Chapter 3: Encounter through Boots

  Ye Xuan and Sun Yu sat with other refugees on the side of a road in Jiang Wang Town, which was located in the south of Xiude Town and belonged to the larger town of He Dong. The Xining Empire had long since lost control of this region due to its greatly diminished power, and it now belonged to various bandit leaders. Jiang Wang Town was currently under the control of Chen Fei, the leader of the Tianlong Gang from the Tianlong Mountain in the south of Jiang Wang Town.

  Sun Yu sat beside Ye Xuan, following Ye Xuan's introduction to the situation around Jiang Wang Town. After hearing the name "Chen Fei", Ye Xuan couldn't help but fall into deep thought, this name was so familiar to him.

  When his father Ye Wei was still alive, Ye Wei had a general named Chen Xiang, and Chen Xiang's son was called Chen Fei. The two were close brothers from childhood, inseparable. At that time, the Ye family was in power, and Ye Xuanyuan was born with a clever mind, he was the child king of the Ye family army, and all the young people called him "Young General". As Ye Xuanyuan's younger brother, Chen Fei was also very close to him since childhood, so other children called him "The First Deputy General of Young General", Chen Fei was proud of this title.

  When Ye Xuan heard the name Chen Fei, he fell into deep thought beside him. Sun Yu didn't pay much attention and continued to say: "That Chen Fei is a strange person, other gangs (thieves) wherever they go are like locusts, burning, killing, looting, and doing all sorts of evil, leaving no grass unscathed. However, this Chen Fei is a straightforward and upright man who, although he became a bandit in the chaotic times, led his hundreds of men to plunder everywhere. But he has a code of conduct as a thief, always adhering to the principle of "plundering seven and leaving three", rarely making it difficult for refugees, and leaving a way out for the villagers who were robbed. The spoils of war are distributed to the villagers living in the same mountain village with him, so he is deeply loved by the people. What's even more surprising is that his army's flag is not named after "Chen", but is named after "Ye" and claims to be the Ye family army. However, there is no leader surnamed Ye among the gangs along the way.

  Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan also let out a sigh. He could confirm that the Chen Fei mentioned by Sun Yu was indeed the little brother Chen Fei who used to follow him around. Back then, after Ye Wei's death in battle and the decline of the Ye family, countless people came to attack the once glorious Ye family. To avoid these accusations, the Ye family moved from the west bank of the river to the east bank, and many families related to the Ye family were also implicated. The second generation of the Ye family army, led by Ye Wei, was forced to disband, and many generals were punished. The Chen family also suffered a significant blow. After Ye Xuan left the capital with his mother, he lost contact with Sun Yu, and it had been over 10 years since they last saw each other. Now that even Chen Fei had come out to commit treachery, it was clear that the Chen family had long since fallen. It was indeed true that "one day as a king, one day as a minister".

  At this time, Sun Yu did not notice Ye Xuan's abnormality and continued to introduce some rumors about Chen Fei. Ye Xuan raised his head, looking at the scorching sun, but was unaware of the sun's dazzling glare, muttering: "This gloomy sky is really annoying, Little Fly! I didn't expect you still remembered our appointment, ah... Tell me, Big Brother, should I see you again? Even if we meet, how can I face you?"

  Just as he was about to speak, the sound of war horses interrupted Ye Xuan's thoughts. Looking at the dust that had been splashed up, Ye Xuan remained silent. At this time, Sun Yu's voice sounded in his ear again: "Big brother, look at the leader, Chen Fei's most trusted younger brother, named Zhao Jie. He is six feet tall, with muscles all over his body, and his rough face, tanned by the sun, doesn't show a hint of weakness. Compared to the refugees around him, he looks completely different, strong and sturdy, not at all malnourished. Looking at the people behind Zhao Jie, their bodies are also robust, although not as good as Zhao Jie's, but not much worse either."

  Looking at the goods behind Zhao Jie, without Sun Yu saying it, Ye Xuan also understood that this group of soldiers must have looted a lot of silver and food from somewhere, and were really preparing to return to Tianlong Fort to live a carefree life.

  At this time, Zhao Jie gave an order and the people behind him dismounted their horses and sat down on one side of the road to rest. At this moment, Zhao Jie also noticed Ye Xuan's gaze beside him. Although Ye Xuan's gaze was very kind and did not contain any malice, but it made Zhao Jie feel extremely uncomfortable, because Ye Xuan's eyes had a condescending meaning, as if a superior was looking at his subordinate. This made Zhao Jie extremely unacceptable...

  After taking a look at Ye Xuan's feet, Zhao Jie felt even more unbalanced in his heart. This guy was actually wearing boots that only generals of the Xi Ning Empire had, and yet this person in front of him was just a refugee. How could he have such good things? He changed direction and walked towards Ye Xuan.

  It's not that Ye Xuan was to blame, because he had to travel a long way and at home there were only his father's unworn military boots of good quality left, so he had no choice. Ye Xuan didn't want to draw attention to himself, but he put on the pair of boots his father had left him and set off on his journey.

  As Zhao Jie walked towards him, Sun Yu's anxiety grew. At this moment, he had already clenched his fists and made a decision in his heart to protect his big brother, the only relative he had in this world, no matter what.

  At this time, Ye Xuan was very relaxed and smiled casually, patted Sun Yu's shoulder, indicating that nothing was wrong, and told him to relax. Soon, Zhao Jie walked up to Ye Xuan's side, looked at Ye Xuan's boots, then looked at his own boots which were full of patches, and said: "Kid, your boots are not bad, they belong to me now." Sun Yu stood up in anger, but Ye Xuan just smiled casually, indicating for Sun Yu to sit down, and said leisurely: "Okay, if you have the ability, then take them away."

  Zhao Jie sneered and reached out to grab Ye Xuan's boots, but Ye Xuan casually stretched out his leg and blocked Zhao Jie's hands. Zhao Jie was shocked in his heart, so he started using his martial arts skills to try and take the boots off Ye Xuan's feet. Although Ye Xuan's expression didn't change, he was secretly sneering: I'm a former captain of Team A, you think your little tricks can intimidate me?

  After several rounds, Zhao Jie became more and more astonished. He had already used his signature moves, but in front of this person, he couldn't even fart, it was so strange. Earlier, when he looked at himself with that kind of gaze, he felt a wave of powerlessness in his heart, knowing that this time he had really kicked an iron plate.

  He smiled and said: "Your kung fu is not bad, you two are together, I'll take you to see Big Brother."

  Ye Xuan couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart: It seems that this encounter with Chen Fei was still through a pair of boots.