Fuzhou’s night gradually passed in a faint coolness, and by the time they woke from sleep, it was already the morning of the twenty-ninth. Ning Ji and Qu Longjun got up together and did a bit of exercise, then brushed their teeth and washed up. That day, Qu Longjun didn’t put on the light women’s clothes she usually wore at home, but stayed instead in her men’s disguise. While brushing her teeth, she brought up the previous day’s events with Ning Ji.
“That Yu Hezhang will probably be back again these next few days.”
“I’ll scare him off — whatever the matter is, we just turn it down.”
“Earlier, in Pucheng County, they were carrying out that business of killing yellow dogs and stirring up rebellion. For them to all suddenly show up in Fuzhou now — they must be planning something serious.”
Qu Longjun thought it over, but for the moment had no particular leads.
The re-encounter with Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao’s group had only been a minor accident. After last night’s clash, the two sides had chatted for a while in front of the stout auntie’s rice-cake stall.
Having personally witnessed Ning Ji’s skill, Yu Hezhang had clearly shown great interest in the two of them, but given how rushed the meeting had been, the two sides hadn’t exchanged much crucial information the night before.
Yu Hezhang had asked why the two of them had come to set up a stall here at Yinqiao Ward, and had been rebuffed by Ning Ji and Qu Longjun with something along the lines of “none of your business.” As for the reason he himself had come to Fuzhou, setting aside the details, it was nothing out of the ordinary — more or less the case of bad men receiving orders from the heads of bad men, coming to Fuzhou to do something bad…
Ning Ji, having become a respectable sort now, had little interest left in such matters of villainy. Though he’d still watch the spectacle out of curiosity, he did hope that when blood started spraying everywhere, none of it would land on his own face.
Of course, Yu Hezhang’s own martial skill wasn’t much to speak of, and the underlings following him were similarly limited — hardly a serious threat as far as Ning Ji was concerned. Having now resolved to live as a law-abiding citizen, he figured it would be fine if the man knew his place; and if he didn’t, Ning Ji could simply deal with the lot of them himself, or else hand them over to Zuo Wenxuan and Zuo Xingzhou, who could make them vanish without a trace easily enough.
Having made up his mind on the matter, he could set the whole thing aside for the time being. That afternoon, going to the print shop in the city, he found that a new volume of The Legend of Yan Jiuniang had come out, and eagerly bought two crates of it.
Qu Longjun rushed home to read through it, then took out rice paper, ground fresh ink, and dashed off a few bold, flowing advertisement characters, which she then had pasted onto a wooden board. Ning Ji watched admiringly from the side and could only remark, “M-my dad can write like this too…”
That night, the two of them set up their stall again at Yinqiao Ward, and sure enough, Yu Hezhang showed up as expected.
This time he brought only Meng Biao, who had already met Ning Ji’s group before. After paying his respects and just as he was about to speak, two women rushed over in delight, giving “Young Master Long” a deep bow before immediately launching into an excited chatter about their thoughts on the book. Qu Longjun, in her gentle manner, began discussing the contents of the new volume of The Legend of Yan Jiuniang with the two of them as well.
Ning Ji went over and grabbed Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao, pulling them off to the side. “You two wait a bit — don’t interrupt our business.”
Qu Longjun’s approach to recommending The Legend of Yan Jiuniang to various wealthy young ladies relied not on volume but on sincerity, patiently chatting with each of them, discussing the book’s content, sharing her own thoughts, even her knowledge of far-flung places, building up the value of the book’s heroine “Yan Jiuniang” to great heights before finally offering some daggers and short swords and similar merchandise on the side to bring in extra profit. Because of this, her conversation with each woman never took long — and seeing “Young Master Long” chatting so happily with the women, Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao knew better than to interrupt casually, and instead went to patronize the stout auntie’s rice-cake stall nearby.
Meng Biao, though, watched with a frown, and said quietly to Yu Hezhang, “Big Brother Yu, look, didn’t I tell you — with looks like that, when would he ever lack for women? That title of ‘Five-Foot Lecher,’ I bet someone just pinned it on him falsely. He hasn’t caused any trouble since coming to Fuzhou — could he actually be some kind of moral paragon? In that case, it’s hard to say which side he’s really on…”
“We’re righteous people too, only we sometimes need to hire people to get things done…” Yu Hezhang shot him a look, then lowered his voice as well. “A man’s reputation is like a tree’s shadow — in the martial world of ten thousand tales, how could it be wrong by such a margin… And leave aside the outside talk for a moment — think of yourself. If you had skill like his, would you come to Fuzhou and be content setting up a little stall to earn a living?”
