A Nine-Foot Man Should Stand Tall as a True Husband Who Props Up Heaven and Earth, Not a Spineless Wretch Who Bows and Scrapes!

Outside Pingjiang City, inside a crude Thatched Hut.

A fine rain fell without end outside, yet a dim yellow oil lamp cast the room in a warm golden glow.

"Guide them with governance, regulate them with punishments, and the people may evade punishment but will know no shame. Guide them with virtue, regulate them with rites, and they will know shame and reform themselves."

A handsome young man with fair, refined features sat at the table, a book in his hands as he read intently.

On the other side of the Thatched Hut, a sallow-faced girl sat on the bed. She wet her fingers with saliva, rolled the end of a thread between her fingertips, then carefully threaded it through a needle's eye, mending a loose set of Short Azure Clothes.

"Honestly, Big Brother—every time I finish mending his clothes, they're ragged again within days."

Perhaps after sewing for too long, the sallow-faced girl put down her needle and rubbed her slightly aching eyes.

"Xiao Lan, get some rest early. Threading needles at night will hurt your eyes."

Fang Li set down his book and smiled at Fang Lan.

"No, spring will be here before long. I need to sew Big Brother a few more good outfits, so he'll have clothes to wear when spring comes." Fang Lan took a deep breath, made a V-sign at herself to cheer herself on, then continued mending Fang Xuan's clothes.

Fang Li could not help lowering his head to look at the hem of his own clothes, already torn in several places, and said helplessly, "You've never had the heart to throw away Big Brother's clothes. They're practically piled into a mountain at home. So why have I never seen you mend Second Brother's clothes?"

"Big Brother is the pillar holding up this family. Are you?"

Fang Lan rolled her eyes at Fang Li, then snorted. "Besides, once I mend Big Brother's clothes and he no longer wears them, can't you just wear them after him?"

"Fang Lan!!!"

Fang Li slapped his forehead.

Big Brother greeted him with big slaps across the face, and now his little sister had to needle him with her words too.

Among the three siblings, he truly was...

Ah, what a sin!

"Alright, I'm just teasing you. Big Brother has to show his face outside, so his clothes can't be full of holes, can they? Once I finish mending his clothes, I'll mend yours." Fang Lan's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled.

"Hehe, I knew Xiao Lan had Second Brother in her heart too."

Fang Li perked up at once. "Once I pass the imperial examinations and become a high official, I guarantee you'll follow me around eating the finest food and drinking the strongest wine."

Seeing Fang Li's smug expression, Fang Lan gave a disdainful "Tch." "Blowing hot air again. By the time you become a high official, Big Brother might already be number one under heaven!"

"Hehe, that would be even better. Then Big Brother and I can divide the world between us—one through letters, one through martial arts. If even half a coin falls from the sky, it'll belong to the Old Fang Family!"

"Mhm, mhm, you're right. Go to sleep early. You can have anything you want in your dreams."

Just as the two siblings were bickering and playing around—

Jingle, jingle—!

A red string was tied to the top of a small bell hanging behind the door. One end of the string was tied to the bell, while the other was tied to the root of a large tree a hundred meters away.

At that moment, the little bell suddenly began ringing violently, its piercing chimes cutting through the night!

"Huh? Is Brother Monkey bringing food over at this hour?"

Fang Lan was just about to rise and open the door to check.

Puff!

Fang Li blew out the oil lamp in one breath, then swiftly reached out and pressed Fang Lan's head beneath the window.

"Xiao Lan, don't speak!"

Fang Li barked in a low voice, narrowing his eyes as he peered outside through the window.

In the hazy night and endless drizzle, a rogue with a blue headscarf wrapped around his head and an eyepatch over one eye was striding toward them with four or five knife-wielding ruffians.

"Second Brother, who are these people?"

Alarm rose in Fang Lan's heart.

"They should be Big Brother's enemies."

Taking a deep breath, Fang Li pulled a pointed knife from beneath the table and gripped it in his hand.

Under the moonlight, the cold blade reflected Fang Li's icy eyes.

