The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 28

Jiang Ning approached the young man and looked at him, saying...

Upon hearing this, the young man gritted his teeth and stood up despite the pain.

Jiang Ning glanced at him, then walked out of the alley, with the young man limping behind him.

The group of burly men who had been kicked to the ground all wanted to get up and stop him, but having witnessed the boy's prowess, they remained motionless for a long time.

"Junior brother, what are you doing?"

At the alley entrance, Liang Fa, Du Lanyin, Qiao Jun, and the other Huashan disciples were walking ahead when they realized Jiang Ning was missing. So they turned back to look for him and saw Jiang Ning emerge from the dark alley. They then saw the young man behind him, covered in wounds, and asked him curiously.

Jiang Ning calmly said, "He said there was a woman in Yihua Tower who was forced into prostitution. I'll take him in to ask if there's such a person or if this is true."

The young man said bitterly, "Shuyun and I were childhood sweethearts. Later, her father died of illness, leaving behind only her blind mother. In order to support her mother, Shuyun went to work as a seamstress. However, the seamstress was owned by Wan Deming, the owner of Yihua Brothel. He saw that Shuyun was beautiful and forcibly defiled her. Afterward, he took her to Yihua Brothel and sent his men with three bags of rice to Shuyun's house, saying that it was a reward for Shuyun's work. He made Shuyun's mother sign a receipt, but it was actually a contract of servitude."

"Later, her mother and I went to report this to the authorities, but Wan Deming was in cahoots with the government. The government said that Wan Deming had Shuyun's indenture and that we were making false accusations. They beat us with sticks and expelled us from the government office. Shuyun's mother was heartbroken and committed suicide by jumping into the river."

“I found Shuyun and wanted to help her escape, but one of the thugs caught me. They told me that if I could raise thirty taels of silver, they would return the indenture to us and let Shuyun go. My father and I sold our family property to raise the money, but after they took the silver, they turned on me and said that I didn’t have a written agreement, so they wouldn’t recognize it. They beat me up and threw me out. Shuyun was also locked up in Yihua Brothel. I tried to go in and rescue Shuyun several times, but they beat me out each time.”

"There is such a thing!"

After hearing the young man's words, Qiaojun's face turned red with anger, and she wished she could rush into Yihualou to stand up for the young man.

"Let's go into Yi Hua Lou and ask if it's true."

Jiang Ning said, his eyes completely calm.

"Shuyun is inside!"

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately headed towards a brothel not far away.

Jiang Ning followed behind.

"Why are you here again? Haven't I beaten you enough?"

A burly man at the entrance of Yihua Tower blocked the young man's way and said with a disgusted expression.

The young man shoved him aside and limped into the brothel, shouting as he ran.

"Shuyun? Where are you, Shuyun? I'm here to save you."

"Fuck you!"

The burly man, caught off guard and pushed down, was furious and immediately tried to rush in and drag the young man out. However, the young man dodged and weaved inside, shouting desperately, which attracted the attention of other brothel women and customers.

Chapter 46: The Wrath That Burns All Evil

The young man shouted this inside the brothel, and more than a dozen burly men rushed out, their anger palpable.

"You're coming again? You're not afraid of death, are you? Fine, we'll beat you to death today!"

One of the burly men threw a vicious punch. The young man had nowhere to dodge and instinctively covered his head with his hands. But instead of the expected punches and kicks, he heard a muffled groan and the sound of tables and chairs falling over. When the young man lowered his hands, he saw Jiang Ning standing right in front of him.

"on!"

"Kill him!"

The other burly men grabbed sticks and started hitting Jiang Ning.

"Who dares to touch our junior brother!"

A loud shout came from outside, and Liang Fa, Du Lanyin, and other Huashan disciples rushed in. Upon seeing this scene, they immediately attacked the group of thugs, causing chaos inside the brothel. The brothel women screamed, and the customers ran outside in fright.

Before long, all the thugs were beaten down by Liang Fa and his men.

Although Liang Fa and his group weren't very skilled in martial arts, they were still third-rate experts and could easily handle this group of thugs.

Where is the person you're looking for?

Jiang Ning looked at the young man.

"At this!"

A loud shout came from upstairs. Jiang Ning, Liang Fa, Du Lanyin and the others looked up and saw a courtesan waving and shouting at them, dragging an unconscious woman in her arms.

"Xiaoru is here!"

"Shuyun!"

Upon seeing the unconscious woman, the young man's eyes reddened, and he limped upstairs, tripping and falling to the ground. After getting up, he continued running upstairs.

"Shuyun!"

The young man cried out in grief, quickly taking the unconscious woman from the brothel woman's arms. Large tears streamed down his face.

"It's alright, she just fainted."

The courtesan comforted him upon seeing this.

"Xiaoru tried to hang herself, but I found her in time and saved her. She will wake up soon."

Upon hearing this, the young man hurriedly looked at the unconscious woman's neck and found a ligature mark there. He immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

"thanks, thanks!"

The young man quickly thanked the courtesan.

"It's okay, Xiaoru and I are good friends, it's only right that I save her."

The courtesan smiled, her gaze lingering on the young man's anxious expression towards the woman in his arms.

There was once a young man who was willing to risk everything for her.

"Is she the one you're looking for?"

A voice came from behind. Jiang Ning had already arrived on the second floor and asked the young man and the woman in his arms.

The young man looked up at him, nodded vigorously, and said, "She is Shuyun, my childhood sweetheart, and also my fiancée."

