Dear Grandpa,How are you doing? Has your back pain eased? Are you taking your medicines on time? Is Sheera doing well? How’s Xiao-Lee? I haven’t seen her in a long time!I hope you’re all in great shape. I really miss you.There’s so much I want to say, but this paper is limited, so I’ll get straight to the point. I’m doing great—I graduated just yesterday! The Sect Leader was thrilled and patted my back, saying, “Oh! You are one of a kind, student Fluffy!”The elders and my dear friends cheered me on as I received my diploma. You should’ve been there to see it. My best friend Baek Cho even gave me a gift as a send-off.Also, I received a letter of recommendation! Can you guess who sent it?It was from the Grand Elder of the Grand Heaven Sect. I’ve been recommended to the Heavenly Jade Dragon Divine Cult!They’re incredibly strong martial masters. I’ll be in the best hands, so don’t worry about me. Soon, you’ll hear tales about the greatest martial artist in the world—hehe.I’ve enclosed some money with this letter. Please use it to repair the shop and buy yourself a new chair. And seriously, don’t worry about me.If you ever want to write back, send your letters to Baek Cho. He’ll be here for another year or so before leaving for Sichuan.Now, I must take my leave, Grandpa. I have to reach there before the deadline.

  ***

  Fluffy read the letter in his hands again and again before folding it and slipping it into his pocket.

  In Shaanxi province, the buildings were taller and made from higher-quality wood. Nestled among them was a post office that handled small letters and money reted services.

  The streets were bustling with merchants and crowds, yet, the area was well maintained and orderly.

  The post office, though not always guaranteed, but delivered the letters safely within a few months. Due to their strong reputation, the prices were solid too.

  “Seven nyangs just for paper… In this economy… haha.” Fluffy shared a bitter ugh. After sending the letter, he had to cut on his travelling expenses from now onwards.

  Just as he was about to post the letter, the aroma of steamed buns caught his nose. Before he knew it, Fluffy found himself swept by the crowd.

  Spending a few more on steamed buns, Fluffy swore to save money from the next time!

  “Um, excuse me! Which direction is the post office from here?” Fluffy asked a tall stranger, having forgotten the way to the office.

  Unlike the Open Sect and his small vilge, where the roads were familiar and sparse, Shaanxi’s streets were akin to a maze.

  The tall man looked at Fluffy and smiled warmly. “Oh, I am heading there too! Come along.”

  Fluffy lit up. “Oh! That’s great!” And followed the man without hesitation.

  They chatted for half an hour—from the most trivial things to life lessons, the both exchanged a lot of things.

  The tall man, dressed in bck robes with a sword at his waist, didn’t seem threatening at all, so Fluffy found himself enjoying the stranger’s company.

  But after a long stroll, Fluffy finally asked.

  “Um… are you sure this is the right way? This looks like an alley.” Fluffy was a bit confused as the path looked different.

  Not to mention how deserted it was.

  “Haha, don’t worry it’s a shortcut. I am confident that this is the right path.” The man smiled, but his eyes didn’t.

  Fluffy frowned at his words. “Eh? What do you mean—?” However, before Fluffy could say anything—Bam!

  Something heavy struck Fluffy in the back of his head. Followed by a loud thud.

  ***

  Tak— Tak—

  The sound sticks and leaves breaking echoed in the night forest.

  Despite the darkness, a carriage rode arrogantly. Pulled by six mules and fnked by ten or so armed men, it sped through the woods.

  Wrapped in bck robes, swords at their waist and mp in hands, the menacing men followed the carriage with alert eyes.

  “Tsk, tsk! So many mistakes in this letter! Ptui!”

  “Bwahahaha! Where’d you even find that thing?”

  Two men, sitting leisurely on sacks inside the carriage chuckled.

  “Don’t know, which one of them. But it’s funny for sure. Ptui!”

  “Was it this fatso?”

  “Doesn’t look like a martial artist—probably a rich merchant’s son. Ptui!”

  “Bwahahaha!! True! True!”

  The carriage bumped along the rough roads of the forest, but no one was bothered by it.

  Inside, sacks were stacked neatly. Some carried rice, while others carried wheat. But behind them, the rest carried humans.

  “What’s with these bastards?! Sending all emotional letters these days? Ptui!—”

  “—Don’t they find it embarrassing?” The man driving the carriage scoffed.

  Outside the carriage, the group of men ughed like maniacs at his words. None cared for the people and their emotions.

  Only money mattered.

