"The weather’s dry, things are parched! Be careful with fire and candles!~"

CLACK, CLACK~~

The sound of the clapper rang out. It was already hai shi, a little after nine at night, and the Night Watchman had begun his rounds.

Many homes in the city had already shut their doors, but not all the lamps were extinguished yet. A few latecomers could still be seen on the streets...

Under Zhou Xing’s lead, Qin Fang followed him through a winding, twisting path. After walking for a good half-hour, they arrived at a city gate.

This was the South Gate.

"The marketplace isn’t like the county seat. Even though Xu Meng will be looking after you, you have to be careful... These gangs of theirs are always fighting and killing each other for control of the fish market. Be smart and don’t get dragged into that mess... Just stay there and lie low. Once things blow over in the city and I’ve taken care of your Identity papers, you can come back."

His senior brother murmured these instructions to him along the way.

"If something really happens and you’re out of options, you can come look for me. The officials guarding the South Gate here are on good terms with me. I’ll give them specific instructions... When the time comes, just tell them you’re my junior brother, and they’ll get word to me... The only thing is, doing so risks exposing you... The more people who know, the greater the danger. Loose lips and all."

He left no stone unturned, showing how much he truly cared.

Qin Fang was touched and said sincerely, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

"We’re martial brothers. No need for such formalities."

Zhou Xing, however, just waved his hand and sighed softly. "You and I were both lucky. Master took a liking to us and accepted us as his disciples... I’ve been an orphan since I was young, and I’m still all alone. I’ve long considered Master to be my own father. Without him, I would have starved to death on the streets. Since he thinks highly of you and has taken you in, that makes you my own flesh and blood... I only hope that you will remember Master’s teachings and his kindness, and that you never do anything to sadden him in his old age."

Qin Fang was stunned. ’I never would have guessed my own senior brother was also an orphan...’

Hearing this, he let out a soft breath and said seriously, "Don’t worry, Senior Brother. Master saved my life and taught me the Martial Arts. To say my debt to him is as heavy as a mountain is no exaggeration. I, Qin Fang, may not be some great saint, but I would never repay kindness with hatred."

A smile touched Zhou Xing’s face when he heard Qin Fang’s words. He nodded lightly. "I knew you were a grateful person when I saw you sweeping snow and chopping firewood for our master’s wife the other day... Hm, we’re here. Let’s go over."

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the South Gate. Qin Fang saw a person waiting not far away. Zhou Xing said, "Wait here for a moment. I’ll go have a look."

With that, he walked over and called out something in a low voice. The person turned their head to look, then hurried over to meet him.

After they exchanged a few words in low voices, both of them looked in Qin Fang’s direction. His senior brother beckoned to him, and Qin Fang walked over.

Only then did he see that the man meeting his senior brother was a burly man in his thirties with a full beard and a vicious-looking knife scar on his face, giving him a rather fierce appearance.

As Qin Fang was looking at him, the man was also sizing Qin Fang up.

"This is Xu Meng. Just call him Brother Xu. Xu Meng, this is my junior martial brother... I’ll have to trouble you to look after him for a while."

"Brother Xu," Qin Fang, doing as he was told, cupped his hands and called out.

The man stopped sizing him up and a smile appeared on his face. "Master Zhou himself has spoken, so what more is there for me to say? Don’t worry. As long as I, Xu Meng, am still breathing, nothing will happen to Brother Qin."

When the man smiled, he revealed a set of surprisingly neat, white teeth. Paired with his unkempt appearance and the vicious scar on his face, it created an odd sense of forthrightness. It was enough to make one overlook his fearsome scar and easily warm up to him.

Just as Qin Fang was marveling at this, Zhou Xing nodded and said, "The guard shift is about to change. Since that’s the case... you two should get going."

Xu Meng nodded upon hearing this.

Qin Fang also took a deep breath and nodded.

Zhou Xing said no more. He walked toward the lantern-lit city gate, where several officials noticed him and came forward to greet him.

He said something to them, leading the officials off to one side.

