Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 51: Saber Leaves Beimang

The unending spring rain pattered on the ground.

Amidst the rain, a traveler from far away, draped in a straw raincoat, wearing a bamboo hat, and carrying a saber on his back stepped onto an empty street in a small village.

“Empty” was not a completely accurate description, however. On a corner of the cold and desolate street, there was a beggar. He sat under the eaves of the buildings to take shelter from the rain.

The eaves were not able to block the spring rain and the thin blanket the beggar covered himself with was visibly drenched. He curled up more and more. The sight was extremely pitiable.

The traveler walked to his side. He lowered his head and, with a sigh, handed him a few coppers.

“Thank you, thank you...” The beggar’s hands shuddered, trembling as he accepted the coins.

The instant he reached out to take the coppers, a wrist blade suddenly flew out of the beggar’s sleeves into his hand and he thrust it toward the traveler’s stomach!

Under the misty rain, nowhere in the jianghu is safe.

However, the moment the wrist blade thrust out, a copper coin shot out of the traveler’s hands and dug itself into the beggar’s forehead.

Thud!

The beggar’s arm seemed to lose all strength and the traveler deftly caught his wrist. Looking at the bloody hole between the beggar’s eyebrows, he knew that the man could not be more dead.

“You were too anxious. The mud on your face was freshly smeared. It didn’t look like it was a result of not being able to wash your face for a while. Anyone careful can see that...” The traveler sighed and left.

The spring rain continued to pour and washed away the blood. The street was still cold and desolate. No one would know what just transpired here.

At the end of the street was a fluttering banner with the character “wine” printed on it. The raindrops hit the lanterns as they creaked and swayed. The traveler stood outside the door, listening to the clinking of wine goblets and shuffling of gambling chips. It was loud. A considerable number of people were taking shelter from the rain and drinking inside. The whole place was rather lively.

“Have you guys heard? A ruthless guy has appeared in the jianghu.”

“There are nothing but ruthless people in the jianghu. Which one are you talking about?”

“Obviously, the 91st Hidden Dragon, Zhao Changhe! Is there anyone who’s more well-known than him right now?”

The corner of the traveler’s mouth twitched.

This damn tome is really out to get me. Well, at least I have my own cool line now, but this rank is really embarrassing. 250 was one thing, but 91 Mr. Zhao[1]? Who’s the one writing this shitty tome?! How many more times are you going to make fun of me!?

Still, it felt awesome to hear other people talking about him.

Zhao Changhe pushed open the door and entered. “Shopkeeper, is there a seat? Give me a meal fit for a hero. Oh, also wine for two silver and a plate of cooked beef. Right, and fill up this gourd with two jin of wine.”

“No problem. Please take a seat, sir.”

The patrons who were conversing with each other took a look at him

He was a young, clean-shaven man. He looked like a brave young warrior. On his face was plastered a bright smile, and the scar on it, instead of ruining his complexion, made him look rather cool. He looked a bit sorry after being caught in the rain, but they could see that this man drying his straw raincoat was quite lively.

Most of them stopped at that and continued chatting away.

“That said, Zhao Changhe is really ruthless. He mixed with the Luo Family Village and killed the Luo Village Lord. Then, he mixed with the Blood God Cult and killed their branch master. He’s a natural-born rebel, I bet he rebelled against his own mom before he was even born.”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

I thought you people were talking about my glorious achievement of killing a fourth layer cultivator while I was at the third layer. The Tome of Troubled Times rarely praises people. Didn’t you guys see it say I “cut down” someone? There was even that cool line at the end! Didn’t you guys see it?! The fuck are you talking about?!

“Yeah. If he isn’t ruthless, then no one is. The empire put wanted posters up, so orthodox forces won’t take him in. The Blood God Cult also put a reward on his head, so demonic forces won’t take him in either. How many more days does he have to live?”

“The demonic cult is really generous. Two thousand gold pieces! What is the imperial court doing? They’re only offering one hundred taels of silver as a bounty and they haven’t done shit the past few months. They don’t give a damn about him at all. I went to the city yesterday and his wanted poster had been washed away by the rain. No one put up a new one. Now I can’t even find out what Zhao Changhe looks like.”

“When you put it like that, it seems like he’s not really in trouble. It’s gonna be tough to get away from the Blood God Cult, but it looks like the officials couldn’t care less about him.”

“Don’t be stupid, you think it’s gonna be that easy? The reward from the demonic cult is a lot. I have no idea just how many people will act for the money alone, I mean, when has the jianghu ever lacked murderers and bounty hunters? I’ve heard that someone from the Snow-Listening Pavilion is thinking of taking the bounty.”

“The top assassins?!”

“Yes...”

“He better wish for more luck. Wow, he better pray those guys don’t find him.”

“Why does it seem like you’re concerned for him?”

“Haven’t you guys heard? That fool secretly likes Yue Hongling. When he was still a stronghold master, he took someone who looked like Yue Hongling as his stronghold mistress. In the end, even that fake bitch left him. How pathetic. Don’t you think this makes him look kinda normal? Like you can get along with him...”

“Are you crazy? How does this mean I can get along with him? He’s competing with me for women! Forget about the bounty, if he dares show his face in front of me, I’ll cut off his little head! And the big head too!”

