembered Zhang Yuan's weakness and practically dragged him through the crowd to clear a path.
Beside the high platform, under a makeshift awning, several leading figures of the Green Bamboo Gang were watching coldly.
Seated in the center was a man of about forty years old, with a tall and straight figure like a spear and a stern face. He was dressed in a close-fitting outfit with green bamboo patterns and had a long, unsheathed sword hanging at his waist. He was the leader of the Lonely Bamboo Hall.
"This is how one survives in chaotic times. A great flood can cause endless battles between counties, and the rivers and lakes are even more turbulent, where human life is as cheap as grass."
The leader looked down at the surging crowd below, his voice calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
The head of the Guzhu Hall nodded slightly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the running children like a hawk: "Hmm. Those who can survive in this world must have both good character and strong physique."
"Does Chief Xu know about the great flood that submerged several counties and swallowed countless lives some time ago?" He paused, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible awe. "According to a secret report from the prefecture, it was caused by a battle between two 'Dragon Elephant Realm' experts upstream, which caused an imbalance in the earth's water flow."
"Even the mere impact of its influence possesses such divine power!"
Upon hearing his words, the others exchanged glances, their faces showing admiration and surprise.
In worldly cultivation, transcending the three realms of mortals is merely laying a solid foundation.
After the skin is refined, at its peak, one can have the strength of 500 jin in both arms.
Only those with naturally strong bones, the ability to exert force like a thousand pounds, and the speed to run like a galloping horse can be considered to have truly stepped into the threshold of martial arts and can be called a master in their own right.
The third realm, the Grandmaster realm, involves refining tendons and qi, condensing qi and refining evil. Reaching a high level is like shedding one's mortal body, and is the final realm of the three realms of mortal transformation.
After the three realms of transcendence, one enters the three realms of profound mystery, capable of invoking the power of heaven and earth: Vajra, Dragon-Elephant, and Insightful Enlightenment...
That was already a land-based immortal figure capable of conquering cities and establishing sects!
"In the eyes of true powerhouses, those of us at the Innate Realm are nothing more than stronger ants."
The leader of the Lone Bamboo Hall was himself at the peak of the Innate Realm, making him one of the top experts in the gang.
When he mentioned the Dragon Elephant Realm, his tone was filled with both longing and deep-seated apprehension.
His gaze fell on Wang Ziteng, who was charging forward with all his might: "That kid's not bad, he has brute strength and ruthlessness, he's good material. It's a pity..."
He shook his head slightly and saw Zhang Yuan, who was being held tightly by Wang Ziteng and whose steps were unsteady.
"It's a burden. In a life-or-death situation, loyalty and righteousness aren't necessarily a blessing. With a sickly person by your side, it's difficult to hold onto that lone bamboo stake."
At this moment, Wang Ziteng had already pulled Zhang Yuan to the riverbank.
The only path to the solitary wooden platform in the middle of the river is a narrow wooden bridge that can only accommodate two people side by side.
However, at this moment, the bridgehead was blocked by three teenagers who were clearly taller and stronger than ordinary children.
One of the most burly and muscular youths, with a face full of scars, saw Wang Ziteng charging towards him and his eyes lit up. He shouted, "Wang Ziteng! You're strong, join forces with us! Let's stick together, clear out the other small fry, and then take over the wooden platform to enter the Lonely Bamboo Hall, how about it?"
He clearly acknowledged Wang Ziteng's abilities.
But another boy with high cheekbones immediately pointed at Zhang Yuan, who was being protected behind Wang Ziteng, pale-faced and panting, and objected sharply: "We can team up! But we can't bring him along! If we bring along this fragile burden, he'll kill us all!"
His eyes were filled with disdain and impatience for Zhang Yuan, this "burden".
Three burly teenagers blocked the only way, staring unfriendly at Zhang Yuan, who was being protected by Wang Ziteng. The atmosphere at the entrance of the wooden bridge instantly became tense.
"Ziteng—" Zhang Yuan had just opened his mouth when Wang Ziteng interrupted him.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Wang Ziteng's voice was firm and unquestionable. His eyes were fixed on the three burly teenagers blocking the road ahead. He lowered his body slightly and assumed the basic boxing stance taught by Master He.
"We were pulled from the Qingyang River together, we were born together, and today we're going to face this challenge together! I, Wang Ziteng, will make sure you stand on this wooden stake!"