Who Dares Snatch My Woman?

"Is there any way, Brother Luohan?" Er Dan's Mother asked.

Luohan took two puffs from his pipe and said, "We supply liquor to the restaurants and hotels in town, and they usually settle up once a month. I remember we still haven't collected last month's payment. It should add up to something. If it isn't enough, we can borrow from the hotels and repay them with liquor later."

"Will that work?" Er Dan's Father asked.

"Whether it works or not, we have to try. Get some sleep. I'll go into town tomorrow," Luohan decided.

Early the next morning, while the sky was still barely light, Luohan brought two helpers into town. Shibali Slope Distillery supplied liquor to several restaurants and taverns in town. He went to them one by one and explained their current predicament. Thanks to old ties and a mix of collecting debts and borrowing, he finally scraped together two hundred silver dollars.

"Brother Luohan, are we going straight to Money Greed to give him the money?" Dazhuang asked.

Luohan shook his head. "No. If we go ourselves, we might not even get to see Money Greed. We need an intermediary. Boss Shi from True Fragrance Tower is a man of some standing in town. If Boss Shi steps in, it'll work better than us going ourselves."

Boss Shi was a shrewd man with a decent reputation. True Fragrance Tower had done business with Shibali Slope for years. When Luohan came pleading at his door, Boss Shi considered it and agreed. He took the two hundred silver dollars and entered the police station.

Just as the saying went, money could make gods and ghosts do one's bidding.

That very afternoon, Jiu'er walked out of the police station. Seeing Luohan and the others, she felt as though a lifetime had passed. That night had been truly agonizing.

"Brother Luohan, thank you so much. If not for you, I'm afraid I..." Jiu'er's eyes reddened, and she could not continue. She truly had no idea what would have happened next.

"Let's go home. We can talk there. In the future, common folk like us should stay away from places like this," Luohan said, glancing at the police station's signboard.

Everyone nodded.

Back at Shibali Slope Distillery, the helpers gathered in the room again that evening to discuss what lay ahead.

"Dazhuang, Er Zhuang, I say we should just leave. That Leper Asylum has always been cursed. Ever since we married that woman, trouble never stopped. Now the old proprietor is gone too. Let's get far away from here. There's nowhere we can't find a bite to eat," Da Leng said.

"Yeah, this is really damned strange," Er Zhuang said.

"Do you think the old proprietor can still come back?" Er Guzi asked.

"Come back my ass. He's probably been buried already. If someone gets buried in the Gauze Curtain, where are you supposed to find him?" Er Dan's Father said.

It grew late, and everyone made their decision.

The next day, the helpers packed their bundles and prepared to leave. Jiu'er came out into the courtyard, gritted her teeth, and said, "Can everyone stay?"

All eyes turned to Jiu'er.

"Our distillery can't break up. Brother Luohan, you've been here the longest, so I'll need your help handling things. I'm just a woman, and I'll have to rely on all of you. Once this distillery starts making money, everyone will get a share. I won't mistreat any of you."

Jiu'er looked at them all earnestly.

If these people left, the distillery would truly be finished. As a woman alone in such a remote place, she really would have no way to survive.

Some were moved by Jiu'er's sincere words.

"Then maybe we should stay."

"Stay."

After all, they were used to working here. Who knew whether they could find another job as good as this one? Life was hard. As long as they could survive, no one wanted to wander from place to place.

They cleaned the rooms and courtyard, burned everything Li Mafeng had used, whitewashed the buildings anew, and splashed sorghum liquor throughout Shibali Slope to completely erase the nightmare of leprosy from people's minds.

Just as everyone was discussing firing up the still again to brew fresh liquor, a group of men appeared on the slope above Shibali Slope. Looking down at the distillery below, the bald man leading them raised his gun and said, "Li Mafeng ran this distillery for so many years. He must've left some money behind. Today, he can give us a little relief."

The bandits burst into laughter and charged down with their guns raised.

After only two peaceful days, Jiu'er was abducted by bandits once again. A fate full of misfortune—that described Jiu'er perfectly at that moment.

Jiang Hao had no idea that Jiu'er had gone through so much in just a few days. After killing Li Mafeng, he had not returned to Gaomi County. Instead, he hid out in nearby Seven Star Town to lie low.

"It's been five days. It should be about time. I'll go check on Jiu'er," Jiang Hao thought.

Jiang Hao had taken several dozen silver dollars from Li Mafeng. Now that he had money, he changed into a new set of clothes and carried a shoulder bag filled with food and miscellaneous items. This time, he planned to check on things under the pretense of buying liquor.

The moment Jiang Hao entered the distillery, he sensed something was wrong. The helpers were all squatting by the wall with their heads lowered, while Brother Luohan sat on the millstone, puffing on his dry pipe.

"First the old proprietor died, then Jiu'er got arrested by the police. We got her out, and she had barely been safe for two days before Bald Sanpao came again. This really is... ah!"

"Bald Sanpao wants two thousand silver dollars. Where are we supposed to get two thousand silver dollars?"

"Brother Luohan, maybe we should break up after all. I don't think this distillery can keep going."

Everyone spoke at once, saying all sorts of things. Luohan smoked with a furrowed brow and said nothing.

The proprietress had been taken, and the bandits wanted two thousand silver dollars in ransom. That was an enormous sum. Even if the proprietor were still alive, he might not have been able to gather that much money.

Jiang Hao stepped forward. Someone recognized him as Yu Zhan'ao, the sedan chair bearer who had killed the robbers, and they all rose to greet him. "Isn't this Brother Zhan'ao? What brings you to the distillery?"

"I came to buy some liquor. What happened here?" Jiang Hao asked.

Everyone fell silent. Er Dan's Father said, "The proprietor's gone, and the proprietress was taken by bandits too. Ah."

Er Guzi was quick with his mouth and gave him a detailed account of everything that had happened recently. Jiang Hao had not expected so much to happen in only a few days. He knew there was a part in the original story where Jiu'er was taken by bandits, but the film had not explained exactly when it happened. He had not expected it to be these past few days.

Bald Sanpao, the bandit. Jiang Hao's gaze turned cold. Damn it, they dared snatch my woman.

"Do you know where the bandits are staying?" Jiang Hao asked.

Luohan looked at Jiang Hao and said, "The bandits said that once we gather the money, we should deliver it to East Slope Butcher Shop. We don't know anything else."

East Slope Butcher Shop.

Jiang Hao turned and left. Everyone assumed he was leaving because there would be no business, but they did not know he had returned to the Gauze Curtain, found the place where he had buried his guns, and dug both of them out.

The guns had been covered with sorghum leaves and were free of dirt. Jiang Hao inspected both guns inside and out. Once he was satisfied that there was no problem, he tucked the pistol into his waist, slung the long gun across his back, and strode toward East Slope.

Jiang Hao lay prone atop an earthen slope, looking down on the road below. It was the only road leading to East Slope Butcher Shop, about three or four li away. He had already surveyed the terrain. If Bald Sanpao and his bandits came, they would certainly pass through here.

All that remained was to wait.

Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.

The sound of galloping horses came from the distance. Jiang Hao's spirits lifted. This place was remote, and few people came through it. Lying atop the slope, he pulled the bolt and chambered a round, his eyes fixed on the distance.