Chapter Fourteen: A Legend in the Jianghu

  Xue Xiang beckoned with his hand, indicating that someone should bring the hat over. This gesture of Xue Xiang's was not a big deal, but everyone was overjoyed and ten guys lifted the hat like a sedan chair, moving step by step towards Xue Xiang. You might wonder what's going on, it turns out that the surface area of the hat is quite small, and all ten people wanted to hold onto the hat, but the small circle couldn't fit so many people, some individuals were pushed to the back, only able to touch a finger, yet they still moved forward with one person stacked on top of another.

  Xue Xiang saw them struggling and said: "Fang Guohua, bring me that hat." Fang Guohua was overjoyed and ran over with the hat.

  Another nine people sighed heavily: It's not fair, it's not fair. There's nothing you can do if it's not fair, who let Xue Xiang know Fang Guohua's name? This was still heard from Xiaowan just now.

  Xue Xiang took the hat and said to Fang Guohua: "You little scoundrel, you're really not a good guy. They were looking for trouble with you, and you pushed my sister to be a shield? If you can't handle it yourself, come ask me for help, I'll look up to you. Of course, this is also a clever move, but I don't like it. This time, I'm helping you out of consideration for Xiao Wan's face, but if you dare to use my name again in the future, be careful with your own skin."

  Fang Guohua nodded listlessly, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Xue Xiang ignored him and turned to the group of people including Hou Xiaochun: "You guys are from where? I've never seen anyone as despicable as you in Dong City, stealing money from kids." He was about the same age as everyone else, but when Xue Xiang called them kids, no one felt it was inappropriate.

  Ji Changfa was the weakest in Xu Xiaofei's gang, but he had the most agile mind. As soon as Xue Xiang spoke, he knew that things had taken a turn for the better. He hastily replied: "Brother, we are from Beicheng and have been struggling to make ends meet lately. We can't even afford to eat our fill, so we resorted to this. Please, brother, take into account that this is our first offense and give us a chance to reform."

  Xue Xiang waved his hand and said, "I'm not the people's government, so don't come to me to show your repentance. Who you rob is none of my business, just don't cause trouble in the East City. Also, from now on, don't bother these kids again. This matter isn't over yet, tomorrow morning, bring that little rascal Kang Xiaoba from the North City and wait at my door together. If you dare not come, you'll have to bear the consequences. When entering the main gate, tell the guards that I let you in, Kang Xiaoba knows where I live." The two guards at the entrance of Xue Xiang's military district compound were old soldiers from Army A and had been under Xue An yuan's command before. They were familiar with Xue Xiang and knew he was a man of his word, so they never stopped his friends from entering or leaving the compound, knowing that they would not cause any trouble.

  Xue Xiang finished speaking and ignored them. It was getting late, and the clothing store would close soon. Kang Tong carried Xiao Yi, Xue Xiang let Xiao Wan get into the back seat of the car, held Xiao Shi in his left arm, grasped the steering wheel with his right hand, and drove away.

  After Xue Xiang and the others left, Fang Guohua and the three of them were about to leave, but they were stopped by Ji Changfa. Fang Guohua had Xue Xiang's guarantee, so he was more courageous and looked at him saying: "What's wrong, still not giving up?"

  The girl with long hair and a smiling face welcomed him: "No, no, I wanted to ask you about the big brother who was just here."

  "Fang Guohua said with a smile: 'He, you all don't know, Dongcheng's timely rain, Beihai's Hu Bao Yi, should have heard of it. However, it's also right, if you recognized him, you wouldn't be so unlucky.' Fang Guohua finished speaking and led the two away with a proud smile."

  The princess stood still with her long hair flowing down, how could it be him, how could he be so coincidental, and she ran into him on her first mission.

  "Wild Chicken Brother, who is he talking about? I've never heard of him. Looking at your expression, that person's reputation is quite big." A chubby young man asked.

