knife

Chapter 24 Rules are rules
Ever since this fat guy Li Kaixin appeared, Li Dachui seems to have become a completely different person.

Back when he was still the bandit Li Dachui, he was authoritative in his command, ruthless in his actions, looked down on all living beings, and regarded human life as worthless.

Now he's become Young Master Li Dachui, and no matter how you look at him, he's a spoiled, willful playboy, much like the people I've seen in Chang'an.

Two completely different personalities were transformed so naturally and smoothly in this person, without the slightest hint of awkwardness.

This person is a master actor. Zhang Qingyun, you'd better be careful in the future!
Zhang Qingyun silently reminded herself.

You should mentally debunk 70% of every word Li Dachui says before considering its content.

The thought of having to make a living under such a person in the future filled me with some worry.

What good is it if you're well-read?
So what if you come up with all sorts of clever schemes?

Can one withstand a knife in the hand of a barbarian?

I'd rather be a centurion than a scholar!

Since the incident, Zhang Qingyun has had a deeper understanding of these two sentences.

The person who wrote this famous quote must have gone through something to have such feelings.

Father said that the Qin Dynasty has existed for hundreds of years, but now it is barely clinging to life, and one wrong move could lead to the downfall of the empire.

In the struggle for supremacy, heroes inevitably emerge.

But when a hero rises up with his sword, it will bring another ten years of calamity to the common people, or perhaps much more than ten years.

Hundreds of years ago, the Great Yong lost its capital, and the country was in chaos for sixty years.

If you carefully study historical records, you can see the horrific events of those turbulent times from those seemingly mundane and simple sentences.

If I had a sword in my hand, I would slay all the heroes under heaven!
This is something my father once said to me.

Would the world be better off if all the heroes were killed?
These were the questions I asked my father back then.
The father remained silent and did not answer.

And now, it seems that there are signs of heroes emerging.

Within the Great Wall, uprisings and rebellions broke out one after another, only to be suppressed and then resurface, continuing year after year.

Outside the Great Wall, Linghu Ye was already considered a powerful warlord, commanding an army of 100,000 and controlling a vast territory. He was too powerful to be controlled, and the imperial court had no choice but to appease him.

Xiao Changche, though a subordinate of Linghu Ye, maintained a certain degree of independence despite his arrogant demeanor outside the pass.

There's also Tiele, the young master of the Northern Yuan, whom even Li Dachui praised highly.

By the way, what about this Li Dachui in front of us?

Zhang Qingyun glanced at the other person.

Hmph, what kind of hero is he? Just a bandit.

Li Dachui was very perceptive; as soon as Zhang Qingyun glanced at him, he immediately looked over.

Zhang Qingyun immediately turned her head and looked out the window. Amidst the desolation and ruin, a road stretched out into the distance, seemingly endless.

However, the road conditions are much better than before; at least, there are no more sudden, jolting bumps.

“There were no roads on the ground originally, but as more people walked on them, roads were formed!” Li Dachui muttered to himself. “We are already very close to Tai’an City. As more people walk on them, the roads will naturally become better. If we go a few dozen miles further, we will enter the territory under the jurisdiction of Tai’an City. Only then can we call the roads roads.”

Zhang Qingyun closed her eyes; right now, she didn't want to pay any attention to this person.

After noon, when they set off again, there were noticeably more people on the road. Some walked, some rode horses, some were imposing, some were sickly, some were warriors with swords, some were merchants carrying loads, some were farmers pushing carts, and all sorts of people appeared before Zhang Qingyun.

This made her heart leap with joy; after so many days since she came out of seclusion, she had finally seen the normal world.

However, this group of people was clearly not normal.

Wherever their convoy went, everyone in front of them immediately moved to the side of the road to make way for them, as if they dared not walk in front of them. When they passed by these people, many even bowed and paid their respects.

Sometimes, large caravans that were resting by the roadside would stand up when they saw this group of carriages. Zhang Qingyun even saw the person in charge walking over to greet them, but the fat man Li Kaixin waved his hand, and the person in charge of the large caravan immediately bowed and retreated.

"Why are they so respectful to you, a bandit?" Zhang Qingyun looked at Li Dachui, who was calmly resting with his eyes closed, and finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him.

"They don't respect the bandit Li Dachui. I'm outside the Great Wall; I can stop children from crying at night, and I'm considered on par with Xiao Changche," Li Dachui laughed. "They respect the badge on this carriage!"

"That lucky tiger?"

“A lucky cat!” Li Dachui corrected. “I remember telling you that I, Li Dachui, also have powerful backers.”

