Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 104: A Nickname

Zhao Changhe repeatedly analyzed Tang Wanzhuang’s sword finger, contemplating in silence.

From this perspective, the significance of the gold foil’s replay was rather limited. It could replay the techniques and moves, but it did not reveal how the martial arts techniques were executed, much less how someone like Tang Wanzhuang made use of light.

However, this did not mean that this recording was worthless. At the very least, her way of using the finger as a sword, the angles, and the coordinated movement of her entire body were all worthy of thorough study.

Her path of utmost softness, the essence of spring water...

Zhao Changhe watched the replay over and over, instinctively trying to execute the technique himself. He felt that he might be able to learn something from it, but he struggled to grasp anything immediately.

After all, this was a technique that was the opposite of his usual approach.

However, if he could truly understand even a fraction of the essence of her technique, he might be able to stimulate a significant breakthrough in his own saber skills.

After watching the replay for three to four hours, Zhao Changhe had nearly even memorized the fingerprints on Tang Wanzhuang’s jade-like finger. Suddenly, he was shocked. He realized that the images he had watched just now, especially the ones of the fight he had with Han Wubing, had become much clearer. In fact, they were now so clear that he could even discern the soft glimmer in Tang Wanzhuang’s eyes.

Does this... Does this mean that the gold foil is gradually improving? Or maybe I should say... recovering?

Hmm... I never watched anything this long back in the main world. I’ve been staring at every position and angle of Tang Wanzhuang’s body for several hours at this point. Thankfully, no one saw me, or they would think I’m a fucking creep.

To think that the person whose body movements I know best now is not Chichi but Tang Wanzhuang... If either of them ever finds out about this, I won’t have the face to see people anymore.

Zhao Changhe covered his face, collected his belongings, and left the place. He could not stay here for any longer.

I’ll just study it slowly on the way...

“Let’s go,” he murmured, patting Snow-Treading Crow’s head. “To Jiangnan.”

Before he left the inn, he had his wine gourd filled to the brim.

Looking at the inn’s waiter pouring wine into the gourd, Zhao Changhe was lost in some self-deprecating thoughts.

In fact, throughout their meeting, Xia Chichi had never paid any attention to the gourd. She herself did not consider the wine gourd she had bought casually to be anything significant, much less expect it to be intact after all the bloody events that Zhao Changhe had gone through. She had assumed that he had replaced it long ago.

I really just keep building mental dams for myself, huh.

But it doesn’t matter; commemorating it is my own affair. It isn’t something I do to show off to her.

As long as the gourd does not break, it will always be with me.

*

If the location of the Ancient Sword Lake was compared with the modern geography that Zhao Changhe was familiar with, it would roughly fall on the northern banks of Huainan City. Unfortunately, this world did not seem to have the Huaihe River[1], a very important north-south dividing river back in the real world.

However, the region was still dotted with various large and small rivers, with waterways crisscrossing throughout. There was also a major canal that ran directly from the capital to Jiangnan. The land along the rivers and coastline was bustling and prosperous, with various influential gangs, such as the Cao Gang[2] and salt gangs dominating these areas.

However, this was merely the impression that Zhao Changhe had from reading books and various cultural descriptions during his humanities studies.

When he really rode south, he was only met with a desolate landscape.

Having just come from the vibrant Qinghe and Sword Lake City, he had expected this journey to be filled with even more beautiful and prosperous sights. However, as he traveled further south, he was increasingly surprised to find just how desolate the land was. It could not even compare to Wei County, let alone Qinghe Prefecture[3].

After traveling southward for several days, Zhao Changhe surprisingly had not even seen a moderately prosperous town. The villages and towns he passed through were in utter disrepair, with everyone looking pale and thin and wearing ragged clothes. The thatched cottages these people lived in were so dilapidated that they looked like they would collapse at the slightest gust of wind.

Was this the scenery one would expect around a major canal and such favorable waterways?

Even that desolate small city near Beimang was not like this...

Zhao Changhe did not even want to draw his saber when he was faced with a group of emaciated bandits who wanted to stop him and steal his horse.

Was he not a bandit himself too? He had once almost resorted to highway robbery as well... In fact, Luo Qi had actually gone and done it.

Everyone was just trying to survive.

He shook his head and chopped down a small tree beside him in one slash, to indicate that the saber he had was not just for show. Seeing the frightened gazes of the bandits, he sighed and said, “I won’t kill you... I’ve just got a few questions.”

Someone cautiously responded, “Sir, we have no money or women.”

“...” Zhao Changhe pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is this Jianghuai[4]? Am I being tricked right now... Why is this place like this?”

“Two years ago, there was a flood. Last year, there were locusts. This year, things are a bit better, but it is currently the season for planting. Isn’t this how things are supposed to look during planting season?”

“And what about the government? Are they not providing any help?” Zhao Changhe asked.

“The government? What do you mean, provide help? They came yesterday to collect taxes. That’s why we took to the mountains.”

“...” Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky and said nothing for a long while.

Actually, he should have anticipated this. Everyone was talking about how “chaotic times are approaching,” but from what he had seen until now, apart from the Luo Clan’s annihilation case, his experiences hardly showed where this judgment of chaotic times came from. If he was to consider the bloody conflicts in the jianghu, then things did seem somewhat lawless, but that was far from a true era of chaos.

