My na is Sun Sheng.
In the Jianghu, they call "White Stripe in the Waves"—Zhang Shun.
This nickna has so history. I found it in my Foster father's study.
It appeared in a book called Water Margin.
The book described Zhang Shun as having skin as fair as snow, being an expert swimr, and able to stay subrged underwater for seven days and nights.
He was an incredible figure.
So, I borrowed his na to make my way in the Jianghu.
Originally, I was just the child of an ordinary fisherman in Jianning Prefecture.
The Jianghu had nothing to do with .
When I was five, my father went out to sea to fish but was swallowed by the waves when his boat overturned.
When I was ten, my mother died of illness.
Our relatives seized our ho and threw out onto the streets.
I had no choice.
I wandered the streets, doing odd jobs and errands for people.
And just like that, two years passed.
I worked as a waiter in an inn, tended vegetable gardens, washed clothes for others, and endured plenty of beatings.
Life was tough—I was constantly on the brink of starvation.
But I survived.
Because before my mother passed, she told : no matter what, I must live.
Even if I had to beg or sell myself, I had to live.
She didn’t want to follow her fate too soon.
She said our Sun family had been a single-child lineage for three generations. If I died early, she wouldn’t have the face to et my father and grandmother in the afterlife.
I didn’t want to disappoint my mother.
I had to live.
And I had to live with dignity.
I wanted her to know that I could live well.
But surviving wasn’t just sothing you could say and make happen.
When I turned twelve, I went to the docks to carry cargo.
The boatn refused because I was too young and told to go back where I ca from.
At that ti, I hadn’t eaten for two days. I was so weak that I could barely walk.
Just when I thought I was going to die, a middle-aged man with waves embroidered on his clothes walked over.
He picked up from the wet dock planks and had soone bring food.
That al kept alive.
Later, I learned that this man was from the Haijing Gang.
The Haijing Gang was a small coastal faction in Jian’ning Prefecture.
That dock happened to be under their control.
If not for that man, I would have starved to death.
Afterward, I wanted to join the Haijing Gang.
So, I acknowledged one of their mbers as my elder brother. I ran errands and did odd jobs for him for a month, hoping he could introduce into the gang.
But the Haijing Gang had no interest in taking in a scrawny twelve-year-old kid.
At that ti, their leader, Qiong Longshan, had just defeated all the rival gangs along the coast and beca the dominant force in Jianning Prefecture.
With their reputation soaring, they had even less reason to accept a powerless child like .
So, I stopped running errands for that gang mber and returned to the streets.
I took on whatever work I could find, just to get a al.
I don’t know how long it went on like that.
I had thought my life would continue like this forever.
But then ca a turning point.
A day I would never forget.
That day, I found a ho.
By then, I had wandered far from Jianning Prefecture.
I was starving—hadn’t eaten for a whole day.
The last thing I had was a sweet potato, stolen from a field.
For that, I got two hard whacks from the old farr.
It hurt, but at least I wasn’t dead yet.
As I walked past a river, I saw several large carp swimming in the water.
If my father hadn’t drowned when I was five, I could have easily caught one.
But life didn’t give second chances.
I refused to starve to death.
Of all the ways to die, starving was the most disgraceful. If I t my mother in the afterlife, she would be heartbroken.
I would rather drown than starve.
So, I jumped into the river.
Since my father died, I had never gone near the water.
Not even a river.
My mother was terrified of water.
She was afraid I would et the sa fate as my father.
But I had no choice. I had to catch a fish to survive.
I vaguely rembered the swimming techniques my father had taught .
Before long, I was paddling through the river.
I was clumsy and slow, but I could move.
The fish weren’t far away—I swam towards them, reaching out to grab one.
I failed.
Fish swim much faster than humans.
I spent what little energy I had flailing in the water, but I still couldn’t catch a single fish.
I was unwilling to give up.
I was a fisherman’s son. How could I not catch a fish?
I clung to a floating log, trying to rest.
I didn’t expect it to carry further from the shore.
That was the first ti I truly felt despair.
I was going to die.
But my mother’s last words echoed in my mind.