Meng Biao thought back to the pressure the two brothers had shown the night before. “If I had skill like that, I’d naturally just pull off one big job and be done with it.”
“Shortsighted — with skill like that, naturally people come to deliver money to your door,” Yu Hezhang said. “He’s clearly not short on money now, and putting on this act of running a little stall must serve some purpose. And think about it — even running a stall like this, who is it he’s spending his time with? These girls who all clearly have money. You blockhead — when something’s abnormal, there’s a reason behind it. This only proves he must really be that lecher from the rumors. It’s just that his skill is far beyond the likes of us common folk.”
The two of them mulled this over carefully, clicking their tongues in amazement. Meanwhile, Qu Longjun’s charm with women was proving as formidable as ever — before the first two women had even been sent off, a passing young girl joined in as well, picking up a new copy of the book and beginning to listen to Qu Longjun spin tales from it. Before long, the stall had practically turned into a proper book club.
One worldly-looking woman even took the chance to touch Qu Longjun’s hand; Qu Longjun stopped her with tactful restraint, and the woman left blushing, while the other women, chattering indignantly on her behalf, only grew more smitten with his upstanding image.
Grumbling under his breath, Ning Ji set up the stall and did some odd chores, then, at Qu Longjun’s signal, arranged a few of the money-grabbing “merchandise” pieces prominently on display. Given how much money there was to be made, he managed to swallow his irritation and not cause trouble, even when his cute looks drew a bit of teasing from onlookers — he didn’t snap back right away. But eventually, having had enough, he collected some earnings and went off to spend it elsewhere.
He plopped himself right down at Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao’s table.
Yu Hezhang said, “Business is really booming for you two young heroes here — is there anything this humble one could help with…”
Ning Ji glanced at him. “What could you possibly help with?”
Yu Hezhang nodded, sweating slightly, but found himself in complete agreement with this young hero’s low opinion of him.
He’d just been chatting with Meng Biao about other lechers and flower thieves in the martial world — nothing more than seeing some family’s pretty daughter and, moved by lust, going and having his way with her. And here now was this “Five-Foot Lecher,” setting up a stall that drew women in like bait cast into a pond, luring in more and more of them. What sort of depraved things might follow from that, he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Recalling the skill he’d seen “Sun Wukong” display the night before, if the two of them had pulled off something similar in Jiangning, it was no wonder the “King of Equality” Shi Baofeng had put up such an enormous bounty to hunt them down.
Thinking this over, he said to the “Sun Wukong” in front of him, “So, Young Hero Sun — when might Young Hero Long have some free time this evening?”
“He’s busy tonight. Whatever it is, let’s talk — it’s the same thing either way.”
“…Oh, so does that mean…”
“Let’s go to the icy-jelly shop.”
Turning down Yu Hezhang’s proposal had originally been planned to fall to Ning Ji — after all, if things didn’t go smoothly, it might well come down to giving them a beating. He wasted no time now, leading the two of them straight to Xiang Family Snacks nearby and up to a private room on the second floor, telling them plainly: “You’re paying.”
What Yu Hezhang had to say clearly wasn’t the sort of thing that could be discussed openly, so he readily accepted. They sat down, exchanged a few pleasantries, then got down to business.
“…The current situation, I’m sure both Young Hero Sun and Young Hero Long down there understand well enough — this is truly a time when heroes from across the realm are gathering in Fuzhou…”
“…To the north, the ‘Sea Tiger’ Niu Yunqiu has already led various bands of heroes down from Jiangnan to join the cause together; to the west, Hero Xu Nanjiang has gathered forces at Xianghu Stronghold and has already beaten back the imperial army’s first wave of attacks; and Alliance Leader Cao Jinlong, who was originally down south, has now also arrived in Fuzhou…”
“…Given the bond we share from Pucheng County, this one won’t beat around the bush. We’ve come to Fuzhou this time precisely for whatever big event might be coming in the sixth month…”
“…Exactly what that event is, I can’t say for now — frankly, even I don’t have full clarity on it at this moment. But my master is, at present, recruiting talent for this great cause. This one has been entrusted with a heavy responsibility and has already gathered together a band of reliable brothers. But Young Hero Sun and Young Hero Long, coming from such a distinguished family with such formidable skill — this one has rarely seen the like in his lifetime — and so… it’s for that reason I’ve come to call, presumptuous as it may be.”
“…Young Hero Sun, I won’t put on airs — if you were to join, first… there’d be this much…”
……
The summer heat rose in waves outside, while the icy jelly in his hand brought a pleasant coolness. Looking down from the window of the private room at Xiang Family Snacks, the lively business at the stall below was still going strong.
