The rain was gradually weakening; lanterns and torches burned along the eaves on either side of the road. Riders in rain capes, outlaw knights bearing swords and blades, hurried through the streets, hooves splashing through puddles and mud, sending up sprays of water.
Anping County was run-down and poor, but not particularly small; the constant coming and going of outlaws from the rivers and lakes in recent times had made the town’s atmosphere quite lively — this liveliness, mingled with chaos and tension, had become its own peculiar ecosystem.
Among these outlaws, some were flamboyant, some silent. Amid the clamor at the inns, some heroes spoke loudly and boastfully, while others crouched in dark corners, clutching swords and blades, watching those around them with deep, cold vigilance. The blacksmith’s shop rang with clanging hammers; business in swords and blades was brisk, and the burly, muscle-bound smiths swung their hammers while keeping a hostile eye on the road outside — only when a customer arrived would they wipe the sweat from their brows and offer a faint smile.
The two brothels in Anping County were likewise bustling at this hour. The coarse laughter and jesting of the wandering swordsmen, the teasing or shrieking of the girls, rang out in that old, worn building, mixed in with the distinctive gasps and moans of men and women in the act. Someone got into a fight over jealousy and was thrown down from the second floor, only to stand back up on the street and be blocked again by the brothel’s bouncers — trying to make more trouble, he was finally beaten down and slunk off in dejection.
Not far off, the gambling den was the noisiest of all, but only the bouncers standing at its entrance and the pipe-smoking old manager’s watchful eyes revealed that this was no place of virtue. Occasionally shouts of commotion drifted out — a gambler who’d lost everything, thrown out the back door by others. That counted as a relatively peaceful outcome here.
Ning Yi’s group entered through the run-down county gate; the presence of over twenty mounted riders was not something to be taken lightly, and passersby along the road cast glances their way, one after another. A group of blade-carrying men also trotted past, eyeing Ning Yi’s group; after a moment of locked eyes with Zhu Biao, Qi Xinyong, and the others, they looked away and didn’t stare further. Zhu Hu drew close to Ning Yi. “Those are Fire Fist Gang men.”
Then he pointed at the various buildings and lanterns lining the road on both sides. “The ones marked with the characters for ‘Fire Fist’ are under Fire Fist Gang’s protection; the black character for ‘Iron’ means it’s under Iron Tablet Pavilion’s protection. For business here, it’s generally these two — some who don’t hang a lantern and still dare to open shop are the truly formidable characters with some standing in the Anping area. Otherwise they wouldn’t last long, and would end up dead somewhere sooner or later. Anping has a few informants; word travels through them — once we’re settled, I can go find them…”
The group stopped before a place called the “Dragon Tiger Inn” in the county town; before they’d even dismounted, a young attendant hurried over to greet them. Light and noise spilled from the open front doors — it looked like quite a few people were inside. As Ning Yi and the others entered from the door, the people inside the inn all turned to look, some openly, some more discreetly. Zhu Biao and Qi Xinyong, front and back, coldly returned the gazes. Those gathered in the inn were a mixed lot from all walks of life, most carrying blades or swords, their clothes varied and ragged. Ning Yi swept his gaze across the room and wiped his lips. “It’s turned into a New Dragon Gate Inn…”
The attendant leading the group in was explaining that there weren’t quite enough rooms. A scar-faced man, his lip also split, seemingly drunk, was trying to leave through the inn’s door and collided with Zhu Biao; muttering incoherently, his body swaying, he then bumped into Qi Xinyong as well, stumbled back a step, his reddened eyes glaring as if about to draw his blade. Zhu Biao casually gave a light tap, knocking the two-inch-drawn steel blade back into its sheath; Qi Xinyong reached out, grabbed the man’s clothes, and with one hand flung him backward — the man went flying through the air and landed with a splash in the mud and rain outside, the impact sending water spraying across the road.
