My Wandering Swordsman

"This bed is too narrow, you'll fall off."

"It won't fall, I'm holding it."

"But there's someone in the lower bunk."

"Then keep your voice down."

"..."

My name is Ji Xiaosong.

At this moment, I am lying on a green train from Foshan to Hengdian.

Listening to the whispers coming from the middle bunk, I didn't feel good.

Hey, holy crap! Are you two going to start something right above my head?

Unfortunately, my prayers were in vain.

Before long, the train clattered and clattered, and my bunk clattered and clattered too.

I blushed. Even though I was an 18-year-old from the countryside and had never experienced this kind of thing, I still knew basic physiological knowledge.

"spit!"

I cursed inwardly, thinking that I should avoid taking this cheap hard sleeper train in the future; it's bad luck.

As the old saying goes, "beauty is a curse." It's best to stay away from women, or you'll get into trouble sooner or later.

Why do I say that?

Because my dad is a living example.

My dad is a good person in every way.

Handsome, good at fighting, good at making money... but there's one thing: he's a bit of a womanizer.

If I'm not mistaken, he was brought down by a woman. A woman who, it's said, had three moles on her buttocks.

This is a long story.

Last year, which was in 1997.

My father was celebrating his third marriage in his hometown of Foshan when a large group of policemen suddenly burst through the door during the banquet.

Before he was handcuffed, he whispered to me, "Xiao Song, go to Hengdian and find a woman with three moles on her buttocks. My life depends on you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the police took him away without saying a word.

I never saw my father again after that day.

With the pillar of support gone, the Ji family's fortunes declined.

What's even more absurd is that, because my biological mother passed away early, my second mother disappeared, and my third mother never married into the family, I, who was still a minor at the time, couldn't even find a guardian.

The government had no choice but to send me to a welfare home.

I stayed there for more than ten months.

Until today...

Today is my eighteenth birthday, so I'm "discharged" from the hospital. But when the police were signing the discharge papers, they delivered another piece of bad news—

My father's situation is serious; at the very least, he'll get a suspended death sentence!

You have to understand, a suspended death sentence back then was different from now; when the time came, it meant actual execution! In other words, I only had two years left. If I couldn't overturn the verdict within two years, my father would really be gone.

So all I remember after I came out is one thing.

Go to Hengdian, find women!

Someone asked, "Going to a county-level city all by yourself to find a woman who doesn't even have a name? That's a pipe dream."

Actually, no, the Ji family has relatives in Hengdian.

My aunt's cousin, who is also my aunt, lives in Hengdian all year round. Before my father and aunt's relationship broke down, my aunt would come to Foshan every year and we had a good relationship.

On this trip, I plan to seek refuge with her first.

So I went back to the old house, looted a total of one thousand yuan in cash, and headed straight to Hengdian!

Later, this incident happened.

On the night of my eighteenth birthday, I witnessed a man and a woman doing the deed overhead.

I have no idea what this omen means...

The clattering continued, which annoyed me. Since I couldn't sleep, I got up and sat on the chair under the luggage rack.

With nothing to do, I stared intently at the blankets on the middle bunk, which kept rising and falling, under the car's night light.

This is a rare opportunity, should I sneak a peek under the covers at his butt? Let's eliminate one by one, just in case we bump into the real deal.

I'm just pondering this.

"rogue!"

Ok?

I looked to my side in surprise and met a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.

The girl who insulted me was about my age, and quite pretty, with a pair of cute little tiger teeth that I really liked. She was lying on the lower bunk opposite me, looking at me with a disgusted expression.

My mind went blank for a moment.

If you don't tell me about the two in the middle bunk, am I a pervert?

Just as he was about to retort, a cough came from the train police officer at the end of the carriage.

The girl quickly pulled the blanket over herself.

The guy in the middle bunk must have heard it too. The banging stopped for a moment, then stopped completely after two more loud bangs.

Given the situation, I shouldn't argue any further.

We met by chance, so be it if he's a rogue.

Silent all night.

The next day at noon.

We've arrived at the final stop.

I yawned as I walked out of the station, still feeling unwell. As soon as I stepped off the platform, I met a pair of big eyes again. It was none other than the girl who had scolded me.

Eyes facing each other.

She paused for a moment, then gestured two words towards me with exaggerated mouth movements:

"satyr!"

I go!

My temper flared up instantly, and I was about to give chase, but the girl reacted quickly, disappearing into the crowd in a few steps.

I was so angry my teeth were chattering:

"If you, Master Ji, run into this again, I'll show you what a real thug is!"

I left the station with my temper flaring up, and the whole thing was quickly forgotten.

Why?

The scene before him was truly shocking for a country boy who had never left his village.

"The film studio is short one person; leave immediately."

"Accommodation, cheap and clean."

"CDs and cassettes are attractive and inexpensive."

A large crowd gathered around.

It's said that celebrities are surrounded by a large entourage and have to hire a group of bodyguards to maintain order when they go out. I never thought that an ordinary guy like me would also receive such treatment.

I paused, and the middle-aged woman holding up the accommodation sign, her eyes gleaming, squeezed in: "Young man, out of town, right? Accommodation is 51 yuan a night, and we even offer daily payment for the bride price!"

What does "daily settlement of bride price" mean?

I was just turned eighteen and couldn't understand this slang, but paying 50 yuan for a night's stay was outrageous.

I shook my head and squeezed through the crowd to get out.

Before I even came out, I bumped into someone.

"Thump—"

I felt like I was imprinted on a wall.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"Ah, you flatter me, benefactor."

donor?

Only then did I look up.

Before me stood a young man who looked like a monk, bald, wearing a gray monk's robe and wooden prayer beads, with an exceptionally robust build.

I was stunned for a moment, thinking to myself, "It has to be Hengdian. The variety of people here is just amazing. You can even meet monks at the train station."

"I'm sorry, Master, I was in too much of a hurry." I didn't think much of it and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, the burly monk grabbed me and said, "Please wait, benefactor!"

I turned my head in confusion.

The other party frowned and said, "Benefactor, judging from your appearance, I fear you may face a bloody disaster soon..."

My lips twitched as I listened. Why did those words sound so familiar? Was he going to ask me for money any second now? Even though I'm from out of town, they can't treat me like a fool and scam me.

To avoid further trouble, I took out five yuan and handed it over: "Here, keep the change."

The strong monk pushed the money back.

"This humble monk is a monk who has renounced worldly life and does not concern himself with worldly matters. We two are destined to meet, so this humble monk may..."

I quickly interrupted, "I'm not listening, you just need to leave."

As I spoke, I tried to stuff the money into his arms. The monk probably hadn't seen anyone so eager to give me money before, and he kept deferring to me.

Between the push and the shove, I, whose build was clearly two sizes smaller than his, lost my balance and fell flat on my face.

The fall was nothing serious; I felt a lightness on my shoulder and instinctively turned around to look.

A skinny, shifty-eyed young man was right behind me, clutching a gleaming razor blade in his hand. At the same time, water, instant noodles, and dozens of dusty, large-denomination bills were spread out around me in a half-circle.

Why do these grains and travel expenses look so familiar?

wrong!

How did someone slash my backpack open?