Chapter 50: The Gallant Heroes

  A heroic spirit soaring high

  As soon as the red-faced man finished speaking, he was slapped heavily on the face, and five pale fingerprints were particularly conspicuous on his red face.

  "Second Brother Da, how dare you speak to your sister-in-law like that! Have you forgotten the oath we swore before our late master's spirit?"

  The red-faced man took a punch and stood there with his head bowed, covering his face in shock and anger.

  "Do you think these people all eat vegetarian food?"

  They're all armed on the iron train, thirty or forty of them, a considerable number! They'll fight to the death, brothers, and won't hesitate to sacrifice a few!

  Since these people dare to travel without an armed escort, they must have a strong backing.

  Yesterday, when they were practicing crossbow shooting outside Yinma Town, although we were far away, we all saw it! Those ten ancient-style crossbows of theirs, I think even the official military crossbows wouldn't be able to hit the target at a distance of over 200 steps.

  "These people are definitely not simple!"

  That little fellow who was busy scouting and inquiring also hurriedly said: "Big brother is right! That crossbow is indeed formidable! I've run around the jianghu, but I've never seen any official soldiers with such a powerful weapon!"

  These crossbowmen, after finishing their practice, would go forward and carve trees with knives, one by one collecting the bolts. I was curious to take a look, only to see that each hole on the tree was three inches deep!

  Don't mention that we don't have armor on our bodies, even if it's just ordinary official hard leather armor, I'm afraid it would still be a match made in heaven!

  The big brother took two steps forward, with a dark face and his hands on his hips: "So I want to take action at the Ten Mile Fort, suddenly and without warning, they will definitely not have time to draw their crossbows. By the time we put our knives to their necks, we won't have to worry about getting all the wealth."

  Since you've already taken all their wealth, why must you also harm their lives!

  "If we were to do such an unrighteous thing, and it got out, our Jianghu brothers would lose face for the White Horse Society!"

  Yao Fang and his group had no idea they were being watched. From noon, when they arrived at the inn, Yao Fang ordered the shopkeeper to prepare wooden tubs and basins for his men. Thirty people, including Yao Fang himself, went to the backyard of the inn, stripped naked, took out their own soap, and started taking a cool shower.

  It was just past noon, the scorching sun emitted a dazzling white light, baking the bluestone floor of the inn's courtyard to a fiery heat. Everyone took off their shoes and stepped on the scalding stone slabs, hastily scooping water from gourds to pour over their bodies.

  The warm water that had been warmed by the sun immediately flowed from everyone's heads to their feet, taking away the heat and the scorching of the bluestone beneath their feet. Everyone felt this was a great pleasure! The naked men were laughing loudly, using rough and straightforward movements to apply soap to their bodies, splashing water at each other, creating a lively and joyful scene.

  It was unclear who started it, but Yao Feng's heroic song that he had taught everyone on the journey for the past few days began to ring out.

  The great river flows eastward!~~~~~~

  The stars in the sky are as numerous as the Big Dipper!~~~~~

  Let's go if we say so, everyone has it!~~~~~

  When you see injustice on the road, shout out loud! When it's time to take action, take action!~~~~~~~

  Rushing through the nine states with a fiery passion!~~~~~

  ……

  When he heard these young men singing with such vigor, Yao Fan also became excited and led the way with his clear and high-pitched voice, shouting and leading the singing. Thirty-one men, thirty-one voices, different in pitch and width, yet at the same time shouting out the same tune.

  A lifelong friendship in one bowl of wine!~~~~~

  A bowl of wine, no distinction between rich and poor!~~~~~

  All the way looking at the sky without turning back! ~~~~~

  Aiya aiya yi er ya! ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  This bold and heroic song bursts into the blue sky, three thousand feet high, rushes into the clouds of ten thousand meters, like the thunderous sound of opening up the sky and earth, bursting out the stifling of life, playing out the magnificent chapter of surging waves.

  The singing voice echoed through the inn, infecting the shopkeeper and the boss, who stood by with a grin on their faces, watching this group of traveling merchants sing naked.

  The travelers staying in the inn also heard the singing voice, each with a different taste in their hearts.

  A young man in his early twenties, tall and slender, happened to live in this courtyard. The window of the wing room faced the yard, and he heard a group of rough men making noise while taking a shower outside. He felt annoyed, put down the chess pieces he was playing with someone, pulled open the curtains and pushed open the window, just about to scold them when he unexpectedly heard such a song.

  He turned to a young man beside him, who was only as tall as his shoulder: "This song is unheard of... It sounds like the local flavor of Shandong Province, rough and straightforward, which is quite different from our Anhui Southern style."

  The young man laughed and said: "Listening to it sounds quite heroic, like a group of good men."

  The young man shook his head and said, "This song has a big tone, but it's too wild. I only knew after hearing it with my own ears that it's no wonder bandits like to gather in Shandong, because even traveling merchants in the countryside here sing songs of this kind."

  That young man leaned against the window, looking at Yao Fang's tall and majestic red body leading the singing, tilted his head and thought for a moment, saying: "What flavor? Brother, do you think this song has some of the heroic spirit and bandit spirit of 'The Water Margin'?"

  The young man looked at the boy in surprise and said: "Describe your ears are inverted, just this tone."

