Joy of Life

Chapter 335: You’ve Been Surrounded

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As the water dried up in the winter, laborers were like ants as they worked hard to move rocks and sand on the two sides of the river to make repairs. Rumors said that the silver hadn't been completely handed down. So other than the subcontractors, the other commoners were all very lifeless. No one wanted to work hard if they were busy all day but were still not able to put even bronze in their pockets. Only the laborers dawdling over their work had the extra time to go have a look at the river they had long tired of looking at and mimic the civil officials far above them.

When they looked, everyone was surprised to see that on the Yangtze heading toward Jiangnan Road there suddenly appeared many boats. They were currently cruising up and down the river. Shipping in the winter couldn't compare to that of the other three seasons and was very rarely this lively. It was like in one night someone used magic to airdrop all these ships onto the river.

There were big and small boats of all different shapes and speeds. There were even three slightly refitted trimarans. The trimarans were for the exclusive use of the navy and were very fast. It was not permitted for commoners to use this type of ship. Similarly, the men on these ships had bulges around their waist that were probably hiding their swords. Other than the scaling on their dark cheeks, there was a silent killing intent and alertness.

It was only the famous water bandit who could gather so many ships on this stretch of the waterway to the entrance of the Jiangnan road in just two days without alerting the officials to come and have words. Just considering the power to control the Yangtze River, not even the famous families of Jiangnan could compare to the Jiangnan water bandit.

The full name of the Jiangnan water bandits was Jiangnan and Associated Areas of the 12 Connected Docks (this name was cute). They made a living on the web-like waterways, and all goods, guests, or other business had to first pass by them, particularly the private salt and tea business as well as the horse trade. This let them hold great power. After the Ming family fell, the person who went by Xia Qifei became the head boss of the water bandits and worked to better his relationship with the officials. It was rumored that this Master Xia could call the Admiral "brother."

No one could stop a rogue joining the local authorities. Thus, over the years, although it appeared that the water bandits reduced their black market trading, they had started coming out of the water weeds of the lakes and honorably entered into the public, stronger than before.

It was this kind of powerful force that could sweep their way across the river without obstructions and search the ships along the bank despite the protestations.

The person who gave the order was the head boss of the water bandits, Xia Qifei. Although he didn't particularly care about the deaths of his subordinates, Guan Wumei, who had suddenly disappeared, was related to him on his mother's side, so she was a relative. Furthermore, what made him more wary was the question: what kind of god could take away such a big piece of meat from him so quietly? He had suffered a great and confusing loss.

In March, the palace treasury was going to reopen its doors. In previous years, it was always a small portion for the Cui family or Ming family, but everyone knew that the Cui family had fallen and the Eldest Princess had handed jurisdiction of the palace treasury to Commissioner Fan of the Overwatch Council. Thus, Xia Qifei decided to try and see if he could, in the new circumstances, strike while the opponent was weak and openly take back what once belonged to him.

But, the palace treasury business was too large, so it would take at least 100,000 silver to get it started. In March, even if he just wanted to enter the door of the god of wealth for some tea, the amount of money he would have to bring would scare people to death.

The already fallen Cui family and the still prosperous Ming family had this power, but Xia Qifei did not. Even though he controlled the largest gang on the waterways, the money in his hands, when compared to the Ming family, was like that of a beggar's. Thus he was anxiously scraping coin from everywhere and even secretly ordered Guan Wumei to restart the bandit business.

He wouldn't even let go of a small sum of silver; it was clear that he was close to going crazy. It was like the saying, "the getting of one penny daunted the hero." The first problem the heroes of jianghu who wanted to learn how to do business ran into was money.

At such a crucial moment, Xia Qifei was very careful and did not lose his cool. He wondered if the incident that happened near the Yingzhou shore was targeted at him.

When the incident occurred, he had been in Shazhou encouraging a Jiangnan navy garrison Xu Shoushan to drink. The rumors on the jianghu were always a bit exaggerated. The highest level of the navy he could contact at the moment was at the garrison level.

