At the end of August, with He Wen’s arrival in the city, the five Great Kings of the Fair Party had already gathered in Jiangning.

The city’s headache-inducing security problems calmed down for a few days because of this. The dog-eat-dog turf wars that had once broken skulls daily were nowhere to be seen, and “Wheel King” Xu Zhaonan’s already-prepared fury had been held in check. Aside from Shi Baofeng’s second son Shi Weiyang stirring up a massive brawl on the very day He Wen entered the city, all the other factions had already returned to the serious business of reflecting on “who is the enemy and who is the friend,” because in the coming negotiations, this might well become the most important question of all.

On the day He Wen entered the city, the brawl near the Five Lakes Inn saw both sides eventually mobilize several hundred men, making a huge commotion, but in the end nothing much came of it. This was because a chaotic melee like that didn’t actually help much with capturing a specific target. The five-foot and four-foot Perverts darted through the crowd, and although Shi Weiyang once saw several unknown experts corner the two creatures and beat them until they fled with their heads in their hands, in the end no one managed to catch either of them and bring them in for the reward.

On the other hand, the people at the Five Lakes Inn guarded their own territory fiercely, and once Shi Weiyang’s attention shifted elsewhere, the fighting in front of the inn never spread inside. Because of this, this operation left Shi Weiyang with neither a captive nor any insight into the secrets hidden within the inn — a total failure.

Of course, having caused such a huge stir on the very day He Wen appeared, this second young master instantly became the talk of the town among his circle of friends. His buddies all gave him a thumbs up when they saw him, admiring the fact that he’d dared not give the Fair King any face, praising him as a true “hero.” Shi Weiyang was outwardly smug about it, of course, but once he turned around, his furious father had him disciplined under military law, beating his backside to a pulp, leaving him able to do nothing but lie face-down at home for a while.

A few days later, in a run-down courtyard where the “White Rakshasas” gathered in Jiangning, a group of women had congregated, marveling at the shifting winds of the martial world.

“This is… really quite… how do you say it… a hero emerges in his youth? Is that the phrase?”

“How is he a hero? He’s obviously a huge villain…”

“Right, a huge villain… emerging in his youth?”

“My goodness, what has he done that’s so terrible — he’s barely been in the city half a month and the bounty’s already gone up fivefold…”

“If we caught him, we’d be set for life.”

“That’s right, that’s right, let’s catch him, let’s catch him…”

A group of women who weren’t normally much good at fighting had gotten carried away by a certain bounty notice in the newspaper, rubbing their hands together and chattering excitedly. Partly this was because the bounty amount was so enticingly high, and partly because the crimes attributed to the wanted man had struck quite a nerve with them.

There were, of course, a few voices of caution mixed in.

“I think you’re all getting ahead of yourselves. Look at how big this bounty is — five thousand taels! In the martial world, anyone with a five-thousand-tael bounty on their head is famous for being wicked, with formidable skills and ruthless methods. You want to go catch him? Watch out you don’t end up caught yourselves instead, like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den, without even knowing what he’s actually done…”

The title of “Pervert” on the wanted notice stood out prominently, and combined with the enormous bounty, it signified that this was no easy mark. But faced with such worries, most of the women around just burst out laughing.

“Wouldn’t that be even better? Look, this five-foot Pervert and four-foot Pervert — they only say these two ruined some girls’ reputations, not that they killed anyone. So if we go catch him, isn’t that perfect?”

“Exactly, exactly, and look at this sketch of him, he’s rather good-looking…”

“Not even that old, either…”

“If it works out, we get rich; if it doesn’t, at least we won’t lose our lives…”

“Maybe he’s so skilled he’ll wear the woman out completely… and then she’ll admit he really is a proper little hero…”

“Look at Axiang here, so delicate and sweet — why don’t we use the honey trap on him…”

“No way we lose either way… hahahaha…”

The women of the “White Rakshasas” had all done plenty of wicked things themselves in the past, but they’d also lived through plenty of hardship, so when it came to discussing the young Pervert’s affairs, they didn’t hold back much, laughing and joking with ease. Among these women were some who were quite pretty and delicate, the ones who normally played the role of the pitiable victim wronged by some landlord or gentry family. When it came to talk of honey traps, they spoke with great authority, and the whole atmosphere was cheerful.

