"I am Xue Wentai of Guanzhong!" Standing before the horse stable of Xiaojia Village, a burly monk led a group of convicts over. Xue Wentai squinted at Zhou Fugui and asked, "You little milk-sucking pretty boy, you're the famous Zhou Fugui of the capital?"
Xue Wentai eyed Zhou Fugui disdainfully, as if he refused to believe it.
The burly monk, Xue Wentai from Guanzhong, had an exceptionally loud voice and a remarkably strong physique. His shoulders were broad, and even in the cold weather, his two arms were bare, revealing muscles bulging on his tattooed limbs. His sun-tanned skin gleamed under the sunlight. His dirty monk's robe was open, revealing a tuft of black hair on his chest. He stood before Zhou Fugui like a stone tower, truly ferocious and even taller and mightier than Xu Mancang, Dian Meng, and Suo Dacheng.
Speaking of Xue Wentai, his family was actually a prominent clan in Guanzhong, a scholarly family with abundant wealth. Had Xue Wentai lived an honest life, he would have lived without worry, if not in luxury. But Xue Wentai was not honest. From a young age, he hated evil and was passionate, but also hot-tempered, often getting into fights and causing a lot of trouble for the Xue family.
His parents, helpless, sent him to the Lingyin Temple on Mount Jing to become a monk, hoping he would cultivate virtue and temper his nature. However, Xue Wentai only lasted for about a month before reverting to his old ways, beating up everyone in the temple and almost burning it down.
The monks of Lingyin Temple regarded Xue Wentai as a demon king, yet they could neither send him away nor keep him.
Finally, Xue Wentai killed the son of a high-ranking official and was sentenced to death. His parents, in their desperation, used their connections, sold ancestral property, and spent a fortune to have his sentence commuted to exile in Xuelin City, where he became a convict.
"I am indeed Zhou Fugui." Although Zhou Fugui didn't know why this reckless monk had come, he knew this person was not here for good. Thus, he tightened his grip on his saber hilt and looked at Xue Wentai, asking, "Reverend Monk, why have you come?"
"Da Yan's Yang Youji, famous in the capital, and this is how you are? Still wet behind the ears, with newborn hair still on your head, what kind of reputation is this?" Xue Wentai provocatively said to Zhou Fugui.
"Hahahaha!" Xue Wentai's followers all burst into loud laughter.
"Bald donkey!" The word 'endure' felt like a knife in his heart. Xue Wentai had come to provoke him for no reason. Zhou Fugui desperately suppressed the urge to kill him with a saber or an arrow, but this curse still slipped out. After cursing, Zhou Fugui asked, "Zhou and you have no enmity, nor have we ever met. Why do you, thief of a monk, insult me so?"
Zhou Fugui's fellow villagers, seeing someone come to stir up trouble, all stood behind Zhou Fugui. Xu Mancang and Suo Dacheng, two dark-skinned fellows, were eager to try their hand against the burly monk.
"You little milk-sucking pretty boy, why do all the fatty meats and fine wines go into your little mouth? Your fair body resides in a warm house, with little beauties serving you, while we can only eat leftovers, with no wine or meat, crammed into kennels that even dogs wouldn't go near?" Xue Wentai licked his lips and said angrily.
Xue Wentai lived for wine and meat every day. But for the past few days, he had been eating coarse grains, and his mouth was practically numb. Even upon arriving at Xiaojia Village, it was still the same. Seeing Zhou Fugui eating well and drinking heartily, he was naturally extremely displeased and resentful.
"Exactly, exactly, the Reverend Monk speaks the truth."
"All the way here, bossing us around, as if he were an official, but he's no different from us, just another prisoner!"
"Indeed, indeed."
"Today, we must at least get some wine and meat from this pretty boy!"
"... "
Xue Wentai's followers loudly agreed.
"You want food and drink?" It was General Ji Duor, the Deputy General of the Yan army, who had "generously" treated them. How could Zhou Fugui refuse? What could he explain now? If he couldn't explain, he wouldn't. So Zhou Fugui said lightly, "If you want food and drink, go find it yourselves. Why are you looking for me? I'm not the grain transport officer."
"Thief monk, our battalion commander is a General appointed by the court. Do you dare to be presumptuous?" Yang Xinhong, one of Zhou Fugui's fellow villagers, pointed at Xue Wentai and shouted.
"What General? Even if the Great General himself came today, I would still beat the meat out of his stomach and the wine out of his mouth!" Xue Wentai said unreasonably, "I'm just displeased today! I'm just unconvinced! This anger in my chest is making me restless!"
"You want to fight?" Zhou Fugui glanced coldly at Xue Wentai after hearing this. He took the Moon-Chasing Bow from his back, gently caressed it, and said faintly, "Those who have fought me are mostly dead, if not a thousand, then hundreds. Most of them died by this bow and arrows."
"Good you pretty boy, you want to use a bow and arrow? Try shooting one! If I flinch, I'm no true man of Guanzhong!" Xue Wentai, though still defiant, was startled. With a "whoosh," he leaped back several steps, drew a large ringed saber, and stared intently at Zhou Fugui's bow and arrows.
The title "Da Yan's Yang Youji" was not given in vain. Zhou Fugui had once shot and killed Da Yan's foremost archer, General Zuo Wei, Pu Yijian, in the training grounds, and had already become renowned throughout the land.
