Chapter 401: Liang Province Ballad

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Southern Breeze River flowed from north to south and streamed past the east side of the Imperial City. There was a waterway connected to a lake in the palace. For this reason, the limestone alley near the waterway was called Dragon Creek Alley.

Although it was very close to the Imperial City, Dragon Creek Alley wasn’t considered a wealthy place. Most of the residents were old eunuchs and palace maids who didn’t have a high status in the palace and were homeless after retirement. Some secret guards who had been disabled during work were also placed here.

The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the cold moonlight shone on the limestone alley. There were star-like dots of lights among the buildings. In one of the residences, the crisp tune of a string instrument and hoarse humming sounded.

Zing! Zing!

It’s hard to resist the heat in June. The wheat on the mountain is yellow everywhere. The long-term workers are cutting the wheat and drying it in the sun- The shopkeeper is sitting in the cool room. Who can leave the world of mortals…”

The tune was the ‘Liang Province Ballad’. It was a very famous folk song. Almost everyone in Liang Province knew it, and Ye Jingtang could hum a few lines.

But because this tune had the intention of encouraging poor people to resist injustice, and the dignitaries in the capital couldn’t stand poor people, this tune couldn’t be heard in the capital.

In the small courtyard, the white-haired Liu Qiansheng was wearing rough clothes and leaning on a bamboo recliner with a three-stringed lute in his arms.

Ever since Qiu Tianhe persuaded Liu Qiansheng to let go of the anger in his heart, his complexion had become much better than before. He looked calm after seeing through the world.

In the courtyard, a very sturdy child was standing bare-chested in the horse stance.

The child’s name was She Xiaohu. To have such a rough name, it was obvious that he was the child of Iron-Armed Impermanence She Long.

Because Liu Qiansheng had been a Fist Chief and had even taught a disciple like Jiang Zhahu, after he was recruited, countless people in the capital came with their sons and nephews to acknowledge him as their master.

But in Jianghu, it was difficult to find a great master, and it was even more difficult to find a good disciple. Even a deity would find it difficult to carve a piece of rotten wood into a future Martial Chief.

Liu Qiansheng had internal injuries, and the anger in his heart had dissipated. His lifespan was at most three to five years. He wanted to choose his last disciple to inherit his legacy as soon as possible.

Experts who could establish themselves in the capital basically didn’t lack money. They had never been hesitant about laying a foundation for their sons and nephews. With the protection of a top doctor like Imperial Physician Wang, there were many good seedlings.

Liu Qiansheng had searched for a long time and finally chose She Long’s son. It wasn’t because his talent and comprehension ability were outstanding but because the word ‘Xiaohu (Little Tiger)’ was his greatest hope for his last disciple. It was a kind of fate that She Xiaohu had this name.

She Xiaohu was only seven years old, and he still didn’t know how great of an opportunity he had obtained for no reason. He only knew that his father had been as happy as a monkey these few days and reminded him to learn attentively from his old master every day.

Seeing Liu Qiansheng humming a tune and not hitting him with a ruler, She Xiaohu was a little confused. He thought for a moment and asked, “Grandpa Liu, what are you singing?”

Liu Qiansheng’s hands didn’t stop playing the three-stringed lute. He narrowed his eyes and said, “It’s a song from Liang Province.”

“Is Liang Province so miserable?”

“This is nothing. If you’re a long-term worker at a landlord’s house, you can feed your family with enough rough rice and live a stable life there.”

Liu Qiansheng rocked on the recliner and explained, “When 1 was your age, my father was killed by horse bandits, and my mother was abducted by these horse bandits. 1 had to eat chaff, herd sheep, and do chores in the horse bandits’ lair to survive.

“There are wolves over there. It’s death to let wolves take away your sheep, and it’s death to lose your sheep. 1 had to figure things out on my own and lie on the ground to listen to sounds. At first, I could hear a hundred feet away and then five hundred feet away. Eventually, 1 could see any disturbance within a few kilometers…”

“So, you never lost your sheep?”

“Heh! By that time, I no longer herded sheep. I skinned the leader of the horse bandits alive and hung him outside the bandit village as a flag.”

She Xiaohu blinked, clearly shocked by these words. “Do the officials not care about bandits?”

