Zhang Wu had never imagined that the man who had scared Da Hu and his gang so badly they nearly pissed and shat themselves would turn out to be a blind street singer.
"I'd like to speak with your boss. Could you introduce me?"
The blind man's low voice drifted over on the wind.
Zhang Wu snorted. "Our boss has no time for you! You hurt my brothers. You owe us an explanation."
The blind man stroked his walking stick and murmured, "The third, the sixth, the twelfth... I took three jobs this month.
"That was enough to feed me for two months, with a couple of rounds of good wine to spare."
Zhang Wu sneered. "That's the price of sticking your nose into other people's business."
"I don't want to meddle, either. But she brings me tofu every day. You know how it is-who could turn down a piece of tofu?"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The wind and snow made it hard to keep their eyes open.
Suddenly, a series of sharp cracks sounded beside their ears.
A dark figure burst through the curtain of snow, trailing a howling wind.
Faintly mingled with it was the ring of a blade leaving its sheath.
The blind man moved so fast that those standing farther away saw only an afterimage.
Those nearby saw only a faint streak of shimmering light.
Several muffled thuds rang out.
A number of thugs fell to the ground, howling.
"Don't panic!"
Zhang Wu roared.
At the same time, he rolled his saber around his wrist and slashed forward in an arc.
His opponent, however, dodged with ease.
Suddenly, a hand caught him and yanked him inward.
Zhang Wu promptly fell flat on his face, like a dog eating shit.
Was this bastard really blind?
The clash of metal rang out without pause, and some men had their weapons knocked flying.
Others were sent flying several yards and knocked unconscious.
Some barely weathered a single blow, only to find their arms could no longer hold their weapons.
Amid the chaos, the blind man's saber was as quiet as a snowflake dancing through the air.
Strictly speaking, it was not a saber.
It was a walking stick.
[Wind-Listening Saber Technique (40%)]
Knowing his opponent was blind, Zhang Wu held his breath.
Catching him off guard, he swung his heavy saber with a fierce rush of wind, leaving an afterimage in the air.
The blind man swung back, drawing on the speed of his saber's momentum.
A pale blue-green arc of saber energy swept through the air like a wheel of light.
Zhang Wu tumbled several times before hitting the ground with a thud.
A wound more than a foot long gaped across his chest, blood pouring out.
His face twisted, and his arms convulsed.
Da Hu had long since been scared witless, every hair on his body standing on end.
He slumped in a corner, staring at Li Ping'an in terror.
He never could have imagined that the blind man he bullied every day would turn out to be a supreme master.
What the fucking hell!!
"Spare us, great hero! Spare us! We were blind fools to offend you, sir!"
Zhang Wu, usually so swaggering and imposing, now lay sprawled on the ground, stripped of every trace of his former bravado.
The blind man said in a low voice, "Take me to your boss."
The Mandarin Duck Tower.
The largest entertainment establishment in Anqing County, it combined a restaurant, a brothel, and a gambling house.
A curtain partitioned the gambling tables, with only a small table inside.
The gamblers gathered in a circle, chips piled before each of them.
No ordinary person could afford to run a place like this.
Its owner was named Guo Yu-the same Guo as County Magistrate Guo.
He was none other than County Magistrate Guo's nephew.
Of course, running a brothel and gambling house alone could not satisfy Guo Yu's appetite.
Behind the scenes, he dealt in human trafficking.
He sold local women elsewhere-to the Western Regions, the Turkic Lands, and every corner of the world.
Numerous guards and household retainers stood in the corners of the gambling house.
All wore fitted martial attire and carried weapons, looking like members of a martial sect.
A vicious-looking middle-aged man sat with a seductive woman in his arms.
He drank, laughed, and chatted merrily.
He was the owner, Guo Yu.
Bang!!
The jarring sound shattered the sham merriment.
Zhang Wu, the thug, was thrown inside, followed by a blind man.
"I'm looking for the boss."
Guo Yu raised an eyebrow, looking utterly disdainful.
How long had it been since anyone had dared come looking for trouble at the Mandarin Duck Tower?
He waved a hand, signaling his men to drive out the gamblers.
Soon, only Guo Yu and his guards remained in the vast gambling house.
Along with the blind man in his bamboo hat.
"I'd like to discuss a business deal with you."
Guo Yu stood on the second floor, looking down at him.
"I remember your name was... Li something?"
"Li Ping'an."
"Li Ping'an." Guo Yu nodded in realization. "Who would've thought? You've got some skill, boy, and plenty of nerve."
"You flatter me. I'm only trying to scrape together a living."
"What? You've come onto my turf to steal my rice bowl?" Guo Yu sneered.
His men had already surrounded the blind man without a sound, waiting only for Guo Yu's command.
Judging by their precise, disciplined movements,
although they dressed like men of the martial world, anyone with discerning eyes could tell.
They were well trained and had spent a long time in the army.
Their leader, Yi Xuan, in particular, did not look like a man of the Central Plains.
A pair of gleaming gold earrings hung from his earlobes.
"You misunderstand. We have no quarrel, and I haven't come to steal your business.
"Doesn't Niu Er from the town's east street owe you a large sum? I'll repay it.
"I only ask that you do me the courtesy of leaving that mother and son alone."
Guo Yu thought back and remembered.
"No. That woman has caught my eye.
"If you fancy her, wait until I've had my fill. Spend a little money at the brothel here, and you might get to pick her."
The corners of Guo Yu's mouth curled slightly.
A barely audible sigh followed. "Why make it come to this?"
Guo Yu's voice turned cold. "Kill him!"
A burly man behind the blind man raised a boning knife and hacked at his head.
Squelch!!
Blood sprayed.
"Ah..." A piercing scream rang out.
Then came the clatter of a steel blade hitting the floor, followed by a thud as someone fell.
The blind man's walking stick had plunged straight into the man's right eye.
Two more men screamed as their massive bodies flew backward.
They landed with a crash more than twenty feet away.
Another man screamed as well. A slash struck his shoulder, and blood instantly spurted out.
The blind man seized a Hu Saber.
Its edge was sharp, its spine thin, and its hilt curved.
Yi Xuan stamped forward and brought his saber down at the blind man's head.
The two figures wove together, every slash whipping up a fierce gust.
Blow followed blow, so fast it set hearts pounding.
Within a few breaths, Yi Xuan was wounded, and the words burst from his mouth.
"Excellent saber technique!!"
He had been away from the army for years, and a master of this caliber was truly rare.
The blind man opened his palm and used the Turtle Breath Technique to shoot out every chip in his hand.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!
They flew straight at the exposed flames around them, instantly plunging the gambling house into darkness.
Figures shifted and overlapped, blades flashing again and again.
Now visible, now hidden, they fought in a chaotic melee.
Yi Xuan roared, "Hold your positions!!"
Several personal guards took up positions around Yi Xuan, their blades facing outward.
They seemed to hope this would stop the blind man.
Screams rose continuously from the crowd.
From the moment they began committing these atrocities that defied heaven and human decency, their fate had been sealed.
The formation Yi Xuan and his men had formed had not yet come under attack.
But the screams around them pierced their hearts like a sharp knife.
A flash of saber light streaked through the air, cutting diagonally across a burly man.
The man screamed and rolled across the ground.
Yi Xuan's gaze sharpened, and he gripped his saber with both hands.
He swept a curtain of blades through the air, then darted to where the burly man had fallen.
The blind man shifted left, dodging the slash.
His reaction was extremely fast, but the blade still cut him.
Seizing the opening, another man sprang out from behind him.
His blade gleamed like snow, swift as lightning.
But a scream rang out from the attacker, and a single slash took off his head and shoulder together.
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