To face such an opponent, one could either block their arrowheads and counter-attack, and it seemed difficult to block Zhou Fugui's divine arrows. The other option was to charge forward and engage Zhou Fugui in close combat, which would be the path to victory and the best strategy. Therefore, Xue Wentai intended to rush forward and engage Zhou Fugui in close combat.
However, this fellow had over two hundred Xianbei lives on his hands, so he wasn't easy to deal with. Thus, Xue Wentai hesitated.
Before leading his men to provoke them, Xue Wentai was filled with resentment that he couldn't quell. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but feel regret and a sense of hastiness.
Xue Wentai retreated several steps, ready to fight, but his hesitant demeanor made his aura falter.
"Haha!" Seeing this, Zhou Fugui tossed the Moon-Chasing Bow to Yang Xinhong and laughed heartily, "This General only shoots at enemies, never at his own brothers."
Zhou Fugui glanced at Xue Wentai and said, "Nor do I shoot at reckless monks who don't know their place..."
Why would Zhou Fugui use arrows against a reckless person with whom he had no enmity? Shoot him dead? That wasn't Zhou Fugui's way.
"Haha, reckless monk, hurry up and scram with your tail between your legs! Our battalion commander has spared your life!"
"The battalion commander is right, a reckless monk who doesn't know his limits, who doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, dares to confront our battalion commander?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Fugui's fellow villagers burst into a round of mockery.
"Did you say that?" Xue Wentai was overjoyed. Ignoring the taunts of Zhou Fugui's villagers, he tossed aside his large ringed saber and pointed at Zhou Fugui, saying, "I am from Guanzhong. I keep my word. My promise is as heavy as a tripod. You are not allowed to go back on your word!"
Xue Wentai's large ringed saber was quite heavy. After he threw it, the two of them had to catch it together.
"A gentleman's word is like a chariot with four horses, impossible to recall!" Zhou Fugui responded, "Tell me what you want, set the terms!"
"Good!" Xue Wentai pointed at Zhou Fugui and said, "Today, I will compete with you in fists and kicks. If you win, I will obey your every command from now on. If you lose, you must bring wine and meat to treat me and my brothers to a hearty meal, and then this matter will be settled!"
Xue Wentai's mind was still preoccupied with wine and meat.
"You are a monk, why are you always talking about wine and meat? Aren't you afraid the Buddha will blame you?" Zhou Fugui said with a laugh.
"Wine and meat in the belly, Buddha in the heart!" Xue Wentai replied, "Besides, I can still renounce my monkhood. Don't talk so much, pretty boy, be careful!"
With that, Xue Wentai let out a great roar, and his strong body leaped high into the air, reaching a height of five feet. He raised his left arm and bent his right, his fist the size of a alms bowl smashing towards Zhou Fugui's head.
As Xue Wentai flew through the air, he resembled a great bird, but even a great bird couldn't describe him. As he swung his fist with might, the wind whistled, like a B-2 bomber in a dive, or a fierce tiger descending a mountain, or a dragon emerging from the sea. The momentum was truly formidable and astonishing.
If this punch landed, it could smash Zhou Fugui's skull into his abdomen or directly sever his head from his neck. Zhou Fugui was startled by this and took two steps back, then executed a "sweeping leg" technique.
What Zhou Fugui swept was not a person, but the accumulated snow on the ground.
The snow kicked up reached a height of six feet, higher than Xue Wentai's leap. A misty haze instantly obscured Xue Wentai's vision, causing him to lose his target. Xue Wentai's punch missed, his alms-bowl-sized fist narrowly brushing past Zhou Fugui.
"Well done, pretty boy!" Xue Wentai roared after his punch missed. He spread his arms wide and then pulled them in, intending to embrace Zhou Fugui and perform a "Guanzhong Pounce."
Zhou Fugui was also strong, but compared to Xue Wentai, he was vastly inferior. Therefore, Xue Wentai's best method to deal with Zhou Fugui was to embrace him and then throw him. With Xue Wentai's physique, Zhou Fugui would surely be no match and would be crushed into a meat patty.
Xue Wentai was a renowned "Pounce Man" within a hundred-mile radius of Guanzhong.
How could Zhou Fugui fall into his trap?
Zhou Fugui dodged Xue Wentai's pounce, extended his right hand to grip him below the groin, and used his shoulder to press against Xue Wentai's back, attempting an overhead throw. However...
However, because Xue Wentai was too heavy, and Zhou Fugui seemed slender in comparison, the overhead throw was only half-executed before the two of them crashed heavily onto the ground with a "bang" and rolled into a heap.
Zhou Fugui's right hand changed from gripping to pressing, with his elbow firmly pressing against Xue Wentai's throat. His large head and neck were pinned under Zhou Fugui's elbow, while his left hand was tightly hooked around his right, preventing Xue Wentai from breaking free.
With his neck pinned by Zhou Fugui, Xue Wentai felt his breath become labored. He struggled desperately, pushing Zhou Fugui's head with his right hand and wrapping his left arm around Zhou Fugui's waist.
The two of them grappled, fighting to a stalemate, though the posture was extremely unseemly.
"Stop fighting, stop fighting, Fugui, something's happened!" Just then, Yi Ji was panting as he ran over and said.