The 42nd Emperor of Justice!

  Ximen Qing followed Bao Zheng and Shi Yan to Bao Zheng's home, where everyone sat down as host and guest. After serving some dried fruits that farmers only had, they started chatting.

  The village head was very grateful to Ximen Qing for saving his life. His wife had died early, and he only had a daughter named Shi Wei. If Shi Wei were to be taken by the bandits and made into a mountain fortress lady, then he would truly have no way to live.

  Shi Feng gave Shi Wei a signal, calling out: "Wei'er, aren't you coming over to pay respects to our benefactor? You being able to keep your life is all thanks to the great kindness of this benefactor!"

  Shi Yi nodded shyly and immediately came forward to stand in front of Ximen Qing, then directly knelt down and said: "Shi Yi thanks the benefactor for saving her life!"

  Having said that, he wanted to kowtow, but was stopped by Ximen Qing. Ximen Qing helped up Shi Wei and smiled: "No need, it's just a small effort!"

  Then he said to the wind and the others: "Right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Ximen Qing, and I'm from Qinghe County. This time I came out for a trip, but I got lost on the way, so I ended up in your village. You could also say it's fate that brought me here tonight, haha! I hope you all don't have to be too polite, just treat me like one of your own villagers, no need to be so courteous, with all the bowing and thanking, I'm about to collapse!"

  "Alright then, since Benefactor, no, since Officer Ximen doesn't like such polite words of gratitude, let's not say it! Old Wu, take the men and quickly slaughter the cattle, tonight our village will celebrate! The mountain bandits from Jinshan have been caught, and from now on our village can live in peace, we can hunt in peace, this is even more exciting than New Year's! Shi Feng, as the head of the village, spoke clearly and methodically, knowing that Ximen Qing was a traveler who had just arrived, he quickly ordered the villagers to prepare food. Although it was said to be for celebration, in reality it was still to thank Ximen Qing."

  Killing an ox to celebrate, even on New Year's Day, is almost unheard of, which shows how grateful the villagers are to Ximen Qing. The other villagers also thanked Ximen Qing for saving their lives and did not object, but instead went out one after another to do as Shi Feng said. In an instant, the house that was just crowded with people was left with only Ximen Qing, Shi Feng, Shi Chuan, Shi Wei, and a few elderly villagers from the Shi family village.

  At this moment, Shi Qian looked at Ximen Qing with an incredulous face and asked: "Benefactor, what did you just say your name was? Is it Ximen Qing from Qinghe County?"

  Ximen Qing nodded and said uncertainly, "That's right, I am Ximen Qing of Qinghe County. You can call me Ximen Qing or younger brother, what's wrong, Da Zhi?"

  Shi Qian swallowed his saliva, then stood up straight and bowed deeply to Ximen Qing, saying: "I, Shi Qian, am ignorant and didn't expect that the benefactor in front of me would be the famous 'Yi Di' from the Jianghu. Alas, I, Shi Qian, have eyes but no pearls, how could I not recognize you, sir? It's a crime punishable by death!"

  If it was said that the previous respect for Ximen Qing was due to gratitude for saving his life, then this grand ceremony is a sincere and admiring tribute!

  When Ximen Qing heard Shi's words, he smiled and stood up to support Shi, saying: "Alright, brother, what's the point of talking about righteousness or unrighteousness? Those are just things that friends in the jianghu say to save face! Brother, I regard you as a friend, why are you still being so polite? Are you treating me like an outsider?"

  Seeing Ximen Qing being so easy-going, Shi Yan's heart became even more respectful of him. He said: "Alright, I, Shi Yan, may not be a big shot, but I'm also not that kind of hypocritical person. You're so easy-going, so I won't be polite anymore, haha! However, brother, I still want to thank you. If it weren't for the help of Ju Xian Ju back then, I would have really starved to death on the streets! Now you've saved dozens of people in my village, Shi Jia Cun, and that's a huge kindness towards me. From now on, this life of mine belongs to you, brother, but what if you look down on me?"

