Chapter 39: Negotiation Expert — The Blind Man

“He’s dead?”

At that moment, Zheng Fan wanted to grab a fistful of his own hair and yank hard. It was a habit he used to have whenever he got stuck plotting a comic.

Everyone had spent the entire day running themselves ragged—setting an ambush, killing people, then practically running a marathon.

And after all that, the man they rescued had been jostled to death?

Was this a joke?

“Let me take a look.”

The Blind Man Bei stepped forward and climbed into the carriage.

Zheng Fan followed him in. The others could only stand outside and watch.

Inside the carriage, the Blind Man Bei placed a hand on Ding Hao’s wrist, closed his eyes, and wore an extremely grave expression.

“How’s his pulse?” Zheng Fan asked.

The Blind Man Bei sighed.

His expression grew even heavier.

“What is it?”

“Master.”

“Mm?”

“I’m a psychologist.”

“...”

Zheng Fan fell silent.

The Blind Man Bei shook his head.

“Probably no hope. No pulse. No breathing.”

“So he really died just like that?”

“Yes.”

Zheng Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He let out a long breath.

“Fine. Then bury him.”

“Burying him would be a waste. There’s always flowers growing in the rear garden, isn’t there? Chop him up, ferment him, and use him as fertilizer. The fellows who died in this courtyard before got the same treatment.”

Zheng Fan froze.

He truly did often feel like he did not fit in with these subordinates of his because he simply was not twisted enough.

But since it was the Blind Man Bei’s suggestion, Zheng Fan could only suppress the discomfort in his heart and nod.

“Fine. Do that.”

The instant the words left his mouth, Ding Hao’s eyes opened.

“He... he woke up! He’s not dead!”

Zheng Fan pointed at Ding Hao’s face in shock.

The Blind Man Bei did not seem surprised in the slightest.

His mind was even clear enough to immediately offer some flattery.

“As expected of Master’s teacher. After becoming touched by Master’s fortune, naturally Heaven protects the worthy.”

Zheng Fan instinctively felt there was something wrong with this, but the Blind Man Bei immediately continued.

“Master, since you are taking someone as your teacher, some necessary etiquette and terms still need to be settled. Please leave this matter to me.

“This subordinate guarantees that tomorrow, Master can begin truly cultivating.”

Truly cultivating.

In this world!

Zheng Fan nodded.

He actually understood that Ding Hao had been pretending to be dead earlier.

But Zheng Fan trusted the Blind Man Bei’s abilities, so he obediently climbed down from the carriage first.

Still, he added one reminder.

“Talk to him properly.

“Try not to get rough.”

The Blind Man Bei nodded in agreement.

Once only the Blind Man Bei and Ding Hao remained inside the carriage, the Blind Man Bei turned his empty eye sockets toward Ding Hao.

Slowly, he said, “That Turtle-Breathing Art of yours is pretty good.

“All right.

“Now, let’s have a nice chat.”

...

Ancient residences were designed around multiple successive courtyards.

They were not quite the same as the siheyuan compounds of later periods.

And now that the “new inn” consisted of two residences joined front to back, there was still a great deal of unused space even after housing all the servants and young women.

The Blind Man Bei found an empty room.

He had Fan Li place Ding Hao in a chair, then personally carried another chair over and sat directly opposite him.

Feng Siniang came as well.

She naturally understood that this form of negotiation might not remain particularly civilized.

So she stood nearby and watched.

There was a chance her skills might be needed.

Having once run countless brothels and clubs, what Feng Siniang was actually best at was torture.

She had once invented a punishment of her own.

She would control a single embroidery thread, send it writhing through a person’s body, then slowly guide it toward the brain while the victim remained fully conscious of every movement.

Whether it approached the upper brain or the lower one, the result was equally horrifying.

“Blind Man, if you need me to act, just say so.”

Feng Siniang continued knitting something in her hands.

It was a scarf.

Originally, she had intended to knit a hat.

But then she remembered that in a few days Master would begin reporting for duty at the yamen, and he would probably be issued military robes and armor.

So she changed it to a scarf.

The Blind Man Bei shook his head and pointed toward Ding Hao.

“This is Master’s teacher.

“We have to respect him.”

“Oh?

“You’re planning to persuade him with reason?”

“Of course.

“I don’t know what happened, but ever since I went blind, I’ve found myself enjoying reasoning with people more and more.

“My temper isn’t nearly as fiery as it used to be either.”

Ding Hao leaned crookedly in the chair, his arms braced behind him to keep his balance.

He did not say a word.

He wore the expression of someone silently watching the two of them show off.

At last, the Blind Man Bei got down to business.

“Let me introduce myself first.

“As you can see, I’m blind.

“A cripple.

“Fortunately, my Master did not despise me and was willing to give me a meal.

“You can call me Blind Man.

“If you want to be polite, you can call me Mr. Bei.

