The band of cutthroats holed up in Dragon King Cave was actually quite small, numbering only six in all.
These six could pass for sworn brothers, but as for their bond... put it this way: it was nothing like the Peach Garden Oath, but rather like the sworn brothers of Wagang—the sort who would sell out a brother in a heartbeat at the first sign of danger just to save their own skins.
Of course, when nothing was amiss, they still put on a grand show of brotherhood, swearing they would live and die together.
In martial arts, the second through the sixth brothers were roughly on par with one another, merely a notch above the ordinary mountain bandits of Zouma Stronghold. If they ever ran into a genuine jianghu wanderer—even a second-rate one—they would end up taking a thorough beating.
As for their eldest brother, Kang Haijiao... his kung fu was passable, though still no match for the aforementioned Ma Si.
Some might wonder how a figure sporting a proper jianghu moniker like "Kang Haijiao" could be weaker than someone without one like Ma Si.
In truth, it was quite simple: Ma Si had no moniker because he had roamed as a fugitive committing crimes ever since slaughtering his own martial sect. Having never officially completed his apprenticeship or walked the jianghu under his real name, he naturally had neither fame nor title.
In terms of sheer ability, however, Ma Si had formally trained for ten years under Huizhou's Hundred-Jin Saber, inheriting the true lineage before spending years sharpening his skills through real-life combat.
Kang Haijiao, on the other hand, had started out as a common water pirate on the upper reaches of the Bali River. Possessing unusual brute strength from an early age—though not quite born with Herculean might—he had thrown his weight around to bully and dominate local trade. At twenty, he knocked around in the Water Transport Gang for a spell and picked up a bit of kung fu. Later, having crossed a superior in the gang and realizing he could no longer stay, he brought along two brothers on good terms with him—today's second and third brothers—and the three fled the gang to return to their old trade.
A few years later, they took in three more men, forming the six-man gang they had today. Because they operated primarily along the waterways bordering Luzhou and Yingzhou, over time he earned the fearsome name "Kang Haijiao," the Soaring Sea Dragon.
Yet the jianghu was not an easy place to make a living. If you could make a name for yourself by committing evil deeds, there would naturally be people seeking renown by ridding the people of a menace and cutting you down.
Two years ago, Kang Haijiao and his crew had run into a meddler who called himself "Lin Yuancheng, the Young Hero of Cangzhou."
The youth was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but his martial arts were exquisite. Wielding a swift sword, he dealt with all six of them in a mere two or three moves.
In the end, however, Young Hero Lin did not kill them, claiming he was new to the jianghu and had never taken a life, and that these wretches were unworthy of being the first souls to fall by his blade.
Even so, Kang Haijiao and his brothers had to kneel and kowtow, thanking the young hero for sparing their lives.
Finally, after the six swore vicious oaths on their entire families promising never to do evil again, Lin Yuancheng let them go.
Without a doubt, that fellow surnamed Lin was far too naive.
After all, he was only fifteen or sixteen, and growing up he had seen only venerable, honorable elders. Being utterly ignorant of the darkness in human hearts, he assumed people who wept bitter tears while swearing on their families would actually keep their word.
Had it been Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, they would have cut the weeds and dug out the roots without hesitation. Swearing an oath? To them, swearing an oath was lower than breaking wind—it was like announcing a fart at the top of your lungs. Whoever wanted to smell it could smell it, but neither of them would believe a word of it.
Back to the matter at hand...
In any case, after that incident, Kang Haijiao and his brothers did lay low for a spell, not daring to show their faces for months.
Yet men of their ilk could hardly mend their ways.
Once accustomed to rape and plunder, getting them to earn an honest living was easier said than done.
Before long, by the previous year, they decided the heat had died down. Moving into Dragon King Cave, they set their sights on the nearby Chen Family Village. It so happened that their fourth brother had a few years of schooling under his belt; he tapped his head and cooked up that ghost-and-god trickery.
Abducting the children and driving in the mast were all their doing. Under the cover of night, blowing some sleeping smoke into the villagers' homes and sneaking in to snatch the boys was hardly difficult. With Kang Haijiao's strength, combined with his brothers loosening the soil beforehand, slowly "drilling" an auxiliary mast as thick as a rice bowl into the ground posed no problem either.
And so, having tasted the sweet fruits of "tribute," the gang was overjoyed.
This took far less effort than robbing people out in the open. They did not have to worry about resistance, nor did they have to scramble to find targets; on the first and fifteenth of every month, someone delivered food, wine, and coin right to their doorstep.
Yet human greed knew no bounds.
As the saying goes, when food and clothing are plentiful, lust arises. Once they had secured food without lifting a finger, they began craving women. Later, they made several more disturbances, demanding the villagers deliver a maiden every quarter.
Not counting the one Sun and Huang had seen today, four had already been sent before. Among them, two took their own lives, one was killed while trying to flee, and another was abused to death.
Of course, Kang Haijiao and his crew did not give a damn. Dead was dead; they merely found an empty ditch and buried them.
***
Tonight was once again the day for the villagers to deliver a daughter-in-law to the Dragon King.
The people of Chen Family Village had set out at dusk. Playing pipes and beating drums while carrying the sedan chair and offerings, the procession moved rather slowly, arriving at Dragon King Cave just as the sky turned a deep purple.
