「Not long after the New Year's festival.」
「In a tavern.」
Amid laughter, cups were raised and toasts exchanged.
A group of Leping County's talented young men had gathered, listening to music, watching dancers, drinking, and singing with wild abandon.
"Brother Zhu."
Leng Xing's eyes were hazy with drink as he raised his cup in a toast.
"We're all peers here, no need to be so reserved. Wouldn't it be a shame to let such fine wine go to waste?"
"Hic…"
He let out a drunken hiccup and said,
"Every year after the festival, we all find a place to get together. Don't forget to join us in the future, Brother Zhu."
The young men of Leping County had their own circle, and by inviting Zhu Ju this time, they intended to introduce him into it.
"I will." Zhu Ju cupped his fists.
"But I'll have to pass on the wine. It's improper for me to drink while in mourning."
"Hmph!" Hearing this, Young Master Wan of the Wan Family, Wan Jing, snorted coldly and slammed his cup down on the table.
"Someone from the Prefecture City really is different. Won't even accept a toast. I suppose you don't think much of us."
"Wan Jing, if you have nothing nice to say, then shut up," Hex Leshan said with a frown.
"It's an honor that Brother Zhu came at all. Using tea instead of wine is just the same. I'll toast to you, Brother Zhu."
"It's just how it is! Who needs so many damn rules?" Wan Jing retorted, looking unconvinced.
"He's just using mourning as an excuse. Never mind a little wine, some people get married right after their parents die…"
BANG!
Leng Xing flipped the table over and glared, his eyes wide with fury.
"You bastard Wan, say that again."
?
Zhu Ju looked confused.
"Ping Ruxue agreed to marry into the Leng Family," Hex Leshan whispered in his ear.
"She went from his fiancée to suddenly becoming his second aunt. Leng Xing's been bottling up a bellyful of rage over it."
Wan Jing also realized he had misspoken, but he had a stubborn personality and refused to apologize, jutting out his neck defiantly.
"You're asking for a beating!"
CRASH…
"Don't fight! Stop them!"
With an angry roar, the scene immediately descended into chaos. Everyone scrambled to pull the two apart.
"Wan Jing!"
Hua Wenhua of the Hua Family, being the oldest, couldn't help but scold him angrily.
"Can't you control that filthy mouth of yours? Sometimes even I want to slap you a few times."
"It's so rare for us to get together…"
"What is that?"
As the group argued, someone by the window suddenly cried out in alarm. A fire had started at the county's main gate, and it was growing larger, threatening to spread.
"A fire?"
"Why would the city gate be on fire?"
"…"
For a moment, everyone forgot their argument. They gathered at the window to look into the distance, their expressions growing more and more grim.
The distant sounds of battle cries and clamor were all too familiar.
Just like…
…the night the Ping Family was wiped out by the Black Tiger Gang!
Until a scream shattered the dead silence.
"Bandits are storming the city!"
"Don't be afraid." Hex Leshan's face was pale, but he forced himself to remain calm.
"To wipe out the bandits, the County Yamen prepared a large force, the Sunx and Zhou Families have their guards ready, and I heard there are even experts from the Prefecture City overseeing things. If the Black Tiger Gang dares to attack the city now, they're just seeking their own doom."
As he spoke, his words came faster and faster, his expression growing agitated.
"Um…" Wan Jing stared blankly, his voice trembling. He looked terrified, as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Those people you mentioned… they're not in the city right now."
"Huh?" Hex Leshan whipped his head around.
"If they're not in the city, where are they?"
"They left the city," Leng Xing said through clenched teeth.
"Yesterday, the County Yamen, the Sunx and Zhou Families, and all the experts left the city to hunt down the bandits. They should still be on the road."
'Damn!'
Zhu Ju's eyes narrowed.
'With the experts away, isn't Leping County just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered by the ruthless bandits of the Black Tiger Gang?'
'Moreover…'
'The Black Tiger Gang's timing is too perfect. It would be impossible without an inside man.'
"The fire is spreading toward the Government Office."
Hua Wenhua said, his voice trembling.
"The County Magistrate and the Steward are both there. It's all over now."
"Let's go!"