Seeing this, Xu Meng said to Qin Fang in a low voice, "Let’s go, Brother Qin."

Qin Fang came back to his senses and nodded. The two of them slipped through a crack in the city gate that had been opened at some point, hugging the edge of the wall.

In the process, Qin Fang saw one of the officials glance in their direction, but he quickly looked away and continued chatting with Zhou Xing.

A short while later, they were outside the city gate and in the wilderness.

The winter snow remained, and the trees covering the mountains were all white-headed, lending the night an extra bit of brightness.

Yet it also seemed to make it even colder.

Taking a deep breath, the cold air shot into his lungs, jolting his Spirit.

Outside the city, the snow was naturally thick and uncleared. It made a CRUNCH, CRUNCH sound as they walked, their steps sinking in unevenly.

"Brother Qin, this way. We’ll go down to the river first and take the waterway back to Fishermen’s."

Xu Meng called out to Qin Fang.

Qin Fang snapped out of his daze and replied, "Alright." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The two of them headed toward the banks of the Chujiang River together.

As they walked, Xu Meng made small talk with Qin Fang, asking him about his basic situation.

Qin Fang answered, picking and choosing what he could say. By the time they had walked for a while, the two had grown a little more familiar with each other.

After a while, Qin Fang’s ears perked up as he heard the RUSHING sound of flowing water.

After walking downhill a bit further and rounding a grove of trees, he saw a vast, surging river stretching out before them.

The great river was extremely wide, at least several hundred meters across, and its opposite bank was invisible in the darkness.

A small sampan was faintly visible, moored by the bank not far away.

"We’re here."

After saying this, Xu Meng suddenly let out a sharp whistle.

A few figures emerged from the sampan and quickly lit a lantern.

"That’s our boat. Let’s go."

With that, Xu Meng led Qin Fang down to the riverbank and they finally boarded the sampan.

"Boss."

"Boss."

There were four men on the boat. Upon seeing Xu Meng, they all spoke up at once.

Then, they instinctively looked at Qin Fang, who was standing behind Xu Meng.

Xu Meng had no intention of introducing them. He just nodded and said, "Let’s go. Back to Fishermen’s."

They acknowledged his order, and seeing that Xu Meng wasn’t going to make introductions, they didn’t ask any questions.

The men then deftly weighed anchor and poled the boat. The small sampan quickly left the shore, drifting downstream with the current.

Qin Fang sat on the boat and turned to look into the distance. Before long, he could see a thick city wall and the faint lights shining from within...

...

After traveling downstream for a little over half an hour, True Martial County was long out of sight. Xu Meng suddenly spoke up, "Brother Qin, we’re here."

Qin Fang, who had been admiring the night scenery on the river, came back to his senses and subconsciously looked in a certain direction.

He then saw a crude pier appear in the distance. Many sampans and small boats were moored nearby, several of which had lanterns hanging from them, making the small pier quite bright.

The night breeze carried a thick, fishy smell.

After Xu Meng gave a shout, Qin Fang also stood up. A short while later, the sampan docked at the pier, and they all disembarked.

"This is Fisherman City. I’ll arrange a place for you to stay in a bit. You can live there for the time being."

Xu Meng said to Qin Fang with a smile as they walked.

Qin Fang nodded, his eyes curiously scanning his surroundings...

There were buildings around them, but "shack" would have been a more fitting description. They were open on all four sides, supported only by a few pillars, with roofs thatched from branches, reeds, and the like. They looked very crude.

Inside, bluestone slabs were laid out haphazardly. They had been washed clean, but still gave off waves of a fishy stench.

’...Looks like a place specifically for gutting fish?’

After walking a bit further, just as they were about to leave the pier, he could faintly make out some simple houses—adobe huts half-buried in the white snow.

"This place..."

Xu Meng was just starting his introduction for Qin Fang.

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind them, "Brother Xu?"

Xu Meng instinctively turned his head.

Qin Fang also turned back instinctively.

But in the next instant, a vicious gleam of a blade suddenly flashed out of the darkness.

Aiming straight for Xu Meng’s head!