Martial King's Retired Life

Book 16: Chapter 14

As unnerving as it was to hear that, I did my best to reassure myself. When it came down to it, Shifu was a revered… Yeah, I gave up trying. Nonetheless, he could not have been so desperate. He probably never was that desperate in the past… And still was not…

The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that I was just deluding myself.

“Uh, so, what’s so weird about a womaniser?”

Luo Siming seemed to think that me thinking a womaniser was nothing out of the ordinary was what was out of the ordinary.

Come on now. There’s nothing weird about there being a womaniser in the pugilistic world, is there?! Just how sheltered were you growing up?!

“Unlike other locations, Wutong Jin Yuxuan guards the surface of Hangzhou, while Night Fortress manages the underworld. The womaniser in question has violated more than thirty women since arriving in Hangzhou, which is practically an outright challenge to the two factions’ authorities – if not also a challenge directed at the heroes of Hangzhou.”

“Over thirty women? What has he done?”

Shifu would not stoop so low. Or rather, he would indulge in such scummy ways with unmatchable grace. Rape was going too low even for his standards.

“Do you have any guesses?”

Recalling all the love between Shifu and I, I replied, “Stuck the stick in before sticking the knife in?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, nothing. I’m all ears.”

Wearing a look of confusion, Luo Siming replied, “What is perplexing is that, despite having committed in excess of thirty travesties and being wanted by the local magistrate, he remains elusive. It is not his crimes that have made him notorious but the fact that he targets only daughters or wives from influential families or reputable folks. It is said that he did not actually defile them but merely conversed with them. Howbeit, due to them always being private meetings – particularly the fact that they were in their room and in the middle of the night.”

Luo Siming’s cheeks turned redder and redder as he spoke, seemingly unaccustomed to talking about the topic. He continued, “The people who have incessantly reported him and insisted on his arrest have all been those ladies’ family members or brothel owners. In contrast, the ladies in question have never spoken ill of him once. It is as if they were willing parties.”

“Willing parties?”

“Yes.”

Why… does this sound so familiar?

Smiling, Luo Siming elaborated, “He is depicted as an unimaginably suave and handsome man. In spite of his deeds, every one of his victims wishes to be his woman.”

Unimaginably suave… Handsome… These two adjectives are familiar, too.

“The reason his infamy has continued to grow is due to his martial prowess. As he has proven that he can go to and from the victims’ rooms as he pleases, which has left the residents of Hangzhou fearing for their lives. Wealthy families have hired elites from the martial world to bodyguard their families, yet nobody has been able to spot him, let alone stop him. Nobody notices anything suspicious at night, yet he will step out from the ladies’ rooms during the day without any regards for anybody. Seven days ago, he went and kidnapped the beloved daughter of a warrior famous for his qinggong. What do you think he did to the warrior’s only daughter?”

“Stuck the stick in before sticking the knife in?”

“No. He invited her to go on a swing and then escorted her home. Her family’s warriors rushed out, only to see her standing there in a daze.”

I feel like I’ve heard this development somewhere before.

“There is one particularly peculiar account. He has remained elusive owing to his qinggong on all occasions except one, which was when he encountered Miss Lian from Wutong Jin Yuxuan. He…”

“Stuck the st-”

“No! Surprisingly, he tucked tail instead of fighting her. Considering Miss Lian’s beauty, she should have been his cup of tea, yet he avoided her as if she was a plague. This one cannot fathom what he was thinking. It was if he ran into, uh…”

“Debt collector?”

“Yes! That is the most accurate description. It is almost as though you witnessed the encounter yourself.”

Heh, even if I didn’t witness it with my own eyes, I couldn’t be that far off.

“To sum up: the womaniser is handsome, is nice to women, the ideal lover, can make girls fall heads over heels for him at first glance and is incredible with qinggong, but he fears Wutong Jin Yuxuan as much as he’d fear his debt collectors, correct?”

“Besides the last part, which is your own addition, that is all precise,” answered Luo Siming.

That’s Shifu in a nutshell! Why the heck does this geezer go back to his old ways as soon as he’s in Hangzhou again?! Even if you must go back to your old ways, why right under the watch of Matriarch Zi?! Do you want all of her disciples to spit in our faces whenever they see us?!

“Has he done anything else?”

“Not anything that would be classified as criminal besides occasionally peeping on women bathing.”

“Peeping on women bathing?!”

Does this man not care for his disciples’ reputations at all?! I thought I was shameless, but I can’t hold a candle to you, Shifu!

“Considering how interested you sound, do you want to bring him in?” asked Luo Siming.

“Yes! As soon as possible! The pest of society should be imprisoned for a millennium! No, imprison him until he loses his manhood!”

“Your sense of justice is unmatched.”

Luo Siming looked eager to learn from me, apparently inadequate due to my “strong sense of justice”. Could you blame him? To him, the scum in question was just a scumbag who brought harm to society and the reputation of women. To me, it was a tarnished reputation that I could never erase. Most importantly, I was the one who had to clean up after my shifu! If my shiniangs were to come around and skin him, my funeral costume would be dyed red.

“In fifteen minutes, I want all of his information in front of me.”

Wawa popped her head out. “You want what?”

“The womaniser’s profile.”

“Eeeww.”

And you wouldn’t look into them if it was your shifu who was the suspect?!

So, my biggest gain for the day was gaining a thick stack of paper detailing the womaniser called “Hua Yumeng, the Womaniser”.

Glossary

Hua Yumeng – Pronounced “Hwa Yoomerng”. Compare to Ming Huayu.

Liked it? Take a second to support Wu Jizun on Patreon!

• Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Martial King’s Retired Life (Manhua) – 99March 13, 2020In "Martial King's Retired Life"

Martial King’s Retired Life (Manhua) – 83November 29, 2019In "Martial King's Retired Life"

Martial King’s Retired Life (Manhua) – 002December 28, 2018In "Martial King's Retired Life"