The Thief Prince

Li Zheng sneered: "That's strange. As soon as I entered the village, a black thing rushed out from the roadside, smashed my horse to death, and disappeared into the alley in the blink of an eye."

"If it wasn't from your village, did it fall from the sky?"

Upon hearing this, the village head was first taken aback, then suddenly realized what he meant and slapped his thigh repeatedly, exclaiming, "Oh dear! So it was him!"

"Your Majesty misunderstands. That was not a wild beast, but a person!"

Li Zheng raised an eyebrow, quite surprised: "It really is a person? A person can have that much strength?"

The village headman smiled broadly: "Your Majesty, rest assured, this old man will go and bring that damned bastard here immediately, so that Your Majesty can deal with him as you see fit."

Li Zheng wasn't worried that he would run away, so he waved his hand and said, "Go ahead, I'll wait here."

Sure enough, they returned shortly afterward.

Behind him followed a... large creature that could be tentatively called a human.

The man was at least nine feet tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, his whole body was pitch black, and his broad face had features squeezed together, making him look quite repulsive.

His clothes were tattered beyond recognition, revealing large patches of dark flesh. The flesh bulged out, and his whole body trembled as he walked, like a moving mountain of flesh.

Upon seeing this, everyone gasped and began whispering among themselves.

"There is such a tall and imposing person in this world, he is like a mountain spirit who has come out of the mountains."

Li Zheng, however, noticed something different.

The man claimed to be following behind the village head, but it was more like he was huddled behind him. How could a skinny old man possibly block such a large figure? It looked rather comical.

Moreover, the man's eyes were blank and emotionless, like those of an ignorant child.

Li Zheng knew in his heart that this person... was probably mentally challenged.

The village headman walked up to Li Zheng's horse, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, this is the boy who bumped into your horse. Now that the boy has been brought here, he is handed over to Your Majesty for punishment."

Li Zheng didn't rush to punish him, but instead asked, "What happened to him?"

The village head said, "This child was born mentally challenged and has no parents. We don't know when he ended up in our village, and the villagers have been taking care of him."

Li Zheng's expression softened slightly: "Oh? Your village does have some kind hearts."

The village head chuckled: "Don't let his simple-mindedness fool you, he's got a lot of strength. If someone has leftover food or spoiled rice, they'll throw it to him, and he'll fetch water, chop wood, move stones to build walls, he can do any dirty or hard work."

"He usually goes into the mountains to find food on his own and can sleep under any roof, which makes him easy to take care of."

"Since he came to our village, neighboring villages have been more accommodating to us when it comes to water releases, and no petty thieves or bandits have dared to cause trouble."

"Having someone like this is more useful than having a dog."

When he got to the part where he was feeling triumphant, he noticed that Li Zheng's face had darkened.

He quickly slapped himself in the face: "This old man was confused; I didn't say Your Majesty was a bandit..."

Little did they know, Li Zheng wasn't concerned about that at all.

This mentally challenged child reminded him of the village guardians from his past life, and he felt a pang of sadness.

In rural areas, people often call those with intellectual disabilities who grew up relying on the kindness of others "village guardians," as the older generation believes they can protect the village from disasters and difficulties.

Li Zheng didn't know if they could ward off disaster, but this big guy was indeed protecting the villagers from disaster.

Li Zheng suppressed his emotions and said calmly, "I don't care about any of that. If someone from your village killed my horse, you'll either have to pay for it with money or pay with your lives."

Upon hearing this, the village headman quickly pushed the large, simple-minded man forward two steps: "Your Majesty, we are poor people, where would we get the money?"

"Let this child pay with his life!"

The big, clumsy man was being pushed along by the village head, unable to move forward or backward, only shrinking his arms and legs, as if afraid of accidentally hurting him.

Li Zheng observed this and looked around: "Do you all think the same way?"

The surrounding villagers all lowered their heads, and no one spoke.

"I understand." Li Zheng turned to look at the village head. "What's his name?"

The village headman laughed and said, "He has no name or surname; everyone in the village calls him... 'cheap dog.'"

A cold glint flashed in Li Zheng's eyes: "He protected your entire village, did all the dirty and hard work for you, and you give him such a despicable name?"

The village head looked embarrassed and said awkwardly, "It's just that the village children don't know any better and call me that. Over time, everyone started calling me that too."

Li Zheng said no more, dismounted, and walked up to the big, clumsy man.

A foul stench hit me, and my clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in ages, sticking greasy to my body.

When the dog saw him approaching, it took two steps back in fear.

Without waiting for a reply, Li Zheng grabbed the large, dark hand and looked up at him, asking, "Did you understand?"

"You hit my horse, and they won't pay for it, so they'll make you pay with your life."

The big, clumsy man blinked, his eyes seemingly welling up with tears.

Li Zheng gripped his hand and asked again, "Let me ask you, are you willing to come with me?"

The lowly dog ​​looked at him in astonishment.

Li Zheng added, "Come with me, and I'll make sure you're well-fed every day. But it won't be for free; you'll have to fight for me."

The scoundrel nodded fiercely: "Fight! Fight! I can fight!"

Li Zheng smiled and patted his arm, which was as thick as an adult's thigh: "Alright! From now on, you are my brother, Li Zheng's brother."

Having said that, he turned around: "My brother, Li Zheng's brother, is not to be insulted by others!"

Even the village head and the villagers, no matter how foolish, could sense Li Zheng's murderous intent at this moment.

They immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Majesty, spare our lives! Your Majesty, spare our lives!"

Li Zheng raised his hand, and the henchmen behind him raised their crossbows and bows, waiting for Li Zheng's command.

Just then, a large hand gently tugged at Li Zheng's sleeve.

The wretched dog shook its head clumsily, mumbling incoherently, "No, no..."

Li Zheng turned to look at him, her heart softening: "They treated you like that, don't you hold a grudge?"

The scoundrel kept shaking his head, repeatedly saying, "No, no."

Li Zheng remained silent for a moment, then slowly lowered his hand, and the crossbow bolts behind him also dropped.

He looked at the villagers kneeling on the ground and said coldly, "You heartless bastards! My brother protects your peace, and you treat him like pigs and dogs!"

"Even raising dogs or pigs, after a while, you develop a certain affection for them. It's true what they say, 'Poor and remote places breed unruly people!'"

He paused, walked up to the man kneeling on the ground, and tapped his head with his boot: "Old man, listen up."

"Fill these nine carts with the village's liquor and grain, and that will be the end of it."

The village head dared not utter another word and quickly got up to call on the villagers to move the grain.

In less than half an hour, the nine carriages were fully loaded.