“Sigh.

“You and I are both cripples.

“The tendons in your hands and feet have been severed.

“I’ve lost both eyes.

“I think we’re fellow sufferers wandering the same world.

“We ought to feel some mutual sympathy, don’t you think?”

“Cripple?”

Ding Hao stared carefully at the Blind Man Bei.

He seemed to be trying to determine whether the other man was joking.

After all, not long ago, it had been this self-proclaimed “cripple” who used an erhu string to sever the head of the assassin who killed Wang Li.

“We are a very friendly organization.

“We have always devoted ourselves to world peace and development.

“We are a gentle organization.

“Our purpose is love and peace.

“No war.

“No killing.

“No harm.”

The Blind Man Bei spoke complete nonsense with a solemn expression.

Then he clasped both hands and raised them in salute.

“Our Master has always wanted to become a Martial Artist.

“He has always dreamed of being a wandering hero.

“Punishing evil.

“Helping the innocent.

“Upholding justice.

“So we invited you here because we would like you to become our Master’s teacher and instruct him in the cultivation methods of a Martial Artist.”

Ding Hao automatically filtered the first half of the speech out of his mind.

But the latter portion caused his eyes to narrow.

He immediately laughed.

“You people want me, this cripple, to teach that man behind you martial arts?”

“Yes.”

The Blind Man Bei nodded very seriously.

Immediately afterward, a deep disappointment appeared on Ding Hao’s face.

He pursed his lips and muttered, “Heh.

“Earlier, I thought you people were agents sent by the imperial court.”

“At present, we are not.”

That was the Blind Man Bei’s answer.

“Oh?”

Ding Hao looked puzzled.

“You are people of the court?”

“Mm.

“You can understand it that way.

“Our Master will report to the Tiger Head City yamen in two days.

“He is a Lieutenant Commander.”

“Lieutenant Commander” was a very broad title.

Because the official system of the State of Yan was such a mess, anyone who had risen beyond ordinary soldiers and Centurions could more or less be called a Lieutenant Commander.

Of course, what the Blind Man Bei truly meant here was:

One day, we too may be called the imperial court.

“If you’re people of the court, why would you dare do something like this?”

“I think those are minor details.

“If the imperial court discovers what we did, then naturally the imperial court may ask questions.

“But you should not be asking that question.”

“Why?”

“Because if we had not acted, you would already be dead.

“You would not be sitting here asking me that question.”

“That’s true.”

“Then let’s discuss your compensation.

“So long as you teach our Master martial arts, during your time as his teacher we will guarantee your safety.

“You will eat and dress well.

“You will have servants attending you.

“And in addition, your salary and compensation will also—”

Ding Hao suddenly interrupted.

“Did I ever say that I agreed to become your... that Master’s teacher?”

Feng Siniang set aside the knitting in her hands.

She proactively stepped forward twice.

The Blind Man Bei raised a hand and stopped her.

“What?

“You plan to torture me?”

A look of deep disdain appeared on Ding Hao’s face.

He had been a military officer.

He had slaughtered his superior’s entire household.

He had become a mounted bandit.

After being captured by the Zhenbei Army, he had also suffered torture.

What storm had he not already seen?

Of course, he had previously used his Turtle-Breathing Art to feign death because he wanted to see whether he could take advantage of the confusion and escape.

At present, he was not absolutely refusing to teach either.

This was simply like doing business.

You named a price.

He bargained.

Everyone could talk things through properly.

Even though his life was currently in someone else’s hands, Ding Hao did not particularly care.

His life was already worthless.

There truly was not much he was reluctant to lose.

“Oh my, oh my.

“I’ve seen plenty of heroes before torture who became cowards afterward.

“Just let me—”

“Fourth Lady.

“I already said this is Master’s teacher.”

A flash of irritation appeared on Feng Siniang’s face.

But she still stepped backward.

“Since he is Master’s teacher, we must show him respect.

“After all, Master will need to learn the path of the Martial Artist from him in the future.”

“But he—”

The Blind Man Bei raised his voice and cut her off.

“Besides, Master has taught us before that we should persuade people through virtue.

“We should speak with him properly.”

Feng Siniang shot the Blind Man Bei a glance.

Then she simply retreated to where she had originally been standing and resumed her needlework.

The Blind Man Bei turned back.

His empty eye sockets once again faced Ding Hao.

He smiled gently.

“Now, let’s talk properly.”

“Fine.

“But you have to agree to three condi—”

The Blind Man Bei suddenly turned his body to the side.

He completely ignored Ding Hao’s words and shouted toward Feng Siniang behind him.

“Oh, right.

“Fourth Lady.

“The wife of Patrol Lieutenant Commander Wang Li came to me for fortune-telling the day before yesterday and shorted me one copper coin.

“Go kill her entire household.”

“...”

Ding Hao fell silent.

---

(End of Chapter)