Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Almost two years had passed now, and Lü Qiying still had not fully adapted to his new career.
He used to be the owner of the most famous tavern in Jade City. In order to taste the exquisite wine he had collected, many people in high positions notified him or even visited him in person, earning him lots of face and silver. Tavernkeeper Lü could have lived a respectful and decent life simply by sitting at home.
Now, as the owner of a camel caravan, not only did he earn very little money, but he also lived in constant fear. He was always on edge, fearful that the camel caravan would run into bandits and suffer a great loss. This, however, happened all the time in the chaotic Western Regions.
He had bought this camel caravan for a low price before the war based on his judgment that peace would be soon be restored in the Western Regions. Unfortunately, although the war was lessening in intensity, the scale of the war had escalated. In order to maintain the safety and survival of the camel caravan, Lü Qiying, who had always been cautious, only took secured orders.
After several runs, Lü Qiying had learned that the most troublesome roadblock was not just bandits, but also the the cunning camel teammembers who were always in cahoots with each other, stealing goods and then blatantly laying all the blame on robbers.
Ever since he had left Jade City and moved to the Shule Kingdom, Lü Qiying had had few trustworthy people around him. He always maintained a close eye over his team, personally traveling with the team, dealing with bandits and soldiers, and paying for safe paths.
“Better a bad life than a good death.” This was his recent famous quote. He was a businessman. Although he hired many sabermen, he always tried to avoid using force to solve his problems.
Every time he lay in a shackled tent by the side of the road and listened to the cold wind howling outside to the ringing of the camel bells, Lü Qiying would think of a man, and then ask himself what he had been thinking at that time. How could he have trusted a young killer and sell his tavern which had a promising future and run off to the strange Shule Kingdom? And the result was that not only that he had not seen the supposed big business worth a million taels of silver, but he had also lost contact with the source of all his misfortunes.
This batch of goods would be sent to Jade City. If he had a choice, Lü Qiying really wouldn’t want to return. With his now weather-beaten face, he was too embarrassed to meet his former acquaintances.
‘This is life.’ Lü Qiying comforted himself with this thought. Then he raised his right hand and looked at his broken little finger as if a little man were standing on top of it, whispering to himself, “Dragon King, it’s all your fault.”
“Master, master, there are…”
“What?” Lü Qiying asked impatiently. Everything had changed and it was difficult to even find a good servant now.
“There are robbers ahead.”
Lü Qiying frowned but wasn’t too afraid. The Heaven’s Pass was just down the road and most of the large groups of bandits and soldiers had already taken silver from him and would not change their faces so fast. As for those wandering bandits, he believed that the sabermen he had hired would be good enough to handle them.
The whole caravan stopped. Feeling uneasy, Lü Qiying hurried to the front on horseback. What he saw shocked him.
At least a hundred people were lined up, blocking the way. In front of them stood three men side by side.
They were the Mighty King, the Golden Saber, and the Skyscraping Beast, the three most famous bandit chiefs in the Shule Kingdom. Not only did Lü Qiying know them, but he had also already handed over a large sum of money. In return, he had received a big bowl of sour wine and a promise that his camel caravan would travel free of harassment.
The three had their own territories and seldom joined forces to block the road. Lü Qiying’s heart sank. He cast a glance at the long line of camels and really couldn’t recall any particularly valuable goods in it.
The sabermen he hired, who were always first to eat and drink, all looked obedient and cowardly in the face of strong enemies. With their heads lowered, they behaved like ignorant teenagers who had picked up a saber for the first time in their life.
“Haha, it’s a great blessing to meet my bosom friends on the road. What brought my three elder brothers here? Come, are my brothers missing the good wine I’ve collected again?” Lü Qiying pretended to be overjoyed. He jumped off the horse and strode forth to meet the three bandits chiefs, knowing that it was clearly impossible to cross this roadblock through the use of saber and sword this time.
The three ‘elder brothers’ were all younger than Lü Qiying, and they stood motionless without a word. The minions behind them also looked expressionless, like a group of statues.
As he walked closer, Lü Qiying’s heart thumped as he realized that something wasn’t quite right.
The Mighty King was tall and strong and could subdue a bull with bare hands. But now his right arm was hanging in front of his body with a bandage, obviously broken.
The Golden Saber was thin, but his sabersmanship was the best among the three of them and he always carried his saber with him. But today, he was empty-handed like a shop assistant who had just been fired.
The Skyscraping Beast was said to have the best lightness skills, and was skilled at leaping onto roofs and vaulting over walls. Although he had the least number of underlings, he often got the best loot. But now his body was tilted, his right leg almost dangling in the air.
‘Were they double-crossed and decided to raid me to make up for their losses?’ Lü Qiying immediately thought of this possibility and quickly calculated a figure, knowing that he would suffer a great loss yet again. He couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming pain bite at his heart.
Lü Qiying could not pretend that he had not seen the injuries of the three, so he could only put on a broad smile and say, “Hey, brothers, what’s going on? Fighting over girls again? How did you guys all get injured?”
The Mighty King rattled his left fist, clenched his teeth, and spat out, “Lü Qiying, you are really capable.”
Lü Qiying immediately shrank back a bit and asked blankly, “What… What’s that supposed to mean? You know that I can’t even hold a candle to you guys.”