“The Imperial Court can’t control things over there, so there’s Jianghu. I’m not a good person. 1 smuggled salt and iron and collected tribute money. The people of Liang Province call me the ‘Hong Mountain Bandit’. But they forgot what the frontier of Liang Province was like before I dominated it.

“When there are no emperor’s laws and no Jianghu rules, people don’t have any scruples. Their hearts are far more vicious than lions and tigers. It’s not uncommon for people to split up, burn, rob, and massacre villages. No one stood up for the villagers. After 1 started collecting tribute money, at least horse bandits didn’t dare to step half a step into the territory of the Hong Mountain Gang. And every year, when the crops were harvested, I would leave some food for people…”

Zing-

While Liu Qiansheng was speaking, the three-stringed lute in his hand suddenly paused and emitted a long vibrato. He opened his eyes and looked at the entrance of Dragon Creek Alley.

She Xiaohu was still listening to the story. Seeing that his old master had stopped talking, he was a little puzzled.

“Go out through the back door. You don’t have to come learn tomorrow.”

Liu Qiansheng put down the three-stringed lute and sighed secretly. He thought for a moment and said, “I can’t absolve myself of the sin of plundering the people in the past, but the root of this mistake has always been the inaction of the Imperial Court. You’re from a family of officials, and you’ll be a member of the Imperial Court in the future. In the future, you have to remember under what circumstances you should use my fist techniques. Try to resolve the source, and don’t let the next Liu Qiansheng appear in Liang Province.”

“Oh.” She Xiaohu clearly didn’t understand that this was ‘a man’s words are kind when he’s about to die’. He only nodded with some understanding. He got out of the horse stance and quickly ran out the back door…

Splash-

The stream water in the canal flowed from the stone slabs to the Southern Breeze River, emitting a faint sound.

On a side street outside Dragon Creek Alley, Zheng Kun, dressed as a merchant, was slowly walking, carrying two baskets containing half-sold goods on his shoulders, sizing up the surrounding buildings.

After arriving near the entrance of the alley, Shi Yanfeng, dressed as an ordinary steward, quietly leaned close and pretended to check the goods. He whispered, “I’ve already checked the surroundings. There are three Black Office constables patrolling the area. They’ve scattered at the few entrances and exits of Dragon Creek Alley. It looks like they’re here to prevent Liu Qiansheng from escaping. They can’t stop us.”

“Are you sure Liu Qiansheng is inside?”

“A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. As long as 1 approach, Liu Qiansheng will definitely sense it. Let’s not go in. But judging from the patrol routes of the Black Office constables, he should live in the middle of Dragon Creek Alley.”

Hearing this, Zheng Kun put down his baskets and tidied up his robe. “The longer we delay, the easier it will be for complications to arise. Why don’t we just attack directly?”

Shi Yanfeng was a Jianghu brother that Jiang Zhahu had gotten to know after being expelled from his sect. Because Jiang Zhahu lived in seclusion and rarely appeared, Shi Yanfeng was in charge of the Hong Mountain Gang’s finances and was a trusted aide.

On the other hand, Zheng Kun was the leader of a force that Jiang Zhahu had subdued. His relationship with Jiang Zhahu was not as strong as Shi Yanfeng’s, so Shi Yanfeng took the lead in all kinds of arrangements.

Shi Yanfeng had a more stable personality and was not as irritable as Zheng Kun. After looking around, he frowned and said, “There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons in the capital. If we enter rashly without checking the situation, we’ll be easily ambushed.”

Zheng Kun shook his head and said, “If people want to ambush us, they have to know who we are and what our goal is. After we entered the capital, we didn’t leak anything. I committed murder a few days ago, but the Imperial Court didn’t find anything. If we’re ambushed here, it will only be because there’s a mole in the gang who sold us out and tipped off the Imperial Court.”

Shi Yanfeng pondered for a moment and felt that it made sense, so he didn’t say anything else. He took out three bronze rods from the bottom of a basket, avoided the patrolling constables’ line of sight, and quietly entered Dragon Creek Alley from the dark.

There was only moonlight in the limestone alley. Other than the faint sound of a three-stringed lute in the middle, there was no other movement.