That was not the end of it; a ceremony had to follow. It mainly consisted of a paper figure with a dragon's head bowing into marriage with the maiden, while the villagers offered prayers and paid respects to the Dragon King. Being well prepared, they carried torches and feared no darkness, fussing about until the Hour of the Dog before finally leaving.
The maiden knelt before the altar table dressed in black, her head covered by a black veil, remaining silent throughout.
She neither resisted nor ran.
She knew that among those sent before her, anyone who resisted was simply knocked unconscious by the villagers and tied to a tree. She would not waste her strength on something so futile.
This girl was quite clever. Understanding that running blindly was impossible, from the day she was chosen as the sacrifice she had appeared utterly compliant, even putting on a show of eager anticipation and great honor. That way, no one suspected her or kept watch over her.
Tonight, she had concealed a large pair of shears on her person, her mind firmly made up: no matter what monsters came out, even if she could not take them down with her, she would at least take her own life to preserve her purity.
"Hey, miss."
Just as the girl gripped the shears, ready to strike at any moment, a man's voice suddenly spoke from behind her, exceedingly close.
The girl had no idea how he had drawn near, for she had heard no footsteps whatsoever. But things having come to this, she had no time to think, thrusting the shears backward in a vicious jab.
"Holy shit!" Huang Donglai jumped in fright. Seeing the blades aiming straight for his lower half—since the girl was kneeling, her strike came from down low—a curse flew out of his mouth. He leaped three feet into the air, springing backward to dodge that lethal attack.
"Who are you?" The next instant, the girl tore off the black veil herself, tossed it aside, and pointed the tips of the shears at Huang Donglai, demanding sharply, "Are you the one posing as the Dragon King?"
"Misunderstanding, total misunderstanding..." Huang Donglai lowered his voice and explained, "We're here to save you! The bastard pretending to be the Dragon King is still inside the cave, but he'll be out any second. Keep your voice down!"
"I don't believe you!" The girl took half a step back. "You—"
The rest of her sentence choked off after a single word, because something strange entered her sight.
At that moment, she saw a man with small, squinty eyes, dressed in black robes and sporting a black silk skirt around his waist, emerge from the woods and make straight for the altar table.
"Don't be scared, that's my brother. He's taking your place! Hurry up and come with me," Huang Donglai urged before she could even process it.
Meanwhile, Sun Yixie, disguised as the black-clad bride, had already walked past the girl. He scooped up the discarded black veil, draped it over his head, and knelt down in front of the altar.
The girl froze for a few seconds. After thinking it over, she moved toward Huang Donglai, though she kept her grip tight on the shears.
"Don't touch me," she said warily, refusing to let him come within three feet of her.
"Fine, fine! Just follow me and hide in the trees, or we'll blow our cover when the bandits come out." Huang Donglai did not bother wasting words. He waved her over and slipped into the woods first.
The girl followed close behind, finding a small thicket to conceal herself. Just as she hid, she glanced back under the moonlight and saw several sneaky figures poking their heads out of Dragon King Cave.
The ones arriving were the third, fifth, and sixth brothers.
They peered around the cave entrance for a moment. Once certain the villagers were far away, they grew bold, swaggering over to the altar table and talking without the slightest attempt to lower their voices.
"Heheh, little lady, so obedient! Waiting right here for your masters?" The fifth brother was the most lecherous of the lot. Looking at the "bride" kneeling on the ground, he could barely contain his lust and immediately reached out to grab Sun Yixie's backside.
"Oho!" After squeezing, he chuckled in satisfaction. "Plenty of meat on this one tonight! Mmh... looking closely, she's built pretty solid too."
The third and sixth brothers burst into crude laughter beside him.
The third brother was the first to straighten up. "All right, all right, don't be in such a rush. Let's carry her inside first."
"Third Brother, let me carry her!" the fifth brother said with a leering grin.
"Fine, you carry her," the third brother agreed. He paused, then recalled something and added, "Hey, don't get reckless and fool around halfway. By our rules, she has to go to Eldest Brother first."
"I know, I know. Rest easy, Third Brother, I know the limits..." the fifth brother replied eagerly. Darting forward, he hoisted Sun Yixie onto his shoulder. "Hup! What the hell has this broad been eating... she's so damn heavy..."
It was only because the fifth brother had practiced martial arts for a few years that he could even lift Sun at all.
Sun Yixie was quick to react. The moment he was hoisted up, he clamped his hand down on the veil to keep his face from showing.
Once the fifth brother had carried Sun Yixie into the cave, the third and sixth brothers began inspecting and hauling the offerings.
Only then did the girl in the woods finally relax a little, fairly certain that Huang Donglai and Sun Yixie were genuinely good men.
After a short while, when the third and sixth brothers had also carried off a portion of the goods, Huang Donglai whispered to the girl, "Miss, stay right here. Whatever you do, don't go back to the village. If you return now, the villagers will definitely drag you right back, and that would put both of us in deep trouble." He paused. "I'm going to sneak into the cave now to back up my brother. Stay hidden here and don't make a sound. Once we finish off those scoundrels, we'll come out to find you."
The girl thought for a moment, nodded, and replied, "Young hero, please be careful."
Before she had even finished speaking, Huang Donglai circulated his lightness skill and leaped out of the thicket. With a few swift, skimming strides like a dragonfly skimming water, he darted silently into Dragon King Cave...
Chapter 23