The sun hung high in the sky, blazing and fierce. Passersby scrambled to find cool places to escape the heat, but Gouge walked along the street unconcerned, completely unbothered. It wasn't that he was putting on a stubborn front; rather, having mastered the Arhat Subduing Demon Divine Skill, the internal energy within him had achieved a perfect harmony of yin and yang, a complete balance of water and fire. He no longer feared either bitter cold or scorching heat. His entire body was brimming with vital energy, so the extreme weather that everyone else desperately tried to avoid only left him feeling relaxed and at ease. He didn't find it the least bit difficult to endure; instead, he strolled along leisurely as if he were taking a walk in his own backyard.
Shijian, on the other hand, was not used to such hardships and could not handle the blistering sun. She walked along wiping the sweat from her brow.
With great difficulty, they finally reached an inn. Gouge wanted to keep walking, but Liu Xiaowan stared at him wide-eyed as if looking at a monster. She wondered how on earth this man had an endless supply of stamina and didn't even want to rest for a bit. She quickly called out, "Hey, hey, hey, hold on a second! No, wait—do you have ten people living inside your body or something? Where do you get all this energy? Please, I'm begging you, let's go drink a bowl of tea, okay? I'll pay, how about that?"
"It's one thing for you to make me mad, but even this sun is going against me! Could today possibly be my unlucky day? I'm going to get a sunburn!"
"Miss Liu, if you're tired, you should go rest first. I still need to go to the Snow Mountain Sect to find Axiu, so I'll be taking my leave."
A flash of displeasure crossed Xiaowan's pretty eyes. She bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth and pouted, "Don't try to chase me away! My father hasn't been back in over a decade, and now he's gone off somewhere else to spar with Uncle Fang. And now even you want to chase me away—you men are all cut from the same cloth, always abandoning girls at the drop of a hat!"
Gouge said helplessly, "Miss Liu, I am a man who is about to get married. If you travel along with me, it will ruin your reputation."
Xiaowan said unhappily, "What's wrong with me? My legs are on my own body, and nobody gets to tell me where I can or cannot go. Miss here wants to go!"
Gouge let out a helpless, bitter laugh and had no choice but to silently keep walking. Liu Xiaowan followed right behind him, complaining endlessly, but Gouge simply acted as though he didn't hear a thing.
"Don't take me for some kind of burden! This young lady doesn't cling to men; I, Liu Xiaowan, can get along just fine without a man."
Gouge smiled and said, "Axiu is a lot like you—both of you are very strong. But she always cries."
As Gouge and Xiaowan were walking along, someone suddenly burst through a second-floor window of a restaurant and leaped down. Immediately after, someone nearby shouted, "Catch the pervert! Don't let that shameless scoundrel get away!"
They saw a tall, thin, burly man give a sinister chuckle. The legs of his trousers puffed out as he exerted a sudden burst of force and bolted forward. He moved faster and faster as if he had wind beneath his feet. The servant chasing him from behind was gasping for breath, utterly unable to keep up. The servant had to stop, cursing under his breath the whole time. The burly man would turn his head back from time to time to laugh out loud, toying with him just like a cat playing with a mouse.
"How about it, buddy? Want to take a break? Or should I wait for you to catch your breath?"
"Pui! You indecent little pervert! You—you just wait until I catch my breath, and I'll beat you to death!" the servant-like man wheezed, gasping heavily.
The man chuckled, leaped up onto a rooftop in a few strides, and his loud laughter faded into the distance.
Curious, Gouge asked the servant, "Big brother, what did he do? Why are you chasing him?"
The servant replied, "That fellow! In broad daylight, he harassed our sixth mistress! Seeing how pretty our sixth mistress is, he gave her a leering, lustful look from head to toe, and even tried to get handsy with her! He's an absolute beast, a complete pervert!"
Gritting his teeth in fury, the servant glared bitterly in the direction the man had fled.
Xiaowan was speechless, never expecting to encounter such a shameless scoundrel.
Once Gouge understood how things stood, he asked Xiaowan if she could keep up.
Lazily, Xiaowan said, "I can't be bothered to chase him. I'll go wait for you at the inn up ahead. Once you catch him, come over there—and make it snappy."
Hearing the tone of her voice, as if catching the pervert would be as easy as pie, the servant couldn't help taking a second look at Gouge. Seeing that he had slightly tanned skin and a tall build, he looked for all the world like a farm laborer, except for a certain heroic aura between his brows and his calm expression.
