Sabersman Gao Yang had become a newly-emerged celebrity in Jade City. He had killed a bounty hunter and caused a series of sensations that had ultimately led to the decline of the Meng family. But surprisingly, he had survived, and he hadn’t even been punished, which counted as a miracle, like an aftershock after a great earthquake.

“Both the Dragon King and the Unique King felt that I was somebody, so they interceded with the Governor of the Western Regions as well as the Governor of this city, which is how I was granted a pardon.” Standing beside a table, Gao Yang was once again talking about his experience of escaping from punishment. He was very glad that people were willing to listen to him, and that other sabersmen regarded his words as dishes that went with wine.

“Yesterday, you said that nobody was watching you, and that you walked out of there yourself. And now you’re telling us that you got a pardon?”

“Tomorrow maybe mighty sabersman Gao will tell us that he fought his way out of northern Jade City.”

All the people burst into laughter.

Surprised that somebody actually remembered what he had said yesterday, Gao Yang also laughed. But soon, he detected an unfriendliness in those laughs and hurled his bowl to the ground, a ferocious look on his face. “Are you two kiddos courting death? Come here. Let me slash your necks. Then you’ll know whether I was telling the truth or not.”

A sabersman shut up and shook his head with a smile, indicating that he disdaied stooping to his level. Under the influence of alcohol, another sabersman staggered to his feet. “Neither you nor Wu Xuan accepted the ban on killing. That was why you got away with it unpunished. I accepted it and I’m under the protection of the Department of Guards. You’re courting death if you try to kill me.”

Gao Yang blushed scarlet, his muscles stiff. His eyes were like those of wolves, the sclera much bigger than the pupil. “You deserve this.” After saying this, he whipped out his long saber. He knew that what that man said was true, but he just couldn’t swallow this humiliation.

Scared, the sabersman who provoked Gao Yang partially sobered up, sat down slowly, and murmured, “I was just saying… ” The other drinkers were very used to this kind of scene. It took them only a fleeting thought to decide whether they would try to persuade the interested parties to let it go or try to add fuel to the flames of their rage. On this night, they were not in the mood for bloodshed. So, somebody immediately stood up, gripped Gao Yang, and pressed him down to the chair, and said only one word to persuade him. “Drink.”

“Drink!” Gao Yang grabbed a bowl of wine the owner of which was unknown and gulped it down. “God damn it. Now that killing is banned, drinking is the only thing that we can do. If someday drinking is also banned, then there will be no reason for us to stay in Jade City.”

The hot liquid warmed his body up and with that, a lot of sentimental thoughts flooded into Gao Yang’s mind, but he was unable to express them in words. So instead, he just sank the saber into the surface of the table, which startled other people. Then he yelled, “Guys, please get the word out for me. Now that the killers in Golden Roc Castle no longer take orders, I’ll be their successor. Whoever wants to kill people is welcome to contact me. The price is fair, and I’ll do it quick and clean. Whoever introduces a customer to me will get twenty percent of the payment.”

“The previous rate was fifty percent… ”

“The previous rate was the previous rate. The current rate is the current rate. Besides, I’m not the only one in this business. Can’t you see that I’ve got a helper here? He’ll take a share as well.”

The helper had been quietly sitting beside Gao Yang all along. He was wearing a short, sabersman-style jacket but also wearing a handkerchief usually seen on street vendors around his head, and there was no weapons fastened to his belt, which made him bear no resemblance to other drinkers. When drinking, he was very cautious, staring at the wine for quite a while before taking a sip of it, as if it contained lethal poison.

Upon hearing Gao Yang mention his name, the helper shivered and hurriedly said, “I don’t kill people.”

“If you want to be my follower, then you’ll have to kill.” Full of pride and enthusiasm, Gao Yang grabbed his helper’s arm and dragged him to his feet from the seat. “How are we supposed to make money if we don’t kill? Who will give us wine if we don’t have money? And why would we stay here if we don’t have wine to drink?”

Though arbitrary killing had been banned, Gao Yang’s remarks still received a lot of approving responses. The helper felt that he should observe the customs of the place, so he also let out a couple of yells. Unexpectedly, their first customer appeared soon after.

