Jianghu Qimen Lu

The old man turned out to be Shi Dewei's third son, Shi Yanshi. Unlike his two older brothers, he was not good at managing his finances. His two brothers had married and started families early, and their households were now thriving. He, however, had been pessimistic and world-weary since childhood, with erratic emotions. He particularly disliked contact and interaction with others, often locking himself in a room to do only one thing he enjoyed—writing poetry and prose! He remained alone until his death, having accomplished nothing, struggling even to eat, and utterly destitute. Initially, his two brothers, out of consideration for their blood relation, helped him financially. After their deaths, his remaining nephews, disgusted by his laziness and eccentricities, refused to help him. Fortunately, he later encountered the Red Flower Society, and through the instigation of Choujiao, he became a secret liaison for the society, guarding the ancestral hall at the Shi family shrine. The Red Flower Society provided him with some expenses, allowing him to live out his remaining years. His greatest passion in life was collecting unusual and extraordinary writings, especially the "Ten Days in Yangzhou" by scholar Wang Xiuchu and the "Nanshan Collection" by Dai Mingshi. Now, both of these masterpieces were banned by the Qing court, and their authors had been executed! Despite the risk of being implicated, he still kept two handwritten copies as treasures. He deeply admired the authors' bold and factual writing style and wholeheartedly approved of their fearless spirit in criticizing the Qing dynasty's arbitrary alteration of the truth of the late Ming dynasty history! At the same time, this deepened his hatred for the corrupt and brutal feudal Qing dynasty.

Shi Yanshi, holding a candlestick, welcomed the heroes into the hall. By the flickering candlelight, Xiangquan carefully examined the Shi family ancestral hall. A family genealogy hung on the wall, below which ancestral tablets were enshrined on a table. At the back, an eight-immortal table was laden with offerings of fruit and simple candles and incense. Two grand chairs stood on either side of the table, reserved for the Shi family patriarch and other members of high rank and prestige. Shi Yanshi gestured for Choujiao to sit in one chair, and Choujiao then invited Xiangquan to sit in the other. The hall was now filled with a dense mass of heroes.

Shi Yanshi poured a cup of hot tea for Xiang Quan and Chou Jiao respectively. Chou Jiao asked, "Old Shi, nothing's happened here lately, has anything?" Upon hearing this, a layer of sorrow and despair clouded Shi Yanshi's aged face. He sighed, pondered for a long time, and then said in a fit of exasperation, "Chief, there's something I must tell you. Our Shi family is facing an immense crisis!" Chou Jiao asked curiously, "What is it? Just tell me!" Shi Yanshi said, "I have seven nephews, three..." All seven of his nieces are married and have established their own careers. Three of them have married far away, while his seven nephews have thrived in Shijia Village at the foot of Plum Blossom Ridge, building considerable influence and acquiring large mansions and all the village land, effectively becoming local tyrants. They are quite famous in the Yangzhou area. "Stinky Feet" chuckled, "I know that. In the martial arts world, they are known as the Seven Heroes of the Shi Family. It's said they are all highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless, but their reputation among the common people isn't very good."

Shi Yanshi gave a bitter laugh and said, "Although I am their third uncle, they are all unruly and fiery-tempered. Who would listen to us? Although the seven of them bully the weak and oppress the villagers, they are united as brothers, and their strength is unbreakable. Unexpectedly, once when our Yangzhou magistrate was touring Plum Blossom Ridge, he saw that my family's Shi Ancestral Hall was built against the ridge, surrounded by a moat in front and fragrant with plum blossoms behind—truly a feng shui treasure! He suddenly had an idea, so he came to me and threatened me, saying that this was the auspicious burial site for his father that he had chosen, and that I should immediately inform your Shi clan to demolish and move the Shi Ancestral Hall by tomorrow!" Upon hearing this, all the heroes in the hall gritted their teeth and cursed, "This magistrate is truly domineering and lawless! He is utterly shameless!"

Stinky Feet sneered, "Your seven nephews are like wolves and tigers, how could they swallow this grievance?" Unexpectedly, Shi Yanshi burst into tears, sobbing, "The next day, two constables from the county government came into Shi Family Village and told my seven nephews, 'The county magistrate invites you!' My seven nephews wanted to choose one who was eloquent to go, but the two constables bluntly said, 'The county magistrate wants all seven of you brothers to be present!' My seven nephews had no choice but to each conceal a weapon, prepare everything, and go directly with them." Hearing this, Split-Half exclaimed, "They probably won't come back! Because the government always sets traps, making it impossible for you to guard against them!"