Jiang Ning didn't say anything after hearing this, but looked at the courtesan and asked, "He said that Shuyun was forced into prostitution by Wan Deming, and that her mother was tricked into signing a contract of servitude. Is that true?"

The courtesan nodded.

“It’s all true. It’s not just Xiaoru; most of us sisters were deceived in the same way.”

As she said this, the courtesan nodded, her eyes reddening as she spoke of their shared plight.

“Xiaoru was only tricked into coming here in the last few months. Many of our sisters were caught here before and forced to work as prostitutes. If they didn’t obey, they would be beaten and verbally abused. Many of our sisters couldn’t bear the pain and committed suicide.”

As she spoke, the courtesan lifted her right arm, revealing a large scar.

“They used torture to force us to submit, branding us with red-hot irons. The sisters who were forced to endure it contracted venereal diseases from prolonged prostitution. If they couldn’t be cured, they would be thrown into coffins and starved to death.”

At this moment, some of the courtesans in the brothel also cautiously approached. After hearing what the courtesan said, they all lifted up their clothes. Some of them had whip marks, and some had brand marks. Each one was more shocking than the last.

"These damned beasts! They are utterly depraved!!"

Seeing the plight of these courtesans, even an honest man like Liang Fa couldn't help but tremble with anger. Du Lanyin and Qiaojun, who were already blushing because this was a brothel, looked extremely ugly.

Where is Wan Deming?

Jiang Ning asked.

"I saw him take Xiaoyu into the innermost room on the third floor."

A prostitute standing nearby pointed towards the third floor and said.

Jiang Ning turned to Liang Fa and said calmly, "Senior Brother Liang, may I borrow your sword?"

He didn't bring his sword with him; it was still at the inn.

Upon hearing his words, Liang Fa, Du Lanyin, and the others couldn't help but look at him.

Jiang Ning's expression was calm, but his eyes held a chilling emotion.

That was rage, rage that would burn away all evil.

Before Liang Fa could speak, Jiang Ning reached out and grabbed his sword hilt, then pulled it out and headed towards the third floor. The sound of the sword rubbing against the scabbard was exceptionally clear.

Jiang Ning walked towards the innermost room on the third floor, and kicked the door open. The sound of the door breaking was very clear, waking up the person who was sleeping inside.

"who are you?"

Two naked people were lying on the bed. One was a burly man with a full beard, around forty or fifty years old, and the other was a woman.

"Your name is Wan Deming?"

Jiang Ning came to the bedside, pointed his sword at him, and said.

"That's right, I am Wan Deming. Who are you?"

Wan Deming looked at Jiang Ning with a mixture of shock and anger, while the courtesan next to him hid at the foot of the bed, trembling with fear.

"You forced respectable women into prostitution, beat and verbally abused them, and then threw them into coffins to starve to death after they contracted diseases. Is that true?"

Jiang Ning asked.

Wan Deming sensed something was amiss and quickly retorted, "How could that be? They did it voluntarily. I didn't force them. They came to my Yihua Brothel to sell themselves because they couldn't survive. I have their indentures. How could it be coercion!"

"Even if this matter goes to the authorities, I'm still in the right!"

As they were talking, Wan Deming tried to get up, but Jiang Ning held a sword to his neck, so he had no choice but to sit on the bed and not dare to move.

Jiang Ning glanced at him, then looked at the courtesan beside him and asked, "Were you forced, or did you do it voluntarily?"

"me……"

The courtesan was so frightened by the scene that her voice trembled. She looked at Jiang Ning, who remained calm, and then at Wan Deming, who was being pointed at with a sword. Her expression was one of extreme fear.

Jiang Ning just looked at her, waiting for her answer.

The courtesan seemed lost in thought, but finally burst into tears, saying in a choked voice, "I was forced."

“Master Wan… no, Wan Deming… he beat my parents to death, threatened me with my younger siblings, and forced me to sign a contract of servitude. He said if I didn’t agree to take customers, he would let us all starve to death. I had no choice, I had no choice, I could only agree to him, I could only agree to him…”

"My parents still don't have the money to buy coffins for burial, and their bodies are left to rot in the wilderness outside the city... I'm so sorry to them, I'm so sorry to them... Waaah..."

The prostitute broke down in tears.

Chapter 47: I'm Ready

"Bitch!"

Wan Deming was furious and wanted to slap him, but when he saw Jiang Ning's cold and fierce eyes, his hand froze on the spot.

"Where are their indentures?"

Wan Deming remained silent, his face extremely grim.

Jiang Ning raised his sword and pressed it slightly against Wan Deming's throat. A sharp pain shot through him, and Wan Deming screamed in fright.

"In my clothes, right inside my clothes!"

He pointed to his clothes on the ground as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, the courtesan beside him excitedly climbed off the bed and rummaged through his clothes. Before long, she pulled out a thick stack of papers.

"It's really here!"

A surprised cry rang out from the courtesan.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ning looked at Wan Deming and asked, "Are all the indentures of the women at Yihua Tower here?"

"Yes, they're all here."

Wan Deming nodded hastily.

Jiang Ning turned to the brothel woman and said, "Take out the indentures and return them to the women he forced."

"thanks, thanks."

The courtesan laughed and cried at the same time, tears streaming down her face. Then she picked up her clothes from the ground and ran out.

"Young hero, please let me go. I have already returned the indenture to them. Please spare my life."

Wan Deming begged Jiang Ning for mercy.

Jiang Ning didn't speak, just stared at him, her gaze growing colder and colder.

Feeling increasingly uneasy, Wan Deming screamed in terror.