He Was a Good Man, Encountering Demons on the Road

"This old man caught a chill, cough... cough... I hope you'll... forgive me, sir."

The old man surnamed Zhu gave an awkward laugh, his face full of obsequiousness.

On the bed lay a child of about five or six. Curled up beneath the quilt, he trembled and looked fearfully at Li Xian and the others.

The house was crude, but it could barely keep out the cold wind. Yet when Zhao Dachun opened the door, the wind swept inside, scattering the hard-won warmth in an instant.

Li Xian casually shut the door.

Only then did the chill ease slightly. Zhao Dachun froze, deeply displeased. This brat keeps causing trouble. If I don't let them freeze a little, how will they hurry up and pay the rent?

"Cough, cough." Zhao Dachun glanced around. "Where's Little Zhu from your Household? Hiding somewhere in the middle of winter?"

The old man surnamed Zhu said sorrowfully, "My son... my son... was eaten by a mountain tiger. Only this old man and his grandson remain."

"Father! Father, you died so miserably!" The child on the bed burst into loud sobs.

"Good child, good child, don't cry, don't cry. Cough, cough... We only have each other now. You still have Grandpa." The old man hurried over to comfort his grandson.

"So that's how it is." Zhao Dachun smiled. "That is rather pitiful. Last time I saw him, he was full of life. Who knew he'd die so young? The dead cannot be brought back. Hurry and mourn him properly."

Hearing those cold remarks, the grandfather and grandson were overcome with grief, yet they did not dare utter a word in retort.

"However..."

"Though the man is dead, the rent cannot be short. Don't think that acting pitiful will work on me."

"Hurry up. Hand over grain if you have grain; hand over money if you don't."

Zhao Dachun spoke coldly.

"Yes... yes... We prepared it long ago, just waiting for you to come, sir." The old man surnamed Zhu took off his shoes and carefully removed several copper coins.

"Your Household rents ten mu of the madam's land. Each mu requires half a shi of grain, so ten mu comes to five shi. Converted into silver... that is two taels."

Zhao Dachun could not read a single word, but when it came to converting money and grain, he was extremely practiced.

"Yes... yes... This old man understands, understands."

The old man went to the bed again, flipped over the pillow, and pulled several bits of silver from a hidden pocket inside it.

After searching all around the room, he finally scraped together two taels of silver. Every last bit of savings had been drained.

"Fine, you're rather straightforward." Zhao Dachun collected the rent, rolled his eyes, yet made no move to leave.

"Sir... you..." The old man surnamed Zhu looked at him in confusion.

"I traveled all this way to carry your rent money for you. What, there's no errand fee?" Zhao Dachun glared.

"This..." The old man surnamed Zhu said with difficulty, "But we truly have nothing left. Only some grain for the winter remains. My grandson and I are counting on it to survive the winter."

"Nothing left?" Zhao Dachun slapped the table and rose in fury. "I think you simply don't want to pay! Fine, you ungrateful wretch. You think I, Zhao Dachun, am easy to bully?"

"Sir, I've been wronged, sir." The old man surnamed Zhu dropped to his knees with a thud and begged humbly. "This old man will kneel and kowtow to you. I truly would not dare deceive you."

"Wronged my ass!" Zhao Dachun cursed. "Your son is already dead, so why keep that little nest egg for a coffin? Why not obediently..."

As he spoke, someone suddenly pressed a hand onto his shoulder. Zhao Dachun knew it was Li Xian. Already dissatisfied with him, he immediately cursed,

"Fuck your mother, I've put up with you for a long time!" He shook his shoulder, trying to fling off Li Xian's hand.

Yet Li Xian's hand clung to him like a suction cup.

"Fine, brat, you really think you're somebody now!?" Zhao Dachun's inner energy surged upward, and he shook his shoulder again.

But he discovered that his inner energy vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea. Li Xian exerted the slightest force, and powerful inner energy pressed down on him.

Zhao Dachun's face alternated between green and white as pain stabbed through him.

This brat... his command of inner energy is actually greater than mine. Could it be... he has already practiced some martial art to the realm of Minor Accomplishment!? Zhao Dachun gathered his strength to resist, his whole body trembling faintly.

He could no longer speak.

"Since the rent has already been collected, don't waste time on pointless matters."

"Understand?"

Li Xian asked calmly.

