Chapter 41

A Husband for the Bandit Queen...

What an old-fashioned term. The last time someone called me that was when Water Monarch came around.

But Water Monarch had been terrifyingly strong. Even after Zhu Jiusi had reached the Third Realm, with both his lifespan and vitality above 200, he still hadn't been able to withstand a single move.

But this Strongwoman in front of him didn't have that kind of strength... Wait!

I'm such a pig!

Once he figured it out, Zhu Jiusi looked at Strongwoman with something close to a pervert's stare.

Strongwoman was already looking at him like he was food.

"Roast pig's head, braised pig intestines, soy-braised pig trotters..."

The more she listed, the more she drooled. At last, she couldn't hold back and stomped forward, crashing toward him.

Zhu Jiusi shook his head, using his flapping ears to chase the ridiculous thought from his mind. He backed up, then charged.

Boom!

The two behemoths collided and bounced apart, both retreating before charging again.

Again and again, their fierce collisions boomed like muffled cannons, keeping everyone else at a distance.

The faces of the people behind Strongwoman changed.

They had dared to cross into another district because Strongwoman gave them absolute confidence. They hadn't expected someone to hold her off alone the moment they arrived.

They tried to circle around, but a flash of cold light suddenly cut across their path. Sword Seven flickered into view, her sword trembling in her hand, and a corpse fell into the water.

The battle erupted in an instant.

Sword Seven's strike was the signal. Both sides crashed together.

The merchants, however, had been ready. Their little boats scattered at once, clearing the battlefield.

The fight began quickly and ended just as fast. With Scholar and White Beard there, they cut down two intruders and tied up three more in barely a few exchanges.

Even after the battle ended, the newcomers still looked dazed. Was this district really that powerful?

It couldn't be that they'd run into every strongest person in the district, could it?

Wasn't a district supposed to have several factions, each led by one powerhouse?

The three captives stared around in astonishment, unable to tell who the district's top-ranked fighter was.

All they could do was look hopefully toward Zhu Jiusi's battle.

Yaya hadn't lost yet. As long as Yaya didn't lose, they could still win...

The three looked over, then fell silent.

Though Strongwoman kept colliding with Zhu Jiusi, he was gradually driving her into the river. She was struggling even to climb back ashore.

She hadn't lost yet, but she couldn't help them now.

Strongwoman watched as the people who'd come with her were tied up one after another, shouting and squirming. Several times she tried to charge over, but Zhu Jiusi stopped her.

One person and one pig—neither could get the better of the other.

The people on the bank stared in stunned silence.

Could people really fight by relying on nothing but brute strength?

Sword Seven turned away. Her cool, aloof persona wouldn't let her make an expression that strange.

Scholar, on the other hand, looked as if he'd eaten a fly. He'd already spat and cursed several times.

Rain Seeker rolled her eyes. "What are you all standing around for? If they can go over there, why can't you? The neighboring market is open too, and they're selling things!"

Her words snapped everyone out of it. Sword Seven flipped her wrist, and a flash of sword light severed the rope tying the little boat to the dolphin.

Six or seven people jumped aboard. Two pairs of big hands grabbed the oars from Small Market's cargo boat, and with a mighty heave, they sent the boat racing into the mist.

"Waah! Don't hurt my dolphin!" Strongwoman yelled, charging toward the water. But halfway there, Zhu Jiusi slammed into her thigh, sending her sprawling into the river.

The girl didn't care at all. She didn't even turn to strike back. She rolled straight over to the dolphin and scooped it up in her arms.

Then she struggled back ashore and crouched off to one side, watching Zhu Jiusi warily.

She didn't look like she had much going on upstairs.

Had all the room in her head been taken up by muscle?

The pig and Strongwoman stared each other down, their eyes locked.

Time passed, little by little.

On the Scroll, the two districts' combined strength scores rose and fell.

At first, District 33 shot far ahead. But once District 66 started selling gourds, its score leaped up and clung close behind.

