White Horse Divine Spear

"Are you... Zhang Yu?"

Wang Meiduo looked at the young man's icy bearing and extraordinary skills, unable to believe that he was the impoverished youth who had often come to the Wang family to freeload meals.

Back then, he had been disheveled and grimy. Now, he wore a black robe and carried a long sword. He was truly like a person transformed from earth to heaven.

"It's me."

A bright gleam appeared in Wang Meiduo's eyes. She said to Li Hu, "He's Zhang Yu, the one who joined the Sun Moon Divine Cult with Liyu. He didn't die!"

Li Hu understood. "Then Liyu, could he be..."

Last month, the Sun Moon Divine Cult had sent word that "Banner Leader Wang Liyu of Cloud Water Hall died in battle," leaving behind five taels of condolence silver that had passed through who-knew-how-many hands.

With the Wang family's pillar gone, their days as an orphaned mother and child could still have gone on with Li Hu, the hunter, as their brother-in-law. Who could have known that Huang Wencai, the biggest local tyrant in Meixi Village, would set his sights on them?

When Wang Meiduo saw Zhang Yu return, a sliver of hope suddenly arose in her heart. Perhaps her younger brother was fine. Perhaps the news had been wrong. Perhaps Cloud Water Hall had been wiped out, but there should still have been some survivors.

She asked cautiously, "Where is Liyu? Is he still alive?"

"Liyu is dead. He died at the foot of Mount Heng."

"Dead? Really dead?"

"Yes."

Seeing Wang Meiduo overcome with grief, Zhang Yu's heart was filled with mixed emotions as well. He took a cloth pouch from his robe and handed it to her.

"This is Liyu's hair. The situation was urgent, and I couldn't bring back his body."

Wang Meiduo froze for a long while. Then she opened the pouch and gently stroked the three strands of withered hair. "The elders say that hair is where the soul resides. When the hair returns, the soul returns as well. Thank you."

Zhang Yu sighed and tossed down a bag of silver.

Li Hu hurriedly got to his feet and cupped his hands. "You saved my entire family. I'm ashamed that I have no way to repay you, so I can't take your silver."

"Consider it something Liyu left behind."

"Set up a memorial stele for the couple, and raise their child to adulthood."

Zhang Yu walked to the doorway and picked up the masked man's corpse. Before leaving, he turned back and said to the two of them,

"I'll deal with the Huang family!"

Plum Blossom Stream, Huang Family Manor.

Two candle stands rested on a wooden table, their light filling the room.

Several pages of the yellow registers were turned, casting a huge black shadow on the wall in the candlelight.

A middle-aged man leaned back in his chair, flipping through a Fish Scale Register. The more he read, the more satisfied he became, until he could not help laughing smugly.

"The Huang family's glory today is all thanks to our virtuous ancestors and the efforts of their descendants."

The five hundred mu of fine paddy fields on both banks of Plum Blossom Stream had, after three generations of hard work, finally been joined into one continuous tract this year. More than eight hundred dan of new grain had entered the granary. After being milled into white rice, what remained after feeding the family could be exchanged for more than two thousand taels of silver.

Huang Wencai chuckled inwardly. "We really were born into good times. The price of rice climbs higher every year. If this were the Longfeng Era, when one dan of rice cost five qian of silver, life would be impossible."

After Emperor Yousheng ascended the throne, the Huang family had risen rapidly under his rule, from a wealthy village household to a local magnate. It was an honor worthy of its own page in the family genealogy.

Once his eldest son, who served as a clerk in the county, established himself.

Once his second son, studying in Yingtian Prefecture, passed the imperial examination.

The future of the Huang family could be described as bright indeed, just like the realm of Great Ming itself.

"Master." A steward-looking man pushed open the door and entered.

Huang Wencai closed the Fish Scale Register. "How did it go?"

The old steward bowed and reported, "The Xiao Family's young mistress still refuses."

Hearing this, Huang Wencai's expression instantly turned cold. "Refuses? She still won't agree after being offered twenty taels of snow-white silver?"

"The Xiao Family threw out all the silver we sent. They said that no matter how poor they were, they would never sell their daughter-in-law."

"What a joke. Who said anything about buying his wife? I've heard that the Xiao Family's wife has broad, round hips and is good at bearing sons. The fortune-teller said I'm destined to have three sons, yet my household is raising a few barren hens. I'm merely asking her to help."

