Chapter 28: Wrongful Killing

  "Ma Bao Yi!" Another officer beside him called out using Ma's official title, "Let that golden man experience the ferocity of 'Little Guan Suo' as well!"

  "Zhou Yu Hou, this isn't good at all!"

  "Alright, alright!" The officer in front of the palace, surnamed Zhou, chuckled and patted Ma Kuo's shoulder, saying: "Li Bao has a good sense of proportion, he won't hurt this barbarian, let's just wait and watch the show!" This Zhou Yu was in stark contrast to Ma Kuo. Compared to Ma Kuo's dark complexion, lean physique, and rough strength, Zhou Yu appeared white and plump, agile and likable, like a perfectly domesticated pet dog - clever, gentle, and good at guessing his master's intentions. It would be more accurate to say that he was an ornament in the imperial capital rather than a military man. Even today, readers can easily find people like him around them - perhaps an office director, secretary, or something similar. He did this because he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to revenge himself on Li Bao and curry favor with his superior, Gao Yun, who had long held a grudge against him.

  To put it bluntly, Tokyo people have a common characteristic of big city residents throughout the ages - they like everything new, but at the same time, they have an attitude of being aloof and not seeking to understand things they don't know. In their eyes, Bianjing is the center of this world, and everything in this world revolves around Bianjing, which is themselves. If that's the case, then what's the point of wasting energy trying to figure out what "Dajin" is? After all, compared to Bianjing, it's just a tiny tribe tens of thousands of miles away, so what does it have to do with them? Tokyo people are like this, and they generously cheer on Xiaodisan and Li Bao.

  In the arena, Li Bao and Xiao San had already exchanged two rounds. The experienced Li Bao did not rashly launch an attack, but cautiously dodged and parried his opponent's blows. As a man who relied on his performances to make a living, he was well aware that his reputation as "Tokyo's First" was both his fortune and his weakness. Tokyo people were the most fond of novelty and tired of old things; although they now cheered loudly for him and generously threw handfuls of copper coins into the arena, if he lost to this Jurchen woman, they would likely turn around and mock him for losing to a nobody from who-knows-where. His business as an actor would probably plummet, and since he had not accumulated any wealth or assets in his daily life, his future prospects were bleak.

  Xiao San's several flurries of attacks were either dodged by Li Bao or skillfully deflected. He gradually became agitated, and suddenly he jumped back a step, pointing at Li Bao with his finger and loudly shouting in an unfamiliar language.

  "What is this barbarian saying? Is he going crazy?" Xue Liangyu looked at Zhou Ping with inquiring eyes, and Zhou Ping also shook his head in confusion, thinking to himself how he could possibly understand the Jurchen language.

  "This guy is speaking Khitan!" A voice came from the crowd, and everyone's eyes turned to the source of the sound. They saw that it was a middle-aged fat man dressed as a merchant, who continued to explain: "He said, 'You're not a good fellow, always hiding and dodging, not daring to truly engage with him!'" As he spoke, he turned his head and asked Xiao Sanduo two more questions in Khitan. Xiao Sanduo nodded vigorously, pointed at Li Bao with one finger, then shook his head and smiled contemptuously.

  No need for human translation, the onlookers burst into a chorus of jeers and catcalls, indignant that their idol had been insulted by an outsider. It turned out that it was difficult to find someone among the Jurchen people who could speak Chinese, but there were many who spoke Khitan. This little scatterbrain had only learned a few simple Chinese phrases on the way, and in his haste, he blurted out the most fluent Khitan language. As Tokyo was then the center of world trade, there were merchants among the onlookers who understood Khitan.

  Li Bao was furious upon hearing this, but he had been rolling around in the marketplace for a long time and had experienced many hardships, so his emotions did not show on his face. He said to the merchant, "Brother, would you please pass on a message for me? If I take another step back, Li Bao will have lost, and I'll kowtow ten times in front of everyone!"

  After the merchant finished translating Li Bao's words, the onlookers cheered in unison. Xiaosanduo's face turned grave, and he didn't immediately pounce on Li Bao. Instead, he circled around him a few times. Suddenly, Xiaosanduo let out a loud roar and charged at Li Bao like a thunderclap. Li Bao stretched out his arms to block Xiaosanduo's attack, and with a gentle twist, he dissipated three or four parts of the force. The two men then became entangled.

  Sweat dripped from their hot skin as they wrestled, illuminated by the fiery light of the torches around them. Their iron-like arms twisted each other's spines, causing them to creak and groan. Both men gritted their teeth, emitting a piercing grinding sound. On the sandy ground, heavy footsteps echoed.