After Sir Xu heard what happened, he remained silent and allowed Xia Qifei to search for that ship. But he still gave the water bandit people a warning: everything must be cleared up before March began, when the commissioner would arrive in Jiangnan from Danzhou. After everything is sorted, make sure everything is clean and the smell of blood does not linger around you.

They couldn't help feeling confused when dozens of Jiangnan water bandits' ships searched the river a long time but did not find an easily identified ship. Xia Qifei listened to his subordinate's report and narrowed his eyes coldly. "Seems like those people haven't come down …that chest is not easy to move off the ship. They should still be near Yangzhou. Have you checked?"

That man wearing a white cloth around his head to protect it against the wind on the river was embarrassed,

"We calculated the time and with two days, the ship should have reached the area around Shazhou …who would have thought the opposition was too lazy to move?"

Xia Qifei was unbelievably angry and almost kicked him. He scolded, "Are you a pig?" He paused and then said darkly, "Search upstream. I want to see them if they're alive and their bodies if they're dead. I don't care what it costs, tow that ship back to me!"

The man took his orders and left; he didn't notice that the master's words revealed that his confidence was falling.

Xia Qifei sat next to the window and couldn't calm his anger for very long. This half a year of his life was the most important half a year; he would definitely not allow anyone or anything to interfere. Otherwise, the revenge he had been planning for a long time would have to be planned again.

He swallowed the bowl of cold tea in one gulp, but it made him even warmer. His eyes revealed an unreasonably angry spirit. He walked to the middle hall to wait for his brothers' good news. He undid the buttons on his chest and revealed the lines of scars on his yellow flesh. However, these scars were strange. They were in neat and tidy rows. They didn't look like they were from knife and axe wounds during combat on the jianghu, rather they were like whip scars after being captured.

…

…

At noon, a large ship slowly sailed away from the busy and flourishing Yangzhou pier and headed downstream.

At the same time, dozens of Jiangnan bandit ships aggressively sailed upstream against the current. Braving the dangers of traveling by night, they searched for a trace of their enemies.

The heavens did not purposely make time for hide and seek. Before the sun had completely sank behind the mountains, the two parties finally met on the calmest section of the Yangtze River, the Jingbo Crescent.

Dozens of boats swiftly caught up. The water bandits' natural ability to steer a boat was demonstrated efficiently. With just a few changes, they had surrounded the big ship.

The ships of the Jiangnan water bandits' carefully surrounded the ship from Jingdou. The trimaran that was the leader edged closer to the big ship. The big ship already had stopped, appearing to have given up resistance.

The head water bandit on the trimaran yelled toward the big ship, "People on the ship, listen up. You are surrounded. Immediately put down the weapons in your hands and accept a search."

The big ship remained absolutely silent.

The head water bandit hesitated slightly before he made a hand gesture and six boats edged closer at the same time. They stretched out long bamboo poles and hooked them on to the sideboard of the big ship with some difficulty. They unsheathed the short knives they carried and prepared to forcefully board the ship.

It was at this moment that the big ship suddenly moved.

This move was one of full acceleration and at a speed that left the water bandits staring and tongue-tied. The big ship charged toward the outside of the surrounding boats and, in a split second, the massive momentum of the big ship tore apart the bamboo poles and hooks that had just landed on the sideboard. A dozen water bandits who had been climbing up fell tragically into the water. The big ship stirred up countless waves, creating chaos on the surface of the river.

The large bandit ship directly blocking the big ship crashed into the ship from Jingdou without any fanfare—and then without fanfare—turned around, snapped at the waist, and gracefully slid away.

Of course, this elegant move was accompanied by the splitting of the deck and surprised cries of the sailors.

…

…

Leaving white waves in its wake, the boat from Jingdou quickly headed downstream. They left on this mirror-like section of the river countless pieces of wooden debris and water bandits floating on the surface.

The head water bandit grabbed the edge of a boat and steadied himself in the big waves. He stared with shock at the tail of the big ship and felt a strange shock in his heart. This ship…was too solid. And how did the sailor manage to get the ship from an absolute standstill to such a speed? It seemed like they were even better than me!

