I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#374 - power!

Chapter 371: Power!

Zhang Chen and Xu Erniu walked back carrying large and small packages. These leftovers were enough for the two of them to have a good two days.

But the two were just little kids. Not long after they walked out of the Jiang family's gate, they saw seven or eight beggars looking over from afar.

"Oh no!" Xu Erniu whispered in Zhang Chen's ear, her voice a little panicked.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Chen asked.

"That's the local beggar boss. He often snatches food from me! He must have his eyes on our cakes!"

Before she finished speaking, the two of them were already surrounded by seven or eight beggars.

"Little kids, hand over everything you have."

The leading beggar's hair was disheveled, and he exuded a foul stench.

Xu Erniu's face changed drastically when she heard this, her eyes filled with horror: "So it's Boss Wang. Since you want this food, consider it a tribute from us."

Xu Erniu was about to back down and offer the food she was carrying, but Zhang Chen, who was standing beside her, wasn't happy. He was a dignified cultivator, how could he be bullied by a few mortals?

Even if his supernatural powers were suppressed by the innate Yin-Yang energy, he still had the Golden Scissors, right?

"Erniu, if you give them the food, what will I eat?" Zhang Chen grabbed Xu Erniu's shoulder.

"Do you want to die?" Xu Erniu was terrified when she heard Zhang Chen's words. She desperately winked at Zhang Chen, but Zhang Chen ignored Xu Erniu and stared coldly at the beggar leader opposite him:

"You want the food in my hands?"

"Yo ho, we've really met someone interesting today. Little kid, you look unfamiliar. You don't seem to know the rules around here."

The beggar boss was tall and strong, with muscles all over his body. He sized up Zhang Chen, a ferocious smile on his dirty face.

"Boss, this kid is stubborn. He's been sick recently and his brain is fried. Please don't bother with him. This food is all for you!" Xu Erniu's voice was full of fear, her body trembling constantly as she tried to hand over the food and wine.

"Heh heh, I think his brain is very clear. Today, I'm going to chop off one of his arms to let him know the rules of the Yangzhou Beggar Gang."

The beggar boss stared at Zhang Chen coldly.

Zhang Chen shook his head when he saw this: "I don't know your rules, and I don't want to know your rules. Now, I'm going to let you know my rules."

As he spoke, Zhang Chen grabbed Xu Erniu's shoulder, and before she could react, he reached out and covered her eyes. The next moment, the Golden Scissors in his spiritual world vibrated slightly, and a wisp of energy rose up, turning into a black and white stream of energy as thin as a needle and thread. It drilled out of Zhang Chen's sleeve, and then there was a series of shrill screams.

The little fingers of all the beggars' left hands fell to the ground at this moment.

The aura of the Golden Scissors belonged to the mysterious realm, and its speed was so fast and secretive that it was impossible for the few people in front of them to detect it. They only felt a pain in their palms, and then their fingers fell off and blood spurted out.

At this time, the beggars looked at the fingers falling on the ground, looking at Zhang Chen with horror in their eyes. How could they not know that they had met a tough opponent? Without saying a word, they turned around and were about to run, but the next moment, Zhang Chen's cold voice sounded: "Anyone who dares to run will die!"

The beggars stood in place with bitter faces, not daring to move their feet, their eyes looking at Zhang Chen pitifully, wincing in pain and constantly wailing.

"Dare to howl again, die!" Zhang Chen said coldly.

The beggars immediately shut their mouths when they heard this, no longer daring to make any sound.

At this time, the beggar boss knelt directly on the ground begging for mercy: "We were blind and actually offended someone like you. We admit our mistakes and accept any punishment."

Zhang Chen looked at the beggars: "Hand over the money you have on you."

The beggars looked at each other, then looked at Zhang Chen, their eyes full of strangeness, feeling that Zhang Chen was not quite normal. Even if you want to rob someone, you should rob those wealthy households, right? Are you robbing us beggars because there's something wrong with your brain?

If we had money, would we still need to be beggars?

Then they saw a few people hesitantly take out copper coins from their bodies and carefully hand them to Zhang Chen, which made Zhang Chen stunned: "Is this all you have?"

The copper coins seemed to be less than five hundred.

"Are you trying to fool a ghost? Or are you not afraid of death?" Zhang Chen's eyes became even colder, his gaze like a knife scraping across their bodies.

Did they really think Zhang Chen was a naive newbie? Did they think he didn't know the ways of the world?

Xu Erniu called him beggar boss before, so it must be the Beggar Gang. In the novels of his previous life, the Beggar Gang was known for scams, protection fees, child abduction, and trafficking of women, earning a lot of money every day.

Less than five hundred copper coins, did they really think he was a beggar?

