Chapter Twelve: Bygone Days

In truth, the members of the Feng family were well aware that Ye Pei and her companions had likely departed. Their interrogation of the innkeeper was little more than a search for a scapegoat, a vent for their frustrations rather than a genuine attempt to take action against Ye Pei and her companion. Their goal was simply intimidation. Yet, unexpectedly, Ye Pei’s voice rang out behind them.

Turning, the Feng family saw Ye Pei sitting casually atop the eaves opposite the street, her smile mocking as she regarded the crowd.

“Well, well!” Feng Yuanping roared the moment he saw Ye Pei. “You dared kick me earlier, and now you wait here for us?”

Ye Pei laughed heartily. “The trash who got kicked was you. Why should I leave?”

At that moment, Alan and Jiang Zhongqing leapt down from behind Ye Pei, and the two sides were poised for confrontation.

Feng Yuanping’s anger flared. “Never in Baizhou have we seen anyone so brazen toward the Feng family! No matter how skilled you may be, we have over fifty men today; we’ll wear you down if nothing else. Go!”

At his command, the crowd of Feng family members around the inn surged forward, brandishing blades and clubs.

“Ha! Wear me down, will you? Come!” Ye Pei laughed loudly, grabbing Alan and Jiang Zhongqing by the arms and, with a surge of strength, hurled them forward. The two flew across the inn, landing in a narrow alley behind it. Ye Pei herself leapt after, vanishing into the darkness.

Seeing this, Feng Yuanping sprang from his chair and gave chase, his family members clamoring behind him.

“Pei, you’re so skilled—why are we running?” Alan asked as they fled through the alley.

Ye Pei replied, “There are more than fifty of them. I might be able to handle it, but I’m not sure I can protect you two. Let’s keep them moving.”

Alan persisted, “But Pei, if you pulled out your big blade, couldn’t you just block them head-on?”

Ye Pei smiled. “Do we have such deep hatred with the Feng family that I need to bring out the big blade?”

At this, Ye Pei seemed to remember something and turned to Jiang Zhongqing. “Hey, Zhongqing, I haven’t asked—why are they chasing you?”

Jiang Zhongqing’s expression darkened. “Pei, I’ll tell you when I have a chance…”

He knew, seeing Alan and Ye Pei so untroubled, that this youth likely had the strength to wipe out the entire Feng family. With such righteousness, if he explained, Ye Pei might intervene on his behalf. Yet in his heart, Jiang Zhongqing wanted to handle it himself.

Ye Pei said nothing more, but sensed Jiang Zhongqing’s shift in mood—a resignation, a kind of despair. She said, “Alright. You two go ahead. I’ll stay and watch these people.”

With that, Ye Pei stopped and turned, a black staff appearing in her hand, standing in the alley waiting for the Feng family.

The Feng family, having chased after them, found that these three seemed to flee faster at every turn and had nearly given up. But as they rounded a corner, there was Ye Pei, standing alone in the center of the path with her staff.

Feng Yuanping was surprised. “You really are a strange one, aren’t you? First you show yourself at the inn, now you stop and wait for us—never taking the ordinary route. What, you think picking up a stick makes you invincible?”

Ye Pei imagined the Feng family must have done something deeply unjust, seriously harming Jiang Zhongqing. Though not intending to kill, Ye Pei resolved to teach them a lesson.

Ye Pei spun the staff once, then sneered coldly, “Enough talk. All of you, come at me.”

In the narrow alley, barely wide enough for three, Ye Pei did not have to face all fifty at once.

The Feng family, emboldened by their numbers, surged forward. But they soon discovered that only two could attack at a time, and each pair was swiftly and thoroughly beaten by Ye Pei’s single staff.

This result far exceeded Feng Yuanping’s expectations. He knew Ye Pei’s skills surpassed his own, but he never imagined Ye Pei could dispatch over fifty men, one after another, without even breaking a sweat. He had thought surely their numbers would tire her out.

Meanwhile, Ye Pei, through daily meditation and increasing experience in battle, was becoming ever more attuned to the power within herself. In combat, the energy surged, and she could control its flow throughout her body, almost erasing all physical exhaustion.

As Ye Pei pressed forward, swinging her staff among the Feng family, she left behind a trail of groaning bodies.

She turned to Feng Yuanping with a mocking look. “Well, old man? Still want trouble?”

Feng Yuanping, now both fearful and furious, began to speak, but Ye Pei’s fist shot out, landing square in his abdomen. He doubled over in pain, and Ye Pei raised her knee, knocking him into the air.

“Go back to the Feng family and wait for revenge!”

With those words ringing in his ears, Feng Yuanping was sent flying by Ye Pei’s kick.

…

As Ye Pei had said, the three returned to the Fortune Inn.

After settling in, they slept. The next morning, the innkeeper brought breakfast as usual.

After eating, Ye Pei spoke. “Zhongqing, tell us—what’s really going on?”

Jiang Zhongqing hesitated visibly.

Ye Pei, ever perceptive, said, “Don’t worry. I won’t take revenge for you.”

That was exactly Jiang Zhongqing’s concern. Hearing Ye Pei say this, he began, “Very well, Pei, I’ll tell you why the Feng family is after me.”