The Skyscraping Beast leaned forward as if to kick him, but stopped because he could only move one of his legs now. “You can’t even hold a candle to us? You almost maimed the three of us to death. Why are you still feigning ignorance?”
Lü Qiying became more confused. “Misunderstanding. There must be some misunderstanding.”
“Forget it.” The Golden Saber who stood in the middle waved his hands and said, “Since we’ve admitted defeat, then we’ll make it clear. No more nonsense. Lü Qiying, this is the silver you’ve offered to us these past two years. Count it and our enmities will be cleared.”
Lü Qiying was dumbfounded. The minions behind the three carried over several wooden boxes, put them on the ground, and left right away. As robbers, it was really a great humiliation to send out money instead of collecting it.
The people in the camel team also found that things had not gone as they had expected. A few bold sabermen took the lead, and the bodyguards slowly gathered around and stood behind their master to silently support him.
Lü Qiying, however, had no sense of security at all. “Brothers, please spare me. I’m too old and weak to stand such a big joke.”
“Nobody’s joking.” The Mighty King was obviously very angry at this moment. “Take the silver and from now on, you’ll mind your business and we’ll mind our own.”
Lü Qiying finally realized that the matter was not simple at all so he turned back and ordered the saberman chief, “Set up the tent. Be quick.”
A group of sabermen ran back to set up a tent, and Lu Qiying ventured forward two more steps, now only at an arm’s distance from the three bandit chiefs. Then he said in a low voice, “I am an honest businessman, who has never used dirty tricks or offended my friends on the road for a temporary gain. There’s something strange about today. We need to talk.”
The Mighty King was not only mighty in strength but also in volume. “Cut the crap and count the silver. We’ll be done as long as the number is verified. What’s there to talk about?”
Both sides fell silent. Seeing that the makeshift tent was already set up on the side of the road, Lü Qiying said to Golden Saber who was the calmest among the three, “Brother Golden Saber, we’re friends regardless. Even if we have to break off our friendship today, it’s still alright to have a drink, isn’t it?”
The three of them refused again and again before reluctantly following Lü Qiying into the tent.
Lü Qiying looked around and flopped onto the ground after confirming that no one else was nearby, and seriously said, “Lü Qiying can swear to Heaven that I really know nothing about what’s going on. Brothers, please do me a favor and tell me the truth.”
The bandits were always amenable to friendly persuasion but not to compulsion. Upon seeing Lü Qiying kneel, the three of them all felt embarrassed and hurried helped him up. The Mighty King shouted, “You really—” Then he immediately lowered his voice, “You really don’t know?”
“No. Honestly I was really shocked to see you three brothers blocking the road.”
The three of them looked at each other and believed Lü Qiying’s words. Embarrassed, it was still the Mighty King who spoke up first. “Then what the hell is going on? Someone broke into our headquarters on the same night, broke my arm, took away the Golden Saber’s weapon, broke Skyscraping Beast’s leg, and forced us to return the silver. And now you’re telling us you didn’t even know about it?”
Lü Qiying was dumbfounded as an ominous foreboding feeling entered his heart and a misty look appeared on his face. “How many people were there? Where did they come from?”
The three bandits chieftains were even more embarrassed upon hearing his questions. The Mighty King coughed a few times before saying, “The one that came to me was a young man less than twenty years old, very pretty like a girl. Without saying his name, he directly attacked me and injured me in… a few moves.”
Actually, the Mighty King had been defeated in one move. He was just too embarrassed to admit it.
“The man who came to me was a garrulous old man. He was shorter than a child but his lightness skills were incredible. He said ‘What a pity’ when he broke my leg. I don’t know what that means.” The Skyscraping Beast sighed as he finished his tale, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to catch up to that old man’s lightness skills even if he practiced for another hundred years.
Golden Saber appeared to be the most frustrated among the three. “The one that came at me was a little girl with green eyes. She was extremely young, but she swung her saber as fast as a ghost. She didn’t hurt me, but she did take my saber away.”
Lü Qiying vaguely remembered the first person but couldn’t recall the last two at all. “They forced you to return the money to me?”
“Yes. They said if we didn’t return the money, they would kill us next time. Elder Lü, those three freaks were really not hired by you?” asked Golden Saber.
Lü Qiying shrugged and spread out his hands, saying, “If I could hire such kung fu experts, why would I work so hard as a caravan merchant?”
The three bandits finally felt a bit relieved, but they only became more puzzled over the origins of the three kung fu experts. They guessed that they might have come from the Norland Army, Golden Roc Castle, the Central Plains, or even the Dragon Army. Lü Qiying joined in on their random guesses, but they never settled on a final conclusion in the end.
Lü Qiying had no choice but to accept the silver. After carefully sending away the hundred or so bandits, he urged his men to go on their way and ignored the probing inquiries of the crowd.
That evening, when the caravan of camels broke for camp near Heaven’s Pass, Lü Qiying finally figured out one thing. No matter who the mastermind behind the incident was, his business was about to end again. The three kung fu experts had severely provoked the bandits of the Shule Kingdom which meant they now grasped him in their hands. As long as they let go of him, he would not only lose his silver but also his life.
“Only one man would do such a thing,” Lü Qiying muttered, even more certain in his original speculation.
There was only one thing that he cared about now. Why would that mysterious and treacherous Dragon King, who was said to be dead, make so much effort to buy him over again?
