Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 30: Growth

The storeman compliantly handed over the accounts. He did not expect Zhao Changhe to know how to read the accounts ledger and even intended to give him an explanation, but to his surprise, Zhao Changhe could, in fact, read it.

“Fucking hell. There’s so few things left because that guy took away a few hundred taels of silver, three carts of grain, and even the fucking pheasant meat that Luo Qi brought back!” Zhao Changhe’s hands trembled as he held the ledger. He said furiously, “That Fang asshole doesn’t do jack shit, but his appetite isn’t small. He even had the nerve to say he was searching for the treasure. He sure was fucking searching, alright!”

Well, the meat was actually hunted by everyone in their many small groups, not just Luo Qi... The storeman did not dare utter a word, however, regardless of his thoughts.

“He’s the branch master. Our mountain stronghold is still under his command. If he wants to take it, we can’t do anything about it,” another bandit by the side said helplessly. “Boss, what’re we gonna do now? It’s already difficult to find game around here, and there’s still some time before spring comes... Are we...”

The bandit made a slicing motion with his hands. “When Luo Qi went to loot the Zhang Village, she was stopped by Yue Hongling and couldn’t come back with anything... Should we go again?”

This was the same bandit that previously reported to Zhao Changhe that Luo Qi’s group had bumped into Yue Hongling. He was called Wang Dashan. His name was antithetical to Zhao Changhe’s. It was the first time Zhao Changhe felt his name to be really crude[1].

This Wang Dashan was a loafer from one of the neighboring cities or towns that had come to seek shelter with the bandits. He was not a good person...but then again, there were no good people in the mountain stronghold. For his merit of informing Zhao Changhe of that incident, he had now been promoted to vice stronghold master.

Looking at Wang Dashan’s eager appearance, Zhao Changhe rubbed his pained head.

These bandits are really dumb...

“The great Xia might be experiencing great turmoil, but it hasn’t fallen yet! The Zhang Village narrowly escaped death. Do you think they aren’t afraid we’ll return? They’ve obviously already reported us to the authorities. There is a high chance that there are imperial troops keeping an eye on it right now. If the head administrator in this area is not a complete idiot, he probably prepared some troops and he’s waiting for us... And you still wish to go? What layer of the Profound Gate have you reached?”

Wang Dashan: “...”

Zhao Changhe had a splitting headache. And here I hoped you guys were like Luo Qi, people at the fourth or fifth layer of the Profound Gate pretending to be weak. Not even one of you has learned the goddamn Returning Slash. If I had to rely on you, useless lot, that’d really be courting disaster.

Branch Master Fang was stationed in the city to handle official matters. At the very least, he needed to be able to report to the stronghold at the slightest sign of trouble. Unfortunately, it was already pretty good that this branch master did not give Zhao Changhe any extra headaches. He could not be counted on.

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Fortunately, at least, the city was small and out of the way. There were not many imperial troops there. At most there were a few city guards and bailiffs. In this cold and freezing weather, there was no chance that they would enter the mountain range to look for bandits, and even if they came, it would not be a problem. However, if Zhao Changhe went wandering outside, then things could easily go awry.

Zhao Changhe remained silent for a good while and finally said, “Whatever’s left in the stronghold won’t even be enough to feed us for a week. We’re in deep shit and there’s nothing we can do about it. If the branch master wanted to transfer money and grains to the city, this is not how he should have done it. He didn’t even talk to us about it. He’s clearly doing this on purpose to stir up problems and make things hard for us. How fucking low.”

Wang Dashan asked curiously, “How could he dare to? Boss, you’re the saintess’...”

“Heh...” Zhao Changhe chuckled bitterly. On paper, he indeed had his so-called backer. However, in reality, anyone bright could see that he did not have one...

Everyone present heard Venerable Vermillion Bird say that the saintess could not have any thoughts about men. If Luo Qi was to properly become one, she would not even be able to express friendship. If she helped out too much, it would be difficult to avoid others thinking that she could not let go of her old feelings. If that happened, there was the possibility that Zhao Changhe would be killed off by the Four Idols Cult. A demonic cult, at the end of the day, is a demonic cult. No one’s going to talk it out with me.

Of course, Fang Buping is also stupid for doing this. Even though Luo Qi can’t give me any assistance, who says she can’t give him trouble in the future? Just what is he thinking? Has he been blinded by envy?

“It doesn’t matter what he’s thinking.” Zhao Changhe said unhurriedly. “I only believe in raising a single fist to avoid the coming of a hundred fists. Gather a few people to enter the city with me. After we get some money, we’ll go shopping in the city.”

Wang Dashan was stupefied. “Enter—enter the city? How are we going to get the money?”

“Branch Master Fang is stationed there. Isn’t he loaded?” Zhao Changhe strode down the mountain. “Whatever he has taken from us, we’ll just have to get him to spit it back! Let’s go.”

Wang Dashan: “???”

...

If Zhao Changhe wanted to enter the city, he first needed to handle the problem of the wanted posters.

Right now, he had not learnt any movement arts that would allow him to maneuver high up in the air. The complementary footwork technique for the Vicious Blood Art was mainly for offense, and the burst of strength that it could bring about could also double as something to help with escaping. At most, it could let Zhao Changhe jump a little higher. But if he wanted to jump over city walls, it would be very difficult.

If one lacked movement arts in a fantasy wuxia world, they lacked even the most basic requirements to be able to live unrestrained. This was a pain in the ass, but there was nothing Zhao Changhe could do about it, because watching Instructor Sun use movement arts was like watching a fish climbing a tree. At the end of the day, the man only practiced external arts.

