Chapter 257: Pit Brothers

Bai Lang felt hungry in his stomach, his whole body sore and weak, and even after washing he still smelled bad, so he thought it necessary to pull a job. "Otherwise, do I have to let old me run naked like a pig?" He glanced at himself: he was only wearing a pair of shorts, and they were torn, looking like he might expose himself at any moment, "I still have to thank the buddy who dragged me over; at least he left me a waistband."

So Bai Lang decided that after finding out who saved him, he would just beat that person half to death, strip them naked, and hang them on the city gate. At this moment he recalled how he had gotten up; there seemed to be no drag marks, but there were a few pits—perhaps he had simply plunged headfirst and fainted on the spot. Thus Bai Lang decided to seize the opportunity and strike even harder; this time there would be no life-saving grace to stop him. "** inside the eyes, give him two more sticks to prop him up!"

Doing business requires the appearance of doing business—for example, squatting by the road to borrow money is a good method. Bai Lang also saw that the traffic of pedestrians and vehicles on this road was extremely heavy; as long as one's skin is thick enough, one can definitely borrow money—just not when there are too many people. So Bai Lang decided that upon seeing a 'fat sheep,' he would think of a way to drag him into an alley to borrow money.

Bai Lang hid himself using the river embankment, observing the attire of passersby on the road: 'Damn it, is this Tang or Song? It doesn't really look like my Ming.' Ancient clothing is ancient clothing; he just couldn't tell what dynasty it was. However, he could pretty sure it was Tang—there were no visible characters yet, so it was hard to say for certain.

Bai Lang watched the coming and going, finally picking a carriage; he directly activated his Lightness Skill and swooped into the carriage—with his current martial prowess, it was fairly easy to avoid startling people, as long as he stayed out of their sight. Inside the carriage was a woman—after all, men usually ride horses, while few ride in carriages.

This woman was no spring chicken—just from the powder on her face you could tell she was at least thirty or forty. Seeing Bai Lang enter, she was about to cry out, but Bai Lang instantly pointed at her throat, his true qi directly suppressing her voice. 'Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm just here to borrow some money. May I ask your honorable name, madam?'

This woman seemed fairly clear-headed, and she immediately stopped shouting. 'Madam, why not write down your address? If you ever come into money later, you can repay right away; for now, just lend me some money.' Bai Lang, even as a shady borrower, still had some class, even smiling narrowly. The woman looked him up and down; Bai Lang was tall and big with a dignified appearance, and the woman especially glanced a few more times at his crotch.

Bai Lang concealed himself well, and there was no exposure—at least in front. The woman examined Bai Lang's face again for a moment, then flipped her hand to produce a box; opening it revealed copper coins. 'No need for you to repay, little brother—just consider it a karmic tie. Seeing your talent, little brother, you will surely rise someday.' She finished, pushed the box into Bai Lang's embrace, and gestured that he could leave.

Seeing that this woman was unwilling to give her name, Bai Lang didn't press her; he nodded, 'I will surely repay you someday!' He tucked the box under his arm and was about to leave—'Wait! Take this too.' The woman pointed to a bolt of silk beside her. Bai Lang gave her a deep look, nodded, grabbed the silk curtain, gave it a slight tug, and had already activated his Lightness Skill to depart.

'Wouldn't this Lightness Skill be better called Fragrance Drifting Ten Thousand Li?' Bai Lang felt his Lightness Skill was truly excellent now; he never expected that, with his head-heavy, feet-light, weak body, his Lightness Skill would become so ethereal—perhaps this state of excessive blood loss, hunger, and thirst is the perfection of divine skill? Bai Lang just wanted to laugh; carrying these things... Bai Lang went straight into the sprawling slums, found some rags to wrap himself up, and left a handful of copper coins.

'Next up is to go into the city, exchange money, get some gear, and have a good meal to replenish my blood.' Bai Lang already knew that the city before him was Yangzhou City, and that the present era was the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, with the reigning emperor being Yang Guang.... 'Emperor Yang... truly an unlucky fellow with bad luck. Later, Li Er will have done everything that Emperor Yang did, and will be even more lustful than Yang Guang, yet the outcome will be the Grand Ancestor.' Bai Lang chuckled inwardly.

Even this poor wretch entering the city uses Lightness Skill to come and go; otherwise, the city gate guards seeing this beggar-like fellow carrying silk would find it hard to explain—Bai Lang also didn't want to make a fuss, so he simply activated his Lightness Skill to climb over the wall at some point. 'Does Yangzhou have such high walls? They're about ten zhang tall! I remember that the Ming imperial capital, Beijing, is only four zhang high—this is already the premier stronghold of the north.'

Bai Lang leveraged off the city wall; after just a few breaths he had already crossed it, drifting down from the other side. 'This world is definitely not the normal history of the Sui Dynasty,' he thought. 'This is most likely some martial arts world—perhaps the world of Twin Dragons of the Tang—because only this author would write of ten-zhang-high city walls, lacking any sense of numerical geography.'

In the future, a horse ranch will also appear in the heartland of the Central Plains....

Bai Lang straight to the pawnshop; when pawning the silk, the attendant initially didn't want to accept it from Bai Lang, because his attire didn't match the silk he produced, and there was a high chance it was stolen goods—the pawnshop, upon opening for business, certainly didn't want to attract official trouble. Yet in the face of Bai Lang's heroic visage, the old attendant still took the money and accepted the pawn—dead pawn.

Bai Lang went straight to buy ready-made clothes, then rushed to the bathhouse for a good wash; after dressing, he headed to a restaurant to prepare a hearty meal—as for how much money will be left and how he'll live thereafter, does Bai Lang need to worry about that? 'Heaven endowed me with talent for a purpose; a thousand gold spent will still return!' Although Taibai is still far from birth, it doesn't stop Bai Lang from using this line to show off—he still cares about face, so he didn't shout it out loud.

After eating a lot of meat and drinking a dou of wine, Bai Lang felt his belly warm and cozy; as his true qi circulated, the earlier dizzy, blurred vision vanished. 'This hunger sickness is the number one ailment under heaven.' Having eaten his fill and drunk his fill, this didn't prevent him from sitting in the shop and listening to idle chatter.

'Oh, it really is Twin Dragons of the Tang after all.' This is because Bai Lang heard news of the Four Great Clans and the Bamboo Flower Gang in Yangzhou City, as well as something like the Stone Dragon Push Mountain Hand; according to his memory, this is most likely Twin Dragons of the Tang. As for these two, Bai Lang has always thought it better not to get involved with them. If one is lustful and forgets righteousness, the other can only be said to have betrayed those who helped him.

This book is quite long; many plot points Bai Lang just couldn't remember, reading ahead and forgetting behind. Still, the general progression of the plot he roughly recalls a bit or two, especially the beginning parts. But what time is it now, exactly? Yang Guang is still alive; Bai Lang recalls that Yang Guang is about to die at roughly one-third of the way through, or sometime like that—anyway, if Yang Guang is still alive, then it must be the very early part of the story—because Yang Guang hasn't yet been assassinated.

This book is quite long; many plot points Bai Lang just couldn't remember, reading ahead and forgetting behind. Still, the general progression of the plot he roughly recalls a bit or two, especially the beginning parts. But what time is it now, exactly? Yang Guang is still alive; Bai Lang recalls that Yang Guang is about to die at roughly one-third of the way through, or sometime like that—anyway, if Yang Guang is still alive, then it must be the very early part of the story—because Yang Guang hasn't yet been assassinated.