Chapter 2142 - Gou Xunli's Return

Yi Haoran's gaze followed the voice to its source. The speaker appeared to be in his early fifties—a middle-aged man dressed in scholar's robes, though his sun-darkened complexion and weathered skin betrayed

a life spent exposed to the elements rather than sequestered in libraries.

The man hadn't come as family but as an emissary dispatched to present condolence gifts on behalf of a wealthy distant relation. According to Qiuchan, this relative ranked among the local magnates, yet resided year-round in a fortified mountain stronghold. In these chaotic times, with warfare ravaging the countryside, he dared not venture forth lest bandits—those "Great Heaven's Seconds"—kidnap him as a prize "fat pig" for ransom.

"May I ask your name?"

"My surname is Xun, given name the single character Li." Though the scholar spoke Mandarin, his accent carried peculiar inflections unlike the Cantonese-tinged pronunciation common among locals.

Yi Haoran cupped his hands in salutation. "Long have I looked up to you."

The courtesy was purely formulaic, yet unexpectedly, a bitter smile flickered across Xun Li's features—the expression of one who'd endured life's vicissitudes, drifting rootless from place to place. Yi Haoran's instincts sharpened. This Xun Li was no ordinary retainer.

As if reading his thoughts, Xun Li offered him a faint, knowing smile—one that penetrated secrets yet harbored no malice.

Abruptly, Xun Li stepped forward and executed a formal bow. "Long have I looked up to... Master Yi... Hao Ran's illustrious name."

When he pronounced "Yi," his voice dropped to barely a whisper, yet Yi Haoran heard it with crystal clarity. He started involuntarily. "What did you say?"

"Does the master wish everyone present to know?" Xun Li murmured. "Please, step aside with me."

Confusion warred with alarm in Yi Haoran's mind. This Xun Li evidently knew his identity—yet judging from his demeanor, bore no ill intent. Cautiously, he withdrew to a quieter corner.

His heart spiraled with anxiety. He'd spent minimal time in Wuzhou and maintained scant relations with locals. By all logic, no one should recognize him. How had this retainer of a local magnate penetrated his disguise?

Once they'd reached the courtyard, Xun Li whispered, "Is Master Yi well?"

"Who are you?" Yi Haoran demanded in an undertone. "How do you know my name?"

Xun Li inclined his head slightly. "I am but an insignificant figure. Yet Master Yi holds a position of some standing among Viceroy Xiong's private advisors. Naturally, I recognize you."

"Then you are also..." Yi Haoran ransacked his memory but couldn't recall such a person among Xiong Wencan's staff or Wuzhou's civil and military officials. Of course, his own familiarity with these circles remained limited. During the peak concentration of dozens of officials in Wuzhou, their advisors and retainers numbered well over a hundred.

"Whether I am or not matters little," Xun Li replied with studied nonchalance. "What concerns me is this: now that the funeral has concluded, what does Master Yi intend to do next?"

"What can I do?" Yi Haoran responded evasively. "I can only wait for the roads to grow marginally safer, then depart Wuzhou to seek other opportunities."

"In my estimation, seeking refuge with Viceroy Xiong no longer constitutes a viable option." Xun Li's bluntness was startling. "He can scarcely protect himself. His generals and officials have long since ceased to honor their oaths. Even if Master Yi carries patriotic fervor, Viceroy Xiong possesses the will but lacks the capacity to employ it."

Such candor carried immense risk. Speaking these words in a city controlled by the Bald Thieves demonstrated both trust in Yi Haoran's loyalty and intimate knowledge of his character. Yi Haoran nodded slowly. "I presume you've come to illuminate a clearer path for this humble scholar?"

Xun Li regarded him intently. "A clearer path, I dare not claim. It may well prove a dead end—since the Bald Thieves established themselves in Lingao, all who opposed them have scarcely escaped death. Does the master still possess the courage to walk this road?"

"I will walk it." Yi Haoran didn't hesitate.

"Then I shall speak plainly." Xun Li glanced toward the guests still conversing in the main hall, then lowered his voice further. "I am no retainer. That gentleman I replaced—I killed him."

"What?!" Shock jolted through Yi Haoran.

"Hear me out," Xun Li urged. "In truth, I've assembled a hundred sworn brothers outside the city—men unafraid to fight and kill."

Seeing Yi Haoran's expression shift, he hastened to clarify: "Master, please don't misunderstand. I'm no bandit. Originally, I belonged to the gentry of Lingao County. When the Bald Thieves landed there, I fought them to the death but suffered defeat. My elder brother and nephew both perished in battle. Not one member of my household survived. Later, I fled to the Viceroy of Liangguang's office. When Commander He mounted his campaign against Lingao, I served as advisor to his staff..."

What followed was Gou Xunli's tale—though Yi Haoran knew him only as Xun Li. After failing to incite bandit attacks against the Australians in Vietnam, Gou Xunli had wandered the region for years. Though he and "Rotten-Eye Hu" had assembled a sizeable force, the Australians' anti-bandit operations shattered them, destroying nearly eighty percent of their strength. The survivors lost their appetite for suicidal confrontations with the Australians in Vietnam. One former bandit from Wuzhou suggested returning there—at least Wuzhou, as a commercial hub teeming with merchants, offered richer pickings than northern Vietnam.

