Wuxia: Drinking with Spring Breeze

After the street-clearing drum ended, the market gate was closed and households shut their doors.

Heavy and chaotic footsteps suddenly came from both ends of the long street, as groups of sturdy men in black surged like a tide toward the center of the street and Yuelai Inn!

The neighboring residents, curious about the clattering footsteps, opened their doors and windows to peek outside, but as soon as their heads stretched out, they snapped back inside like frightened turtles, with the sounds of opening and closing doors and windows blending into a chorus.

Further away, the normally arrogant night patrol soldiers gathered together and cowered like quails, staring at the group of sturdy men in black, daring not to advance a single step…

Black embroidered garments, Gold-Inlaid Ox-tail Saber—the renown of the Imperial Embroidered Guards was known by all under the heavens!

Yang Ge, holding the bronze-patterned Ox-tail Saber, walked amid the crowd, his face half-covered by a malevolent demon mask, dressed in a flying fish embroidered robe, his gaze dark and strides meteoric.

There was no one!

There was no one who could raid a family's home and leave unscathed, swaggering away!

"You villains inside, listen well! You are surrounded by my Imperial Embroidered Guards. Surrender immediately and submit yourselves for mercy; that is your only way to survive!"

Fang Ke, leading his men, rushed first to the front of Yuelai Inn and shouted loudly into the inn.

On either side of him, more than ten strongmen carried ten large tiger-headed crossbows that required two men to string with their feet, aiming at every door and window of the inn.

In order to regain face for their main flag and avoid eating coarse grain cakes meal after meal…

This group of killers had unhesitatingly brought out the formidable secret weapons stored at their Lu Ting outpost!

As the person in charge of the Lu Ting outpost, Yang Ge naturally had no objections.

He only regretted that there were too few crossbows…

Seeing that the inn's doors remained closed, Fang Ke raised his voice even higher, his tone growing fiercer: "People inside, listen! I will count to three. If you do not come out by then…"

Just then, Yang Ge reached Fang Ke's side and gestured with his hand.

Fang Ke immediately fell silent, drew his sword three inches, and stepped back behind Yang Ge.

Yang Ge raised his head, looked at the inn's door topped with a red-cloth-covered signboard, and, squeezing his throat, chuckled: "You two are also widely known heroes of the green woods. Why resort to sneaky theft like petty thieves? If this were to spread, the ladies of Yan Yun would surely laugh their heads off!"

A not too brilliant provocation.

But with those words, Yuelai Inn could be considered a victim, extricated from this affair.

Should they have to fight within the inn later, Yang Ge might even, in his capacity as the head of the Imperial Embroidered Guards, offer the Liu family a generous compensation.

Luting County Government Office?

If there were no irreconcilable conflicts of interest, they wouldn't interfere in a case personally handled by the head of the Imperial Embroidered Guards.

"Bang."

The inn's twin doors suddenly flung open, revealing the dark and gloomy front hall.

An invisible pressure poured forth, and the dark doors seemed to transform into a gaping maw, waiting for strangers to enter and meet their demise…

Yang Ge's eyebrows twitched, and he secretly gripped the handle of his saber tightly.

The next second, that hoarse voice he had heard at noon floated out lightly from inside the inn: "It seems I underestimated you, to think that someone as insignificant as you could also be the empire's hunting dog!"

The tone was arrogant.

Yet it did not explicitly reveal Yang Ge's identity.

Yang Ge laughed: "Isn't this because you seemed pretty disappointed at noon? I thought I'd give you another chance to be satisfied."

The person inside the inn laughed too: "Oh? Are these lads what give you your confidence?"

"My brothers are here to back me up, of course they bolster my courage!"

Yang Ge replied: "But what truly gives me the confidence to come here is the righteousness my cause."

The person interestedly asked: "Righteousness?"

Yang Ge: "Illegal entry, assault on the road—you know you're breaking the law, right?"

The man chuckled lightly and replied indifferently, "That's something new to hear."

Just as his voice fell, a sinister voice came from inside, "What do you plan to do? Just say it, and I'll deal with it!"

"Fair enough!"

Yang Ge responded calmly, "There are two options. First, I arrest you and prosecute you for illegal entry and assault, and you'll be judged as the law dictates."

"Second, you and I finish the fight we started at noon. No matter whether it results in life or death, victory or loss, as the aggrieved party, I won't pursue your criminal responsibilities further."

The sinister voice was just about to start with a "you," when it was interrupted by a hoarse voice, "What are you after, just to vent your anger?"

Yang Ge answered seriously, "And to tell you that it's wrong to climb over other people's walls, and even worse to tamper with their belongings!"

The man inside said, "All that, just for something trivial? Losing a life for this isn't worth it, right?"

Yang Ge, "How that is considered is up to you, whether it's worth it or not is my business!"

The man inside, "Old Five, you take your Fourth Brother's place and teach the disciple…"

No reply was heard when a figure, carrying a black saber, slowly appeared inside the doorway of the inn.

Not until then did Yang Ge truly see this person's appearance: a knife-like face, triangular eyes, and a gaze as fierce as a starving wolf, both cruel and ruthless.

He walked out facing ten powerful crossbows, his eyes fixed solely on Yang Ge.

"Do you know Chaotic Wind Leg?"

He took off the black saber on his back, and with a "clang," inserted it into the stone floor, sheath and all, as he coldly asked.

Seeing this, Yang Ge silently took off the ox-tail saber from his waist and handed it to Fang Ke beside him.

Fang Ke, seeing that Yang Ge was indeed intent on fighting this man, anxiously whispered softly, "Chief, we don't need to talk about rules of conduct with this kind of person; if the brothers can't handle them, the government officials and patrol guards are still around..."

Yang Ge silently watched him.

The more Fang Ke spoke, the softer his voice became, until he finally bowed his head and took the ox-tail saber from Yang Ge's hands.

Yang Ge freed his hands and waved to the strong men on both sides. A group of them immediately retreated about ten meters to the sides, creating a spacious open area.

Fang Ke commanded the strong men holding crossbows to reposition them, aiming at the man in gray. He yelled out forcefully, "Keep your eyes wide open and watch closely! If that guy so much as harms a single hair on our chief, shoot him dead, and I'll take responsibility for the consequences..."

Yet the two men in the open area seemed not to hear his shouting at all.

Yang Ge stared at the man in gray.

The man in gray stared back at Yang Ge.

"Ten moves!" the man in gray suddenly declared.

Yang Ge shook his head, "Don't show off; you'll attract divine retribution!"

Disdainfully curling his lip, the man in gray surged forward, bringing with him a flurry of leg shadows.

Yang Ge leaped up and suddenly kicked out a ferocious leg whip.

"Boom!"

A gust of wind swept through, the flurry of leg shadows vanished, and the man in gray, caught off guard, stumbled back two steps, crushing a step in front of the inn's door to stabilize himself.

He looked up, his eyes on Yang Ge finally changing.

"You better aim to kill me!"

Yang Ge landed, bowed, and lunged forward, bringing a flurry of leg shadows with him, "Because I will aim to kill you!"

What was that saying again?

Don't corner an honest man; you won't like the outcome!