How could he have a little brother? This didn’t stump Dan Ying, who had received bandit education since childhood. The local tyrant Long San of Luoyang had bullied his destined little brother—how could this be tolerated? This grudge must be avenged. The jianghu valued clear distinctions between gratitude and grievances, swift vengeance. As for the saying that a gentleman’s revenge is not too late after ten years—he had never believed a word of it. Even one hour felt too long to him.

He found a basin and filled it completely with food, piling the braised pork high, and stuffed it to Qi Cheng. He himself mounted a fast horse and in a cloud of dust charged toward Luoyang. Yun Ye had no doubt that the local tyrant Long San’s doomsday had arrived. Upon encountering a flying eagle from the ninth heaven, his life was destined to be a tragedy. Yun Ye didn’t care about Long San’s life or death—he was more concerned about Qi Cheng.

Qi Cheng was obviously very hungry, but he stubbornly endured, using a spoon to feed Ma Ci. Ma Ci had already taken the medicine Dan Ying gave him and was in much better spirits. The congested blood in his chest had also been released by Dan Ying using a three-edged needle. Now he was half-reclining in a lounge chair eating.

Qi Cheng was very careful, wrapping large chunks of braised pork in rice and soaking them thoroughly in meat juices before feeding them to Ma Ci. Ma Ci ate greedily, stretching his neck, swallowing mouthful after mouthful, impatiently awaiting the next bite, like a duck waiting to be force-fed.

“Don’t rush, Gala. You’re injured in the chest—you can’t eat too quickly. Look, there’s still plenty. This meat is so fatty. Chew slowly, chew it fine before swallowing. That’s how my mother taught me. From now on, we’ve made it! We’ll never have to eat millet again. I just found us a big backer—highly skilled in martial arts, the son of my father’s old brother. I hear he has a good relationship with the marquis here. He’s gone to catch Long San right now. Says he’ll be back in a bit.”

Qi Cheng slowly explained the course of events to Ma Ci. Ma Ci didn’t seem to care. As long as Qi Cheng made the decision, he would follow. After all, Brother Qi would absolutely never harm him.

Having comforted his empty stomach, he heard the gurgling sounds from Qi Cheng’s stomach and the drool constantly flowing from the corner of his mouth. With difficulty, he pushed the rice basin toward Qi Cheng and said, “Brother, you eat too. The meat’s almost gone.”

Qi Cheng grinned and gulped down a big mouthful of water, saying, “Nonsense! Would I not know your appetite? Come on, eat this whole basin of rice. Hurry and get your health back, and brother will take you to the House of Tenderness. We’ve peeked at Lady Cui’s body before—so white! Tsk tsk. Once your injury heals, we’ll go. I ate my fill. While you were sleeping just now, I gnawed on a whole pig’s knuckle by myself. Didn’t save you any.”

Ma Ci persisted and ate two more bites, but found it too greasy. He only ate rice and wouldn’t eat meat. After drinking a mouthful of water, he refused to eat anymore. He knew very clearly that Brother Qi was lying. When they were young and snatched back a piece of moldy rice cake, he would give him half. If there was a pig’s knuckle, how could he possibly not save some for him and eat it all alone?

Seeing Ma Ci refuse to eat, Qi Cheng looked at the remaining small half basin of rice and the scattered few pieces of meat. He said, “Don’t waste it,” then picked up the basin and shoveled it into his mouth without pausing for breath.

Yun Ye stood in the distance watching carefully. Without eavesdropping, he could guess what the two brothers were saying. One side of Niu Jianhu’s face was red, but his eyes held unconcealed envy. So did Cheng Chumo. This was the charm of jianghu righteousness—it could bewitch one person to die for another. This kind of affection was beautiful, yet also cruel.

Flowers in hell, honey on a cliff—both were rare beauties in the world, supreme delicacies. People with this kind of righteousness generally lived like firecrackers—able to burst forth with brilliant light in a short time. However, this kind of brilliance was only a momentary thing. After the explosion, it was gone.

