Night deepened, but the summer heat hadn’t faded. In Silver Bridge Ward, as the standoff continued, the fiery atmosphere of summer seemed almost ready to combust — and the fire burning in the heart of the young man called Yue Yun blazed just as fiercely.

“Shameless lecher! If you’ve got the guts, come out and duel me one-on-one—”

“Aren’t we already dueling one-on-one—”

Before Yue Yun’s roar had even faded, the youth charging at him collided with him again, fists trading blows, sometimes shifting into claw or palm techniques. Yet no matter how much force and weight Yue Yun put behind his attacks, he could never break through his opponent’s defenses.

Though he was taller and stronger, his opponent’s boxing style was hard wrapped in softness — even when Yue Yun went all out and seemed to gain the upper hand, the youth’s underlying skill always carried some inexplicable resilience, like a whirlpool or the open sea, giving an impression of bottomless depth. Whenever Yue Yun gained an edge, the youth would always surge right back, or else attack low and drag him rolling to the ground.

“Long Aotian—”

Yue Yun could only roar in frustration.

“Not even focused on the fight — if we both jumped you at once, you think you’d survive?”

“Fanzi Fist, is that all you’ve got, hahaha…”

“Come taste Grandpa’s Invincible Killing Fist of the World—”

The monkey called Sun Wukong chattered on, spouting nonsense, and had already blocked him several rounds running in the middle of the street. Yue Yun had been taught by his father since childhood, and even through his rising fury, as the bout wore on he gradually began to sense something:

Though his opponent might be two years younger than him, his fighting style followed a highly disciplined system — nimble footwork, a rock-solid lower stance, and remarkably well-honed defensive conditioning, faintly bearing the marks of the orthodox Thirteen Taibao technique trained from childhood. His evasive instincts in combat were no less sharp than a veteran soldier’s. Both sides traded blows fist for fist, and it certainly hurt, but deciding a winner proved extremely difficult — which was exactly why Yue Yun kept failing to break through this sticky-candy defense of his…

Someone with skills like this most likely came from some martial family with deep ancestral training…

Only, this monkey across from him talked entirely too much. Before Yue Yun could sort through his thoughts clearly, at one point as he rose after being knocked down, he saw the villain “Long Aotian” step a few paces closer and call out clearly, “Wait a moment.”

Across from him, “Sun Wukong” was still swinging his arms and fists. Yue Yun opened his mouth, showing blood between his teeth, then spread his arms wide. “Finally willing to come, are you?”

“This Long would like to ask — you’re Young Master Yue of the Yue family, of the Beiwei Army, correct?”

“Your grandfather here doesn’t change his name or hide his surname…”

“Good, then.” Long Aotian across from him nodded, his gaze and tone remarkably calm. “Let me ask Young Master Yue this: is Fuzhou still a place with law and order?”

“Of course there’s law and order — which is exactly why there’s no room for scoundrels like you two to run wild—”

“I’m afraid there may be some mistake here.” Long Aotian spoke slowly, word by word, nodding as he did. His gaze fixed on Yue Yun, and after a pause he continued, “So let me ask first, Young Master Yue — when you say my brother and I are scoundrels, do you have proof?”

“You want to twist your words with clever talk…”

“You say we’re lechers — do you have a victim who’s made a complaint?”

“…This young lord doesn’t care about your sophistry!”

“I think Young Master Yue ought to care.”

Yue Yun clenched both fists, grinding his teeth. Across from him, the youth swinging his wrists and fists had already blocked his path, while a little further off, the one called Long Aotian fixed him with a cold, clear gaze. The man’s words came so decisively that Yue Yun, for a moment, found himself unable to answer.

He had no interest in dragging this out with words — he only wanted to charge in and beat them both senseless.

He hesitated a moment.

That “Long Aotian” continued: “For over a decade now, ever since the Jinghan reign began, the realm has been in chaos. In many places, there’s not a shred of law or order left — greenwood men run rampant with violence, lording it over the land, while ordinary people are left to wander, displaced and homeless. Young Master Yue, my brother and I came to Fuzhou driving a cart, set up a small stall — we paid good silver to rent this spot from the neighborhood, and everything we sell is something people find genuinely interesting, bought and sold by mutual consent, never forced on anyone. Young Master Yue, do you know why we’re willing to abide by the law here? Because you people said this was where the Son of Heaven resides — a place with law, with order!”

Yue Yun sneered coldly. “Men like you are just putting on a temporary disguise…”

“Long Aotian” shook his head. “Whether or not you think we’re disguising ourselves, if there’s law and order here, then when you accuse us of wrongdoing, you ought to have witnesses and evidence. But what have we seen today? Young Master Yue, relying on your own martial prowess, you’ve been ready to beat and kill people in the middle of the street without a second thought — everyone here saw it clearly. You even smashed up the stout auntie’s belongings. How do you explain that?”