  Tossing the letter back at the sacks, the man took out another one and began reading. Repeating a simir cycle. Occasionally, he kicked a random sack and ughed again.

  “Ugh!” Some groaned while others cried in muffled voice. The people knew their fate wasn’t the best today.

  Inside the sacks, they writhed in pain. But the bandits didn’t care. Their future was grim—perhaps worse than death.

  “Don’t hit them in the face—especially the women.” A tall man leading the group scoffed. His voice carried an overbearing coldness.

  “Damage the goods and I will take that from your share. Mind that.”

  He was the leader. tall, veiled, commanding from horseback. Everyone feared him.

  “Yes sir!” The man who kicked a sack earlier was sweating bullets at those words.

  “The harvest was not great this time. How’ll we face the boss? Ptui!” Carriage driver, a man with a scar under his eyes, asked the leader.

  Even though they all ughed not long ago, all of them seemed nervous.

  “You don’t have to worry about that. The real harvest is still ahead.”

  Normally, the human traffickers stayed subtle. Only taking enough risk that could be afforded. The eyes of the government—especially after the Sun’s fall, were extremely sharp.

  The bloodhounds of the government ruthlessly hunted bandits and human traffickers. But as the time passed, they became lethargic and corrupt.

  Scking was a humane mindset.

  ‘This raid will bring fortune,’ The leader thought, his fists clenched.

  Trafficking so many people was an idiotic thing to do. But this time? The reason they were carrying so many armed men and such big carriages was because of a reason.

  [A tribe of the Wind God is found on the other side of the Brahmi River. Find them, and bring them to me. –Boss]

  A jackpot.

  If he, the leader of a small bandit group could somehow pull this one off, abduct some kids and women of the Wind God’s, his seven generations could sit back and eat till his stomach burst.

  “We’ll reach the camp, be ready. The hounds might be after us.”

  The leader said and everyone followed his orders.

  ***

  After a long journey, taking different turns, the carriage finally stopped at the camp.

  There were a lot of people kneeling, with their hands and legs tied. With eyes shut, mouths gagged, the people looked like living corpses.

  “We need more cannon fodders.” As the leader saw the numbers, his eyes narrowed. Even after telling his men hadn’t gathered enough.

  At least a hundred people were required to capture ten or so Wind god’s tribals.

  According to the tip he had, the wind never harmed the innocents. Using these meat shields, the leader had pnned the greatest harvest of his life.

  ‘These won’t do.’ His eyes shone bright with greed as he recalled the face of his boss.

  It was time to cut the roots and take control of things. He was no longer a measly subordinate, a ckey.

  He was going to become the “BOSS” himself.

  “Bring more people.” He looked at his men and squinted.

  They were wolves in the sheep’s clothing. As soon as they heard the leader, their faces crumpled.

  “Leader, the government will get alert if we take too many people.”

  “True! True! It’s too dangerous…”

  Everyone was scared of the bloodhounds. Even though the organization was now corrupted, there was a limit to how much they can control.

  “I don’t care. Take a day or two and bring more. I want at least a hundred.”

  The leader knew his men. They had cold feet whenever the risk was greater. Then, what made them take that greater risk? The greater rewards.

  To them, only money mattered.

  “I don’t care whether it’s a merchant’s son or a prostitute. Take anyone and everyone you can get hands on.”

  The meat shields were necessary. The ckey’s looked at each other but no one dared to argue.

  “Ten silver nyangs for every head you bring.” Finally, at those words, the mouths of his ckeys watered.

  Greed taking over their sane mind.

  The government’s bloodhounds? They can think about that ter. Money mattered the most right now.

  “Leave right now. The day after tomorrow, we will leave. If you gather a hundred till then, you will get two gold nyaangs. Otherwise—”

  “Um…? Mister, why is it so dark in here? Get me out!!” As the leader was about to say something, he heard a loud voice from inside the carriage.

  “WHO DARES?!” He shouted. Making even the nearby trees tremble.

  “Hey! Shut that fatso up!”

  “What the hell? How is he speaking?”

  “Where is the cloth? Hey—NO! Wait!”

  Suddenly, the carriage that stood behind the leader began shaking. Loud noises and frustrated curses from inside.

  ***

  [Inside the carriage]

  “How’s he speaking? We put a damn big cloth in his mouth!”

  “I don’t know! He wasn’t speaking a while ago!”

  “HELLO?! IS ANYONE HERE?! I AM PRETTY SCARED OF DARK YOU KNOW! Whoa!!!”