He couldn't believe for a second that Gouge would be able to catch the man. Waving his hand, the servant said, "Forget it, don't waste your effort. You won't catch him. That pervert is truly fast, like he's stepping on Nezha's Wind-Fire Wheels. It's bizarre—was he a rabbit in his past life to run this fast?"
Gouge simply gave a gentle smile and didn't argue. Just as the man opened his mouth to say, "I reckon you're also—", before he could even finish the sentence, Gouge vanished without a trace like an arrow released from a bowstring. The man only felt a gust of wind howling past his face, stinging fiercely as if he had been slapped by the wind itself.
Stunned, he muttered to himself, "I really am getting old. Do young people nowadays run faster than horses? Is he even human?"
Liu Xiaowan gave a charming smile and said, "A man who looks honest and plain can still have an unexpected side to him. Even the most honest donkey in our village will steal wild grass to eat, hmph." Humming a little tune, she swayed her hips and walked gracefully toward the inn ahead.
The servant trailed along in low spirits, planning to go comfort the frightened sixth mistress once this matter was settled and then report the truth to the master.
Gouge possessed peerless internal energy. His twists, turns, and leaps were exceptionally effortless and completely fluid; within a dozen breaths, he had caught up to the burly man.
The man turned his head in astonishment to look at Gouge. Along the way, he had knocked over several fruit stalls, scattering apples, bananas, pears, and tomatoes everywhere. Yet when Gouge stepped on the fruit as he ran, he didn't crush a single piece; instead, the carpet of fruit beneath his feet served like stepping stones in a plum blossom pile.
Realizing that with such terrifying lightness skill, Gouge could actually run while stepping on fruit, the man knew he couldn't put any more distance between them. He stopped, turned around, and smiled. "May I ask your esteemed name, brother? I am Tian Rulie. Every woman in the world loses the ability to walk when she sees me."
Gouge's face was not flushed, nor was he out of breath. He gave a gentle smile and said, "My name is Shi Potian. My mother called me Gou Zazhong. Just now, I heard that uncle call you a pervert. It seems you are a huge bad guy. You should go back and apologize to that sixth mistress first."
Tian Rulie shook his head and said, "Not at all, not at all! I am dashing and romantic; affectionate, but not lustful; debonair, but not base. I am certainly no shameless scoundrel or pervert. That woman just now clearly had some unbearable suffering, and I was merely asking her if she needed any help."
Curiously, Gouge asked what kind of suffering could possibly make her feel so uncomfortable.
Tian Rulie said, "From what I could see, it was most likely an overabundance of nourishment, and her child wasn't eating properly, which led to her swelling up and suffering from aches and pains. So I simply asked her if she needed me to temporarily take her son's place. I'm not afraid of a little hardship—once I sucked it out, she would have felt much smoother. Who would have thought she would misunderstand my kind intentions and start screaming in fright? Alas, I'm already used to being misunderstood by ignorant women. My good intentions are always treated like a donkey's liver and lungs. Oh well, whatever! I am magnanimous and won't bicker with a little woman."
Puzzled, Gouge said, "So you mean you just wanted to help her?"
Tian Rulie nodded. "Isn't that completely normal? I reached out a helping hand to assist her, so the least she could do was show a little token of appreciation. Otherwise, it wouldn't be very neighborly of her."
Gouge nodded. He knew nothing at all about the ways between men and women. Hearing Tian Rulie twist white into black with such wild nonsense, he actually took him for a kindhearted man who loved helping others. Axiu had told him that anyone who respected women was a good person.
Gouge smiled and said, "In that case, why don't you come back with me and explain? Otherwise, other people will misunderstand you and ruin your good name."
The man's smile gradually faded, and he sneered, "Why should I listen to you? What if I refuse?"
Gouge said, "Then I must offend you, Brother Tian. I'm going to grab your left shoulder." With that, he reached out and indeed grabbed Tian Rulie's left shoulder.
Though Tian Rulie tried his best to dodge, Gouge's movements were blindingly fast. Startled, Tian Rulie hurriedly spun around to barely evade the grab, then lunged forward to press the attack, exchanging blows with Gouge strike for strike. Putting strength into his wrist, he aimed a throat-locking strike at Gouge's throat, while his left hand slashed viciously toward Gouge's neck with a Monument-Cracking Strike. Using the technique "Leisurely passing Xinling to drink, dropping his sword to cross his knees" from the Taixuan Scripture, Gouge effortlessly brushed aside both of Tian Rulie's fists.