The sailors on the ship from Jingdou were all teachers of the Quanzhou sailors who had been split up. They spent many years studying the art of water battles, so naturally their command of a big ship during a water battle was much higher than these Jiangnan water bandits, who were like ants trying to swallow an elephant.

However, sailing on the river ran the risk of there being reefs under the water, and so they did not dare sail rashly straight ahead. Thus, the ship did not have full sails or a speed advantage when compared to the trimarans the sailors' used. The Jingdou ship had only broken through one line of defense when at least ten boats began to tail them.

At this moment half the river was blue and the other half red. The ship from Jingdou was in front while the boats of the Jiangnan bandits were behind. They sped downstream and drew countless light scars on the surface of the water, churning up the yellow water of the river fiercely. It looked like a wonderful picture of a battle of a hundred ships.

"Use the throwing hooks!"

Seeing that the ship from Jingdou was aggressive and made of some strange, tough material, the head of the Jiangnan water bandits began to yell loudly and, at the same time, made a few hand signals. Although the wind was very powerful on the river and immediately blew the words from his mouth to the ends of the earth, the water bandits around the big ship saw the hand gestures and retrieved a pile of rope. They began to toss it at the big ship.

A dozen ropes flew through the sky and drew beautiful arcs before landing accurately on the deck of the big ship. The hands of the water bandits were well-practiced; it was clear they were used to this kind of work. Following that, the sailors tightened their hands as the rope with the hook caught firmly onto the boards of the ship. At this moment, the two parties traveled at a similar speed, and the rope was not as rigid as the bamboo poles. The water bandits did not worry anymore and began to climb along the rope toward the big ship with great agility.

…

…

When they again reached half way, a pitiful half way, a dozen windows opened along the side of the big ship. From each window extended a long axe that chopped viciously at the people on the rope—only the whistling of the axes and the tragic screaming could be heard. Blood scattered on the four winds of the river and lost limbs fell into the waves. In just a moment, the water bandits had suffered great casualties.

A few nocked arrows aimed coldly at the surrounding ships. Although they didn't fire, their intent to shock sufficed. They seemed to be saying, "if anyone else dares to come near, they will be killed without question."

In the back, the head of the water bandits stared with shocked eyes and was strangely exposed. He felt a chill in his heart. He had spent many years eking out a living on the river and had experienced countless attacks, so of course he knew that the longbow, spear, and axe were the standard accessories for court sailors.

"Is this some conspiracy?"

…

…

The ship only had its sails down and moved at an extraordinary pace. They were about to leave the Jingbo Crescent and arrive at the waters of Shazhou.

The head water bandit stared viciously at the still trapped ship. He knew that although the other party had been unexpected, prepared, and powerful, as long as they remained on the river, his people—who had grown up on the riverside—would find a way to sink them to the bottom. After all, even elephants are afraid of ants. What he needed was time.

As if hearing his demands, four big ships suddenly appeared ahead on the river. They were lined up across the river and perfectly blocked the passage going downstream. The four ships each had three floors and were extremely big. The shadows they cast on the river stretched out enormously and appeared to be very mighty.

The head water bandit squinted as he gazed at them and discovered they were the ships of the sailors who had been secretly cooperating with him these past few years. He couldn't help but be overjoyed, and yelled, "Brothers have come to help; there's no need to be anxious!"

The ship from Jingdou continued to silently rush downstream. It was as if the four ships of the Shazhou sailors did not exist, and they also seemed tragically suicidal.

…

…

Seeing the scene before him at dusk, the head of the Jiangnan water bandits was stunned and sat down on the ground.

Just as the ship from Jingdou was about to be caught between the front and back and sink into a dangerous situation, the four military boats of the Sha Lake sailors downstream moved aside as if it they had planned it beforehand. They made way for the ship from Jingdou and allowed the ship to leisurely and smoothly flow downstream with the water.

What was happening?

The head water bandit couldn't believe his eyes, but a scrap of intelligence in his mind told him that the ship he and his crew had been chasing for a while—and the four giant ships with the sailors—really did look similar.

