The smoked pig's head was delicious, as were the braised intestines and the peanuts cooked with broad beans. The homemade liquor was strong enough, too.
Qi Fengyuan and Sun Dameng, the two sickly old Martial Warriors, drank with the old Sect Master Zhao Ping until the moon rose above the willow tips. Only then had they drunk their fill.
The old Martial Warriors took their leave, but quietly left a large silver ingot on the stone stool.
Supporting the old Sect Master Zhao Ping, Lü Bufan walked along without a word.
"Boy, those two old fellows once fought alongside me over a thousand miles, protecting the old and young of an official's family. One lost a leg, and the other had his dantian shattered... Do you know how much silver we earned for that escort job?"
Lü Bufan shook his head.
The old Martial Warrior belched. "Haha, ten taels of government silver!"
Lü Bufan looked at the old Martial Warrior in surprise.
"Was that a lot? Those ten taels are still sitting on the offering table in the Vigorous Martial Gate's ancestral hall... We lost two brothers from our sect that time, too..."
"He was a good official... Mangshan County, southwest of Guangling Commandery, was a poor place where even birds wouldn't shit, yet a good magistrate came there... A mountain sect on Mangshan, affiliated with the Taihua Sect, was used to bullying men and tyrannizing women. Then they ran into this stubborn fellow who couldn't stand their ways! The magistrate arrested three scum from Mangshan who'd broken into a home at night and taken turns violating a woman. He was going to behead them!"
Lü Bufan asked, "Wasn't he afraid of the Immortal Sect?"
"Exactly! Later, an outer sect elder of the Taihua Sect graced that little county office