With a sword drawn, he laughs proudly, his martial prowess dominating the heavens!

Chapter 25 This road is where I met my demise!

Mount Hua is less than 300 li from Chang'an City, which would take at least two or three days to walk there.

Li Che, a martial artist, wasn't tired, but the Huashan Sect didn't even have a decent horse, making it seem rather poor compared to the wealthy Songshan Sect.

Making money is imperative!

As the saying goes, a man cannot get rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse cannot get fat without wild grass.

As a chivalrous knight-errant, the fastest way to make money is naturally through double-crossing.

Pooh!

It's about robbing the rich to help the poor and eradicating evil completely!

But after walking for two days, Li Che was slightly disappointed. How come there wasn't even a single bandit in this chaotic world?

It was a waste that he had wrapped his longsword in cloth to appear harmless.

After another hour of walking, it was almost late afternoon, and they were less than fifty li away from Chang'an.

Li Che glanced around. The forest was deep and the path was narrow. There was a wild bridge not far ahead.

This is not an official road. He had inquired beforehand and learned that although this road was shorter and more convenient, it was not safe.

That's utter nonsense! There's not a soul in sight!

Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly looked up and heard a series of chaotic footsteps.

Far from being afraid, he was actually... a little excited.

"Hey! I planted this road! This tree is..."

"Get the hell out of here! You can't even speak properly! Hey! This road is mine! Bah! This road is mine, these trees are mine! If you want to pass, leave your toll!"

"That's right! No, brother, isn't my mother your mother? Why are you insulting her?"

Li Che watched the two men blocking the bridge with great interest, almost bursting out laughing.

The two men were dressed in gray short-sleeved shirts. The one in front was short and stout, while the one behind was tall and thin. Each of them held a wood-chopping knife that they had somehow acquired, and the blades were already chipped in several places.

He had a tattered rag wrapped around his face, spoke in a muffled voice, and seemed a bit slow-witted.

"Brother, this kid is stupid, look, he's still laughing."

"Shut up!" The short, fat man called "Big Brother" turned around and said fiercely, "Kid, we brothers are only after money, we won't kill anyone."

"Hand over the silver, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, my knife won't discriminate!"

"That's right! The village elder said he won't kill you if you pay..."

"Is it better to lose money than suffer a disaster?" Li Che leaned leisurely against the tree and laughed, "Robbers don't do things like this, it's too unprofessional."

What's the point of blocking the road ahead? Can't I just turn back?

If you can't even speak the slang and secret codes clearly, you must not have been in the business for very long.

You'd better keep your mouth shut, sir, sir? Are you two heroes perhaps farmers from a nearby village?

The tall, thin man was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head and said, "Brother, how does he know so much? It seems to make sense..."

"Shut up!"

Half an hour later...

The two generals, Heng and Ha, squatted by the bridge, their hands and feet tightly bound.

Li Che clapped his hands, fumbled around for a moment, and pulled out two qian of silver. "My two heroes, business is slow, isn't it? You're doing this risk-free business, aren't you ashamed?"

"Hero, spare our lives! We brothers had no choice..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Che interrupted, "Isn't the next line 'A seventy-year-old mother above, and infants crying for food below'? You bandits haven't come up with any new ideas in all these years."

"Big brother, how...how does he know everything?"

"Um?"

Li Che glanced at the dull and honest skinny man, wondering if his prediction had come true.

A strange sight appeared on the official road.

Two men, one tall and one short, had their hands bound with ropes, the ends of which were held by a young man behind them.

The man in front looked dejected, while the one behind him stared blankly at the passing people and vehicles.

"Great hero, can you spare my brother? You can see he's not very bright. This whole thing was my idea, and we only did one deal, earning just two coins."

My home is really... well, if you don't believe me, you can come and see for yourself. I live in...

"I'll just rob some money; I won't hurt anyone. Can I take the blame myself?"

"Big brother, are you saying I'm stupid?"

"..."

