Volume Two: Bandits Here Chapter 133: Old and New

Ma Hui sat alone in the corner of the small courtyard, trembling all over. He forced himself to stand up, but seeming to recall something, he sat right back down, covering his thinning hair so Du Zhaolin wouldn't see.

Du Zhaolin was trembling from head to toe, gripped by a panic he had never experienced in his entire life.

If it were himself reduced to such a state, he would merely smile, for he held life and death in low regard.

What does it matter if youth is gone and vigor entirely lost?

This life has already been pledged to the right person, and for this lifetime, that is enough.

Yet when it came to witnessing the twilight years of this legendary overlord, he found himself utterly speechless.

What could be said? That the man who swept across the four borders of the Northern Territory and vied for supremacy in Fuzi City was, after all, merely mortal?

Bah! Cruel Heavens, you truly are blind!

"Grand Marshal, I told you long ago, that blade could never be mastered!" Du Zhaolin slumped to the ground, completely unaware that two streams of clear tears were soaking his lapels.

"What are you crying for! I can still walk, I can eat two taels of meat in a single meal, and I can still drink three jars of wine! Even if I were to go carousing with people, I would still call upon a dozen graceful and charming beauties to keep me company!" Ma Hui grinned broadly, forcing a laugh, maintaining a reckless and unyielding appearance that made Du Zhaolin frown deeply.

With a somewhat peculiar expression, he couldn't help but interject, "Grand Marshal, back in the Northern Territory, you were famously fast..."

"What do you know!" Ma Hui's face flushed red, and he snapped with embarrassment, "Why linger on such filthy matters? Every extra minute is a betrayal of a fine man's ambitions..."

"Grand Marshal!" Du Zhaolin hurriedly interrupted, cutting him off, and said with utter seriousness amidst Ma Hui's astonished gaze, "Judging by the time it took you to do that... seconds should probably be used as the unit of measurement."

This intensely insulting remark struck a nerve in Ma Hui. He sprang up abruptly, kicked Du Zhaolin right in the rear, and cursed with a smile, "Damn your mother! What business do you have coming to see me? Speak quickly and get lost."

"Could you not know?" Du Zhaolin muttered, dusting off his clothes, and said very earnestly, "There are many scoundrels stirring up trouble in the city. I heard that you've recently found leisure enough to go mingling with them?"

Ma Hui nodded, looking at Du Zhaolin with a playful, enigmatic gaze, and half-smiled as he asked, "What? Does Prefect Du's official might extend even to managing me?"

Du Zhaolin hurriedly claimed he wouldn't dare, but his gaze was exceptionally firm. Staring straight into Ma Hui's eyes, he said word by word, "An old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand Li. No matter how absurd your actions may seem, I will treat them all as serving the greater cause. But you must make one thing clear: a domestic dog and a stray cat are fundamentally different."

"They are both beasts, even if the domestic dog happens to be much more loyal than the stray cat," Ma Hui replied calmly, completely unmoved by Du Zhaolin's words.

"Humph!" Du Zhaolin made a formal bow and sneered, "Since that is the case, I shall no longer disturb the Grand Marshal's peace!"

As soon as his voice fell, he flicked his sleeves and turned away, departing with absolute decisiveness.

He left Ma Hui alone to stare at his vanishing figure with a sense of lingering loss. Ma Hui curled his lip and cursed in a low voice, "Little brat, what do you know!"

Having finished speaking, Ma Hui began to gasp heavily again. Step by step, he walked slowly and laboriously toward a secluded corner.

"Tsk tsk, is my time running out?" he murmured softly. The courtyard was dead silent, all quietly watching this overlord, though waiting for what, no one knew.

Perhaps they anticipated the blessings after his mortal life was extinguished, or perhaps they pitied a generation's hero reduced to such a state.

He had never lost to any man, yet he was unworthy even to catch a glimpse of the shadow of the Heavenly Dao.

Ma Hui felt a lingering sense of melancholy. A bitter smile touched the corner of his mouth as he recalled the wild boast of his youth: A man must have his romance; killing men and drinking wine require grand songs.

Pity that time marches on relentlessly; he could no longer lift a saber, and as for drinking three large jars of wine, well, just how much of it he secretly poured out probably only this old master himself knew.

"Bah! You are too unreasonable!" Ma Hui pointed at the sky with a smile, picked up the remaining half-jar of wine, and drained it in one gulp. The empty jar crashed to the ground, not a single drop remaining.

This time, he drank with utter sincerity.

......

"Zhao Ziling! How many days has it been, why hasn't anyone come to assassinate you yet? Could it be that you've been secretly whitewashing yourself behind the scenes!" Du Zhaolin grabbed Zhao Ziling by the collar, looking like an enraged lion fiercely demanding his "justice."

Zhao Ziling felt somewhat helpless. He firmly believed that among all the people in Saddle-Horse City who wished for his death, Du Zhaolin must surely be one of them.

"My Lord, matters of life and death are beyond human control! Perhaps the remaining aristocratic scions are all cowards without the courage to undertake such a head-severing task," he lowered his head and said softly, looking exceptionally submissive.

There was no help for it; the ruthlessness with which this vicious hound operated made even him fear him by three points.

"If they won't come looking for you, won't you go looking for them? Pick those with great influence and dark methods to go and provoke them at their doorsteps! If they ignore you, go humiliate their families, extort them, rob them—do whatever has no bottom line. At worst, it's just death, and eighteen years later, you, Zhao Ziling, will still be a fine hero!" Du Zhaolin furrowed his brow, evidently showing strong dissatisfaction with someone lacking in a spirit of sacrifice like Zhao Ziling.

"My Lord... aren't we the protectors of the city? Shouldn't we be the righteous figures?" Zhao Ziling said weakly, deeply doubting who the true progenitor of conspiracies actually was.

Du Zhaolin ignored him and pondered for a good while before saying, "Do you think it's better to kidnap their mothers, or to extort their wives?"

Zhao Ziling suddenly understood why, among all the reformed bandits, only Ma Hui's faction managed to establish a foothold in the Northern Territory for so long. It turned out they never forgot their original aspiration from beginning to end.

"My Lord, I think we can be a bit more civilized..." Zhao Ziling paused and said viciously, "For instance, going to seduce their children, having a few more kids with them, and then claiming a larger share of the family property when the time comes!"

"You..." Du Zhaolin gave him a thumbs-up and praised sincerely, "An educated man is ruthless after all, though I wonder if your physical capabilities can keep up?"

Zhao Ziling curled his lip and sneered, "The Northern Territory is desolate, yet men call me the Little Sowing Expert."

Du Zhaolin: ......

......

The Year of the Ox arrives anew, wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! May everything be blessed with goodness! May you walk the straight path, may fortune fill your doorstep, and may you be the brightest individuals in the entire world in the coming year!

Raising a glass, I toast the eastern wind, sharing ease with the heavens.
At midnight, the heart grows cool, with a mere trace of cloud and mist.
Leaning against the railing to listen to the wind, outside the house, squalls of wind and snow rage.
Returning westward once more, the festive spirit fades away; who knows whose household this might be?

At noon, the morning sun shines upon overgrown weeds and withered flowers.
Peering through the window, chirping sparrows echo in the courtyard.
Coming eastward, belated fortune still arrives; who can say the spring drizzle brings no tenderness?

Wishing everyone eternal youth, drifting through the mortal world yet never changing your original aspiration, forging ahead steadfastly all the way until all your wishes are fulfilled!