Allow me now, from a god’s-eye view, to recount Jiang Zhongqing’s story.

Jiang Zhongqing never met his grandmother; she died when his father Jiang Feng was still a boy. His grandfather passed away when Jiang Zhongqing was four. The family of four lived in a village not far from Baizhou, making their living as hunters.

Jiang Zhongqing had an older brother, Jiang Boqing. While Jiang Zhongqing loved practicing with blades and staves, his brother was uninterested. Thus, Jiang Zhongqing learned some martial arts from his father, accompanying him on hunting trips; meanwhile, Jiang Boqing tended the family’s small vegetable garden and helped their mother with chores. Their life, though poor, was peaceful.

But good times did not last. Perhaps due to irregular diet and the nature of their prey, that year Jiang Zhongqing’s mother fell ill with stomach disease and was bedridden.

Despite the high price of meat, hunters were not as wealthy as one might expect; Jiang Zhongqing and his father Jiang Feng could not always secure prey, only enough to feed their family. Moreover, as the saying goes, “the learned are poor, the warriors are rich,” but for hunters, father and son, their appetites were greater than others.

Thus, when Madame Jiang fell ill, the family was at a loss. In desperation, Jiang Feng remembered the Feng family connection.

Years earlier, when Jiang Zhongqing was still young, Jiang Feng had saved the Feng family’s young master, Feng Yuanming, and his attendant from the jaws of a tiger. Though Feng Yuanming had an attendant, neither had any experience and were so frightened by the tiger that they could barely walk, let alone protect the young master.

At twelve, Feng Yuanming had thumped his childish chest and declared, “Uncle Jiang, if you ever have trouble, come to the Feng family in Baizhou! I’m the young master here—there’s nothing the Feng family can’t handle!”

When Madame Jiang fell ill, Jiang Feng, out of options, recalled this promise. By then, Feng Yuanming was twenty-four, and the once-little Jiang Zhongqing was sixteen.

At this time, Feng Yuanming occupied an awkward position within his family. His father, the old patriarch Feng Li, was nearing the end of his days. The eldest son, Feng Yuantai, was obsessed with martial arts and had no interest in becoming head of the family, having declared plainly, “I don’t want the position, nor do I have the time or inclination to manage all those businesses.”

That statement shaved years off the old patriarch’s life.

Yet, if the position is unwanted by one, it’s desired by another. Below Feng Yuantai, the siblings Feng Yuanping, Feng Yuancheng, and Feng Yuanjing had all built networks within the family’s business and household, waiting for the old patriarch to depart so they could seize the throne with their supporters.

Feng Yuanming genuinely wished to help Jiang Feng, but despite being the young master, he was no longer the favored child. The next generation had arrived, his brothers had married and started families, and thus their attention was elsewhere.

Though Feng Yuanming had also expressed his lack of interest in being head, the family rules dictated that if the eldest son declined, the younger brothers would all compete for the position, not simply follow in order of age.

Feng Yuanming’s declaration that he did not wish to be head was met with skepticism—his brothers suspected a ruse, a hidden scheme. After all, the eldest could refuse since the position wasn’t contested, but to refuse and then vie for it would only cause unnecessary trouble. Feng Yuanming, however, was no martial enthusiast like Feng Yuantai; he loved literature, was well-read and intelligent. His brothers reasoned that such a capable mind surely harbored ambitions for the headship—a place to exercise his talents.

Thus, Feng Yuanming, unwilling to compete, found himself in a predicament. He wished to help Jiang Feng, but lacked both the funds and the authority to move such sums. When Jiang Feng came seeking help, Feng Yuanming treated him courteously, then sent him away, saying he would make preparations and certainly assist.

Feng Yuanming, versed in the classics, understood he owed Jiang Feng this favor—after all, the man had once saved his life.

So Feng Yuanming turned to his second brother, Feng Yuanping, who was usually somewhat cordial. After much pleading, Feng Yuanping agreed to loan the money, but the interest was staggering. The treatment would cost about one hundred taels of silver, with interest waived if repaid within a month. Otherwise, the debt would accrue at five hundred coins per day. To put this in perspective, one tael equaled a thousand coins; a delay of two days after the month would add another tael.

Jiang Feng, unaware of the family’s internal affairs, took the loan from Feng Yuanping, thinking his act of saving the brother would surely earn him some leniency or exemption from interest.

Two months later, after prolonged care, Madame Jiang’s health improved, but the debt had soared to a terrifying one hundred and fifteen taels. Their daily life was calculated in coins; such a sum was astronomical for a family like theirs. Jiang Feng was constantly shuttling between home and the city’s pharmacy, while Jiang Zhongqing shouldered the family’s income.

From then on, the Feng family sent people to collect the debt every few days. Jiang Zhongqing, helpless, hunted every day, even reducing his own food intake in hopes of repaying the loan faster. Yet even so, the debt was barely touched.

One day, Jiang Zhongqing went hunting; Jiang Feng and Jiang Boqing stayed home to care for Madame Jiang. The Feng family arrived en masse to collect the debt.

This time, their attitude was more insolent, with insults and even physical intimidation. Unable to endure it any longer, Jiang Feng struck the leader of the Feng family.

As the fist fell, disaster descended upon the household.