The two men’s coordinated move was flawless; when their gazes turned back to the crowd in the inn, everyone had already returned to their noisy chatter. Zhu Hu, meanwhile, slapped a small ingot of silver onto the innkeeper’s counter. “Boss, we’ll take all the rooms.” He spoke in the local dialect; the innkeeper, busy with his abacus, took the silver and nodded, “Yes, yes…” then quickly had a young attendant lead them inside.
Ning Yi’s group numbered twenty-three in total, but the inn currently had only six rooms available — four to a room would be enough. Upstairs, the two rooms were connected above; Ning Yi and the others picked one. After entering the room, just as the young attendant was about to leave, Zhu Hu grabbed him and pressed him down into a chair in the room; behind him, Zhu Biao shut the door, and a small piece of silver was placed on the table in front of the attendant. “No rush to leave — we have some questions for you.”
The attendant nodded frantically, though he didn’t seem too alarmed — doing business in a place like this, this sort of thing was probably not the first time.
The information they got from the attendant afterward largely matched what they’d already heard. That woman surnamed Lu had killed her way from Zhuxi all the way to Anping — a grandmaster-level fighter; how could the people here withstand her? But because so many people had connections to this, an enormous number of outlaws from the rivers and lakes had gathered here recently — some joining in for the excitement, some watching from the sidelines, some hoping to make a name for themselves overnight — by now they’d nearly formed a great alliance. The widow and disciples of “Swift Sword” Lin Qi had even posted a bounty, wanting to take down that woman to avenge their master — after all, by the customs of the rivers and lakes here, with Lin Qi killed the way he was in Zhuxi County, even the authorities found it difficult to mediate the matter.
The attendant apparently took Ning Yi’s group for outlaws after fame or bounty as well, and after taking the silver, chattered on endlessly about what he knew. But listening to him, the attendant actually seemed quite admiring of the woman — after all, someone capable of turning nearly half of Shandong’s rivers-and-lakes world upside down like this was truly something to admire.
“…These past days, that woman has already killed quite a few people. If you gentlemen really want to join in the excitement, you’d best be careful too. They say this woman is a grandmaster-level figure — even someone alone like Chief Chen Jinxia or the hero Lu Wenhu, formidable as they are, probably wouldn’t get the better of her. The other day, I heard they happened to run into her and claimed to have wounded her, but whether that’s actually true, that’s not something the likes of us could know…”
“Chief Chen?” Zhu Hu asked, frowning.
The attendant looked a bit embarrassed. “I heard… a few of the heroes wanted to form some kind of alliance, and some people… called that Hero Chen the chief. The lowly one… just went along and called him that too.”
“Tch.” Zhu Biao off to the side shook his head, his expression disdainful. Ning Yi sat in a corner of the room, turning the bracelet in his hand, and at this he smiled slightly but said nothing, letting Zhu Hu continue questioning.
The attendant, after all, wasn’t any kind of martial arts master himself, and when the group asked him about who the formidable figures around here currently were, he rattled off a long list — besides Monk Tunyun and the others, there were also several disciples of “Swift Sword” Lin Qi, some horse-bandit chieftains — in his eyes, pretty much any tough character seemed extremely formidable. These bits and pieces of information had some value, but time was precious now; once he’d finished rambling, they sent him on his way. Zhu Hu was preparing to go find the local informants when the attendant turned back to add something more.
“The rain’s lighter tonight, so I’d guess the heroes and knights in the county will go out searching again this evening. They say, even if they can’t beat that woman, they’ll wear her down to exhaustion at least… Actually, if you ask me, she probably won’t stay here long — maybe she’s already left, taking advantage of the heavy rain. Oh, and you gentlemen look like real heroes yourselves — you might want to check out Jincui Tower in town. I hear Chief Chen and Hero Lu meet up with all the other heroes there — if they’re discussing plans to catch her, that’s probably where it’ll happen too.”
After the attendant finished and left, Zhu Hu took a few men and departed as well. Ning Yi sat by the window looking out for a while, then closed the window and discussed the next steps with Zhu Biao and Qi Xinhan.