Tian Rulie switched to the Iron Wire Fist, smashing both hands heavily against Gouge's chest. Gouge simply braced his shoulder and took the blow head-on, having no desire to actually injure him, so he just stood there and let him pound away.
Tian Rulie held nothing back, unleashing everything he had learned in his life. He was originally a wandering jianghu hero who cared nothing for the strict sect prohibitions against learning martial arts from outsiders. As a result, wherever he went, he stole and learned whatever he pleased, following his own whims and gathering the strengths of numerous schools. His repertoire was extremely eclectic. Seeing Gouge stand completely motionless, he assumed Gouge had practiced some hard-qigong style like the Golden Bell Shield or Iron Cloth Shirt; otherwise, how could he dare be so arrogant? Finding it unsurprising, Tian Rulie channeled his internal energy, putting ten-tenths of his power into every single punch—each blow carrying enough force to shatter stone monuments and boulders.
He had trained in both internal and external martial arts, having once used his bare palms to beat to death the Ghosts of Datong Cave who plagued Shanxi, and having wiped out three notorious bandit strongholds in a single night. He was no ordinary mediocrity. Yet today, his trusty iron fists had met Shi Potian, who was invincible under heaven, and they lost all their usual might. It felt as laughable as a child wildly flailing punches at an adult, and even Tian Rulie himself couldn't help a bitter chuckle.
The faster Tian Rulie struck, the more astonished he became. Every punch he threw felt as though it hit a cotton ball, leaving him with a sense of utter powerlessness.
He cycled through fifteen sets of fist techniques and eight sets of palm techniques, eventually even resorting to leg techniques, but he couldn't so much as budge the man. He was so angry he wanted to draw his blade and hack at him, but then he figured that since Gouge wasn't even fighting back, drawing a sword would cause him to lose face completely, and he had no confidence he could win anyway.
Gouge rubbed his nose and asked if he was done hitting.
Tian Rulie smiled and said, "I'm afraid even if I hit you another hundred or a thousand times, you still wouldn't budge an inch. Today, Tian has truly opened his eyes."
Gouge wanted to exchange some polite remarks, but the moment he opened his mouth, Tian Rulie seized the opening and landed another ferocious punch right in the center of Gouge's chest.
Lifting his gaze to Gouge, he assumed that such a fierce and violent punch would either kill Gouge on the spot or leave him vomiting blood with severe injuries. He figured Gouge must have been relying on his internal cultivation to stubbornly endure the blows, and that the moment Gouge spoke, he would lose his chance to circulate his energy. To his utter shock, Gouge still looked completely carefree and breezy as he said, "Then hit me a little longer, and tell me when you're done."
Now it was Tian Rulie's turn to feel awkward. To hit or not to hit—that was the question. Slowly withdrawing his fist, he cupped his fists in salute and said, "Your Excellency's true worth remains hidden beneath a modest exterior; Tian truly admires you, truly admires you. Losing to someone of Your Excellency's martial-arts-shaking caliber is no disgrace at all."
With that, he stopped fighting, keeping his right hand hidden behind his back. At that moment, it was swollen up like a rising bun; it wasn't that he didn't want to keep hitting, but the rebound force had left him in too much pain to strike.
Gouge smiled and said, "Let's go, heading back together? Miss Liu is waiting for us; she must be getting worried."
Tian Rulie thought to himself, *Could I possibly say no? I can't beat him, and I can't outrun him. I can only take things one step at a time.* He wondered if this fellow was a lay disciple of the Shaolin Temple who must have practiced the Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill; otherwise, how could a mere flesh-and-blood body withstand so many blows from him?
He cursed himself inwardly for being so careless, assuming a small town like this would have no one who could match him, only to run into such a formidable opponent today. Fearing he was in grave danger, and feeling deeply unsettled, Tian Rulie quickly followed after Gouge when he called out to him again upon seeing him standing still.
Gouge and Tian Rulie arrived at the inn ahead and went straight up to the second floor.
The moment the servant saw Gouge, he was overjoyed. Then, spotting the pervert right behind him, he flew into a rage. "You come back with me right now, or I'm reporting you to the authorities!"
