Chuqiu County, Outer City, East Arrival Restaurant.
The setting sun was like blood, a swath of purplish black draped over the high sky like gauze. The daytime heat had finally eased a little.
In the shadow by the restaurant's side entrance, a burly man and a youth were pushing something back and forth between them.
"Elder Brother Gao, I can't take this."
"It's all leftovers from the guests. Take it! Bring it back and nourish little Wood Fork."
"...Thank you."
"Why are you being polite with me? If not for Uncle Li back then, I'd have fallen into the river and drowned long ago. Sigh, Uncle and Aunt both went early, leaving only you to raise your younger brother."
"...Forget it. Let's not talk about that. Tomorrow, an honored guest is holding a banquet here. They've temporarily ordered a performance of Heavenly King Joins the Fray. The troupe is short one person—will you go? Food and drink are guaranteed, and if the guests are pleased, there might even be reward money."
"But I don't know how to act."
"You don't need to act. Just stand there! It's settled, then. Hurry home before it gets dark. Those hooligans have been especially rampant lately, and the authorities aren't doing a thing."
Li Cunxiao watched the man's retreating back for a long while before sighing and stepping out from beneath the shadow of the upturned eaves.
Thinking of his starving younger brother at home, he tightened his hold on the leftovers wrapped in two layers of oil paper and lotus leaf, then hurried through the sparsely populated streets.
Most of the Outer City's residents were poor. At night, they could not even bear to light an oil lamp. At this hour, they were mostly taking advantage of the remaining daylight to eat, while the women hurried to sew and mend.
Yet beyond the leather-armored soldiers and towering city walls, laughter and revelry drifted into Li Cunxiao's ears from time to time.
He knew those sounds came from the wealthy gentry and dancing girls in the Inner City, just one wall away.
After night fell, if one looked down from a distant mountain, the Outer City would be black and silent, like a domain of ghosts. Yet the Inner City blazed with splendor, its lights linked together like a jeweled ship. There stood the densely packed Forests of Pleasure, playgrounds of romance for the rich.
He made his way onward until he neared the market entrance, where the crowd finally thickened. But the voices rising from the gathered people were not merchants haggling over prices.
"...He Wu and the other great bandits who stole property from Steward Zhao's home on East Tower Street the day before yesterday have been found guilty of robbing and murdering traveling merchants. Their crimes are to be punished together. They are sentenced to immediate beheading, as a warning to others."
"That can't be right, can it? I heard this great bandit He Wu was only caught early this month. It's barely mid-month now—how are they already cutting off his head? Aren't executions always held after autumn? The August heat hasn't even faded yet."
"Nowhere is peaceful anymore. There are rebels everywhere, and famine too. How could the lords in the capital wait until autumn? Naturally, once county magistrates catch someone, they execute them on the spot."
"Sigh, speaking of rebels, I heard that the Sky-Piercing General was driven back by the government troops again. What if he passes through our Song Prefecture?"
"Why wait for rebels? Wasn't Jiedushi Zhu above our heads once a rebel who accepted amnesty?"
"Are you tired of living? Matters like that are for us common folk to—Mother of heaven! You, who are you?!"
The strange cry drew everyone's gaze aside, and their faces immediately changed as well.
The youth was of average height, with a broad, rounded forehead, prominent cheekbones, and a pair of large eyes with more black than white. He truly had the head of a leopard and ringed eyes.
Yet his frame was broad while his body was thin, and his clothing was ragged. Clearly, his family was poor.
At a glance, he looked about with eagle eyes and wolfish bearing, his face fierce enough to frighten anyone.
Li Cunxiao had long grown used to other people's reactions. Ignoring their murmurs, he silently stared at the four severed heads impaled upon sharpened stakes.
He vaguely remembered that two of them had come to the restaurant to beg for food, bringing along a pretty young girl. He had heard they were refugees from another prefecture.
