Raise Your Ass Higher

"Damn, couldn't they keep it down while they were at it?"

Xing San muttered as he headed toward the latrine in the corner. He did not go inside, but simply undid his belt by the wall beside it and began to piss.

Whoosh!

Xing San felt a sudden heat in his chest. He instinctively looked down, only to see an arrow shaft gleaming with cold light protruding from his chest.

Agonizing pain crashed over him. Terror filled Xing San's face as he opened his mouth to scream, but his life drained away too quickly to give him the chance. He hit the ground with a thud and never moved again.

In the darkness, Zhong Lin leaped down from the wall. Expressionless, he walked to Xing San's corpse, reached out to feel beneath his nose, then pulled out the arrow. Blood burst from the wound like scattering snowflakes.

Without lingering, Zhong Lin cautiously made his way toward the main house.

Before he even approached, he heard the heavy panting of a man and woman from the bedroom through the window. Having been through it himself, Zhong Lin naturally knew what they were doing, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He stepped into the main room. The smell of wine and meat still hung over the table.

Zhong Lin pulled over a chair and sat down brazenly, his eyes fixed tightly on the bedroom door.

From the moment Qin Yong and Xing San had snatched his silver that evening, Zhong Lin had sentenced them to death. After dinner, he had come here beneath the cover of night.

Before even half a cup of tea had passed, the bedroom door opened amid the woman's curses and Second Master Qin's repeated cries of, "I'm too tired today."

The first thing Qin Yong saw upon opening the door was Zhong Lin. He froze, then his expression changed drastically.

Whoosh!

Zhong Lin drew his bow and loosed an arrow. With a piercing whistle, it struck Qin Yong squarely in the face, passing through his skull from the eye socket.

Qin Yong did not even have time to let out a groan before he toppled stiffly to the floor.

"Ah..."

A scream rang out, but it lasted less than a breath before the icy blade before her eyes frightened it back down her throat.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"Elder Sister-in-law," who had emerged from the bedroom, trembled all over at the sight before her. The cold hunting knife pressed to her throat raised goosebumps across her fair skin.

She had only just climbed out of bed and had not had time to put on her outer garments. Wearing only a pink bandeau, "Elder Sister-in-law" trembled so violently that it slipped halfway down, revealing a swath of snowy white flesh.

"Shh! Don't scream. I may not kill women, but if you alarm the neighbors, I'll have no choice but to be ruthless. Isn't that right, Elder Sister-in-law?" Zhong Lin said coldly.

"Mhm, mhm, I won't scream, I won't! Hero, spare me. I don't know anything. Qin Yong snatched me away too. He abused me night after night. I hated him so much I wanted to hack him into eight pieces."

"Elder Sister-in-law" shook from head to toe, her voice trembling like the fletching of an arrow quivering after it had sunk into a tree trunk.

"Really? Then Qin Yong deserved to die even more. Elder Sister-in-law, you've lived here so long—you should know where Qin Yong hid his silver, right? Don't tell me you don't know!"

"I know, I know. I'll get it for you right away."

Suppressing her fear, "Elder Sister-in-law" returned to the bedroom and rummaged through chests and cabinets. Zhong Lin followed close behind her, not daring to let her leave his sight for even a step.

A moment later, she pulled a money pouch from a camphorwood cabinet. It was bulging full. From its weight and the clinking of silver inside, it was clearly far more than the dozen or so taels Zhong Lin had lost that evening.

"Is that all?"

"Hero, that's all. I wouldn't dare hide any for myself. Qin Yong had a pack of fair-weather friends who were always eating and drinking here. I secretly saved up even this much."

Zhong Lin nodded. Suddenly, a lecherous look appeared on his face. With his left hand, he tore away the half-exposed bandeau over "Elder Sister-in-law's" chest and grabbed her directly.

"Elder Sister-in-law" felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her heart. She was not afraid that he was lustful—only that he was cold as iron and stone.

"Elder Sister-in-law, isn't it a little hard to justify finding only this much silver in the middle of the night?"

Zhong Lin's hand tightened, his meaning clear.

"Elder Sister-in-law" thrust out her chest and adjusted her position so Zhong Lin could get a better grip, a seductive smile appearing on her face.

"Of course it isn't enough. Hero, you killed Qin Yong, that damned bastard. I would be willing to serve as an ox or horse to repay your kindness. The night is still young. I only ask that Hero be gentle with me."

"Come. Bend over the table and raise your ass higher."

"Elder Sister-in-law" did not dare delay. She merely took it for one of Zhong Lin's peculiar tastes. Not only did she raise her ass high, she also knowingly lifted her skirt to her waist.

Slice—

With a soft sound, the sharp hunting knife slit across "Elder Sister-in-law's" throat. Blood instantly gushed forth, and after several breaths, she lay sprawled over the table without moving.

There was no lust in Zhong Lin's eyes now. They were filled with nothing but icy coldness.

He pulled the arrow from Qin Yong's eye socket, found a rag, and wiped clean the blood from both the arrow and the hunting knife. Without looking back, he climbed over the wall and vanished into the darkness.

In the darkness, Zhong Lin constantly changed directions and took detours. The city was not suitable for setting fires, so all he could do was confuse any trail and keep others from finding him.

All at once, a heavy raindrop struck him. Zhong Lin stopped and looked up at the sky. Then dense rain abruptly poured down.

"It's raining. Perfect."

A smile appeared on Zhong Lin's face. He stopped taking detours and ran straight home.

Rain was good! The rain would wash every trace away clean.

When he returned home, he did not knock either, instead climbing over the wall again, afraid that knocking would wake the neighboring households on either side.

No lamp was lit inside. Zhong Lin assumed Little Shi had fallen asleep, but when he pushed open the door, he found Little Shi sitting in the corner of the bed.

"Second Brother."

His voice brimmed with joy—the joy that came after fear and worry had vanished.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

"I was waiting for Second Brother."

Little Shi nimbly climbed down from the bed, took the longbow and quiver from Zhong Lin's hands, and skillfully hung them on the wall behind the door.

"Second Brother, did you finish what you had to do?"

"I did. It went smoothly. Tomorrow, we'll go to Teacher Liu's place to learn to read and write. Are you happy?" Zhong Lin asked with a smile.

"Happy."

Little Shi nodded hard.

"Haha, in a few days, you might not be so happy. Go to sleep!"

"Mm."

Before long, the little fellow fell asleep. Only then did Zhong Lin take out the money pouch and pour all of it onto the table.

"Forty-eight taels of silver. Apart from my eighteen taels, there are thirty extra. Thirty taels of silver for three lives... this world really is dark," Zhong Lin thought with a sigh.

Zhong Lin had no excess emotion, much less any regret over killing. From the moment he awoke to find his family home devoured by others after their deaths, he had understood: in this world where the weak were meat and the strong ate, if he wanted to live well, he had to be fiercer than the wicked. Otherwise, one day, he would be eaten until not even dregs remained.