  Xiao Chun slapped him on the head and scolded, "You've just entered the profession, you're a new melon! His great name is known throughout the 49 cities. Let me tell you, his nickname is Xue Xiang, also known as Third Brother, and respectfully called Jun Song Jiang. 'East City Timely Rain, North Sea Hero' is his Jianghu business card."

  "How come I've never heard anyone tell me that before? Our North City shouldn't be excluded from the 49 cities, right? Don't believe me, ask Shengzi."

  "Alright, alright, don't ask about giving birth anymore. He doesn't even know the basics, let me come and give you two a supplementary lesson." said an old bird with a bag slung over his shoulder.

  "You're going to tutor him? You're not much stronger than them, why don't I just give all of you a tutoring session instead? Do you guys know why the topic of Third Brother is taboo in Beicheng? Do you know why every other city and district has a Big Boss, but our Beicheng is so fragmented? It's because something big happened in the past, and since then, all the bosses in Beicheng have been strictly forbidden from mentioning Third Brother. But of course, that doesn't stop people from talking about it in private, which is why you've all heard his name before. However, if I were to ask what exactly happened back then, none of you would know anything for sure, even if you've heard some rumors or gossip. But I do know, because I was there at the time, I'm a witness to that major event."

  Everyone listened, seeing that Xiaochun seemed to have some secret news from the Jianghu world to share, and no one rushed to be the teacher anymore. They all quietly waited for his next words, not even thinking about their Da Fei Ge who was still lying on the ground.

  Hou Xiaochun let out a gentle cough, cleared his throat, and stretched out two fingers on his right hand. Ji Changfa knew what he wanted and quickly pulled out a cigarette to light for him. Hou Xiaochun took a deep drag, exhaled a mouthful of smoke, and met the expectant gazes of the crowd with satisfaction. Guan Zi had also sold enough, so he began to speak: "That was still two years ago, when our gang in North City wasn't as fragmented as it is now. At that time, the big boss who unified North City was Da Biao Ge. You may have heard of him, but you've definitely never seen him. Da Biao Ge was 1.9 meters tall and had a robust physique. His father was a worker at the suburban slaughterhouse. It's said that whenever his father slaughtered cows, he didn't use ropes; instead, he'd get Da Biao Ge to hold down the cow's head with his hands, and then his father would stab it to death with a knife. No matter how hard the injured cow struggled, it couldn't break free."

  "Monkey brother, isn't that an exaggeration? Who kills cows like that? According to your words, his two arms must have at least a thousand pounds of strength." The little fatty who had just asked the question doubted and interrupted Hou Xiaochun's reminiscence.

  "Come on, listen to your brother Monkey's words, what are you interrupting for? Didn't you hear Brother Monkey say 'it is said'?"

  Xiao Chun saw that someone was holding a grudge against him, so he didn't see the blame anymore. He continued: "Dà Biāo Gē is not only strong as an ox, but more importantly, since he unified North City, his trusted brothers under his command have reached two or three hundred people, and they already have the power and ambition to unify the hooligan circle in the capital. Dà Biāo Gē spread the word that other hooligans from the three cities and eight districts should pay tribute to the hooligans of North City every month. At first, no one took it seriously, so Dà Biāo Gē led his brothers to clean up the big shots in each city district one by one. Later, the hooligans from the three cities and eight districts started paying tribute to us in North City every month. Those were really glorious days for us hooligans in North City."

  "At that time, Monkey King, you must have been very glorious too!" Ji Changfa saw Xiao Chun suddenly stop talking, with a look of intoxication on his face, as if he had fallen into a wonderful memory, and hurriedly flattered him, intending to urge him to continue speaking.

