Using his flying jumps, Han Changsheng quickly left w.a.n.g Laoqi behind. He rushed towards the Tianyuan villa in much less time than it would have taken to run. Just as w.a.n.g Laoqi said, once he reached the villa, he heard fighting inside.
The day before, An Yuan had knocked down one of the gates to the villa, but the other side of the gate hadn"t been spared. It was thrown aside like a felled tree. Swaggering into the yard, Han Changsheng gave it a cursory glance.
Several gang members had ama.s.sed inside the villa. Yi Laosan"s group numbered only dozen, but faced twenty or thirty opponents. The fight in the yard was nearly one-sided. Yi Laosan and the others struggled to endure the fight. All of them were covered in wounds.
In the past, Yi Laosan might have run away when he saw such a great disparity in power. This time, however, An Yuan and Han Changsheng were there. They dared not leave them behind. They still hoped the two men would help teach the Evil Wind Gang a lesson, so they struggled only long enough for An Yuan and Han Changsheng to arrive.
As soon as Han Changsheng reached the villa gates, Yi Laosan and his men shouted, "Master Yue Peng! You"re back at last!"
"Master Yue Peng!"
"Master Yue Peng, hurry and beat them up!"
They had all seen Han Changsheng"s ability to decimate a man only by picking his nose. After that, any of his abilities were extraordinary.
The Evil Wind Gang stared at him.
Who was the guy the mountain thieves placed such high hopes on, and where did he come from? At a glance, they were all disappointed. They thought Master Yue Peng would be a rough-buff man at nine feet tall. Instead, they saw a thin, weak-looking, fair-faced lad. Some of them even looked around to see if Master Yue Peng was someone else.
Staring at the bandits, Han Changsheng asked, "Are you the Evil Wind Gang? Is Shi Laoniu in your ranks? Let me see him."
A big man stepped out of the crowd. He really was nearly nine feet tall. Suntanned skin with a tall, st.u.r.dy figure, his arms were thicker than Han Changsheng"s thighs. He walked with heavy steps, making the earth tremble under his feet. He had a huge saber in his hand, weighing at least 20 jin. When he waved it, he could slice off several peoples" heads at once. This big man was Wan Shishan, the leader of the Evil Wind Gang.
Wan Shishan moved closer to Han Changsheng. He looked at him condescendingly, then sneered and said, "Are you the Huangfu master"s little child? It"s said the people of the central plains have excellent martial arts skills. Let me see how good they can be!"
His voice was as loud as a bell, he had a strong base. The whole villa could hear him when he opened his mouth. Compared to him, Han Changsheng"s voice was little more than a mosquito call.
Some of the gang and the mountain bandits stopped fighting. They came around to see what was happening.
Han Changsheng didn"t pay any attention to the guy who was twice his size. Looking around, he asked, "Where is Shi Laoniu?"
"Master Yue Peng," Yi Laosan cried, "The old housekeeper isn"t here!"
"That"s a pity. I"ve rushed here for nothing." He looked at the big man before him. "You, go back and send him to me."
He ignored Wan Shishan and made the man furious. Raising his saber, Wan Shishan shouted, "Brothers, let me cut down this sugarcane for you!"
Looking around in a daze, Han Changsheng didn"t see any sugarcane.
He didn"t realize he was the sugarcane.
Wan Shishan swung fiercely with his saber. The wind from his movement made dust all around him fly into the air.
Still looking around, Han Changsheng was lucky he was short enough that the saber went just over his head.
Wan Shishan"s vision blurred, and his face shifted. He knelt, then fell to the ground. He was so large, he hit it with a heavy thud, making the table next to him spring up.
The noisy courtyard fell silent.
No one saw how Han Changsheng did it. Everything happened in a flash of lightning, they didn"t even see him move. Wan Shishan lost his strength to fight back. Someone screamed, breaking the silence. Two bandits ran up, grabbing hold of Wan Shishan. Although he wasn"t dead, his face was as white as paper. His whole body twitched, but he didn"t suffer any injuries.
