Chapter 242 – Burying Oneself in the Mountain, Awaiting the Harvest, Truth About the Emperor - Part 2
On a day of heavy snowfall in the dead of winter, Li Yuan was once again traveling as the White-Robed Blade King. He slaughtered a den of bandits and rescued the women they had abducted. He then divided the bandits’ loot among them so they could return home, keeping not a single coin for himself.
Amid their tearful thanks, Li Yuan stood alone in the drifting snow, gazing at bloodstains where crimson mingled with white. He raised his gourd of wine and let out a hearty laugh. “Glorious...simply glorious!”
But soon he heard movement behind him. Turning his head, he spotted three men and two women, all dressed like roaming heroes—three carried blades, one a sword, and one a spear, picking their way up the slope.
They’d caught wind of these bandits terrorizing the area and had come to clear them out. Young and unaffiliated with any major sect, they were eager to prove themselves. Yet from a few miles away, they’d already smelled blood. Now, seeing the bandits’ bodies strewn in the snow—and a lone swordsman in white perched on a boulder, drinking under the bleak winter sky—they gaped in awe, then realized the bandits lay dead at his feet.
All five approached to pay their respects, each announcing their name—
“Qian Zhengrong of the Eversword School.”
“Wang Xiaoqian of the Falling Blade School.”
“Cong Zuxue of the Coldpeak Dojo.”
“Dou Zijuan of the Eight Blades Sect.”
“Liu Buqu of the Warspear League.”
Li Yuan looked them over and said in a low voice, “Zhang Xiu.”
That was the name he had assumed as the White-Robed Blade King, and it had grown quite famous in Silkfloss Province by now. The moment they heard it, the five exchanged awestruck glances as if meeting their idol. Some turned starry-eyed, while others blushed. The band of hot-blooded youths excitedly crowded around Li Yuan, all but forgetting their initial goal of vanquishing evil.