There was no more time to think. The four ships were like four giant beasts lined up in front of the water bandits' boats with a strong sense of domination.

The head water bandit recognized the official that stood on the lead ship. It was Master Xia's acquaintance, sailor of the Sha lake garrison, Sir Xu Shoushang.

Xu Shoushang stood coldly on the leading ship. It seemed that his clothing had been put on in a rush; the belt was not properly buckled, and it looked funny. He gazed down at the "familiar face," and furrowed his brows. He used his gaze to show that the other party should quickly surrender but didn't wait to see if they understood or not before speaking in a mighty voice.

"People on the boat, listen closely. You have been surrounded. Immediately put down the weapons in your hands and accept a search."

...

...

Shazhou was at the entrance to Sha Lake. The waters had dashed against each other for millennia and left countless acres of fertile soil. Adding to the fact that the common people worked hard to cultivate the soil, the city had long been a famous grain production site near the Yangtze River. With the withdrawal of sailors from Quanzhou a dozen years ago, Sha Lake became the Qing Kingdom's largest base for sailors after they accepted a portion of the sailors. Tens of thousands of sailors and navy officials' day-to-day lives depended on this city at the throat of Jiangnan.

The sweat stained sailors of the navy brought the people of Shazhou endless headaches, the local girls endless dangers, and the law and order countless problems. However, at the same time, they brought to Shazhou endless amounts of silver and business opportunities. The government salaries the court gave these single men each year were mostly spent at the brothels, gambling dens, and restaurants. Thus, Shazhou's entertainment industry, or more accurately the third sector of the economy, was very developed. There were all kinds of restaurants, the west side was full of beautiful women, and the dice rolled from dawn until dusk in the east side—it was unbelievably lively.

Today, a few people walked out of Shazhou's most famous inn. This combination of people was rather strange: there was a young master, a girl, a scholar, a child, and following behind them were a few respectful looking guards. The group of people immediately rented a large carriage and drove directly toward the south of the city.

This group of people was naturally Fan Xian, Sisi, the Third Prince, Shi Chanli, and the normal looking Tiger Guards. They had stopped in Yangzhou for a night, decided their next steps, and had the local Fourth Bureau people move the Sha Lake sailors; as to what procedures were used, it was better not to know. They expected that the military would protect the people of the Overwatch Council at all costs. It seemed that Fan Xian was not going to continue hiding his identity, which confused Su Wenmao, who had remained on the ship.

Fan Xian let the big ship deal with the water bandits on the Yangtze River while he took his people and disembarked ahead of time at night in Yanzhou. They took a carriage and comfortably followed the public road to Shazhou—they did it in secret and no one noticed anything.

The atmosphere in the south of Shazhou was tense. There were people of all kinds mixing and mingling here. Everyone knew that the big boss of the waterways, the Jiangnan water bandit Master Xia, was currently doing something, although they didn't know the details. But, from the endless flow of head water bandits that came and left that little yard, they knew this matter had run into some trouble.

The little yard didn't look like much, but everyone knew that it was the Shazhou branch of the Jiangnan water bandits' 72 connected docks.

Thus, when Fan Xian's carriage came within a few dozen feet of this little yard, it had been noticed by someone much earlier. Particularly the spies that the water bandits had scattered in the street. They were all staring hard as if they wanted to determine the intentions of these people. In the dim light of dusk, no one noticed that the swordsmen of the Sixth Bureau, who looked so ordinary, already had taken up the best positions on this street.

As the carriage came nearer and nearer to that branch, gradually more people came closer and watched the car, intentionally or otherwise. The atmosphere was a bit tense. The people in the carriage seemed to not have sensed anything and drove directly to the gates of the yard before stopping. A scholar lifted the curtain to descend from the carriage and walk up the stone steps. With a calm expression, he respectfully greeted the thugs by the door and said a few words.

In a moment, a man who appeared to be an advisor with small eyes and down-sloping eyebrows came out of the branch. Wearing a cautious expression, he looked at them and asked with narrowed eyes, "Who are you people? Why do you want to see Master Xia?"