  At this time, another young man in the house was also moved by the song, and he couldn't help but throw away his chess pieces, rush forward, and poke his head out of the window from beside the two men to see who was singing with such heroic spirit.

  This was the first time they had met, and the young man was immediately stunned. The entire courtyard was filled with naked men, led by one whose body shone like white jade in the sunlight, his handsome face bronzed to a deep copper from two days of sun exposure. As the intense sunlight of mid-afternoon hit him, it refracted through countless water droplets, casting an ethereal silver glow around him, enveloping his entire being in a dazzling aura of white light, making him seem like a celestial deity descended upon the mortal world.

  He Shicheng poured the water from the bucket, which was filled with cold well water that had just been drawn, onto Yao Feng's head as instructed. The cold water splashed everywhere, causing Yao Feng's muscles to tense up instantly. He shook his head and let out a loud whoop of excitement.

  Yao Fan didn't wear a wig while taking a bath, and with his head exposed, the short hair without a braid made him look even more awkward.

  That young man saw Yao Fang Zheng staring at her with narrowed eyes, his muscles were well-proportioned and robust, and the red head and white body below were even more striking, dripping water standing upright.

  The young man was suddenly frightened, hurriedly covering his face and turning around to run back to the chessboard, his heart racing wildly, the pink face under his fingers burning red as if he had a fever.

  The young man also realized that something was wrong, furrowed his brow and turned back to say: "Jing Yu, don't look at them, these men are all traveling merchants, very coarse."

  After that, the young man loudly said to Yao Fan, who was obviously the leader among the people in the courtyard: "Hey, fellow! You've been singing for half a day now. Stop humming and disturbing others on this quiet afternoon."

  Yao Feng didn't feel embarrassed at all, standing stark naked in front of the young man, slightly cupping his hands and saying: "Brother is right too, noise pollution is unbearable."

  Yao Fan turned his head and said to those behind him: "Friends, stop making noise, don't disturb the guests who are resting."

  That young man saw that Yao Fan had no queue and curiously inquired: "Alas, that fellow, what was the name of the song you sang just now?"

  Yao Feng heard the young whippersnapper's arrogant words and, puffing out his chest, sneered: "This song is called 'The Heroic Song', it tells of the 108 heroes of Liangshan swearing brotherhood and bringing order to the world. You little kid can't sing this, your hair hasn't even grown in yet, if you sing it during the day, at night you'll probably wet your pants."

  That young man listened but didn't get angry, and smiled: "You're quite bold, don't you know that Water Margin makes a big deal out of breaching cities and rescuing prisoners, and considers killing people and setting fires as heroic deeds? The world has many thieves, and the harm is all because of this. The Qing imperial family has long since forbidden this book, how dare you read it?"

  Yao Fangxin said that this kid can't be underestimated, he's young but has a big personality, and when talking to strangers, he doesn't show any shyness, with a smiling face hiding his cunning nature, he must be from an official family.

  At this, Yao Wenyong straightened his waist and said to Wu Tou Jiangjun: "Since books are banned, of course they can't be read. But ordinary people don't read books anyway, they just like to sing a song or two, singing about the good sons of Shandong who are loyal, righteous, and chivalrous. Will the government also ban songs in the future?"

  That young man listened to Yao Fang's words and nodded: "Since ancient times, Liu Xiang didn't read books, but you, Hanzi, actually understand some principles."

  The young man also spoke up: "This fellow, you have a strange cargo-carrying vehicle parked in the backyard, is that a foreign horse?"

  Yao Fan knew at once that this was a connoisseur. The history of bicycles was introduced to China in 1875, and it was called "Yang Ma Er" (Foreign Horse). At that time, people translated it as such, rather than as "bicycle" or "single bike", because they felt that riding a bicycle was no slower than riding a horse, and sometimes even faster.

  Yao Fandao said, "I heard that only the British have sold this car to the imperial court in Beijing. How did you know that they call it 'yangma' (foreign horse) there? You're so young, yet your knowledge is quite extensive."

  With Yao Weng's praise, the young man smiled and said: "I have one at home, of course I've seen it. However, the model of our family car is different from yours, although it's the same as the one presented to the emperor, but it doesn't have your iron wheel hub that big, the paint color isn't as bright as yours, and the wheels are a thin layer of rubber, not as thick and elastic as yours.

  I took a look and thought your steel ring and handlebars are great, they're made of snowflake-patterned steel. Unlike the one at my house, which has black iron wheels and the rest is wood. I also saw that you have a luggage rack in the back, it looks like someone can sit on it too. But what I don't understand is why your pedals aren't installed on the front wheel, instead they're just hanging from an iron chain and towing the rear wheel?

  He then hastily turned to Yao Fang and asked with a smile: "Sir, is your carriage for sale?"

  Yao Feng took the long gown handed over by He Shi Cheng and put it on directly without wearing underwear, with his chest open facing the window and asked: "How much did you pay?"

  The young man sneered: "You are indeed a merchant with the air of a businessman. Whatever price you sell, I will pay. Why must you test how much I can afford?"

  Yao Feng smiled and said: "Hehe, you're right. If I asked you the price, I would have been at a disadvantage."

  "Don't be surprised, little brother. These vehicles are for each of my companions to ride one by one to go to Jinan Prefecture. I don't have a horse either. If I sell one to you, then one of my companions will have to carry the goods on his back to go to Jinan Prefecture."