Translator: Cinder Translations
Qian Guo (Qian Country).
Yancheng (Salt City).
Song Wen held up two dead steamed buns he had dug out from a slop bucket, overjoyed.
Perhaps because the buns were too dense or because there wasn't much soup in the slop bucket, the buns hadn't soaked through, remaining relatively clean without too many stains.
He scraped off the two pieces of vegetable leaves stuck to the buns, completely ignoring the foul smell emanating from the slop bucket beside him, and stuffed the buns into his mouth in big bites.
The cold and dry buns, without any water to accompany them, were extremely difficult to swallow. But Song Wen couldn't care less; after a few mouthfuls, he managed to shove one bun down his throat.
With the dry bun sticking in his throat, making it hard to swallow, he almost choked.
Finally managing to swallow the bun, he felt a slight relief in his empty stomach, but he still felt far from full.
He had crossed into this world two days ago, and this was the first meal he had eaten.
As he regained his senses, he saw a ten-year-old beggar boy appearing before him. The beggar boy was staring pitifully at the remaining bun in Song Wen's hand, his eyes filled with longing and hope.
Song Wen looked at the frail beggar boy in front of him and then at the bun in his hand.
After a brief moment of hesitation and conflict, he brought the bun to his own mouth without intending to give it to the beggar boy.
Having crossed into this world resembling ancient times, he found that the skills and knowledge he had from modern society were useless here, and even surviving had become exceedingly difficult. He had no intention of pitying strangers he didn't know.
Just as the bun was about to enter Song Wen's mouth, the beggar boy's face suddenly turned fierce.
The beggar boy suddenly ran a few steps forward, then leaped suddenly, jumping about two meters high, and grabbed directly for the bun in Song Wen's hand.
At the same time, the beggar boy opened his dirty mouth, showing his yellow teeth, and bit down on Song Wen's forearm.
Surprised by the beggar boy's sudden attack, Song Wen initially showed a trace of panic in his eyes, but then he became furious.
He had been living well in modern society, not exactly successful, but without worries about food and drink. Now, suddenly transmigrated to this world with almost no survival skills, he was already frustrated, and now even a half-sized beggar dared to bully him!
His anger finally found an outlet,
Song Wen's expression turned fierce.
Swinging his arm, Song Wen struck toward the beggar boy.
When Song Wen crossed into this world, his originally thirty-year-old body appeared as a fourteen or fifteen-year-old, not particularly tall but still stronger and more robust than the beggar boy who had been lacking food for a long time.
Song Wen's forearm struck directly on the beggar boy's face, causing him to immediately bleed from his nose.
But Song Wen clearly underestimated the beggar boy's fierceness. Instead of being knocked back by Song Wen's forearm, the beggar boy seized Song Wen's arm and bit down on it.
During this entire confrontation, the beggar boy's fierce expression did not change at all; his eyes remained fixed on the bun in Song Wen's hand.
Feeling pain, Song Wen's face became even more fierce.
"You little beast, how dare you bite me, I'll kill you."
Song Wen lifted his knee, exerting all his strength, and fiercely pushed it against the beggar boy's chest.
The beggar boy suffered a heavy blow, his body went limp, unable to hold onto Song Wen's forearm anymore, and he flew backward, crashing onto the dirty ground half a zhang away.
TL Note: 1 Zhang is equivalent to 3.333meters or 10.9ft
With his anger still raging, Song Wen had no intention of letting the beggar boy go. He walked up and kicked the beggar boy's chest with two feet, sending him flying once again, causing him to cough up blood, clearly suffering internal injuries, before finally stopping.
Just as Song Wen was about to turn and leave, he suddenly noticed that the beggar boy was glaring at him with resentment.
The beggar boy's gaze sent chills down his spine, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.
Having just arrived and lacking any real power or background, it would be wise not to offend anyone, even a beggar at the lowest rung of society.
Who knows if this beggar boy has any local underworld protection behind him?
Staring at each other for a long time, Song Wen's thoughts of permanently eliminating future troubles flashed through his mind,
They were in a narrow and dark alley where few people usually came. Now that there were only the two of them here, Song Wen believed that if he made up his mind to ruthlessly kill the beggar boy, no one would notice for a while.