“I’ll compensate her, naturally.”

“Hmph. Break something, say you’ll pay for it, and think that makes you righteous? Typical spoiled brat, typical young lordling’s arrogance.” Qu Longjun shook her head.

Ning Ji beside her jumped up. “That’s right, that’s right! Spoiled sack, young lordling’s arrogance!” He thought the rhyme was quite clever and felt rather pleased with himself.

Standing across from them, Yue Yun’s face had already flushed red. Still, he knew he was in the right, and for now he kept his composure, saying, “Hmph. Back in Jiangning, everyone knew of the wickedness of the Five-Foot Lecher Long Aotian and the Four-Foot Lecher Sun Wukong! The bounty that so-called ‘Equality King’ Shi Baofeng placed on you two is still posted in black and white to this day — don’t think that just because you’re far from there, sweet talk will let you slip away!”

“Long Aotian” merely smiled. “May I ask — this so-called ‘Equality King’ Shi Baofeng — is he some relative of yours? Or perhaps he’s been granted the title of king by our current Emperor’s own golden decree?”

“…”

“‘Equality King’ Shi Baofeng is nothing but an unforgivable bandit!” At this, “Long Aotian” spoke out loudly, his brow stern and cold. “Last year, the so-called Fairness Party held a meeting in Jiangning, and the five kings turned on each other, throwing all of Jiangnan into chaos, leaving the common people to suffer! Young Master Yue, today in Fuzhou, there are many people who fled here as refugees from Jiangnan! No small number of the common folk here still have kin whose bones haven’t even gone cold yet, back in Jiangnan!”

Qu Longjun had no inner power to project her voice across the whole street, but her tone rang out clear, and quite a few people nearby began voicing their agreement at the same moment. What she said was, of course, the truth — among the many refugees who had reached Fuzhou, who among them hadn’t been swept up by this great upheaval in Jiangnan?

“Young Master Yue, the principle remains the same,” Qu Longjun said. “We came to Fuzhou willing to obey the law and order here, because you people told us there was law and order here. But if it were a place like Jiangnan, without law or order, then my brother and I have our own way of surviving — the feud between us and the Shi Baofeng family will be settled in its own time, in the future. But here, today, if you think we’re irredeemable villains, then bring out your evidence, find your witnesses — don’t keep making unreasonable trouble, and don’t disgrace the Beiwei Army and General Yue’s name!”

As she spoke, her logic was clear and her words landed with weight — especially the line “the feud between us and the Shi Baofeng family will be settled in its own time, in the future,” which left the surrounding young women nearly swooning. Only now did they truly “realize” just what kind of standing and skill this “Young Master Long” before them might actually hold in the greenwood world.

Hearing this, Ning Ji felt a surge of excitement in his heart — he hadn’t expected his connection to Shi Baofeng could be spun this way: That’s right, that’s right, my feud with that Equality King — what are you people, compared to that… For a moment he didn’t think too hard about it — if he revealed his true family background, Shi Baofeng probably wouldn’t even qualify to hold a grudge against him…

The crowd began buzzing over the accusations against the Fairness Party. Yue Yun ground his teeth, thought for a moment, and was about to bring up the matter of Yan Yunzhi again when he saw the other’s gaze sweep toward him.

“…As for what you said about me and that Miss Yan Yunzhi — I’m afraid my relationship with Miss Yan runs rather deeper than yours with her…” Her gaze paused briefly on Ning Ji’s back. “…Isn’t that right?”

Yue Yun’s expression froze, his face flushing red then pale, unable to get a word out.

Seeing this, the women nearby had already all but written an entire “Legend of Yan Jiuniang” in their heads, and at once a clamor rose up.

“That’s right, that’s right, what business is Miss Yan’s affair of yours—”

“Let Miss Yan speak for herself—”

“You ugly brute — those two are a natural match, talent and beauty—”

“Boo hoo hoo…”

Ning Ji swung a fist to block in front of Yue Yun, who looked ready to explode at any moment, occasionally tossing in a jab: “That’s right, that’s right, what’s that idiot Yan Xiaozhi got to do with you, hahahaha…”

He sensed something was slightly off but decided this wasn’t the moment to think it through carefully.

Yue Yun raised a finger, his eyes bloodshot — if he weren’t still so young, he might have exploded on the spot…

…

Yue Yun’s arrival in Silver Bridge Ward turned out to be quite the amusing little episode since coming to Fuzhou.

