The Silly Alchemist

“You peasants deserve it – all of you will pay for my brother-in-law’s death!” scolded the commander coldly. He didn’t plan to let this matter slide. Even if he did take the coins, he would still seek revenge by killing Ye Lang and the refugees.

Other than simply seeking revenge, he was there to show off – to tell them no one was allowed to go against him.

If he ignored the fact that the commander’s nephew was killed, he’d have the feeling that these people would move on to kill his men and finally himself.

Thus, he had to kill the chickens in front of the monkeys. He needed to frighten these people. [Note: Chinese idiom: to do something in order to frighten a group of idiots]

“It was just an excuse, all you want is our money. These were all that the gentleman had given us. Are you willing to let someone like him take our money?” asked Skinny Dark Man. What the commander said infuriated not only the refugees but also the residents of the town. Skinny Dark Man wanted everyone to target the commander.

However, there was one thing he couldn’t figure out yet – the people here were so used to his bullying that they simply don’t have the courage to rebel against him.

“No!” Only a few refugees and residents dared speak up.

“You want them to rebel against me, but they don’t have the guts to,” sneered the commander. He was very satisfied with their reaction.

“Even without them, we will not surrender to you. We will fight until the end,” said Skinny, Dark Man calmly, not at all intimidated by the commander. He wasn’t aware that he was being pushed to a very risky situation. If the situation escalated any further, he might be the first casualty.

The commander roared in laughter as if he heard a good joke.

At that moment, the commander lowered his head and looked at the frail man. He smirked at him and scornfully said, “You peasants are out of your mind. It only takes me and ME alone to get rid of all of you. Now I have no time to deal with you, call your Mister out NOW!”

While the commander suspected Skinny Dark Man to be Ye Lang, he understood. This man before him wasn’t the ‘refugee prince’. He wanted to settle the matter with Ye Lang.

“Mister has already left so just kill me if you want to!” Skinny Dark Man didn’t expose Ye Lang’s location but instead, he took responsibility. He couldn’t stand the idea of Ye Lang getting harmed.

He had no idea of Ye Lang’s strength and just assumed he was a normal aristocrat – a rather blur aristocrat. He along with the others wanted to protect this, ‘confused young man’, at all costs – even if it meant sacrificing themselves.

For the refugees, certainly, not all of them thought the same thing. They would still cherish their own lives – but among these people, many of them had the same thought. They were willing to risk their lives to protect Ye Lang.

In their hearts, Ye Lang was their saviour. If it wasn’t for Ye Lang, they wouldn’t be here by now. As what they always say, a drop of water shall be returned with a burst of spring. They needed to return the favour with all they can.

Hence, there were those who weren’t afraid. Those people stood their ground beside Skinny Dark Man and in front of the commander as well!

This situation moved most of the people. They weren’t expecting these group of refugees to have such loyalty – to the extent that one was willing to risk his or her life!

Suddenly. everyone who hadn’t met Ye Lang was eager to meet him. They wanted to know how amazing this man was to let these refugees be so loyal to him!

It was only when they finally saw Ye Lang in person, to one’s surprise, he was…

“I’m seriously eager now to meet your Mister – how he could actually make you all loyal to him.” There was a hint of curiosity between the commander’s disdained comment. At this moment, he didn’t put himself in action.

In front of these many people, these many residents in town. He couldn’t make a move first on these sidekicks without their boss – he’d be beneath his dignity.

“What’s his name?” continued the commander.

“…I don’t know!”

After a moment of silence, Skinny Dark Man answered with the most commonly used three-word-answer. This wasn’t due to him not wanting to answer but instead, he really had no idea of his name.

No one asked Ye Lang for his name as they only addressed him as Mister. Maybe they thought it wasn’t necessary or maybe they thought there was a huge gap between them and Ye Lang. They didn’t dare ask when Ye Lang himself didn’t mention his name.

And this situation only made the commander think Skinny Dark Man was pulling his leg!

“Are you pulling my leg?! I’m warning you, don’t you think I won’t kill you. If you annoy me any further, then it’ll be the same consequence for everyone!” bellowed the commander furiously, exuding ripples of rage. Sand flew and pebbles rolled around him, scaring the peasants closing in on him.

Skinny Dark Man frowned. He was more assured – he shouldn’t let Ye Lang appear. The consequences would be deadly as this commander had such immense strength.

In this small town, having such strength gave you the authority to make yourself invincible in this town!

It was just that the skilful ones often didn’t snug up in this small place, possibly due to too much pressure on the outside. Like the commander, he couldn’t roam as freely as he wanted to outside, but he could be king by staying in this place. Only he himself knew the benefits and losses.

“Just kill me then. Even then, I still don’t know!” rebuked Skinny Dark Man.

“I…” The commander was furious, douqi rippling around him. The people nearby were knocked out as he held his fist tight and walked forward step after step.

Skinny Dark Man shut his clear eyes, expecting a blow in his face. His last wish was for Ye Lang to get away quickly and not stay here.

Although if he was really punched to death, his death would be worthless – because Ye Lang wouldn’t even be afraid of the commander. But still, his courage deserved some respect!

At this moment, the refugees all had the same thought in their heads. They were hoping for Ye Lang to not turn up and just let them receive the beating. If not, all of these would be for nothing.

But, things always turned out in the most unexpected of ways. Right at that moment, Ye Lang appeared.

“Hey hey, that big guy over there! You can’t just use your douqi whenever you want! I can’t  eat my noodles with sand all in my face!” Ye Lang’s voice echoed from afar. The silenced crowd all looked towards the source, confused.

When they turned back, they saw a young man with a young girl standing at the back of the street. And this young man here had the audacity to hold a steaming hot bowl of beef noodles in a moment like this.