He gave Niu Jianhu and Cheng Chumo each a slap. As the pillars of great families, now envying things only bachelors could do—their heads had truly been kicked by donkeys. Dragging along a whole family, how could they live so freely? When necessary, playing the fool took much more courage than stabbing people in the street with a knife.

“Just think about such things in your head. Never let yourselves get drawn in. They can do this—you can’t. Above you have elders waiting to be seen off, below you have children waiting to grow up. If you want swift vengeance, wait for the next life.”

“Ye-zi, why do I feel like crying? I’m a bit envious. Will we ever have such a day?” Cheng Chumo actually asked.

“My idea is this—when we’re all so old we can’t walk anymore, if we can still sit at a table playing mahjong with all our limbs intact, scolding our sons, training our grandsons, putting on the airs of old masters, and if we still have energy to go to brothels, that would be best. Living a lifetime like this is my wish. Chumo, that business of searching for me for three days and nights on the grassland must be prohibited. Anyone with a brain wouldn’t do that.”

“Then what kind of brothers would we be?”

“Those who can help me get through this life smoothly and safely are brothers. Let’s discuss this question when we’re too old to go on. At that time, if you want me to accompany you to rob the imperial palace, I’ll accompany you. Right now, think more about your future wife Li Jing—Princess Qinghe. How many times have you gone to see her?”

Yun Ye watched Steward Qian carrying a wooden bucket for steaming rice, adding food and meat for Qi Cheng, while asking Cheng Chumo without turning his head.

“Damn it, Qinghe is only fourteen this year. What do I have to say to a little girl?”

“I remember when you took Jiuyi as a concubine, she was only fourteen when you made your move. How come you’re not a beast now?” Niu Jianhu sarcastically mocked Cheng Chumo.

“When Jiuyi gave birth to my daughter, she nearly died. If it weren’t for Ye-zi and Daoist Sun, she wouldn’t be in this world anymore. That kind of thing—I don’t want it to happen to Qinghe again.” Cheng Chumo felt afraid just thinking about it. Jiuyi had grabbed his hand and begged him to help her. He never wanted to see that kind of tragic state again in his life.

“Let me tell you, when you marry a woman from the imperial family, you must treat her well. That damned Princess Manor—it’s best not to go there. Bring Qinghe home. It’s pitiful for a woman to live alone in that cold and desolate Princess Manor. You’re lucky you married Qinghe—gentle by nature. If it were any other princess, you’d die more miserably than a pig. Not one of them is easy to deal with. One is Hepu, one is Lanling—these two, hehe. I hear Hepu was betrothed to Fang Yi’ai, and Lanling was betrothed to her own young uncle. Haha, truly a match made in heaven.”

“Ye-zi, why are you laughing so eerily? Is there some story there?” Niu Jianhu carefully asked Yun Ye, because according to his experience, whenever Yun Ye let out this kind of night-owl laughter, someone was about to have terrible luck.

“You two brothers remember this—don’t get involved in the affairs of the Fang family or the Dou family. Don’t have dealings with these two princesses either. Even if disputes arise, retreat three舍. These are two who can get entire families killed. Whoever touches them has bad luck.”

The two brothers looked at the supremely confident Yun Ye, not understanding where his confidence came from. However, judging from various past events, it was better to believe his words. Otherwise, when they suffered losses and sought his help, it would be hard to speak up.

The sky darkened. Black clouds surged out from the other side of the mountain, and in the blink of an eye covered the sky tightly. Steward Qian busily directed the servants to quickly reinforce the tents, move the tents from low ground to high ground, and dig drainage ditches around the tents. The Yun family servants worked in an orderly fashion, while the servants of the Cheng and Niu families were in disarray.