Amid this jumble of wild talk, only “Little Scholar” Qu Longjun, who was in charge of reading the newspaper aloud, still held the newspaper bearing the bounty notice and portrait, her face scrunched up like a steamed bun, her eyes drifting about with a somewhat dazed expression.

How could this be?

Thinking back, that young hero Long who had saved her life in the southwest — surely he wasn’t a person like this.

And yet, looking at the figure in the sketch — though it only bore about a fifty percent resemblance — she, as someone who had actually seen young hero Long, could indeed recognize that the man on this wanted notice was indeed that young hero Long.

And remembering that night of chaos in the southwest, the image of young hero Long standing alone against a crowd in the courtyard, cutting down more than a dozen men like slicing melons, was still vivid in her mind. If she herself had drifted from the southwest all the way to Jiangning and ended up in dire straits, that wasn’t so strange; that this young hero Long, with his extraordinary skills, could rise to fame quickly wasn’t strange either — she believed that much. But she simply couldn’t understand how he’d ended up with a reputation like this, one that, with this wanted notice going out, would soon make him famous throughout the land…

Less than half a month ago, when the name Long Aotian had first appeared on that wanted list, Qu Longjun had still had her doubts. The notice at the time said he’d ruined a young lady’s reputation in Tongshan, with a bounty of eight hundred taels, and Qu Longjun had felt certain it must be some kind of misunderstanding. But in the mere ten-odd days since then, the eight hundred taels had suddenly jumped to five thousand, rivaling the most vicious mass-murdering bandits, and the notice had gone out of its way to emphasize his depraved conduct…

Could it be that in the more than ten days since entering the city, he’d committed many more such crimes…

Qu Longjun had been through several upheavals in this world. Before she was even ten, her parents died and she became an orphan, sold off as a “thin horse” — a girl raised and trained to be sold later as a concubine or courtesan. Later, Wen Shoubin had raised her for nearly ten years, and she had come to regard him, for a time, as family. Wen Shoubin was no good man, but after his death, although she was told she had regained her freedom, she had also returned to being utterly alone, with no family left in the world.

At such a juncture, only Auntie Gu within the city of Chengdu, and this Long Aotian who had — for reasons she still didn’t understand — saved her, held any special place in her heart.

As for this young hero Long who had saved her and cared for her in Chengdu, and later arranged a way forward for her, her understanding of him had never run very deep.

At first she’d assumed he’d saved her because he had some designs on her body — which wouldn’t have been such a terrible thing. After Wen Shoubin’s death, having someone want her, giving her somewhere to belong, would actually have been a good thing, especially since he wasn’t old, and was in fact rather good-looking.

Even though he seemed somewhat domineering and moody, that wasn’t such a big deal either. In all her years being raised as a “thin horse,” what she’d learned was how to please and flatter, how to serve a husband’s family. Most heroic figures in this world were stubborn and used to having their own way, but as long as you found the right approach, living well wasn’t too difficult.

—This had been her thinking in the short time after she woke up in that clinic in the southwest.

But she soon discovered he had no such intentions.

The young man named Long Aotian only examined her body each day in a strictly businesslike, even reluctant manner, keeping impeccable physical boundaries. Many of the more intimate tasks requiring medicine to be applied were handled by Auntie Gu instead. She was also aware that, in private, he rather rudely called her “little bitch-dog” — though she didn’t dare voice her displeasure.

After some time passed, she learned that the discipline within the Huaxia Army was extremely strict, and that having saved her, he apparently felt obligated to see it through to the end. Although taking her as a wife or concubine would also have counted as “seeing it through,” he showed no such intention. They had little contact, little conversation, and he even left a strange book by her pillow called Women Hold Up Half the Sky.

After finishing the book, and with Auntie Gu’s guidance, she entered a new world and gained a new perspective on things — yet she still knew very little about that young man named Long Aotian.

This young man was ruthless and merciless, yet in the end he had saved her; the exact reason remained unclear. He seemed to have known her from even further back, and had privately given her the nickname “little bitch-dog” — the reason for that too, she couldn’t work out. She was somewhat curious, but in the end, what passed between the two of them amounted only to a few fragmented exchanges. He had left Chengdu suddenly, like a passing stranger, and she never saw him again even after she herself left the southwest.

