Jianghu

"Someone really did follow me?"

Li Rui glanced behind him. With his cautious nature, how could he lack even a shred of counter-surveillance awareness?

The lean man behind him had looked at him seven or eight times while he was buying medicine. The moment Li Rui left the Black Market, the lean man had followed him.

But he had deliberately put on extra layers and covered his face with a cloth. He looked like someone not to be trifled with.

Why had the other man picked him of all people?

With that thought, he quickened his pace.

"Trying to run?"

Seeing Li Rui speed up ahead, the lean man hurried after him.

They passed a corner.

Just as he was about to see what lay beyond it—

A handful of yellow sand suddenly flew into his face!

"Fuck!"

The lean man cursed aloud. His eyes were stung shut by the sand, and he staggered about wildly. But he had plenty of experience fighting. He raised both hands, clamped his head between his arms, and curled into a ball, protecting his vital spots.

However.

Li Rui stepped forward and kicked the lean man's left leg.

From what he had observed earlier, the man was lame in his right foot.

Kicking the good leg of a cripple could not be wrong.

Pain shot through the lean man's left ankle. Great beads of sweat seeped from his forehead. He stumbled and fell to the ground, and Li Rui pounced on him, straddling him as a flurry of heavy fists rained down.

Before long, the lean man was beaten black and blue, begging for mercy again and again.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Didn't they say he was a seventy-year-old old man?

How the hell was he this fierce!

Those fists hit harder than the Martial Masters at the martial hall. They could hammer a bull to death. If this continued, he would lose his life.

Just as the lean man was about to pass out, Li Rui stopped, his fist raised in midair.

He had controlled both the force and the injuries perfectly.

"Give me your name!"

The sudden words left the lean man stunned, then overjoyed. "The pointed name, the name's last character shines."

"Which waterway do you travel?"

The lean man was even more delighted. "So you're one of Old Ma's own. Rong Branch—laughing up at the sky, Horizontal Blade walks out the door."

"So you're Shopkeeper Wu's man." Li Rui loosened his fist slightly. "A great flood has washed over the Dragon King's temple. The Eight Gates are one family; beneath the northwest dark heavens stands a single chicken, and the greenwood does not bully the greenwood."

The lean man hurriedly scrambled to his feet and clasped his fists with a smile. "If the greenwood bullies the greenwood, then he's damn well no good thing."

Li Rui said, "Proper name. I eat Ge's trade."

"Big Brother!"

The atmosphere that had been Swords Drawn and Bows Bent immediately dissipated by more than half.

What the two had spoken was the Jianghu spring code of the Clear River region—underworld cant.

This "name" was really just reporting one's name. "The pointed name" meant the surname Ding, while "the name's last character shines" meant Ding Liang.

"Which waterway do you travel?" was asking what line of work the lean man was in.

"Wind, horse, wild goose, sparrow; Heng, Lan, Rong, Ge"—these were the Dark Eight Gates of Jianghu, all engaged in shady business.

This lean man belonged to the Rong Branch, meaning he was a thief.

And "laughing up at the sky, Horizontal Blade walks out the door" meant that "mouth" and "sky" formed the character Wu.

Within Qinghe City, each branch of the Dark Eight Gates had a leader, called a scoop handle in underworld cant. The scoop handle of the Rong Branch was precisely a man surnamed Wu.

It was said that he had once been a Blade Wielder in the Heng Sect—that was, a bandit—and had earned quite a vicious reputation. Later, no one knew how, he became the scoop handle of the Rong Faction.

When Li Rui said "I eat Ge's trade," he meant the Ge Branch—Jianghu enforcers, robbers, and the like.

The lean man thought to himself, He really is an old hand of Jianghu!

Li Rui had first established his authority with his fists, then revealed his identity with the code words. The lean man was thoroughly cowed by this combination of kindness and intimidation.

Li Rui had lived fifty years; those years had not been wasted. In his earlier days, he had learned quite a few code phrases while traveling with the Zhu Family's merchant caravan, and he understood many of Jianghu's rules.

He had long passed the age of being hot-blooded and eager to fight. If he had still been young and impetuous, with his martial bones, he might truly have beaten the man before him to death.

But what then?

Anyone who often killed knew that killing was easy, but scattering the ashes was far more complicated. Making it utterly seamless in this bustling market was nearly impossible.

Most people in crooked trades had accomplices. If the authorities or the lean man's companions found out, trouble would surely never end. It was entirely possible that his family would be ruined and its members dead.

This was where the importance of extensive Jianghu experience showed itself.

Those who understood the code words were old hands of Jianghu. They surely had people behind them and were strong themselves.

When wandering Jianghu and encountering trouble, it was not only one side that feared the other; the other side feared them too. If they matched signals, sounded out each other's background, and recognized each other's hall, much trouble could be avoided.

Fortunately, this lean man was not some greenhorn making his First Entry into Jianghu. Otherwise, Li Rui had already thought of eighteen ways to scatter his ashes.

The lean man slapped himself twice. "My eyes were blind; I felt up a fellow brother."

Li Rui said, "We're all brothers of the same family. There are many hawk-claw grandsons around here. Be careful."

"Hawk-claw grandsons" meant constables.

After saying that, he prepared to leave.

The lean man hurriedly called after him. He spat on the ground and clasped his fists. "I failed to recognize Mount Tai before my eyes. Today, some little brat pecked out my eye, saying you were already seventy and the easiest target around. Easy my ass!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He had come intending to bully an old man, only to be ridden and hammered by that old man.

Wasn't I supposed to be beating up an old man?!!

If he had not run into someone who knew the trade, he would have lost his life.

Li Rui stopped walking. "Was it a young man, six feet tall, dressed in black?"

The lean man froze. "You know him too?"

Li Rui's face darkened.

Ma Yang!

"Thank you, brother."

The lean man said, "Old Brother Li, you're righteous. I can't hide things from you either. Come drink at the Rong Faction sometime—I'll treat you."

"Easy enough, easy enough."

Li Rui did not linger. Picking up the herbs he had set down at the corner of the alley, he quickly turned through twisting lanes until he vanished from sight.

Only after the lean man could no longer be seen did he finally let out the breath he had been holding.

When traveling Jianghu, merely knowing a few code phrases was useless. Seasoned Jianghu people knew to watch one's tone and expression as well. Otherwise, even if the code words were right, others would still not believe them. That was commonly called letting the air leak.

He had already prepared cautiously enough before leaving home. No wonder he had still been targeted—it turned out someone had sold him out.

"My good disciple!"

Li Rui was not overly angry. His heart was strangely calm.

It seemed the bond between master and disciple between him and Ma Yang had reached its end.

Ma Yang had actually colluded with people from the underworld. Everyone knew that the Rong Branch did not merely steal people's money; murder for wealth was commonplace for them.

They were plainly after his life!

If he died, the Zhu Family's next Groom would certainly be Ma Yang, and his wages could double.

The beads of that abacus were practically smashing into Li Rui's face.

Since the disciple was unjust, this master naturally had no reason to hold back. He had survived for decades in the Zhu Family not merely by being honest and dutiful.

A cold glint flashed through Li Rui's eyes.

With a sharp blade in hand, the urge to kill arose on its own!

"First, return to the Zhu Family."

But just as Li Rui was about to leave the alley—

Lines of small text appeared before his eyes.

Congratulations, Host, on completing the initial storyline of the achievement Famous Throughout Jianghu—First Entry into Jianghu.