The rain began to fall. The sound of rain that hit the straw roof, sending out a soft melody. There is very little rainfall at this time of year. Many travelers stopped in the teahouse sheltered from rain.
Kuo Lok stayed with his elder brother Kou Heng up north for three years. The last letter he received from his mother was a few months ago. He sat watching the raindrops and drank his tea.
The couple sitting at the same table with him has a four-year-old boy playing his ball. The mother looked after the two children while the father went to the teahouse owner to get more food. The mother of the four-year-old boy is holding a one-year-old boy on her left arm while feeding the four-year-old boy. The boy bounced his ball twice on the table, but on the third time, the ball bounced too hard and the ball flew onto the open road. The four-year-old boy quickly jumped from his seat and chased after his ball.
A horse rushed towards the four-year-old boy from a distance, who stooped to pick up the ball. The rider tried his best to stop the charge horse.
Kuo Lok flew forward, quickly grabbed the boy and the ball, and kicked the horse's neck. Kou Lok's kick knocked the horse and the rider to the ground. The horse and the rider plunged into a muddy puddle. The injured horse got up and ran away. The boy's family ran out and took the boy from Kuo Lok's arm.
The fallen man sat in a muddy puddle, trying to wipe the dirt from his face. He spat out some mud from his mouth. He looked at the gathered people coldly and shouted angrily, "Who kicked my horse?" He stood up and stared at the crowd frantically.
Everyone pointed at Kuo Lok with their fingers.
The muddy man walked towards Kuo Lok frantically. He pointed at Kuo Lok with his right index finger, "How dare you kick my horse?"
Three horses chased from behind. The three men stopped their horses and looked at the muddy man coldly.
The bearded man in the middle said, "Go back with us."
The muddy man walked behind Kuo Lok and he held tightly on Kuo Lok's belt, "Da ge, help me."
Kuo Lok looked at the frightening young lady peeking from behind his back.
Bearded man, "Young man, this has nothing to do with you. Please step back."
Kuo Lok asked, "Do you know them?"
Muddy man said, "Yes…" He looked up at the bearded man. "You three chased after me from the Gobi desert to here. Just let it go. No matter what the old man pays you, I can pay you more."
Kuo Lok, "Old man?"
The Muddy man looked at Kuo Lok. He noticed that Kuo Lok looked very retarded and could easily be fooled, so he wrapped his arms around Kuo Lok's waist and started crying, "Da ge…these three men want to take me to marry an old man. Look at me... I am a young and beautiful lady. How can I marry a sixty-year-old man?"
Bearded man, "What are you talking about?"
Kuo Lok looked at the bearded man and said, "Do you know that forcing a minor lady to marry is a crime?"
The muddy man nodded in agreement with Kuo Lok.
Bearded man shook his head, "No matter what, he is going with us?"
The bearded man reached out his hand towards the muddy man. Kuo Lok grabbed the bearded man's hand and push the muddy man back with his left hand. The other two men launched a strike against Kuo Lok. Kuo Lok still held the hand of the bearded man and pulled back a few steps, and the bearded man fell to the ground. The two men swung their swords at Kuo Lok. Kuo Lok flipped over and he step on the bearded man's back and did a single backward somersault.
The three men began to attack Kuo Lok. When the bearded man lunged towards Kuo Lok, Kuo Lok hit his upper chest hard, causing the bearded man to stumble forward. Then a flying plate flew straight at the bearded man's forehead. Kuo Lok caught the flying plate before it hit the bearded man. Then he pushed the bearded man back, and the bearded man fallen into the muddy puddle. Kuo Lok looked at the direction of the flying plate. He saw the muddy lady standing with a guilty face and she was holding another plate. Kuo Lok shook his head at the muddy lady.
The two wounded men helped the bearded man up and the three jumped on their horses and fled the scene.
The muddy man smiled at Kuo Lok, "Thank you, da ge ge."
Kuo Lok, "It's…alright." He looked at the muddy young lady. He said, "Xiaojie, go washed those mud off."