The steward said helplessly, "We've said everything there is to say, but the Xiao Family won't agree. Perhaps we should forget it. Times are hard, after all, and plenty of people are selling their children."

"Don't concern yourself with this matter anymore. I'll arrange it myself. The Xiao Family doesn't know how to appreciate favors, so this saves me twenty taels of snow-white silver!"

Huang Wencai suddenly rose and picked up the blue-and-white porcelain cup. Remembering that it was worth eight taels of silver, he set it down again.

A nameless fury rose within him. Why did these ants of Meixi Village dare to resist him? Why would they not let themselves be manipulated? He had already been willing to spend money to settle the matter. What greater concession and respect could there be? Could they not feel it at all? Did they insist on forcing him to use those methods?

"Go see whether Hu Chang has returned. Have him come see me immediately."

The old steward withdrew through the door. He had a fairly good idea of how his master intended to proceed.

That night, the row of rooms in the Huang residence's east wing was brightly lit, with constant uproar coming from inside.

More than twenty retainers gambled day and night in the manor, rolling dice and playing mahjong. Huang Wencai did not forbid it. Instead, he ran the gambling house himself and took a cut.

"Red center."

"No."

"Once it's sold, there's no going back. Once it's sold, there's no going back."

"Five, five, six. Big! The red side takes all."

"Master, this is bad! This is bad..."

Not long after the old steward had gone out, he came rolling and crawling back through the door, his face a mixture of terror and panic.

"Master, Hu Chang, Hu Chang..."

Huang Wencai put down the Fish Scale Register and frowned. "Hu Chang is back? Just have him come see me."

"No, his head, his head..."

"Old Wu, what exactly are you saying?" Huang Wencai was somewhat displeased. Old Wu was incompetent at handling matters. If he had not served the Huang family for decades, Huang Wencai would have dismissed him long ago.

The old steward finally caught his breath and blurted out, "Hu Chang's head was chopped off. It was mounted on a bamboo pole and planted right outside the gate."

"Can't you say that properly... Wait, what did you say?"

The old steward repeated, "Hu Chang is dead. His head has come back."

The blue-and-white porcelain cup fell to the ground and finally shattered into more than a dozen pieces.

Outside the Huang residence.

A green bamboo pole, about seven feet tall, stood planted in the mud.

A bloody human head had been impaled on its upper end. Its round eyes were wide open, staring at Huang Wencai and the retainers. Blood dripped down the bamboo pole one drop at a time, pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

A piece of paper seemed to be tied to the bamboo pole as well, but in the darkness, no one could make out what it said.

Huang Wencai looked left and right. "You... who's going to see what... what's written on that... that piece of paper?"

Hu Chang had been the leader of the retainers and the most skilled among these men. With his death, everyone immediately panicked. They crowded around the residence gate. One claimed to suffer from night blindness, another said he could not read. Not a single one volunteered to step forward. In the end, the old steward carried over a lantern, took one look, and hurried back to report.

Huang Wencai asked, "Old Wu, what does the note say... say? Is it a demand for money?"

The old steward said in a trembling voice, "Master, it says, 'A life for a life; good and evil will be repaid.'"

"A life for a life; good and evil will be repaid."

Huang Wencai immediately panicked. He feared precisely these reckless men who did not seek money.

Was it one of the families whose land he had seized and driven to death?

Or one of the merchant caravans he had led his retainers to rob while disguised as bandits?

Or one of the young women locked in the woodshed...

At that moment, one of the retainers stepped forward and shouted, "I am Ma Youde, known in the martial world as the White Horse Divine Spear. I don't know which hero has business with Master Huang, but if there's some misunderstanding, come out and explain it face-to-face. Don't hide like a cowardly rat. If word gets out in the martial world, people will laugh at you."

Huang Wencai looked approvingly at the pockmarked man. "Well done. A fierce wind reveals the strongest grass. Ma Youde, tomorrow I'll promote you to leader of the retainers."

Ma Youde cupped his hands. "Master, don't worry. Since the other side is hiding, they definitely can't have many people. There are more than twenty of us. We have no need to fear him."

His words awakened several quick-witted retainers from their stupor, and they instantly grew bolder.