"Xiao Lan, don't panic. Listen to me now."

Fang Li stared fixedly at the group of ruffians. "I'll count to three, two, one. Then you push open the door and run toward the fields behind the house. Whatever happens, don't look back!"

"Second Brother, what about you?" Fang Lan's heart trembled.

"Don't worry about me. You only need to lure them over there. The Horse Trap Pit I dug in the fields a few days ago was prepared for them!"

Fang Li tightened his grip on the pointed knife. At that moment, the ruthlessness in his eyes was exactly the same as Fang Xuan's!

Anning Mountain, Sikong Residence.

"Young Master, it has been two hours!"

Eagle Old suddenly opened his eyes, suppressing the fury in his heart.

"Two hours already?"

Only then did Third Young Master slowly open his eyes. Seeing Eagle Old's furious expression, he could not help but smile. "I never thought there would come a day when Eagle Old would grow angry over an outsider—and a mere street thug at that. How rare."

After a pause, he lifted his teacup and took a sip. "Very well. Call him in, then. I'd like to see what is so extraordinary about this Fang Xuan that he merits such concern from you."

Eagle Old drew a deep breath, swiftly rose to his feet, and pushed open the door.

"Fang—" Before Eagle Old could utter even a full word, the smile he had just put on froze upon his face.

Fine rain fell without end beyond the study. There was not a trace of anyone outside.

"Eagle Old, what are you standing there for? Let him in."

Third Young Master's puzzled voice came from within the study.

Eagle Old took three deep breaths in succession before finally steadying himself. He turned back to look at Third Young Master.

At that moment, disappointment filled his eyes to the utmost.

"What? Did that Fang Xuan truly leave?"

Third Young Master looked somewhat surprised, then smiled dismissively.

"Eagle Old, if he has left, then let him go. He is merely a street thug who has only just entered the realm; he amounts to no one of consequence. If he is unwilling to serve me, that is not my loss—it is his."

Eagle Old said nothing. He merely looked deeply at Third Young Master. After a moment of silence, he said:

"Third Young Master, with how arrogant and self-absorbed you are, if you do not temper your nature, I fear you will find it difficult to accomplish great things in the future. This old man has said all he can. I ask that Third Young Master take care of himself."

With those words, Eagle Old strode away.

"You insolent old fool!!!"

In an instant, Third Young Master viciously smashed the teacup in his hand to the floor. His handsome face had turned utterly livid.

On the mountain road leading down from Anning Mountain, Fang Xuan walked through the fine rain in great strides, his expression calm.

He had waited outside Third Young Master's study for a full hour, yet no one had ever opened the door to invite him inside.

Having wandered the martial world for so many years, how could he fail to understand what Third Young Master meant?

Since that was the case, rather than keep standing outside like a beggar pleading for alms, asking Third Young Master to take him in, he might as well straighten his back and leave!

A man standing nine feet tall ought to be a great man who held up the heavens and stood upon the earth—not some spineless wretch who bowed and scraped!

Just as he had told Water Monkey before, others could look down on him, but he himself must never look down on himself!

And beyond that, judging from Old Man Yu, this Third Young Master was plainly no worthy master either.

Otherwise, after Old Man Yu had sold his life for him for an entire lifetime and now met such a bleak end, Third Young Master would not have failed to offer even a single word of basic concern.

To put it bluntly, it was not that Third Young Master did not understand the ways of the world. Rather, common-born people like them, born from the mud, had likely never been worthy of Third Young Master's regard. That was why he could not be bothered!

"This Sikong Family and I were never fated to be."

Fang Xuan shook his head. The Sikong Family's Second Young Master was Zheng Juexiong's backer, while Third Young Master possessed this sort of temperament and attitude.

He was destined never to walk the same road as them.

Yet Fang Xuan felt no regret. After roaming the martial world for so many years, when had he ever truly relied on anyone else, even in the slightest?

As his thoughts churned, Fang Xuan had already reached the foot of the mountain.

"Eh? Why is this brother walking alone in the rain?"

Just then, a somewhat guileless, puzzled voice sounded ahead of him.