There was once a peculiar wandering hero in Liangzhou. He would drop out of nowhere, right a wrong in a flash,…
There was once a peculiar wandering hero in Liangzhou. He would drop out of nowhere, right a wrong in a flash, then disappear without leaving a single word.
Other heroes cut a dashing figure. This one looked more like a thief: a veil over his face, scrambling over rooftops in a fluster, never once carrying himself like a proper hero. Strange as he was, he did plenty of good.
At a grand banquet, a girl with a willowy waist was kept in an iron cage for the guests' amusement. The masked hero swept in, shouldered the cage, sprang up to the eaves, and vanished into a puff of smoke right before everyone's eyes.
Another time, conjoined sisters who lived in a great earthen jar were trapped in a fire. Just as the flames were about to swallow them, the hero appeared from nowhere, crashed through a fallen beam, shielded the jar with his own body, and brought them out alive.
And when two orphan performers were cornered by cruel brats in the street, he changed into a bizarre outfit and played at being a yaksha or rakshasa, scaring the brats off for good.
"Tsk. Now that's a real hero. That lightness skill is something else. I'm jealous."
"He is a bit odd, but he's kind, and he never asks for anything in return."
"He's got magic, I swear. Smoke in, smoke out, like a living immortal."
That was how the tale spread through the streets. The more mysterious he seemed, the wilder the guesses became. Living immortal, strange hero, Fat Maitreya, the names just kept piling up.
Inside the Pocketrupt's big tent, Gold Bell and Silver Bell clapped along and sang the rhyme they'd heard in town that day.
"Robes billowing, veil thin as mist,
Down from the heavens like a falling cliff.
Comes and goes and leaves no trace,
A dragon glimpsed, then gone without a face."
Zhuge Ha laughed and slid a bowl of wine toward Qing Qingqing. "Hey! Our Fat Immortal, our Fat Hero. Have a drink."
Madam Weng and Xiaoman joined in too, and for a moment all eyes were on Qing Qingqing.
Qing Qingqing waved his hands quickly and ducked his head, cheeks burning red. "Ah... p-please don't tease me... alright?"
"And next time... next time, don't talk me into it again."