An old man sitting near the doorway, who seemed to have been listening for a while, walked up to them and said, “You’re willing to kill for money?”

“Sure.” Gao Yang smugly looked around.

“How much do you charge?”

“That depends on who you want me to kill, but a hundred taels of silver is my bottom line. There’s no ceiling.”

The old man nodded, as if feeling that this killer was pretty professional. “Follow me.” After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the outside of the tavern.

Gao Yang tightened his belt, put away his saber, fished out some money, and tossed it to the tavern-keeper. “Nobody leave. Wait for me to come back. Tavern-keeper, prepare some wine. Tonight I’ll treat everybody!”

All the people in the tavern cheered. Gao Yang had just moved one foot past the threshold when the drinkers behind him started pointing and laughing at him. The timid helper was dragged along by his companion. Vaguely, someone’s voice sounded out. “Ha-ha, Old Gao is toast… ”

Gao Yang didn’t hear anything. In his eyes, the old man walking in front of him was like a pile of silver ingots. Even if somebody held a saber up to his throat, he would still stride forward and catch up with the old man. His poor helper had no choice but to follow him with a stagger.

Gao Yang suspected that he had drunk too much because he couldn’t catch up with the old man no matter how hard he tried. The distance between them was not far. Sometimes it was seven or eight steps, and sometimes it was fifteen or sixteen steps. The old man was always within his sight. “Hey, old man, slow down a little bit.”

But the helper was worrying about another thing. “It’s getting darker and darker.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I got this.” Gao Yang released the grip on his helper and strode forward to catch up with the old man in front of him. At this moment, he was thinking about neither the darkness nor killing. The only thing on his mind was catching up with that old man.

Clearly, the helper also had some kung fu skills. He didn’t lag behind, but he was feeling more and more uneasy. “Do the others in the city also hire killers this way? Actually, we can also talk in the tavern.”

Gao Yang became a little impatient. “Little Baldy, do you still want to return to your secular life? To make a living in Jade City, you must be bold. When there is money and women all around you, you must scramble for them. I can tell that this old man is rich by the sight of him… Eek, where’s the old man?”

They had reached the periphery of southern Jade City. It was totally dark in this narrow alley and there was only a faint lamplight in the distance. The old man was nowhere to be seen.

“I feel… ” The helper’s voice was quivering. “I feel like something is wrong. Just bring me to the Dragon King or the Unique King. We’ll get money without killing anyone.”

“Bah. Wine bought with money earned by killing people is the most delicious. Follow me.” There was a trace of stateliness in Gao Yang’s ferocious look, which seemed rather tempting for newcomers. After only a brief moment of hesitation, the helper obediently followed.

The door of the courtyard in which there was a lighted oil lamp was unlocked. Gao Yang pushed the door open and conveniently unsheathed his saber. He had the vigilance that he should have. “Old man, I don’t have time to play hide-and-seek with you. Show yourself or else I’ll burn your house down.”

The oil lamp went out. Gao Yang lashed out with a couple of saber strikes, but didn’t hit anything. Angry, he yelled, “How dare you fool me? I’ll tear down your doghouse! Little Baldy, move.”

Nobody answered.

“Little Baldy?” Gao Yang called out again, stood on the spot, and pricked his ears. However, all that he heard was his own breathing.

Little Baldy had been fully conscious this whole time. It was just that his acupoint had been struck, and he could neither move nor speak. He only knew that somebody was carrying him on their shoulder and rushing forward, and he lost his sense of direction after a short while.

Then somebody came to that person’s aid. Little Baldy was blindfolded. This time, he couldn’t see anything.

After a quiet journey of some length, it suddenly became noisy, as if they had returned to the center of southern Jade City. The saccharine calls made his heart flutter.

The noises subsided. Little Baldy was tossed onto the ground and with that, the strip of cloth was removed, and his acupoint restored. He regained his mobility but didn’t dare to move. Lying on the ground, he watched the old man who took him here, flurried.

The old man was in his fifties, gray-haired, and with a sepulchral face. However, he was very agile and his movement didn’t seem like that of an old man at all. “What’s your name?”

