Chapter 0: 38. The Mysterious Bandit Star Lord
That year, at the foot of Arc-Moon Mountain.
“You can go, Li Hen.” Qin Gou sighed, his robes fluttering in the wind.
“I know I was wrong!” Li Hen knelt on his knees, his voice pleading with difficulty.
Qin Gou chuckled helplessly and said gravely, “This is already the number of times I’ve caught you, you little brat. If you truly knew your mistakes, you would have mended your ways long ago! Tell me honestly, why have you twice acted as a thief in the night, repeatedly targeting fellow disciples?”
Upon hearing this, Li Hen, thinking that Old Qin wanted the truth, replied with a face full of straightforwardness, “My hands itched.”
“Scram!”
Qin Gou’s nose felt like it would explode from anger, and he almost kicked the brat to death on the spot. In truth, he had hinted at it many times; there was nothing wrong with having such a skill, but one should at least distinguish their targets. Yet, this simpleton was stubbornly unrepentant.
Li Hen, his face ashen, lowered his head and slowly stood up, then walked away into the distance.
Qin Gou watched his receding back and suddenly said, “Wait a moment.”
Li Hen, crestfallen, turned around again, listening as Qin Gou continued, “Little brat, do you know what happens if you’re caught with sticky fingers by common folk?”
“Fingers cut off…” Li Hen replied in a low voice.
“Indeed.”
Qin Gou nodded slightly. “From now on, you’ll be in the Jianghu, not within Arc-Moon Mountain. If something happens, few will protect you. I’ll give you a lesson today to remember!”
As he spoke, Qin Gou took out a sharp dagger from his Nas storage ring. Instead of aiming it at the startled Li Hen, he swiftly cut off a lock of his own long hair.
“Hen’er, I don’t wish to harm you, so I must punish myself by cutting my hair in your stead. I hope you can remember today’s transgression and do not repeat your mistakes, lest you be caught in the act again. At the very least, the next time we meet, you can appear before me whole and with dignity.”
For a moment, Li Hen’s eyes welled up with tears. He knew that one’s body and hair were gifts from one’s parents. He took the lock of hair from Qin Gou’s hand, turned, and strode away, shedding countless hot tears in the wind.
He vowed with tears that in this life, he would never fail Old Qin’s expectations. He would forge himself day and night, temper his body, and never repeat his past mistakes, ensuring no one could cut off his fingers, because they simply wouldn’t find any evidence!
Simultaneously, Qin Gou was very satisfied with Li Hen’s reaction. While he hoped the young man would truly mend his ways, he also marveled at his own performance, imitating Cao Cao’s act of cutting his hair as a substitute for beheading, thinking it was incredibly cool.
***
Twin Fangs Mountain.
The simple words ‘Heavenly Thief Star’ struck Li Hen’s heart like a thunderclap. He hastily wrote, “How do you know this moniker?”
“I don’t know it. Not only do I not know of the Heavenly Thief Star, but I’ve never heard of the Qilin Divine Constable of the Wind Catching Association or the Three-word Martial King of the Saint Immortal Ranking. I know nothing of you, Li Hen, and my saving your own sister was merely a coincidence! It’s all thanks to Li You’er telling me everything, detail by detail!” Qin Gou spoke frankly, but deliberately adopted an extremely indignant tone.
“So you’ve been watching me all along!” Li Hen’s eyes widened, a hint of shame appearing on his face.
“Hmph!” Qin Gou folded his hands behind his back and put on a stern face.
This mysterious and proud cold snort further solidified Li Hen’s suspicions, leaving him utterly mortified.
“The so-called Heavenly Thief Star is indeed a past I’d rather not recall.”
“And after joining the Wind Catching Association? Did you continue to steal?”
“After that, I became even stricter with myself…”
“Ha.”
Qin Gou said nothing, merely chuckling a few times as Li Hen spoke, offering no definitive judgment, but giving the guilty party the illusion that he knew everything. If one were to ask Qin Gou why he was laughing, couldn’t a person suddenly recall happy memories?
“O-occasionally…” Li Hen felt a prickling sensation on his scalp, and with a face full of embarrassment, involuntarily confessed, quickly changing the previous spiritual text to, “But I guarantee, I only acted against those who did evil and were truly wicked.”
Qin Gou looked at him with indignant disappointment. “If you’re still doing the same old thing, why would you join the Wind Catching Association?”
“Because the Heavenly Thief Star only had minor fame, while ‘The Mysterious Bandit Star Lord’ is a legend.”
“The Mysterious Bandit Star Lord?”
“The only one who could stealthily steal precious treasures under the ceaseless and stringent watch of the Wind Catching Association’s Pixiu, Yellow Dragon, Luan Phoenix, and myself, the so-called ‘Qilin Divine Constable’!” Halfway through writing, Li Hen paused for a moment, his fingers trembling slightly. “At the same time, this ‘Mysterious Bandit Star Lord’ is my other identity.”
Staring intently at the words Li Hen wrote before him, Qin Gou fell into a deep silence.
So, Li Hen didn’t just join the Wind Catching Association to find a new job after retiring from being a Saint of Thieves. He also elevated his thieving skills, understanding the principle that the most perfect way to steal is often to ‘steal from within one’s own jurisdiction’!
“Before, I heard You’er mention your lifelong goal. She said you hoped to one day steal from me? To steal away my melancholy?” Qin Gou suddenly said with a peculiar expression.
Li Hen’s expression stiffened, and he forced a smile even more bitter than crying. He quickly wrote, “At that time, I wanted to show Your Lord that even a disgraced disciple of Arc-Moon Mountain like myself could become a Qilin Divine Constable and not disappoint Your Lord’s expectations, naturally bringing honor to Your Lord and dispelling your melancholy.”