But even though their interactions had been so fragmented, in her heart she still wanted to believe he was a good person. He had been so kind to her — a woman he’d met by chance and clearly didn’t think much of — helping her, saving her life, giving her money, asking nothing in return. How could he possibly have become… some kind of five-foot Pervert…

The Little Scholar, who now had no family left, sat there holding the illustrated wanted notice, her thoughts in turmoil over all this. In this dangerous city, she badly wanted to see him again, to confirm that none of this was true — she even wanted to openly defend him. But he had already become this five-thousand-tael figure of note, and by now he’d surely gone into hiding. Given her own status, how could she possibly manage to see him?

The women around her, still giggling, paid little mind to the Little Scholar’s occasional distraction, until someone laughingly said, “Let the Little Scholar use the honey trap — she’s about the same age as this five-foot Pervert.” Only then did Qu Longjun blush faintly and lower her head, returning to reading the rest of the newspaper.

Then it occurred to her — if the “White Rakshasa” sisters really did try the honey trap and actually caught young master Long, would she then truly get to see him again…

The women in the run-down courtyard laughed and joked, most of it simply lighthearted banter to pass the time. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, as the bounty in the newspaper rose, another group had once again gathered for a brief, impromptu meeting.

“…How could you not catch him! How did he get away! Look at this… what a mess this has become, five thousand taels… now his fame is even bigger, there’s no covering it up anymore…”

“…Eighth Brother, we already discussed this… there’s nothing to be done. That kid’s got a wild temperament — how else was he raised? Losing a fight doesn’t matter, what matters is getting away alive. All the young masters follow this same pattern — one-on-one at Zhang Village, no problem, but the moment things actually go wrong out here, that’s when you learn how slippery he is when he refuses to surrender…” The one answering laughed helplessly, exasperated.

“…Our young master Long here is just asking to be killed. Now that they’ve drawn his portrait, there’s no way he can show his face when he goes back…”

“…He’ll get beaten to death…”

“…Speaking of which, this training regimen was set by Master Ning himself. After the war ended last year, everyone knew he couldn’t sit still, so in the second half of the year he went to train in the military camp and reinforced all this. Eighth Brother, it really worked, didn’t it…”

“Don’t mention Master Ning.” The one they called Eighth Brother was already getting a headache. “Look at this, and imagine the look on his face once this news gets back to Zhang Village!”

“I think… he’ll laugh and cry at the same time?”

“Master Ning’s pretty easygoing, right? He won’t get angry?”

“He and that Overlord Blade woman are sure to give little Long a combined double-team spanking…”

“Stop cracking jokes here!” Qian Luoning slapped the table. “You lot were all trained by Madam Hong, you’re her successors, Ning family people through and through — hurry up and think of a way to clean this mess up! Or do you want to go back and not get a beating?”

“Little Black’s Thirteen Bronze Men training makes him tough as nails, and I’m disabled. As for Black Girl… well, she doesn’t look it, but she’s probably a woman, so Master Ning will go easy on her.”

“Look over there!”

At this cry, Yuwen Feidu ducked his head, but Qian Luoning’s palm still landed with a smack on his head.

“Well deserved,” Black Girl nodded approvingly. Then, catching Qian Luoning’s gaze, she sobered up and slapped the table with both hands. “Alright, eighty percent of this bounty was added on by that scoundrel Shi Weiyang. Here’s what we’ll do — forget the surveillance, I’ll go finish him off tonight and have the bounty rescinded.”

“Good deeds never travel, bad news spreads a thousand miles — even if you did that, it probably wouldn’t help much. If you really want to wash off this ‘Five-Foot Pervert’ reputation… let’s have Shi Weiyang add even more money and put out a bounty for the righteous ‘Martial Alliance Leader’ Long Aotian instead. What do you all think? When it comes to this kind of publicity, I’m the expert — I’ve got friends on that side…”

“I’m telling you, don’t worry too much. As long as he’s still in Jiangning, we’ll run into him again eventually. When we do, you give it your all, break his legs, nurse him slowly for a couple months, and by the time we’re home…”

