A fine, drizzling rain fell, shrouding the world in mist.
Merchant ships came and went on the Da Long River in an endless stream.
A heroic young man and an effeminate-looking youth, traveling companions on an excursion, sat aboard a painted pleasure boat, chatting and admiring the scenery.
Though the realm was newly pacified, unrest still simmered everywhere. Banditry and civil strife were constant, to say nothing of the rebel armies from the former dynasty who roamed the mountain forests, occupying land and building stockades.
In the less than ten years since the Liyang dynasty had entered the Pass, one could say they spent every month suppressing bandits and every year quelling rebellions.
Without formidable skills, one would never dare to venture into the pugilistic world. Many greenhorns would dive in headfirst only to vanish without a trace, their fates unknown.
