"Alright, alright, I didn't come for you anyway, kneel down properly, and keep quiet," the river bandit leader dismissed the boatswain's jianghu pleasantries impatiently, his gaze swiftly sweeping across the area before settling on Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai.
He couldn't help but notice them because they were the only ones not kneeling.
Not only were they not kneeling, but they were also sitting across on the edge of the boat, chatting and laughing, as if the bandits boarding the ship had nothing to do with them.
"Ha!" The river bandit chief actually laughed upon seeing this. He exchanged a look with his subordinates and then stepped forward, walking up to Sun and Huang, "Good lads, it seems you two already know... that I am here for you?"
Huang Donglai remained silent, gazing into the distance.
Sun Yixie looked up at him and replied, "Who are you, and where are you from? State your name first."
"Hey!" The man laughed bitterly in anger, "Got nerve, kid, daring to ask me to state my name?" He took half a step back, slapped his chest with a slap and proclaimed loudly, "I am the descendant of Gan Ning Gan Xingba, known as the 'Dragon of the Yangtze River, peerless in both the sword and the bow, Gan Feihong', who robs the rich to aid the poor and acts for..."
"Pah!" Sun Yixie didn't wait for Gan Feihong to finish speaking and instantly spat out a mouthful of phlegm to interrupt him, "You? A dragon of the river? Hardly heard of you. Start with this, where do you rank among the 'Thirteen Paths'?"
Upon hearing this, Gan Feihong's expression changed.
The so-called "Thirteen Paths" was a standard used to differentiate territories and statuses among the green forest paths, with the earthly paths being the "Heaven Earth Profound Yellow" four paths and the riverine paths being the "Universe Vast Wilderness" four paths. In terms of regions, there were also the "East South West North" four paths.
For example, in Hebei, a top-notch green forest hero could answer when asked about the "Thirteen Paths,"— "The sky's high and the clouds are pale, the solitary goose flies to the north."
That means he ranks among the "Heaven" of "Heaven Earth Profound Yellow" and is in the "North," operating solo.
And say, you have a bunch of low-class river bandits banding together in the Jinsha River area in Shu, when they're asked this question, they should answer— "With the setting sun and western breeze, joined in righteousness strong and vast."
It means they are part of the "Wilderness" in "Universe Vast Wilderness," located in the "West," and "a group" bonding together.
In short, as long as your answer has those keywords, any way you phrase it is fine. It depends on your own cultural level.
Furthermore, since it is called "Thirteen Paths," aside from the twelve characters mentioned above, there is naturally one more path... That solo differentiated path is called "Skin Path"; and "skin" in slang means dog. This path is specifically for those who were once recognized by the "Thirteen Paths," but later did something utterly inhumane and were renounced even by the green forest code as a fellow human, becoming collectively hunted.
So which path does Gan Feihong belong to?
He belongs to none...
Every line of work has its rules; you're not a "dragon of the river" just because you say you are, nor are you "peerless in both the sword and the bow" just by claiming it. If it were that easy, Sun Yixie could give himself eight aliases right now, and the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch would have to kneel before him.
In the green forest paths, you need to be recognized by your peers to have a moniker.
And the way to get recognition is that you have to perform enough or significant deeds within a period of time, regardless of whether it fits with the Great Ming's laws, but at least enough to make your peers think you are a "good man"... Only then can you enter the path.
So someone like Ma Si would never be acknowledged by the green forest paths right from the start; he doesn't even have the qualifications to be part of "Skin Path." Of course, he likely has never intended to be recognized by anyone.
As for Gan Feihong... Whether he is a descendant of Gan Ning is not easy to verify, but he believes he is; he indeed wanted to practice "robbing the rich to aid the poor, acting for justice," and his brothers followed him with this thought in mind.
But, he has only been out in jianghu for less than half a year and hasn't accomplished any major deeds; merely robbing what appeared to be particularly wealthy and unkind rich men on civilian ships on the river, then keeping a portion of the money for himself and distributing the rest to the poor nearby.
If you asked him to rob official ships, he's not that he wouldn't dare, but he's smart enough to know that would simply be leading his brothers to their deaths, so he refrains.
In summary, based on Gan Feihong's current "achievements," it's probably not enough to qualify for the "Thirteen Paths" yet, but he is still aware of the green forest paths' rules.
Now, being questioned by Sun Yixie like this, Gan Feihong immediately determined that the young man before him must also be someone from the paths, as only an insider would start with such a question.
"I..." Gan Feihong found it somewhat embarrassing to admit that he wasn't even on the path yet and hesitantly responded, "What's it to you who I am? And who are you?"
"Ha!" Sun Yixie stood up abruptly, raising his eyebrows and speaking loudly, "You better stand firm then!" He also proclaimed loudly, "I... am known as 'the one who lifts heaven's towering jade pillars to surprise the tides, the one who erects the golden beams across the sea to dazzle with splendor'... the good brother of 'Haodongyu,' the chief scoop handler of the green forest paths on waterways... Sun Yixie."
His first few words nearly scared Gan Feihong out of his wits, and the latter part left him bewildered.
But in fact, Brother Sun wasn't entirely lying; he did know Haodongyu. As the chief scoop handler of the green forest paths on waterways would have to frequent Jiangnan and come to Hangzhou, and upon arriving in Hangzhou, he would have to work with those involved in the local water industries, right? To make transactions, they definitely had to go through Brother Sun's dock; otherwise, no matter if you were a scoop or blade handler, you wouldn't even get to eat fish, right?
This is how, after several meetings, the two became acquainted, so Sun Yixie knew about these jargon associated with the "Thirteen Paths."
However, calling each other "brothers"... Haodongyu was thirty-six that year; in those days, he was old enough to be Sun Yixie's father. Moreover, even if age wasn't an issue, their relationship didn't reach the level of "brothers," at most they were fair-weather friends, acquainted with a nod.
"What's the matter? You don't believe me by the look on your face," Sun Yixie said, "Alright then, just send up the noodles with sliced meat and hot soup for me. Just wait and see if my brother Haodongyu doesn't come after you for revenge once I'm dead. Come on, come on... make your move, aim right here." As he spoke, he had already taken on a fearless attitude, exposing his neck by pulling open his collar.
Gan Feihong couldn't fathom the shamelessness of Sun Yixie's acting skills and his capacity for bluffing, which had become seamless. Seeing the other's confidence, and knowing the underworld slang as well as Haodongyu's name, Gan Feihong believed him without further consideration.
"No, no, no... Brother! Brother Sun! You are my brother!" The twenty-five-year-old Gan Feihong addressed the seventeen-year-old Sun Yixie as such, catching Sun Brother's arm and helping him, "It was the fault of someone with no eyes who failed to recognize Taishan Mountain and mistook my elder for just another passing wealthy tyrant. I deserve to die, brother."
Huang Donglai, who was beside them listening to the exchange, was struggling to contain his laughter to the point of nearly bursting, but he kept it in, continuing to admire the river view.
"Eh~ that's more like it," seeing his deception work once more, Sun Yixie's face broke into a big smile, then putting on an air of a hero admiring another hero, he laughed and said, "We're all brothers here, just a misunderstanding, haha..."