I couldn’t die yet.
I held onto that log with all my strength, drifting down the river.
At so point, a carp sohow wriggled into my shirt—lucky, I suppose.
I knew that as long as I reached the shore, I could survive.
I wouldn’t have to die.
But the log carried along, drifting endlessly.
I had no idea where I was heading.
Luckily, it wasn’t long before I spotted a child standing on the riverbank.
He looked about my age, maybe a bit taller.
His face was honest, simple—trustworthy.
I cried out for help.
The child saw and pulled onto the shore.
If it weren’t for him, I would’ve been dead.
I owed him my life. I wanted to make him my sworn brother.
But later, I found out his na was Daming—and he was actually two years younger than .
Still, in this world, righteousness cos first.
If soone saves your life, you must repay the favor.
That was sothing I learned from surviving on the streets.
A person must have loyalty.
If you have no loyalty, even beggars will look down on you.
So I was determined—Daming would be my big brother.
A woodcutter overheard and said that if I really wanted to make Daming my sworn brother, I should follow him back.
I did as he said.
And then—sothing unexpected happened.
Daming lived in an orphanage.
He shared his ho with a man.
A man nad Chen Ye.
Chen Ye was an odd person.
He didn’t look very old—maybe around twenty.
After asking about my situation, he took in without hesitation.
He gave new clothes, cooked a hot al, and even let have the drumstick.
The last person to give a drumstick… was my father.
In that mont, I knew—
I had t a truly good person.
I wanted to call him ‘Dad’, just like Daming did.
But Daming had already taken that title.
So instead, I knelt on the ground and called him Foster father.
Foster father was a kind man.
He accepted .
That night, he gave a brand-new blanket and bedding.
After two years, I finally slept in a warm bed again.
That night—no sha in admitting it—
I cried the whole ti.
I buried my face in the blanket to muffle my sobs.
By the ti I fell asleep, the blanket was soaked.
I don’t rember exactly what ti I finally drifted off.
I only knew one thing—
From that day on, I had a ho.
I had a Foster father nad Chen Ye and a big brother nad Chen Daming.
…
I stayed.
I beca a new mber of the orphanage.
For the first few days, I looked for work every chance I got.
Washing clothes, folding blankets, calming Xiaofu, sweeping the yard…
As long as there was work to be done, I rushed to do it.
I had no special skills.
Foster father took in, so I wanted to repay him.
In this world, loyalty is everything.
Even a single drop of kindness must be repaid tenfold.
One day, by chance, I read Water Margin and learned about the outlaws of the greenwood.
They valued brotherhood above all else.
They robbed the rich to help the poor.
I admired them.
I wanted to be like them.
But—I didn’t want to rob the rich to help the poor.
I just wanted to find treasures and give them to Foster father.
To repay his kindness.
That was the happiest half-month of my life.
But then, one day—
I t a really annoying old beggar.
We got into a fight.
I beat him up badly.
But that shaless, cunning old bastard wasn’t done with yet.
Not long after, he ambushed at the riverbank.
But instead of seeking revenge—
He showed so Shaolin martial arts manual and said I had great potential to be his disciple.
Then, right in front of , he demonstrated a move.
I realized—I had t a true master.
And at the sa ti, I saw an opportunity to repay Foster father.
I tricked the old beggar into writing down the inner energy technique and took it back to Foster father.
After reading it, Foster father said—
“This is priceless.”
I was thrilled.
After all this ti of freeloading, I had finally proven my worth.
I could finally repay Foster father!
But—
Foster father did not accept it.
He said sothing to that I still rember to this day.
I knew—he didn’t like that I had tricked the old beggar.
He wanted to be a good person.
He told to respect the old beggar.
I didn’t understand, but I was willing to listen to Foster father.
Later, the old beggar told his na—Nan Yiyun.
One of the Five Grandmasters of the martial world.
Nan Yiyun said that if I trained diligently, with my talent, I could beco a grandmaster in under thirty years—
And bring glory to his Nanhai Sect.
But I didn’t care about bringing glory to the Nanhai Sect.