Han Changsheng"s sword never left its sheath. He only struck Wan Shishan"s chest with his scabbard. Wan Shishan, with no deep internal strength, couldn"t handle it.
"Mon. . . Monster!" Some of the bandits cried out, fleeing. The rest of them had no intention of fighting. Yi Laosan overthrew them and the other gang members, or they ran away. Two or three of them carried Wan Shishan away. Han Changsheng glared, but didn"t stop them.
Yi Laosan and the others didn"t come to their senses for a long time. They all ran up and surrounded Han Changsheng, shouting, "Master Yue Peng! How did you do it?"
"Master Yue Peng, you"re amazing!"
"Master Yue Peng, teach us martial arts!"
Han Changsheng wasn"t interested. Wan Shishan wasn"t really a master. He was no better than the disciples of the Yuehua Sect. Since the Tianyuan Villa had been abandoned, the Wulin Sect hadn"t been around the entire Tiandao prefecture. Both the gang and the mountain bandits knew nothing of the secrets of martial arts. They only had big bodies capable of brute force that could only scare normal people.
Wan Shishan was full of flaws. It wouldn"t take much effort to find a fast enough swordsman in the central plains to defeat him. Beating Wan Shishan didn"t require that much energy.
Not long afterwards, An Yuan returned.
As soon as he arrived, he saw several corpses littering the yard. Everyone was chirping around Han Changsheng, he was stunned.
"Young master!" Yi Laosan cried, hurriedly running to him and dragging him closer, "Your master is so powerful! Is he the best in the Wulin? The young master has him as a master, the old master and his wife in heaven will be so relieved!"
An Yuan, whose ancestral tomb was raided by the "amazing master" just a moment ago, could feel his face muscles twitch.
All of them described how Han Changsheng scared away dozens of gang members. An Yuan nodded, looking at Han Changsheng. There wasn"t much surprise in his gaze.
He had dealt with Yi Laosan and the others thus, he knew the bandits were in the Tiandao prefecture.
"Master Yue Peng," w.a.n.g Laoqi said, "You are so powerful. Can you help us save Shi Laoniu?"
They were worried that An Yuan and Han Changsheng would put them in danger when they went to save everyone. But now that they"d seen Han Changsheng"s ability, they weren"t worried at all.
Han Changsheng looked at An Yuan with inquiring eyes. The only person who might know what happened was Shi Laoniu. He didn"t need the mountain bandits to open his mouth. He planned to go to the Evil Wind Gang to find out the truth, but he didn"t expect they"d find him first.
Lightly, An Yuan said, "We can go now."
The mountain bandits cheered, but An Yuan added, "You don"t need to follow me. I"ll go."
The mountain bandits were stunned.
"I"ll accompany the young master," Han Changsheng nodded. "No one needs to join the party."
With a smile, Wan Laoqi said, "Master Yue Peng, let us help you."
The Evil Wind Gang had oppressed them for a long time, they wanted to relieve some of their grievances.
An Yuan was still cold. "No need."
Facing denial, there was nothing else for the mountain bandits to do but angrily lay down their weapons.
An Yuan started to leave, and Han Changsheng followed. Yi Laosan called, "Young master, master Yue Peng, be careful!"
An Yuan and Han Changsheng didn"t turn back. They sought to find where the Evil Wind Gang went.
After a long while, Han Changsheng asked, "Is your father buried again?"
The air around An Yuan turned cold again.
Immediately, Han Changsheng said, "Pretend I never asked!"
He shrunk his neck. He would just have to suffer for two days. When An Yuan helped him with his internal power, he would take the opportunity to retaliate. The Dog Lord, despite being an immortal, dared to be so rude?
An Yuan glanced at Han Changsheng and saw his face written with confusion.
Soon, they caught up to the Evil Wind Gang.