The beggar boss was about to cry, kneeling on the ground and begging bitterly: "Sir, if we had money, would we still need to beg? Would we still need to snatch the leftovers in your hand?"

They were just a dozen beggars begging together, that's all?

"You're the beggar boss, how can you be so poor? Is there anyone behind you?" Zhang Chen asked coldly, wanting to see if there was any money in the Beggar Gang opposite him, trying to see if he could rob them for initial capital.

He wasn't afraid of offending people. No matter how weak his Golden Scissors were, he could still easily kill existences below the Yin God realm.

The beggar boss was about to cry: "My ancestor, we're just a group of beggars begging for food, how can we have any power? If we had power, we would have gone to the Jiang family's courtyard to eat, why would we need to beg outside the door."

Zhang Chen felt disappointed when he heard this, feeling that he had overestimated these guys, so he changed his thinking: "Is there any Beggar Gang in Yangzhou that rules all the beggars in Yangzhou?"

"Ancestor, if beggars had that kind of strength, would they still be beggars? They would all be Jianghu organizations. How could people who have fallen to begging in Jianghu have the ability to organize into a force?" The beggar boss wailed, suspecting that there was something wrong with Zhang Chen's brain. There were talents in the beggar world who could organize everyone?

What wouldn't that kind of talent do? Why would they need to beg?

Zhang Chen knew that he had been misled by the novels of his previous life. Looking at the beggars bleeding non-stop, he snorted coldly and said: "Don't let me see you again in the future." After saying that, he picked up the copper coins and stuffed them into his arms, then covered Xu Erniu's eyes and left directly.

As for taking these beggars into his fold? Zhang Chen had no interest. Those beggars had their fingers cut off by him. Spending money on medical treatment would be a big expense. How could Zhang Chen cause trouble for himself? If he took in a few people, wouldn't he have to spend money on medical treatment for them?

Looking at Zhang Chen's leaving figure, the beggar boss was thoughtful: "Organize all the beggars together, everyone hugging each other…"

Zhang Chen and Xu Erniu walked dozens of meters before letting go of Xu Erniu's eyes. At this time, Xu Erniu looked at Zhang Chen, her big eyes full of curiosity.

"What are you looking at? Don't you recognize me anymore?" Zhang Chen asked with a smile.

"What means did you use to make them so obedient?" Xu Erniu rolled her eyes, her eyes full of curiosity.

Zhang Chen didn't answer, but pulled out a handful of copper coins from his pocket, teasing with a smile, "Hey, little one, want some money?"

Xu Erniu's eyes lit up immediately: "Yes!"

Then she held out her dry, thin hands, looking at Zhang Chen with anticipation.

Zhang Chen gave all the copper coins to Xu Erniu, who carefully wrapped them up and hid them in her bosom. She looked around the empty wilderness warily, then grabbed Zhang Chen's hand and said like a thief, "Let's go back quickly."

Zhang Chen smiled and followed Xu Erniu back to the dilapidated temple, where he saw her sitting and counting the copper coins with a silly grin, her eyes seeming to turn into the shape of coins.

"Zhang Chen, there are a full five hundred and ten coins! Did you dig them out from the coffins of those beggars?" Xu Erniu giggled foolishly.

Looking at Xu Erniu's greedy little face, Zhang Chen couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. The child was truly pitiful; five hundred copper coins could make her so happy.

"Five hundred copper coins, enough for us to travel a good part of the way to Mount Qingcheng. But if it were just me, five hundred copper coins would barely be enough. But counting you..." Xu Erniu put down the coins and counted on her fingers for a long time before saying, "We'll need at least fifteen hundred copper coins, which is at least fifteen hundred sesame cakes. If we eat one and a half each day, that should be enough."

Zhang Chen was speechless. Even in his most difficult times, he had never worried about fifteen hundred copper coins.

He, Zhang Chen, had never lacked money!

Seeing that Zhang Chen didn't respond, Xu Erniu turned to look at him, a hint of worry suddenly appearing in her big, dark eyes. She cautiously probed, "Zhang Chen, are you going to give me the copper coins and then not want to accompany me to Mount Qingcheng?"

Her voice trembled slightly. The journey to Mount Qingcheng was thousands of miles long, with countless treacherous mountains and rivers in between. She was afraid just thinking about it; a single misstep could cost her her life on the road.

Zhang Chen, being the person he was, immediately noticed Xu Erniu's worry. He smiled and reached out to stroke Xu Erniu's head, "Don't worry, I will stay with you and safely send you to Mount Qingcheng."

Hearing this, Xu Erniu immediately smiled, "Zhang Chen, I knew I didn't misjudge you. Don't worry, when we get to Mount Qingcheng, I'll make you a god."

