The Smiling, Proud Wanderer: From the Moment He Picked Up Qu Feiyan

The hearty smile on Li Donglai's face froze on his lips.

His mouth was slightly open, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"Pfft—"

A suppressed laugh, which was ultimately unable to be contained, was heard.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Lin Zhennan, the chief镖头 (bodyguard) of Fuwei镖局 (escort agency), who had turned his head to the side at some point. His face was flushed red, his shoulders were shrugging, and his mouth was twitching violently, clearly indicating that he was enduring great difficulty.

Although he tried his best to restrain himself, a smile still seeped out from the corners of his mouth and the corners of his eyebrows.

Startled by the laughter, Li Donglai snapped out of his daze.

He glanced at Shen An's ambiguous smile, then at Lin Zhennan's strange expression of wanting to laugh but not daring to. His weathered face instantly turned from red to white, then from white to green, and finally turned into a purplish-brown color.

He wished the riverbank would immediately crack open so he could crawl into it.

Shen An didn't rush to speak, but simply observed him leisurely. After a long while, he finally spoke, repeating Li Donglai's words verbatim: "So, Chief Li, do you now think that I, Shen An... can accomplish great things?"

Li Donglai's old face turned a deep purplish-red. He opened his mouth, hesitated for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh. He bowed deeply to Shen An, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said in a hoarse voice, "Senior Brother Shen's martial arts are unparalleled. I, Li, was blind to your greatness and have offended you greatly. Please forgive me!"

Shen An accepted his bow, but did not rush to help him up. He simply said, "What I'm asking is, do you think I can accomplish great things?"

Li Donglai slowly straightened up. Beneath his rugged exterior lay a shrewd and insightful mind.

He knew that his young boss wasn't holding a grudge against his earlier careless remark, but genuinely wanted to ask him a question. He pondered for a moment, then shook his head heavily.

"Senior Brother Shen, you are so young yet possess such martial arts skills; I have never seen anything like it in my life." He first offered a compliment, then his tone shifted, and his expression became extremely solemn. "But... compared to what Senior Brother wants to accomplish, it is far from enough."

"I'll become even stronger in the future." Shen An's tone was calm, but Li Donglai could sense his confidence. "So, are you willing to work for me?"

Li Donglai was taken aback, then replied, "Logically speaking, since I have already pledged allegiance to Songshan, I am now Senior Brother Shen's subordinate, and I am at Senior Brother's beck and call."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," Shen An said, his gaze fixed on Li Donglai's eyes. "I'm asking you, Li Donglai, whether you're willing to wholeheartedly follow me, Shen An, from now on."

This statement has nothing to do with Mount Song.

Li Donglai fell silent, his rough hands clenching and unclenching repeatedly. He stared at the young man before him, who was no more than twenty years old, and couldn't quite understand him.

"Why me?" he finally asked, voicing his doubts. "I am but a lowly outlaw, a boorish scoundrel who commits murder and arson. What is it about me that makes you value me so much, Senior Brother?"

Shen An smiled and said only five words: "You are a good person."

"A good person? Haha!"

These two words sounded like a huge joke, or a vicious curse, making Li Donglai burst into laughter.

"Senior brother, you're joking! I, Li Donglai, have probably cooked more wontons and cut more noodles than you've actually eaten! Smuggling salt, traveling by water—which of these businesses wasn't fraught with danger? Which of these is something a 'good person' would do? In the Xiangdong area, everyone both respects and fears me when they hear my name, Li Donglai. When has anyone ever said I'm a good person?"

Shen An remained unmoved, simply looking at him quietly: "This time, you were willing to sacrifice your men to fight against the Twin Bears of the Northern Desert and save the people from the Fuwei Escort Agency, whom you didn't even know. Wasn't that out of your own conscience?"

"That's the rule of the underworld!" Li Donglai retorted loudly, "Since they've come to my door, if something happens on my turf, how can I, Li Donglai, maintain my standing on the Xiangjiang River afterward! If word gets out, wouldn't people laugh their heads off!"

