Have You Met My Brother?[Comprehensive Martial Arts + Sword Three] Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Boldness Born of Skill: Yan Bugui: I absolutely refuse to be a busybody.

Yan Bugui considered himself someone who rarely meddled in others’ affairs.

Take the incident early this morning, for example. If he hadn’t happened to see it, and if he hadn’t thought, “I’m idle anyway, might as well check it out,” and then run into the green-robed old woman who had returned, and sensed her malice—that was the key point. If not for that, he wouldn’t have suddenly attacked a stranger.

After losing the trail of the green-robed old woman, he returned directly to his room at the inn. Although the thought of collecting the bodies of the poisoned escorts downstairs had crossed his mind, he noticed that passersby had already discovered the corpses and hurried off to report it to the authorities, so he paid no further attention.

He had to admit, he hadn’t expected the “reporting to the authorities” maneuver beforehand. In Penglai and the Blade Sect, he never had to deal with officials. Later, when he traveled in the Central Plains, he even executed a few corrupt officials who preyed on the common folk. Ordinary people usually avoided the government, and almost no one actively sought their help. Not to mention the subsequent outbreak of war, which made finding officials impossible.

It was precisely that citizen who actively reported the crime that made him realize the local government here was different. Even if the subsequent handling was somewhat perfunctory—they only sent a few constables to drag the bodies off the street and knock on doors nearby asking if anyone had noticed anything amiss—they even questioned the swordsman. But after he calmly replied, “I don’t know, I didn’t see anything,” they didn’t press him further.

Regardless, at least the local government reacted, and they didn’t make trouble for the citizen who reported the crime early in the morning. This was enough for him to feel a rare sense of order, proving that the current regime of this dynasty was relatively stable.

However, the relationship between the court and the martial arts world still needed observation. And people in the martial arts world seemed quite unrestrained, acting on impulse… Yan Bugui used his chopsticks to pick up the last slice of meat and a strip of stir-fried vegetable, finishing the remaining rice in his bowl completely. Alas, he truly disliked being a busybody, but trouble always seemed to find him.

The green-clad girl, alone, having displayed her wealth yet appearing defenseless, heard the scoundrel coveting her jewelry mention that he knew the whereabouts of “Guo Daxia,” and her face immediately brightened visibly: “Really? Uncle, can you take me to find Guo Daxia?”

Before the man could finish his affirmative “Of course,” a diner who recognized him voiced a suspicion: “Tch, you’re not trying to trick the little girl, are you? How would you, Chen San, a petty ruffian, know a Daxia? With your cowardly nature, if you really ran into Guo Daxia, you’d probably walk the long way around and burn high incense praying he doesn’t find out about the dirty deeds you’ve done!”

Chen San’s face instantly flushed with anger. He slammed his palm hard on the table, his eyes wide as copper bells, and he suddenly stood up and shouted, “Who’s talking trash about me! If you have the guts, stand up and say it to my face!”

Since Chen San was so aggressive, the person who exposed his background naturally wouldn’t admit it. Everyone who met his gaze quickly looked away, and those farther away only dared to peek secretly, whispering softly. The most disappointed, however, was the green-clad girl. She sighed softly, muttering to herself, “So, it was a false alarm again?”

Chen San couldn’t hear the girl’s whisper clearly, but he saw her look of disappointment and quickly said, “Little girl, don’t listen to that gutless fellow’s nonsense. I—I really know where Guo Daxia is. Tell you what, as soon as the rain stops, I’ll take you to find him immediately! I see you’re lively and adorable, Guo Daxia will surely be delighted to see you!”

The girl blinked and said, “Really? Guo Daxia truly won’t think I’m disturbing him by visiting unannounced?”

“Of course not!” Chen San used the compliments he had just heard from the storyteller to praise Guo Daxia’s noble character and amiable nature. At the same time, he winked at his companions, racking his brains to praise the girl and Guo Daxia as if they were unmatched under heaven, certain to have a joyous meeting like the convergence of gold and dew.

The girl, being praised repeatedly by several people, rested her chin on her hand and listened quietly, seemingly not paying too much attention. Only after they stopped did she suddenly ask, “Uncle, how did you get to know Guo Daxia?”

Chen San and his companions, whose sole purpose was to lure the girl away to rob and assault her, stiffened. They replied vaguely, “That’s a long story. We’ll tell you slowly on the road.”

Outside, the rain poured down. Many people remained on the first floor of the inn, and quite a few were watching this exchange. Chen San and his group had been talking nonsense earlier, and many were observing with cold eyes. Now, hearing his reply, someone spoke sarcastically again: “What long story? You’re clearly just trying to trick the little girl! Heh heh, little girl, I advise you to be careful, don’t get fooled!”

“Which bastard is saying I’m lying!” Chen San slammed the table again and stood up. This time, several people spoke up successively, advising the girl not to fall for the trick—they likely saw that Chen San and his group intended to lure the girl away, probably with malicious intent.

Chen San was naturally furious and guilty. One of his accomplices, seeing the situation turn sour, suddenly pulled out a dark brown feather from his bosom and loudly declared, “Who says we’re lying? Look—this is a feather shed by the Condor next to Guo Daxia! It’s a gift Guo Daxia gave us, a testament to our friendship!”

No one expected this turn of events. The people around instantly fell silent, muttering inwardly as they looked at the feather. Yan Bugui also narrowed his eyes to observe carefully. Based on his childhood experience playing with sea eagles in Penglai, he determined that it couldn’t be a feather shed by a condor—unless it was a species he didn’t recognize.