She was drawing big empty circles at such a young age, even more so than Xiao Douding.

"But five hundred copper coins are clearly not enough. We still need to save money next." Xu Erniu began to plan her money-saving strategy: "We can go to the mountains to dig up some flowers and sell them in the city, or we can weave some flower baskets to sell to those young ladies..."

Then Xu Erniu started sitting there again, counting the money and rambling on, but no matter how she counted, it was never enough.

The night passed, and the next morning, Xu Erniu began to drag Zhang Chen up the mountain to pick fresh flowers and sell them in Yangzhou City.

Yangzhou City was very large and prosperous. Everywhere they looked, there were people dressed in silk and satin. The two of them were mixed in the rolling crowd, as small as two tiny ants.

Xu Erniu led Zhang Chen to a large restaurant. The two of them sat on the roadside opposite the restaurant and displayed their flowers, explaining with Xu Erniu's wisdom: "Only guests who can afford to spend money in the restaurant can afford to buy flowers."

Looking at the restaurant, which was more than ten stories high, fragrant smells wafted out from inside. Xu Erniu leaned against Zhang Chen's body, looking at the restaurant with longing, "It smells so good! What dishes do you think they have in that restaurant? Do those rich people eat only pork knuckles? I remember that the best thing to eat at the Jiang family's house was pork knuckles. Once, when I passed by, Master Jiang gave me a bite. I haven't forgotten that taste even now. When I become a god in the future, I'll have pork knuckles three times a day!"

Saying this, she turned to look at the silent Zhang Chen and asked, "You probably don't know the taste of pork knuckles, right? Don't worry, when we go to Mount Qingcheng and see my father, I will definitely treat you to pork knuckles. We'll eat it every day, three times a day!"

Zhang Chen looked at Xu Erniu's hopeful face, his eyes filled with complex emotions. In this girl's mind, the most delicious thing was probably pork knuckles, right?

Just thinking about the masters in the restaurant having a table of more than a dozen dishes, all of which were pork knuckles, Zhang Chen wanted to laugh again, but his smile was a bit bitter.

Zhang Chen shifted his attention, watching Xu Erniu selling flowers. Zhang Chen probably knew how this girl had saved more than two hundred copper coins.

The flowers the two of them picked were all wildflowers from the mountains, and they were sold very cheaply. They could only sell two copper coins after working hard all morning, and they often couldn't sell them at all, watching the flowers wither.

Today, the fresh flowers didn't sell. Then, Xu Erniu looked at the wilted flowers and turned to lead Zhang Chen to pick up discarded vegetable leaves. Zhang Chen just couldn't understand why Xu Erniu didn't take him to beg.

The two of them went back at night and gnawed on a meal of vegetable leaves, then fell asleep to the buzzing of mosquitoes.

The second day

Picking flowers

Didn't sell

Picking up rotten vegetable leaves.

The third day

Picking flowers

Sold for two copper coins

Picking up rotten vegetable leaves

The fourth day

Picking flowers

Didn't sell

Picking up rotten vegetable leaves

A stall owner saw that the two of them were pitiful and gave Xu Erniu a sesame cake. Then Xu Erniu looked at the sesame cake longingly, swallowing her saliva constantly, before finally reluctantly moving her eyes away from the sesame cake and handing it to Zhang Chen with forced happiness: "You are sick now, you need to eat more good things to nourish yourself."

Zhang Chen looked at the sesame cake that Xu Erniu handed over, feeling somewhat speechless for a moment. Finally, he broke the sesame cake in half and handed half to Xu Erniu: "Let's eat together."

"No, you are recovering from a serious illness and need to replenish your energy. You eat! I have vegetable leaves!" Xu Erniu swallowed her saliva and stubbornly refused:

"Zhang Chen, you need to nourish yourself now. What if your body can't take it and you get sick? Who will accompany me to Mount Qingcheng then?"

Zhang Chen touched Xu Erniu's head, looked at her skinny arms without any meat, and still stuffed half of the sesame cake over: "Our fates are one now. If you don't eat, how can I eat alone?"

Xu Erniu's eyes lit up immediately after hearing Zhang Chen's words 'Our fates are one': "Our fates are one? That's right, we are both people who are going to Mount Qingcheng to become gods."

After saying this, Xu Erniu took the sesame cake and stuffed it directly into her mouth, patting her chest with a smile: "Zhang Chen, we will be one from now on. We must share good things. From now on, what's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours. We are inseparable!"

Zhang Chen looked at the half-eaten cake in his hand, considered the little girl's point of view, and nodded solemnly: "From now on, what's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."

PS: Today is a transitional chapter, and tomorrow we will start planning for Mount Qingcheng.