Zhong Ling had grown up doted on by her parents. She felt that her own everyday conduct was already lawless enough, but set beside the Qin Zheng before her, she felt she was as kind and good as a fairy!
She drew her clothes tighter about her and forced a smile. "Hero Qin, why don't we go our separate ways? I've been away for quite a few days. Father and Mother must be missing me. I want to take Big Brother Duan home first."
Qin Zheng let out an "oh" and said quite naturally, "So you're going to Wanjie Valley? Then we're headed the same way."
Zhong Ling was instantly on her guard. "What are you going to Wanjie Valley for?"
Qin Zheng said, "Doesn't Mu Wanqing live near Wanjie Valley? I'm going there to deliver a gilded invitation."
Zhong Ling's eyes went perfectly round at once, and she flared, "What kind of joke is that? Sister Mu would never join a bride-seeking martial contest and fight other people over some decrepit old man!"
Qin Zheng smiled. "The invitation isn't for Mu Wanqing. Someone has come to seek revenge on her. My invitation is prepared for her enemies."
Zhong Ling's brows drew slightly together, and she said, only half convinced, "What enemies? How do you know someone is coming after Sister Mu for revenge?"
Qin Zheng said, "Not long ago, her master took her to Suzhou to assassinate a woman surnamed Wang. They never even saw the woman's face before Madam Wang's servants beat them off and drove them away. On the way back, she also killed a disciple of Yue Lao San, the Southern Sea Crocodile God. Now all of them have come looking for revenge. If I weren't happening to go there to deliver the invitation, Mu Wanqing would most likely be in grave danger this time."
A little worried for Mu Wanqing's safety, Zhong Ling said at once, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry and warn Sister Mu!"
With that she went to the front to lead the way, and took Qin Zheng and Duan Yu running toward Mu Wanqing's dwelling.
After who knew how long, Zhong Ling came to a courtyard, pushed the door open, and walked straight in.
Duan Yu panted heavily, his legs soft and shaking, and sighed, "Ai... Zhong Ling's just a young girl. How can she run so fast..."
Seeing him gasp for breath, Qin Zheng urged, "You really ought to practice your martial arts properly. That Sunflower Manual is a top-tier martial secret. If you master the lightness skill in it, absolutely no more than five people in the world could catch you."
Duan Yu shuddered at once and shook his head again and again. "I don't want to turn into a woman!"
Qin Zheng went on persuading him. "If you only practice the lightness skill, you won't turn into a woman."
Duan Yu froze, then looked at Qin Zheng with doubt in his eyes. "Have you read the Sunflower Manual too? Otherwise how would you know so clearly?"
Qin Zheng gave a dry cough and said with a perfectly sincere face, "I haven't read it. I only heard it from someone else."
Heaven and earth as his witness—this book was one he had dictated aloud for someone else to copy down. No matter when, he could declare in perfect righteousness that he had never read it!
While they were talking, Zhong Ling had already run into the house and begun speaking with Mu Wanqing. "Sister Mu, something terrible has happened! Your enemies have tracked you here!"
Right after, a cool woman's voice rose inside the room. "Slow down. Which of my enemies do you mean?"
"That woman in Suzhou surnamed Wang, and Yue Lao San, the Southern Sea Crocodile God!"
"Ah, they've all come! Zhong Ling, it's dangerous here. Hurry home!"
"Thinking of running? This time, even if you grew wings, don't dream of flying out of this courtyard!"
An aged voice sounded from the rooftop. Right on its heels, a crowd burst out of the woods and surrounded the courtyard so tightly that not a drop of water could have leaked through.
Veiled, Mu Wanqing walked out. She raised her eyes and swept the courtyard, and saw seventeen or eighteen people with weapons in hand, led by two old women, blocking every way she might flee.
Two handsome youths also stood at the gate, apparently companions who had come with Zhong Ling to bring the warning.
Mu Wanqing's gaze was grave as she glanced at the two old women in the lead. "This matter has nothing to do with the three of them. Let them leave first."
One of them, a stout old woman, gave a cold laugh. "Let them leave, so they can go fetch reinforcements? There isn't a single good person in all of Dali. Every one of them deserves to die. Killing them today would be carrying out Heaven's will!"
Qin Zheng smiled faintly, stepped forward, and drew out a gilded invitation. "I am Qin Zheng. On behalf of Senior Wuyazi, I bring your lady a gilded invitation."
Hearing the name Qin Zheng, the stout woman was first taken aback. She thought he merely shared a name with that Bandit King of Guanzhong, and paid it no great mind. Somewhat puzzled, she took the invitation and looked. When she saw that it invited the heroines of the realm to Leigu Mountain for a bride-seeking martial contest, she flew into a rage.
