The Beacon of Kyushu

Three days later, it was dusk.

Under the setting sun, in a humble little wine shop at the foot of Wuliu Mountain, there sat many customers of all kinds. Most of them were dusty and dressed like merchants. They sat in the crude wine shed, drinking turbid and inferior wine, and occasionally glancing at the goods parked outside the shed. They seldom talked to each other. Most of the time they were just drinking and eating, and occasionally they took advantage of the alcohol to chat about what they saw and heard along the way.

Behind the table next to these merchants sat a young man dressed in cloth with a face full of hatred. He put one foot on the chair beside him, held a bowl of wine in one hand, his eyes were a little blurry, and he kept cursing in Khitan: "Damn it! Xiao Talin, you relied on your close relationship with the queen and only studied in Wanghai Hall for three years to hold a high position in the court. As for me, I have studied for ten years and am no worse than you in any way, but I still haven't been recommended and can only live in the mountains and spend my old age in the forest. Why! Why!"

The Khitan youth seemed to have been sitting here for a long time, and he cursed Xiao Tallin countless times, which made the merchants feel annoyed. One of the younger merchants slammed his wine on the table and said angrily, "You are drunk and cursing. We shouldn't interfere, but you have been cursing for a long time, and you are not going to stop!"

"Who do you think you are? You are not worthy of telling me what to do! I am going to scold you today. If you want to listen, don't listen. If you don't want to listen, just get out of here!" The Khitan young man glared and continued to scold: "Xiao Talin, Yelusha, what are you capable of? You just rely on your family's prominence to act like a nobody. If you have the guts, fight me! This old guy Mu Liao is really something. He always talks about being loyal to His Majesty and promoting talents for the Liao Dynasty, but all he does is to curry favor with the powerful and seek personal wealth. Bah!"

The young merchant heard that he was also scolded, and he could not bear it anymore. He stood up and wanted to teach the Khitan young man a lesson. The Khitan young man did not show any weakness. He stared at the young merchant with his eyes and sneered: "I don't even take Xiao Talin and Yelusha seriously. You think you can fight with me? Come on, come on, come on, if you can hit me with a punch, I will kneel down and call you daddy!"

"Hmph! Watch my fist!" The young merchant snorted coldly, strode to the front of the Khitan youth, and hit him hard in the face with a cannon. The Khitan youth's martial arts were indeed unique. He sat on the chair without moving, and didn't even intend to put down the wine bowl. But when the young merchant's fist was about to reach him, he stretched out his hand and grabbed his pulse.

The young merchant's pulse was blocked, and he immediately felt so painful that he couldn't use any strength. He half squatted and half stood there, screaming like a pig being slaughtered. The Khitan young man raised his mouth proudly, looked at the young merchant in front of him jokingly, and said: "How is it? Will you dare to meddle in other people's business in the future! I didn't scold you, your father, why don't you drink your wine properly and wade into the muddy water!"

"No... I don't dare anymore!" The young merchant gritted his teeth and said with difficulty.

"It's good that you don't dare! Go back!" The Khitan young man smiled and nodded, and kicked the young merchant in the abdomen. If this kick really hit, the young merchant would be killed on the spot or seriously injured. At this time, a fast horse like white lightning came to the front of the wine shop with a young man in purple clothes.

When the Khitan youth saw the visitor, a smile appeared on his face for no reason. He gently let go of the young merchant and started to curse loudly again, "Fuck you, Xiao Talin, Yelusha, who do you think you are? If you have the guts, come and have a fair fight with me! And that biased old man Mu, just because I don't have money to honor you, he keeps looking down on me. It's really unfair!"

While he was cursing, the young man in purple had already grasped the hilt of his sword and walked into the shed carefully. He glanced at the young Khitan man and said coldly, "I heard that Xiao Talin and Yelusha recently took a girl to Wulü Mountain. If you really have the ability, why don't you scold them in front of them, but hide in the wine shop at the foot of the mountain and make a noise. Is this what a hero does?"

The Khitan young man curled his lips and said, "Who said I didn't scold them in front of them? Not only did I scold them, I also scolded these two guys so much that they were ashamed and turned around to go down the mountain! If you don't believe me, just go up the mountain and ask to see if there are any of these eight things! Those who lie are beasts!" The purple-clothed young man patted the Khitan young man on the shoulder and said, "Junior brother Xiao, others don't know your temper, but how can I not know it? There is no need to pretend to be a hero in front of me. I only want to ask you one question, when you first came to Wanghaitang in the past, who took care of you all the time? Who answered your questions day and night? And who made excuses for you in front of the master when you violated the rules of the sect and ensured that you were not kicked out of the mountain?"

Xiao Gaochi rubbed his eyes, looked at the man in front of him carefully, and immediately said excitedly: "Yu... Senior Brother Yuwen! You are Senior Brother Yuwen! You... You took the secret book and hurt Master back then, how dare you come back! Go, go quickly, if you don't leave now, you will be discovered by the people on the mountain, and you won't be able to leave even if you want to!"

Yuwen Yanyi shook his head slightly and said, "Tell me, are Xiao Talin and Yelusha really gone?"

Xiao Gaochi smiled and said, "It's absolutely true, they did leave! You know me best. If they hadn't left, do you think I would dare to scold them like that?"

Yuwen Yanyi asked, "Which direction did they go from?"

Xiao Gaochi pointed to the north and said, "Early this morning, His Majesty sent an eunuch to deliver an imperial decree, saying that something happened in the court and asked them to return quickly. After receiving the imperial decree, they left in a hurry. I don't think they will come back for a while. If you don't believe me, you might as well go to the North Mountain to have a look. You can still see the hoof prints they left when they left."

Yuwen Yanyi asked, "Junior Brother Xiao, why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid that Mu Liao will kill you in anger?"

Xiao Gaochi said angrily: "Mu Liao is an old man who is very partial. Xiao Talina and Yelusha are even more arrogant because of their prominent family. To be honest, I am really fed up with them. Brother, you have been kind to me in the past, so I will tell you the truth. What? Do you suspect that I am deliberately deceiving you and letting you fall into the trap?" He raised three fingers and swore to the sky: "If I, Xiao Gaochi, am really so ungrateful, let me die in the chaos of the army and under the sword of the king!"

Yuwen Yanyi nodded slightly, "Okay, I'll believe you for now. But if you dare to tell Mu Liao about my visit to Wuyou Mountain, you should know what will happen to you!"

Xiao Gaochi's whole body trembled, and he laughed hurriedly: "Haha, I...how could I betray my brother! Don't worry, not to mention that I won't tell Mu Liao about this, even if he tortures me severely, I will never reveal my brother's whereabouts!"

Yuwen Yanyi nodded in satisfaction, picked up the half-jar of wine on Xiao Gaochi's table and drank it all in one gulp, then turned and strode away. Xiao Gaochi looked at Yuwen Yanyi's receding back, secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and laughed secretly, "Haha, everyone says that Yuwen Yanyi is insidious and cunning, but I didn't expect him to be so easy to deceive! Senior Brother Xiao has already arranged the hoof prints in Beishan, and you will definitely believe it and destroy yourself. As long as you die, I believe Senior Brother Xiao will keep his promise and let me serve as an official in the court! I, Xiao Gaochi, have been subordinate to others for ten years, and finally I have a chance to come out!" (End of this chapter)