Chapter 82 - 73: Goodbye Yu Hua
Along the way, a family surnamed Guo kindly offered Gu Wen shelter for the night. They had a young daughter of twenty who was about to be forcefully married to a butcher, with their wedding just a few days away. Gu Wen knew from the start they wanted something from him, but he also wanted to try his hand at emulating Lu Zhishen’s martial prowess in beating up the Western Gatekeeper.
Where there is great strength, there naturally has to be abundant energy.
Gu Wen went to the butcher’s home and learned that a bride price had been paid not just once. The girl’s father was a compulsive gambler, and the daughter had eloped with a scholar years before, only to be abandoned at the end. Despite the past grievances, the butcher sincerely sought to marry her.
Having understood the situation, Gu Wen returned as if he had accepted a quest from an online game. The prospective father-in-law was hesitant and indirect, while the girl covered her face, weeping as if she alone bore the suffering.
Gu Wen was no saint, and he was no Hee Huan; he couldn’t just marry the girl himself, right?
It’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them a fish, and sometimes it’s better not to help at all. The next day, Gu Wen left the household, heard of a tiger guarding treasure in the mountains, and turned in that direction. He killed the tiger and obtained ginseng aged with five more years of Heavenly Marrow.
[Heavenly Marrow for twenty-six years]
When Gu Wen emerged from the mountains, the butcher had already married the girl. Rumors of domestic abuse circulated, and when Gu Wen visited, he happened upon the woman poisoning the butcher, resulting in his death. She was then taken by the neighbors to the authorities.
The following day, the County Magistrate opened court, and Gu Wen, having changed his appearance, became the celebrated tiger-fighting hero invited to the proceedings. He only needed to change his hairstyle and wear a false beard to be hardly recognizable from the imperial portraits. Moreover, in these chaotic times, with frequent population movements, even refugees and bandits could enter the city to set up stalls; the government would ignore them if it could.
Unless he went up to the street and openly announced himself.