Chapter 11: Tavern Ruffians

A large white sign with the character “wine” fluttered in the wind on the road outside Gusu City. A few simple square tables and benches were set up by the roadside. Children ran back and forth enthusiastically, occasionally shouting, “Coming right up, sir! Just a moment!” as they refilled the drinks for the few customers present—creating a bustling scene.
A tavern.
A hallmark of the martial world.
And also the place most likely to see trouble break out.
Bang!
A thick, heavy hand slammed down on the table, causing bowls, chopsticks, and drinks to shake violently—evidencing the immense force used.
“Owner!”
A burly man with a face full of flesh, still burping, stood up drunkenly, holding a wine jug.
The owner was an honest middle-aged man, thin and seemingly frail. He walked over with a forced smile, “Sir, what can I do for you?”
“Give me… another two jin… of wine. I’ll take it with me.” There were already several empty wine jars on the man’s table, along with messy food—clear signs of heavy drinking. Everyone around could smell his foul breath.
“Sure, sure. Xiao Zhu, get another two jin of wine. Sir, let me calculate—your total is…” The owner was about to settle the bill when the man said, “No need to calculate. It’s a hundred taels of silver. Pay it monthly.”
Instead of paying, the man stretched out his hand toward the owner, who looked pale, standing over him in an arrogant manner.
“Ah… this… what are you doing?”
The honest-looking owner stammered, not understanding what the man wanted.
“I forgot to tell you. My name is Li San. This tavern outside the city must pay monthly tribute. What I ate just now was out of courtesy. Hurry up and give me the money. I have to go to the next place to collect payments.” This so-called drunkard, Li San, didn’t seem drunk at all—only his expression became even more fierce and menacing.
“Li… Li San…”
The owner and the waiter trembled in fear, too scared to settle the bill or unwilling to give him money, standing there helplessly.
The villainous Li San’s expression darkened!
“What? Disrespecting me, Li San?” He pulled out a white steel sword from nowhere and silently placed it in front of the owner and waiter.
It seemed the owner and waiter were about to lose their lives in the tavern when people at the nearby tables could no longer stand by…
“Stop!”
A young man slammed his hand on the table and stood up!

Three companions stood up at the same time—two men and one woman. Their faces showed a mix of surprise and indignation as they glared at the villain Li San. They quickly formed a formation, surrounding him completely.

It turned out that at the moment Li San drew his weapon, they received an unexpected prompt!

“Accept the low-level martial arts task ‘Stop the Wrongdoing’! Help the shopkeeper drive away ‘Villain Li San’ to complete the task! Villain Li San: a thug with no internal energy skills.”

In fact, a few days earlier, they had heard rumors that there was a villain causing trouble at an inn on the road outside Gusu City, showing up almost twice a day to extort protection money from innocent middle-aged shopkeepers. Any player who approached that area could trigger this task!

What excited them the most was that completing the task would earn them the shopkeeper’s gratitude and ten bottles of golden healing medicine. If they could kill Li San, the rewards would be even greater—not only would they get Li San’s “precision steel sword,” a weapon worth over 500 silver taels, but also the 200 silver taels in protection money he had collected, along with a secret swordsmanship manual.

A precision steel weapon of such value, combined with other rewards, was enough to tempt newcomers. The three men and one woman had come all the way from the city and waited for over an hour just for this opportunity to see Li San cause trouble.

Without hesitation, the four of them accepted the task…

“Heh, someone dares to step forward?”

Villain Li San completely dismissed the four young men and women in front of him, who were armed with ordinary iron swords and knives. He pushed aside the shopkeeper and the waiter. “Relying on numbers?”

Before he could finish speaking, he used the “Smash Mount Hua” technique to slash at the leader of the group, silencing his prepared speech of righteousness.

In a hurry, the leader raised his sword to block.

Even drunk, Li San was extremely agile. With his powerful arms, he struck so hard that the leader could barely hold his weapon. Staggering back, he was kicked by Li San, flying through the air and almost hitting a young customer nearby.

Kai Xin suddenly leaped up from his seat.

Bang!

The tables and chairs in front of him were crushed under the flying figure, and broken cups and dishes scattered everywhere in chaos.

Throwing aside his wine glass, Kai Xin wasn’t angry nor did he go to help the four heroes fight Li San. Instead, he calmly found another clean table, sat down, and continued drinking as if nothing had happened.

To be honest, the system had also given him a prompt earlier, but Kai Xin didn’t accept the task…

Because before the villain Li San took action, he had secretly observed him and concluded that he was no match for him. Although Li San had drunk a lot and reeked of alcohol, his right arm wielding the steel sword was exceptionally steady, with thick calluses on his knuckles—signs of someone who had practiced martial arts for a long time and reached a certain level. From this, it could be judged that not only was his strength far greater than hers, but his swordsmanship was likely quite skilled as well. Though the system indicated he was just an ordinary thug without any martial realm, the lack of a realm did not mean he lacked internal strength or skill… There were many such people in the martial world, just one step away from reaching a high realm! More importantly, Kai Xin was well aware of the strength levels of these thugs. Such missions had occurred in many cities, just under different names. Although the name “Li San” seemed rather sloppy and careless, these thugs were almost all below the realm of entry, yet they possessed at least one martial art at the ninth realm. And the rumors that thugs might drop steel swords or secret manuals? Yes, they were true. But how many people could actually kill someone who was just one step away from reaching that realm? “…” Kai Xin simply refused to trigger this mission, thus avoiding trouble and drawing Li San’s attention. But over there, four spirited young men immediately realized something was wrong as soon as they started fighting! Li San’s swordsmanship was very steady, yet full of thuggish flair; he used both hands and feet to maximize lethality, knocking three men and one woman away with just a few swings, and also dealing a severe beating to two other players who had taken on the same mission but hadn’t acted yet… “Attack together!” someone suggested as the six of them gathered together. The others nodded in agreement and called out from two directions at once! This time, they planned to use their numerical advantage to overpower Li San. Kai Xin continued drinking, shaking his head repeatedly… What were they thinking? Did they really think “Villain Li San” was some foolish beast? Amidst cries of fear, Li San moved swiftly backward, easily dodging the combined attacks of the six. Once they were in disarray, he turned around and slaughtered them all! The six failed the mission and were robbed of their belongings by Li San before leaving in anger… The poor shopkeeper had no other choice but to pay a protection fee to send away this fierce menace. As Villain Li San regained his drunken demeanor, proudly carrying the silver, a whooshing sound came from behind. He stopped abruptly, drew his weapon again, and his dazed eyes showed slight annoyance as he looked at the young man ahead. “Who are you?”

Seeing the drunk and unsteady Li San, the young man smiled faintly and tossed the hero’s scarf from his chest to his back:
“Sorry, I’m robbing you.”