Chapter 36

Blood sprayed from the necks of the two dead men. The two bandits with the bow and the musket were already petrified with fear. Especially when Bai Lang tossed the head, still attached to its spine, right at them. The archer tried several times to nock an arrow. Though it should have been a smooth, practiced motion, he just couldn't get the arrow onto the bowstring. The man with the musket was shaking so badly he could barely hold it.

The archer let out a yell, dropped his bow, and turned to run. The man with the musket shut his eyes and fired a shot, then dropped the weapon and fled too. The fearsome man before them was simply too terrifying. In their bewilderment, they even thought they saw a tiger. "You think you can get away?" Bai Lang covered the distance in a few strides and kicked the man who had dropped the musket, breaking his leg. Then he stretched out an arm and clamped a hand around the skull of the old bandit who'd abandoned the bow. He didn't squeeze hard, but his fingers still broke the man's scalp, and blood ran down his cheeks.

Bai Lang dragged the man back to where the three of them had been sitting around the fire, roasting food. He casually kicked the bodies aside—one of them wouldn't die just yet. Though the Purple Gold Mace had smashed him in half, it would take a little while for him to expire. "I ask, you answer. Who are you people?" Bai Lang broke both of the old bandit's legs and left him sprawled on the ground as he asked.

At the same time, Bai Lang poured water from a clay jar nearby and washed his hands. He also rinsed the brains and blood off his Purple Gold Mace. The bandit was a sly one. He only begged for mercy, claiming he'd been forced into a life of banditry. Bai Lang laughed and said nothing. He swung the Purple Gold Mace and smashed one of the man's hands. The bandit immediately cried out that he was one of the Tongshan Bandits, begging to be spared and promising to tell Bai Lang everything he knew.

Bai Lang couldn't be bothered to listen. Once he learned they were Tongshan Bandits, he asked where they were. "Shandong? This is Denglai, Shandong? It's September already." After finding that out, he casually smashed the man's skull with one blow of his mace, leaving the corpse to slump to the ground. Then he went back to the fire and scooped up the dry rations cooking in the clay pot. The Golden Bell Shield's third stage had been completed; ordinary boiling water wouldn't scald him, at least not right away.

After eating, he searched the bodies. The men's clothes had been filthy to begin with—bandits didn't make a habit of bathing and changing every day—and Bai Lang had been so brutal that he'd soaked their clothes in blood. There was probably nothing wearable among them. Bai Lang was stumped. "Am I supposed to go into town like this? I don't have any proof of identity, like a waist token, and I don't have any clothes. Who'd let me in?"

Then he remembered the bandits had mules. He went around back to check, and sure enough, there were seven mules and not a single horse. The bandits also had silver and valuables on them. Bai Lang searched them. He only knew silver, gold, and copper coins, but among the loot were quite a few women's silver hairpins and the like. It was clear these men had committed all sorts of wicked deeds. They'd gotten off too lightly by dying.

There were saddle bags on the mules, with some loose silver and dry rations inside, but no spare clothes. Bai Lang cursed, gathered up all the dead men's weapons, and put them on a mule. Then he rode off along the road, leading the other mules. Yanzhou was that way, and it was closer than Dengzhou or Laiyang. He'd chopped off the heads that were still mostly intact and hung them from the mules. They swayed as he rode along.

By the next day, Yanzhou City was already in sight. There were a few people along the road, but the locals had fortified their villages for self-defense and wouldn't let Bai Lang approach. Who would let a naked man come near? And this man was riding a mule, leading six more, with severed heads hanging from them. It was better not to go anywhere near such a strange fellow.

At Yanzhou's city gate, Bai Lang dismounted some distance away and led the mules toward it. Under the guards' wary gaze, he shouted, "I'm here to enlist! I've come to join the army!" Then he led one of the mules forward. "These are the heads of Tongshan Bandits. They're my proof of merit!" The constables, the militiamen, and even the soldiers inside the city were all dumbstruck. The man was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, completely lacking in decorum, yet here he was calling out that he wanted to enlist and had brought proof of merit.

Several men came over to look. What a strapping fellow Bai Lang was—he stood head and shoulders above most men of the time—and his fair, delicate skin made it obvious he wasn't from a poor family. On the road, Bai Lang had been trying to think of a convincing story about where he came from. Should I say I'm a scholar? I don't know the Four Books and Five Classics well enough, and I don't have a scholar's waist token. One old scholar in town could expose me in a few words. Then should I say I'm a merchant from the south? That'd be difficult too. What if they ask what I trade in? These Purple Gold Maces won't exactly fool anyone. A business that requires no capital? Better to say I'm the son of a wealthy landowner from some southern village. I've loved practicing with weapons since I was a boy, so I came north to see the world. Then some bandits stole my clothes while I was bathing, and I killed them in a fit of rage. I wonder if they'll believe that.

Several men pointed their spears and halberds at Bai Lang and invited him inside. This was only because they'd inspected the heads and confirmed they really were bandits. Once Bai Lang entered the city, a man in blue-green clothes who looked like an official kept his distance and asked about his identity. Bai Lang gave him the story he'd come up with on the road.

Bai Lang saw the man wear a faintly amused expression, but then he coughed and said, "Since you're here to enlist, Brave warrior Bai, why not seek a future in Jinan?" Bai Lang knew the man hadn't believed a word he'd said. Left with no other choice, he said, "Could you at least let me buy some clothes and rest for a while? This is hardly proper attire."

Hearing Bai Lang speak in such a refined manner, the official nodded. "That would be fine. You, take this brave warrior to buy some clothes."

Bai Lang knew how to handle himself. "I'll give these mules to the authorities. As for my weapons, these gentlemen can hold on to them for me." The constables laughed and led the mules away. But as soon as one of them picked up the Purple Gold Mace, it slipped from his hands. "Good heavens! What is this thing? It's so heavy!" He nearly crushed his foot. The Purple Gold Mace hit the ground, sending dust flying.

"This is a Polished Purple Gold Mace. It weighs sixty-four jin, and it's my weapon," Bai Lang said, looking at the mace on the ground.

The entire place fell silent.

Storytellers were always talking about how Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade in the Three Kingdoms weighed eighty-two jin. But this man's iron mace weighed sixty-four jin, and he could wield it with one hand? Could he be a legendary warrior? The constable bent down and tried to lift the mace with both hands. "Sir, this iron mace really does weigh sixty-four jin!"

The official stared blankly for a moment, then a thoughtful look came over his face. "You lot, take Brave warrior Bai to buy some clothes. No, wait—you go and buy them, then bring them back to him. Don't let Brave warrior Bai go out and lose face. Brave warrior Bai, please wait here a moment. I'll be right back." With that, he hurried off.

Damn.