Zhao Dachun nodded. Li Xian withdrew his inner energy, and Zhao Dachun let out a soft breath. As if relieved of a great burden, he slumped into a wooden chair.

After resting for a moment, he finally had the strength to curse,

"We're both estate guards, and we got along fairly well earlier. We could even be called brothers. Yet you offend a brother over such lowly peasants? I've never seen anyone like you."

Li Xian said coldly, "If we are not of the same kind, why bother saving face? Let's go."

Zhao Dachun rushed out through the door, secretly cursing his rotten luck at being assigned to the same group as Li Xian.

Li Xian also intended to leave, but then he saw the grandfather and grandson, both little more than skin and bones. One had lost his father early in life, while the other had lost his son in old age. Their misery could hardly have been greater.

He took out two dry flatbreads and tossed them to the pair.

Without saying a word, he turned and left as well.

"The world is dangerous. I am no saint; I cannot help everyone."

"But doing what I can and keeping a clear conscience is not difficult."

Li Xian strode away. While adapting to the ways of the world, he could still hold on to a little of his own principles.

Foolish kindness was not advisable. Li Xian had his own measure for such matters.

The grandfather and grandson leaned against the window, watching that figure disappear into the wind and snow.

This estate guard... seemed somewhat different.

Longevity Village had more than a hundred households. By the time the rent had all been collected, dusk was already approaching.

Everyone gathered at the village entrance, ate some dry provisions and drank water, then prepared to return the way they had come.

"Brother Zhao, what's wrong? You look so unhappy. Didn't you collect any errand fees?"

Seeing Zhao Dachun's gloomy expression, Qiao Dashou approached and asked curiously.

"Alas, I met the wrong sort of person. Nothing more to say." Zhao Dachun replied in a muffled voice and waved his hand.

"It's not that I want to criticize you, but you're too greedy. You even dared keep the errand fees for yourself."

"Exactly. That breaks the rules. Don't worry, Brother Zhao, we'll stand up for you."

The estate guards immediately understood and all looked toward Li Xian.

Feng Huo frowned. "Newcomer, at the very least, errand fees should be split seventy-thirty. No one has ever kept everything for himself. You should give Dachun something, no matter what."

Zhao Dachun said gloomily, "Give him what? We didn't collect any errand fees at all."

"You didn't?" Everyone gaped. After Zhao Dachun explained what had happened, they looked at Li Xian as though he were some sort of freak.

Without realizing it, they all took a step back.

Li Xian paid them no heed at all.

Collecting "errand fees" was an unspoken rule, one of the estate guards' sources of extra income. He knew what he was doing, and he understood the consequences.

"Enough. Let's leave it at that."

"It'll be dark soon. Hurry back to the estate."

Feng Huo glanced at the sky. Unwilling to dwell on the matter, he led the others onto the road back.

After traveling seven or eight li, they passed along the middle of a mountainside. Whether because of the high mountain winds or the thick yin energy,

the wind and snow grew fiercer there, making the road difficult to traverse.

By then, the sky had already darkened. The driving snow lashed their faces painfully. Feng Huo walked at the front. He had been urging them onward from time to time, but at some point, he had fallen silent.

Ye Xiaoluo, the lowest-ranked estate guard, suddenly went weak in the knees and fell to the ground.

"Bastard, always dragging us down!"

"Newcomer, you're strong. Carry him on your back."

Feng Huo said with a trace of urgency.

Li Xian frowned and looked around. "Guard Feng... did you hear footsteps?"

"Bullshit! There are several grown men walking here. Of course there are footsteps." Feng Huo cursed.

But Li Xian could see that Feng Huo was afraid. As soon as the wind and snow intensified, he became frightened. He must have encountered something amid such weather before.

At this moment... he was clearly worried about something, yet he refused to mention it to the others.

"My hearing is sharp. I clearly heard footsteps that did not belong to any of the eight of us."

"Something has already followed us from behind... With Feng Huo's experience, he could surely offer some advice. Yet he pretends to be relaxed and acts as though he knows nothing..."

"That means he only wants to protect himself. If I'm not mistaken, he may use some excuse to run away." Li Xian narrowed his eyes.

Sure enough.

"Damn it, I drank too much water earlier. I need to piss badly. Wait here for a moment. I'm going to take a leak." Feng Huo cursed.

Protecting himself comes first... Li Xian swept his gaze over the others, then shouted in an exaggerated voice, "Ow, I need to piss too. Lord Feng, wait for me!"