Volume 2 Chapter 33: Drinking Party Heroes
Just as Lin Jianlan was about to step forward, he saw a figure in the dense forest next to him quickly rush to the front of the side hall. All the thugs were startled, and when they came to their senses, they immediately surrounded the man. Some drew out long whips, some held big sticks, and some held machetes , looking the man up and down.
Lin Jianlan looked at the man from behind and saw that he was wearing a blue shirt and had a burly figure. Although he did not know his identity, from his movements just now, it seemed that he was quite skilled in martial arts and would not be hurt by these insignificant people. With an idea, he turned to the back wall of the side hall and climbed in through the window. He was blocked by the statue and heavy curtains of the side hall. He looked out and saw an old woman on the ground beating her chest and gasping for breath. A young girl was squatting beside her, and he was supporting her and crying. Tears were dripping down her face , so he could not see her face clearly.
In front of the two of them was a man dressed as a scholar, who looked quite young. He opened his arms and said seriously, "Is there no law in Suzhou City?"
Opposite them were two dandies. One had a handsome face, but his skin was white, his eye bags were puffy, and he had a lewd smile on his lips. The other had pockmarks all over his face. He waved a huge fan in his hand, gently fanning the pale young man, and said with a gruff laugh, "Yes, of course! We are the law!"
At this time, there was a sound of fighting outside the door. I guess they had already started fighting. The pale young man was a little impatient and said, "You are a good-looking scholar, but it's a pity that I don't like you. Don't stop me from doing good things. Where's your purse? Move this person who is in the way out of my way. If you can't do it, I'll kill him!"
When Lin Jianlan heard the word "purse", his mind moved. He saw a man silently coming out from the shadow of the palace pillar, with drooping eyebrows and no one could tell his expression. He walked towards the young scholar step by step. Lin Jianlan had seen the death of Chief Chen, and although he didn't know what weapon this "purse" used, he understood that most of the people in the Yukou Division were cruel and ruthless. He didn't dare to delay any longer, and shouted "Stop" lightly and jumped into the open space.
The pockmarked man was startled at first, then he smiled and said, "Wow, there are quite a few people who stand up for this girl! How can she not cherish her life at such a young age? To be honest, some people did stand up for justice a few years ago. Hebao, what happened to those people later?"
The "Pouch" said in a low voice: "It's nothing. I naturally tried my best to leave their bodies intact. However, they were so rotten that I had to throw them in a swamp to avoid them being exposed in broad daylight." His tone was so normal, as natural as eating and sleeping. The young scholar couldn't help trembling and almost vomited after hearing it.
Lin Jianlan took a step forward, knowing that there was no point in saying anything more to this tyrannical and lawless man, so he pulled out his sword and flashed in front of the two men. The two men were immediately frightened and turned pale. They cried out "Oh my God" and squatted down, repeatedly blaming the "purse": "What are you doing! Hurry up and give it to grandpa!"
The "purse" said nothing more, pulled out a fan from his sleeve and slowly opened it, smiled sinisterly and rushed forward, with one hand fan rolling like snowflakes, and the other hand five fingers like hooks, with a sharp wind sound, Lin Jianlan evaded with the sword, heard a crisp "ding" sound, the fan bone was also very hard, the wind sound came again, hurriedly flew away, suddenly remembered the fight between Lin Hongfeng and Fang Zheng in the courtyard that day, he knew nothing about martial arts, only felt the sound of the two people's weapons, and the moves were so fast that it was almost impossible to see clearly. Looking back later, that fight was definitely not Fang Zheng's extreme, while he was thinking about the way to crack the "burn jade and stone together", he was parrying, and his counterattacks were still extremely fast.
Thinking about the "purse" in front of him again, although its moves were also fierce, they were far inferior. If it was just a parry, it would be more than enough. With a thought, he used the body skills in the bamboo forest, like a swimming fish, and the long sword seemed to have spirituality. In a moment, he had exchanged more than dozens of moves. The curtain was covered with large and small cracks. The two of them were fighting around the curtain in the hall, but they heard a loud "clang" from the hall door. He glanced with his peripheral vision and saw that the door had fallen off and fell several feet into the hall. A figure stepped in. It seemed that it was the one who had been one step ahead of him. Lin Jianlan breathed a sigh of relief and felt more relieved. He just focused on staring at the "purse" and fighting with it. Seeing another person coming, the "purse" tried to run towards Wu and Cai several times, but was stopped by Lin Jianlan one by one. His expressionless face became a little anxious. He attacked fiercely for several times. The fan suddenly turned and bounced. Lin Jianlan felt a puff of light smoke coming towards him. His body softened and fell down. The "purse" sneered and also moved down. When he retracted the fan, a sharp spike popped out from it and stabbed Lin Jianlan close to him. Several people nearby exclaimed in surprise. They saw a spurt of blood shooting out from between the two of them in the air and splashing far away.
