C17 The Devilish Brat

"Young Master, why?" Zhao Qi couldn't hide his dissatisfaction as he watched Zhang Chao leave, brimming with excitement.

He believed that Zhang Chao was outright stealing Chen Xiaozhi's credit.

"First things first, I need to secure my position in the gang. If anyone digs into my background and discovers I killed Shi Wei on my very first day, it'll raise eyebrows. Standing out too much can be a bad thing. But now that I've taken care of Shi Wei, Zhang Chao knows what I'm capable of. He won't dare push me around. Otherwise..." Chen Xiaozhi's lips curled into a smile, a hint of coldness flickering in his eyes.

"Starting today, Killing Bull Lane is mine. You're well-connected in the southern part of the city. Round up some tough guys willing to take a stand. Tell them if they join me, Chen Xiaozhi, they're guaranteed a steady income every month."

"Rest assured, Young Master. I've got this," Zhao Qi said, thumping his chest confidently.

You see, for these young bloods just cutting their teeth in the underworld, making money meant risking it all to climb the ranks. Only then could they hope to secure a steady income. The average gang member didn't have a fixed salary; they had no other skills to fall back on, so they resorted to a dangerous, bloodstained life.

...

On his return, Chen Xiaozhi stopped by a private school not far from his home, arranged by Zhao Qi. The teacher there was a man past sixty, a retired scholar rumored to have once held a civil post in the imperial court. His career hadn't gone well, and he'd stepped down. The school was modest, but its garden was lush and vibrant, a haven for the mostly young students.

Upon Chen Xiaozhi's arrival, he saw a swarm of kids spilling out the front gate, backpacks in tow.

"What's the matter? You look upset," Chen Xiaozhi said, approaching his sister who was dragging her feet and pouting. It was her first day at school.

"Brother, I don't want to study. I want to learn martial arts with you!" Xiaocao looked up at him, her face clouded with frustration. She hadn't absorbed a single word from the teacher all day.

"Even if you want to learn martial arts, you've got to learn to read first," Chen Xiaozhi chided gently, pinching her cheeks playfully.

"Chen Xiaocao! Hold it right there!" Just as Chen Xiaozhi was about to leave with his sister, a group of kids covered in mud charged over. The ringleader, hands on hips, bellowed with confidence.

"Tian Yihuan, what's your problem?" Xiaocao snapped back.

"I'll have you know, here at White Deer Private School, I'm the top dog! If I say go east, you don't go west, got it?!" The little tyrant puffed out his chest, barking orders.

Meanwhile, several attendants dressed like servants edged closer, addressing the boy with deference.

"Tian Yihuan, as long as I, Chen Xiaocao, am here, you can forget about pushing anyone around!" Xiaocao retorted, seething with anger.

Chen Xiaozhi's eyes scanned the scene, quickly grasping the tension between the two kids.

"He was picking on classmates during the lesson. I couldn't stand by, so I stepped in, and he hit me," Xiaocao recounted truthfully when Chen Xiaozhi inquired softly. Initially unfazed, Chen Xiaozhi's expression darkened like a storm cloud upon hearing his sister had been struck. He immediately crouched down to check for injuries. Thankfully, Xiaocao seemed fine, save for a shoe print marking her backside.

"I've had enough of your insolence. Today, you'll learn your lesson!" Chen Xiaocao remained defiant, prompting the young troublemaker to command his servants with a wave of his hand, barking orders, "Grab her, now!" Chen Xiaozhi, on the other hand, was completely disregarded. It was clear this kid had been throwing his weight around for quite some time, oozing the arrogance of a pampered young master despite his tender years.

Smack!

The servants smirked and rolled up their sleeves, ready for action. But before they could advance, a black blur swept past them. A scream pierced the air, and when they spun around, they saw their young master, previously standing, now flying through the air from a kick, landing face-first on the ground, losing a tooth in the process.

Chen Xiaozhi pulled back his right leg, having moderated the force of his kick since the victim was just a child.

"My tooth, my tooth!" The young rascal cried out, his mouth streaked with blood, his face twisted in pain and fear, "Beat him up! Or I'll tell my dad to have you all butchered!" The adults shivered at the threat, lunging at Chen Xiaozhi with desperate ferocity, intent on ripping him to shreds.

Yet, they were no match for Chen Xiaozhi. With deft movements, he dispatched them with ease, leaving them sprawled on the ground, unable to rise.

The sight filled the bratty kid with terror, especially as Chen Xiaozhi approached with a stern expression.

"What are you going to do? You dare hit me? You're a dead man! My dad's a bigwig in the Green Bamboo Gang, he'll..." The would-be bully tried to intimidate with his father's name, but the menacing figure before him simply slapped him hard across the face, plunging his world into darkness and pain.

"Please... don't hit me!" The child's bravado crumbled in the face of true fear.

"Brother, hit him!"

Chen Xiaocao cheered from the side, her smile bright with vindication.

