A Gentleman Among Bandits

The hooligan with dogshit plasters all over his head stared at the girl before him, her cheeks whiter than snow and dressed in mourning clothes. His eyes brimmed with lechery as he laughed. "This little beauty is worth ten taels of silver!"

"Zhang Er, how much lousy money do you make in a month? Could you even afford to keep her?" The dark-faced brute beside the hooligan sneered mockingly, then glanced at the corpse wrapped only in a straw mat beside the girl and sighed. "Truly pitiful."

"You don't think she's pitiful—you're drooling over her body!"

Hooligan Zhang Er had a voice like an ox, and the surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

"I won't bother arguing with you." The dark-faced brute laughed and cursed. "Remember to come have a couple drinks at my place after you collect the debts."

"Got it!" Zhang Er was about to leave when his eyes suddenly widened. He turned and hurried forward, tugging desperately at the girl. "Little miss, if you want to live, run! Run!"

The girl lowered her head and ignored him. No one could see her face.

A man built like a mountain of flesh, his face covered in slabs of fat, swaggered through the already narrow bustling streets of Yucheng County with over a dozen servants. From afar, he spotted the large characters reading "Selling Myself to Bury My Mother" beside the girl and immediately strode over.

"Zhang Er, this has nothing to do with you. Get the hell out of here!"

The hooligan grinned. "Yes, Master Li! This lowly one will get out right away! Ow!"

"Too damn noisy!" Master Li kicked Zhang Er in the backside. As he lowered his gaze, he happened to see the girl's delicate features and fair skin. His heart itched with delight, and he stepped forward with a leering smile. "Little beauty! How are you selling yourself? Will you sleep with—"

"In broad daylight, you dare molest a respectable woman? Is there no law left?"

Blacksmith Tan emerged from the roadside with a huge hammer raised in his hand. His two eyes were wide as bronze bells as he glared at the dozen or so men opposite him!

Master Li's beard and hair stood on end. "You old bastard, you still owe me five thousand coins, and you dare blow your beard and glare your eyes at me! If you piss me off, I'll sell your wife and children to pay off the debt!"

"Bastard, I'll fight you to the death today!" Blacksmith Tan raised his hammer and smashed it down. Master Li turned deathly pale, his legs going limp as noodles, while his servants hurriedly supported him as they backed away.

The neighbors all came forward to persuade him. Blacksmith Tan took out a handful of copper coins from his robes and tossed them before the girl, then turned and left.

The girl kowtowed toward the blacksmith's departing figure, and two drops of tears soaked into the earth.

Seeing how pitiful and delicate she looked, the crowd began taking out silver and coins.

Master Li flew into a rage. "You sons of bitches! Let me see who else dares give her anything!"

The crowd scattered in terror.

"Little beauty! You still haven't answered this master!" Master Li grinned lecherously, the slabs of flesh on his face made all the uglier by their greasy shine.

"I sell myself, not my body!"

The one who rose proudly to his feet and spoke in a clear, ringing voice like a man's was astonishingly the "girl" who had been kneeling on the ground all along!

The crowd cried out in surprise, and many stopped to watch.

The youth was only fifteen or sixteen years old. His skin was snow-white, his brows like dragons and eyes like phoenixes. He stood seven feet and nine inches tall, carrying the air of a man steeped in books and a backbone of unbending righteousness!

"Y-you're a man!" Master Li was shocked. Tilting his head back, he carefully examined the youth, whose beauty rivaled that of a woman, and clicked his tongue in wonder. "What a pity! I'm not interested in men, but I hear Princess Wude has been gathering men with the finest figures and looks everywhere to serve as her male favorites!"

"Master, why not buy him and send him to—" The people around Master Li were all snakes and rats, crooked-hearted to the core. They immediately began offering advice.

Master Li narrowed his rat eyes into slits as he studied the youth. A faint chill rose in his heart, and he shook his head. "Bad luck today! Back to the manor!"

Just as Master Li was about to turn back the way he came, men and women on the street opposite came fleeing in terror toward him.

"Pig-Dog is here! Everyone, run!"

"Run!"

Pig-Dog was the son of the Great Zhou Dynasty's Imperial Preceptor, Zhu Xun. Because he ran rampant through the provinces and counties, bullied men and violated women, and because the character xun in his name was difficult to write and resembled the gou in "shameless coupling," the people of Great Zhou had given him the nickname Pig-Dog!

"Zhu the Grand Year Star! What is he doing in some tiny place like Yucheng County?"

The sword-bearing guards around Zhu Xun constantly drove the common people aside. Master Li's mind spun rapidly. He glanced at the youth, who had knelt down again behind him, and a vicious scheme arose in his heart. "Little bastard, you dared shout at me just now. Let's see how I deal with you!"

"Uninvolved persons, make way!"

The guards behaved with utter brutality. Not only did they drive off passersby, they also looted goods and property from the shops and stalls on both sides of the street. From time to time came the shrieks of girls and Zhu Xun's wicked laughter.

"This one's not bad. Take her back!"

"Father! Save me! Help!"

"Let go of my daughter! Please, sir—"

"You old fossil, get lost!"