Tian Rulie glanced at Gouge, unsure of what the young man intended to do. Gouge smiled and said, "It was all just a misunderstanding. This big brother simply saw that sixth mistress suffering and in pain, and wanted to help her out. You misunderstood."
Skeptical, the servant looked them over. Since Gouge was the one saying it, he found it hard not to believe, so he left with lingering doubts.
As soon as he was gone, Liu Xiaowan burst out laughing. "He actually believes that ghost story!"
Tian Rulie laughed heartily and said, "We become friends through our fights! Miss, I am Tian Rulie."
Tian Rulie cast a stealthy glance at the young woman in red sitting before him. Her proud, voluptuous curves were fiery and eye-catching, causing him to swallow a mouthful of saliva as he wondered just how soft she must be.
The moment Liu Xiaowan heard his name, a flicker of strange emotion crossed her pretty eyes. She stood up, cupped her fists, and said, "May I ask if you are the senior known as the 'Romance Swordsman, Wandering Solo', Tian Rulie?"
Tian Rulie gave a light smile and said, "An empty reputation, hardly worth mentioning. May I ask whose school the young lady inherits her skills from?" With that, he returned the bow.
Liu Xiaowan said, "My late father's surname is Han, and friends in the jianghu call him the Blood-Drinking Mad Saber. This little girl's family martial arts aren't worth mentioning."
Tian Rulie nodded, then looked at Gouge and said, "This Young Hero Shi Potian is truly a figure descended from the heavens. Tian has traveled far and wide, but I have never seen a young hero with such profound internal energy."
Liu Xiaowan smiled and said, "This Gou—Brother Shi is truly remarkable! When we first met, I misunderstood him too, and it made my face burn red."
Xiaowan proceeded to recount how she had misunderstood Gouge upon their first meeting, and how Gouge had repaid grievance with virtue to save her. After listening, Tian Rulie let out a shout of praise and said, "As expected of Young Hero Shi! Even the fearsome Xiake Island emissary of the jianghu is no match for him. Tian did not lose unjustly—being able to exchange a couple of moves with Young Hero Shi will let Tian raise his own stock when he gets back, haha!"
Gouge simply smiled as he listened to them shower him with praise, acting as though the story were about someone else entirely, completely indifferent to such empty fame.
The waiter brought three cups of freshly brewed Longjing tea. Gouge didn't know anything about tea and gulped it all down in one breath, causing Liu Xiaowan to stare at him again as if he were a monster, while she slowly sipped her tea in small sips to savor the aroma.
Tian Rulie took a sip of tea and asked, "Brother Shi, wherever you're heading, just ask me. I know every inch of the surrounding hundred miles like the back of my hand. I'll tell you everything I know without holding anything back."
Gouge answered very politely, "I'm going to the Great Snow Mountain. Does Brother Tian know a shorter way?"
The burly man looked at him in astonishment and said, "Brother Shi, it's not that your brother wants to pour cold water on you, but aren't you being exiled to some bitter, freezing wasteland? Why on earth would you go to that ghost of a place? There's nothing there except snow-capped mountains and deserts. If you go, you'll just be asking for hardship! You'd be much better off enjoying life in this colorful world."
Gouge gave a gentle smile and said, "Well, you see, Axiu is from the Snow Mountain Sect, and I'm going to find her. Hehe."
Only then did the burly man nod in realization. "Ah, so you're a man of passion as well! Of all the maidens from various sects, you didn't fancy any of them, but you had to go for one from the Snow Mountain Sect. Could it be that their skin is as smooth as white snow? This Miss Axiu—what is it you like about her, Brother Shi?"
Gouge thought for a moment, shook his head, and said earnestly, "Axiu is different from everyone else. I've never seen anyone as pretty as her. Whenever she's by my side, I'm just so happy. Dingdang and Shijian and the others are very nice to me too, but in my heart, I am only truly joyful and happy when I'm together with Axiu."
Tian Rulie's eyes lit up. He ordered the waiter to immediately bring the best wine—Nuerhong—so he could get thoroughly drunk with Gouge.
Gouge was happy too, and accompanied him in downing over a dozen large bowls before they were satisfied. Tian Rulie marveled at Gouge's incredible capacity for liquor, declaring that a confidant is hard to find even a thousand cups of wine apart, and he intended to drink until they couldn't stand, risking his life to accompany a gentleman today. Liu Xiaowan rolled her eyes from the side, thinking men were completely beyond reason.
