The Boy on the Bamboo Horse, the Green Plum Brewing Wine (15)

The Seven Old Monsters always go easy on Left Shore, and Left Shore in turn never goes all out on Beanie—at most, he just knocks him down so hard he can’t get up for half a day, but by the next morning Beanie’s back to his old self…

“Left Shore has been so gentle lately.” Beanie, clueless as ever, was immediately moved. “I knew Left Shore treats me best. From now on, we’re sworn brothers—whenever there’s good food, I’ll split half with you.”

Left Shore couldn’t even be bothered to spare Beanie a glance; Beanie’s words were not to be taken seriously at all.

Exactly, you absolutely shouldn’t listen to him. Beanie’s idea of ‘good brothers’ and ‘splitting the good food’ means that if Left Shore has something tasty, he’s supposed to give half to Beanie. As for Beanie’s own treats?

Sorry, those are Beanie’s!

In other words, being ‘good brothers’ means Beanie’s stuff stays Beanie’s, but half of Left Shore’s belongs to Beanie too.

Of course, brotherhood is brotherhood, but the fights still go on. Beanie’s lifelong goal is to defeat Left Shore—if he can’t, he’ll die with regrets. But…

That mission is no ordinary challenge. Every six months, Beanie throws down the gauntlet and challenges Left Shore—only to end up with a black eye and a swollen nose every single time.

Left Shore really is a good guy—a genuinely good guy. He never hits that hard; Beanie only ever gets superficial injuries, but Left Shore always aims for Beanie’s face.

Everyone says you shouldn’t hit someone in the face, but Beanie always ends up clutching his nose and eyes in pain—and never learns his lesson. Next time, he’ll still go charging at Left Shore, determined to walk this path of self-destruction to the bitter end.

Left Shore never says no to a free punching bag. Of course, even if he wanted to refuse, he couldn’t—after so many years with Beanie, Beanie knows him inside out, and when Left Shore sets his mind on something, no one can change it.

Left Shore beating up Beanie is just routine. No one in the Assassin Alliance even bats an eye anymore.

Every time Beanie gets thrashed, he howls, "Next time I’ll beat you for sure! I’m the real number-one expert!"

Beanie keeps shouting that—until Left Shore turns sixteen. His master decides Left Shore is ready and lets him start taking assassination contracts…

Left Shore is an assassin. Every skill he’s ever learned is for killing; once he’s mastered them, he puts them to use. He’s always known he doesn’t mind killing—as long as there’s silver in it.

But Left Shore isn’t some indiscriminate killer—he’s got standards. If the employer pays, he’ll do the job, and everyone’s satisfied.

If you pay for one life, he’ll never kill two.

For Left Shore, killing is just another job—like a farmer harvesting wheat. The first time he killed, he showed none of the reactions you’d expect from a rookie.

Fear?

Disgust?

Afraid of blood?

Want to throw up?

Nightmares?

Left Shore had none of that. He was as calm as if he’d just killed a rabbit. His master, trailing behind, was amazed and said more than once: Left Shore is a born killer.

No one doubted Left Shore’s skill. In the assassin trade, it’s all about reputation. After ten straight successful jobs, Left Shore became the industry’s rising star.

A rising star means real talent, and his price was cheaper than the old hands.

So more and more employers came to Left Shore for hits, and Left Shore accepted every job, one after another, never giving himself any time off.

At first, Master Graves would secretly protect him, afraid something might go wrong. But a year later, Master Graves left…

“Teach your disciple and you starve as a master. Left Shore’s a monster—he picked up the art of killing on his own. Everything I know, he knows, and what I don’t, he still knows. He doesn’t need anyone to teach him.”

Master Graves returned to the Assassin Alliance and let Left Shore make his own way.

Kids grow up—they have to face the world on their own. Well, except for Beanie. Beanie’s the kid who never grows up.

While Left Shore was out taking contracts, Beanie was training like mad at the Assassin Alliance. He waited for Left Shore to come back so he could challenge him and reclaim his title as the number-one expert. But…

One year passed—Left Shore didn’t come back.

Two years passed—Left Shore still didn’t come back.

On the third year, Left Shore finally returned. He radiated so much killing intent, he was fiercer than the Seven Old Monsters of the Assassin Alliance. Beanie stared at him, dumbstruck.

Holy crap, this isn’t even the same league—how am I supposed to fight that?!

For the first time, Beanie got smart. He didn’t challenge Left Shore—instead, he ran home to cry to his master.

“Master, I can’t go on, I just can’t! Let me die—I’m so useless, I’d be better off dead!” Beanie clung to the Old Monster’s waist, bawling and throwing a tantrum.

“Good Beanie, sweet Beanie, don’t cry now. Weren’t you destined to be a Great General? We don’t need to compete with Left Shore the assassin.” To comfort Beanie, the Old Monster even badmouthed Left Shore.

“Great General? When did I ever say I wanted to be a Great General?” Beanie instantly stopped crying and looked at his master in confusion.

He did want to be a Great General, but did he ever actually say so? Did he forget?

“When you were little, don’t you remember? At your zhuazhou ceremony, you grabbed a sword in your right hand and said you wanted to be a Great General.” The Old Monster could talk about Beanie’s childhood for three days and nights, and Beanie loved every minute—commenting as he listened, “I was just too cute.” “How can I be this adorable?” “I really am the Assassin Alliance’s mascot.” “I’m almost in love with myself.”

“You were amazing back then—grabbed a sword in your right hand, and your left hand grabbed…”

“What did my left hand grab?”

“You grabbed an erotic picture-book in your left hand.” The Old Monster laughed proudly.

Grabbing an erotic picture-book at your first-birthday ceremony—our Young Lord is definitely one of a kind.

Sweat… Of course, no one would dare compete with Beanie—after all, what kind of fool parents would even put an erotic picture-book in their kid’s birthday ceremony?

“A picture-book? Wow… Does that mean I’m destined to sleep with every courtesan queen in the Nine Provinces? Just thinking about it gets me a little excited.” Beanie’s eyes lit up.

At eighteen or nineteen, a guy’s hormones are raging—every morning he wakes up with a salute, sometimes spends quality time with Miss Five Fingers, and occasionally hides under the window to listen to the older disciples brag about visiting brothels and sleeping with beauties. Beanie’s been itching for ages…

He’s heard from the older disciples that the prettiest women in the brothels are the courtesan queens, so wherever he goes after leaving the compound, he plans to sleep with the local courtesan queen.

With a disciple as ridiculous as Beanie, it’s no surprise his master is totally shameless too. Not only did Beanie’s master not discourage this dream, he even encouraged him: “That’s great—if you can sleep with every courtesan queen in the Nine Provinces, you’ll definitely beat Left Shore.”

“Really? Master, you really mean it?” Beanie was so excited, his eyes sparkled like glowing gems.

Sweat… This kid’s totally obsessed—just to beat Left Shore, he’s ready to throw away all his dignity.

Beanie’s master was just joking, but when he saw how serious Beanie was, he nodded right away. “Would your master ever lie to you? Listen, Left Shore never visits brothels—if you really sleep with every courtesan queen in the Nine Provinces, you’ll definitely beat him.”

Assassins are under a lot of pressure—their whole lives spent in the shadows, killing for a living, it messes with their heads. Most killers vent by visiting courtesans, but Left Shore’s an exception. He feels zero guilt about killing and doesn’t need to blow off steam…

“Master, you’re the best! From now on, I’ll be a Great General and sleep with every courtesan queen in the Nine Provinces—Left Shore will die of jealousy.”

Just thinking about it gets me so excited!

He actually set out to beat Left Shore from his very first birthday—amazing, he really is a genius!