The return to Wuzhou precipitated internal power struggles. Rotten-Eye Hu commanded through "bravery in the vanguard," Gou Xunli through "divine strategy and wondrous calculation," while the bandits themselves "exerted themselves obediently." Working in concert, they'd finally established a foothold. Yet Gou Xunli remained anxious for news of his son and unwilling to remain a bandit permanently. He'd bid farewell to Rotten-Eye Hu and slipped back to Macau seeking Li Siya.

Years of failure, however, had yielded nothing against the Bald Thieves, and his intelligence on them remained meager. Li Siya had lost interest in him. Beyond providing meals and lodging, she simply discarded him, paying him no further mind.

Gou the Second lingered in Macau for over a month, seeing Li Siya only once. Recognizing his uselessness to this woman, he'd slunk back to Guangzhou dejectedly to assess the situation.

In Guangzhou, not only had Guo Yi's arrogance intensified, but the Bald Thieves had erected their brazen "Great World" complex directly outside the city. The Guangzhou bureaucracy not only turned blind eyes to the Bald Thieves but actively courted their favor. An "Anti-Bald Warrior" like Gou the Second, far from being valued, became a pariah—a "God of Plagues" everyone avoided. He'd become a stray dog.

Worse still, Gou Chengxuan, who'd originally followed Commander He as part of the Returning Home Corps, had vanished without trace. The Lai brothers maintained complete silence. Gou Xunli spent what little silver remained inquiring through various Guangzhou yamens, but gleaned no concrete intelligence. He'd heard only that his son hadn't returned to Guangzhou after departing with Commander He—presumably, he'd perished in Hainan.

He'd wept bitterly. Grief aside, he required new plans. Then came news that Proprietor Guo had posted a reward of one hundred taels of silver for the heads of father and son Gou. Without a head, an arm or leg fetched fifty taels. Rotten-Eye Hu hadn't escaped notice either—fifty taels for him as well.

Every desperado in Guangzhou burned with avarice. Naturally, he couldn't remain there—the city had subtly transformed into the Bald Thieves' domain. Returning to Qiongzhou Prefecture proved equally impossible. He'd had no choice but to rejoin Rotten-Eye Hu as a bandit.

Within the bandit gang, he held "advisor" status and ranked as Rotten-Eye Hu's sworn brother—a figure at the "leadership" level. Life in the mountain stronghold could be termed "carefree" in one sense, yet compared to his former existence as "local gentry," it fell pitifully short. Dwelling in wilderness, inhabiting crude structures, consuming coarse fare, mingling daily with vulgar mountain folk—even the women captured for their pleasure were largely homely and rough. His family enterprise destroyed, his son's fate uncertain, himself reduced to such circumstances... The flames of vengeance within him hadn't dimmed with age but burned ever more fiercely.

Then, unexpectedly, opportunity delivered itself directly to his doorstep!

The bandits learned immediately of the Bald Thieves capturing Wuzhou. For bandit gangs, periods when great armies passed through and warfare raged presented prime opportunities for enrichment—like hyenas feasting on carrion in a lion's wake. Exploiting the Ming army's collapse and Wuzhou's fall, local bandit gangs profited handsomely. Rotten-Eye Hu's gang proved no exception.

Yet hyenas benefited from the lion's leavings only by maintaining distance—especially when that lion was the Bald Thieves! Rotten-Eye Hu's gang had suffered grievously at their hands, breeding extreme caution.

The bandits maintained informants within the city. Gou Xunli had ascertained the general situation following the Bald Thieves' occupation. The fires of revenge drove him to monitor Australian movements with particular intensity. Wuzhou broken, popular sentiment unstable, and with the recent Yao cave rebellions prompting the Bald Thieves' main army to withdraw from Wuzhou in panic, leaving only a skeleton garrison—Gou the Second recognized his moment had arrived.

The bandits lacked passion for monarchical loyalty or patriotism, yet Wuzhou as plunder represented "fat meat" countless local bandits dared only dream of claiming. Moreover, if they could genuinely achieve victory in Wuzhou and kill several True Balds or Fake Balds, the Imperial Court would certainly reward them lavishly. For bandits, "amnesty" offering legitimacy and the chance to "glorify their ancestors" held tremendous appeal. Consequently, Gou Xunli required minimal effort to persuade Rotten-Eye Hu and the entire gang.

Yet their gang numbered merely a hundred-odd men. Rotten-Eye Hu and the others had fought the Australians and comprehended their strength well. Even with only a hundred or so "Fake Balds" in the city, they'd prove overwhelming in pitched battle. As for recruiting other bandit gangs for cooperative action, Rotten-Eye Hu had tasted the bitterness of such "joint ventures" in Vietnam. They might serve to create momentum and draw Australian fire, but expecting them to exert deadly effort was pure fantasy.

"We need to borrow strength, but the various mountain gangs are unreliable. We must still rely on the Imperial Court!" Gou Xunli deliberated extensively before addressing Rotten-Eye Hu.

"You mean, seek out Xiong Wencan?" Rotten-Eye Hu blinked his scarred eyelids questioningly.

"We're weak and isolated. Approaching Xiong Wencan directly won't succeed. We might not even secure an audience." Gou Xunli paused

. "We require someone to recommend us!"