  After a while, the two men stood still, like stone statues. The audience gasped in awe, admiring the bulging muscles on their shoulders, backs, and legs. However, this stalemate didn't last long. Li Bao's steel-like arms slowly but irresistibly tightened, causing Xiaosanduo's breathing to become rapid. His eyes bulged out, and his throat emitted a sound that was not just pleading for mercy but also calling for help.

  Suddenly, the sound became hoarse, and blood gushed from his mouth.

  "Let go of your hands, let go, this is the envoy of Jin Guo!" A flustered cry came from outside the crowd. Li Bao hastily loosened his arms, but it was too late. Xiao San's body seemed to have been drained of its bones, limp on the ground, his body convulsing violently, and death was clearly not far away.

  Ma Kui pushed through the crowd, rushed into the arena, and while helping up Xiao Sanduo from the ground, loudly shouted: "Zhou Yu, quickly ask a doctor to come!" However, the god of death had already arrived ahead of time, a dying breath passed through Xiao Sanduo's body, and the head of the Jurchen envoy hung down, dead.

  That Zhou Yu walked into the crowd, not following Ma Chao's orders. He glanced at the small scattered objects on the ground and coldly smiled at Li Bao who was standing there: "Good you, Li Bao, daring to injure someone, a Jin envoy!"

  "I, I didn't mean to, just now at the corner I couldn't control my hand, besides he was forcing me——" Li Bao explained in a flustered tone. Zhou Yu coldly sneered and shouted: "You go explain to Kaifeng Prefecture, come on, take this guy down!"

  "Ah!" A thunderous shout came from behind Zhou Yu, and four imperial guards with drawn swords rushed forward, pressing Li Bao to surrender. Li Bao stood there stupidly, on the verge of being captured.

  "'Little Guan Suo' is running fast!" A shout came from the crowd, almost at the same time, a strong man let out a miserable cry, dropped his sword and covered his forehead with his hand. People with sharp eyes could see that blood was gushing out from between his fingers. Li Bao finally woke up like a dream and rushed towards the outside of the crowd.

  "Si Lang, what are you doing?" In the crowd, Zhou Ping widened his eyes and stared at Xue Liangyu beside him, who was still holding several stones in his hand, clearly having just shouted that loud cry, throwing rocks to injure that soldier.

  "Save him! Can't just watch this good fellow be sent to Kaifeng Prefecture to eat prison food for killing a barbarian?"

  "What nonsense! This is an envoy of the Golden People, do you understand?"

  "What's it to you? Just a barbarian, our Xue family was rewarded for killing barbarians back in He Dong Prefecture!"

  "You——" was left speechless by the other's sophistry, Zhou Ping viciously kicked Xue Liangyu, but the other looked at him calmly, a moment later Zhou Ping hummed and turned to walk to the right, Xue Liangyu hurried to follow up and asked: "Where are you going?"

  Zhou Ping replied in a bad mood: "Good people do things thoroughly, send Buddha to the west, now 'Xiao Guan Suo' doesn't even have a single piece of luggage on him, we should go help him out!"

  "Ah Ping, I knew you weren't the kind of person who would abandon someone to death. You're indeed worthy of being my second brother's sworn brother!" Xue Liangyu excitedly patted Zhou Ping on the shoulder and followed him, then asked: "But Tokyo is so big, where are we going to find him?"

  Zhou Ping looked around at the empty surroundings, the audience had long been scared away by the big event that had just occurred, and the scattered bodies had also been cleaned up, leaving only a bloodstain on the ground. He pointed to the small building where the two golden men were fighting and said: "If I were Li Bao, he would be back soon, let's go upstairs and wait."

  "Return? How is that possible? Isn't that jumping into the net?"

  "Haha!" Zhou Ping smiled slightly and explained: "This Li Bao is quite famous in Tokyo, so his residence must be known to many people. Now that he has no money on him, whether he wants to escape from Tokyo or find a place to hide, he will definitely need some money. At this critical moment, his residence must be guarded by the police, and even if he borrows from friends, he is afraid of being betrayed. On the other hand, no one would think that he would return here, and tonight's share of money and his clothes are still in that hut, untouched, it's a good opportunity."

  "Really or not?" Xue Liangyu looked around suspiciously, and at this time, the torches that had been lit around the courtyard had been extinguished in the chaos earlier, leaving only one still burning. Just as Zhou Ping said, there was no one in the courtyard. After about half a cup of tea's worth of time, a figure appeared from the corner of the street, looking left and right, and cautiously made his way towards the thatched hut. It seemed to be Li Bao's appearance. Xue Liangyu admiringly stretched out his thumb to Zhou Ping, who smiled and said in a low voice: "You stay a few steps behind me, I'll go talk to him, don't scare him away!" At this time, he was completely in command, and Xue Liangyu didn't think it was presumptuous.