Such conviction!

The two men searched deeper into the woods, back to back.

The short, stocky man had just reached a clearing where the moonlight shone a little brighter when something suddenly happened!

A dark figure burst out of the bushes behind him to one side!

It wasn't an arrow.

It was a man.

Li Xuan lunged like a hunting leopard, clenched his fist, channeled his vital energy, and struck the short, stocky man squarely in the back of the head!

Bam!

A dull thud.

The short, stocky man's eyes rolled back. He crumpled to the ground without even a groan.

"Fuck!"

The scar-faced man spun around and swung his club.

Li Xuan sidestepped it and kept moving, closing in on him.

The wooden club was too long to be useful at close quarters.

The scar-faced man tried to retreat, but it was already too late.

Li Xuan slammed a fist into the wrist holding the club.

There was a sharp crack.

His wrist broke.

The wooden club fell to the ground.

The scar-faced man opened his mouth to scream, but Li Xuan's second punch was already upon him.

It landed squarely in his face.

His nose caved in, and blood sprayed everywhere.

The scar-faced man toppled backward, struck the back of his head against a tree root, and passed out.

It had taken no more than three breaths.

Li Xuan stood between the two "corpses" and shook the blood off his hand.

Silence settled around him, broken only by the rustling of the night wind through the pine woods.

He looked down at the two men.

One had a lump on the back of his head; the other had a crushed nose and a broken wrist.

Good enough.

Li Xuan crouched down and first searched both men.

He found two taels of loose silver and a dozen or so copper coins on the short, stocky man.

The scar-faced man was a much richer haul-three taels of silver, a jade pendant of decent quality, and a small folding knife with a keen edge.

Li Xuan tucked the silver into his robe and kept the jade pendant and knife as well.

After a moment's thought, he began stripping the two men.

Outer robes, trousers, shoes, belts-everything came off.

The scar-faced man was left in nothing but his underpants, his pale flesh gleaming under the moonlight like a pig stripped of its bristles.

The short, stocky man fared even worse. His underpants had a hole that exposed half his backside.

Li Xuan rolled the stripped clothing into a ball and stuffed it into the bundle he had brought.

Then he took a piece of black cloth from inside his robe and covered his face.

That's right. He was a mountain bandit now.

"All the killing was done by mountain bandits. It has nothing to do with me, Li Xuan!"

With his face covered, he checked the two men again.

Li Xuan dragged them deeper into the woods, found a patch of bushes, and tossed them straight in.

"May you be born into a better life next time."

Standing beside the bushes, Li Xuan looked at those two pale heaps of flesh. After a moment's thought, he gave each another kick to make sure they rolled all the way into the depths.

"That'll do."

Then he dusted off his hands, turned, and left.

Li Xuan pulled the black cloth off his face and muttered as he walked.

"Du Mingxuan, was it? You've already paved your own road to death! I'll let you live a few more days!"

He felt the newly acquired silver and jade pendant inside his robe, pleased with himself.

As the night deepened, Li Xuan returned home carrying the cool freshness of the mountain woods.

He pushed open the courtyard gate. An oil lamp burned in the main room, casting a warm yellow glow, while the rich smell of meat drifted from the pot.

"Third Brother's home!" Xiu'er was the first to poke her head out from behind Wang, her eyes sparkling.

"I'm back." Li Xuan answered and put down his bow, arrows, and bundle.

Wang was carrying a large bowl of steaming stew from the stove to the table. She then deftly set out several bowls of coarse rice and a plate of pickled vegetables.

"Go wash your hands. We've been waiting for you. We had good luck today. Your eldest brother set a basket trap by the river and caught a good-sized grass carp. I chopped up half and stewed it with the meat, then salted the other half."

Li Xuan washed his hands and sat down at the table, looking at the glistening, steaming bowl of stew.

Large chunks of wild boar and fish were mixed together with radishes and wild greens. The smell alone was enough to make his mouth water.

He picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth. It had been stewed until tender and full of flavor, the richness of the meat mingling with the freshness of the fish and the light sweetness of the radishes. It was surprisingly good.

"Mmm, delicious!" Li Xuan swallowed the meat and smiled up at Wang. "Sister-in-law, your cooking just keeps getting better. The meat's full of flavor, and the radishes have soaked up all the broth."

Wang was putting food into Xiu'er's bowl. At his words, she paused and looked up at him, then broke into a smile, even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothing out.

"Such a sweet tongue! I never heard you praise anyone like that before. Eat more if you like it. There's plenty left in the pot!" Delight filled her voice as she added a large piece of bone-in meat to Li Xuan's bowl.

Li Shan sat at the head of the table, looking somewhat more at ease as well.

"How did things go at the martial arts school today, Xuan? No one gave you trouble, did they?"

"It was fine. Just practiced as usual." Li Xuan shoveled in a mouthful of rice and answered indistinctly.

"Nothing happened on the way home?"

"Nothing, Dad." Li Xuan took another couple of mouthfuls of rice, sensing that Li Shan seemed to have something to say.

"What is it, Dad? Did something happen in the village?"

"Wife, I suddenly feel like having a drink with Dad and Third Brother today. Could you warm up that yellow wine we just bought?"

Li Zhong chuckled and spoke in his deep, rumbling voice, earning a roll of Wang's eyes.

"In your dreams!"

Still, she took Xiu'er to the outer room and closed the door behind them.

Seeing this, Li Xuan guessed it must be about Wang Kui.

They hadn't told his sister-in-law about it yet, so his eldest brother had found an excuse to send them away.

Sure enough, Li Shan immediately spoke.

"It's that damned business with Wang Kui again! This afternoon, several people came from neighboring Wang Family Gully, along with that constable surnamed Zhou from the County Office, and kicked up a fuss at our village entrance!"

Li Zhong added, anger still on his face:

"They insisted that something had happened to Wang Kui within the boundaries of Li Family Village. Then they brought up the old feud between our villages. Every word out of their mouths was an attempt to fling mud at us! They said someone in the village must have seen their money, gotten greedy, and done Wang Kui and his men in!"

"Heh, what a load of bullshit!" Li Shan knocked his pipe bowl hard, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Who around these parts doesn't know what Wang Kui and his gang were like? They disappeared in the mountains, and instead of blaming their own wicked deeds for bringing retribution down on their heads, those people blamed us! Nothing but alarmist nonsense!"

Watching Old Dad's reaction, Li Xuan couldn't help admiring him!

Such conviction! As if Wang Kui's death really had nothing to do with us!

"Right, it has nothing to do with us!"

"They don't have any evidence anyway!"

But then he frowned. "What did Constable Zhou

say? He's from the County Office, after all. With so many people watching, he wouldn't just pin false accusations on us, would he?"

"That Zhou Hong..." Li Shan's expression grew a little graver.