The reason they’d come so quickly was mainly to confirm Lu Hongti’s condition. In truth, once he found Lu Hongti, Ning Yi’s first priority would be to take her away with him — after that, whether it was Anping or Zhuxi, he could simply send the army to sweep through; Wurui Camp owed him such a great favor by now that this kind of matter was no problem at all. So the next day or two would, in fact, be the critical window.
For Ning Yi, whatever outlaw gathering was happening in this region was really just a minor loose end from the Liangshan affair. “…Two aspects to consider — the authorities here in Zhuxi and Anping probably don’t carry much influence, but they’re still government offices after all. Once our people arrive and we’ve clarified the situation, we should be able to notify the county government. No need to tell them we’re already here — but we can let them know Liangshan is finished, and that I’ll be arriving in Anping soon. Once the authorities are informed, let them go coordinate…”
“…Have the authorities take the lead, find Iron Tablet Pavilion’s Yao Wuliu and Fire Fist Gang, or whichever chiefs are around here — they make their living keeping order here, so that’s why they’ll step forward, to stop the indiscriminate killing. I don’t care about any of that — they can be my friends, or they can be my enemies. Those willing to help can keep on eating their rice. Keep acting recklessly, target the wrong people, and in two days I’ll level Zhuxi and Anping both. They can hide in the mountains if they like, become bandits for the rest of their lives — as long as I keep coming back, I’ll level it again every month! Just holding out for two days will keep them safe…”
“…As for Swift Sword Lin Qi’s widow and disciples, appeal to their feelings, offer them benefits, buy them off with money — I can give them a way down from this. With Liangshan already destroyed, there shouldn’t be many people left daring to stand against the court — as long as I’m alive, I can drive men like Sun Li into a dead end with nowhere to turn…”
He was planning things out this way, thinking the whole situation probably wouldn’t turn out to be too serious after all. Pull some in, divide others, strike at some — the results would surely be better than dealing with Liangshan had been. Just as he was speaking, some commotion stirred outside; he opened the window to look, and found it was because the rain had grown lighter, nearly stopping — the search parties, carrying lanterns and torches, were once again preparing to head out of the city, and the mood within the inn had also grown rather lively.
Of course, night was different from day — relatively speaking, it was more suitable for that woman to kill and evade capture. Those preparing to head out now were mostly Lin Qi’s disciples, or some teams from Fire Fist Gang and Iron Tablet Pavilion — making sure not to go alone, not to scatter, before heading out, all for the purpose of denying that woman any peace to sleep. Ning Yi gritted his teeth and frowned at this, but for the moment, there was nothing to be done.
Before long, Zhu Hu returned with the local informant; after questioning him and confirming that the authorities at least carried some weight with Yao Wuliu and the others, they prepared to begin this next step. Just as Zhu Hu was seeing the informant out, Ning Yi turned to pick up brush, ink, and paper, when suddenly, a furious shout rang out from outside, followed immediately by the violent clash of weapons.
Ning Yi turned; outside, the firelight flickered wildly, and Qi Xinyong and Qi Xinyi’s soul-hunting spears thrust out amid the flickering light and darkness. The railing in view was smashed apart, sent flying across the inn’s main hall; someone was knocked down from the upper floor.
After that came sudden, overwhelming chaos…
…
At that same moment, in Jincui Tower, several of Shandong’s leading outlaw figures were gathered together, issuing orders for tonight’s manhunt, drinking tea and talking.
Though everyone’s interests appeared aligned for now, among those seated in the hall, there was no shortage of scheming and sharp exchanges beneath the surface.
Seated in the place of honor on the left side of the hall was the tall, imposing figure of Chen Jinxia. His faction, the Northern Hegemon Gang, had never expanded aggressively, but its influence was already substantial, and at this moment his reputation stood at the very top among those present — with Liangshan’s fall, he seemed to want to seize the momentum and rise further. Beside him, somewhat younger, in his thirties, disheveled-haired, dressed like an ascetic, was Lu Wenhu, whose thinking ran along similar lines; over this period the two had more or less formed an alliance.