Leng Xing spun around and rushed downstairs.
"Hurry home!"
As sons of the city's wealthy families, they all had guards at their homes. In the face of this chaos, home was of course the safest place to be.
RUSH…
With someone taking the lead, the others snapped to their senses and scrambled downstairs in a rush. The tavern was already in an uproar, and no one noticed Zhu Ju, who remained completely still.
Zhu Ju stood on the second floor with his hands behind his back, watching the flames that rushed toward the County Yamen and the chaos that was spreading rapidly.
'It looks like this chaos won't end anytime soon. Heading back to the Zhu Mansion…'
He shook his head slightly.
'It's too late for that.'
He had planned for a whole night of revelry, so he hadn't asked Elder Qin to accompany him. He had come alone.
Now that the Black Tiger Gang had broken through the County Yamen and was setting fires everywhere, blocking the way back, he might run into bandits if he tried to return now.
'In that case…'
'I'll go to the pharmacy!'
The pharmacy had premixed medicinal formulas. He could grab them and go directly to Yue City in the Otherworld to take refuge, then come back after some time had passed.
...
"Quick!"
Shopkeeper Wang frantically ordered people to barricade the entrance, then brought over wooden planks to reinforce it, but he still felt uneasy.
"Liu Youx, go to the back courtyard and bring the stone trough and stone pestle for grinding medicine. We'll use them to block the door."
"Yes, sir."
Liu Youx, drenched in sweat, nodded in acknowledgment.
After Liu Youx left, Shopkeeper Wang looked around. Seeing no one, he quickly took out several of the pharmacy's most valuable medicinal ingredients, pushed open a hidden door, and stashed them inside.
Once everything was hidden away, he breathed a sigh of relief. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, a hint of joy appeared on his face.
'After the bandits leave, the pharmacy will have been completely looted. I can write these ingredients off as a loss.'
'Dozens of taels of silver…'
'That's more than I make in a whole year of hard work.'
"Ouch!"
"Who are you?"
THUD!
A pharmacy clerk came tumbling through the back door, crashing into a medicine cabinet and crying out in pain.
Several bandits had climbed over the wall into the back courtyard.
"Mercy, great heroes!"
Shopkeeper Wang's heart leaped in shock. With practiced ease, he dropped to his knees, pressing his palms together and raising them high.
"Spare my life, great heroes! This old one is just a doctor watching the shop. Please, take whatever you want."
"Relax. Killing a doctor brings bad luck. We brothers won't do that," a burly, knife-wielding man said as he strode inside.
"Just hand over the silver, the large coins, and anything valuable, and we guarantee we won't harm you."
"Yes, yes." Shopkeeper Wang agreed hastily from his knees, then dragged himself over to open the money coffer.
"Great heroes, the money is all here. The valuable ingredients are in the cabinets up there."
"Liu Youx!"
he shouted.
"Hurry up and help these great heroes pack the medicinal ingredients!"
"…Yes, sir." Liu Youx clutched his side and struggled to his feet, then opened the cabinets to take out the ingredients inside.
"Well, aren't they obedient." It seemed to be the first time the bandits had encountered such cooperation, and they exchanged a smile.
"Very obedient," a cold voice suddenly said.
"I suppose that's why the old master chose him to be the shopkeeper back then—he valued his obedience."
"Who's there?"
"Come out!"
The bandits' expressions changed drastically. They tightened their grips on their weapons and stared in the direction of the voice.
"Young Master!"
"Boss!"
"…"
Seeing who it was, Shopkeeper Wang, Liu Youx, and the others also looked slightly startled. Why would he come here at a time like this?
"Look, one just came to die!"
Seeing it was only one person, the bandit showed a disdainful expression, brandished his saber, and charged.
"Get him together!"
He wasn't stupid. He knew that anyone traveling alone at a time like this had to have some skill, so he didn't act rashly, instead calling for the others to attack at once.
CLANG…
The long saber struck a palm that was emitting a faint black Qi, creating the sound of striking metal.
Thirteen Body Refinement!
Mixed Element Iron Hand!
The Thirteen Body Refinement at the Tendon and Bone Realm was comparable to Minor Achievement in Entering Strength, and after burning his Qi Blood, it was no weaker than Great Success in Entering Strength.
