Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 01 Read online

  Lin Pingzhi focused on using moves from the Universal Hands style to fight Yu. He had practiced this form and beaten many escorts in the Escort House. This was partly because this form of martial arts was indeed excellent, and partly because no one from the Escort House, who valued his employment, was stupid enough to beat the Young Master, thus, even though Lin Pingzhi had a good understanding of the form, he did not have much actual fighting experience. He had also fought some local rascals in Fuzhou before; however, no street thug could prevail against the fighting style of the great Lin Family. In less than three moves, they would all end up running away with either a swollen face or a bloody nose. But things were quite different this time. After only a dozen or so moves, Lin Pingzhi had to swallow his pride and admit that his opponent was really tough.

  While the two exchanged punches, Yu kept taunting Lin Pingzhi with insults. “Hey, buddy! The more I look at you, the more you look like a girl dressed as a guy. Look at those lovely cheeks of yours. Why don’t we stop fighting, so I can give you a big kiss? What do you say?”

  Lin Pingzhi was enraged. He glanced over at Escorts Shi and Zheng, only to find that they were not faring well, even though it was two against one. Zheng had been punched hard on the nose; blood was all over his face and his clothes. Lin Pingzhi hastened his moves and, unexpectedly, was able to slap Yu in the face a second time. It was a heavy slap.

  “Son of a turtle!” Yu snarled. “I was just playing with you, you loser. You want to fight for real now?” He suddenly changed his tactics and sped up his moves. Punches poured down upon Lin Pingzhi like a thunderstorm.

  The two fought from the inside of the shop to the outside. Seeing a punch aimed directly at his solar plexus, Lin Pingzhi remembered the release-block technique his father had taught him, so he tried to block it with his left arm, but Yu’s punch was so powerful that he failed to stop it. The punch sent a shock throughout his entire spine, and before he was able to gather himself, Yu’s left hand grabbed him by the collar and jerked him down hard. Lin Pingzhi’s torso caved in to Yu’s strength and bent forward. In the next second, Yu’s right arm was already pushing down on the back of Lin Pingzhi’s neck with a move called the “Iron Threshold.”

  “You son of a turtle! If you kowtow9 to me and call me Great Uncle three times, I might let you go.” Yu laughed scornfully.

  Escorts Shi and Zheng were stunned. They wanted to rush over and rescue Lin Pingzhi, but were kept at bay by Jia’s nonstop kicks and punches.

  Henchman Bai thrust the hunting fork at Yu’s back. “Punk, let go of him! Who the hell do you think you are…?” he yelled loudly.

  Yu threw a reverse kick with his left foot, which knocked the fork out of Bai’s grip and sent it flying into the air. He immediately followed with another backward kick, using his right foot, sending Henchman Bai rolling to the ground.

  “You stinking turtle egg god damned bastard! The hell with you! Your grandma has no eyeballs!” Henchman Chen started cursing furiously. But with each curse, he took a step back, so after eight or nine of them, he was already far from the scene of the fight.

  “Hey, sissy boy, are you going to kowtow or not?” Yu laughed. He pushed down even harder, pressing Lin Pingzhi’s head almost to the ground. Lin Pingzhi tried to punch at Yu’s stomach, but the punches always fell a few inches short. Lin felt unbearable pain from his neck as if it was going to break. Sparkles glittered in front of his eyes and his eardrums were filled with buzzing sounds. He clawed and scratched like a wild cat, when suddenly, his fingers came upon a hard object that was strapped on his shin. Without thinking, he pulled it out and stabbed it at Yu with all his might.

  Yu let out a sudden shriek and let go of Lin Pingzhi. Dread and terror covered his face as Yu stumbled back in disbelief. The dagger had pierced through his stomach all the way, leaving only the handle showing. He was facing west, and the golden handle of the dagger glinted crazily in the rays of the setting sun. He opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out. He reached for the dagger with his hand, but then paused, too afraid to touch the shining handle.

