Chapter 400: Hometown Sensation

A thief was caught red-handed and he was chased to a dead end. This wasn’t a rare scene, but Yan Liqiang didn’t expect to witness this upon his return to Pingxi City.

The wharf was extremely crowded. Many tried to stop the running thief when they heard the yell.

The folks in the northwestern region were all tough men. Many would still run up to the thief even if he was carrying a broadsword, let alone a tiny dagger. After all, how could they call themselves a man if they were afraid of a petty thief…?

“OUT OF THE WAY! MOVE! DON’T YOU DARE STOP ME…!” The thief waved his dagger while shouting furiously. He didn’t dare to run toward the crowded places, but he instead made a beeline in Yan Liqiang’s direction when he saw it was less crowded there.

“Watch out…!” Hu Haihe’s expression contorted as he drew out his saber — he was about to rush over to protect Yan Liqiang.

Yan Liqiang saw a pebble on the ground in front of him and smirked. With a kick, the pebble flew at the running thief and hit him squarely in the leg…

“OUCH…!” The running thief yelped and lost his balance. He tumbled and landed heavily on the ground like a pathetic dog. The dagger was knocked out of his hand and his front teeth were knocked out, leaving him with a bloody mouth.

“How dare you, thief…!” The burly man caught up with the thief from behind and seized him without even waiting for him to get up. His balled up his hand into a fist and he punched the thief until he was dizzy and begging for mercy.

Just when the burly man was beating up the thief, a young lady in a green dress ran over to him and said, “Big gentleman, my lady reminds you to not kill him. Just bring him to the authorities…”

“This thief must be blind for him to dare to steal from us…!” The burly man spat angrily, then landed another two punches on the thief. He only picked up the package that the thief had stolen after beating him until he could no longer get up again. The burly man dusted the package, then cupped his fist to Yan Liqiang. “Thank you for your help, Young Lord. Otherwise, the thief would have gotten away…”

“Think nothing of it!” Yan Liqiang smiled.

The burly man handed the package to the young lady in green, then picked the thief up from the ground and sent him away with a few others who came to help. When the young lady in green left, a pair of keen eyes were carefully observing Yan Liqiang, Hu Haihe, and Yu Qing.

“That thief is really blind to be rushing toward you, Young Lord…” Hu Haihe sheathed his saber back into the scabbard. “Had he come any closer, I would have slashed him…”

“That thief is probably a thug in Pingxi City. He shouldn’t be condemned to death over some petty crime of stealing. He only took out his dagger just now to scare people away. It’s enough to just take him down and send him to the authorities.”

“You’re right, Young Lord!”

The young lady in green took the package and returned to a black carriage which was parked nearby. She exchanged a few words with someone in the carriage through the window, then pointed in Yan Liqiang’s direction. The curtain was half-lifted by a slender hand. Half a graceful face peered out from behind and looked in Yan Liqiang’s direction.

It was the face of a breathtaking lady in her twenties, who looked like she had come out of a painting. Compared to other beautiful girls, she had fuller lips which made her stand out.

Yan Liqiang and the lady looked at each other across the distance. Both of them greeted each other with a slight nod before the lady let down the curtain and Yan Liqiang also looked away.

“Let’s go!” Yan Liqiang turned around and climbed onto Snowstorm Cloud. He took a deep breath and looked in the direction of Liuhe Town. “We should able to return home before dark!”

…

As expected, Yan Liqiang and his companions really made it back to Liuhe Town before sunset.

Riding along the familiar road of his hometown on his rhinodrake steed while looking at the sunset and smoke coming out from the chimneys in town, Yan Liqiang suddenly felt the nostalgia.

It had been about a year since he left Gan Province with Sun Bingchen, and so many things had happened during this one year. Although there weren’t too many violent storms, he nearly died a few times. He carried a spear, became an official, met the Emperor, fought with influential officials, walked his dog in Deer Villa, and killed people in the Imperial Capital. At this point in time, Yan Liqiang was no longer a greenhorn. His inexperience had been replaced by calmness and wisdom that didn’t fit his age.