  Fluffy, wrapped in a comically big sack which still only covered half of his body, was rolling inside the carriage.

  Because of him, the entire carriage shook and creaking noise of wood increased. The neatly put fell while the mules started panicking.

  The two guards who were mocking the letters just a while ago were sweating bullets as they heard the shout of their leader.

  In an attempt to shut Fluffy up, one of the guards kicked him in the stomach. But it did not work as expected.

  “Arghhh! What is this?! Boulder?! My leg! My leg!”

  He who kicked Fluffy, grabbed his leg and jumped while writhing in pain. His bone broke. The leg was twisted in a weird angle.

  “Why are there so many stupid people in this world?!”

  The other one shouted and did the same thing. They kept kicking and punching Fluffy, but he did not move an inch nor resist according to their wish.

  “Whoa! It’s still dark! Something touched my stomach! Are there ants in here?!”

  “This fatso! Just stop shouting already!”

  The men inside were frustrated and their legs hurt.

  “WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!”

  The men swallowed hard as they turned their heads. There, the tall man, fuming in rage walked inside the carriage. Every step he took, the hearts of the men shivered.

  In the past, their leader had severed a hundred bandits just because his mood was off. They had seen how brutal he was.

  “T-THIS FATSO! THIS ONE!” The bandit with twisted leg, in a hurry to put to bme on Fluffy, removed his sack and showed it to the leader.

  But their leader’s eyes did not move from them.

  “What about him?” His gaze was as sharp as a knife and painful to bear.

  The two guards swallowed and looked at Fluffy.

  He was still like a rock. No matter how he was kicked or punched, he refused to move inside the carriage. As if—

  He was sleeping?

  “????”

  Both of them looked at each other.

  ZzZzzzZz~

  He was actually sleeping.

  “Is this bastard really sleeping in this situation?!”

  The guards wanted to beat the shit out of Fluffy and release their frustration but he did not move… at all.

  “Damn it! Move you bastard!”

  Ting— Ting—

  Just then, “Were you drinking right now?” A few bottles of liquor, hidden inside a sack rolled over the leader’s feet.

  The bandits’ faces contorted. While their leader’s eyes were shot bloodred.

  — ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!—

  The people outside, who watched the scene unfolded afterwards were scared beyond humanity.

  The screams of two men pierces the forest heart.

  ***

  Afterwards, the leader wiped the blood on his sword. He had taken his sweet time in teaching everyone a lesson to remember, even in their afterlife.

  With fear locked in their eyes, the bandits wet their robes and looked at a tree nearby.

  Guts pulled out and hung on the branches, like grim decoration. Two severed heads, dangling with their spines ruptured. While a horrified expression etched on their face.

  It was a horror beyond belief. Many had their stomachs churned but no one dared to say a word.

  This was Jianghu. A pce where only the strong ones ruled.

  The smell of iron penetrated their nostrils while the blood soaked leaves of a tree repyed a certain memory.

  “Bring a hundred, or this is your fate. Bring more and you’ll be rewarded.”

  The leader left his ckeys at those words.

  Understanding the implications of his words, they all swallowed and went back to work. Time was the essence here.

  ***

  Soon, a few more carriages arrived. The numbers kept rising. The newly brought people were now kneeling too.

  Slowly, everyone descended from the carriage. Except for one person.

  He who refused to wake up. No matter how much water was thrown at him or how loudly he was called. No matter the kicks nor the punches, he still slept peacefully.

  In the end, not wanting to cause anymore commotion, the bandits unloaded him—Fluffy from the carriage.

  Sweating buckets and biting their lips to conjure more strength, they somehow carried Fluffy with all might.

  Once they reached the ground, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and fell on their butts. They wondered how this man was kidnapped in the first pce.

  Meanwhile, the newly arrived bandits ughed and passed comments about him.

  “Whoa! So big!”

  “Does he eat a vilge for lunch?!”

  “Indeed. We could’ve gotten five-six fine women instead of this piece of bum!”

  “Kuku! What a worthless trash.”

  Even the people kneeling on the ground, hoping for some miracle to come and save them had disappointed eyes.

  “When will he wake up?”

  “I don’t know, but looking at how peaceful he is… it’s weird.”

  A few bandits felt a creepy feeling crawling over. Was it really okay to have such a mysterious thing on their mission?

  The commotion this guy had caused. What if he repeats it? They had their doubts. And they couldn’t be more right.

  He was Fluffy after all.

  Stupid_Monk