The muddy man then realized that he was still wearing women's clothes. He teased, "Da ge ge, I have no spare clothes. You kicked my horse, which caused my horse to take off with my bag. Also, look around…this is an open roadside teahouse stop. This is not a tavern or an inn where I can take a private bath." The muddy man looked at Kuo Lok's retarded face and laughed. "I've never meet anyone as dumb and stupid as you before." After some good laughed the muddy man felt bad because the man just saved him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way."
Kuo Lok said with a dull face, "Oh…" He walked back to the table and sat down with the family.
The rain began to fall heavily. Kuo Lok watched the muddy lady began to wash the mud off her face and clothes. His eyes were on her. After washing the mud, Kuo Lok saw a beautiful lady. She has a beautiful face and beautiful eyes. She is wearing black and red clothes, her hair is tied into a ponytail, with braids hair dangling down on each side of her head.
Looking at the muddy lady, his heart began to beat. When the muddy lady met his eyes, he felt embarrassed, so he bowed his head and sat on the table, and drank tea. He heard the faint foot steps approaching him.
The muddy lady patted Kuo Lok's left shoulder twice. He raised his head and met the smile of the muddy lady.
Muddy man, "Can I sit here?"
Kuo Lok nodded.
Muddy man, "Thank you for saving me from those three men. Where is my manner?" The muddy man smiled. "I am Bazar Batu. Da ge, what is your name?"
Kuo Lok said nervously, "Kuo Lok, Jinfeng Sector. You are not Chinese."
Bazar Batu said, "Nope. I am a proud Mongol and will never claim to be Chinese under any circumstances." He took a sip of tea and looked at Kuo Lok excitedly. "Eh…no wonder your kung fu is excellent. Hey, da ge, how old are you? In the martial arts world, what is your tile and what rank you fallen into?"
Kuo Lok, "I don't understand the rank."
Bazar Batu explained, "Ranking refers to how high you are in the ranking."
Kuo Lok still was confused, "Rank? I am not sure?'
Bazar Batu, "Your master?"
Kuo Lok, "I have many masters."
Bazar Batu asked, "Who are they?"
Kuo Lok, "My father, Monk Ling, the five gentlemen of Huangshan and…"
Bazar Batu, "Your father doesn't count as your master."
Kuo Lok, "Oh…"
Bazar Batu, "Where are you going?"
Kuo Lok, "I am going to meet my masters in Yong Sword Village."
Bazar Batu, "Lok ge ge, you don't mind if I go to Yong Sword Village with you, right?"
Kuo Lok shook his head.
Bazar Batu, "So, if the rain stop, we can go to Yong Sword Village." Kuo Lok nodded, and Bazar Batu poured him more tea. "Thank you again for saving me and take me along with you. I always want to meet other martial artist."
A seriously injured man flew crashing down on the table that Kuo Lok and Bazar Batu were sitting. The injured man slowly stood up and vomited blood. He walked ten steps away. Twenty men in black clothes gathered around the small tea house. Their arrows pointed at the injured man.
Bazar Batu saw a small piece of old sheepskin on the ground. He picked it up and there were two butterflies on the mountain with some marks on them. He quickly stuffed the old sheepskin into the his robe.
Zhu Mingyang approached the injured man. He looked straight at the injured man and said, "Hand it over."
The injured man scoffed with blood dripping from corner of his mouth, "Over my dead body."
Zhu Mingyang smiled, "Alright." He turned a slightly to his right, and nodded.
Twenty arrows were released at the same time, hitting the injured man. The injured man dropped dead onto the floor. Every travelers inside the teahouse were terrified.
Zhu Mingyang said coldly, "Check him."
One of the man inspected the dead body. He stood in front of Zhu Mingyang and said, "The item is not with him."
Then, a white horse and a young handsome man in white stopped in front of the tea house. The young handsome man stopped and said, "Mingyang, did you find it."
Zhu Mingyang shook his head, "The item is not with him. Sorry."
The young man in white smiled, "Forget it." He turned his head at the frighten people inside the roadside teahouse. He smiled and said, "Please forgive us for disturbing your morning. Mingyang…"
Zhu Mingyang nodded. He turned to his men and said, "Bring the body with us." Zhu Mingyang put a large sliver ingot on the table.
The men put the dead man's body on the wagon and began to pull away.
Kuo Lok and Bazar Batu watched the twenty-two men despairing in the distance.