On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, the silver moon hung high in the sky.
The vast river surface sparkled with light. The ferry, fully loaded with passengers, sailed along the river towards the western part of Zezhou. The lights on the entire ship cast colorful reflections on the water.
An old man dressed in simple clothes, holding a small drum, sat on a pile of sundries on the deck and told anecdotes from the martial arts world:
"Since Fengguancheng emerged, all martial artists in the world have become second-rate..."
There was also a chubby girl beside him, holding an erhu and playing the tune in a decent manner.
Ye Jingtang, dressed in a black robe and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, leaned outside the ship building like other martial arts wanderers, listening to the story that he was already familiar with; Niaoniao eagerly stared at the peddler shouting in the crowd:
"Qingjiang small crispy fish, five coins for one tael, a specialty of Zezhou. Once you pass this place, there will be no such offer again..."
"Jiji..."
Ye Jingtang stayed in Xiwang Town for four or five days at the beginning of the month. He basically listened to music in brothels and nursed his injuries, and nothing worth mentioning happened.
After the annual meeting of Honghua Tower was over, Third Miss set off again, heading to Shuiyun Sword Pool, the next stop of this trip.
Originally, Third Miss's plan was to personally go to Shuiyun Sword Pool to celebrate the birthday and discuss the frictions with Shuiyun Sword Pool over the years.
But after all, the leader is the leader. Going to the opponent's place to talk about things in person is somewhat demeaning. Now that there is a young leader who can take on great responsibilities, it is naturally most appropriate for the young leader to go for this kind of birthday celebration.
Therefore, after some discussion among the hall masters, it was decided that this trip would be led by Ye Jingtang, and the two hall masters, Chen Yuanqing and Song Chi, would follow as attendants.
Third Miss would also go, but she would only sit in the dark and leave all matters to Ye Jingtang to handle.
They were taking the ferry of Jizhou Hall this time. It was quite large and not cleared of other passengers. The heroes of Honghua Tower all lived in the ship building, and the ferry still carried other passengers.
There were many martial artists from all over on the ferry, but "martial artists" were not all those proficient in martial arts. Professions such as storytelling, singing, acrobatics, and fortune-telling were all considered part of the martial arts world. It was quite interesting to listen to these people tell stories from different places.
After watching the performance for a while, Ye Jingtang threw a piece of broken silver into the basin, receiving a "Thank you, Young Master" from the chubby girl. Then he bought a pack of dried fish and went to the second floor of the ship. There he saw Song Chi, the second leader, and Chen Yuanqing, the third leader, dressed as ordinary officials, playing chess in the tea hall. Li Sanwen was also standing beside them, pondering:
"Leader Song, I can't quite understand your way of playing chess..."
"Can't you even understand this? There are already four pieces in a row. Isn't he doomed?"
"Oh, it's Gomoku. That's what I thought..."
Ye Jingtang found it a bit funny and didn't interrupt them. He directly went to the door of the room of the first leader at the stern of the ship.
Looking through the window, he could see that the spacious room was brightly lit. There was a blanket spread in the middle. Third Miss, wearing a light yellow home dress, was sitting on the ground, with her hands behind her head, doing sit-ups.
Xiuhe was in the "duck sitting" position, with her hips pressing on Third Miss's fair feet and her hands pressing on the ankles.
It was not convenient to move around on the ship, and it was normal for martial artists not to sit still all the time. Exercising their muscles and bones in the room was a common thing.
Third Miss's movements were very standard, and the speed of getting up and lying down was quite fast. But... it could be considered sit-ups with added weight...
(⊙‿⊙)!
Ye Jingtang took a look and felt something was not right. He turned his gaze to the river surface and didn't even notice Xiuhe's duck sitting posture.
Before Ye Jingtang appeared outside the window, Pei Xiangjun had already sensed it. She turned around and saw Ye Jingtang looking upright at Niaoniao, which was holding half a small fish in its mouth. Pei Xiangjun gasped and greeted:
"Come in. What are you standing outside for? Huff... Is it very lively down there?"
Ye Jingtang originally intended to sit in Third Miss's room, but now he felt it was inappropriate. He stood at the window looking at the river view:
"It is quite lively. Third Miss can also go down and take a walk."
"I'm a woman. Showing my face outside when traveling is likely to attract attention."