Below Chen Jinxia and Lu Wenhu in the hall was first the head of Iron Tablet Pavilion, “Master Five Willows” Yao Wuliu — though a man of the rivers and lakes, he now wore black-and-white robes, appearing every bit like an accomplished cultivator of the Way; only those who had actually crossed hands with him would know that beneath those wide sleeves, his fists, when they fell, were anything but gentle. Facing Yao Wuliu sat Han Li, chief of the Fire Fist Gang. In truth, when it came to this gathering at Anping, these two were the true local hosts — but since what Yao Wuliu and the others wanted was order, they were unwilling to take too strong a stance in this matter, and so the gathering was not held at Iron Tablet Pavilion, but here at Jincui Tower, convened by Chen Jinxia and Lu Wenhu instead.
Below these two sat Monk Tunyun, clad in dark red monastic robes. In truth, to have carved out this level of fame and standing traveling alone through the rivers and lakes, Monk Tunyun’s skill and martial prowess were probably even a notch above Chen Jinxia’s and Lu Wenhu’s. His monastic robe was loose and wide, sleeves seeming to flutter freely, but in fact iron plates were woven within, and the outer fabric itself was interwoven with gold and silver thread, resistant to both water and fire. His nickname was “Ten-Thousand-Li Lone Wanderer” — others assumed he must travel light and unencumbered, but in truth, no small number of formidable martial artists had died against that iron cassock of his. At this moment the monk sat drinking tea, an air of arrogance and fierce temper about him, paying little attention to Chen Jinxia or Lu Wenhu.
The main point of dispute among the group concerned whether the woman surnamed Lu was actually wounded. That day, in the chaotic battle, Monk Tunyun had arrived and used his iron cassock to withstand one strike of her sword, then landed a heavy blow on her back — some suspected the woman had merely used the chaos to slip away, since in the earlier fighting she had proven capable of withstanding even Lu Zhishen’s heavy blows head-on. Chen Jinxia and the others, in speaking of this, urged everyone to be cautious — though whether there was also some intent to undercut Monk Tunyun’s standing was hard to say. Monk Tunyun was naturally displeased about this, and the group traded a few sharp words, but since cooperation was still needed, things didn’t come to a total breakdown, for now.
Besides these figures, the hall also held several horse-bandit chieftains, some well-regarded senior heroes of the rivers and lakes with high standing, and Lin Qi’s widow, among others. Everyone had grown used to the daily discord — men of martial arts were, after all, never going to stay perfectly amicable all the time.
While speaking of the woman, talk naturally turned to the situation at Liangshan as well. Monk Tunyun, full of heroic bravado, intended, after finishing off this Lu Hongti, to go on and kill that Ning Liheng as well — the man loved fame, and reasoned that since Ning Yi had wiped out sixty thousand of Liangshan’s men, if he then went and killed Ning Yi himself, wouldn’t all the fame from those sixty thousand fall onto him instead?
As for such an ambition, Chen Jinxia and Lu Wenhu were not without similar thoughts themselves, though at the very least they didn’t voice them aloud. At most they criticized that “Demon of the Heart’s” methods as too ruthless and calculating, saying he had utterly destroyed the code of brotherhood among the Liangshan men, and that this had done real harm to the standing of the rivers and lakes at large.
