Chapter 8: This is what I picked up

“Cough, cough… Everyone hasn’t been this far from home in a long time. Leader, why don’t you tell us what you gained from this trip?”

Zhao Yi’an coughed, feeling a bit choked by the gang leader’s previous words, and quickly changed the subject.

The others at the dining table, who were originally drinking and chatting idly, put down their wine cups to agree when they heard Zhao Yi’an’s words.

“That’s right! Brother Li, you’ve been out for so long this time. Tell everyone what happened on the road. It’s too boring for us to stay here and practice with weapons all day!”

“Hey! Leader, is it true that there’s no curfew in the Capital city at night? Are there beautiful women everywhere?”

“Oh, Leader, drink some wine and tell everyone! What’s the point of just eating?”

“Hurry, hurry, what’s the rush!” Leader Li stuffed several more mouthfuls of food into his mouth, took a large gulp of wine, and waved his hand.

“I didn’t even dare to spend money to eat over there, so what’s wrong with me eating more now?”

After saying this, Leader Li took another sip of wine, squinted, and looked at everyone somewhat mysteriously.

“Do you know who I met during my escort mission this time?”

Seeing Leader Li’s hesitant look, no one in the courtyard interrupted him. After a while, someone finally asked, “Big Brother, who did you meet?”

“Ha! Good question!” Leader Li slapped the table suddenly and looked at the person who asked.

Then he put on a cautious look and said, “Let me tell you, I encountered the Jie sect halfway there!”

“The Jie sect? Isn’t that a sect made up of bandits?”

“Are you an idiot? Isn’t that just a bandit gang then?”

Hearing everyone discussing the Jie sect that Leader Li mentioned, Zhao Yi’an, who was already interested in the affairs of the Jianghu, cleared his head a bit and asked the leader curiously, “Then Leader, were you robbed?”

“That didn’t happen. I was lucky.” Leader Li took advantage of the fact that everyone’s attention was not on him and stole a few sips of wine.

“Those Jie sect guys say they are some kind of sect, but in fact, they really do the business of bandits.”

“Then they’re just a bunch of bandits? Then why were you so cautious just now, Leader?” someone in the crowd asked in confusion.

“Hey! Don’t look down on this Jie sect.” Leader Li looked at everyone and smiled. “I heard that there are several experts in the Jie sect. These experts are just waiting for the day to rise up and rebel against the Heavens!”

Speaking of this, Leader Li looked left and right, only to see everyone looking at each other.

“Isn’t that just reb—”

“Hey! Watch what you say!”

A man had just started speaking, but he was cut off by his companion before he could finish.

The scene became a bit quiet because of the topic, as if they were frightened by it.

Looking at the people who dared not speak, Leader Li poked the dish of food in front of him with his chopsticks and laughed. “I said I heard about it. You guys are too cowardly.”

Zhao Yi’an, who had also been a bit afraid to speak due to the atmosphere, couldn’t help but feel relieved after hearing what Leader Li said.

He said somewhat irritably, “Leader, stop scaring us. What happened after you met the Jie sect people? Did you drive them away?”

“I don’t have that kind of ability.” Leader Li shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly.

“Actually, after we and the Jie sect people were in a stalemate for a while, a Heroine dressed in white with a long sword hanging from her waist suddenly walked out of the forest.”

Leader Li picked up his wine cup and couldn’t help but fall into a state of reminiscence.

“That Heroine saw us looking at each other and thought it was strange. She said, ‘Are you fighting? I just got here, which side is the good one?'”

“At that time, I was wondering if this Heroine was a bit slow in the head. However, to be safe, I hurried to shout to her, ‘Miss, those are Jie sect people over there, run!'”

After saying this, Leader Li’s expression became complicated. He pursed his lips and said strangely, “After I finished speaking, I only saw a white shadow flash before my eyes.”

“In less than a moment, the Jie sect members who were ready to strike all screamed and fell to the ground. Finally, when I checked, I found that each of them had a bloody slit on their neck. At a glance, I could tell their throats had been sealed by one sword strike.”

“That Heroine who suddenly appeared was holding a long sword, looking like she had just finished her move. At a glance, she was a true expert! Fortunately, we didn’t choose to go over…”

Leader Li smiled bitterly, feeling a bit of lingering fear in his heart.

“We insisted on thanking her, but in the end, she didn’t take any of the gifts we gave her. Instead, she asked us a strange question.” Leader Li looked puzzled.

“She only asked one sentence: ‘Do you know if there is a peach forest nearby?’ After getting no answer, she left.”

Everyone was listening with interest. Hearing Leader Li say this, they also began to discuss the “peach forest.”

“Right!”

While everyone was discussing, Leader Li suddenly put down his wine cup and shouted loudly. He reached into his waist pouch and took out a strangely shaped small object woven with red string for everyone to see.

Looking at the small accessory, everyone showed confused expressions.

“Big Brother, what is this? I didn’t know you had this kind of hobby?”

“Nonsense, the Leader met a girl he liked in the Capital city. This was a gift from someone, you know?”

“Go away. This was dropped by that Heroine because she was in a hurry.” Leader Li looked at these crude men with disgust and said irritably, “I don’t know what this little thing is either. It’s strangely shaped.”

Zhao Yi’an stared at the small object carefully, feeling like he knew what it was in his mind, but he couldn’t remember it for a long time.

“Ah! Could this be a sword tassel?” Zhao Yi’an racked his brains, and suddenly a flash of inspiration came to him.

“What? Whose sword tassel looks like this?” someone said in surprise.

Leader Li looked at the small thing in his hand and felt that it was indeed more suitable to hang at the hilt of a sword.

He couldn’t help but click his tongue. ‘What kind of person would make a sword tassel like this? It’s long and thick.’

‘It feels… more like a fringe…’

“Alright, alright. Maybe one day that Heroine will come to pick it up, so I’ll just keep it here for now.” Leader Li put away the small object and began to eat and drink again.

“Big Brother, let me see! Does it really not have your lover’s name written on it?”

“Get lost! I picked this up. If you want one, go pick one up yourself!”

“Stingy!”

Looking at the group of people playing around again, Zhao Yi’an just smiled.

He felt that everything before him was ordinary and beautiful, which made him feel at peace. He picked up a cup of wine, tilted his head, and downed it in one gulp, wanting to blend in.

‘I didn’t expect the Leader to encounter such things just by going out.’

‘The outside world is… truly something to look forward to.’

‘Dressed in white, with shimmering sword shadows. It’s so cool!’

‘But then again, the image of the Heroine Leader Li described is so much like…’

***

On the other side, Liu Yao was currently in front of the blacksmith shop. She slapped the table and glared at the blacksmith in front of her, looking shocked.

“What!?”

“You melted the sword!?”