The Affairs of the Martial World - Vol 2: Chapter 2

Another traveler arrived at Welltown.

A lonely town in the desert where no one had visited for a long time, the second guest arrived.

The arrival of this person was quite noticeable, riding on a pure white camel with fist-sized camel bells hanging on its body. From a distance, before the person arrived, the sound of the camel bells could be heard.

Looking closer at this person, he looked almost the same as when Zhu Que first arrived, with a haggard appearance. However, one can see a magnificent sword hanging from his waist. Just by looking at the splendid decorations on the sword, it was clear that this was no ordinary sword.

An extraordinary sword would never hang on an ordinary person.

So, this person was definitely not simple.

Zhu Que seemed to be familiar with this person, and Zhu Que showed no surprise at his appearance here.

When this person saw Zhu Que, he appeared quite awkward and approached proactively, “I didn’t expect you to be here too.”

“En.” Zhu Que smiled, “But I knew you would come. If the Red Tassel Gentleman (1), Fuying, didn’t come, I would be surprised.”

The extraordinary empty-handed skills (2) of Fuying were well-known in the martial arts world, but in reality, he was a lone thief. Those who dare to work in this profession alone naturally possess exceptional swordsmanship skills.

After exchanging greetings with Zhu Que, Fuying went to the teahouse.

Not long after, the sound of teacups breaking could be heard in the teahouse, and the attendant was also thrown out of the teahouse into a pile of sand on the street.

Although facing Zhu Que may seem a bit awkward, Fuying was definitely not someone to be trifled with when facing the teahouse attendant demanding exorbitant prices. 

The attendant thrown out of the teahouse didn’t make a big fuss. He just got up on his own, dusted himself off, hid to the side, and secretly peeked into the teahouse.

After a while, Fuying finally finished drinking water and came out. The attendant then dared to sneak back in.

Zhu Que saw Fuying looking satisfied after drinking his fill of water, so he walked up to him, ready to have a conversation. Unexpectedly, Fuying left the teahouse and, after just a few steps, suddenly staggered as if drunk. Before Zhu Que could reach out to support him, he had already fallen to the ground.

The tea in the teahouse must be peculiar.

Zhu Que did not bother to check Fuying’s situation and went straight into the teahouse, asking the attendant what was happening.

The attendant at the teahouse told him, “The well water in this town contains a kind of alkali sand that people cannot drink directly. It must be soaked with a leaf called sari grass (3) before drinking. This grass is hard to find, so the tea is expensive. This guy—” he pointed to the collapsed Fuying outside the door, “didn’t pay, hit someone, poured water for himself without soaking it with sari grass, so he fainted. But it’s okay; he will wake up on his own in about an hour.”

Zhu Que took Fuying to the inn and handed over the white camel to the inn’s plump owner to take care of.

The attendant at the teahouse was right. An hour later, Fuying woke up, thinking he had been drugged by the attendant and wanted to go over to fight, but was stopped by Zhu Que.

Fuying slept in the shed outside the inn all night.

When dawn broke, Fuying went to Zhu Que and said, “Let’s not beat around the bush. I’m here about the treasure. If you’re in, let’s go together, find the treasure, and split it equally. Let’s set off now.”

Zhu Que said, “Don’t worry, just wait a little longer.”

Fuying asked, “What are you waiting for?”

Zhu Que pointed to the distance outside the town and said, “Look—”

Fuying followed his direction and saw several camels carrying sand dust heading towards them.

Another group of people arrived, and the once quiet town that had been silent for many years suddenly became lively.

This time, five people came, the five leaders of the Five Tiger Gang. Of course, they also came here for the treasure.

These people all know about the treasure, so where did they get the information from?

The information known by Zhu Que and several others turned out to be related to a wandering swordsman named Zhang San in the martial arts world.

In Zhang San’s hand was a treasure map, but the treasure was too far away, and he was too lazy to take the risk, so he sold the treasure map for one thousand taels to each of them. This one given to Zhu Que didn’t cost any money because Zhang San owed Zhu Que a favor before, so he used this treasure map to settle the debt.

Now, it seemed there was more than one treasure map, and he wondered how many people Zhang San sold it to in total.

Several people took out the treasure maps they had obtained from Zhang San and put them together. Upon closer inspection, they all turned out to be from the same person, and even the paper was identical.

According to Zhang San, a missionary from the Western Regions, who seemed to be a Christian, once passed by this treasure but later encountered bandits, all his silver was stolen, and he was severely injured.

Zhang San saw him on the roadside and found a doctor to treat him, but the injuries were too severe, and the doctor couldn’t save him. Before he died, the missionary told Zhang San the location of the treasure. Zhang San later hand-drew a treasure map. Zhang San knew that followers of the Western religion would not lie, so the treasure must be real.

According to the missionary, the treasure was of immense value. Since he didn’t want to endure hardships in the desert, he made a good amount of money by selling the treasure map.

Everyone thought that no one else besides themselves knew about the treasure’s whereabouts. Little did they know that Zhang San had sold many copies of the treasure map. Thinking of Zhang San’s despicable actions, they all cursed him loudly.

The leaders of the Five Tiger Gang, who knew the truth, immediately rushed over to seize the opportunity and be the first to find the treasure before anyone else.

Zhu Que advised them, saying, “The journey through the desert is dangerous. The more people we have together, the better our chances of survival. Let’s wait a little longer. I believe more people will come, and we can set off together then.”

Several people nodded in agreement, and they also spent the night in the town.

Who knew that the following morning, only Fuying remained, while several people from the Five Tiger Gang had already set off quietly overnight.

Now, even Fuying couldn’t help but urge Zhu Que to hurry up and go early so as not to be beaten by others. Missing out on the meat was one thing, but missing out on the soup would be a shame. If that were the case, all the hardships endured in the past few days would be in vain.

Zhu Que shook his head and said, “Since the treasure is large, they may be unable to take it all. Let’s wait a little longer.”

(1) Red Tassel Gentleman — an idiom that refers to a hero with a strong moral character

(2) empty-handed skills — petty thief (quick-fingered and vanish)

(3) sari grass — Scientific name: Euphorbia pulcherrima