Inside the tavern, Xiahou Zuo looked toward the several men and introduced them to Li Diudiu one by one.

“This is Ruan Chen — three knots in the Azure Formation.”

Pausing at that, Xiahou Zuo explained what three knots meant to Li Diudiu.

“Look at his clothing — on the left sleeve at the wrist, there’s a red cord tied in a knot. In the Azure Formation, this cord is called the Brotherhood Knot. The more Brotherhood Knots a person has, the higher their rank and standing within the Azure Formation.”

“Those who have just joined the Azure Formation have the fewest — only one knot. The maximum is seven. The only person with seven Brotherhood Knots on their sleeve is our Azure Formation’s Array Master. There are exactly four people with six knots, and within the Azure Formation they are known as the Array Gates.”

Xiahou Zuo looked at Li Diudiu, then reached into his chest and pulled out a red cord, handing it to him. “Embroider this red cord onto your sleeve, and it means you’re a brother of the Azure Formation.”

The red cord he handed to Li Diudiu had one knot tied in it.

Li Diudiu solemnly put the red cord away.

Xiahou Zuo smiled and said, “Damn it all — pulling someone as small as you into the fold, I get this feeling that our Azure Formation has really hit rock bottom. We’ve sunk to recruiting little kids now. Ah… the world is a harsh and dangerous place.”

All the men burst out laughing.

Xiahou Zuo continued the introductions: “This is Ruan Mu — brothers with Ruan Chen, also three knots in the Azure Formation.”

Li Diudiu found something a little odd in his mind, but was too embarrassed to say it aloud, because the names of these two brothers were really quite unkind to men — one was called Ruan Chen, the other Ruan Mu. Together, they were soft all day long.

Xiahou Zuo saw Li Diudiu’s eyes narrow ever so slightly and immediately knew this kid wasn’t thinking anything decent, so he coughed a few times and continued, “This one is called Jia Dongxing — three knots in the Azure Formation — and this one is called Zhen Hongxing, also three knots. Both are brothers with whom I have a bond forged through life and death.”

Once the introductions were finished, Li Diudiu bowed respectfully to each of them in turn.

Li Diudiu asked curiously, “And what about you?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Four knots.”

Li Diudiu asked again, “In an organization like yours, from what rank can someone take on junior members?”

Xiahou Zuo said seriously, “The Azure Formation isn’t some street gang of jianghu riffraff — it’s not like just anyone who wants in can get in. The Azure Formation is extraordinarily strict when it comes to recruiting new members. Not only must one’s martial skills be examined, but one’s character must be examined as well. Even someone with exceptional martial skills will be absolutely refused if their character doesn’t measure up.”

Li Diudiu understood. He nodded and said, “So what you’re all telling me is: Senior Brothers, Xiahou — you’re four knots in the Azure Formation, you four Senior Brothers are three knots each, and among the five of you, I’m the only junior member so far.”

The four men looked at one another, then all burst out laughing.

Xiahou Zuo felt somewhat embarrassed but had no choice but to admit it: “Yes… among the five of us, you’re the only junior member. For now.”

Li Diudiu said, “The honor is entirely mine.”

He asked again, “What rules does our Azure Formation have?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “As I just mentioned, the Azure Formation values a person’s character above all else. As for the rules — one must never do anything that harms Heaven and violates reason. I’ll give you a copy of the Azure Formation’s charter later for you to memorize carefully. The Azure Formation isn’t as simple as you might think, and it’s not something to be taken lightly. The reason you were able to join smoothly…”

Xiahou Zuo paused and looked at the four men, saying, “Is because these four Senior Brothers of yours and I gave our joint word as guarantors that your character is sound and your martial skills are decent — which is why the examination was waived.”

Li Diudiu said, “It seems my character truly speaks for itself.”

Xiahou Zuo said seriously, “Your character… is barely at the lower threshold of what the Azure Formation requires. Otherwise, why do you think it took five people signing their names to vouch for you?”

