Chapter 147: From Now On, Call Him the Arbiter

As noon approached, Zhou Qing sat in the shade at the wide gate atop Wolf Howl Mountain. Nearby, Zhu Yidan was stuffing a piece of meat into his mouth, and not far from him, a woman cradled a young child, soothing it. The woman was named Zhu Ting—his younger aunt.

Behind the gate, within the mountain stronghold, a large crowd had gathered, whispering to one another as they watched Zhou Qing. While the crowd’s gaze lingered on him, Guo Dajing appeared at the stone archway on the summit’s edge, leading a group toward the gate. Other bandit leaders followed behind with their men.

By afternoon, the nine bandits Zhou Qing had sent down the mountain had all returned to the summit. The plaza at the top was now crowded with people. Among them was Zhu Yidan’s mother. Upon reaching the summit and seeing her son, she wept with joy and embraced him tightly.

“Sister-in-law!” Zhu Ting, holding the child whose father was unknown, approached Zhu Yidan and his mother.

“Tingting!” Zhu Yidan’s mother rose, glanced at the child in Zhu Ting’s arms, and, understanding the situation without the need for questions, pulled her into an embrace. With a sigh, she said, “If your brother’s spirit watches from above and knows you are well, he will be at peace.”

While Zhu Ting and her sister-in-law embraced, other women who had been taken up the mountain were also reunited with their long-lost relatives.

“My dear, it is such a relief that you are unharmed.”

Among them, a sickly-looking man stood before a woman in a yellow dress, his face alight with happiness.

“I am ashamed to face you, my husband,” the woman replied, her joy tinged with embarrassment as she lowered her head. Like Zhu Ting, she too held in her arms a child not yet a year old.

“Ah, what a bitter fate,” the man sighed inwardly. Forcing a smile onto his pallid face as he looked at the baby, he asked, “How old is the child? What is his name? Who is his father?”

“He is ten months old. I do not know who his father is, so he has not been named.”

After a long silence, the sickly man spoke with generosity, “Then let him bear my surname—You. From now on, he shall be called Dianlü.”

“Husband, do you mean you do not despise me or the child?”

The man nodded silently, dropped his forced smile, and turned to walk down the mountain. After a few steps, seeing the woman had not followed, he looked back and said, “Come, let us go home.”

Caught off guard, the woman answered softly, then hurried to his side. She rocked the baby and murmured, “Dianlü, your father has come to take us home. Our suffering is at an end.”

After these two, husband and wife reunited after more than a year apart, left Wolf Howl Mountain, the others who had found their loved ones began to trickle down the mountain as well. Some left immediately, while others came to Zhou Qing, expressing their gratitude before departing.

To those who thanked him, Zhou Qing smiled and nodded; for those who left in silence, he held no expectations, for there was too much pain that could not easily be put into words. Take the couple from before: once, they may have shared deep affection, but after a year and a half of separation, the wife had borne a child by another. For the husband, finding her again surely brought feelings too complex to name.

“Immortal, thank you for saving my aunt. I, Zhu Yidan, will never forget your kindness.”

As Zhou Qing watched the departing couple, Zhu Yidan approached, offering thanks before dropping to his knees and kowtowing.

“I am no immortal, and you need not thank me. Take your aunt and go home.” Zhou Qing helped him to his feet, gently patted his head, and watched as they left together.

Soon, all the villagers who had come seeking relatives and the women who had been abducted had left Wolf Howl Mountain. Zhou Qing, hands clasped behind his back, strolled into the stronghold.

Inside, he found a treasury filled with gold, silver, and jewels plundered by the bandits. Without hesitation, he gathered them all into his treasure pouch.

With that done, he poured all the wine the bandits had collected over the houses on the mountain, then set the entire stronghold ablaze.

The bandits stood on the plaza atop the mountain, watching as their home burned to ashes, powerless to stop it—their lives now entirely in Zhou Qing’s hands. Without the antidote for the poison pill they had taken, they would not survive the month.

The fire atop Wolf Howl Mountain roared fiercely. As night fell, its glow could be seen for dozens of miles in every direction.

“Here is the formula for the antidote to the poison pill you carry. Go down the mountain and prepare it yourselves.”

Waving several slips of paper, Zhou Qing smiled. “Though there is honor among thieves, the evil you have done is none of my concern. I ought not to meddle, but as a man of the Dao, I must seek merit. Once you are cured, it is best you return to honest lives. Otherwise, should you encounter another like me, you may not keep your lives.”

“Thank you, Master,” said Yin Mao, bowing as he came forward.

Zhou Qing placed one formula slip in Yin Mao’s hands, then tossed the remaining slips onto the ground. The other bandits quietly picked them up, not daring to utter a word.

After leaving the formula, Zhou Qing walked down the mountain alone. The bandits remained on the plaza, staring blankly into the raging flames.

But for Zhou Qing, they would now be drinking strong wine, fathering children, and gambling without a care. Instead, all they could do was watch their home turn to ash.

“Banditry is no longer an option; we still must live on. I say, once we cure ourselves tomorrow, why don’t we all head north and join the rebel army?” one bandit shouted, and dozens, even hundreds, responded in agreement.

“Brother Dajing, your martial skill is great and your learning is unmatched. If we join the rebel army, will you lead us?”

Hearing the support of the crowd, the man walked to Guo Dajing’s side and spoke.

“Very well. Tomorrow, once we are cured, anyone who wishes to join the rebels up north can come with me!” In that moment, Guo Dajing, who had once been resigned to his fate, found his fighting spirit rekindled.

The next day, the bandits descended the mountain together. After curing themselves, Guo Dajing led over a hundred bandits north to join the rebel army.

Ten years later, Guo Dajing became a warlord in his own right, but in the end, he was defeated by a rebel force led by Zhu Yidan. But that, of course, is another story.