"What a shameless, stinking man, daring to take liberties with our lady! Tell me where that Wuyazi lives. I'll go chop him into mincemeat this instant and take him to Mantuo Manor for flower fertilizer!"
Qin Zheng's face filled with shock as he sucked in a breath of cold air. "Hiss—whose lieutenant is this, to be so valiant!"
Duan Yu tilted his head, utterly lost. "She's one of Madam Wang's subordinates. Didn't you tell us that?"
Qin Zheng said with absolute certainty, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible! How could a subordinate of Madam Wang dare talk so wildly as to chop Madam Wang's own father into mincemeat for flower fertilizer? Even if she really is Madam Wang's subordinate, she must be a spy planted inside Mantuo Manor!"
The stout woman cried out, "What did you say? That Wuyazi... Senior Wuyazi is our lady's father? You wouldn't be trying to bluff me, would you?"
Somewhat displeased, Qin Zheng said with anger on his face, "Why would I lie to you? Have I got nothing better to do?"
Duan Yu: "..."
Hard to say!
A deathly stillness fell over the courtyard. Everyone sank into silence.
Noticing that things had gone a bit cold, Qin Zheng said with utter conviction, "When the time comes, have your lady arrive early and greet the guests. You can't leave every bit of the work to an outsider like me. If people saw that, they'd gossip about your lady."
The stout woman and the other old woman conferred in low voices for a few sentences, then raised their heads and looked at Qin Zheng with sharp eyes. "Your name is Qin Zheng, is it? The three of you may go. But if I find you've lied and deceived me, Mantuo Manor will never spare you!"
Mu Wanqing let out a slight breath of relief and said to Zhong Ling, "Take them back to Wanjie Valley. You needn't worry about me here."
"I'm not leaving!"
Zhong Ling turned to Qin Zheng with a pleading face. "Hero Qin, please help Sister Mu..."
Qin Zheng rubbed his fingers, looking rather awkward about it. "Now this is difficult. Before, I only agreed to protect you and Duan Yu. If we add Mu Wanqing on top of that, that would be a separate price..."
Zhong Ling's eyes lit up. She hurriedly pulled out her money pouch and held it forward. "It's all yours!"
Somewhat surprised, Qin Zheng took the money pouch and weighed it in his palm, then said in exasperation at their worthlessness, "What are those people of the Shennong Gang even doing? They catch someone and don't even search them? Not the least bit professional!"
Duan Yu couldn't help quipping, "Only bandits who rob people on the road search their bodies, don't they?"
Qin Zheng shot him a vicious glare. "Nonsense. Every gang in our Guanzhong searches people when they catch them!"
Mu Wanqing was slightly taken aback. "Isn't there only one gang left in Guanzhong now, one put together by a mountain bandit, called the Longmen Escort Agency?"
Qin Zheng stared at Mu Wanqing in silence for a long while, then sighed. "You're not wrong. Don't say that next time, or it'll make me look like a bandit chieftain..."
Zhong Ling hurriedly introduced him to Mu Wanqing. "Sister Mu, this young master is the proprietor of the Longmen Escort Agency, Qin Zheng, the Great Hero of Guanzhong!"
Mu Wanqing's pupils contracted, and she cried out, "Qin Zheng, the Bandit King!!"
As the words fell, the people of Mantuo Manor all took two steps back together, and grave looks appeared on their faces as one.
As the saying goes, a man leaves a name as a tree leaves a shadow. Qin Zheng had held Guanzhong for five years, and anyone from the martial world who entered Guanzhong had to abide by the rules he set.
If anyone broke them, the lighter penalty was to have their martial arts destroyed and be hung on a flagpole to bake in the sun; the heavier was to lie dead in the street and drag their sect down with them. His vicious reputation in the jianghu was not one whit below that of the Old Freak of Xingxiu of Xingxiu Sea.
Hearing that this Qin Zheng was the Bandit King, and not merely a man of the same name as she had mistakenly thought, the stout woman's expression couldn't help turning grim. Though she felt some fear, she did not want to drag down Mantuo Manor's name in the jianghu, and she forced herself to say, "Hero Qin, are you certain you want to meddle in the grudge between our Mantuo Manor and this little slut?"
Qin Zheng put away the money pouch Zhong Ling had given him, and an expression that brooked no doubt came over his face. "Taking payment and doing the job is the rule of our Longmen Escort Agency. Wait until her term of protection ends next month, then come seek revenge on her."
With that he swept his right hand upward. A tremendous boom rang out, and the house in Mu Wanqing's courtyard collapsed with a crash.
In an instant the whole courtyard was filled with smoke and dust. Everyone in the yard stood frozen where they were, thick fear in their eyes, not daring the slightest further move.
Chapter 3