Wu and Cai were delighted, but saw Lin Jianlan steady himself and land gracefully. Although his clothes were stained with red, he did not look defeated at all. The "purse" was torn in the key parts of his clothes. His face was gray and he was gasping for breath. His hands, like dry claws, were tightly blocking his chest, but he still couldn't stop the blood from flowing. In an instant, a pool of dark red had accumulated on the ground. Seeing his puzzled face, Lin Jianlan felt both resentment and sympathy for him, and said, "You said that the people you killed were all rotten to the point of being unrecognizable. I knew that your fan was poisonous."
The "purse" was still making a series of hoarse sounds, and then he slowly fell down. Lin Jianlan saw Wu Hong's face getting paler and his whole body shaking. He almost laughed out loud when he saw that Wu Hong's clothes were wet. He was actually incontinent due to fear. Cai Shaobing stood in front of Wu Hong. His face was swollen, his mouth and nose were bleeding, and his face . He must have been beaten up just now and was in a mess. The most puzzling thing was that the young scholar was standing in front of him again, looking angry at Yuan Xingjian, and it was unclear whether he was an enemy or a friend.
Lin Jianlan couldn't help feeling a little confused, and turned around and said, "Thank you for your help." When he looked up, he was stunned. The man was none other than Yuan Xingjian from Taihu, who had been sitting opposite him during the Beggars' Sect's memorial service.
Yuan Xingjian was also startled when he saw Lin Jianlan. He felt that the young man opposite him looked very familiar. After a moment, he smiled and said, "It turned out to be Young Master Lin. What a coincidence." He turned around and looked at Wu and Cai and said, "It's a rare day of leisure, but I met these two scums. It's really a bummer. My dear brother, please move aside."
The young scholar had fine wrinkles on his forehead and bit his lower lip tightly, saying, "They are tyrannical and will be dealt with by local officials. The young lady was frightened and you beat them up pretty badly. Let's just stop here!"
Yuan Xingjian clenched his fist again and said, "Do you want me to give up? Such villains deserve to die! If the local officials were not in cahoots with them, how could they be so arrogant? In the final analysis, do you regret meddling in this matter? Don't worry, the notoriety of this murder is on me, Yuan Xingjian, and has nothing to do with you!"
The young man's eyes widened instantly, he looked at Yuan Xingjian for a moment and then lowered his head sadly and said: "Do you think I am speaking for them or I am afraid of trouble? Well, I won't argue with you, but you can't let me watch you kill someone on the spot." After that, he turned around and scolded: "Why don't you leave quickly?" His body just blocked the two men, his eyes fixed on Yuan Xingjian. The two men saw that he had blocked their good deeds before, but now he was like a life-saving Bodhisattva. Although they didn't understand the situation, they knew that they had to rely on this man to stay alive. They grabbed the young scholar's clothes tightly, hid behind him, and moved towards the door step by step. Although Yuan Xingjian had the intention to kill, he could not guarantee that the young scholar would be safe. He could only watch the group of servants who were beaten to death by him help the two men away in embarrassment.
When the young scholar saw them going away, he left the doorway, walked up to the mother and daughter, supported them and said, "You were frightened. Thank you for your help."
Although Yuan Xingjian was still very angry, he couldn't bear to see others bowing and thanking him, so he waved his hand and said, "Forget it." Lin Jianlan looked at the mother and daughter carefully at this time, and couldn't help but exclaimed, "So it's you."
The woman also raised her head at this moment. Her almond-shaped eyes were very lively under her forehead hair. A wild chrysanthemum was inserted in her temples, and a beauty mole under the corner of her mouth made her face more beautiful. She was the laundry girl who led Lin Jianlan's horse yesterday. Although she recognized Lin Jianlan, she didn't say much. After greeting, she stood silently beside the old woman. The young scholar saw that people had come in and watched from outside, so he said, "This girl, go home with your mother."
The girl glanced at him with her big, watery eyes and asked, "Will everything be alright if we go home? Just now, this hero wanted to enforce justice, why didn't you let him?"
The scholar smiled and said, "God has his own way. If you have the courage, you can go to the government office and sue them."
The girl curled her lips and said, "Don't you know the saying in Suzhou? 'Gao Deshun, Gao Deshun, since he came to Suzhou, everything has gone wrong for the people!'"