“Hmph! See, see—you forced me to show the evidence, how shameless are you!” Seeing that the feather had stunned the doubters, Chen San immediately felt “vindicated.” When he overheard someone quietly saying, “Who knows if that feather was picked up at the bird market,” he even used a tactical retreat, saying to the girl,

“Little girl, we originally wanted to keep a low profile. Taking you to see Guo Daxia was out of goodwill, as we didn’t want to cause him unnecessary trouble. Now that we’ve been forced to expose this, perhaps we should forget about it…”

Hearing this, the girl shifted her gaze from the feather to Chen San and his companions. However, she didn’t eagerly try to persuade them to stay, as they had expected. Instead, she asked again, “Uncle, can you really take me to see Guo Daxia?”

Although the girl’s reaction was somewhat disappointing, Chen San thought that as long as they lured her alone to the wilderness, they could do whatever they wanted. So, he didn’t dwell on it. His eyes darted around, and he countered with a question: “Do you really want to see Guo Daxia that badly?”

The girl nodded without hesitation.

Chen San feigned reluctance, dragging it out for a while before finally gritting his teeth and agreeing: “Fine! Since I find you agreeable, I’ll help you this once!”

Seeing that after all this, the girl still agreed to follow Chen San once the rain stopped, the surrounding people stopped trying to dissuade her. Only a few clever individuals who still believed Chen San and his group were deceiving the girl shook their heads and sighed, lamenting that a good girl might lose both her wealth and her life. Meanwhile, Yan Bugui finished his meal and returned to his room to meditate quietly.

The heavy downpour only completely stopped at the hour of You (5-7 PM). The sun had no chance to exert its residual heat; the sky remained overcast and quickly grew darker.

Chen San had accomplices, but perhaps to dispel the girl’s wariness, only Chen San openly led the girl toward the city gates. His accomplices, after staging a scene of “leaving early for business,” quietly circled back and trailed behind—all of this was observed by Yan Bugui, who was standing on the rooftop.

Since he had already been delayed for so long, the swordsman settled his bill and followed the girl and Chen San’s group. Chen San’s so-called “story of how he met Guo Daxia” drifted into Yan Bugui’s ears on the wind. The swordsman couldn’t help but curl his lip slightly—this level of storytelling was worse than his Bai Renyu. At least the little parrot’s stories were somewhat logical, unlike this man’s, which were full of holes.

He watched the girl’s expression from afar. It was clear she was listening seriously, and her responses were timely and polite. Whether she actually believed him was another matter.

He felt that the girl was not as naive as she appeared, and she possessed martial arts skills. Following Chen San was merely due to a lingering hope of “what if.” But even if the girl had a hidden ace, he still had to follow—he couldn’t just stand by and watch if something bad might happen to her.

By now, night had fully descended. Moving clouds obscured the light that the stars and moon might have cast. The tangled canopies of the trees in the wilderness seemed to intercept the distant lamplight of the town. The only source of illumination was the torch in Chen San’s hand—he had indeed led the girl to a desolate area with no outsiders, and several of his accomplices were securely hidden nearby.

With Chen San’s declaration of “We’re here,” the two stopped. The girl looked around and asked, “When will Guo Daxia appear?”

Seeing that the girl had fallen into the trap, Chen San finally revealed his true, ugly face. He laughed coarsely, “No Guo Daxia, but all of us brothers have something bigger we can show you!”

The girl didn’t understand the vulgar innuendo in the second half of the sentence, but the first half was clear. After a moment of stunned silence, she sighed, “Uncle Chen, you were tricking me after all?”

Chen San’s wicked laughter faltered. He couldn’t help but ask, “‘After all’? You suspected this earlier?”

The girl replied, “My family also raises two large condors. The feather you held clearly wasn’t from a condor. I only came with you because I held onto a sliver of hope, but it seems this trip was in vain.”

Chen San hadn’t expected that the feather he thought was “evidence” had completely exposed their lie. However, he quickly thought that since they had successfully lured her here, what did it matter if she knew they were lying? “In any case, you can’t escape now!” As he spoke, he grinned menacingly and reached toward the girl’s chest, seemingly intending to snatch her pearl necklace or tear open her collar.

“Ah—” However, his hand was severely twisted mid-motion by the girl. The girl’s hand was small, and her force didn’t seem heavy, but with a slight twist of Chen San’s wrist, she instantly fractured his bone, causing him to cry out in pain.

Completely unprepared for this move from the “prey” they had deemed weak and easily bullied, the grimacing Chen San immediately shouted, “What are you waiting for! Attack! Quickly subdue her! Her money will be ours! And she will be ours too!”

The girl wrinkled her nose upon hearing this. She was about to continue twisting Chen San’s arm while secretly watching out for the dangers that might emerge from the surroundings. However, one breath, two breaths, three breaths passed, and the surroundings remained silent. No one responded to Chen San’s plea for help.

Not only was the girl confused, but cold sweat broke out on Chen San’s forehead. The latter quickly added, “Where the hell are you all—” But before he could finish his sentence, a flying stone struck him on the forehead, knocking him unconscious instantly.

The girl quickly looked in the direction the stone had come from. She saw the young man with whom she had shared a table at noon standing on a tree. Before she could utter the word “It’s you,” she heard him say, “Next time, don’t rely on a few martial arts skills and follow strangers so easily. You might not be so lucky every time.”

Yan Bugui, who had silently taken down the ambushing ruffians one by one with his blade, adjusted his bamboo hat. After offering his advice, he turned and departed.