"Are you fucking blind? Can't you see your Second Master Zhao is here?!"
After the collision, Zhao Er flew into a rage. Without a word of explanation, he moved to grapple Zheng Jun. No one present had time to react to his sudden outburst.
Although Zhao Er was normally a shameless scoundrel and notoriously lazy, often intimidating the peddlers and merchants in his patrol area, he usually just bickered with the Black Officials and government constables of the Three Squad. Because of his connections with Zhao Da, everyone generally just put up with it. He only hit people without reason when he was drunk. But today, there wasn't even a whiff of alcohol on him. Why the sudden outburst?
Seeing this, Zhou Pu was greatly alarmed. He hurriedly lunged toward Zhao Er, cursing, "Zhao Er! Have you had three taels of horse piss? Do you even know your own name anymore?! This is the County Government Office! Is this a place for you to act recklessly?!"
However, before he could reach them, Zhao Er had already clamped his claws onto Zheng Jun's wrist, attempting to press down and execute a reverse grapple. But as Zhao Er pressed down with his arm, Zheng Jun's wrist didn't budge an inch!
Zhao Er couldn't help but freeze. He had used all his strength in this calculated move, yet he couldn't subdue Zheng Jun? For a moment, his face flushed red. He wrenched hard, trying to force Zheng Jun's hand down, but it remained entirely futile.
"With this level of skill, you dare try to grab me?" Zheng Jun smiled disdainfully, then flicked his wrist and suddenly exerted force. A formidable power erupted, and unable to hold on, Zhao Er let Zheng Jun slip his hand free. He stumbled, nearly falling over.
Zheng Jun raised his scabbard and delivered a backhanded diagonal Chop, smashing it toward Zhao Er's spine. The strike even carried the faint sound of rushing wind.
"Ah!"
The scabbard struck solidly against Zhao Er's back. Knocked to the ground, he curled up. His face went deathly pale, tears streamed from the corners of his eyes, and he let out agonizing screams and groans.
After this strike, Zheng Jun simply took a step back, halting his attack. Meanwhile, blood slowly seeped through the back of Zhao Er's Official's Uniform, quickly dyeing a large patch red. Seeing this scene, the entire room went into an uproar.
It was understandable that Zhao Er was knocked down. The man neither abstained from alcohol nor women, and he was used to being arrogant and overbearing. Everyone in the Three Squad knew he was a worthless coward who relied entirely on Zhao Da's intimidating presence. But no matter how much he indulged, Zhao Er was still Zhao Da's brother and knew a decent grappling technique. He might struggle against government constables who had practiced some basic martial arts, but he was more than capable of handling ordinary citizens who had no training whatsoever. Now, seeing him so easily overthrown by Zheng Jun truly opened the eyes of the government constables in the Fast Shift, who had previously thought Zheng Jun only got in through Zhou Pu's connections.
"Zheng Jun usually looks like a pale, quiet introvert, but who would have thought he'd be so clean and decisive in a fight," someone thought.
"His technique was so fast that even an experienced, blade-wielding government constable like me couldn't react in time," another pondered.
Squad Leader Sun hadn't reacted in time either. Seeing Zhao Er already collapsed on the ground, he pondered the situation and immediately felt a headache coming on.
"Squad Leader." Zheng Jun immediately put away his scabbard, stepped forward, and performed a Ritual greeting to Squad Leader Sun. "As our colleagues just saw, Zhao Er was the first to act disrespectfully. I only struck out defensively on instinct. I didn't expect to lose control of my strength and cause Zhao Er some superficial injuries."
Zhou Pu was the first to show support, stepping protectively in front of him. "Old Sun, everyone saw it! Zhao Er attacked first. You can't blame Zheng Jun. That makes no sense!"
Hearing this, Squad Leader Sun felt somewhat helpless. He was just about to say something when he suddenly heard a bustling commotion from outside. The Black Officials of the Three Squad and Six Departments stretched their necks to watch the spectacle. Some troublemakers even shouted, "Zhao Da, disaster! Your brother got beaten into a bear!"
Zhou Pu thought, "This is bad!" Meanwhile, Squad Leader Sun Wang's heart skipped a beat.
Zhao Da was a prominent figure in this Black Mountain County. Although he was just an Official and a government constable, he held considerable prestige in Black Mountain County, with connections in both the underworld and legitimate circles. He was known for his generosity and justice, earning the praise of people in the Jianghu. Furthermore, he was a graduated apprentice of the Xu Family Martial Arts Hall. It was said that he had already reached the Realm of Blood Refining and Body Tempering.
As for Zheng Jun, he remained extremely calm. When he struck and injured Zhao Er, he had already anticipated this outcome. But he had struck anyway. After all, he hadn't gone looking for trouble with Zhao Er; Zhao Er had come looking for him. They were going to be enemies either way, so offending him meant nothing. Was he supposed to kowtow, admit fault, and call the man his grandfather? At worst, he would just be docked some of his monthly salary.