“Shi–Shi Qingjue. Who are you?”

“I’ll give you a chance to take a guess.”

“You’re a subordinate of the Dragon King or the Unique King.”

“Humph. Of course I am. Guess again.”

“You’re… You’re the Dragon King’s subordinate.” This was more Shi Qingjue’s hope rather than his speculation.

The old man stared at him for a while. “Just take me as the Dragon King’s subordinate. I heard that you have something to sell. Take it out and name your price. I can make a deal with you.”

Shi Qingjue’s heart lurched. He knew that he had made the wrong guess. “I don’t have it on me. And first, we need to bargain. Then you’ll give me the front money. And then I’ll bring that thing here and collect the rest of the payment.”

“Verbose!” the old man reprimanded and drew a dagger. “Then I’ll name a price – trade your petty life for that thing.”

Shi Qingjue had prepared himself for threat, but he still felt a cold shiver of fear. He stretched out his right arm and said in a quivering voice, “Then just kill me. There’s no way that I’m going to just give that thing to you.”

The old man sneered. “Little monk, it’s not that easy to resume a secular life, and it’s even more difficult for you to die.” The old man gently removed Shi Qingjue’s handkerchief, revealing his bald head. Then, he pressed the dagger against his scalp and moved it back and forth. “You have an hour to think about my offer. I’ll draw something on the top of your head while you’re thinking.”

Shi Qingjue’s eyeballs moved right and left with the dagger, his body remaining still. He had some kung fu, but it was useless under these circumstances. “Wait.”

“Um. This is what an obedient donkey should do. It’ll save both of us some time.” The old man straightened himself but didn’t put the dagger away.

Shi Qingjue adjusted his clothes, sat down cross-legged on the ground, put his palms together, and started reciting scriptures in a low voice. He had only one thing that could be traded for money, so he wouldn’t hand it over for no good reason.

The old man widened his eyes with anger and raised his dagger again. ‘Jade City has never been short of braggarts. This monk is probably one of them. There’s no need to waste an hour. I just have to cut off his monk’s ears. I’d like to see whether he will tell the truth or not after that.”

Suddenly the old man sensed danger behind him, and with that, he went stiff.

“Behave yourself.” A voice came from behind him. “It’s pretty late. You should go to sleep now.”

The old man obediently slumped to the ground and really fell asleep.

Shi Qingjue stopped reciting scriptures and looked at the dwarfish old man who had suddenly shown up in surprise. “I know you. You’re the Dragon King’s subordinate.”

“Alas. Am I really so obscure? Nobody knows who I am without mentioning the Dragon King.”

“Old Man Mu. You’re Old Man Mu,” Shi Qingjue yelled. This was really a catchy name.

Old Man Mu smiled. “Now we’re talking. Shi Qingjue – your real name is Shi Jueqing, right?”

Shi Qingjue blushed and nodded.

“Heh-heh. The Monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple never cease to surprise me. Now that you’ve recognized me, tell me the truth.”

“How much will the Dragon King pay me?”

A wickedly meaningful smile appeared on Old Man Mu’s face. “Enough for you to sleep with all the prostitutes from the south end of Retention Alley to the north end, as long as you can endure it.”

His thoughts were instantly seen through. Shi Qingjue blushed scarlet, but he was indeed willing to make this deal. “I have a roll with the names of all the living monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple in it. All of their names before they became monks as well as their parentage are also in it.”

“What uses does it have?” Old Man Mu frowned and said. “I thought that you would have a kung fu manual or something.”

“If it’s useless, then why would the Dragon King send his men everywhere to inquire about those eminent monk’s background?”

Xu Xiaoyi had been collecting information about the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple under Gu Shenwei’s order for a long time, but what he had gotten was very limited. Old Man Mu had heard about this, so he strode over the old man lying on the ground and stroked Shi Qingjue’s head. “Come on. Let me get you a woman first. We can talk about the details after that.”

Shi Qingjue’s face was as red as roast shrimp, but he was extremely excited. This was the way he wanted to talk about business.