  Xiao Chun was pulled out of his drunken state by someone, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he continued: "Yes, at that time I was following my older cousin, who was one of Da Biao's top henchmen. We were swaggering around everywhere, having a great time. Unfortunately, good times don't last long. One day, Da Biao's younger cousin Er Hu was carried back home, his face twisted and bruised, with only a few teeth left in his mouth. His face looked like it had been hit by a speeding train. The seven or eight brothers who carried him back were all injured too. Da Biao immediately got angry - how dare someone touch his people in the city? He asked the people who came back with Er Hu what happened, and they said that they were beaten up by one person. That person was naturally San Ge, who was only 14 or 15 years old at the time. I don't know if he looked much different from how he looks now, but his height is about the same. The last time I saw him was at night, so it was hard to see clearly. This whole thing is all Er Hu's fault - otherwise, I wouldn't be in this sorry state today. Originally, Er Hu was very powerful in the north city, but after a while, he got bored and took a few brothers to the east city to extort money from some people. Who knew that they would run into San Ge? It was just bad luck for Da Biao - he had encountered his nemesis. You guys saw how San Ge is earlier - if you go looking for trouble with someone like him, aren't you just asking for death? At the time, Da Biao was at the height of his power, so why would he care about some nobody who could fight? So he called up my older cousin and a dozen or so top henchmen, as well as one of the brothers who went to extort money with Er Hu, and told him to go identify San Ge. Then they all went off to the east city in a big group. At the time, I was still young, and my older cousin didn't let me go..."

  "Monkey brother, you didn't go! Then why did you just say you were there? How disappointing, I thought I'd hear some exciting and thrilling scenes..." The one who interrupted again was the little fatty from earlier. This time, he didn't wait for Xiaochun to make a face, and seven or eight others joined in together, letting the little fatty fully experience the thrill of the scene. The little fatty was so thoroughly dealt with that he didn't dare speak, hanging his head in shame as he stood there, seemingly contemplating why his life was so lacking in sunshine.

  Xiao Chun saw Xiao Pangzi being scolded and felt satisfied, then came out pretending to be a good person, saying: "Hey, what are you doing? Xiao Pang just had some doubts, he was just too impatient. However, his curious and suspicious spirit is also very important in academic pursuits. Don't blame him, everyone."

  Everyone listened, and their hearts were all vomiting. Listening to you tell a story, it's showing off your face, pretending to be a teacher, what kind of thing is this? However, no one spoke out, they all said in unison that Brother Monkey's words made sense, and Brother Monkey continued to give us lessons.

  Here is the translation:

  "Then, I didn't go home that night and waited for my cousin to come back at his place, so I could ask him about the situation. I waited for a long time, but he still didn't come back, so I fell asleep on his bed in a daze. I slept until midnight when someone suddenly pushed me awake. I turned around and saw that my cousin had a thick bandage wrapped around his head and a patch on the corner of his mouth. Just as I was about to shout loudly, my cousin covered my mouth and told me not to wake up his aunt and uncle. He said he had sneaked back in.

  I asked him what happened to him, and he said don't even mention it. All of us who went there were like that, and Big Brother was even worse - that kid broke his little finger off! I was shocked and said you guys couldn't beat him with over ten people plus Big Brother? My cousin said we didn't do anything, we were completely beaten. He said he had never met anyone as ruthless and cruel as that kid before, it was like fighting a fierce tiger.

  We cornered him at the North Sea Ice Rink that night, and there was no one else around him. We surrounded him with over ten people, thinking this time you can't escape! But who knew that kid didn't even think about running? Without saying a word, he just started attacking us first. You don't know how embarrassing it was to fight like that - over ten people couldn't even counterattack. That kid's moves were fast and accurate, targeting our faces and chins, making us dizzy for half the day.

  Those with average physiques were knocked down by him in one move, and those who could withstand a bit more were also knocked down after taking another hit. Big Brother was the strongest but got hurt the worst. After being knocked down by that kid, he still cursed at him, resulting in his little finger being twisted off! It was too cruel, too bloody.

  That kid said after beating us up, 'Don't come to East City to collect protection fees again!' and then left. When I heard this, my eyes were wide with shock. Think about it - Big Brother's physique, strength, plus over ten helpers, but not a single hair on Three Brother's head was hurt."