  Ximen Qing's face turned serious, and he said solemnly: "Older brother, what are you saying? You treat me as a brother, and I will also wholeheartedly treat you as a brother! From now on, we brothers will share good fortune and bad together! Haha..."

  "Good! Haha...". Shi Qian also nodded solemnly and then burst out laughing.

  The origin of Ximen Qing's title "Yi Di" is quite interesting. The聚贤居 had helped many heroes, who were naturally grateful and admired Ximen Qing, wishing to acknowledge him as their sworn brother to repay his kindness. However, Ximen Qing was too young, and calling him "big brother" would have disrupted the generational order. Coincidentally, someone referred to Ximen Qing as "Yi Di", a title that quickly gained recognition! "Yi Di" implies that righteousness is paramount, perfectly describing Ximen Qing's benevolent deeds. Furthermore, "Yi Di" sounds similar to "Yi Di" (sworn brother), conveying an even closer relationship, which is why it was widely acclaimed, and Ximen Qing's title "Yi Di" became increasingly renowned!

  ·······

  The time had already reached midnight, but the village head of Shi's Village was extraordinarily lively. The people of Shi's Village were all gathered around the bonfire, happily singing mountain songs. And Ximen Qing also sat among the crowd, happily applauding. As for Shi Chuan, he was holding a knife and roasting beef on the bonfire.

  Time laughed and turned the beef on the iron fork, then turned his head to look at Ximen Qing and asked: "Younger brother, where are you going?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and replied: "I originally planned to go to Xizhou, but took a wrong turn and ended up here. By the way, brother, is there any county town nearby?"

  He handed the knife to a young man beside him, then walked over to Ximen Qing and sat down, stroking his small mustache, chuckling: "Behind our village, there is a road. Walking forward for twenty or thirty miles along this road will lead you to a fork in the road. Turning right and continuing on for another hundred miles will take you to Huangnigang. Once you arrive, there are more people and villages are densely packed. From Huangnigang, walking a few more miles will take you to Yuncheng! By the way, little brother, I'm free anyway, so let's go out together sometime, what do you say? In my younger years, I didn't have any skills, so I roamed all over the place, and I know how to get to many places. I can accompany you and show you the way, what do you think?"

  Ximen Qing was overjoyed as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly said: "Of course it's good! I couldn't ask for more! However, before we leave tomorrow, let's go to Jujin Mountain first. I have to destroy Jujin Mountain first, so that I can leave with peace of mind. Otherwise, leaving behind a disaster would not be beneficial to the Shi family village!"

  Shi Qian nodded and smiled: "Still, Emperor Yi thought it out clearly!"

  Ximen Qing smiled and said: "Why call me Master again? Just call me younger brother!"

  "Alright, it's all the same! Listen up, sworn brother, this is even closer than real brothers. From now on, I'll call you sworn brother! Haha... The beef is done, I'm going to go slice it!"

  After walking for a while, Shi Wei's face turned red as she stole a glance at Ximen Qing and asked: "Ximen brother, are you leaving tomorrow?"

  Seeing Xue'er's blushing face, Xi Menqing had a flirtatious thought and smiled saying: "Well, I'm leaving, after I leave, I won't be able to see the beautiful Wei'er anymore! Hehe..."

  Although Shi Wei was only fourteen years old, she was extremely pure and lovely. Although she wore only simple clothes, they couldn't hide her slender figure. Together with her strong personality, it really had a unique flavor. Otherwise, Jin Shan wouldn't have run tens of miles to come here and fight for her.

  Shi Wei's face suddenly turned even redder than the flames burning in front of her, she lowered her head and didn't dare to ask Ximen Qing again. The other villagers saw Shi Wei's appearance and were all shocked, because the original Shi Wei had a spicy temper, where did this shy look come from?