“If we’d known earlier he had such a master behind him, the Liangshan men probably wouldn’t have gone so far as to kill their way into his home, would they…”
“Heh, are you scared? So what if that woman is skilled in martial arts — in the end, she’s just one person, out in the open with all sorts of inconveniences, she’ll feel pain, she’ll get tired. If I, this monk, can catch her off guard and seize her… heh, now that would be something worth seeing…”
Just as he said this, a faint sound of disturbance suddenly drifted in from the night outside. Everyone present, being skilled in martial arts, listened carefully. Then a man from Iron Tablet Pavilion came in from outside, reporting that it seemed there was trouble at the Dragon Tiger Inn. That Dragon Tiger Inn was under Iron Tablet Pavilion’s protection, and by now people had already rushed over. As men of the rivers and lakes gathered together, all sorts of small and large frictions were unavoidable, but this commotion sounded loud enough that Yao Wuliu grew somewhat displeased. After a moment more, another Iron Tablet Pavilion man rushed in, out of breath, reporting the situation.
“…It’s — it’s that Instructor Lin Chong, fighting with someone in the inn. They’ve already sent for Hero Sun and the others to hurry over there. The people inside say it’s, it’s…”
“It’s what?”
“It’s…” The man’s face twisted with a bitter expression, “It’s that Demon of the Heart… he’s entered the city…”
Everyone present had, this very day, been out hunting the man’s master, and though they claimed not to be afraid, and though their own side was strictly following the customs of the rivers and lakes so that even the authorities couldn’t easily interfere — over these past days, the nickname “Demon of the Heart” had gradually spread far and wide. His methods were ruthless; he had brought Liangshan, at the very peak of its power, crashing down within three days, and in the aftermath had caused over fifty thousand Liangshan men to perish in a single decisive battle — all within less than a month, before and after. And even now, he was still hunting down the Liangshan survivors like hounds chasing homeless dogs across the mountains. Though he too claimed to be a man of the rivers and lakes, he seemed, in truth, more like some unfathomable overlord representing the power of the imperial court itself.
In ordinary times, everyone had sneered at this “Demon of the Heart” the way they sneered at Cai Jing or Gao Qiu — but now that he had suddenly appeared right before them, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat. Chen Jinxia and Lu Wenhu exchanged a glance and slowly rose to their feet; Monk Tunyun clapped his cassock and rose with a “haha,” though he too hesitated for just an instant — that laugh, when it came, didn’t sound quite as carefree as usual.
Yao Wuliu asked, “This Demon of the Heart… are you certain?”
“I clearly heard that Hero Lin was shouting the name Ning Liheng…”
“How many men… did he bring in?”
“It looked like only about twenty or so…”
Everyone in the hall exchanged glances, their expressions difficult to describe. Only twenty-some men — coming in with such a high profile was practically suicide. But thinking of the man’s record in crushing Liangshan, that he would come charging in so fearlessly, everyone instead felt a certain dread rising in their hearts. Could it be that the man truly possessed some unfathomable, world-spanning power that would let him wipe them all out with a turn of his hand?
Monk Tunyun gave another laugh and took the lead. “Fine — then this monk will go meet him, see just what kind of thing this is, exactly…”
Just as he was about to leave, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed him: “Please wait, Master.” It was Yao Wuliu speaking — even as he spoke, he was still several steps away, yet in that instant he had already closed the distance and seized him. Monk Tunyun’s brows furrowed slightly, his sleeve trembling; with a boom, his fist had already clashed once with Yao Wuliu’s in midair. He gave his wide sleeve a shake — “Heh” — and his figure had already left the hall’s doorway, charging out into the darkness.
“Let’s go take a look too.” Han Li of the Fire Fist Gang hurried out after him, followed quickly by Yao Wuliu, Chen Jinxia, and the others. Everyone’s hearts held a measure of uncertainty, unable to guess how this sudden turn of events would unfold — the Demon of the Heart had come, and what unfathomable power might he yet reveal?
And in truth, unbeknownst to them, Ning Yi at this moment was feeling much the same as they were — having run into such an unexpected incident so soon after entering the city, he could not help but feel somewhat helpless and awkward about it. In an instant, his own careful plans had already been thrown into complete disarray.
At that same moment, in a secluded corner of the county town, Lu Hongti’s figure was quietly moving along beneath the eaves of out-of-the-way buildings, head lowered, advancing silently and swiftly…