"You think I can't handle a brat like you?!" Chen Xiaozhi's eyes narrowed as he hoisted the kid up, yanked down his pants, and delivered a series of stinging slaps to his behind. The air filled with pitiful wails, frightening the other children who had seen it all into tears.

"Will you ever learn? Bullying at your age?!" Chen Xiaozhi lectured as he doled out the punishment.

Finally, when the kid's backside was swollen and tender, Chen Xiaozhi let him go, squatting down to his level with a chilling threat, "If I ever hear you've bullied my sister again, I'll cut off your 'little chicken'!" It was a deliberate scare tactic.

And it worked. The boy's face drained of color, a lasting fear imprinted on his heart by Chen Xiaozhi.

"Come on," Chen Xiaozhi said, taking his sister by the hand and walking away.

"So it's him, he's in Crowfield..." Chen Xiaozhi was oblivious to the bearded elder who had been observing from the entrance of the private school. The old man had watched the entire ordeal without intervening. Only after the Chen siblings had departed did he exhale deeply and sigh.

"Young Master, what's wrong?" A group of toughs armed with knives and clubs hurried over after the time it took an incense stick to burn. They found their Hall Master's only son prostrate on the ground, sobbing heartbreakingly. A shiver ran through them all; they knew how dearly the Hall Master treasured his son.

In the private school, the old teacher was applying Golden Sore Medicine to the young master.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept through, knocking several people in the crowd to the ground amidst screams of pain. A fleeting shadow zipped by and came to a halt in front of the elder, revealing a middle-aged man with short hair. With his hawkish nose and beady eyes, his face alone suggested he was no friend. Now, with his furious expression, he looked even more menacing.

His short, gray hair stood on end like steel bristles.

"Who?! Who dares harm my son?!"

The middle-aged man's icy gaze fixed on the old teacher.

The teacher rose to his feet, his demeanor unruffled, showing no fear of the man's daunting presence. "The child's upbringing is flawed; today, he's merely suffered minor injuries. It's trivial," he said calmly.

"My son, who dares discipline him? Don't delude yourself into thinking I wouldn't dare dismantle this decrepit place," Tian Wuya spat through clenched teeth.

"I'm not acquainted with the person you're looking for. As the Hall Master of the Green Bamboo Gang's Battle Hall, I trust you'll find out. But let me warn you, if you so much as harm a hair on any student from my White Deer Private Academy, I'll make sure you regret it," the old man stated with a serene authority.

This was, after all, just a squabble between two children that had escalated. He knew Tian Wuya's temperament well and suspected he might target Chen Xiaocao, who had just enrolled that day. The teacher's words served as a caution.

"Dad, it was Chen Xiaocao's brother who hit me!" Tian Yihuan, emboldened by his father's arrival, reverted to his brash ways and shrieked.

After a moment of intense eye contact, Tian Wuya's inner turmoil subsided, and he let out a cold chuckle before scooping up his son and departing with the crowd's support.

"Dad, you must get revenge for me. Look at what he did to me. That vile person even threatened to cut off my... my little chicken!" Tian Yihuan fumed, seeing his father's pained, indulgent look.

The crowd gasped in shock.

Who in their right mind would dare threaten to mutilate the only son of Tian Wuya, the Hall Master of the Green Bamboo Gang?

"Rest assured, son. I'll flay him alive and use his head for your soccer ball," Tian Wuya growled, veins throbbing at his temples.

"Come here!"

At Tian Wuya's thunderous command, a henchman, trembling with fear, quickly stepped forward.

"This is the turf of Tiger Zheng's godson, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Send him a message. Find out who Chen Xiaocao's brother is and bring him to me," ordered Tian Wuya icily.

"Right away, sir!" The man nodded and dashed off.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiaozhi was oblivious to the turmoil outside and unaware that he had inadvertently stirred up trouble. After his evening meal, he resumed his practice, consuming large tonifying pills and wind meridian powder.

Boom!

With a surge of power, Chen Xiaozhi's fist cut through the air as he extended his arm, unleashing a massive force that rippled with several currents of Hidden Strength, each wave seamlessly flowing into the next. He soared into the air and slammed his fist into the courtyard wall of his family's estate. The impact resounded with a loud crash, leaving a basin-sized crater in the stone barrier.

"The Wind Meridian Powder truly is remarkable. In just a few days, I've managed to master this boxing technique to the point of Large Success! If word got out, it would surely drop jaws—literally," Chen Xiaozhi said, his face alight with exhilaration. He shrugged his shoulders, setting off a symphony of pops and cracks from his bones. "The effects of the Large Tonifying Pill are nothing short of miraculous. Even though I've entered the realm of Copper Skin and Iron Bones, breaking through several acupoints has allowed me to push my physical strength beyond its previous limits and undergo further transformation. The anticipation is killing me... Once all four hundred of my acupoints are fully open, the sheer power of my body will be beyond imagination!" His eyes blazed as he gazed at his hands, contemplating the untapped potential within.