Yu Hezhang’s attempt at recruitment showed nothing particularly novel — the price he offered wasn’t low, and he was generous with promises of fame and fortune. But his own standing was really just that of a pawn connecting the great clans above with the rank and file below, and even though he’d done well in Pucheng County and earned some trust, many of the truly critical details likely hadn’t been shared with him in full.
Ning Ji had already decided not to get involved in any of this, and turning the offer down proved no great trouble. At one point he said, “You can’t even tell me what the job actually is, and you’re inviting me to join up? What if you bastards end up screwing me over?” At another point he said, “My brother and I are law-abiding folk, come to Fuzhou to do business — we wouldn’t get mixed up in this kind of mess.” And once he’d grown tired of it, he simply said, “Keep pestering me and I won’t just kill the lot of you — I’ll dig up your boss’s ancestral graves too.” Yu and Meng, both aware he was some kind of heterodox master, young and formidably skilled and utterly lawless, took none of it as an offense.
Finishing off the cold drink and picking up another one to go, Ning Ji finally left the upper floor. Back at the stall, he handed the drink to Qu Longjun. Someone in the crowd, not knowing better, called out teasingly, “Young Hero Sun, won’t you treat us to something good too?” Ning Ji had half a mind to help, but pursed his lips and walked off, letting the matter drop for the sake of the money.
Since he’d already drawn the attention of Yu Hezhang and his group, Ning Ji, to avoid any surprises, kept himself wandering only among the shops not far from the stall to pass the time.
Upstairs at Xiang Family Snacks, Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao had taken another private room, and pushed the window open just a crack to keep an eye on the activity around the stall below.
Desperate outlaws were easy enough to come by in the martial world, but grandmasters of this caliber were truly rare finds. What’s more, with the two of them already carrying disreputable names, buying over such unprincipled figures of the heterodox path wasn’t difficult at all, and it made them all the easier to trust — no need for excessive testing.
For Yu Hezhang, being able to recruit two masters like this into the fold would naturally raise his own standing with his master considerably.
The question was how to cater to their interests, to find what would truly appeal to them.
That called for careful observation.
These past days, Qu Longjun had drawn a following of “fans” through The Legend of Yan Jiuniang and her own manner of speech, and now with the new volume on the market, the area around the stall had been lively from start to finish all day. Some of the women from the pleasure houses in Jinqiao Ward had even sent their maids over to have a look, though not to buy — instead saying they’d come in person to meet “Brother Long” once the crowd of ordinary customers had thinned out.
At the third quarter of the Hour of the Dog, a figure cut through the crowd and found a seat at a table in front of the stout auntie’s rice-cake stall.
The man was dressed carelessly, his gaze dark and brooding, stubble covering his jaw, striking the pose of a hairy-chested hero. He observed the general-goods cart nearby for a while.
He’d come looking for trouble, hoping to find a gap in the crowd to go grab the man, but the women clogging up the way over there simply never seemed to thin out — one would leave, and a second would arrive right after. This left him faintly irritated, until he simply called the stout auntie over, ordered a bowl of something to eat, and chatted with her a bit about the cart next door, asking things like: “Where’s that nephew of yours? Don’t see him around today.”
Only once he heard her answer — “Oh, that’s no nephew of mine, that’s just a troublemaker” — did he finally understand: he really had been toyed with, those few days ago.
The man who had arrived here, of course, was none other than Yue Yun.
Smoke and steam rose from the food stalls.
The street flowed on with an endless stream of people.
Yue Yun took a couple of bites of his food, glanced to the side, then called the stout auntie back over and asked her a few more questions. She said, “Those two young fellows next door — that Young Master Sun is a bit of a scoundrel, but he’s not really a bad sort, not at heart. As for that Dragon Aotian, Young Master Long, he’s handsome and courteous, I’m sure he must be a good person. Young — Young Master Yue, if you’ve got some business with him, don’t go wronging him unfairly, all right?”
Before she’d even finished, Yue Yun was already rising from his seat, his gaze fixed on the general-goods stall over there.
A customer who’d just returned a rice-cake bowl was walking away from view.
A youthful figure appeared some two zhang away. It was precisely the one who’d dragged him around and accused him of bullying the common people, a few days earlier.
At this moment, Yue Yun made no attempt to hide the killing intent within him.
The other met his gaze evenly, and showed no restraint of his own either.
Over at the general-goods stall, Qu Longjun was still chatting and laughing with the crowd about the book; up on the second floor of Xiang Family Snacks, Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao pushed the window open wider, staring in slack-jawed astonishment at the scene unfolding below.
“What’s… going on…”