While Zhu Xun was running wild, Master Li hurried forward with a smiling face. He drew out a jade pendant, bent at the waist, and raised it over his head with both hands. "I am Li Houde, a merchant of this county. Greetings, Young Master Zhu!"

As the saying went, money could make even ghosts turn millstones. With a single meeting, Master Li and Zhu Xun found that they stank alike.

"So it's Brother Li. A pleasure!" Zhu Xun snatched the jade pendant, inspected it carefully, nodded in praise, and lightly patted Li Houde on the head.

Li Houde kept himself bent over, allowing the other man to fondle him as he gave an awkward, fawning smile.

"Brother Li, is there anything fun around here?"

"Isn't that one?" Master Li laughed, pointing at the mourning-clad youth in the distance.

Sure enough, Pig-Dog's eyes went blank, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth as though his soul had flown away.

"Heh! Zhu the Grand Year Star is one of the most notorious men in the realm. He loves taking both men and women alike. Kid, you're out of luck today!" Li Houde sneered.

"Little beauty, if you keep me company today... I'll release all those gaudy sluts. How about it?"

Zhu Xun approached with a grin. Seeing that the other party ignored him completely, he did not grow angry and merely laughed. "An ice beauty, are you? Then don't blame me!"

The youth casually stretched out a hand and flung Pig-Dog to the ground!

"Ow, my ass!"

The people of the entire county burst into laughter.

"This little bitch has quite the strength. If I don't screw you until you're half-dead tonight, then my surname isn't Zhu!"

Pig-Dog flew into a rage. After scrambling to his feet, his hands remained improper as he reached straight for the youth's chest!

The youth crossed and locked his arms, forcing Pig-Dog's two arms rigidly straight. With only a slight exertion of strength, a string of cracking bones could be heard!

"Ow! It hurts! It hurts! Young hero! I was wrong! Let go! Let go!"

The youth snorted, released his hands, and shoved Pig-Dog away. He fell face-first into the dirt again!

"Serves him right!"

"Good!"

The common people shouted their approval.

"Who dares cheer? Who dares?" Pig-Dog roared sharply, and the people hurriedly shut their windows in terror.

"Get him! Beat this little bastard to death!"

More than a dozen guards rushed forward with raised fists.

The youth looked slightly surprised. He pulled something resembling a thick iron rod from beside the straw mat and struck several times with effortless ease. Every guard had bones broken and tendons torn, collapsing to the ground howling!

"These bullies who only fear the strong and prey on the weak are this useless?" Li Houde hid behind the crowd in terror. "What a pity my gold-medal fighters A-Zhong and A-Yi aren't here!"

The youth's divine might was awe-inspiring as he drove back the group.

Pig-Dog roared in fury. "Get weapons!"

"Young Master, the old master ordered that we must not cause trouble on this trip!"

"Cut the crap! Are you the young master, or am I the young master? If lives are lost, I'll cover it!"

Behind the crowd, more than fifty guards drew their swords. Like a pack of wolves, they glared viciously at the youth!

"Kill!"

The bandits roared like thunder as countless steel blades slashed down together! The youth narrowly dodged the vital blows, but his shoulder was still cut several times, blood immediately streaming down!

Pig-Dog was overjoyed, a pleasure beyond words rising in his heart. He shouted, "Don't scratch his face! Tonight, I'll—damn it, go easier!"

The youth's fury erupted, and his pair of eyes instantly became double-pupiled!

"Careful!" The lead guard sensed that something was wrong and shouted for everyone to evade in the instant of danger.

The black iron rod swept through the air. Countless broken blades plunged into the earth beneath the sunset, while more than a dozen men were blasted back by a single strike. Their arms went numb, and terror had already taken root in their hearts.

A soft "Eh?" from within the crowd was drowned out by everyone's shouts.

"Could this kid have reached the Qi Refinement stage?" Though the guards still held steel blades, they retreated step by step! Pig-Dog hid behind the wall of people and barked, "Go! Go! Go!"

The youth's rod flashed like lightning. In more than ten consecutive strikes, he wounded over a dozen enemies, every one of them felled with a single blow! The guards had always bullied the kind and feared the wicked; now, their courage had utterly shattered!

Zhu Xun was terrified and was just about to beg for mercy when Li Houde seized a girl not yet twelve years old from beside the street. His expression twisted viciously. "Little bastard! Take one more step forward, and I'll kill this little girl at once!"

The youth was shocked. In that brief moment of hesitation, the guards drew their blades again and instantly knocked the six-foot iron rod from his hand. They punched and kicked him, even beating him with the flat sides of their blades. Blood spilled from the youth's mouth. His hands dug into the yellow earth, his teeth clenched tight—yet he did not beg for mercy!

"Get out of my way!" Zhu Xun picked up a long blade and stabbed it into the youth's back, the tip sinking three inches into flesh. Then he slashed three times, each cut aimed at the tendons in the youth's hands and feet.

The common people could not bear to watch any longer. The youth lay on the ground like a lump of ruined mud, yet flames seemed to burn within his eyes.

Pig-Dog gave a loud, savage laugh. "Tie him up!"

"This poor Daoist greets you. Could you give this youth to me?"

Everyone looked up in astonishment.

A Daoist in black robes stood atop a point a hundred feet above the county town, smiling down at them all.