The Evil Wind Gang had just escaped from the Tianyuan villa, their state of mind in shambles from the fight. When they saw the monster at their heels with a friend at his side, they panicked. The man at the gate of the stockade frantically tried to escape inside. As he ran, he called, "The monster is coming! The monster is coming!"
Han Changsheng sneered. Had they ever seen such a handsome monster?
They went all the way in. No one in the Evil Wind Gang dared to stop them. Occasionally, one brave man grabbed a sword and tried to get closer, but Han Changsheng drew out his sword so fast they couldn"t see anything. He fell to his knees in fear in front of the Cult Leader.
Stepping forward, Han Changsheng rested the sword on his neck. "Where is Shi Laoniu?"
The guy peed his pants in fear and couldn"t say a word. He pointed to a room, not far away.
Taking back his sword, Han Changsheng walked towards it with An Yuan at his side.
Pushing open the door, they went inside. A middle-aged man with a plain face and a fat body sat at a table. A book and a pair of abacuses rested before him, as he was trying to balance the accounts. Another big man stood beside him, a saber in his hand, staring at him.
Seeing An Yuan and Han Changsheng break in, they were shocked. The big man jumped, then raised his saber and shouted, "Who are you? Why did you break in?!"
Standing before the door with his arms crossed, Han Changsheng sneered. An Yuan stepped in and flipped over the big man with the saber. The man didn"t even have time to move.
The middle-aged man was so frightened he couldn"t help backing up in panic. "Don"t kill me, don"t kill me! I"ll settle the accounts, and I"ll be finished immediately."
"Housekeeper Shi Laoniu," An Yuan called.
The middle-aged man was stunned. He drew his hand away from his face. "You. . . You are. . ."
"I am Huangfu."
The old housekeeper was stunned for a long time. Suddenly, his eyes were hot, and he trembled, "You. . . are you Huangfu Fengxuan Xichen? You are the young villa leader?"
An Yuan glanced at Han Changsheng. For as long as he masqueraded as the hermit master, Han Changsheng had insisted to An Yuan that his name was Ugly; so he whistled a minor key and shifted his gaze all over the place.
Fwheeeoo~ Whatever, the name "Ugly" was still better sounding than that of Fengxuan Xichen, thought Han Changsheng. =。=
An Yuan said, "Housekeeper, it"s me."
Shi Laoniu jumped up excitedly and grabbed An Yuan"s arm, looking him up and down. "Young master, you came back? You have grown so much in the blink of an eye, so handsome too. Uncle Shi almost didn"t recognize you!"
Han Changsheng cleaned out his ear and said impatiently, "If you want to talk about the past best do it once we"ve returned. Now that we"ve found who we were looking for, let"s head back?"
An Yuan did not reply. He walked out, supporting Shi Laoniu"s arm.
"Young villa leader, My wife and children have been taken by the Evil Wind Gang. I. . ."
"Where are they?" An Yuan interrupted.
Shi Laoniu pointed to the East. They moved through the streets quickly, with no one daring to stop them. Finally, they came to another room. Once there, they saw an old lady, a middle-aged woman, and two children, all tied up. They were Shi Laoniu"s family.
Han Changsheng looked at these people, seeing how frightened they were. He smiled, then walked forward, drawing his sword. They saw only a cold flash of light from his blade. The people closed their eyes in fear and shivered.
Sheathing the sword back in its scabbard, Han Changsheng said lazily, "Now, is the rescue over? Hurry up, I have stuff to ask you when we get back!"
Translator(s): Empress
TL Check: Teo
Editor(s): Nadialuxxor
Proofer(s): Dark
Footnotes:Jin: An old Chinese unit measurement. 20 jin is about 22lbs or nearly 10kg.Ugly: 醜八怪 = Chou Ba Guai. Han Changsheng told An Yuan his name was Chou Ba Guai some chapters ago. We only used "Ugly" instead of Chou Ba Guai to avoid confusion. Nadialuxxor:I have to agree with HCS. Chou Ba Guai does sound a lot better than Huangfu Fengxuan Xichen. LOL!