A small ship carried ten fishermen and twenty passengers in the open waters. A young man dressed in light green and white clothes stood at the front of the ship, hugging the blowing wind with his eyes closed. His slim fingers clasped the wooden railing tightly, and his long black hair was dancing with the wind.
Then, a fisherman was roughly pushed towards the young man. As soon as the youth turned around, he saw five people holding swords, shouting at the passengers to go to the open deck. Nine fishermen and fourteen people began to comply and move to the open deck.
Li Jian shouted, "Don't be afraid, I hope you will cooperate. If you are willing to cooperate, we will not harm you." He smiled at the frightened passengers. "Now, please remove all your jewelry and money bags. These kind brothers will come and collect it. If I find out that some of you hide something, I won't be as good as I am now."
The passengers began to take off their jewelry and put them into Li Jin's bag. Li Jin walked to the light green and white youth.
Li Jin said sharply, "Remove your silver bracelet and your money bag."
The youth looked at Li Jin with a pair of beautiful phoenix eyes. He whispered, "You can't have this. My Da-shixiong gave it to me." He reached out, picked up his money bag, and handed it to Li Jin.
Li Jin looked at the young man with soft, white skin and long silky hair. His face was very soft and very handsome. He took a gulp of water. He grabbed the money bag but deliberately brushed the young man's hand. He felt the softness of the young man's hand, which caused him to have ill thoughts. The young man quickly withdrew his hand. He walked to Li Jian.
Li Jin spoke to his brother. "Ge, I know that you say we never kill while robbing anyone, but I want to take someone back with us."
"No, we rob only," Li Jian refused.
Li Jin pointed to the handsome young man not far from them. He said, "Look over there." Li Jian followed Li Jin's finger. "Is he breathtaking?" He felt his heart beating faster.
Li Jian saw a very handsome young man standing among the ordinary passengers on the ship. He agreed with Li Jin's statement. The young man was indeed really handsome. He sighed. "Ah Jin, even if he is handsome, kidnapping is against our rules." He thought for a while. "The guy is really handsome."
A bandit nearby whispered, "Boss, I have heard of a man named Mu Dishi. They said this man is very handsome. He doesn't talk much, but his killing string is deadly."
Li Jian had heard of Mu Dishi but had never seen the person. He looked at Li Jin and asked, "What did he say when you took the money bag from him?"
Li Jin said, "He gave it to me willingly."
Li Jian walked over to the young man and asked directly, "Are you Mu Dishi?"
The young man replied, "It doesn't matter if I am or not. It has nothing to do with you."
The bandit whispered again, "Boss, Mu Dishi is a very cold man."
Li Jian knew that they would go ashore at any moment. He made a decisive choice. "Ah Jin, return brother Mu's bag back to him."
Li Jin reached into the big bag and returned the young man's money bag to him.
The young man smiled and said, "Da Ge, can you return everyone's money bags? I know that being a robber is for survival, but these people are not rich."
Li Jin smiled, captivated. "Mu-xiong, I will do as you wish." He looked at Li Jian. "Ah Jin, return everyone's money bag back to them."
The young man smiled again. "Everyone, since they returned your money bags to you, please do not notify the authorities." The passengers nodded their grateful agreement. He turned to Li Jin and Li Jian and smiled at them. "Thank you, xiongtai."
When the ship approached the dock, Li Jin couldn't take his eyes off the young man, his desire to keep him growing stronger. Just as the young man was about to disembark, he came to the wooden planks. He quickly grabbed the young man's right arm.
Li Jin demanded, "You stay by my side. I don't care if you are the fearsome Mu Dishi or not."
The young man suddenly pulled his hand away. Li Jin stretched out his arm and grabbed the young man's arm again, but the young man responded by kicking his right foot towards Li Jin. The young man then leaped over the ship rail into the group of workers carrying rice sacks toward another ship. Li Jin quickly followed. The young man stepped nimbly on the rice sacks, and Li Jin kicked two rice sacks, sending them flying at the youth.
