The Day Curfew

Within the Day-Curfewed Upper Capital, the sky gradually darkened. Aside from soldiers patrolling intermittently, Gao Zhijian saw nothing else moving outside.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” The commotion behind him made Gao Zhijian turn around in confusion. He saw the innkeeper standing on a table, a chopstick in his left hand tapping against a bowl he held in his right, a grin spread so wide across his face it could not have been more eager.

“Honored guests! It seems none of you will be going home tonight. You’ll all be staying here. But this inn only has three superior rooms and six standard rooms. Heh, if I just assign them outright, I fear some might feel slighted. How about this—highest bidder wins?”

“I’m not profiteering from a disaster, mind you! Those who don’t win a room can still bed down on the floor here. Our inn offers good value for money—floor space is only a hundred coppers!”

This announcement immediately drew an uproar of indignation in the hall. Seeing it was just this petty squabble, Gao Zhijian turned back around and continued watching the street.

This time, when his gaze returned to the road, his eyes bulged to the size of a cow’s. A stunningly beautiful young girl was walking down the street!

Having traveled far and wide with Brother Li, he had seen his share of the world, but he had never laid eyes on a girl so beautiful.

“There’s a curfew on. What’s a young girl doing out here alone? Isn’t she afraid of running into the Grand Liang soldiers?”

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard the girl outside calling out in a frantic voice.

“Dad! Dad, where are you? Dad, don’t leave me behind!”

“That voice sounds really familiar…” Gao Zhijian rested his chin in his hand, pondering.

If he had met this girl before, that was impossible. A girl with such a face—he couldn’t possibly forget her.

As the distant voice began to fade, Gao Zhijian’s mouth fell open in a surprised “Ah!” He remembered whose voice that was! It was Brother Li’s tamed evil spirit! The one who always wore that straw rain cape!

“She’s looking for her dad? Then her dad must be Brother Li!”

With that thought, Gao Zhijian shoved the table in front of him aside, grabbed the padlock with both hands, and twisted hard, turning the copper lock into a useless twisted scrap.

Ignoring the startled gasps of the other diners behind him, he charged into the deserted street, chasing after Li Sui.

On the empty road, Li Sui had not gotten far. Gao Zhijian caught up to her quickly.

“Ah! It’s you! Have you seen my dad? He flew away with an old man with a white beard named the State Preceptor on a sword, leaving me all alone where I was standing.” Although Li Sui had never spoken to Gao Zhijian back in Niuxin Village, she recognized him.

“You… you… your dad is… is… is…” Just as Gao Zhijian, sweating profusely and stammering with anxiety, was about to question her, more than a dozen armored horsemen appeared around a distant corner.

When they spotted Gao Zhijian and Li Sui standing brazenly in the middle of the street, the cavalrymen lightly kicked their horses’ flanks and galloped toward the pair.

Seeing the blood-dripping long sabers raised high, every muscle in Gao Zhijian’s body tensed instantly. He tucked Li Sui under his arm and turned to run.

But though Gao Zhijian was large and his strides were long, he could not outrun horses. Soon the distance between them was shrinking.

Hearing the hoofbeats grow louder behind him, Gao Zhijian knew he could not outrun them. He steeled himself, tossed Li Sui to the side, spun around, and thrust both hands against the ground.

The cavalryman hadn’t expected his target to suddenly stop in his tracks. Before his weapon could swing down, his galloping horse slammed full-force into Gao Zhijian.

Thick veins, like tree roots, crawled from Gao Zhijian’s neck up to his face.

“Hah!” Gao Zhijian let out a roar and braced himself, catching the charging horse solidly. Then, with a sudden embrace and a move like pulling a willow from dry soil, he heaved the horse and its rider onto the rooftop ahead.

The remaining cavalrymen were momentarily stunned by Gao Zhijian’s raw strength. They circled him at a distance, not daring to come closer.

One of the riders pulled a long strip of paper from his chest and raised it high. “Swoosh—crack!” A red smoke signal exploded in the sky.

The murderous glint in Gao Zhijian’s eyes flared. He glanced at the smoke, then quickly grabbed Li Sui and started walking down a different street. “Let’s go!”

But he had not gone far before a seven-foot-tall man wielding a pair of melon hammers blocked their path. Clad in armor, he carried one hammer on his shoulder while the other rested on the ground. He immediately recognized the killing aura on Gao Zhijian.

“Who the hell do you think you are, training in military arts? Do you even deserve it? You’re asking to die!” With that, the man raised his hammer and charged at Gao Zhijian.

Gao Zhijian wanted to retreat, but there was nowhere to go. He had to engage again.

Whoomph! One melon hammer flew at him. Gao Zhijian caught it with both hands, but the man’s other hammer slammed down hard on top of it. “Meteor Chases the Moon!”

The immense force sent Gao Zhijian stumbling back several steps. When he finally steadied himself, the tiger’s mouths of both his trembling hands were completely split open, bleeding profusely.

“Where’s your weapon?” The man looked down at Gao Zhijian with arrogant contempt.

Gao Zhijian wiped the blood from his hands onto his trousers. “In… in… in the inn!”

Bang! The hundred-catty melon hammer hit the ground, shattering the paving stones into pieces.

“Again! Don’t say Ma Wu here bullied you!” The man charged at Gao Zhijian with bare hands.

Li Sui tried to stand between them, but Gao Zhijian shoved her aside.

The two collided heavily and began to brawl, flesh pounding against flesh.

It was clear that Ma Wu had trained in boxing, while Gao Zhijian had not. Before long, Gao Zhijian was battered and bruised, his face swollen.

Yet no matter how badly he was hurt, he showed no sign of exhaustion.

Just as Gao Zhijian thought he would be beaten down, his body seemed to move on its own, as if by instinct.

His right foot stepped forward and hooked, throwing Ma Wu slightly off balance. Seizing the opening, Gao Zhijian bent his right arm, and his elbow—hard as iron—stopped right at the other man’s Adam’s apple.

Both men stopped. They slowly backed away from each other. Though Gao Zhijian’s face was a mess of bruises and Ma Wu bore not a single scratch, both of them knew—Gao Zhijian had just won that exchange.

“Good. You’ve got backbone. Not bad! You’re worthy of practicing military arts!” Ma Wu nodded, then turned to retrieve his weapons.

“There’s a curfew on—don’t run around. The higher-ups might be planning something. It’s fine that you ran into me, but if you’d run into someone else, you might not have made it out alive.”

Gao Zhijian shielded Li Sui behind his back and nodded faintly. “Thanks.”

“But this art of yours isn’t as good as the Ma family’s. If you ever want to draw a soldier’s pay in the future, remember to look us up. I’ll secure you a squad-leader post!” With that, Ma Wu shouldered his melon hammers and walked away.

Seeing Ma Wu leave, the cavalrymen watching from a distance also turned and departed. Before long, the quiet street was left with only Gao Zhijian and Li Sui.

Gao Zhijian looked around, let out a small sigh of relief, and took Li Sui’s hand as they headed back toward the inn.