I Have Nothing but Guts!

Under countless watchful eyes, Fang Xuan walked straight through the crowd and into Tong'an Alley.

Outside his house, aside from Big Eyes, Water Monkey, and Chu Chong, the fighters from the other East Hall outlets had arrived as well.

These fighters had once held positions equal to Fang Xuan's, minor leaders within East Hall, though they had not been top riders.

Now, as they watched Fang Xuan approach in red robes, surrounded like stars around the moon, their expressions were complicated.

Fang Xuan had not joined the gang particularly early. Compared with most of them, his seniority was far shallower.

Yet in just three short years, Fang Xuan had completed a three-level leap in status at a pace that could only be called earth-shattering!

From a bottom-rung street thug, to the head fighter of a rising star, then from head fighter to one of the Black Whale Gang's four great Hall Masters!

This youngster, far younger than them, had unknowingly reached a height where they could only look up at him!

"Li Can of the East Hall Branch pays respects to Master Fang." Li Laosan, one of the leaders, drew a deep breath and was the first to clasp his hands in salute.

"Pang Xun of the East Hall Branch pays respects to Master Fang."

"Sha Dafu of the East Hall Branch pays respects to Master Fang."

"Wei He of the East Hall Branch pays respects to Master Fang."

"East Hall Branch..."

One leader after another spoke up in turn.

Fang Xuan nodded, then turned his gaze to the side.

Big Eyes Chen Jingming was waving his hands, trying to drive away a youth of around thirteen or fourteen.

The youth was skinny and filthy. His toes had poked through his cloth shoes, frozen stiff and purple, while his trouser legs stopped three inches above his ankles. Clearly, these clothes no longer fit him at all.

"Master Fang!"

When the youth saw Fang Xuan enter, his eyes immediately lit up. He hurried over, struggling free from Chen Jingming's grasp.

"What is it?" Fang Xuan sized the youth up, then looked at Chen Jingming.

"Brother Xuan, this kid insists on joining us. He wants to roam the jianghu with us," Chen Jingming said helplessly, rubbing his nose.

Fang Xuan nodded to show he understood, then looked at the youth. "Where are your parents?"

"A few months ago, they went fishing on the river, ran into huge waves, and the Dragon King took them away."

The youth shrugged, looking utterly unconcerned.

Fang Xuan gave a quiet "Mm." His expression barely changed. Every year, the eight-hundred-mile Ping River claimed who knew how many children of fishing families. In the dark corners of the Bamboo Raft Houses, there were far too many orphans like this youth.

"If you join us, you might end up dying in the street the very next day. Aren't you afraid?" Fang Xuan asked.

"Afraid? Compared to being poor for my whole life, what's so scary about dying?"

Though his features were still childish, the youth still wore that unconcerned look. His eyes shone as he looked at Fang Xuan.

"Master Fang, give me a chance. I want to rise through the ranks and make something of myself, just like you!"

Seeing the youth's eyes, Fang Xuan was briefly dazed. Somehow, he seemed to vaguely see his former self standing before Old Man Yu.

"You need guts to roam the jianghu. Have you got any, kid?" Fang Xuan asked with a smile.

"Of course! I have no father, no mother, no relatives, no money, no home, no friends, nothing at all—but I've got guts!"

The youth thrust out his chest and raised his head to meet Fang Xuan's gaze.

Fang Xuan burst into loud laughter.

Under the youth's puzzled gaze, Fang Xuan looked at Water Monkey beside him. "Bring me a knife!"

Water Monkey handed over a knife, placing it in Fang Xuan's hand.

"Kid, don't say I never gave you a chance! If you stab that Han Xian from South Hall today, you'll follow me from now on!" Fang Xuan shoved the steel blade in his hand toward the youth.

The youth accepted the steel blade, nearly as tall as he was. He gripped it tightly with both hands, clenched it once more in his palms, then nodded and dragged the blade toward the rear of the crowd.

Fang Xuan watched the youth's retreating back and could not help shaking his head lightly.