It was only upon witnessing the current scene that he understood the signs of impending doom. It was only now that he realized that the troubled times that everyone was talking about were not random rumors without basis.

This really is Jianghuai!

In a place like this, it would be difficult to rely on tourists to save the economy, like Sword Lake City does...

Xia Longyuan is clearly a dominant figure of his generation, and the first few decades of his reign should have been a time of prosperity and stability. So how and why have things deteriorated like this?

Zhao Changhe thought about the hard work Tang Wanzhuang put into governing the jianghu and realized that, while she might be able to address some immediate issues, the solutions were ultimately superficial. It was unlikely that her efforts could make a meaningful difference. Even if he did become the prince in order to induce some stability into the empire, as she wanted, he did not believe that he had the necessary ability to govern the empire.

Perhaps Chichi was right. Since the world under the Xia Clan’s rule has already become so rotten, it might really be better to just let it fall.

After contemplating for some time, Zhao Changhe suddenly asked, “Shouldn’t there be organizations like the Cao Gang that deal with the transport of grain through the waterways? If you have the strength, why not try to join them? Do they also have problems?”

The bandits looked at each other for a moment, and then one of them said, “We would love to find some work or join the Cao Gang, but many of us have elderly family members back home...”

Just as he was saying this, someone came running down the mountain, panting heavily. After catching his breath, he said, “Big brother, big brother! Second Uncle is having another asthma attack...”

The bandit’s expression changed drastically. “Do we still have any talisman papers of the Maitreya?”

“They’re all gone!”

“Quickly, go report to them, we’re joining the cult!”

No one paid any attention to Zhao Changhe anymore, and he did not try to stop them from joining the Maitreya Cult.

It seemed that such situations were widespread in Jianghuai, and attempting to intervene would be futile.

From the looks of things, the Maitreya Cult was no longer in its early stages of showing a kind face and leading people astray. They had probably already begun conducting operations in a more overt manner, given that these people appeared to hesitate before joining the cult.

He continued to ride his horse silently, eventually arriving at a riverbank.

On the river, there were only ramshackle little boats, and the old fishermen toiled hard to cast their nets. There were no beautiful boat maidens in sight, that was a dream that only existed during times of prosperity.

Suddenly, a shout came from across the river, “You scoundrel, where do you think you’re going?” Zhao Changhe turned to look, and on the other side of the river, he saw a burly man with a saber chasing after a slim man. The slim man seemed to be using an excellent movement art, and he was flipping in the air continuously and even seemingly running on water. He glided along like a swallow, swiftly running toward Zhao Changhe.

Zhao Changhe was just watching the show and did not want to get involved in other people’s business. After all, how was he to know the truth of the matter, considering that he had just arrived at the scene?

But then, as the slim man was gliding past Zhao Changhe, his eyes lit up, and his hand casually grabbed at Zhao Changhe’s chest. He had apparently noticed the remarkable quality of his horse and assumed that its owner must be wealthy.

Zhao Changhe sighed, and his fist, which was the size of a small bowl, landed square on the slim man’s face.

The slim man never expected that a random passerby he encountered would turn out to be on the Ranking of Hidden Dragons. Furthermore, he would never have been able to anticipate that this punch would carry the charm of someone ranked third on the Rankings of Earth. In mid-air, even with his extraordinary movement art, he could not evade the punch in time. The punch directly landed on his face, and blood spewed from his nose and mouth as he screamed and fell backward into the river.

The burly man, who was slowly wading through the water, was delighted when he saw what happened. He stepped forward and directly kicked the slim man’s shin, breaking it.

Zhao Changhe squinted his eyes when he saw what the burly man did, but he did not say anything.

This man was ruthless, and he was not sure if intervening would be of much use.

The burly man cupped his fist and smiled, saying, “Thank you for lending a hand to catch this thief! I am Wan Dongliu of the Cao Gang. May I know your honorable name?”

The Cao Gang, huh?

Zhao Changhe did not want to get involved with the Cao Gang at the moment and was about to brush the burly man off when he heard the wounded thief, now clutching his broken leg, wail, “I remember now... A black horse with white hooves, a unique broad saber, a scar on his face, you... you’re the Bloodthirsty Asura, Zhao Changhe!”

Zhao Changhe, who had been lost in contemplation, nearly fell off his horse when he heard what the slim man said.

Wait, wait a minute, what did you just call me?

If I give you right now all the money you tried to steal, can you change that lame ass name you just called me?

1. This is the Huai River on Wikipedia, but Huaihe River on Google Maps. You can find it right to the north of Huainan City on Google Maps. ☜

2. The Cao Gang or Cao Bang (漕帮) is a general term for gangs that originated from the business of transporting and delivering grain, particularly during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in China. The term is synonymous with 青帮 (Qing Bang) or 清帮 (Qing Bang), one of the most widespread and influential secret societies among the Chinese since the early Qing Dynasty. They are also known as the grain boat gang. ☜

3. Just a note that according to China’s administrative divisions, a prefecture ranks below a province but above a county. ☜

4. This refers to the plain between the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers in China. ☜