The two of them walked side by side without making any sound. When they heard the familiar Liang Province tune, they confirmed their target. Shi Yanfeng picked up the bronze rods and slowly pieced them together.

Clang!

At this moment, the sound of the three-stringed lute in the depths of the alley stopped, causing the old alley to fall completely silent.

Shi Yanfeng knew that they had been discovered, so he raised his hand and waved lightly.

Zheng Kun no longer concealed his breathing. He twisted his neck and let out two soft cracking sounds. He jumped up, hid on the wall of the alley, and paid attention to the surroundings.

Shi Yanfeng held the bronze staff diagonally and carefully arrived outside the wall of the courtyard. He listened to the sounds inside before standing at the door and pointing the tip of the staff at the wooden door.

Creak..

The wooden door slowly opened, and what greeted the eyes was a simple courtyard and a recliner placed on the steps of the main room.

The white-haired Liu Qiansheng was sitting on the recliner with his elbows on his knees. His body was bent like a crouching tiger, and his eyes were looking at the door indifferently.

Their eyes met, and the interior and exterior of the courtyard fell silent.

Shi Yanfeng stood at the door and didn’t enter directly. After all, he wasn’t sure how Liu Qiansheng’s injuries were and whether he was restricted by the Imperial Court.

Shi Yanfeng took each step carefully. He held the bronze staff horizontally in front of his chest and slowly stepped into the courtyard.

Liu Qiansheng didn’t do anything, but this wasn’t because he was arrogant. It was because the Imperial Court had locked him up tightly, and he couldn’t defeat him even if he moved. For this reason, he only maintained the aura of a former Martial Chief and said, “i haven’t seen the Fu family’s Storm Staff for many years. Where did you learn the staff technique?”

“Jian Yuhua from the Cloud Water Sword Pool returned to his hometown in Liang Province. My grandfather was a general of the Fu family and died for the country with Old General Fu. On account of our ancestral ties, I helped him settle down and sent away the people from the Zhou family chasing after him. So he taught me the true staff technique.”

Shi Yanfeng walked into the courtyard and slid his feet apart. He held the bronze staff by his waist and pointed it at Liu Qiansheng. “You have lived enough from the previous dynasty to this day. How good would it be if you died happily? When you were young, you roamed Jianghu without giving the Imperial Court any respect. When you grew old, you surrendered to the Imperial Court like a homeless dog. Hasn’t your life become a joke?”

Liu Qiansheng’s eyes were calm. “There’s no need to talk so much nonsense. When I was young, I had dealings with General Fu. It’s a pity that the Storm Staff disappeared in Jianghu for sixty years. Since you know it, show me how much you’ve learned.”

Shi Yanfeng carefully observed Liu Qiansheng’s aura and felt that the possibility of him bluffing was far higher than hiding his strength. He didn’t say anything else and kicked the ground with the tip of his foot.

Boom!

A hole was instantly dug out in the yellow ground by the tip of his shoe. Dirt splattered out and splashed toward Liu Qiansheng, who was sitting on the recliner.

Thump!

Because Liu Qiansheng would expose himself if he stood up, he didn’t move at all and allowed the dirt to sprinkle on his body. Then he patted himself with his sleeve calmly. “It’s not so easy to force me to make the first move…”

Zheng Kun was hiding on the wall. When he saw this scene, he was stunned. He jumped into the courtyard and cursed angrily, “You’re about to die. Why are you pretending to be a big wolf?”

While speaking, he kicked the dirt again.

Bam!

Whoosh!

Liu Qiansheng frowned. After a moment of silence, he leaned back on the recliner and picked up the three-stringed lute next to him. “I’ve been hit by the Soul Separation Needle and don’t have much combat strength. However, if you want to kill me, you have to go through the gate god first. We’re all from Liang Province. 1’11 play the ‘Liang Province Ballad’ for you to liven things up. Dying under this tune is a good ending for people from Liang Province. No matter what the outcome is, at least you’ve lived for yourself once and didn’t have to be a worker who resigned themselves to the situation…”

When Zheng Kun saw this scene, he felt that something was wrong.

Shi Yanfeng turned around and looked outside the courtyard wall.

At this moment, steady footsteps sounded from the alley.

Tread, tread…

The sound came closer and closer, as if the King of Hell had opened his eyes and knocked on the door…