It pressed forward step by step, and the gap between the two sides shrank to almost nothing.

Rain Seeker curled up in a water vat nearby, idly blowing bubbles. She didn't even bother glancing at the combined strength scores.

Calculating the Path Seekers' mindset across the whole district and figuring out which purchases would maximize their value seemed to put no pressure on her at all.

She just blew bubbles and called it a day.

Only after most of the gourds had been used up, with just over ten minutes left before Small Market closed, did she slowly call a halt. First she slowed the transactions, then stopped them altogether.

Fox Waiter didn't understand why.

District 33's combined strength score paused for a moment too. Then it began to climb rapidly again. Each increase was small, but the gains came more frequently than before.

Monkey didn't understand either.

Rain Seeker blew a bubble, looking bored.

"At first, they were buying items that brought the highest value. That doesn't necessarily mean they were the most useful. Now that we've gradually quieted down, they think we've run out of gourds. They're buying things that aren't the best value for money, but that they urgently need."

"We're about to close. Let's make them burn through their gourds."

Monkey scratched his scalp. "Why didn't we do that from the beginning?"

Rain Seeker gave him a look. "Small Market is almost over now. If we do it this way, they'll believe we really ran out of gourds. If we'd done it from the start, would they really have been stupid enough to fall for it?"

"So we're just going to sit around and wait?"

"Of course not!" Rain Seeker turned to face the mist over the water.

A little boat burst through the mist. Behind it, five or six more boats had been strung together and dragged along in its wake.

"Unload the cargo, you lot on the bank!" White Beard's Fist roared.

Everyone who'd come today had been distinctive. White Beard's Fist was no exception: he really did resemble the White Beard from the anime by about seventy percent, especially with that crescent-shaped mustache that pointed up toward the sky.

The people waiting on the bank rushed over and began unloading the cargo in a clatter.

Unfamiliar stones, tents, rain gear, cooking utensils...

District 66's combined strength score suddenly surged on the Scroll, instantly overtaking District 33.

District 66 Path Seeker Zone: 3724301

District 33 Path Seeker Zone: 3670034

District 33's combined strength score paused for a moment, then burst into motion too, surging forward in successive leaps.

It was about to catch up again.

In the water vat, Rain Seeker popped a bubble and looked at Fox Waiter. "Second cargo list. Hand it over."

"On it!" Fox Waiter answered cheerfully and swiftly completed the handoff.

District 66's combined strength climbed another seventy thousand.

The next moment, the great river suddenly reversed course, carrying the cargo boats into the thick mist.

Time was up. Small Market had closed.

Strongwoman, huddled to one side with the dolphin in her arms, stared at the river, bewildered.

The dolphin leapt from her embrace and pushed her into the river's reversed current.

The instant she entered the water, the rushing river vanished as if it had never been there.

The mountain path returned.

Small Market was over, and they had won!

But Zhu Jiusi had no time to celebrate. Along with Small Market, everyone who'd come to discuss the Path vanished.

The Path discussion and Small Market ended almost simultaneously.

A mountain of goods lay on the path, leaving Zhu Jiusi dumbfounded.

"Um..." Zhu Jiusi sent Rain Seeker a message.

These goods weren't his alone; they belonged to all of District 66.

They'd just sold a lot of goods, but hadn't shipped them yet.

He couldn't handle this by himself.

"I'm here!" came the sound of bubbles behind him.

Zhu Jiusi turned around and saw a big red carp in a water vat.

This fish really was thoughtful.

"You're smarter than you were a few days ago," Zhu Jiusi said seriously, tilting his head.

At first, this fish had been dazed and hadn't even dared to leave the pond.

Today, she was completely different.

Rain Seeker blew a bubble. "I swallowed a bottle of Moon Essence Dew last night. Vitality +4, and I got a third of my intelligence back."

Zhu Jiusi: "??"

A third? She'd really made a grand entrance with that!

Wait—why had he swallowed a bottle of Moon Essence Dew too, but only gained 2 vitality?