Steward Qian kicked the helpless Qi Cheng and tossed him a small tent. Otherwise, when the rainstorm came, Ma Ci’s condition would definitely worsen. But Qi Cheng didn’t know how to set up a tent. He grabbed Steward Qian and wouldn’t let go. Old Qian had many things to do and no time to help him. Shaking off Qi Cheng, he hurriedly roared at several Cheng family servants: “If you don’t move your master’s trunks to tents on high ground, are you waiting to get soaked by rain?”

Cheng Chumo stood on high ground and could see clearly. He said to Yun Ye, “Why do your servants all know what they should do, while mine are so dumb—won’t move unless pushed?”

Yun Ye ignored Cheng Chumo’s foolish talk. He walked down the slope to Qi Cheng’s side, shook open the tent, and began installing the frame. The Yun family’s tent frames were all hollow iron tubes rolled from thick iron sheets with wedge slots on them. One only needed to align opposing wedge slots and insert them properly. The canvas tent was brushed with a thick layer of tung oil, with excellent waterproof performance. The tent perfectly covered the flatbed cart. Qi Cheng said nothing. He clasped his hands toward Yun Ye in salute, then dove into the tent to care for the weak Ma Ci. To survive under Old Jiang’s chain hammer—Ma Ci’s luck was truly heaven-defying.

A gust of wind swept through, raising dust from the ground. Thunder rolled, the sky darkened. The temporarily erected stable had its roof cover blown off by the gust. The servants rushed out again, shouting slogans and battling the wind. The tarpaulin caught the wind and was difficult to secure. Cheng Chumo watched impatiently, rushed out and pressed the tarpaulin about to be blown away to the ground with one hand. Immediately a Yun family servant came with wooden stakes and secured it with just a few hammer blows. Cheng Chumo exerted strength with both arms, muscles bulging, and also secured the windward tarpaulin in place. Without the wind, the neighing warhorses immediately quieted down. Cheng Chumo laughed heartily, showing off his robust physique to Yun Ye. He was greeted by middle fingers extended by Yun Ye and Niu Jianhu.

Where did Wangcai go? He hadn’t seen its shadow just now. Yun Ye became anxious and hurriedly searched everywhere, only to discover a horse’s head sticking out from the maids’ tent. Who else but Wangcai? It kept chewing food in its mouth. Seeing Yun Ye looking at it, it even opened its mouth and called out once, which counted as a greeting.

When lightning moved the battlefield overhead, accompanied by forked lightning, torrential rain arrived as scheduled. Bright white raindrops beat on the tents like drumming. The busy moment passed, and the camp restored peace. Most of the sentries placed outside were also withdrawn, leaving only a few people on alert at the hilltop.

It was already dark. Dan Ying probably couldn’t return tonight. Yun Ye wasn’t worried about him. A guy who had been killing people since age ten—if he fell to a local tyrant, that would truly be deserved.

The fierce downpour passed, leaving only endless rain threads floating everywhere. Rain on the plains was like this—fierce in momentum but unable to last. Muffled thunder rolled overhead, seeming to go to the horizon, while the last trace of skylight at the horizon gradually disappeared. The earth sank into complete darkness, with only a few windproof lamps in the camp spreading orange-yellow light.

A burst of urgent hoofbeats came. Dan Ying, holding a podao, burst out from the darkness like a demon god. His clothes clung tightly to his body. The earlier downpour hadn’t washed clean the blood all over him. The water droplets falling from his clothes’ hem showed a strange red color under the lamplight. A human head was tied under the horse’s neck, teeth bared in an ugly grimace. With a light flick of the blade in his palm, the head fell at Qi Cheng’s feet.

Qi Cheng picked up the head, nodded to Dan Ying, then paid full respects. Dan Ying on horseback was as proud as an eagle king perched on a mountain peak, looking around with self-satisfaction.

“How did you kill him?” Yun Ye was surprised by his efficiency.

“Entered the west gate, exited the east gate.”

“How many did you kill?”

“Sixty-three.”