With a wicked grin, the burly man asked, "So, you're saying that even if a hundred or a thousand beauties stood before you, they wouldn't compare to Axiu?"
Gouge gave a shy smile and said, "In my heart, Axiu is Axiu. I never want to be with any other girl again."
The burly man laughed heartily, throwing an arm around Gouge's shoulders with immense delight. "That's a real man! In my generation, Tian despises those fickle people who chase after every flower they see and change their affections on a whim—they're so hypocritical! You either love them all, or you love only one—now that's what I call a master of romance! You are right down my alley. I simply must swear brotherhood with you!"
Gouge smiled and said, "Alright! I heard Axiu say that when a man and a woman have deep feelings for each other, they swear brotherhood as siblings. We hit it off today, but I already have an eldest brother and a second brother! I'll introduce my two brothers to you another day!"
With a bold, heroic laugh, the man said, "Good! Since they're brothers approved by you, Brother Potian, they must have extraordinary qualities. I accept them!"
The two knelt on the ground, kowtowed three times to heaven and earth, and drank another dozen bowls of sworn-brotherhood wine before walking back hand-in-hand to retake their seats.
Tian Rulie said, "Brother, what did you say your name was just now? Gou Zazhong? Is that even a human name?"
Gouge gave a gentle smile and said, "That really is a headache. To tell you the truth, brother, my former mother called me Gou Zazhong, my master called me Shi Yidao, and Changle Help called me Shi Potian. Come to think of it, I really don't know what my name ought to be."
Giving a thumbs-up, Tian Rulie said, "Brother Potian, a name is just a label. You can be called Gou Zazhong, and I can be called Gou Zazhong—that doesn't matter! I have always judged a person by their actions rather than their intentions; you can call yourself whatever you want. As long as we're soulmates, who cares? Come, let's drink another bowl!"
Infected by his bold spirit, Gouge picked up his wine bowl and drank another dozen bowls with him. The guests at nearby tables stopped eating, staring wide-eyed at the performance of these two. The waiter felt a pang of heartache—all his home-brewed wine was being chugged down by them, and he wasn't even sure if they'd be able to pay the bill. Seeing that both of these fellows looked like formidable martial artists, he, a mere restaurant waiter, couldn't afford to provoke them either. If they walked out without paying for the wine, the waiter wouldn't dare try to stop them.
The two masters drank from noon until dusk before they were fully satisfied. They left the restaurant with their arms around each other's shoulders, walking out the door with loud laughter.
Liu Xiaowan had been waiting outside for quite some time, looking at Gouge with a helpless expression. Gouge smiled and said, "Miss Liu, if you were a man, we could swear brotherhood too! Even though you're a young lady, there are plenty of men who couldn't beat you."
Liu Xiaowan smiled and said, "I wish I were a man too—I have no desire to get married. I'm going to take a whole bunch of concubines myself! That, what's-her-name—the sixth mistress? I'm going to take six of them too, haha! Who says girls can't establish a household and a career?"
Tian Rulie let out a shout of approval and said, "That's ambition! This Liu—what was her name again, brother?"
Liu Xiaowan gave a bitter smile. "You two drunks! I'm not 'Liu what-was-her-name'—call me Wan'er!"
Tian Rulie said, "Wan'er! It's not that your big brother is lecturing you, but your—your idea is great! I, Tian, admire a heroic woman like you who doesn't let her eyebrows yield to the bearded men. Brother, don't you agree?"
Supporting him, Gouge gave a gentle smile and said, "Yes, yes, I think so too. Miss Liu is truly amazing."
Hearing Gouge praise her, Liu Xiaowan felt a secret thrill of satisfaction and said, "Can the two of you even walk when you're this drunk? You might as well stay here for the night. This young lady is in a good mood—I'll pay!"
Gouge said, "It's no trouble, let's keep walking." Tian Rulie nodded, echoing Gouge's sentiment.
Liu Xiaowan smiled helplessly. These two had truly bottomless capacities for liquor. Looking back, she saw the waiter already hugging an empty wine jug and weeping. The two of them had drunk the entire reserve in the cellar, yet she was the one who had to foot the bill! They could really drink—it was nothing short of a whale's gulp.
As the three of them walked along, they suddenly saw a man lying on the ground, staring up at the sky in despair.
The man looked as though he had been lying right there since the primordial creation of the universe, not even lifting his head to look when people walked past.