"People from the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall?"
Lai Qing pinched his voice high and dragged out the words, deliberately edging closer to Wang Xiaofei.
He hunched his shoulders exaggeratedly, one hand patting his chest. His face twisted into a look of fear, though his voice was full of mockery:
"I'm so scared."
He pretended to tremble all over, then abruptly dropped the act, a mocking grin spreading across his face:
"But you're not one of them!"
"Hahahaha!"
Lai Qing clutched his stomach and roared with laughter, his voice as harsh as a broken gong.
The lackeys beside him immediately joined in, tittering and cackling.
"Look at him, putting on airs like some big shot."
"At the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall, tuition's due every six months. I bet they've already kicked you out."
"..."
After laughing for a while, Lai Qing stopped. The mockery vanished from his face, replaced by a sinister scowl.
He stepped forward and stared at Wang Xiaofei:
"You haven't paid a single copper of Blessing Fee in six whole months.
"Today, in front of all these brothers, tell me.
"How are we going to settle this debt?"
As Lai Qing spoke, his eyes slid to the side, past Wang Xiaofei's shoulder, and fixed themselves on Wang Xiaohua.
His gaze was greedy and lecherous. He even stuck out his tongue and licked his lips:
"If you can't come up with the money...
"Then your sister can pay off the debt. That'll fill the hole from these past six months!"
Wang Xiaohua had spent her days in the wind and sun, and her skin wasn't in the best condition.
But Lai Qing had pulled this kind of thing often enough to develop a keen eye.
The girl had a good foundation. With a little time to fatten her up, she could fetch a decent price.
Wang Xiaofei would never let his sister fall into the hands of these people:
"Was it me who didn't pay?
"You're the ones who never came to collect."
At that, Lai Qing paused.
It was true.
Ever since he'd learned that Wang Xiaofei had joined the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall, he hadn't sent anyone to collect the Blessing Fee.
He'd been afraid of offending the Martial Hall and bringing trouble down on himself.
Over the past six months, he'd forgotten all about it.
"Ahem. Then pay it now.
"That'll be ten taels of silver in total."
"Ten taels?"
Wang Xiaofei couldn't help raising his voice. Lai Qing was obviously trying to extort him and his sister.
The fee had always been two hundred copper coins a month, even after it had been raised to five hundred.
That still came to only three taels of silver.
And now the man was demanding more than three times that amount!
Wang Xiaofei's chest heaved violently, and his breathing grew heavy.
Lai Qing grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth. His smile grew even more brazen:
"What else?"
"You haven't paid for half a year. Add interest on interest, and of course it's grown to ten taels."
Lai Qing's rough palm patted Wang Xiaofei's cheek. The touch wasn't hard, but it was brimming with humiliation.
His words were full of menace:
"Just answer me: can you pay these ten taels or not?
"If you can't, then let your sister come with me, and we'll call the debt settled!"
They held the knife; he was the meat on the chopping block.
Wang Xiaofei clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, but he hadn't managed to open the channels for qi and blood on the surface of his body and enter the Body Tempering Realm.
He was no match for these gang members.
What was more, Lai Qing might not have reached the Body Tempering Realm, but he'd trained at a Martial Hall in his younger days and learned a few moves. With his build on top of that, he could take on any ordinary man.
"I'll go with you, but you can't hurt my brother."
A voice softly broke the tension.
Wang Xiaofei turned to look at his sister.
She was his twin, born into this world just a step before him.
After their parents died, she'd resolutely shouldered the burden of the family.
She caught fish every day to keep them alive.
When he'd said he wanted to learn martial arts, she'd handed over every last bit of their savings without hesitation.
And yet...
He was such a useless fool.
He'd wasted such a good opportunity and still failed to learn a thing.
Now his sister had to sell herself just to get them through this crisis.
No.
No!
He could never let that happen.
Wang Xiaofei felt as if a boulder were pressing down on his chest. His breathing turned ragged:
"Fine! Ten taels, then.
"Take my family's fishing boat!"
"Xiaofei, no!"
Wang Xiaohua lunged forward and grabbed Wang Xiaofei's arm with both hands. Tears streamed down her face like beads spilling from a broken string.
Her voice trembled uncontrollably:
"Without it, we can't fish. We won't even earn enough to buy rice bran. How are you supposed to live after that?"
Wang Xiaohua clung to her brother's arm, her eyes full of pleading and despair.
She would rather go with Lai Qing than see her brother lose his livelihood.
A fishing boat?
Lai Qing bared his yellow teeth, his voice full of disdain:
"That busted boat of yours isn't even worth chopping up for firewood. It'd cost money just to patch it up. It's worth two taels at most, and you think you can trade it for ten?"
The fishing boat could probably have fetched a little money, but Lai Qing wanted Wang Xiaohua more:
"Kid, don't try that crap with me.
"Either you hand over ten taels in silver, or your sister comes with me.
"I don't want that busted boat, and I couldn't care less about it."
Wang Xiaofei's face flushed red with rage. He roared:
"You're doing this on purpose!
"How is that boat not worth ten taels?
"You just want to steal my sister!"
"So what if I do?"
Lai Qing grinned even more arrogantly:
"I want your sister and your boat."
Since things had already come to this, Lai Qing couldn't be bothered to keep up the act. He said exactly what he wanted.
Lai Qing's words struck Wang Xiaofei like a thunderbolt, leaving his ears ringing and his mind roaring.
The siblings had always depended on each other. If he couldn't even protect his sister...
What was the point of staying alive?
"I'll kill you!"
Wang Xiaofei roared and twisted around, swinging a punch.
His muscles tensed like a bowstring drawn to its limit, all his strength pouring into his fist.
His fist sliced through the air with a whoosh, shooting straight toward Lai Qing's snarling face.
Even if he died today, he'd bite a chunk out of that dog's face!
Lai Qing really did have some skill. When he saw Wang Xiaofei swing at him, he actually managed to react.
He raised his wrist and shielded his head with his left arm.
At the same time, he stomped hard into the mud and used the recoil to lunge half a step forward. His fist, as big as a clay pot, barreled toward Wang Xiaofei's chest.
Thud.
Wang Xiaofei's fist slammed into Lai Qing's arm, while Lai Qing's fist crashed into his chest.
Wang Xiaofei grunted. It felt as if a boulder had ground across his chest. His qi and blood churned, and a thick, metallic sweetness surged into his throat. He spat out blood.
He staggered back several steps and crashed into Wang Xiaohua. The two of them fell to the ground together.
"Haha!"
"The boss is incredible!"
"Kid thought he could sneak up on the boss? Know your place!"
The lackeys around them paused in surprise, then burst out laughing and showered Lai Qing with praise.
"Xiaofei! Xiaofei!"
Wang Xiaohua's cries grew more and more anguished.
Just then.
One of the lackeys, grinning broadly, suddenly froze with his laughter still on his lips.
He pawed wildly at the air and staggered two steps. His chest lurched forward twice before he crashed heavily to the ground, never to laugh again.
The laughter and crying stopped at once.
The snarl on Lai Qing's face stiffened into a look of shock.
The other lackeys all turned toward the corpse and the arrow on the ground. A hiss of sharply drawn breath rose from their throats as one.
The air seemed to freeze.