  Stumbling back several steps, Lin Pingzhi also looked on in shock. His heart almost jumped out of his throat. Jia and the two escorts stopped fighting and looked at Yu in astonishment. Yu finally gathered enough courage to grab the protruding handle. Blood gushed from the wound as he pulled out the dagger. The onlookers cried out in disbelief.

  “Jia…Jia…Tell my father, se…seek…vengeance…for…!” Yu hissed before dropping the dagger and falling forward onto the ground. His torso twitched a few times and finally stopped moving.

  “Brother Yu, Brother Yu!” Jia rushed to his side and cried out bitterly.

  “Get your weapons!” Escort Shi whispered. He darted to his horse and drew out his long knife. As an experienced escort, he knew only too well that Jia would stop at nothing to avenge the death of his companion.

  Jia glared murderously at Lin Pingzhi for a few seconds, and then quickly retrieved the dagger from the ground and dashed to his horse. He mounted in a hurry, and without wasting time to untie the reins he cut the horse loose with a swift slash of the dagger. Jia spurred his horse hard, and within moments, both the horse and its rider disappeared into the northern horizon.

  Henchman Chen walked up to Yu’s body and kicked it hard, sending it rolling over. Blood continued to gush from the wound.

  “You big moron, how dare you insult our Young Master? Now you’ve learned your lesson.”

  But Lin Pingzhi had never killed anyone before. His face turned pale with fright. “Escort Shi…what shall we do? I never…I didn’t mean to kill him.” His voice trembled.

  Escort Shi pondered on the matter, “The Fortune Prestige Escort House has been around for three generations. Getting into fights and having people die while on the job is simply unavoidable. But normally the victims are either bandits or unorthodox members of the Martial World, and these fights usually happen in some remote mountain or deep forest. Afterwards, we simply bury the corpses and forget about the whole thing. Of course, the bandits would never go to the authorities and report the killing. But this time, the victim is obviously not a bandit, and the scene is close to a populated area. Murder is no small crime. Even the son of a governor or mayor wouldn’t be able to get off easily if they committed such a crime, let alone the Young Master of an Escort House.” Reflecting upon these facts, he came to a decision.

  “Let’s move the body into the shop,” he said with a frown. “It’s too close to the road here. We don’t want anyone to see this.”

  Luckily it was already quite late, and there was no one passing by. Henchmen Bai and Chen hauled the body into the shop.

  “Young Master, do you have any money on you?” Escort Shi whispered to Lin Pingzhi.

  “Yeah, I do!” Lin Pingzhi answered anxiously, as he took all of his money out in a hurry. There were about twenty taels of silver in all.

  Escort Shi took the silver and walked into the shop. Setting the money on the table, he said, “Old Sa, this outsider was harassing your granddaughter, and our Young Master was just trying to help. He didn’t want to kill the man, but he had no choice. All of us witnessed the entire event. The incident originated because of you, so if anybody blows the whistle, no one will get away with it. Take the money and just forget about the whole thing. We’ll get rid of the body and pretend nothing ever happened here. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, yes,” Old Sa nodded.

  “Killing a few gangsters is a piece of cake for us when we escort cargos,” Escort Zheng exclaimed. “These two Sichuan rats behaved so suspiciously, I bet they were either burglars or rapists. They must have come to Fuzhou looking for crimes to commit. Our Young Master saw through their disguises, and took care of them for the safety of the town. He should have gone to the authorities for a reward, but our Young Master does not want to go through all that trouble, and he doesn’t really care for this kind of fame. You, old friend, had better keep your mouth shut. If you let anything ou
t, we will say that you are their accomplice and that you were just using this wine shop as cover to spy for them. From your accent, anyone could tell that you’re not from here. People would say ‘How did those two just happen to show up right after you took over the shop? What a coincidence!’”

  “I won’t say a word. I know nothing,” Old Sa said hurriedly in compliance.

  Led by Escort Shi, Henchmen Bai and Chen buried the body in the garden behind the shop; they also cleaned up all the bloodstains in front of the door.

  “If we don’t hear anything unusual in ten days,” Escort Zheng said to Old Sa, “you’ll get yourself another fifty taels of silver. But if you really feel like telling stories…humph! Well, the Fortune Prestige Escort House has killed hundreds of bandits before. It wouldn’t be any trouble to plant two more bodies in your garden, would it?”