She spoke softly, sounding very playful and charming. Everyone laughed when they heard it, but the old woman scolded, "Xiaohui, shut up and don't talk nonsense. Everyone, I bow my head again and thank you for saving me today. Goodbye." After that, she took the girl's hand and slowly walked out of the side hall. The young scholar chased after her and whispered a few words to the girl until Xiaohui smiled and nodded. Then he ran back and looked at Yuan Xingjian with admiration. He said, "Are you Yuan Xingjian from Taihu? I have heard of your name for a long time. It is a great honor to meet you here today. If you two have nothing to do, how about I host you to have tea in Xinqing Pavilion?"
Lin Jianlan thought to himself: "If he is inviting someone, it is rare to ask him to drink tea directly. This scholar is a bit strange in his behavior."
Yuan Xingjian refused directly, saying, "Since you are begging for mercy for Wu and Cai, you are not of the same kind as us. Why bother being polite? Please do as you please." After saying that, he took Lin Jianlan's hand and walked straight out, saying, "I heard Taoist Yun talk about you the other day. He had a good impression of you. Seeing you today, it is true that a hero emerges from youth!"
Lin Jianlan blushed and said, "Brother Yuan, you are too kind. I don't have any ability at all!" But he kept looking back and saw that the scholar's face was slightly red, standing there awkwardly. Then he heard Yuan Xingjian say, "Why should Young Master Lin care about him? He is just a snobbish scholar. At the beginning, he was brave and righteous, but after hearing the names of these two people, he changed his mind and wanted to do a favor for someone. I despise such people the most!"
Although Lin Jianlan felt that this young scholar was not such a petty person, he was too lazy to argue for a stranger. He had heard the name "Yuan Xingjian" from countless people and naturally admired him very much. He had wanted to get to know him when he was in the Beggar Gang. He was very happy to see him now. Moreover, since Yuan Xingjian was one of the most outstanding figures in the rebel army, he must have a wide network of contacts and might be able to find out the whereabouts of Lin Longqing.
The two walked and talked, and they got along better and better. Yuan Xingjian looked up and saw a big "wine" sign not far away. He said, "It's past noon, why don't we drink here and enjoy it!"
Since Lin Jianlan started traveling around, he almost never drank alcohol. When he ate, he only drank a cup of light tea. Seeing Yuan Xingjian's excitement, he couldn't help but blush and said, "To be honest, Brother Yuan, I, I still don't know how to drink."
Yuan Xingjian was stunned at first, then he laughed and said, "How can a good man not drink? Come on, come on!" After that, he pulled Lin Jianlan inside, found a place near the window, and shouted, "Shopkeeper, bring two jars of the best wine first!" A moment later, a smart waiter put a jar on the table, placed two porcelain bowls very skillfully, knocked off the seal on the jar, and filled the bowls with water, saying, "Enjoy your time, both of you!"
Seeing that Yuan Xingjian had already picked up the wine bowl, Lin Jianlan had to pick up the full bowl in front of him as well, saying, "I'll toast to Brother Yuan first." The two clinked their glasses, and Lin Jianlan held the bowl under his nose and sniffed it. The aroma of the wine was so strong that one could not help but say "good", but he knew in his heart that such a good wine would probably be very strong, so he could only smile bitterly and take a big sip. Suddenly, a burst of spicy food rushed from his mouth straight to his lungs, as if it was looking for an outlet and bumping around everywhere, and then went up from his lungs and rushed to the top of his head. He felt a sudden fever on his head and face, as if fire was about to come out of his mouth and nose. He was secretly blaming himself for drinking such a big sip, but he saw that Yuan Xingjian had already drunk the whole bowl, and smiled at him and said, "Why does Young Master Lin drink like a woman, sipping it mouthful by mouthful?"
Lin Jianlan really wanted to cry but had no tears at this moment. He could only force a smile and said, "In that case, I'll drink it too!" After that, he gulped down the wine with his eyes closed. He heard Yuan Xingjian praise him with a "good" but the feeling was really hard to describe. It seemed that wine was about to flow out of his eyes. Fortunately, the waiter had already put the appetizers on the table. He hurriedly picked up the chopsticks and took a few bites. Only then did he suppress the burning feeling.
The two of them exchanged wine for a few times. Lin Jianlan felt overwhelmed. However, Yuan Xingjian's jar was empty. He shouted, "Bring two more jars of wine." Lin Jianlan complained bitterly. The waiter came over empty-handed and said, "I'm sorry, but we're closing now!"