"Enough with the nonsense. Solving cases is the government's job; my job is just to take you to the government office!"

The man in front looked distressed and pleaded, "Could you please return my silver, sir? My elderly mother is ill, and if my brother and I go to jail, my widow and her children will truly be destitute."

"That's stolen money. Even if you return it, you'll have to hand it over to the authorities. Consider it compensation for my emotional distress!"

Even so, Li Che was still somewhat troubled.

Judging from their appearance, they didn't seem to be faking it. It would be easy to send them to the government and let the authorities handle the case. I would be free of any trouble.

But it caused their family to lose its breadwinner, and it's really hard to define what's public and what's private, right and wrong.

Moreover, government officials... are not always impartial.

But if we just let them go, it might embolden them and cause others to lose money.

He himself didn't care much about the small amount of money, but others might not care. If he really encountered an ordinary person or a weak scholar who valued money more than his life, and a fight broke out, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be any deaths or injuries.

As the saying goes, one wrong step leads to another, and neglecting small things can eventually lead to big mistakes.

Li Che felt that the first step he took out of Mount Hua was not into the turbulent world of martial arts, but into the mundane world of ordinary people, where public and private matters were inextricably linked.

If these two were truly robbers, all would be well; one strike would have prevented this mess.

It's truly difficult to have both a clear conscience and a clear conscience!

Thus, the two brothers at the front, one with a bitter expression and the other seemingly oblivious, were torn between letting the thief go or not, and Li, who was capturing the thief, was also struggling with the decision of whether to release him or not.

They had traveled less than ten miles when they reached the village where the two were. Li Che thought for a moment, then untied their ropes. "If you're thirsty, lead the way. Let's go to your house and ask for a bowl of water."

"Brother, now that he says that, I'm thirsty too."

This time, however, the eldest brother ignored him and instead showed a happy expression, respectfully leading the way.

As we walked south of the town, we encountered more and more familiar faces. Neighbors greeted each other warmly, or inquired about their mothers' health.

Li Che saw it all, but remained silent.

Until they reached a dilapidated mud house in the south of the town, before they could even push open the door, they could hear intermittent coughing coming from inside.

"Gui Lan, come out quickly, we have guests! Hero... wait, where is he?"

The younger brother, looking terrified, circled around and then grabbed his older brother's arm, trembling as he cried, "Big...big brother, there's a monster...!"

Just then, a voice came from outside the alley, "I'll owe you water for now, you can drink it next time."

Along with the sound came two taels of silver...

The eldest son glanced at his younger brother, ignored his wife who came out of the door, looked at the silver lying at his feet, sighed with lingering fear, and turned to his wife, saying, "Take care of things at home for now, I have to go on a long trip."

......

On the official road leading to Chang'an, Li Che irritably squeezed the two coins in his hand.

He shook his head, unable to tell whether the "goodness" he had just expressed was right or wrong, true or false.

After walking for about a mile, he suddenly stopped, his expression visibly more determined than before.

He thought to himself, "What's done is done, why dwell on it? As long as my mind is clear, I can't go wrong!"

After thinking it over, Li Che felt the tightness in his chest disappear and continued walking forward with his head held high.

After walking several more miles, the majestic city wall of Chang'an came into view. He looked around and then walked towards the simple teahouse on his right.

"Old man, bring me a pot of tea."

The old man at the tea stall glanced at the long sword in his hand, then quickly looked away and said politely, "Young hero, please have a seat, I'll be right there."

Li Che casually walked to a corner, and as soon as he sat down, he heard a series of rapid hoofbeats coming from the east.

Looking up, his eyes lit up immediately. The lead horse was a chestnut-red horse, six feet tall, with strong limbs and shiny hair. As it galloped, its hooves flew like lightning, already pulling ahead of the horses following behind by more than ten feet.

Good horse!

"Yu—!"

When the horse reached the tea stall, it suddenly reared up on its front hooves, instantly stopping its forward momentum.

"Hey kid, what are you staring at? Don't you want those eyes anymore?!"

......