Though the sight of him walking away at the end, eyes red as if trudging through mud, looked rather pitiful, a young man growing up always had to endure his share of trials.

Ning Ji, who had once nearly died from being slandered by that wretched woman Yu Xiao’er, felt a small pang of sympathy for what Yue Yun had gone through — but not much. As a young man himself, having now experienced Fanzi Fist firsthand, he found himself even more curious about the man’s skills. Young people, after enduring all sorts of psychological torment, only grow stronger — he himself was living proof, and felt he had every right to say so.

Back in the southwest, his elders had occasionally spoken of the Beiwei Army, of Yue Fei, always with the highest praise. Ning Ji had long felt a kind of kindred admiration for these Yue siblings, even without having met them — “though we’ve never met, my heart has always leaned toward you.” Today’s fascinating little clash had been quite fun, and if they ever crossed paths again in the future, once identities were revealed, another round of sparring might prove even more interesting for both sides.

Thinking of this scene, he even began looking forward to it…

Even though Yue Yun, storming off in frustration, had genuinely looked like a whipped dog…

Because of this fight, quite a few people in Silver Bridge Ward now understood that Ning Ji and Qu Longjun were “greenwood masters,” and the group of young women who admired Qu Longjun grew even more fervent in their devotion to her. Qu Longjun, worried about Ning Ji’s condition after the fight, came over to check on him — but Ning Ji, having trained as an army medic, considered the superficial wounds from trading blows with Yue Yun a trivial matter. After a few reassuring words, Qu Longjun went back to continue “swindling people out of their money.”

Ning Ji, meanwhile, pulled some bruise-treatment herbs from his little cart and applied them to himself right there. As a greenwood master tending to his own wounds after a fight, quite a few people came over on the spot wanting to buy the salve. Ning Ji named his price then and there and made a tidy, dishonest profit — even the young women who’d been buying books from Qu Longjun ended up spending plenty of silver on the ointment.

Yu Hezhang and Meng Biao, having witnessed the whole spectacle, came down afterward to check in and pay their respects. Ning Ji brushed them off with a few perfunctory words, sold them a couple of doses of the salve, and then told them to get lost.

The summer night slowly wore on, drawing near the hour of Zi on the thirtieth of the fifth month. As word of Yue Yun’s humiliating defeat spread in all directions, Chen Hua of the “Guitai Alliance” caught wind of it just as the stalls were closing up, and hurried over to find Ning Ji and Qu Longjun, showering them with flattery.

He didn’t have much to talk about with the refined and cultured Qu Longjun, but he got along quite well with Ning Ji, who had once given him a hard lesson. Dragging Ning Ji aside now, he lavished him with praise, and at one point casually brought up something.

“…This little demon king Yue Yun has really been running amok in the city lately — good thing Brother Long and Brother Sun stepped in and put him in his place… Brother Long especially, so formidable — just a few words and the man went slinking off with his tail between his legs… Quite a few people have been targeted by him recently…”

“…He’s always been quick to pick fights, that’s nothing new — I messed with him the other day, and it’s no different today. But what about you all? What did you do lately to provoke him?”

“Ah, we’d never dare provoke him — the thing that really provoked him was that incident from a few days ago. Oh, right here, actually, those two reckless fools…”

“…Huh?”

“Brother Sun, you’ve forgotten already — the two who got into a fight here the other day, one called ‘Chaos Axe’ Zhou Xing, the other ‘Tiger Shark’ Zhan Yunhai — they tangled with this Yue Yun and then ran off.” The night had grown deep, and the surrounding stalls were already being packed up. Chen Hua lowered his voice. “After that fight, those two must have provoked him somehow, because these past few days Yue Yun’s been on a rampage, searching the whole city and beyond for their whereabouts, saying that once he finds them he’ll beat them to a pulp with his own hands. Ah, if only we’d known earlier that a few words from Young Master Long could scare him off — plenty of people would’ve been spared a beating…”

“…Oh.”

Chen Hua shook his head, still savoring the brilliance of “Long Aotian’s” earlier speech. Ning Ji nodded along.

Yue Yun is looking for Zhou Xing and Zhan Yunhai…

He felt a vague sense that something was off, but couldn’t quite pin it down for the moment.

After a while, the city bell struck the hour of Zi.

It was now the early hours of the thirtieth of the fifth month. With no moon in the sky at month’s end, countless stars blinked overhead. Ning Ji and Qu Longjun packed up their stall and drove the cart back home.

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he turned to look at Qu Longjun’s profile as she spoke beside him…

And so the tranquil month of May came to its end, right at this very moment…