I just wanted to beco strong.
Strong enough to find treasures and beautiful won for Foster father.
And so, I trained for a year.
Every day, I went to the river—
Taking a deep breath, subrging myself, letting the current refine my inner energy.
I followed the path Nan Yiyun taught , controlling my energy flow.
Over ti, I discovered that I could hold my breath underwater for longer and longer.
Eventually, with a single breath, I could stay underwater for half a day.
When Nan Yiyun found out, he was ecstatic.
He said that once I fully mastered it, my inner energy would surpass all others.
That once I reached the grandmaster level, I would be the strongest among grandmasters.
I didn’t care about that.
I just wanted to beco strong and repay Foster father.
After a year, Nan Yiyun told that my inner energy had already reached Second Rank.
In that ti, he had also taught a palm technique and a movent technique: "Roaring Waves Palm" and "Floating on Water".
I wasn’t particularly good at either, but they were enough.
Last year—
Nan Yiyun said he wanted to travel the martial world with .
To harden my skills.
I asked for Foster father’s permission.
Foster father said, “Everyone has their own path. You must walk yours.”
But he hoped—I would be a good person.
That I would do what I truly wanted to do.
I rembered his words.
I would be a good person.
After leaving Yuhang, I arrived at a place not far away.
Lake Tai.
A place full of hidden waterways and bandit strongholds.
The lake bandits here robbed everyone, good or bad, dragging them into the waters and killing them for loot.
It reminded of Zhang Shun from Water Margin.
It reminded of Foster father’s words.
At that mont, a thought took root in my heart—
I wanted to stay.
I wanted to turn Lake Tai into another Liangshan.
A place where we only robbed the corrupt and wicked.
A place where the outlaws of the martial world would speak of us with reverence.
And not drag everyone—good or bad—into the water to beat them to death.
I remained at Lake Tai.
Nan Yiyun wanted to take along to spar with the various disciples of the different schools, to broaden my horizons.
I gave him a couple of kicks on the butt; he left behind five taels of silver as my seed money and slunk away.
Alone at Lake Tai, I began calling myself "White Stripe in the Waves"—Zhang Shun.
Then, my foster father sent over a letter via Sister Xiao Lian.
On it was written only one phrase:
Rob the rich to aid the poor.
One year.
I spent a whole year, with my second-rank strength, carving out a niche among the many water bandits, and gathering a group of loyal, dependable brothers.
Anyone who trespassed into my territory and turned out to be a villain exploiting the people—those who plundered the hard-earned wealth of the common folk—I made sure they beca one more of Lake Tai’s drowned souls.
The silver I collected was partly used for the brothers’ expenses and partly to help the impoverished.
I never forgot that single phrase my foster father had written.
This Chinese New Year...
Those few days were truly joyous.
Although my foster father gave a good thrashing—which hurt like hell—I knew it was for my own good.
I wanted nothing more than to stay.
But I had no choice; the brothers at Lake Tai were waiting for .
Back to Lake Tai once again.
During the days I was away, none of my brothers made a move.
They all understood my rules.
Tonight, under a full moon and with a gentle breeze,
I caught wind of so news from Tianji Tower.
A wealthy rchant from Suzhou, Zhou Tongfu, had hired so experts, apparently intent on causing trouble.
Fifteen minutes ago, they had sailed their boat into my territory.
Originally, I had planned to cripple their boat—sink it right then and there.
But then, I saw a woman dressed as a man.
A beautiful woman.
Even clad in a man’s attire, her beauty shone through.
She was bound with ropes, a cloth stuffed in her mouth—by the looks of it, she had been casually grabbed by those n along the way.
In that instant, my mind changed.
Such a beautiful woman… to kill her would be a waste.
Better to rescue her and present her to my foster father!
After all, my foster father was in need of a warm, bedside maid.
Even if…
Even if Sister Xiao Lian ends up killing , I’ll still offer her to my foster father!
My na is Sun Sheng.
Now, I begin to say…
Ahem, ahem—I’m about to start robbing!
Yuyu: Sun Sheng, it's like you don't like the land of the living…
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