The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 261 - 179 The Most Valuable Head

Chapter 261: Chapter 179 The Most Valuable Head

On the twentieth day of the first month in Guanzhong, there’s a custom called "Mending the Sky."

It’s not a major festival, it’s just that people eat pancakes on this day.

A few pancakes are placed on the roof, called "Mending the Sky."

A couple are thrown into the well, called "Mending the Earth."

Yang Baozhu threw the pancake in his hand into the well, bowed respectfully three times, and then shouted towards the house, "I’m heading out!"

His wife complained from inside, "Heading to the tea house again, just back, can’t even rest a bit."

"Hey, you talkative woman!"

Yang Baozhu cursed, then placed the earthen tobacco pipe behind his neck, clasped his hands behind his back, and hummed a tune as he walked out the door.

The old city of Huayin wasn’t large. Being close to Tong Pass, it was a strategic military point. The previous dynasties had destroyed it in war, leaving only ruins and walls, with no one for hundreds of miles. It only gradually regained vitality later.

Although Yang Baozhu was just a suona player in the left family troupe of the shadow puppetry theater, a job among the Lower Nine Streams, his ancestors were once glorious.

The Yang family of Hongnong was a resounding name, having produced four emperors, five generations of queens, and many renowned ministers and generals.

By rights, they should have been a powerful family in the area.

Unfortunately, the Yang family of Hongnong began in the Western Han, flourished in the Wei and Jin, declined in the Sui and Tang, and by the Song Dynasty, the major family had migrated south, leaving only these collateral branches.

Only during ancestral worship could they reminisce about past glories.

Whenever Yang Baozhu brought this up, it always caused laughter, since surely every family in Guanzhong had ancestors who were once prosperous.

However, for the past few days, he’d been in high spirits.

"Mr. Yang has arrived!"

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the tea house, someone called out loudly, even the waiter eagerly brought tea and served him carefully.

"Brother Yang, tell us about that night again!"

As soon as Yang Baozhu sat down, a few people gathered around.

"Didn’t I just talk about it yesterday?"

Yang Baozhu pretended to complain impatiently, but after he took out the earthen tobacco pipe and someone nearby eagerly lit it for him, he still took a couple of puffs, saying calmly, "There’s quite a story to that night..."

"This time, at the Lantern Festival Drum King Gathering, participants came not only from our Shan State, but many teams from other states also joined, making it more lively than usual..."

"They all displayed their unique skills, our old Huayin troupe couldn’t lose face, and as soon as the Eight-directions Projection Technique was performed, it immediately stunned the audience..."

"Have you heard of Xiong Baodong, the gang leader of the Fire Bear Gang in Chang’an!"

"How does his gang compare to our Blood Blade Sect here?"

"Huh, there’s no comparison! That’s Chang’an, after all. His gang has thousands of men, all capable fighters."

"Yet still, his head got taken!"

"Tsk tsk... I was watching right there, and oh dear, I got splattered with blood, poor me with my newly made clothes... that Young Hero Li, carrying the head, shouted out loud, truly like a reappearance of the Tang Dynasty heroes!"

Yang Baozhu, true to his opera troupe origins, although not a singer, told the story of that night with so many dramatic turns that the listeners were amazed continuously.

Someone couldn’t help but ask, "Isn’t it just the Drum King Gathering, why was there such a fierce fight, even causing a death?"

Yang Baozhu glanced sideways, "To ascend Hua Mountain!"

"What?"

Someone immediately spat out a mouthful of tea, "That lousy Hua Mountain, I go up it every day, if they want to go, they should ask me to lead the way, I know all the routes."

"Heh heh."

Yang Baozhu sneered, "You ignorant fool, do you really think Hua Mountain is just what you see, some places are not for ordinary people to reach."

"Even if I explained more, you wouldn’t understand. Anyway, that spot is worth a lot, why else would outsiders come to compete?"

"How much is it worth?"

"What, it’s gotta be two thousand taels..."

Hiss—!

Everyone immediately sucked in a cold breath.

Pffft!

Just then, laughter came from a corner far away.

Yang Baozhu looked up and saw a red-faced man sitting there, wearing a shabby sheepskin coat, quite tall, with a Guan Mountain Blade hanging on each side.

A bladesman!

Yang Baozhu was initially a bit angry, but now his heart tightened, and he carefully cupped his fists, "Great hero, I was just rambling, please don’t mind."

"Your information is outdated!"

The red-faced man drank the tea in his bowl in one gulp, shook his head, and said, "One spot sold for ten thousand taels, and Li Yan has nine tokens, selling for ninety thousand taels in total!"

"What?"

Now it was Yang Baozhu’s turn to be surprised. He suddenly felt that the twenty taels of reward in his pocket was not so appealing anymore, while inwardly cursing the troupe leader for being stingy.

"Ninety thousand taels..."

The red-faced man shook his head tsk-tsking, "Not only that, but the Qiao family from Fengyang County, along with some elders from the Fire Bear Gang, combined a reward of five thousand taels for Li Yan’s head."

"That head is the most valuable in the underworld now!"

Yang Baozhu smiled and cautiously said, "But Young Hero Li can easily kill Force Transformation experts and is a magician. Who would dare to brave the danger to claim the reward?"

"There are plenty of people who value money over their lives!"

"By chance, I’m one of them!"

The red-faced man said this while slowly standing up.

Only then did everyone realize how tall he was, nearly two meters!

Yang Baozhu swallowed his saliva and respectfully cupped his hands, "Forgive me, dare to ask brother..."

"From Pu County, Yuan Heizi!"

With that, he laughed heartily and strode out.

Everyone looked at each other, all with eyes full of fright.

"He’s Yuan Zhetian from Pu County!"

...

Yuan Zhetian left the tea house and strode towards the city gate.

His build was unusual, making him quite noticeable on the street.

At the city gate, a wanted poster of him was posted prominently on the wall, but several city guards saw it and stubbornly turned their heads, pretending not to see.

"Hmph hmph!"

Yuan Zhetian let out a cold snort and swaggered out of the city gate.

Reaching the yellow dirt hill outside the city, a man suddenly jumped down from a tree, full of smiles, respectfully cupped his hands, "Greetings, big brother."

"Have you found out anything?"