Children born in the Bamboo Raft Houses were always far more mature than children outside.

For these children, it seemed that walking the jianghu road was their only way out.

And Fang Xuan, who had likewise emerged from the Bamboo Raft Houses, had become the goal they chased in their hearts!

I'm really leading children astray!

Fang Xuan muttered to himself, then took a deep breath and strode out of Tong'an Alley toward South City.

The night was gradually swallowed away.

In the last faint afterglow before dawn.

Several hundred figures in blue followed close behind, wearing swords at their waists as they moved through the rainy night.

Misty waves stretched vast and boundless, while clouds steamed into rosy haze.

In the morning, wisps of smoke-like mist unfurled over Pingjiang City like soft gauze.

Long Hair Tian, one of South Hall's leaders, emerged from a pleasure house. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he yawned and cursed under his breath.

"What a bore. She didn't even know what it meant to stick her ass up from behind! I had to teach her every time we changed positions! I really don't know what those rich lords see in these fledgling chicks!"

"Big Brother, where are we going now?"

Behind him, three or four street thugs asked eagerly.

This was their first time breaking in a mare with Brother Long Hair. They had gone at it six or seven times through the night, and they were thrilled beyond measure.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Long Hair Tian slapped each of the three on the head. Furious, he glared and cursed.

"Fuck your mothers! I told you yesterday that mare was snatched from East Hall—a virtuous wife and good mother! I told you each to break her in separately, but you motherfuckers drugged her and all three went in together, opening three holes at once!"

"Now she can't even hold in her shit! How's she supposed to make money for me?"

Seeing Long Hair Tian's furious expression, the three thugs shrank their necks and said with fawning smiles, "Big Brother, it was our first time breaking in a mare. We didn't have any experience..."

"No experience means you don't know to cherish a delicate flower? Great, now a mare who could have earned five hundred coins a session might not even fetch fifty coins a session. Forget it, throw her into the rotten brothels by the city wall. Let those laborers get a cheap taste."

The group walked onward as they talked, laughing and speaking loudly without the slightest restraint.

Bang!

Suddenly, Long Hair Tian noticed that the three thugs behind him had fallen silent and stopped in place. Cold sweat kept pouring from their foreheads, and their entire bodies trembled.

"Hey? Are you three playing deaf and dumb, pretending to be wooden men? What do you think of my idea? Get a bed thirty feet wide, put ten courtesans from different regions on it, all sleeping under one quilt, serving just one man. Wow, just thinking about it gets me fired up..."

Before Long Hair Tian could finish, one thug stammered.

"B-B-Big Brother, behind you..."

"Behind me? Is there a ghost behind me? Look at you cowards, scared into this state!"

With a sneer on his face, Long Hair Tian turned around.

The next instant.

The smile on Long Hair Tian's face froze. All color was drained from his face in a flash, leaving it deathly pale.

Several yards ahead stood a red-robed figure with a towering build and thick black hair cascading loose around him. Expressionless, Fang Xuan looked down at him.

Behind Fang Xuan, Chu Chong and One Line Sky stood with four others, their faces icy and their gazes sharp as frost.

Farther behind them, blue-clad figures spread across the heavens and covered the earth, filling the entire main road of South City!

"F-Fang Xuan..." Long Hair Tian's lips trembled, his heart seeming to be gripped viciously by a giant hand.

"Long Hair Tian, right? You dared to kidnap people in our East City? Today, I'll chop you into Dead Hair Tian!"

Before he could react, One Line Sky had already rushed out with a savage grin. Murderous light shot from his narrow, slit-like eyes!

Pfft!

One Line Sky lunged forward.

Long Hair Tian had only just turned to flee.

One Line Sky had already hooked one arm around Long Hair Tian's neck and viciously drove the dagger in his other hand into Long Hair Tian's lower back.

"Chop them all to death!"

As he pulled out the blade, blood sprayed into the air. One Line Sky raised his knife and roared.