In this lawless and bleak parallel world's Yancheng, countless common people die unjustly every day. The authorities simply ignore it, unable or unwilling to intervene.
From the corner of his eye, Song Wen noticed a large cobblestone in the alley, smooth on the surface and hard in texture, likely harder than the beggar boy's head.
The hardships of the past two days surged up within him in that moment. A towering resentment erupted in his heart, clouding Song Wen's judgment and shattering the ethical standards of the modern society he had known for over thirty years. Song Wen's face turned grim and terrifying.
Having witnessed much pillaging and plundering in the past two days, Song Wen at this moment seemed to awaken the demon hidden deep within his heart.
While others behaved recklessly, this was a world where the strong preyed upon the weak, so why should he adhere to the moral and ethical standards of his former life?
Song Wen turned towards the cobblestone. The beggar boy's eyes gradually filled with fear.
Suddenly, two servants from wealthy households appeared at the end of the alley, carrying a slop bucket, and walked in.
Seeing outsiders, Song Wen regained his clouded judgment. The demon within his heart retreated, and his reckless thoughts were restrained.
There were things that couldn't be done, Song Wen was somewhat relieved and somewhat inexplicably pleased. Shaking his head, he turned and left the alley.
Just as Song Wen stepped out of the alley, he saw a large crowd of people rushing towards the street.
These people were shouting, "Hurry up, Tian Sha Gang is recruiting. If you're late, there won't be another chance."
The reputation of Tian Sha Gang had practically entered Song Wen's ears like a broken record in the past two days.
In Yancheng, Tian Sha Gang was undoubtedly the top gang force, with some aspects of their power even surpassing the local authorities.
However, Tian Sha Gang's reputation wasn't clean, having committed many evils.
Song Wen also followed the crowd, rushing towards the street.
Job recruitment meant wages, and wages meant being able to eat proper meals, no longer needing to fight over scraps in the slop bucket with beggars.
He pushed through the dense crowd with all his might, finally seeing a notice posted on the wall at the street corner.
The characters on the notice were similar to traditional characters from his previous life. Although Song Wen hadn't learned traditional characters, he could still understand the general meaning.
The content of the notice was that Tian Sha Gang was recruiting children aged seven to fourteen to learn martial arts and become the backbone of the gang in the future.
It also mentioned that the families of selected children would receive generous rewards, and the children themselves would have a bright future, and so on.
After reading the notice, Song Wen felt somewhat disappointed.
It turned out that Tian Sha Gang was recruiting new gang members; it wasn't just simple job recruitment.
Moreover, Tian Sha Gang only recruited children aged seven to fourteen, which didn't fit Song Wen's current body's age.
Song Wen squeezed through the crowd and wanted to leave.
However, amidst the noisy crowd, a loud shout suddenly rang out.
"Hey, you there, hold on."
Song Wen heard the shout, but he didn't think it was directed at him. He didn't stop his steps and continued pushing through the crowd.
"Hey, kid, I'm talking to you. Are my words no longer valid in Yancheng?"
The voice behind him grew increasingly annoyed.
As a newcomer, Song Wen was cautious and afraid of offending anyone. He stopped, turned back, and looked behind to confirm if the person was addressing him.
Turning his head, he saw a man with a bushy beard, dressed like a rogue. He had a menacing look in his eyes, and behind him stood two burly men, all wearing Tian Sha Gang attire.
Song Wen immediately furrowed his brows. He didn't understand where he had offended this "sir."
Originally just an ordinary salesperson at Blue Star, Song Wen's multiple sales experiences hadn't made him rich and wealthy. However, they had taught him to adapt his speech to the listener and to recognize people's underlying intentions.
A servile smile immediately appeared on his face. He took a couple of quick steps forward, bowing low, and approached the "sir."
Smiling obsequiously, he said, "Sir, you called for me. What can I do for you?"
Although Song Wen wasn't pleased with his actions, he knew deep down that in this lawless world, if he wanted to survive, he had to bow and bend at first.
Offending local bigwigs as soon as he arrived was either challenging a dragon in its lair or seeking a dead end.