Jia Yuan City

Lan Province was the eighth largest of Yue’s thirteen prefectures by area, but when it came to prosperity, it ranked second only to Xin Province. Located in the southern part of the kingdom, its soil was fertile, and its jurisdiction was crisscrossed by countless waterways, lakes, and canals. Blessed with a consistently favorable climate, it was exceptionally well-suited for growing grain and rice, making it the kingdom’s foremost agricultural region.

Situated in the center of Lan Province, Jia Yuan City was not the provincial capital, but it was undeniably the largest city in the entire province. The Xiang–Lu Grand Canal, which ran from north to south across the kingdom, cut directly through the heart of the city. Several other major land and water routes also converged here, making it a transportation hub of immense importance — a nexus for waterborne commerce and a vital artery for trade. Countless merchants and travelers passed through this city every year, massively boosting its economic activity. It was no wonder at all that Jia Yuan City had become the largest city in the province.

In Jia Yuan City, cart yards, docks, and boatmen were incredibly numerous, scattered throughout every district. The carters, coolies, and boatmen who worked these trades were as plentiful as the hairs on an ox, numbering in the tens of thousands. Sun Ergou was one of these men, a man who made his living by the docks.

Sun Ergou lived up to his name, with a squint-eyed, crooked-mouthed face that gave him the thuggish look of a rotten pear or a spoiled date. However, he was skilled at reading people and knew how to flatter and curry favor. This had allowed him to scrape his way into becoming a minor gang leader at the docks, with several dozen porters and laborers under his command, earning a living by moving goods and luggage for passing merchants.

So when Sun Ergou arrived at this small dock early in the morning, a few of his men quickly gathered around, greeting him respectfully.

“Second Master, good morning!”

“Second Master is here!”

……

Hearing these titles, Sun Ergou felt a little lightheaded. Being called “Master” by anyone proved he was a man of some standing in these parts. He put on airs, giving a grunt through his nose as his only response to his subordinates’ greetings.

“Second Master? Isn’t it just Second Dog?”

“That’s right, just a dog walking on two legs. A dog trying to act like a man!”

“Haha! Haha!”

……

A burst of mockery and sarcastic laughter, completely undisguised, reached Sun Ergou’s ears.

Hearing this, Sun Ergou’s face darkened instantly, his mood turning sour in a split second.

He slowly turned his head, looking toward the several dozen men standing on the other side of the dock. His gaze settled on a big, burly black brute of a man, and a flicker of deep hatred passed through his eyes.

If there was anyone in Jia Yuan City that Sun Ergou hated more than anyone else, this black brute was definitely in the top three. If someone told him he could make this black man disappear from the world forever in exchange for his entire fortune, Sun Ergou might have hesitated for a moment. But if they said only half his fortune would do, he would agree without a second thought. Of course, given his fondness for drinking, whoring, and gambling, the “entire fortune” he supposedly had wasn’t much to begin with.

No one remembered the black man’s real name anymore. The men at the dock either called him “Black Master” or just used his nickname, “Black Bear.” He was the head of another small gang, the “Iron Fist Society,” and held roughly the same position as Sun Ergou did in his own gang, the “Four Peace Gang.” As a result, he too had been sent to manage another group of laborers at this same dock.

One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, let alone this tiny dock. The two groups had been hostile from the very start, and after several conflicts over stealing customers, the relationship had only grown worse. Now, whenever the two groups met, it was nothing but sneers, insults, shoving, and jostling — all short of an all-out brawl.

If the subordinates were like this, it went without saying for Sun Ergou and Black Bear, who had the most to gain from the business here. The two of them couldn’t stand the sight of each other. But as gang leaders with a bit of status and rank, they knew that the “Iron Fist Society” and the “Four Peace Gang” were allied, jointly fighting against a slightly larger gang called the “Poison Dragon Gang.” So although both men wanted to drive the other out of this dock and claim it for themselves, they had to forcibly restrain themselves and endure. Still, the accumulated dissatisfaction and anger were channeled through their subordinates’ verbal conflicts, which had become a daily morning ritual for the two of them.

Sure enough, without waiting for Sun Ergou’s signal, a few sharp-tongued men among his subordinates began to counterattack without mercy.

“Do you know what the dumbest animal is?”

“A bear!”

“And what’s the dumbest kind of bear?”

“The black bear, of course!”

“Ha…”

Black Bear, who had been looking smug listening to his own men taunting the other side, heard this and his face instantly turned black as thunder. Sun Ergou, on the other hand, laughed. He patted the shoulders of those men approvingly, encouraging them.

Black Bear’s men were not about to back down. A stream of filthy, vulgar curses spewed out. Sun Ergou’s side naturally responded in kind. They were all grown men; who was afraid of who? They picked the ugliest, most offensive words they could think of and flung them back.

As for Sun Ergou and Black Bear, the two leaders, they stood to the side and watched coldly. They were men of some status, after all, and couldn’t join in this kind of fishwife shouting match.

Just as the two groups were getting hoarse and spraying spittle with abandon, one of Sun Ergou’s men suddenly shouted in surprise: “A boat is coming in!”

This shout instantly silenced the nearly hundred burly men who had been shouting with gusto. They all turned their heads toward the riverbank. After all, real silver was far more enticing than the fleeting pleasure of a shouting match.

But when the men saw the boat pulling up to the dock, they couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. It was just a small skiff, barely big enough for three to five merchants or passengers at most. It was hardly a major business opportunity.

That was to be expected, really. This dock was run-down, small, and secluded to begin with. Under normal circumstances, no large boats would ever come here. Only during the peak trading season would a big ship, unable to find a berth at other docks, be forced to land here by necessity.

The small boat stopped at the dock, and two people got off. One was a young man who looked about seventeen or eighteen, with an ordinary appearance. The other was a giant, a full two heads taller than an average man.

The young man was dressed in a simple blue shirt, with a small yellow bird perched on his shoulder. As soon as he stepped off the boat, he began looking around, his expression that of a country bumpkin who had just arrived in the city. The giant, on the other hand, wore a bamboo hat and a green robe, his face hidden from view, his attire somewhat unsettling. The giant followed closely behind the young man, never straying more than a step away, looking for all the world like a servant or attendant.

This young man and the giant were none other than Han Li and Qu Hun, who had traveled for three straight months and had only just arrived in Doctor Mo’s hometown.