He flung the door open with a bang.
Then Fang Yuan, covered in wounds and blood, appeared before the steward’s eyes.
The steward was startled by the sight and forgot his anger. “You—what happened to you? Did a beast horde attack at night?”
“No, Steward. It was those thugs. They beat me up and stole all my yuan stones! Steward, you gotta stand up for me!” Fang Yuan wiped a mix of blood and tears and shouted.
“Uggh… that hurts!”
“Is that lunatic gone?”
“Damn it, that guy’s really strong!”
The tent was a mess. The aroma of meat soup still lingered, but it was too late—the pot was broken.
The group came to their senses. Some were bruised, others wincing in pain.
“Son of a bitch, a newbie dares to hit us? Outrageous!”
“We haven’t even caused him trouble, and he picks a fight with us.”
“I can’t swallow this. We can’t let it go—we gotta get our revenge!”
“How? Can you beat him?”
“Why fight? Let’s snitch on him. Let the steward deal with him. He just joined and he’s already so violent—how will we work with him?”
“Oh yeah, he just smashed those two yuan stones. Hand them over to me. They’re evidence!” Qiangge spoke up.
The tent went silent. Everyone knew that was just Qiangge’s excuse.
The servants who hadn’t gotten any yuan stones watched with schadenfreude. They looked at Skinny Monkey and the other gu master.
The two of them hemmed and hawed, not saying anything. They clearly didn’t want to hand them over.
Qiangge had some brains. “We’re all injured. These two stones aren’t just evidence—they’re our medical expenses.”
When they heard that, it seemed like he had some sharing in mind, so those who hadn’t gotten stones started talking.
“Qiangge is right!”
“Monkey, give the stones to Qiangge. Or do you want to be the leader?”
“Qiangge has connections. Only he can avenge us!”
“Qiangge, we trust you…”
Under pressure from the crowd, Skinny Monkey and the other gu master pursed their lips. They reluctantly took out the stones and handed them to Qiangge.
Qiangge took them, feeling the smooth stones, and immediately felt that his nose didn’t hurt as much.
But at that moment, the tent flap was yanked open.
Everyone flinched, thinking it was Fang Yuan again. But when they looked closely, it was the steward.
“Steward! What are you doing here?”
“Steward, we were just about to look for you!”
They were both surprised and overjoyed.
But the steward’s expression was awful. Especially when he saw the two yuan stones in Qiangge’s hand, his eyes turned even darker.
He walked up to Qiangge, snatched the stones, and then *smack smack smack*, gave him a few slaps in the face.
Qiangge was stunned.
The others were stunned too.
After a few breaths, they all snapped out of it.
“Steward, who made you mad?”
“Steward, what is this?”
The old man turned and left, pushing aside the tent flap. “Qiangzi, Skinny Monkey—all you lousy bastards, get the hell out!”
With that, he strode out of the tent.
Qiangge held his cheek, but didn’t dare defy the steward. He suppressed his anger and confusion and followed.
The others came out one after another and saw Fang Yuan standing to the side, completely battered and covered in blood.
“Steward, it was them who stole my yuan stones!” Fang Yuan pointed at them and shouted indignantly.
“Shit!” The servants finally caught on.
“You even dare to play the victim!”
“Fuck, I’ll kill you!!”
They all erupted in rage, shouting.
Slap!
A sharp slap shocked everyone into silence.
The servant who had been shouting the loudest held his face and took a step back.
The steward looked at him darkly. “Why can’t he complain to me, huh, hah? You’re really out of control, daring to rob people’s yuan stones!”
The steward knew newbies would be bullied, but he liked it.
It was a necessary process. On one hand, it crushed a newbie’s pride, making them easier to manage. On the other hand, it helped integrate the new with the old.
But the bullying couldn’t go too far. Robbing their yuan stones outright—how was that any different from being bandits?
“Steward, it’s not like that…” someone tried to defend themselves.
Slap!
Another crisp slap.