Unexpectedly, Shi Yanshi sighed and said leisurely, "This time, Brother Ba, you guessed wrong. They all returned around lunchtime, and unharmed!" This startled everyone present. Pi Liangban eagerly asked, "What happened? Tell us quickly!" Seeing his impatient look, Shi Yanshi broke into a painful laugh, and asked in return, "Brother Ba, guess what the magistrate said to those seven?" Pi Liangban shrugged and spread his hands, saying, "If I could guess, you wouldn't need to waste your breath! Humph!"

Shi Yanshi, unperturbed, continued, his face clouded with worry: "The magistrate said he has a condition, and I wonder if you heroes are willing to listen?" My seven nephews asked in unison: "What condition?" The magistrate said slowly, "As long as you transfer the Shi Gong Ancestral Hall, I, the magistrate, will give each of you an opportunity to become an official. Currently, bandits are rampant in our county, and we are actively recruiting soldiers to strengthen our forces, hoping to contribute to the suppression of bandits and serve the country. I've heard that each of you seven is exceptionally skilled in martial arts, capable of taking on ten men at once. There happens to be a vacancy for a constable in our county, so why not let you seven brothers fill that position? With seven constables in our county, the bandits will be terrified and flee at the mere mention of their names—wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?" "!" Thousand-Hand Guanyin sneered from the side, "What a cunning magistrate! This tactic is called besieging a point and attacking reinforcements, defeating them one by one! In 1359, when Liu Bowen assisted Zhu Yuanzhang, he adopted this strategic policy, gathering elite troops to successively destroy the divided forces of Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng." Iron Abacus chimed in, "From ancient times to the present, has there ever been a county government with seven constables! The magistrate is talking nonsense to make the seven Shi brothers fight each other for the constable position, so he can reap the benefits!" Fragrant Fist smiled and said, "Since the seven Shi brothers are known as the Seven Heroes of the Shi Family in the martial arts world, they must not be fools. How could they not see through these despicable tricks?"

Shi Yanshi angrily said, "My seven nephews are not only not blind to these tricks, but they are actually very adept at them! It turns out they are all birds of a feather! After a heated discussion over drinks, these seven beasts completely forgot about national and personal grudges. Not only did they agree to transfer the Shi Family Ancestral Hall and become head constables in a grand manner, but they also reached a consensus with the county magistrate: from now on, they would implement a policy of extortion and oppression throughout Yangzhou County, with the proceeds of their crimes to be split equally between the two sides! Furthermore, they allowed the seven Shi brothers to find a suitable location within Yangzhou to relocate the Shi Family Ancestral Hall! In this way, everyone got what they wanted, and everyone was happy, but I, a lonely old man, am suffering! Once the Shi Family Ancestral Hall is demolished, this old man will be destitute and have nowhere to go, and will have no choice but to wander around!" As he spoke, his nose tingled, and two lines of tears fell. The heroes never dreamed that the seven Shi brothers would be so shameless and thuggish. They were all filled with righteous indignation and burning anger. He cleaved the man in two, then drew his axe from his waist, roaring, "You seven spineless bastards! Watch out, or I'll run into you! If you do, I'll chop you all down!"

Stinky Feet stood up, walked over to Shi Yanshi, patted him on the shoulder, and comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, even without the Shi Gong Ancestral Hall, our Red Flower Society won't just stand by and watch our brothers be homeless and wandering aimlessly! I'll arrange for you to guard another of our secret liaison stations." Shi Yanshi hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground, wanting to kowtow in gratitude, but Stinky Feet's large hand held him up with great force, forcing him to stand up. Stinky Feet laughed, "In terms of age, I should call you 'Brother'! We're both brothers in the Red Flower Society, why bother with such formalities? If you're going to call me 'Brother,' how am I supposed to feel?" Shi Yanshi was embarrassed for a moment, then burst into laughter, and the crowd roared with laughter.

However, this burst of laughter startled someone in Shijia Village. Who was it? Shi Qian, the youngest son of Shi Yanshi's second brother, and also the youngest of his seven cousins. He was around thirty years old, with a pointed face and a thin build, comparable to Shi Qian, the "Flea on the Drum" from the novel *Water Margin*. He usually relied on his mediocre skills to climb over rooftops, break doors and locks, and specialize in petty theft. It was late at night, and he had just committed a heist in a neighboring village. Carrying his stolen goods, he passed by the Shi Family Ancestral Hall and happened to hear the loud laughter coming from inside.