However, Zhao Changhe was seeing some results after cultivating Xia Longyuan’s internal art for the past few days. He was now really practicing both internal and external arts. After Zhao Changhe developed his internal force, he would naturally be able to make his body lighter. Let’s see if I can figure out how to do it myself then. That should be considerably easier than finding an actual movement art.

He approached the city gates nervously. From far away, he saw a wanted poster and laughed.

First Seat Tang’s skill in painting was really impressive. She managed to capture Zhao Changhe’s likeness to an incredible degree of similarity, it was basically like staring at a photograph. Even the scar, which had not formed at the time, was drawn and aligned exactly with the scar on his face.

The problem was that, at that time, Zhao Changhe was still a university student who shaved everyday. Now, he had a beard that merged with his sideburns; his hair had been short, but now it was long and extremely messy, like Brother Sharp[2].

Back then, Zhao Changhe still had the air of a scholar about him, but that air had since been replaced by the aura of a proper bandit. He had become firm and imposing; he spoke loudly and constantly uttered profanities; his entire temperament had changed greatly.

Zhao Changhe suddenly thought that if we were to stand in front of his classmates, none of them would dare to say they recognised him. It was hard to blame Yue Hongling for being so adorably flabbergasted when she saw him again.

With his current appearance, even if he strutted into the city, the guards would not be able to recognise him... Moreover, how could there be any loyal guards here that would actually seriously watch over the city gates? All of them were lazy and were probably just taking advantage of the fact that there was no snow today to bask in the sun. If anyone wanted to enter, a small toll tax would be collected before they were let in. The guards did not carefully examine their faces.

In other words, things were not quite as bad as Zhao Changhe had constantly imagined. With that in mind, his mood lightened up and he strode into the city.

The guard, as expected, did not even bat him an eye, lazily blocked his path, and held up a hand. He could not even be bothered to speak.

Zhao Changhe handed him a few coppers and the guard gestured for him to enter. He walked in without any problems.

“So these are the imperial troops? The wanted poster is right in front of them, but they’re too lazy to take a look.” Wang Dashan sneered quietly. “This imperial court is about to run its course.”

Zhao Changhe cast him a sidelong glance and did not comment. Even though he did not want to recognise a stranger as his father, he knew that if he did accept the emperor as his father, he could really be a prince.

Strangely, with that thought, something changed in his heart.

He suddenly felt that he had some connection to this empire.

If these were times of prosperity, being a fake prince wouldn’t be so bad... Alas. It’s unfortunate that with the world as it is, I’ll probably become someone’s tool at best and a scapegoat at worst. Might as well forget about it.

He strode toward where Fang Buping resided. He stayed in a large mansion that occupied a few fields’ worth of land. It was richly ornamented and not at all low-profile. A few dozen Blood God Cult disciples stayed there, and they even had a bunch of servant girls and maids.

The emperor’s authority reaches not faraway places. As a branch master, Fang Buping definitely attached the most importance to enjoying the pleasures of life. Who would bother putting up with the cold at the stronghold... Zhao Changhe had been at the stronghold for over a month, but other than his first day there, he had not seen any trace of Fang Buping. From this, one could know why the search for the treasure at Beimang had been so inefficient.

Zhao Changhe approached the entrance. There were two disciples acting as guards. When they saw him come over, their eyes widened. “Zhao—uh, Stronghold Master Zhao, what business do you have here? Wait, how come you dared to enter the city...”

“Tsk. As expected, you brothers in the city speak in a more refined manner. You’re different from us mountain people.”

“...As members of the cult, we must naturally read the scriptures.”

“Men of culture. I admire you people.” Zhao Changhe smiled. “It looks like I’ll need to borrow a few books from Branch Master Fang... Yes. I’ve mainly come today to visit Branch Master Fang. How are his injuries?”

The disciples could not think of a reason to block Zhao Changhe from entering. They could not bring up his qualifications, since he had already become a formal member of the cult, and so could only bring him in. “The Branch Master was gravely injured. He’s currently recuperating and will definitely be happy to know that you’ve come to visit.”

Zhao Changhe asked without batting an eyelid. “Has he seen a doctor?”

“Of course he has. The cult has its own sage doctors.”

“In that case, the branch master should recover soon, shouldn’t he? The world is in a mess right now. Without the Branch Master overseeing things, everyone is dispirited...”

“Right now he still can’t get out of bed. The doctor said even with two to three months of rest, he won’t be able to make any big recovery. In three months, it will be good if he can even get back half of his original strength... In any case, let’s hope that he’ll recover faster when spring comes.”

“Hmm...the elites of the cult have all left. With the Branch Master this injured, does the branch have enough guards? Do you want me to send a few of my brothers here?”

“Even though we don’t have any masters present. We are not lacking people who have reached the first and second layers of the Profound Gate. What need do we have for masters in this remote city? What we have right now is enough.”

Zhao Changhe laughed and followed him unhurriedly into the building, feeling that he had indeed become shrewder.

His reason for seeking out Fang Buping was not necessarily to start a fight. Understanding the current situation was more important. Whether it was Fang Buping’s present condition or the strength of the branch in the city, he needed to take all of it into account in order to hatch a good plan.

However, Wang Dashan and the others thought that the Stronghold Master came to the city acting on his anger, like how he beat Zhang Quan to death.

Sometimes, being perceived as impulsively violent was good for one’s image.

I learnt that from a beautiful woman who never told the truth to me... Perhaps I have indeed grown up a little.

1. Wang Dashan’s name is 王大山. Dashan (大山) means “big mountain,” while Changhe (长河) means “long river.” ☜

2. Chen Gourong, a homeless man from Ningbo, Zhejiang, whose wild handsomeness made him an internet meme. ☜