Pei Xiangjun stood up, took a handkerchief from Xiuhe's hand, wiped the fine sweat off her face, came to Ye Jingtang's side, and looked at the lights on the riverbank. Her breath was as fragrant as an orchid:
"Is your injury better?"
"After resting for so long, it's already healed."
"That's good. When you get to the Zhou family's place, if a fight breaks out, don't be too stubborn. Jian Yuhua is not an ordinary person. He is a bit older than you, so it's normal if you can't beat him. You're not at the stage to go all out yet. You should pay attention to your body for now..."
Ye Jingtang turned his head and looked at Third Miss's blushing side face:
"Is this considered boosting the enemy's morale and undermining our own?"
"Sigh..."
Pei Xiangjun knew that Ye Jingtang had his own ideas and didn't say anything more. She glanced at the riverbank a few times and was about to introduce the local customs of Zezhou to Ye Jingtang when her eyes suddenly narrowed:
"Hmm?"
After a closer look, Pei Xiangjun went back to the room and fetched a copper telescope, then looked towards the riverbank.
Ye Jingtang looked in the direction the telescope was pointing and saw a small town in the depth of the land, about four or five li away. It seemed that a house was on fire, and the flames were very conspicuous.
Ye Jingtang originally thought there was a fire on the shore, but Third Miss soon muttered:
"Silver Hook Horse Face... Is the Black Yamen handling a case?"
Ye Jingtang had heard a great deal about the "Ox Head and Horse Face" among the Six Fiends. Seeing this, he directly bent down and leaned towards Third Miss's face, wanting to look through the telescope.
As a result, accidentally, he rubbed against Third Miss's delicate and tender face. Her face was a bit hot after exercise, and the touch was like smooth and tender tofu.
?
Pei Xiangjun shrank her neck slightly, and her face immediately turned red. She turned to look at Ye Jingtang, and her almond-shaped eyes widened a bit.
Ye Jingtang was also a bit embarrassed and quickly stood up straight:
"Uh..."
Fortunately, Third Miss didn't hold it against him. She held up the telescope and brought it in front of his eyes:
"Take a look."
Ye Jingtang bent down again and, through the telescope in Third Miss's hand, could see that on a street in the riverside town, the fire was raging, and the houses were being broken apart from time to time. It seemed that a wild ox was rampaging through the town.
Above the buildings, there was a figure in a long robe, dragging two slender chains in his hand. He was flying over the town without touching the ground, looking just like…en… a Spider-Man?
Although he couldn't see clearly, he could be sure that the scene was quite large.
Ye Jingtang was fully focused on observing the battle situation, almost putting his eyes into the telescope, and didn't even think of letting the beautiful woman beside him take a look.
Pei Xiangjun was also curious about the Six Fiends capturing the thief. Seeing that Ye Jingtang had monopolized the telescope, she looked resentful and muttered to herself. After waiting for a while, she couldn't help but say:
"We can't see much from this distance. How about going over to take a look?"
"Hmm? Let's go, let's go..."
Ye Jingtang loved to watch the excitement and didn't care about the consequences. Since Third Miss had spoken, he naturally had nothing to say. He put away the telescope and leaped into the river.
Ta ta ta...
Ye Jingtang stepped on the blue waves and directly sped towards the riverbank.
Pei Xiangjun was proficient in martial arts and naturally didn't need Ye Jingtang to carry her. She greeted Xiuhe and then leaped out of the railing.
The two of them landed on the river surface like dragonflies skimming the water. When they got near the riverbank, faint noises also drifted over in the night wind:
"Murder!"
"Yang Wanli, you can't escape today. Surrender and you'll get a quick death. Resist stubbornly, and I'll make you wish you were dead!"
"Ma Laosi, don't push me too far..."
Boom boom——
...
Ye Jingtang landed on the riverbank, lowered his body, and walked quickly towards the town. He whispered and asked:
"Who is Yang Wanli?"
"He's a martial artist from Jiangzhou. He was originally the leader of the Sea Gang. But last year, he didn't know what he was doing and robbed a ship that belonged to Xiaoshan Fort in Jiangzhou. Xiaoshan Fort killed everyone in his gang without mercy, and he himself was hunted down and escaped from the southern martial arts world. It is said that he wants to escape to the Northern Liang Dynasty."
"Is Yang Wanli a pirate?"
"He's a sea bandit. He has many human lives on his hands, otherwise he wouldn't be hunted down by the Six Fiends."