Its reputation as a Top-Notch Hard Skill was well-earned. The toughness of his Skin and Flesh, Tendons and Bone, allowed him to withstand blades directly—something that even those at Great Success in Entering Strength couldn't necessarily do.
But Zhu Ju could!
Iron Wire Fist!
His five fingers clenched into a fist. Shrouded in a vicious gust of wind, he lunged forward. A Fierce Fist Force erupted, striking the bandit square in the chest.
CRACK…
THUMP!
The bandit fell backward, all signs of life gone.
Zhu Ju charged into the crowd, his face impassive. He neither dodged nor evaded the flashing blades, striking out again and again with savage fists and palms.
BANG!
"Aargh…"
In just a few moments, all the bandits were on the ground. None had been spared.
Zhu Ju glanced at his torn clothes, let out a long, turbid breath, and slowly relaxed his tense muscles.
'It seems choosing a Hard Skill was the right decision. Even if my techniques aren't polished, I don't have to dodge. Without a Hard Skill to protect my body, it would be impossible to avoid injury when surrounded.'
Composing himself, he looked at the others in the room.
"Shopkeeper Wang."
"…Here." Shopkeeper Wang trembled and nodded hastily.
"I'm here."
"Get the ingredients I need," Zhu Ju said, straightening his sleeves and looking the man straight in the eye.
"And don't tell me the bandits took them all."
"N-no, they didn't." Shopkeeper Wang gave an awkward laugh.
"Young Master arrived just in time. You dealt with the bandits before they could even act. Everything is still here in the pharmacy."
"I…"
"I'll go get them for you right now."
He opened the hidden door, took out the ingredients inside, and packed them up along with the silver coins stored in the pharmacy.
"Good."
Weighing the bundle in his hand, Zhu Ju spoke.
"Shopkeeper Wang, as of today, you are no longer an employee of the Zhu Family Pharmacy. Liu Youx will be in charge from now on."
"What?"
Shopkeeper Wang froze.
Before he could react, Zhu Ju stepped forward, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and headed for the courtyard wall.
WHOOSH…
After hopping the wall into the adjacent street, Zhu Ju flung the man out into the open.
"Shopkeeper Wang, you're on your own now."
"Young Master!"
Seeing the bandits looting their way down the street not far away, Shopkeeper Wang's face went deathly pale.
"No!"
But alas,
his cries only attracted the attention of the bandits. Zhu Ju's figure had already vanished into the night.
*
*
*
"Go!"
Leng Xing brandished a long saber. With a flash of its blade, he cut down two thugs who were trying to take advantage of the chaos.
Behind him, the siblings Ping Ruxue and Ping Jian followed closely, their faces filled with panic.
"Hurry!"
"Don't stop!"
The Leng Family's Panshan Saber was known as one of the best arts in Leping County. At Great Success in Entering Strength, Leng Xing could be considered an expert in the county, barely.
At least,
he had no fear when facing common bandits and thugs.
"Alright."
Near the city wall, Leng Xing stopped and pushed the bundle from his back into Ping Ruxue's arms.
"The city gates are wide open now. Once you're out, follow the main road straight to Hejian Prefecture. You can find your aunt or Zhu Ju's older sister."
"Brother Leng."
Ping Ruxue's pretty face was pale as she looked him in the eye.
"Come with us. You forced your way into Second Uncle's residence to rescue me. He won't let you get away with it."
"…" Leng Xing's expression was complicated. He shook his head with difficulty.
"My parents are here. I can't abandon them and leave."
"Go, quickly!"
"You two, go!"
He pushed the two of them toward the city gate, then spun around and ran back toward the chaos.
The Ping siblings watched Leng Xing leave, sighed helplessly, and then quickly departed.
「In a nearby alley.」
Zhu Ju stroked his chin, lost in thought.
'No wonder Leng Xing asked me for a letter of introduction. I thought he wanted to go to the Prefecture City to make a name for himself, but it turns out it was for the Ping siblings. It seems he's been planning to steal back his bride for a long time.'
Shaking his head, he took a step back, and his figure faded into the darkness until he was gone.