Li Diudiu: “…”

Xiahou Zuo smiled and said, “Just a joke… but you really are the first person the Azure Formation has taken in during the past half year. Aren’t you proud?”

Li Diudiu couldn’t help but ask, “Is there a membership fee?”

Xiahou Zuo: “…”

Li Diudiu said, “Half a year and you’ve only recruited me. First, that tells me our Azure Formation’s rules really are strict. Second — aren’t we pretty broke? Too many members and you can’t afford to keep them all?”

He’d seen all four of these men before. Though he’d never spoken with them, they’d all shown up when Xiahou Zuo was gravely injured that time. And Li Diudiu could tell they all had the same temperament as Xiahou Zuo — otherwise he wouldn’t be cracking jokes so freely.

Just then, Xiahou Zuo stood up. As he rose, the four brothers all rose with him, and the expressions on all five faces became solemn. One look told Li Diudiu this was serious business, and he immediately stood as well.

“Li Chi — what I’m about to tell you concerns what the Azure Formation must do in Jizhou City. You must absolutely not speak of any of this to anyone outside the Azure Formation. Should the Azure Formation suffer any trouble because of something careless you say, the Array Master and the Array Gates will deal with it according to our internal laws.”

Li Diudiu nodded. “Understood.”

Xiahou Zuo continued, “What the Azure Formation is set against are the dark forces in Jizhou City who act lawlessly and do every manner of evil — in other words, the bad people as a young kid like you would see them.”

He glanced at Li Diudiu and said, “Every night, the brothers of the Azure Formation patrol Jizhou City, dealing with thieves, bandits, and those who plunder homes and ransack households. The government sends people out on patrol after curfew too, but those men are lazier than the last — who knows what corners they crawl into to sleep.”

“And it’s precisely at night that all the petty scoundrels and vermin come out to do their evil. Though the curfew is in effect, brothels and gambling dens that have paid their dues are left alone by the Jizhou Prefecture — and such places attract a great many bad sorts.”

Li Diudiu asked, “Do we patrol the entire night?”

“No.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Let me finish. The income for the Azure Formation’s brothers comes partly from merchants who pay us — they pay, and we ensure their businesses operate safely without interference. However, the Azure Formation does not accept money from gambling dens.”

Li Diudiu asked, “Why not?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “As you know — gambling den money is dirty.”

Li Diudiu said, “But if we took money from the gambling dens and had the Azure Formation take charge of overseeing them, wouldn’t they run cleaner than under anyone else?”

Xiahou Zuo was momentarily taken aback. He thought it over and said, “The way you put it makes me suddenly feel there’s a great deal of sense in that. Let’s set that aside for now — I’ll bring it up with the Array Master and see what he thinks.”

He continued speaking to Li Diudiu, “According to the rules laid down by the Array Master: when we catch a thief, we keep one-fifth of the stolen goods found on them. Otherwise, what are the brothers doing staying up all night for nothing? We’re not wearing official robes — nobody’s paying us a government salary.”

“Tonight, try going out on a patrol with the Azure Formation brothers — consider it your formal initiation. Since you’re still studying at the academy, you won’t need to go out on patrol every night like the others. When there’s something that needs you, we’ll come find you. When there isn’t, focus on your studies in peace.”

Li Diudiu nodded. “Understood.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “The territory I’m responsible for is the academy and the two streets to the north and south of it — same goes for your four Senior Brothers. Because I’m… frankly somewhat lazy, it’s those four who work the nightly shifts in two rotating teams. At the locations of those merchants who’ve paid us, we have dedicated brothers stationed on-site — those places need no attention under normal circumstances. The five of us are more of a… rapid response unit.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “If the brothers stationed at the merchants’ premises run into a tough opponent, the five of us must immediately go to their aid.”

Li Diudiu nodded. “So — you five Senior Brothers are among the better fighters in the Azure Formation?”

The four men all looked at Xiahou Zuo at the same time. Xiahou Zuo said with a touch of embarrassed pride, “Though it feels a bit arrogant to admit it — yes, that’s correct.”