"Who is Ma Laosi?"
"He's Chen Miao, the Silver Hook Horse Face. Tu Jiujin, the Ox Head, is called 'Niu Laosan' by people in the martial arts world."
Ye Jingtang suddenly understood. Together with Third Miss, he silently leaped onto the low city wall of the town and peeked inside. His originally relaxed expression turned solemn.
He saw that the small town was in a mess, with red flames shooting up into the sky, and the cries of women and children could be heard everywhere...
------
"Daddy... Wuwu..."
In Huangsong Town, two houses were collapsing. Dark red blood slowly flowed into the ditch. At the end of the blood was a body that had been split in half by a knife.
A little girl of three or four years old squatted at the corner of the house, crying heartbreakingly and looking at a couple on the other side of the street.
The couple looked pale. The woman was kneeling on the ground, kowtowing continuously, and the man was holding a firewood knife, wanting to rush over, but was blocked by the huge figure in front of him.
Under the illumination of the firelight, the huge figure was a man, but his physique was so burly that it completely exceeded the normal range.
The figure was over two meters tall, with an arm circumference larger than an ordinary person's waist circumference, and his waist was as big as a millstone. He was wearing black heavy armor all over his body and holding two short-handled copper hammers in his hands. His breath was like that of a wild ox, and standing on the street, he was like a black mountain of flesh.
The chief constables of the Black Yamen always worked in pairs, one inside and one outside. This mountain of flesh was naturally Tu Jiujin, known as the "Diamond Ox Head" in the martial arts world.
Tu Jiujin's eyes were as red as those of a killing god from the underworld, staring fixedly at the bandit Yang Wanli across the street.
Yang Wanli looked to be around fifty years old and was wearing an ordinary official's robe, but it was already tattered at this time. The weapon in his hand had also been disarmed by the Silver Hook Horse Face during the previous fight, and now he was holding a long-handled sledgehammer that he had randomly grabbed from the blacksmith shop.
Yang Wanli was also a burly man, but in front of Tu Jiujin, he was like a little child standing in front of an adult fat man.
Yang Wanli could be considered a local hero, but the Ox Head and Horse Face were the chief constables of the court who specialized in dealing with grandmasters. They didn't take someone like Yang Wanli seriously at all. If it hadn't been a coincidence that they ran into him, this kind of person should have been dealt with by She Long and the others.
Originally, either Tu Jiujin or Chen Miao could have crushed this bandit to death. But this time, it was Yang Wanli who saw them first and tried to escape, which was how they were discovered.
During the escape, Yang Wanli wantonly killed and wounded civilians in order to create chaos and restrict Tu Jiujin.
Tu Jiujin and Chen Miao were military officers receiving a fourth-rank salary from the court. They couldn't kill randomly like people in the martial arts world, so they were forced to not dare to rush forward rashly.
At this time, Yang Wanli was at the end of his rope, cowering in the corner. The sledgehammer was hanging above the little girl's head. He spat out blood foam and cursed:
"I've already made up for it. Today, I'll kill one more and earn one more. My life is worthless. If you have the guts, come and get it! Come on!"
Hua la——Hua la——
The sound of the chains shaking came from far to near. First, the silver hook flew out of the night and nailed into the beam of the house on the street.
Then Chen Miao, as light as a leaf, landed gently on the roof. His long robe sleeves hung down, and the slender chains slowly retracted into his sleeves. He coldly looked at the corner of the street:
"Do you think you can run far?"
"If you have the guts, come here!"
Both the Ox Head and the Horse Face had appeared and maintained a safe distance. Yang Wanli still didn't dare to move his blood-red eyes even half a bit. He slowly stepped back, picked up the little girl with one hand, and moved towards the entrance of the town.
"Daddy... Mommy..."
"Girl!"
The heart-wrenching cries echoed in the street.
Chen Miao's face was as cold as water, and he didn't move a muscle.
Tu Jiujin, who had a relatively more irritable personality, clenched the copper hammers in his hands, and the sound of his teeth grinding could be heard.
When the distance between the two sides was more than thirty zhang, and even a grandmaster couldn't reach them in an instant, a strong desire to survive finally appeared in Yang Wanli's eyes. He quickened his steps and wanted to turn around and run out of the town.
But at this moment!
Qiang lang——
A flash of sword light in the night!