"Your backer is the Lord of Tai'an City, a master of the Innate Realm, someone even Linghu Ye has to give respect to!" Zhang Qingyun suddenly realized, "No wonder! I was wondering why others would treat a mere bandit like you with such respect. Perhaps if they knew the notorious bandit Li Dachui was here, some of them might be chivalrous enough to want to rid the people of this scourge." "Many people want to rid the people of this scourge, but none of them would dare to mess with me. Because falling into my hands would be far worse than death," Li Dachui said. "We're almost at the boundary marker. Once we cross it, we'll be in Tai'an City. Compared to other places outside the pass, Tai'an City is a truly orderly, lawful, and just place."

At this point, Li Dachui said meaningfully, "It's more just than the Chang'an where you grew up."

Zhang Qingyun pouted and peeked out the window, looking at the scenery outside.

Before my eyes, there was no longer desolation and ruin.
In the distance, the shadows of rolling mountains could be seen.
There is a winding river.

There are also villages where wisps of smoke rise from chimneys.

This is the first time I've seen a village like this. It's a very common sight inside the Great Wall, but outside the Great Wall, it's a rare and beautiful scene.

The land is vast and the population is sparse.

You can walk for hundreds of miles without seeing a single person; this is no joke here.

Zhang Qingyun's gaze suddenly sharpened.
To the side and ahead, the thunder of hooves echoed as a man galloped away, pursued by a group of riders. Arrows whizzed past like locusts, hurtling towards the fleeing man.

"There, there!" Zhang Qingyun pointed in that direction and shouted loudly to the fat man Li Kaixin, who was still riding slowly away, seemingly oblivious to what was happening outside.

“Miss Qingyun, there’s no need to worry. It’s just some ordinary pursuit. It seems that the person ahead is trying to escape into Tai’an City. This kind of thing happens a lot.” Li Kaixin was not surprised.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Zhang Qingyun glanced back at Li Dachui, who hadn't even opened his eyes, and decided to ask Li Kaixin. Li Dachui's arrogant attitude made her very unhappy.

"We won't interfere as long as we're not inside Tai'an City!" Li Kaixin said with a smile.

"Even if they kill that person, they won't care?" Zhang Qingyun asked. "If he wanted to, it would be incredibly easy for him, wouldn't it?"

"Why should I care?" Li Dachui's voice came from behind: "How do you know if the person being chased is good or bad? Maybe he's utterly wicked? And the people chasing him are righteous! Aren't you the one who loves chivalrous people killing villains the most?"

Zhang Qingyun choked and fell headfirst.

"What if he's a good person? If you have the ability, you should ask him properly."

“There are too many injustices in the world, I don’t have the ability to deal with them all!” Li Dachui said. “You, you’re really meddling in other people’s business.”

As the two men were talking, the two groups of people, one chasing and the other fleeing, disappeared from their sight.

“Miss Qingyun, the young master was right. The one who fled ahead is no good. He must be Yang Dian, who has a notorious reputation beyond the Great Wall.”

What happened to that person?

"You really want to know?" Li Dachui chuckled. "He's a guy who uses his good looks and decent martial arts skills to seduce respectable women. After seducing them, he abandons them. This time, he's probably met his match. I wonder what tough guy he's messed with. Fatty, do you think he can escape to the Tai'an City area?"

"It's hard to say," Li Kaixin said. "The number of people chasing him is no less than Yang Dian's, and the key is that there are more of them."

"If such a villain were allowed to escape into Tai'an City, would you really protect him?" Zhang Qingyun's eyes widened, her face filled with indignation.

“If he escapes into the territory of Tai’an City!” Li Kaixin said very seriously, “Miss Qingyun, rules are rules. Once they are set, they must be followed. There can be no flexibility. Otherwise, a thousand-mile dike will be destroyed by an ant hole. If a precedent is set today, there will be another exception tomorrow. If this continues, the rules will cease to exist.”

"I hope that Yang Dian will be shot dead by them with an arrow as soon as he escapes into the territory of Tai'an City!" Zhang Qingyun said bitterly.

Li Dachui shook his head: "They just said we were heartless and refused to help, and now they're cursing others to die soon."

"I didn't know he was a bad person!"

"So, no matter what, don't jump to conclusions!" Li Dachui said. "Observe first, listen first, think second, and then draw a conclusion. Even so, sometimes it will turn out the opposite of what you intended! Miss Qingyun, this world is much more complicated than you imagine. There are some things that you may not understand even if you read all the books in the world!"

Am I lecturing myself again?
Zhang Qingyun lowered her head in annoyance.

However, what he said does make sense.

My previous words were indeed too rash.

Take a look, listen to what you hear, and think about it.

The convoy continued on its way.

Inside the car, one person closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep, while the other rested their chin on their hand, lost in thought, ignoring each other.

Time flies by.

About an hour later, Li Kaixin's voice came from outside.

"Ha, this Yang Dian is really capable, he actually managed to escape the boundary marker."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingyun felt a lump in her throat. She peeked out and saw a man covered in blood slumped behind a tiger-head boundary marker, panting heavily. The group that had been chasing him was only a few steps away, their faces full of anger, but none of them actually made a move.

(End of this chapter)