The scholar was Shi Chanli, and he had never spent time on the so-called jianghu. Seeing the advisor's expression, and the thugs that had come up around him who were clearly wearing weapons, the scholar truly felt panic in his heart. He silently cursed his teacher for being so unreasonable as to make him do this kind of thing, but he pressed on nervously and said, "We come from Jingdou and would like to see Master Xia. We have important business to discuss."

The advisor of the branch looked at him disdainfully and was not impressed by the other's state. He took a sideways glance at the carriage and said, "You, or someone in the carriage? If it is someone in the carriage, why do they not come out? Such secretive behavior is not the way of a guest."

…

…

The three people in the carriage were not listening to what was being said outside. Fan Xian had thrown Shi Chanli out there because he had the idea to train his student's spirit. At this moment, he was focused on speaking to the Third Prince. He said warmly, "Your Highness, the people we have seen along the way from Yangzhou to Shazhou are all very different from the people in Jingdou. Please remember this well."

Traveling through the night, Fan Xian purposely had the Third Prince come into contact with the common people along their way to have him see the truest form of common life. No matter if it was an old man carrying firewood or the lady selling cold tea in a stall, he would purposely stop and exchange a few words.

As to teaching a prince, Fan Xian had no experience and no methodology. He could only feel his way slowly and try to see whether or not this method worked.

Shi Chanli seemed to have smelled something strange about Fan Xian's plan and couldn't help worrying for his teacher. The Third Prince accepted it all calmly and remained silent with a maturity that was beyond his years. He also didn't talk carelessly.

"The commoners live a hard life," the Third Prince replied respectfully. "Although the tax in the Qing Kingdom is not high, the commoners continue to live a difficult life. However, the people we have seen along the way often appear content and happy, thus we know that the commoners' demands are not high at all. The most important thing for the court is to first satisfy the people's basic need for food and clothing."

Fan Xian was purely like a blind man leading the way. What did he know about how to govern the world? He nodded non-committedly and said, "The commoners are easily placated, and yet everything the palace and courts need, and government salaries, all come from the people. In the future, when Your Highness helps the Crown Prince to govern the world, you must remember to take with moderation. As long as you don't exceed limits, there is no harm done."

The Third Prince looked at Fan Xian and smiled innocently. "Teacher, the people of Yangzhou are far more ferocious than those of Shazhou. Over there, the people's faces are full of resentment, probably because the court has taken too much."

On the ship, this young Third Prince had asked with great intimacy to call Fan Xian teacher, rather than Sir Siye, purposely drawing Fan Xian closer. Fan Xian had tried to stop him a few times to no effect and let him have his way. Hearing these words right now, he instinctively thought of the Zhizhou of Yangzhou that he had shadily killed and did not want to continue this conversation. He changed the topic and asked, "As to …the Jiangnan water bandits, does Your Highness have any thoughts?"

"Teacher has said that even xia use force to violate rules, and the so-called water bandits are more so like that. They are nothing more than a water-based underworld, the gangsters of the river. They murder for money and use force to accumulate wealth; they do not have the chivalry of the xia that teacher has talked about." A flash of hatred flickered across the Third Prince's delicate face. "In my opinion, the army should be called to capture them all once and for all. The leaders should be beheaded, and their followers banished to the northern frontier."

Fan Xian paused and said, "We've said before that folks' customs are formed through geographical and living environments. If you clear them all out like a wild fire, perhaps you will be able to remove all the weeds for a moment. However, if you don't start with the people and they cannot survive, they will still fall into banditry, and it will be a like a spring wind that revives the weeds. Such a cycle. When will it end?"

The Third Prince thought for a while and then shook his head. "Teacher is wrong. Of course the court has to severely punish these rebels. You've said before the Jiangnan water bandits must have ties with the sailors of Sha Lake to be able to survive. If these rebels are allowed to secretly destroy the discipline of the court, how will we put things in order in the future?"