“It’s just that, simultaneously being a Qilin Divine Constable and bearing the title of Mysterious Bandit Star Lord?” Qin Gou’s mouth twitched, and he asked with a mix of amusement and exasperation, “Are you sure you’ve only acted against wicked people so far?”
“Yes.” Li Hen nodded vigorously, his fingers moving so fast they seemed to be cramping. “Your Lord can investigate the movements of the Mysterious Bandit Star Lord. The reason I did this was because I couldn’t stand the attitude of the current head of the Wind Catching Association. No matter what kind of beastly client he was, as long as they offered him appealing resources or Spirit Treasures, he would immediately order the members of the Wind Catching Association to act as his lackeys and hounds, and no one was allowed to object. I truly couldn’t accept it.”
“If that’s the case, then you, brat, still have some integrity as a thief?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Li Hen’s expression turned flustered.
“I am sincerely praising you,” Qin Gou said, his brow furrowed. “As long as you don’t use this skill of yours to bully the good and innocent, how could I blame you?”
“Your Lord!” Li Hen’s voice trembled, a flicker of wild joy in his eyes.
“Don’t get too happy too soon. After all, this is just your one-sided account.” Qin Gou smiled gently and landed a somewhat forced punch on Li Hen’s chest with his fist.
“Pfft.”
Li Hen coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot, staining Qin Gou’s sleeve. He stumbled back several meters and fell to the ground.
“Brat, what’s wrong with you?” Qin Gou exclaimed in surprise and quickly walked over.
“It’s nothing!” Li Hen’s face was filled with terror, and he quickly reached out to stop Qin Gou’s next move. Then, he gave Qin Gou a thumbs-up and forced a wry smile. “Divine skill!”
He should have easily dodged that seemingly ordinary punch. However, it was as if he was possessed and couldn’t move an inch. He was even beaten to the point of spitting blood, which made Li Hen deeply realize the terrifying and insurmountable gap between him and Qin Gou, based on the judgment of the Life-and-Death Candlelight Spirit Tool.
Qin Gou was completely bewildered. He swore that his punch had not carried even a trace of spiritual power. Furthermore, given Li Hen’s realm, he was absolutely not a fragile doll that could be injured so severely by a single punch from his current self.
“Could it be… you did this all yourself?” Qin Gou could only think of this possibility.
Li Hen’s expression startled, and then he nodded, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Incredible.
Qin Gou had seen people flattering others, but he had never encountered someone as fanatically theatrical as Li Hen, who, if not for knowing the truth, might have been fooled into believing Qin Gou had achieved divine mastery.
Just then, Qin Gou suddenly received a sound transmission from an elder of Twin Fangs Mountain, informing him that they had reconstructed the final moments of Wan Lianxiao’s life.
“Do you need me to heal your injuries?”
“Absolutely not!” Li Hen instinctively flinched and cried out in horror.
Qin Gou shrugged helplessly. “Then take some pills yourself. I suddenly have something urgent to attend to and must leave first. I’ll be back later.”
With that, Qin Gou left the cave dwelling with some urgency, coincidentally bumping into Li You’er, who was returning from a walk.
Li You’er’s eyes fell upon the large bloodstains on Qin Gou’s sleeve, and she cried out in alarm, “Big Brother Qin, this blood…?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine, but I don’t know how to explain it right now… Go ask your brother yourself.” Qin Gou chuckled and shook his head.
Li You’er knitted her dark eyebrows and stormed into the cave dwelling, huffing, “Brother, you’ve gone too far! How could you be so heavy-handed with Big Brother Qin!”
“Me? Gone too far?”
Leaning against the wall, wiping his blood-stained mouth, Li Hen looked utterly resigned to his fate.
“Brother, how did you get so badly injured? Could it be that Big Brother Qin was hiding his true strength?” Li You’er asked in disbelief.
“No!”
Li Hen suddenly remembered that Qin Gou had said he was still testing Li You’er. He immediately denied it with all his might.
“Then who caused your injuries?” Li You’er pressed, full of suspicion.
Li Hen blurted out, “I did!”
Li You’er couldn’t help but ask inexplicably, “Brother, what are you talking about? How is that possible?”
“Exactly!” Li Hen insisted.
“Then why did you injure yourself so severely?”
Li Hen replied with a straightforward smile, “My hands itched!”
***
At the same time, Qin Gou had arrived at the main hall of Twin Fangs Mountain.
A soul lantern that had long since extinguished and was even cracked in several places, under the blessing of Deng Fengzhuo and other elders, displayed vivid spiritual power scroll paintings.
As more and more scroll paintings appeared, Qin Gou’s mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
A man clad in a pitch-black Qilin robe, with eyes as sharp as lightning and an awe-inspiring might, unleashed an unstoppable divine fist that pierced through the chest of the red-haired, blood-like Mountain Lord of Twin Fangs Mountain, Wan Lianxiao. His power was utterly domineering.
The appearance of this black-clothed man was so familiar to Qin Gou that it was as if he had just met him five minutes ago. Furthermore, this person had quickly looted all of Wan Lianxiao’s belongings afterward, not even sparing his boots, fully embodying the excellent tradition of a thief leaving nothing behind. This also indicated that the person had by no means used a disguise.
It was none other than the renowned ‘Qilin Divine Constable,’ ‘Mysterious Bandit Star Lord,’ ‘Paper Doll Who Falls at a Touch,’ ‘Ancestor, Spare Me,’ and ‘My Hands Itched’ – Li Hen.