The young man flew, twisting backward in midair, drew his sword out of its sheath, and swiftly chopped the two rice sacks into pieces. Then, Li Jian flew over and began attacking the young man alongside Li Jin.
It became difficult for the young man to protect himself from the two skilled pirates. He kept backing away until he bumped into a worker at the dock. He lost his balance and sprained his left ankle. He fell directly into the arms of a young dirty wandering Taoist.
Li Jian and Li Jin noticed the youth's loss of balance and realized their opponent was not the legendary Mu Dishi. The brothers hurriedly pounced on the young man and the dirty Taoist.
The dirty Taoist held the young man securely in his arms and, with effortless power, knocked away the swords from the brothers' hands.
The Li brothers once again sprinted at the dirty Taoist. The dirty Taoist turned, using his body to shield the young man from the Li brothers' fists. Their fists struck the Taoist's back. The dirty Taoist used his own formidable internal strength to force the Li brothers violently backward toward the ship.
Twenty people ran to the dock. A passenger on the ship shouted at the group, "They are the ones who robbed us!"
Li Jian and Li Jin knew they were outnumbered and could not defeat the unknown dirty Taoist. They flew back to their ship, cut the two ropes holding the sinker, and the ship slowly left the dock.
The dirty Taoist gently put the young man down on the steps. The Taoist said, "Try moving your feet."
The young man twisted his left foot twice. His ankle could move, but it was still very painful. He groaned, "I might have sprained it."
The dirty Taoist confirmed. "If your left ankle is sprained, it will take at least five days to fully heal."
The young man frowned sadly. "Ah... that's a pity. I want to go to Tianshan quickly." The young man laughed when he heard the Taoist's stomach groaning loudly. "Should we eat noodles?"
The dirty Taoist sighed and looked at the young man, his expression remaining blank, and replied innocently, "Sorry, I don't have money yet to pay for a bowl of noodle."
The young man smiled at the dirty Taoist in front of him. He said with a bright smile, "I will treat you to lunch since you helped me."
"Since you can't walk, I will carry you," the dirty Taoist said, avoiding eye contact with the young man.
"Then, I trouble this da ge to carry me up these steps," the young man said with a smile.
The dirty Taoist gently put the young man, Xue Horan, on his back, and the two walked the two flights of stairs up to the main road. They quickly found a noodle stall on the side of the road, sat at a nearby table, and began to eat. The filthy Taoist ate five bowls of noodle soup and finally looked full.
The dirty Taoist apologized. "Sorry, I haven't eaten for four days."
The young man smiled. "What's your name?"
The dirty Taoist replied, "Yongzheng."
The young man smiled back. "My name is Xue Horan. I am looking for my da-shixiong, Rao Zhengsheng. Do you know him?"
Yongzheng said, "I don't know him. Since it is fate, I will accompany you to find your da-shixiong. The road to Tianshan is also my way home. I live in the north."
Xue Horan asked, "If you live in the north, why are you here?"
Yongzheng explained, "I went to help some people at the request of my Master, but I was drifted away by the water and finally came here. I didn't have enough money to go home, so I worked, but I have not saved enough money yet."
Xue Horan asked, surprised, "How long have you been here?"
Yongzheng replied, "It's been two years."
Xue Horan looked shocked. "What?"
The vendor owner chimed in, "Yongzheng is very kind. All the money he earned has been donated, so there hasn't been enough money for him to go home."
Xue Horan smiled broadly. "Then let's go together. This is the first time I have been away from home."
Yongzheng asked, "Where do you live?"
Xue Horan answered, "I live on a small island called Butterfly Island." He looked at Yongzheng, his tone dropping slightly. "I ran away from home."
Yongzheng said, taking charge, "Let's rest, and we will travel when you get better."
Yongzheng helped Xue Horan, and the two new acquaintances walked toward an old, abandoned temple on the outskirts of the town.