The Storyteller

Three days later.

As the news that Chen Guan had "wiped out the Liu Family and killed the Bamboo Swordsman" spread far and wide,

Little Liuzi Town grew lively.

In every street and alley, most people were talking about Chen Guan.

Traveling merchants and wandering martial artists who heard about the young Strange Hero also talked about him with relish, spreading the tale beyond the town as they traveled through the martial world.

Now, several storytellers in town had even begun asking around for details, adding embellishments, and starting to write a book called Biography of Chen Guan.

A Post-Heaven Great Accomplishment at just seventeen made him a Strange Hero in a small town like theirs.

Especially since his life had only just begun at seventeen, and was already so colorful.

What would happen next?

As storytellers, they told tales of the unusual and the exciting.

Naturally, this was something worth recording.

But more than that, it was also a form of "hitching a ride on the latest craze" in ancient times.

They saw that Chen Guan was all the rage, so they started telling stories about him.

Just like the tale The Knight-Errant's Pact of the Black Bear Spirit.

It had been very popular back then, so they told stories about the Black Bear Spirit.

Although the Black Bear Spirit was no longer "trending" these days,

some storytellers still told the tale, and some elders still recounted it to the younger generation.

It was nowhere near as popular as it had been ten years ago.

Still, as time passed, the Black Bear Spirit's tale gradually changed from a thrilling, astonishing story told in books and teahouses into a familiar folk tale.

A strange and wondrous story belonging to Little Liuzi Town.

Evening.

Chen Guan left home and headed north through town.

Then,

Chen Guan found himself treated like some rare animal: wherever he went, people watched him.

He glanced around.

Some looked afraid, others excited.

Still others seemed to want to speak, but didn't dare.

And along the road, anyone coming toward him who spotted him would hurry to step aside.

Even those who didn't move aside

would have their friends anxiously tug at their sleeves and whisper a reminder:

"Don't you know who he is? He's the Fifth Young Master of the Zhao Family... the ruthless man who wiped out an entire household..."

"So that's him?"

"Such a remarkable, chivalrous hero... I'd have thought he could only be Young Hero Chen..."

"I heard the Fifth Young Master eats wolf and leopard meat raw... and kills people at the slightest disagreement..."

Once the few who hadn't moved aside learned Chen Guan's identity, their faces went pale with fright, and they hurried off with their friends.

They were afraid they might accidentally offend Chen Guan and be beaten to death by him.

"Is that really necessary? Am I that fearsome? What do they mean, I kill people at the slightest disagreement?"

Seeing them act like this, and noticing the looks cast his way as he walked down the street, Chen Guan glanced at the few people whispering nearby.

"Martial artists have keen ears and sharp eyes. I heard every word those gentlemen just whispered.

"I am, indeed, Chen Guan.

"I'm not some demon lurking in the woods, waiting to devour people. You don't need to be so..."

Chen Guan laughed at his own words.

The furtive glances and hushed exchanges had made him laugh.

"Did that mad hero just laugh?"

"Who said that Grandfather Chen was hard to get along with?"

When the people around him saw Chen Guan smile and heard how casually he spoke, they paused in surprise. Then a few of them stepped forward to greet him, and the street grew lively.

"Young Hero Chen..."

"Good evening, Fifth Young Master!"

"Have you eaten, young master?"

"I'm very close with your father. I'm Uncle Zhang. Of course, if you'd rather, you can call me by my name..."

As greetings came from all sides,

Chen Guan didn't know any of them, but he still nodded and returned their greetings politely.

After all, they were only being friendly.

He wasn't some great person. Why put on airs?

Likewise, whenever someone clasped his fists, Chen Guan stopped and returned the salute.

A journey that should have taken an hour

ended up taking him three hours, with all his stops, before he reached a street in the north of town.

Today

was the day he had been invited to Yanhe Pavilion.

Chen Guan hadn't forgotten the restaurant owner, who seemed to wield considerable influence.

If he could establish a connection, the man might even help him sell secret manuals in the future.

Of course, Chen Guan knew that the owner had been close friends with the Bamboo Swordsman.

But he'd also heard that the owner hadn't known about the Bamboo Swordsman's crimes and had been kept in the dark.

Chen Guan had lived several lifetimes. He figured it was best to hear such claims and leave it at that. Believe them, and you'd be the fool.

Besides, his cheap father had told him

that the proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion was a businessman through and through, with profit always foremost.

"In the few days since I got back,

I've already heard that the proprietor announced he'd cut ties with the Bamboo Swordsman."

As Chen Guan thought it over, he looked toward Yanhe Pavilion, not far ahead.

"Especially since the banquet he'd planned before has been changed into a thank-you feast today.

"Everyone in town knows about it. It shouldn't be a trap.

"Besides, even if it is, he was close to the Bamboo Swordsman. I still need to meet him and see whether I should uproot the problem."

Chen Guan's thinking was simple: either make a friend or cut the problem out by the roots.

Or else, they could just be strangers passing on the street, with no debts between them.

As he pondered,

Chen Guan kept nodding to people in the street and returned their greetings, then continued on his way.

But when he reached the teahouse from ten years ago,

"To speak of the young Strange Hero, it must be Chen Guan, Young Hero Chen!"

A familiar voice rang out from inside the teahouse, along with the distinctive clack of an iron fan.

Hearing the storyteller's words, Chen Guan's thoughts drifted back ten years, to the day he'd run away from home.

He hadn't expected this same gentleman to still be telling stories in the teahouse.

That night, the storyteller had told the tale of "The Black Bear Spirit's Pact of Chivalry."

Rustle—

Chen Guan reached into the leather sleeve of his Hundred Beast Garment. There was still a little silver inside.

Since he was here, and the story was about him, he might as well listen.

In a few steps, he reached the doorway.

Chen Guan looked into the teahouse.

"The Liu Family colluded with..."

The storyteller was tapping his iron fan as he narrated. He glanced aside and saw Chen Guan at the door.

At a glance, the storyteller was struck by a curious thought.

Chen Guan wore a Hundred Beast Garment. He had strange, rounded ears, a tall frame, and thick body hair.

He was the Young Hero Chen the storyteller had been talking about, but he also resembled a strange young man the storyteller had seen ten years ago and never gotten to know.

"Could he... could he be that strange-looking young boy?"

The storyteller was astonished.

"The day the Fifth Young Master of the Zhao Family ran away was the day he listened to my story, and he'd been away from home for ten years.

"The dates... they match.

"I never imagined they were the same person.

"Looks like I guessed a few things right, too... Someone with such a wondrous appearance could never fade into obscurity."

The storyteller had a good memory—or perhaps Chen Guan's unusual appearance was simply impossible to forget.

After seeing him once, and recalling him now and then, it was hard to forget him.

And so,

when the storyteller saw this old acquaintance return, he suddenly smiled and broke off his narration.

"Eh?"

"What's wrong with Iron Fan?"

"Why'd he stop?"

"Get on with the story about Young Hero Chen! I came all the way from the west of town today just to hear this part!"

The other guests listening to the story had been nodding along as they sipped their tea, but now that the tale had stopped, they all turned to look at Iron Fan.

"A story can always be told again, but an old acquaintance doesn't come along every day."

Iron Fan laughed heartily. Under the watchful eyes of his listeners, he deftly turned his wrist, closed the fan, tapped its handle against his palm, and held it facing downward. Then he clasped his fists toward the doorway and said:

"Young Hero Chen, thank you for the silver you gave me ten years ago. A decade has passed—may we meet again in good health."