  “We wouldn’t dare! We wouldn’t dare! Thanks! Many thanks!” Old Sa complied yet again.

  It was already dark outside by the time everything was finally handled. Lin Pingzhi relaxed a little, but still felt uneasiness as he went back to the Escort House. When he entered the front hall, he saw his father sitting in a wooden armchair, his eyes shut, lost in thought.

  “Dad!” Lin Pingzhi called.

  “Went hunting? Caught any boars?” Lin Zhennan opened his eyes and asked with a smile.

  “No,” Lin Pingzhi replied.

  Lin Zhennan lifted the pipe in his hands and suddenly struck down toward Lin Pingzhi’s shoulder. “Take that,” he exclaimed.

  Lin Pingzhi knew that his father always liked to impulsively check up on his progress in fighting skills. Typically, he would have countered this “Plunging Cosmic Star” – the twenty-sixth move in the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art,” with the “Buddha Blossom” – the forty-sixth move. But his mind was so burdened by the incident at the wine shop that he thought his father had already learned about the incident and was bestowing punishment with his pipe. He dared not move, crying out plaintively, “Father!”

  Lin Zhennan’s pipe halted just about three inches from his son’s shoulder.

  “What’s with you today? You think you’d still have the shoulder when you are actually fighting someone, if you were this clumsy?” Lin Zhennan asked. Although the words were harsh, a smile played about his mouth.

  “Understood!” Lin Pingzhi responded. He dropped his left shoulder and rapidly spun his body around, stepping behind his father. Snatching up a feather duster from the tea table, he thrust it at Lin Zhennan’s back. This was the move called the “Buddha Blossom.”

  “That’s the right move!” Lin Zhennan nodded in approval. He passed his pipe across his back and parried the thrust, then countered with a move known as the “Flute-Play on the River.”

  Lin Pingzhi was much more focused now. He blocked the attack with “Purple Mist East Bound.”

  Both father and son continued fighting until, after roughly fifty moves, Lin Zhennan swiftly poked his son on the chest just below the right nipple with the handle of his pipe. Not able to fend off the attack in time, Lin Pingzhi felt a sudden soreness in his right arm, and dropped the feather duster immediately.

  “Good! Very good! You have shown progress every single day of this month! You lasted four more moves than yesterday!” Lin Zhennan smiled gleefully and sat back down. “Pingzhi, guess what! Our Escort House has received wonderful news today,” he announced while filling his pipe with fresh tobacco leaves.

  Lin Pingzhi took out a firestone and lit the pipe for his father. “Did you just sign off on a big business deal today?” he inquired.

  Lin Zhennan shook his head.

  “As long as our Escort House offers good services, business will come to us! Our only concern is our own ability – are we capable of fulfilling big contracts – when they do come to us?”

  He inhaled deeply, and then blew out a cloud of smoke.

  “Escort Zhang sent us a message from Hunan.10 Master Yu of the Pine-Wind Temple, the Head Master of the Qingcheng Sword School, in Western Sichuan, has accepted our gifts.”

  Hearing the words “Western Sichuan” and “Master Yu,” Lin Pingzhi’s heart almost jumped from his throat. “Accepted our gifts?” he repeated in a mutter.

  “I haven’t really told you much about the business of the Escort House,” Lin Zhennan went on. “You wouldn’t have understood anyway. But you are growing up fast, and the heavy burden of running the Escort House will slowly shift onto your shoulders. It’s time for you to start playing a larger part in the business of the Escort House. Son, we’ve been in the escort business for three generations. We have been able to expand to today’s scale and become the largest and most renowned Escort House south of the Yangtze River. How did we accomplish this? First, because of the great fame of your great grandfather; second, because of the fighting techniques our ancestors have handed down, generation after generation. Anyone mentioning the name of ‘Fortune Prestige Escort House’ will give a thumb’s up and say, ‘What fortune! What prestige!’ In the escorting business, reputation counts for twenty percent, real fighting skills count for twenty percent, but the final sixty percent depends on your relationship with both the unorthodox and orthodox members of the Martial World.”