Steward Zhao was famous for his lust. Stealing property? Robbing and killing merchants?
Most likely, the county yamen and wealthy households had colluded to trample human lives like grass.
Li Cunxiao had nothing to say. As he turned and left, his steps quickened, as though something were chasing him from behind.
"The realm is likely truly about to fall into chaos."
Others were merely watching a spectacle, but Li Cunxiao, with memories and knowledge from the modern age, could see much more.
For a dynasty, the so-called execution after autumn was a manifestation of the central government's control over local justice.
Whether there was injustice in a case or not, deliberately reserving the period around the autumn equinox was meant to require local officials to report to the court and forbid them from deciding criminal punishments on their own.
Yet now, the county yamen lords did not care in the slightest. Public prisons had become private dungeons. If an official wanted to arrest someone, was it not merely a matter of a single sentence?
They always said imperial power did not reach the countryside, but now it could not even govern the county.
As for the rebels roaming the land, and Marshal Zhu, who had accepted amnesty, been granted the name "Quanzhong," and transformed himself into one of several regional military governors, they were merely footnotes to the great tide of collapse.
"Rebel armies, famine, refugees. I've heard demons and monsters have appeared near Chuqiu County as well. Truth and falsehood are impossible to distinguish."
"Without strength, one can only become a pig or sheep awaiting slaughter in troubled times."
"The warriors of this world possess strength nearly beyond the ordinary. I must begin martial training as soon as possible."
"If I leave enough for my younger brother and me to live on for two months, my savings amount to five taels of silver. It should barely be enough to enter one of the martial schools in the Outer City."
"Sigh, if not for arranging the funeral, I would have had enough money long ago. But parents are parents for one lifetime. They should at least be laid to rest in the earth."
"The Green Snake Gang has been coming more and more often lately. My younger brother is handsome, and leaving him at home is far too unsafe. As for the restaurant..."
Li Cunxiao was weighed down by worries, but when he thought of his obedient, sensible younger brother, strength returned to his legs as he headed home.
Not to mention that he had had a younger brother in his previous life, and the habits of an elder brother could not be discarded overnight. Even by conscience alone, he could not possibly leave a nine-year-old child to wander the streets.
"Zhao Heishe, what are you doing here?!"
As he entered the ramshackle shantytown, Li Cunxiao spotted a furtive figure at his door. His heart sank, and he immediately rushed over.
The man with a faded green snake tattooed on his neck jumped at the furious shout. When he turned and recognized the newcomer, a sinister smile spread across his face.
"So it's Li Sanlang. I'm here for nothing else—just to collect the regular fee."
Li Cunxiao was enraged.
"I already paid this month's money!"
"That was your tribute to the gang!"
The man rudely cut Li Cunxiao off.
"Li Sanlang, I've been 'taking care' of your household for months. Shouldn't you show me some respect too?"
Seeing Zhao Heishe's utterly justified expression, Li Cunxiao felt blood rush to his head. His leopard-like face swiftly flushed purple-red, making him look like a blood-colored leopard.
Zhao Heishe was immediately somewhat intimidated.
He had merely lost money gambling and come to earn extra on the side behind the gang's back. When it came to fists and kicks, he was far inferior to the enforcers who had genuinely trained in martial arts.
"Big Brother! You're back!"
The tense atmosphere suddenly froze as a young boy in patched clothing poked his upper body out through the rotten wooden doorway.
Though his body was thin and his face somewhat sallow, judging by his features and bone structure, the child could nearly be called beautiful.
Were Li Sanlang and Li Silaang really born from the same womb?
Zhao Heishe was shocked and delighted. He had heard that Li Sanlang had a younger brother of exceptional beauty, but he had not held much hope. He had intended to abduct him and casually sell him to some slave trader, yet he had not expected such fine goods.
Had Li Cunxiao not returned in time, he might already have succeeded.
I hear the young masters in the Inner City are fond of this sort. If I could...