Li Diudiu said, “Your martial skills…”

Xiahou Zuo said, “What about my martial skills? What I learned is different from what you learned. You learned martial arts. I learned killing techniques. So most of the time when I get into a fight, I prefer to use a brick — because hitting someone with a brick is actually gentler than using my killing techniques on them.”

Li Diudiu understood. Martial techniques are all killing techniques at their core, but not everyone who studies martial arts can transform what they’ve learned into actual killing techniques. What Xiahou Zuo had trained in and the methods he used when fighting in everyday life were two entirely different things.

“That’s roughly everything.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “Let’s order food and eat. Go back and rest this afternoon, and tonight come out on patrol with us — that’ll count as your formal initiation. After that, we generally won’t call on you for nighttime work.”

But Li Diudiu was thinking about something else. Xiahou Zuo noticed his expression go momentarily absent-minded, sensed trouble, and quickly added a word.

“Don’t get any ideas about going out at night to catch people on your own. You may be a brother of the Azure Formation now, but you’re still young — what if you run into danger? The jianghu at night is nothing like the jianghu you’ve seen before.”

Li Diudiu gave a few perfunctory hums. “Understood.”

He asked, “Does the Azure Formation also collect reward money from the government offices?”

Xiahou Zuo was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Yes… certain major bandits and vicious criminals that the government’s own people don’t dare apprehend — they’ll ask the brothers of the Azure Formation to take action. When someone like that is caught, the government pays a substantial reward. It’s one of the Azure Formation’s main sources of income.”

Li Diudiu gave a brief hum. “How often does the government send over a list of wanted criminals?”

He looked seriously at Xiahou Zuo and said, “You know — I’m short on money.”

Before Xiahou Zuo could speak, Ruan Chen reached into his chest and pulled out a folded piece of paper, handing it to Li Diudiu. “Think of it as a gift from your older brother.”

Li Diudiu took the paper and unfolded it for a look. It was a portrait.

“Just received this job: Wang Heita. He was originally the second-in-command of a rebel band outside the city. After falling out with their leader, he spent a large sum of silver to come hide in Jizhou City. He’s apparently placed himself under the protection of an official in the Jizhou Prefecture. The Changxing Gambling Den is currently under his management.”

Li Diudiu frowned, thought it over, then asked, “If he’s already placed himself under the protection of someone in the government, why would government people ask the Azure Formation to help catch him?”

Ruan Chen said, “Little brother — not everyone in the government is the same kind of person. Not everyone is on the same side. Understand? Someone wants to seize the Changxing Gambling Den. This is an underhanded affair — an internal matter within the Jizhou Prefecture.”

Li Diudiu understood.

Xiahou Zuo let out a sigh. “Don’t take this job.”

Li Diudiu asked, “Is this person very dangerous?”

Xiahou Zuo said, “You should know about the people the Jizhou Prefecture rounded up not long ago — one of them was the Assistant Magistrate Zheng Chun. He’s been imprisoned, but he’ll probably be out before long. Lian Gongming won’t truly move against him. After all, Zheng Chun holds some compromising material on Lian Gongming too — what happened that day was most likely just a show put on for my father’s benefit.”

“Wang Heita originally placed himself under Assistant Magistrate Zheng Chun. The Changxing Gambling Den belongs to Zheng Chun. Someone is trying to take advantage of Zheng Chun being in prison to swallow everything he owns that can’t be brought into the light.”

Xiahou Zuo said, “This is a pool of murky water.”

Li Diudiu put the portrait away with a smile. “I’ll just hold onto it for now. If there’s no opportunity, I won’t act. Don’t worry — I value my life.”

Xiahou Zuo shot him a glare. Ruan Chen laughed. “Don’t worry — if Li Chi wants this man, we’ll all lend a hand. For an initiation, you’ve got to have some kind of ritual, right?”

Only then did it dawn on Li Diudiu: this was a blood oath.

—