  Blowing out another cloud of smoke, he continued.

  “Think about it. Our wagons have to pass through ten different provinces. If we had to fight every time we went on a job, how many men would we have lost? Even if we won every single time, it would be like in the old saying: ‘To kill a thousand enemies, sacrifice eight hundred of your own.’ If any of our escorts were injured or killed on the job, the money we earned wouldn’t even be enough to cover the compensation to their families. Soon, we would run out of our own savings as well. That’s why we escorts have to know all the right people and spare no expense to cultivate relationships. Connections are even more powerful than the fist.”

  “Yes, Father.” Lin Pingzhi answered. Under normal circumstances, he would have become quite excited and asked many questions upon hearing about the business end of running the Escort House, yet today all he could think of were the words “Western Sichuan” and “Master Yu.” His heart pounded wildly.

  “Your father’s Kung Fu is surely not as good as either your grandfather’s, or your great grandfather’s.” Lin Zhennan exhaled another cloud of smoke. “But my management skills are definitely better than either of theirs. Your great grandfather founded the business in four provinces: from Fujian to Guangdong in the south, and north to Zhejiang and Jiangsu. I expanded the business to six more provinces: Shandong, Hebei, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangxi. What’s the secret here? Let me tell you: make many friends and few enemies. Our Escort House is called ‘Fortune Prestige.’ Remember, fortune comes before prestige; this means fortune is more important than prestige. Fortune will only come if you keep ‘making many friends and few enemies.’ If we change it to ‘Prestige and Fortune,’ wouldn’t that mean we would ride roughshod over others for glory? Ha-ha!”

  Lin Pingzhi forced a hollow laugh, which was devoid of amusement.

  Lin Zhennan didn’t notice his son’s uneasiness and went on. “The old saying goes, ‘Covet Sichuan after capturing Gansu.’11 But for us, it’s ‘Covet Sichuan after capturing Hubei.’ Our escort route starts from Fujian, goes west through Jiangxi and Hunan, and stops at Hubei. Why shouldn’t we continue all the way west, up the river into the province of Sichuan? Sichuan is called the Heavenly Kingdom. There are lots of wealthy people there. If we made it through to Sichuan, we could go either north to Shanxi or south into Yunnan and Guizhou; our business would increase by at least another thirty percent. But Sichuan is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. To do business there, we would have to have connections with the two schools, Qingcheng and Emei.12 For the past three years, I have been sending valuable gifts to the Pine-Wind Temple of the Qingcheng Sword School and the Golden-Peak Temple of the Emei School every spring and autumn, but neither school would accept our overtures. Priest Radiance, t
he Head Master of the Emei School, would at least greet the gift bearers, thank them and invite them in for a vegetarian meal, then return the gifts without even breaking the seal. Master Yu of the Pine-Wind Temple is even trickier. His apprentices would stop the gift bearers halfway up the mountain, claiming that Master Yu was in Exclusive Meditation13 at the moment, and unable to see any guest. They would also claim that they already had everything they needed in the temple, so that there was no need for any gifts. Our escorts couldn’t even tell which direction the gate of the Pine-Wind Temple faced, let alone meet Master Yu. When they came back, they were infuriated. If it weren’t because of the specific orders I gave them before the trip to behave with restraint and respect, regardless of how ill-treated they were, they would probably have called them all manner of names and picked several fights.”

  After these words, Lin Zhennan stood up, a proud smile blossoming on his face. “And guess what? At long last, Master Yu has accepted our gifts, and has even sent four of his apprentices to return the courtesy and thank us in person….”

  “Four apprentices? Not two?” Lin Pingzhi asked breathlessly.

  “Yes, four apprentices!” Lin Zhennan answered. “Master Yu is really handling this matter quite solemnly. This will make our Escort House look especially good!! I’ve just sent messengers to our branches in Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei, informing them of the news and told them to treat these four as our noble guests.”

  “Father, when people from Sichuan speak, do they usually call others ‘son of a turtle’?” Lin Pingzhi suddenly blurted out a question.