He continued coldly, "To placate the people and have them lead good lives is a certainty in a world without thievery. We cannot be soft-hearted toward those thieves who dare to poke their heads out. Those who should be killed must be killed!"

Fan Xian gave him a faint smile as he looked at the Third Prince. He discovered that this child was indeed much more direct than him but was still some distance from him in terms of hiding his intentions. To bravely contradict him to his face was probably to demonstrate his frankness and sincerity, and using the word "suppress" to deal with the water bandits was to show him that he was decisive and honest. To make Fan Xian feel his sincerity—Fan Xian wanted to use the Jiangnan trip to purposely influence and change the Third Prince. Of course, the Third Prince would want to influence him too, although the kid did not do it smoothly. He had to acknowledge that such scheming at a young age was impressive.

"Then why did Your Highness not object…my visit to the Jiangnan branch of the water bandits?"

"Teacher has his clever plans, and they are not something I could guess," The Third Prince chuckled, recovering his calm.

Fan Xian's eyebrows twitched. He knew that the Third Prince did not know the details, but he should be able to guess his general intentions. He laughed at himself and thought that he was indeed a hypocritical man. At this moment, the conversation outside the carriage had been going on for some time. Not knowing what Shi Chanli said, although the advisor's expression finally became a bit panicked, the thugs that surrounded the carriage edged in even closer.

The curtain of the carriage lifted and Fan Xian stepped down first. He looked around at the scene by the dusky light and seemed not to care about the water bandits that were coming closer.

Then he turned around and led the Third Prince and Sisi down.

The Third Prince stood beside him and smoothed out his clothing. He looked with great interest at the thugs around them and asked quietly.

"Teacher, are these the so-called jianghu people?"

Fan Xian replied, "I guess so."

The Third Prince was a little excited, but did not feel any fear. After all, he was a prince. What did he know of the dangerous jianghu? As he was beside Commissioner Fan, there was even less concern for his safety. Ever since the Hanging Temple incidence, the Third Prince had decided that if Commissioner Fan was there, then no one could harm him. Furthermore, all the people in the world knew of Fan Xian's past…the royal family was ruthless, but the Third Prince thought that Fan Xian was an exception to this rule.

Fan Xian turned his face to glance at him and asked curiously, "Young master, why are you not afraid at all?"

The Third Prince laughed out loud and said, "Teacher is here, what is there to be afraid of?"

In everyone's hearts, Fan Xian was still that martial legend that could stand shoulder to shoulder with Haitang of Northern Qi; no one knew his true situation. It was uncertain why Fan Xian would dare to enter so deep into the tiger's den without consideration for his own safety.

The conversation between the two of them landed in the ears of the Jiangnan water bandits and explained the other person's identity. That child was probably a son of a big family, and Fan Xian, this beautiful scholar, was a private tutor. Only, he seemed to be a little young.

"Young master, let's go in."

Without paying attention to the alert and nervous gazes of those around him, Fan Xian was calm and unruffled. With one hand he held the hand of the young child, and the other held the girl's hand, and they walked toward they gate of the yard.

Shi Chanli lowered his head with shame as he caught up to them. He had completely failed the test this time. Teacher had instructed him not to reveal his identity, but he also wanted to walk through the door openly and honorably. The scholar really didn't know what to do.

The expression on the advisor's face flickered without stopping. Looking at the combination of people of the party, he guessed that the other party was the enemy Master Xia had been desperately searching for. But …how did they have the guts to come to their door? When did they get off that ship?

At this moment, countless Jiangnan bandit brothers and subordinates were working hard to find traces of Fan Xian and the other on the river as they engaged in a deathly battle with that big ship. Who would have guessed that the enemy they were searching for would come to Shazhou and so arrogantly arrive before the door of the brank and burst right in?

"Take them down!" The advisor's face was green one moment and white the next. He seemed to have never met such arrogant enemies. He felt a bit panicked in his heart, but all bullheaded people, other than idiots, had something to rely on. However, Master Xia was in the yard. If he dealt with this himself, it might cause big problems.

With this shout, the thugs all pulled out short knives and charged toward Fan Xian and his group, roaring.