“What do you mean ‘you’ give it your all — you useless cripple are the most useless one here. Tell me, wasn’t it from your side that little Long escaped that day? Always bragging about being a sniper… In little Long’s eyes you’re just a pushover. If you’ve got the guts, go all out on him yourself…”

“Come on… I’m holding a gun, how am I supposed to ‘go all out’? You’re the one with a black heart stirring up trouble — fine, let’s you and me settle this one-on-one, I won’t hold back on you, your Thirteen Bronze Men training won’t save you from me…”

“Little Black might not be a good person, but this time I agree with him. Eighth Brother, this is all Yuwen’s fault, that pushover — we didn’t bring this up last time out of courtesy to him, but you should just cut him down right now. Go on, one clean stroke…”

“I’ll give you a clean stroke — I’ll cut down all three of you bastards—”

“Eighth Brother, there’s no three of us, come on, it’s clearly just the two of them who are bastards…”

Even within this group, not everyone had clearance to know that Long Aotian was actually Ning Ji. The few who did know vented their anxiety for a while, but in the end couldn’t come up with much of a solution, and could only continue their surveillance and information-gathering, waiting for the next development.

Amid all this noise and bustle, whether it was the brawl at the Five Lakes Inn or the stir caused by the young man going by the alias Long Aotian, both amounted to no more than minor, insignificant matters in one corner of the city, as far as Jiangning as a whole was concerned.

As September began, the long-awaited Jiangning martial arts tournament finally officially opened. The various heroes who had already distinguished themselves in the earlier Five Arenas and chosen their patrons, along with others who had come to Jiangning to register under the banners of other factions or as individuals, began formally entering the arena rounds. The city’s security eased somewhat, and the marketplace entered a phase that looked calm yet carried an undercurrent of excitement.

Meanwhile, the various factions large and small flying the “Fair Party” banner — led by Fair King He Wen, and including “Heaven King” Gao Chang, “Equality King” Shi Baofeng, “Wheel King” Xu Zhaonan, and “Yama King” Zhou Shang — held their first full assembly in the city on the first day of September.

At this assembly, He Wen laid out several core problems facing the Fair Party directly to the group: with the Fair Party’s power now coming from too many separate sources, what should be done about it; with different factions having different approaches to distributing spoils and strategy after taking cities, how could these be unified; should the Fair Party’s charter and goals be made more detailed; a widespread hedonistic mood that broke the rules had already emerged across the various factions, how should this be dealt with; and how could the Fair Party avoid the fate that had doomed past peasant uprisings… and so on.

Over its two years of rapid rise, the Fair Party had held one prior assembly of righteous factions. At that time, in order to unite everyone, they’d simply established the guiding principle that anyone following the “Fair Code” was a comrade, and at that time, the entire gathering had been harmonious and joyful, laying the basic foundation for the Fair Party’s sweep across Jiangnan over the following year.

At that earlier meeting, He Wen hadn’t raised a single sharp question. But this time, the moment he opened his mouth, he went straight to these fundamental problems concerning the Fair Party’s very survival. Among these issues, he even brought a large amount of supporting data, repeatedly making the argument that “if we don’t change, the Fair Party will die.”

Although much of what he said sounded novel, such issues weren’t actually all that advanced within the upper ranks of the Fair Party — mainly because the southwest had spent years doing extensive theoretical work on social projections, and conclusions like “a peasant uprising that gets the first step right but the second step wrong will still die” were, at least among those at the top who paid attention to such matters, already understandable propositions.

After He Wen finished speaking, it sent many of those in attendance into deep thought.

The other four Great Kings and various faction representatives who spoke afterward offered mostly comforting platitudes and banter, along the lines of “this problem is very complicated,” “things aren’t that serious yet,” “we’re different from Fang La,” “we’re righteous, and righteousness will prevail,” and so on. Mixed in were also remarks like “being aggressive is exactly how you should treat landlords” and “you have to overcorrect to fix things” and “a little corruption now is nothing, still much better than the landlords.”

And so the assembly on the first of September ended, with all parties exchanging friendly and cordial words and basically trading views, with no one getting angry. This marked the beginning of the entire Jiangning negotiation process, and against the lively backdrop of the martial arts tournament, it seemed rather unremarkable — ninety percent of the people in the city weren’t even fully aware it had happened.

The truly complicated undercurrents had already begun gathering beneath the surface…