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“Woof… Woof…!” Goldie jumped out from the carriage excitedly without Yan Liqiang’s instructions and ran toward the huge manor which the Yan Clan had recently built.

When Goldie ran out, an old man was pulling a buffalo back from the fields. A little child wearing only a thin layer of clothing was gnawing on a piece of fruit on the back of the buffalo. When the old man went past Yan Liqiang and caught a glimpse of him, he was shocked. He rubbed his eyes before crying out in surprise. “Well if it isn’t Yan Liqiang! Why are you back?”

“Ah, it’s been awhile, Old Master Li! I see that you are still very energetic!”

Yan Liqiang quickly dismounted when an acquaintance in town recognized him and greeted the old man with a smile.

“I heard from the others that you met the Emperor in the Imperial Capital. Not only that, but you are also a high-ranking official and you have become famous. Everyone in the Imperial Capital city knows about you and the people from Gan Province all talk about you after they return from the Imperial Capital. Is that true?” the old man asked enviously, looking at Yan Liqiang with his intense, burning gaze.

“Hahaha, they are flattering too much. I didn’t become some high-ranking official. As you can see, I have returned!” Yan Liqiang chuckled.

When Yan Liqiang was talking to the old man with his buffalo, Butcher Liu and his son were making their way back to town with a fat pig they had collected outside town in tow. When Butcher Liu saw Yan Liqiang, he immediately called out, “Ah, isn’t that Young Master Yan?”

Butcher Liu and his son quickly got off their carriage at the sight of Yan Liqiang. After a year of not seeing Butcher Liu’s son, he was looking more and more like Butcher Liu — an oily face and a shiny fat head. When Yan Liqiang’s glance swept over him, Butcher Liu’s son couldn’t help but tremble as he shakily greeted him.

In just the blink of an eye, two more people from the town saw Yan Liqiang and immediately gathered around him.

……

Before Yan Liqiang reached home, more than a hundred people had flocked to him. More and more people heard the news and came running to see him too. They were all looking at him as though they had never seen him before.

“Make way everyone, make way… Old Master Yan is here…!”

Unbeknownst to him, Yan Dechang had become Old Master Yan in Liuhe Town.

The crowd around Yan Liqiang only scattered and moved out of his way when someone shouted from the side. Yan Liqiang then saw Yan Dechang, Zhou Tiezhu, Zhou Hongda and a big group of people quickly coming over in his direction, with Goldie leading the way. Yan Dechang and the rest knew Goldie was the dog that Yan Liqiang kept and it had followed the latter to the Imperial Capital. Its return probably meant that Yan Liqiang had returned, so all of them came out in a hurry.

Yan Dechang seemed to have come out directly from the blacksmith workshop. There were soot and beads of sweat on his face, and the blacksmith apron still hung around his neck. He still looked the same after a year, except for the fact that his face was glowing and he seemed to be in better health.

The moment he saw Yan Liqiang, his eyes turned red even though he was smiling.

“Father, I’m back…!” Yan Liqiang nose was a little runny. Even so, he still squeezed a smile on his face.

“Good to see you back, good to see you back…” Yan Dechang drew a breath and didn’t let his tears fall. “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet!”

“Let’s go home for dinner then!”

“Great!”

The father and son met. They looked at each other and exchanged only a few words, yet the scene was overflowing with warmth!

By nighttime on the same day, news about Yan Liqiang’s return to Liuhe Town had spread far and wide, and all of Qinghe County caught wind of it.

Early the next morning, the Yan Residence was crowded by enthusiastic neighbors. Butcher Liu and his son once again brought another fat pig over. The other clans in Liuhe Town also tried to build a connection with the Yan Clan by graciously bringing gifts to visit Young Master Yan who had ‘made his glorious return’…