…

…

Fan Xian felt his right hand being slightly squeezed and turned his head to look. He saw that the Third Prince had maintained his innocent smile, but his palms had unconsciously tightened. He was probably still a little scared despite his acting.

"Confidence." Even at such a crucial moment, Fan Xian did not forget to explain. "People of the royal family must have the confidence to suppress all emotions."

Dundundundun, it was like that song had absurdly begun. The Jiangnan water bandits of Shazhou also saw an absurd scene. They watched as countless small knives flew up from the yard gate, like it was raining, mysteriously leaving the control of their hands.

Following that were numerous muffled sounds, but any thugs who blocked Fan Xian's way were all set flying.

…

…

Gao Da led six Tiger Guards in like a gust of wind to stand beside Fan Xian and the other three. He silently pulled out the long knife from behind his back, appearing very imposing, and stunned some of the thugs back. He was easily dispelling those who would block his way.

Fan Xian continued to lead the two people calmly toward the garden. Accompanied by the tragic cries and flashing swords, his steps remained steady.

"Even faced with 10,000 people, I will continue forward," he explained to the Third Prince beside him. "The court doesn't need to deal with the jianghu people. We only need to assign tasks to them, so before you meet don't discuss anything."

The Third Prince nodded. His eyes skipped around the fights beside him, and he thought that this kind of feeling was very nice. He was excited, and his palms began to sweat.

"Why are these…jianghu people's martial arts not that good?" The Third Prince was slightly confused by the reality before him.

At this moment, some of the Jiangnan water bandits were lying on the ground and hadn't gotten up in a while. Those who could still stand now stared at Fan Xian and his group with fear in their eyes, particularly when they saw the silent long knife wielders, and were stunned into silence. The advisor was soaked in cold seat as his eyes stared at those hands that held the swords firmly. In his heart he cried: When did these masters suddenly appear on the jianghu? And they were only guards for someone.

…

…

At this moment, the group had reached the bottom of the stairs. Fan Xian stopped hist stride and said to the Third Prince, "What is the purpose of learning to fight? It is the same as studying, it is for power, advantage, and fame. Whatever the jianghu can give fighters, the temple can give them more. That is why all the truly famous scholars are all officials of the court, and the truly outstanding fighters all fight for the court. The young master should not be fooled by those words. The jianghu is a poor place, how could a futureless job such as collecting protection money attract true masters …?"

Right before the room of the main hall, the head boss of the Jiangnan water bandits, Xia Qifei, finally came out. He stared coldly at the approaching people and said, "Everyone back down; stop being so embarrassing. I'll meet these respected guests from Jingdou."

At this moment, his expression was calm, but his heart was completely stunned. He had long guessed that the other party was from that ship from Jingdou. How could he have guessed that they wouldn't avoid him and instead tyrannically find their way to him?

Without waiting for him to extend an invitation, Fan Xian and his group naturally entered the middle hall as if they had returned home.

Fan Xian invited the Third Prince to sit in the host's seat and then sat himself down grandly at the side. Sisi and She Chanli quietly stood behind him, and the seven Tiger Guards spread out across the middle hall with their hands on the handles of their knives.

Seeing the actions of the other party, Xia Qifei almost blew up in anger. Was this still his territory or not? He forcefully suppressed his anger and respectfully bowed to Fan Xian. "Greetings, Sir…only, there are exceptional people in the wilderness of the jianghu, perhaps your words earlier were a bit unjust."

At this moment, if he hadn't figured out that Fan Xian was a powerful person from Jingdou, then he truly was stupid, thus he must suppress his anger. Within the realm of the Qing Kingdom, the court's terrifying existence was as strong as a plank of metal. Any party who set themselves against the power of the government would always disappear tragically without a trace in the end.

"Xia Qifei?" Fan Xian looked at this dark and ruthless person in front of him and checked his identity before smiling warmly and saying, "For now, I don't want people to know I am a guest in your manor. Many people saw earlier, go deal with that. This will be slightly difficult. Consider it the first test."