Zhou Pu stood by Zheng Jun's side and whispered to him, "I will speak with Zhao Da later. Even though Zhao Da has some face, I, Zhou Pu, became an Official at fourteen. I am now twenty-nine, and I know quite a few people in the County Government Office."
"Zhou Pu, Zhao Er's sudden hostility today was completely unreasonable... I suspect there is an ulterior motive," Zheng Jun whispered back.
It was true that a few days ago, he had a verbal conflict with a drunken Zhao Er and had been cursed out viciously. But that fellow Zhao Er often drank too much and went crazy. How could he cause a scene on the spot just because of that? According to rumors and Zheng Jun's own memories, Zhao Er was extremely petty. He would usually resort to underhanded tricks, never attacking so suddenly and openly. There had to be something else going on!
Upon hearing this, Zhou Pu thought back carefully but couldn't recall any conflicts with the brothers of the Zhao Family. He was just about to offer some words of comfort when he suddenly saw the crowd outside part to form a pathway. A burly man with broad shoulders and a wide back hurried through the crowd, arriving in front of the Fast Shift room. The man wore the same black Official's Uniform as everyone else, but his muscles bulged with distinct definitions. The muscles on his arms looked like they were forged from iron. He walked with a vigorous momentum, almost bursting the seams of his Official's Uniform.
Was this Zhao Da?
Seeing Zhao Da's appearance, Zheng Jun was somewhat surprised. He couldn't help but take another look at the groaning Zhao Er on the ground. It was hard to picture these two as brothers.
Seeing Zhao Da approach, Sun Wang had to brace himself. He stepped forward with an apologetic smile. "Squad Leader Zhao, this is all a misunderstanding. It's just a spar between the younger generation. How could it warrant your distinguished presence?"
"Squad Leader Sun, say no more. I already know everything," Zhao Da said. His eyes burned like torches, gleaming sharply. Without even glancing at Zhao Er, he immediately locked his gaze on Zheng Jun. "I heard the explanations on my way here. It was all because of my useless brother's shameless behavior. I hope Zheng San won't take it to heart. I, Zhao Jun, will absolutely not make things difficult for you!"
Zheng Jun ranked third among the younger generation of the Zheng Family. The eldest was his brother Zheng Xing, while the second was an older cousin from his uncle's family. However, a few days ago, his uncle and cousin were conscripted into the army and sent off to Yunzhou, with no news of them since.
After saying that, Zhao Da finally looked at Zhao Er. Frowning, he grabbed Zhao Er by the collar and hoisted him up. As he walked away, he scolded, "You filthy wretch! Look at the huge mess you've caused me today! Just wait and see how I deal with you when we get back..." He dragged Zhao Er outside by the collar, cursing all the way. Seeing the bustling crowd outside, he waved his arm directly. "Everyone, there's nothing to see here. Disperse, disperse!"
Zhao Da's behavior left Zheng Jun somewhat stunned. The Zhao Da he usually heard about was a local tyrant in Black Mountain who had immense power and connections. Who would have thought he would be this sincere and generous? However, since there were no further issues, no one else had anything to say, and the crowd gradually dispersed. Only Zhou Pu had a strange expression on his face.
Seeing this, Zheng Jun asked with concern, "Zhou Pu, what is it?"
"It's nothing, it's nothing." Zhou Pu waved his hand. "Just rest for a bit. I'm going to discuss the street patrol with Liu, and I'll come find you later." After speaking, Zhou Pu stood up and left.
Watching Zhou Pu leave, Zheng Jun felt somewhat doubtful but didn't say anything more. Instead, he sat down in a chair and began to carefully recall the details.
If this had been a few days ago, he really wouldn't have been able to break free from that bastard Zhao Er's wrist grapple. Although Zhao Er's body had been hollowed out by wine and women, Zheng Jun's original body wasn't exactly someone with unparalleled strength or a burly build either. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched, just like a half-catty to eight taels.
However, after the derived trait, Blade Skill Consolidation, arrived last night, Zheng Jun's arm strength had directly increased by quite a bit. After all, wielding a blade required the most wrist strength. This was what allowed him to abruptly exert force, break free, and knock Zhao Er down with a backhanded Chop.
If he had drawn his blade, Zhao Er would have died just now! But drawing his blade to kill over some minor grudges and arguments would make him appear too ruthless. Even if he weren't punished afterward, it would still invite gossip.
Shaking his head, Zheng Jun willed it, and the Great Tao Martial Book immediately appeared in his mind. Just now, the Great Tao Martial Book had shown an ink-wash prompt. Because he had hit Zhao Er and the atmosphere was extremely tense, Zheng Jun hadn't had the time to look closely at it. Now, he could take a good look.
[Practiced Cloak and Dagger Technique once, progress +10, current repayment progress: 2955/5000.]
Seeing this, Zheng Jun couldn't help but freeze. Sparring against someone actually increased the repayment progress?!