Insufficient balance

  I followed Senko into the village, where he was an idol and everyone who saw him greeted him proactively. He responded to each of them one by one, then sent his subordinates back home and took me to his residence himself. His house was located in the deepest part of the village, a few simple thatched cottages surrounded by a dilapidated fence.

  I jeered and said: "This house of yours should be repaired, otherwise a gust of wind will blow you and the house away together."

  He didn't mind my teasing, but my words seemed to stir up some thoughts in him. He murmured: "In August, the autumn wind howls and whistles, sweeping away the three layers of thatch on my roof. The thatch flies over the river and scatters in the suburbs. Some pieces get stuck high up in the treetops, while others float down and sink into the pond. I used to live a life of luxury and extravagance, but now I see through all that. This simple and rustic life is what I'm really after."

  I patted him on the shoulder, "It seems like you have a lot of heart-wrenching experiences too, can you tell me about them? I'm willing to listen, and it'll definitely make you feel better to talk about it."

  He looked at me, his eyes revealing a deep understanding, and said boldly: "Alright, it's been pent up in my heart for too long and it's really hard to bear. Today I'll tell you all about it. Come on, let's go inside, have some drinks and chat."

  He was unmarried, living alone by himself. He brought out some simple dishes and game from somewhere, "Let's just make do with this for now, brother. Tomorrow I'll get them to prepare something better for you."

  I hastily said: "This is already very good."

  He took out two large wine cups and said: "Come on, let's have a drink."

  I embarrassingly said: "I've never drunk alcohol before, or else you drink it yourself."

  "It's a must to drink, wine is good stuff. We men have suffered enough in our lives, not smoking (tobacco) and not drinking is no better than being a dog. Come on, let's drink."

  It's hard to refuse your kindness, I also want to taste what the wine is like. "Alright, today I'll accompany you for a drink." I picked up the wine jug and filled both our cups, raised mine and drank it all in one gulp. "I toast to Big Brother, let's start with a respectful drink."

  He looked delighted and drank it in one gulp, "Good, refreshing."

  When I drank the wine, at first it felt a bit spicy, but there was a pure and fragrant aroma, not very hard to drink. However, once it got into my stomach, it was like fire burning, I felt my entire stomach burning up, my face turned bright red, and it took a long time to recover.

  Zhan Hu smiled and said: "You'd better drink slowly, this wine is not weak. Your capacity for liquor will definitely be good in the future, ordinary people can't even handle a cup of this wine."

  My face turned red as I said, "Oh, so this is what wine is like." I quickly picked up some food and started eating.

  We ate for a while, and I asked him: "Big brother, why did you want to be a thief? With your skills, you should be able to stand firm anywhere."

  The war tiger sighed and said, "Brother, you don't know that I was once like you, full of vigor and ambition. I was once praised as a genius in the kingdom of Xiu Da, and at the age of 20, I had already reached the level of a Sky Knight. At that time, I was the symbol of honor for my family and the goal that everyone pursued." He stopped here and took another big gulp of wine.

  I chimed in: "What happened next?"

  "He continued, 'Later, I enlisted in the military and due to my outstanding performance, I won everyone's admiration. Before long, I climbed to a position that everyone dreams of. You should know about the elite troops of the Shuda Kingdom.'"

  "Is it the Earth Dragon Legion?" I've heard from Teacher Di that on a plain, an Earth Dragon Legion can easily take down any opponent. The earth dragons have extremely strong magical defenses, and unless they encounter very high-level magic, it's basically impossible to harm them or their knights. In the Eastern Continent, only the Xiu Da Kingdom produces earth dragons, but even then, they are quite rare.

  "Right, you're right, I was one of the commanders of the three major dragon legions at that time."

  "Huh? So he was that formidable in the past. 'You must have been thrilled back then, where's your Earth Dragon? I've heard that once an Earth Dragon acknowledges a master, it will follow its owner forever.'"

  Zhan Hu poured himself a few more cups of wine, saying painfully: "My Earth Dragon's name is Zhan, it was one of the strongest Earth Dragons in the Earth Dragon Corps. The main reason I'm like this now is because of it. During a training session, due to my mistake, Little Zhan sacrificed itself to save me." He painfully grasped his hair.

  I grabbed his hand and persuaded him: "Don't be like this, things have already passed, what's the use of regretting now, you should cheer up."

  It's possible that my words of comfort had some effect, and he gradually calmed down. We continued drinking and chatting, and he said that since Xiao Zhan died, he had never forgiven himself. Everyone blamed him, saying it was his fault that the precious Dilong died, and he was removed from his position as commander of the military unit. He started learning to drink during that time, getting drunk every day, and couldn't bear the cold eyes of others, so he ran away. He wandered aimlessly, without a goal, until he came here and met the thieves who were forced into this life by circumstances - the same people who are now in the village. With his War Tiger skills, he easily took care of them, and later, out of sympathy for their lives and also wanting to find a place for himself, he stayed and became the leader of the thieves.

  His experience was so tortuous, I was deeply moved. I took a sip of wine and said loudly: "Big brother, I really admire your character, why don't we become sworn brothers?" My tongue had already grown bigger, the wine now tasted sweet, and there were two fighting tigers swirling in my eyes.

  The fighting tiger also drank almost, dazed and confused said: "Good, good brother, brother recognized you this brother, in the future what thing follow brother say, brother must help you put flat."

  I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, swaying the wine cup and saying: "Alright, for our brotherly affection, come on, let's finish this cup." And so we went back and forth, one cup after another, until both of us fell over.

  My head hurts so much! This morning, as soon as I woke up, I felt dizzy and it hurt badly.

  "Brother, you're awake." War Tiger's voice came over.

  "Oh, big brother, why does my head hurt so much?"

  "Haha, you drank so much yesterday and your head doesn't hurt?" Zhan Hu said with a smile.

  "What's wrong with you?" I asked in puzzlement.

  "I drink every day and have already gotten used to it. Brother, were you serious last night when you said we should become sworn brothers?"

  I woke up and wrote: "Of course, it's my honor to have a big brother like you."

  "Alright, I'll acknowledge you as my brother. Get up, go wash your face and eat something, your headache will be gone."

  Later, it was with the help of Zhānhǔ that Guāng's son finally obtained true love and became a great figure in history.