Chapter 766: Chapter Five: Reputation

Bai Lang himself does not care about such a bandit's head; scum like that have been killed in droves under his command, and Shi Dalang, however, used this head to make a name for himself—though he was rather displeased, Bai Lang told him, "If you face this man, you could also pierce him with a single spear." A few words greatly improved Shi Yi's mood. Since Shi Dalang "beheaded" Hei Mao Hu, he naturally is to be called the number one spear‑and‑staff master of Lunan.

"How is that any different from Fan Debiao, the most ruthless man in northern Liao?" Bai Lang chuckled. Though the jianghu may be ruthless, reputation is mostly built on bragging. In Shandong, the likes of Ji Shi Yu, Hu Baoyi, and Xiao Yi Hei Sanlang Song Jiang have no real skill; they rely on spending money and cultivating a reputation across the four seas, straddling both the black and white worlds, truly the mountain‑eagle of the region. And Song Sanlang isn't far; Yuncheng County is just next door.

Shi Yi has made a name for himself, so many idle jianghu men come to visit, and Bai Lang finds that Shi Dalang handles such scenes with ease, greeting and seeing off guests, earning a thumbs‑up as a 'Sai Mengchang'. Among them are those who come to spar; under Bai Lang's guidance, Shi Yi welcomes all challengers—anyone who wishes to duel can go to the training ground, whether cavalry combat, foot combat, weapons or bare‑handed.

Shi Yi is a spear‑and‑staff master who can overturn Shandong heroes; the more he fights, the more confident he becomes, and his cultivated martial skill increasingly manifests its true essence. Bai Lang's instruction to him is the world's top collision‑formation technique, a solo combat skill; the spear method Bai Lang refined and taught Shi Yi is a pinnacle among mortals. Though Shi Yi, who cultivates both internally and externally, is not as strong as Wu Erlang, who can hurl a hundred‑plus‑jin stone chain six or seven zhang and catch it, nor as mighty as the Flower Monk who can uproot a drooping willow, he still possesses over a thousand jin of strength.

Bai Lang also taught Shi Yi the horizontal‑training technique, but unfortunately Shi Yi lacks the talent for refining Qi, so his horizontal training can only involve external‑gate striking combined with medicinal‑soup baths; even at an advanced level it can block ordinary swords and spears. "That Dalang must have a strength of two arms, three thousand jin, yet still falls short of the few mighty stars of the Tian‑Gang constellation," Bai Lang thought, watching on the training ground as Shi Dalang once again overturned a visiting adept, and sighed.

"Dalang can be said to be adept with bow and horse; I see no problem in him being unbeatable across Shandong," Bai Lang mused. Considering that Wu Erlang is a foot‑combat general, on horseback the advantage should belong to Shi Yi. In the end, Shi Yi respectfully bowed to the instructor Bai Lang; he knows that although the instructor rarely fights, his martial skill has already reached an unfathomable level. Once, Bai Lang said something offhand, which Shi Yi kept in mind to later extol his instructor.

"Push aside eight hundred invincible opponents, Xuan Yuan reappears as the Martial Sage." This was something Bai Lang heard one day when Shi Taigong was talking about Emperor Renzong, the Kaifeng Prefecture officials Bao Zheng and Bao Xiaosu; Shi Yi happened to hear it.

Shi Jia Erlang Shi Xiao enjoys reading, has a neutral relationship with Dalang, and does not come to the training ground to practice martial arts, so his connection with Bai Lang is merely acquaintance, "cannot be deep." As a Ming Dynasty jinshi, Bai Lang naturally knows Shi Xiao's scholarly level; at a glance he sees he is a wealthy landowner who cannot pass the imperial examinations. Such wealthy landowners are plentiful in the Great Song; Wu Yong, a friend of Xiao Yi Hei Sanlang, is indeed a prime example.

Shi Jia Xiaomei is still very young, and Bai Lang has only seen her a few times, never paying attention to the girl. Shi Jia Dalang is now eighteen years old, standing seven chi tall, while Bai Lang's age is 'comparable' and his height already seven chi five six. On the Shandong road, the 'Little Ming King' Shi Dalang is now a top figure, truly unrivaled in Shandong's spear‑and‑staff arts; the origin of this nickname is that the blank behind Shi Yi was finally filled by a tattoo master using the image of the Immovable Wisdom King.

As for Bai Lang, he has relatively little fame; even though Shi Yi constantly praises his own instructor—he wants to call him master, but Bai Lang refuses, "I have not taken you as a disciple. I only gave you a few pointers in martial arts." Bai Lang rarely steps onto the field; recent matters have been handed over to Dalang—who indeed has dealt with a few troublemakers causing a ruckus in the Shi Family Village's business; after the bright silver spear saw blood, things truly changed.

Shi Taigong has grown old; within the year the elderly couple passed away, and the eighteen‑year‑old Dalang became the head of the family. Shi Jia Erlang did not split the household; before his death, Shi Taigong asked Dalang to look after his brother, and of course Shi Xiaomei is also very important. Dalang is mischievous, his hands are clean in the jianghu, but he is truly poor at business, merely maintaining things. Shi Jia Erlang is also not adept at commerce, so he cannot lend a hand.

Bai Lang, on the other hand, has no interest in managing affairs. Moreover, "Dalang, what use is this family business to you? A true man seeks fame and profit only instantly; earning a livelihood between fields and acres is not the work of a true man." Bai Lang's words made Dalang feel as if ants crawled over his whole body, weary. The emperor's realm 'Feng Heng Yu Da' was evident even to him; the flower‑stone gang coming from the southeast continuously traversed the canal. What do you call such an emperor? A tyrant.

Moreover, the name of the Six Thieves above the court is known to all; why do the tyrant and treacherous ministers not perish? Yet whether it's Dalang or Bai Lang, they have no chance to raise an army yet. Bai Lang sees a few steps further than Shi Yi; the Great Liao in the north also has a tyrant, and the Jurchens have already begun to rise. If Dalang were to raise troops, it could very well end up in a war with the Jin troops—this is almost certain.

From the start, Bai Lang intended to rob the emperor's flower‑stone gang, or anyone's birthday gang, anything easy to snatch, even gold, silver, or copper coins; that day he gathered the information, then planned to assign Dalang and Xiaomei. However, before the robbery, word spread on the Shandong road that someone had already robbed a birthday gang, allegedly the doing of Heaven‑Pillar King Chao Gaijian. "That person must own a village and fields, perhaps a village head? How could he commit such a deed?"

Not to mention Dalang, Bai Lang also doesn't know what Chao Gaijian is thinking; after all, Shi Dalang of Shi Family Village holds no official rank, and is constantly squeezed by officials. "From Yanggu County a tiger‑slaying hero, Wu Erlang, has emerged." This news was also spread by idle men who came to the village to drink. Since then, Shi Family Village has gathered a group of idle men, all big, burly fellows, the kind subdued by Dalang, who normally follow Dalang as assistants.

Shi Yi, Bai Lang also knows, has not yet taken a wife but has found a sweetheart in the county; the young man is strong but inexperienced, and from Bai Lang's perspective, Shi Yi was taken by that county's widow. "That Widow Li makes a boy like that, doesn't she just grip him by the hand?" Bai Lang thought, yet no widow came to take this instructor.