“Shut up, you idiot. You’re even more delusional than him.” A group of people burst out laughing. “Out of everyone on the Ranking of Hidden Dragons, he’s the only embarrassment. Everyone else is high and lofty, the kind of people we can never hope to reach.”

“Indeed. If we met, I’d most likely treat him to a drink and ask how it felt like to lose his mountain mistress. Hahahaha...”

“Don’t die too soon, Zhao Changhe. I still want to see something fun. When will Yue Hongling meet with him? Hahaha...”

The whole bar was filled with a joyous atmosphere. Veins began popping on Zhao Changhe’s head.

I’m so very thankful for everyone’s concern.

What about my glorious achievements in battle? What about my killing of Fang Buping? What about my cool line at the end? How am I supposed to show off like this? Can’t you guys talk about what’s more important? Speak about proper matters! Right, who’s the one that called me a fool just now? I didn’t pay attention...

The waiter came to serve his food, smiling as he said, “Sir, your wine gourd is a little old. Our shop sells wineskins made of good cow leather! Do you want to swap it out for one?”

Zhao Changhe looked at his old wine gourd and grinned. He did not reply; instead, he bluntly asked, “Hey, isn’t it a crime to kill cows?”

The waiter shushed him. “Our leather comes from long-dead cows. We report what we do to the authorities. Don’t make any false claims.”

“Long-dead cows?” Zhao Changhe picked up a piece of beef and his smile broadened even further. “You mean long-poisoned cows?”

The waiter’s expression warped and a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand. Before he could stab Zhao Changhe with it, however, a chopstick had been driven into his hand, nailing it to the table.

The waiter’s cries of pain scared the entire bar into silence. Everyone was overwhelmed with shock as they looked over. None of them knew what to do.

“You’re someone from the underworld, alright. These lame tricks won’t do.” The shopkeeper slowly walked over from behind the counter, shaking his head as he sighed. “With how quick your hands are, you’re worthy of being the 91st Hidden Dragon.”

For a while, no one dared to make a sound.

The 91st Hidden Dragon? You mean that person everyone was talking about just now? We were talking about him for so long and it turns out he was listening beside us all this while!

The one who called him a fool had long since run away, and the one who said he would cut off Zhao Changhe’s heads had disappeared without a trace.

Prior to this, they thought Zhao Changhe looked rather lively. However, after listening to the waiter’s pained wails from having his hand nailed to the table with a chopstick, they now thought he looked like a terrifying demon.

Zhao Changhe kept his hand on the chopstick and leisurely said. “I actually have no idea about what tricks you people use in the jianghu. Someone tried to assassinate me outside just now, so I was a little more alert. I was just spouting bullshit to this guy here, I didn’t think I’d actually be correct...”

The waiter’s head was full of sweat from the pain. “Save—save me...”

Swoosh!

A saber flashed over. The shopkeeper actually severed the waiter’s arm in a single stroke! “Useless!”

The waiter howled as he rolled over to the side, clutching his severed arm. Zhao Changhe could not tell if the waiter’s expression as he looked at the shopkeeper was one of gratitude or hatred.

“The Snow-Listening Pavilion?” Zhao Changhe said indifferently. “Pretty fierce, I guess.”

“Still, they can’t compare to your rebellious slaying of superiors.” The shopkeeper dusted his clothes and said sternly, “The Snow-Listening Pavilion is like the chasing wind. Mister Zhao, shall we...“

Before the shopkeeper finished his charade, a saber was already coming for his head. “An assassin has the sheer gall to tell me I’m rebellious? Do you think I’m stupid!? Die!”

The shopkeeper had never thought that Zhao Changhe, who was sitting calmly with a broad smile on his face, would suddenly disregard all codes of honor and attack. He also had not expected that Zhao Changhe’s saber would be so fast. Before he could move, the edge of a saber was already at his throat!

He barely had time to dodge, and he was forced to drop the poison needle hidden in the fringes of his clothes.

He really was up to something with that act, dusting his clothes and whatever.

Zhao Changhe was very alert.

Codes of honor? Ethics? Who gives a shit about those things when they have to deal with people like these?

The shopkeeper lost the initiative and was forced to dodge left and right to avoid wave after wave of Zhao Changhe’s attacks. Flustered and exasperated, he shouted, “Zhao Changhe, you are wanted by both demonic and orthodox forces. There is no place in the world that will accept you and you still wish to offend our Snow-Listening Pavilion! Why don’t you acquire some good karma, and leave some...”

Zhao Changhe said nothing more and rushed forward, immediately severing the shopkeeper’s head. “Cut the bullshit already, will you?!”

“...”

The shopkeeper’s parts fell to the ground, his face showing sheer disbelief.

The waiter clutched his severed arm and withdrew in terror. Zhao Changhe pointed his saber at him with a grim smile on his face. “I, Zhao Changhe, have left Beimang with my saber to challenge the world under heaven. If all men in the world are like you rats, then it’ll be really damn boring!”

1. This comes from the meme 91X先生 (where the X is replaced with someone’s surname) which is used to say that the person is someone who secretly films adult videos and posts them online. For Zhao Changhe, it would be 91赵先生 ☜