"Why do the people of those dozens of villages along the river all sincerely believe in you, 'Li Longtou'?"

"Bullshit!" Li Donglai cursed, his face burning. "I have hundreds of brothers under my command, all with families, from those villages! If I don't treat their families well, who will be willing to risk their lives for me?"

"Then why is your smuggled salt several times cheaper than elsewhere? And sometimes you even give it away on credit to those truly impoverished families who can't survive?"

Li Donglai was taken aback at first, then blurted out, "You...how did you know about this?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when he realized his mistake. He quickly waved his hand, a hint of panic flashing across his face, and tried to explain, "Small profits, quick turnover! Don't you understand? The cheaper it is, the more people will buy!"

Shen An stopped talking and just looked at him.

Li Donglai gradually ran out of things to say. He took a few heavy breaths, and the arrogant air he had been maintaining slowly deflated like a punctured balloon.

"Even if... even if I believe that you will become stronger and stronger in the future, can you conjure up silver out of thin air? The martial world is not something that can be decided by fighting and killing alone."

He spread out his large, calloused hands, his expression one of unprecedented solemnity and weariness:

"I'm engaged in the high-profit, capital-risking business of smuggling salt, and I can barely support the few hundred brothers under my command who all have families to support. If you really take over the Songshan Sect in the future, and you don't engage in those shady businesses, how will you feed the more than a thousand mouths on and off the mountain? Where will the money and provisions come from to maintain the operation of such a large sect?"

"I don't know what big thing you want to do, senior brother, but I do know that no matter what big thing it is, it can't be separated from money."

These questions were extremely practical and touched upon the very core of the martial arts sects.

Upon hearing this, Shen An laughed heartily: "One must walk one step at a time, and eat one bite at a time. Just take your time and observe."

"I've already taken that territory in Xiangtan from Lu Lianrong of the Hengshan Sect. Li Longtou, why don't you come and help me make some money?"

"Hahahaha!" Li Donglai laughed loudly. "Fine, if even the direct descendant of the Songshan Sect Leader is willing to gamble, then I'll go take a look. It won't hurt me to take a look. What's there to be afraid of?"

Shen Anyi burst into laughter and stepped forward to firmly support his arm.

Seeing this, Lin Zhennan quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands in congratulations, and said, "Congratulations on your reconciliation! It's truly a joyous occasion for the martial arts world to work together from now on!"

The three men looked at each other and burst into laughter. In an instant, a heroic spirit filled the riverbank, dispelling the bloodshed and gloom that had just passed.

As the laughter subsided, Shen An's expression turned serious, and he asked, "Speaking of which, the Twin Bears of the Northern Desert once said they were very interested in what you've been doing since you joined Songshan, and that there's some big business to discuss. Do you have any leads?"

Li Donglai's smile faded, and after a moment of contemplation with a furrowed brow, his expression turned serious. He said in a deep voice:

"I can vaguely guess something. Recently, there have been quite a few more demonic cult members coming here, and they are all unfamiliar faces, from all over the country, and they are acting very mysteriously. Logically speaking, this is the territory of the Hengshan Sect, and normally only a few demonic cult members are seen in a year. They... seem to be looking for someone."

Looking for someone... Shen An also fell into deep thought.

In the original story, what happened in Hengyang was just Liu Zhengfeng's retirement ceremony. Did the Sun Moon Cult have any involvement in it?

Was it a change I brought about? Or... was it related to Qu Yang?

Upstream, near the point where Shen'an enters the water.

"Alas, the Holy Maiden is still too hasty. The matter of Qu Yang's disappearance and disobedience to the orders of the sect is probably far more complex than it seems. Trying to win him over now might not be a good thing."

Even if he had a thousand reasons to disagree, he still had to obey the Holy Maiden's orders. Although Ji Wushi was unwilling, his eyes, which were searching for traces along the river, did not relax for a moment.

"Huh, is someone secretly following us?"

"Still just a...little girl?"