The Qian Brothers

Returning home.

Li Yun immediately processed the wild rabbit, gutting it, cleaning the entrails, and skinning it...

Using pine resin, he ignited the firewood.

He had to finish these tasks before it turned completely dark.

Candles and oil lamps were precious commodities for ordinary people.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, having enjoyed a good night's sleep, Li Yun tidied himself up and set off for Wushan County.

Several villages were scattered around the Wushan area.

Thirty or forty miles to the east lay the only city in the vicinity, Wushan County.

Just as Li Yun was fantasizing about joining a martial arts school and practicing the martial way, a person who should not have been there appeared in the distance.

It was the eldest of the Qian Brothers.

Li Yun sensed something was wrong, so he took a turn onto another mountain path before the other party could spot him.

He hadn't gone far when he discovered another person.

It was Qian Second.

They are coming for me!

When Li Yun turned back, he indeed found Qian Third blocking his path from behind.

"Li Yun, what are you doing heading to Wushan County so early in the morning?"

"The grain at home has run out, so I plan to go to Wushan County to buy some. What are you three brothers doing here?"

These three were local thugs in Li Yun's village who relied on their numbers to act like bullies.

He Xiuyong, who came to the village to collect protection fees, had once accidentally revealed an interest in their sister, so these three fellows had forced the issue and married her off to him.

Since then, with a Body Tempering martial artist as their backer, the trio's arrogance had grown even more rampant.

Small ghosts are hard to deal with, so Li Yun had always kept his distance.

He hadn't expected to be cornered here today.

"Who are you pretending to be? Our Mountain Gang has a monopoly on all mountain goods in Wushan. You brat, you've secretly sold wild game in Wushan County several times. The quantity and variety don't match what you registered when you left the mountains. Good grief, you even dare to hoard prey?!"

?

That meat stall owner was truly a piece of work.

Li Yun had considered this issue when he first sold his goods.

He had sold the goods at eighty percent of the market price, and the owner had nodded and agreed not to leak any information.

With his storage space, Li Yun could naturally keep everything and process it all at once.

However, a person has to eat.

The prey he showed openly wasn't enough to keep him full.

Drawing a bow and shooting arrows was physically demanding work.

As his only current survival skill, Li Yun practiced it constantly at home whenever he had the chance.

His physical exertion was high, and he couldn't just eat meat, which was why he had secretly sold the prey.

"Slander! Someone is slandering me!"

"Alright, stop your yapping. Now, I'll give you two choices. First, pay the protection fee in full immediately and join the Mountain Gang as our underling. Once you're one of us, we'll turn a blind eye. Second, we'll take the money ourselves."

Glancing over, Li Yun saw that the Qian Brothers had physiques similar to his own, and noticed the clubs in the hands of Qian Second and Qian Third.

Li Yun revealed a "fawning" expression:

"Three big brothers, I'll pay, I'll pay! But could you wait until I've bought my grain and returned? I can't run away anyway!"

Qian Second tapped his club against his left palm, making a "slap-slap" sound.

Step by step, he approached Li Yun:

"Kid, taking our money to buy grain for yourself? I see you're tired of living."

"Li Yun, tell me your choice now."

Eldest Qian seemed to have no patience left.

Li Yun calculated his odds of winning; if he could just create some distance...

"Eldest Qian, I choose the first option: I'll hand over the money and join you."

"That's more like it. Hand it over."

Watching Eldest Qian extend his palm, Li Yun pretended to rummage through his pockets.

He pulled out a few dozen copper coins:

"Brother, I really was just going to buy grain. All the money I have is right here."

Eldest Qian snatched up the copper coins and immediately began to frisk him.

Finding that there really was nothing else, he said with a cold, mocking smile:

"I believe you, but this money has to be handed up; we can't delay. If it weren't for my brother-in-law holding things off, the Mountain Gang would have already hung you up to make an example of you to the other unruly peasants. So, once you join us, you'd better perform well to repay this favor."

Eldest Qian kept one hand on the back of Li Yun's neck, steering him toward the village.

He didn't forget to feed Li Yun some empty promises:

"We're heading to your place now to collect the silver from your secret sales and the fine. Once we finish up today, we brothers will take you out for some fun tonight to celebrate your joining."

"A fine?"

Li Yun had intentionally kept his numbers low, and he hadn't sold much game.

The situation was forced, so he had accepted giving them the money.

But the Qian brothers seemed even greedier than he had imagined.

"What else? If everyone hides their goods and sneaks off to the county to sell them—if they don't get caught, they profit; if they do get caught, they just hand over the silver and call it a day—wouldn't everything fall into chaos?"

Eldest Qian looked at Li Yun as if he were a bumpkin who had never seen the world.

"But since you've joined our Mountain Gang, we're all our own people, so naturally, we can cut you some slack. How about this: I'll round it down for you. Just twenty taels will do."

Heh.

Three low-level members of the Mountain Gang didn't have that kind of authority.

"But, Brother, what if I don't have twenty taels?"

"You really love to joke."

The previously grinning Eldest Qian's face dropped the moment Li Yun said he didn't have the money, but then, as if realizing something, his expression turned lecherous:

"Don't say Brother isn't giving you a way out. You, you've got a bit of a look to you. Recently, quite a few young masters fleeing from the south have arrived in the city. Many of them have a taste for this sort of thing. If you can seize the opportunity, you might just fly up to the branches and become a noble yourself!"

Qian Second and Qian Third heard this and broke into strange, cackling laughter.

Li Yun also grinned, baring his teeth:

"Many thanks for looking out for me, Eldest Qian. If I get the chance, I will certainly thank you properly."

After walking for a while, he suddenly clutched his stomach and hissed in pain:

"Sss... Oh, Eldest Qian, I can't, I can't—I've got a bad stomach."

Without waiting for a response, Li Yun bolted toward the hillside.

A flicker of suspicion crossed Eldest Qian's face, but since he knew Li Yun's background well, he didn't take it to heart and simply ordered his brother to follow:

"Qian Third, go follow him and keep an eye on him."

Qian Third nodded and went straight after him.

Li Yun did not run very far, perhaps forty or fifty paces, choosing a small hillock that offered a perfect vantage point of the entire area.

Standing on the small slope, looking down from a height with a vast field of vision, Li Yun put away his smile and asked the three men seriously:

"Three elder brothers, I have paid the protection fee for selling my prey in full.

But twenty taels, I truly do not have.

Can you give me a chance?"

Doing something like this for the first time, Li Yun wanted to give himself an excuse, and also give them one last chance.

The Qian Brothers failed to grasp Li Yun's meaning, thinking only that this brat was truly asking for a beating:

"Second, Third, I see this brat won't shed tears until he sees his own coffin. Do it!"

Before finishing, Eldest Qian added: "Since we've already started, hit him hard. Don't leave any trouble behind."

"Fine."

"I've been wanting to move for a while now; it was you who wouldn't let me."

The chance had been given; it was they who did not know how to cherish it.

Hearing the Qian Brothers' response, Li Yun no longer hesitated, suppressing all other thoughts.

He took out his bow and arrow, nocked the string, drew the bow, and aimed...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!