Exhilaration

At lunchtime, Second Aunt heated up the buns Little Aunt's family had brought over, stir-fried two dishes, and boiled an egg.

The family sat around the table. Xiuer chattered nonstop while Xu Qing talked about the martial arts school: he had gotten started with stake training, his Five Elements Fist had reached minor mastery, and the school had added meat and medicinal soup to his meals...

"Meat every day? That's wonderful!" Second Aunt was both startled and delighted. Her chopsticks hung in midair for a long while without picking up any food, as she simply kept looking at Xu Qing.

Xu Erniu listened from the side, and the smile on his face gradually grew.

These past few days, lying in bed, what weighed on his mind most was Xu Qing's martial arts training. He had worried that he would not be able to afford extra meat for him, but now that he heard the martial arts school provided it, the stone pressing on his heart finally loosened a little.

"Good, good." Xu Erniu nodded repeatedly. His voice was still weak, but his tone had rarely sounded so light. "The martial arts school treats you well, so train properly. Don't let them down."

Xu Qing nodded. "Don't worry, Second Uncle. I know."

After the meal, Xiuer pestered Xu Qing to tell her more about the martial arts school, then insisted he demonstrate a few moves. Unable to refuse her, Xu Qing stood and threw a few punches.

The little girl's eyes shone as she watched. Clapping her hands, she cried, "Brother is amazing! Brother is a great hero!"

Xu Qing laughed at her antics and scratched her little nose. "Go play. Brother still has something to do."

Xiuer answered with an "Okay," then skipped away.

After Second Uncle finished eating, Second Aunt helped him back into the room to lie down.

Second Aunt moved a small stool into the yard and sat there, mending fishing nets with hemp rope and a shuttle in her hands.

Xu Qing brought over a stool and sat beside her. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Second Aunt, what exactly happened to Second Uncle?"

Second Aunt's hand jerked violently, and the shuttle nearly pierced her finger.

She paused for a long while before lowering her voice. "It was Liu San."

"The night you left, he brought people over to borrow silver. Your Second Uncle said we didn't have any, so he... kicked your Second Uncle once. They took the silver, and he was hurt too."

Her voice began to tremble. "That kick landed right on his chest. Your Second Uncle has been hurting ever since, tossing and turning at night, unable to sleep. I said we should get him some medicine, but he refused. He kept saying he'd recover with rest, that the silver had to be saved for you..."

Second Aunt's eyes reddened. Lowering her head, she wiped away tears with the back of her hand. "But it's already been seven days, and his chest is still black and blue... He gets out of breath even walking, and needs someone to help him into bed... He hasn't gone out on the boat for a full seven days..."

Xu Qing said nothing.

He sat motionless on the stool, like a block of wood.

But the fire in his heart blazed up again. It burned so fiercely that his heart pounded against his chest as though it would leap from his ribcage. It burned until his breathing tightened and he could barely catch his breath.

He drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

"Second Aunt, Second Uncle's injury can't be delayed." His voice was unnaturally calm. "I'll go get a doctor."

Second Aunt raised her head and opened her mouth. She wanted to say there was no money left at home. She wanted to say that his Second Uncle would not allow it. But when she met Xu Qing's eyes, those words all lodged in her throat. Not a single one came out.

Xu Qing brought a doctor back from town.

The old doctor's surname was Zhou. He was the only physician within more than ten miles of Blackwater Bay willing to treat the poor. With a grizzled beard and a medicine chest on his back, he rested his fingers on Xu Erniu's wrist and examined his pulse for quite a while, then lifted his clothes to inspect the bruising on his chest.

"His vital gate was injured." Doctor Zhou shook his head, his tone neither heavy nor light. "His qi and blood suddenly stagnated between the skin, flesh, and fascia. Stagnant qi causes pain, while congealed blood causes swelling. Fortunately, it is still within the meridians and has not entered the organs. If this drags on for a few more days, I fear it will leave a lasting ailment."

He wrote a prescription and gathered three days' worth of medicine. The consultation and medicine together came to one tael of silver.

When Xu Qing took out silver from his clothes to pay, Second Aunt's lips moved beside him, but in the end she did not stop him. She only turned away and quietly wiped her eyes with her apron.

Once the medicine had been brewed, Second Uncle drank it, and Second Aunt helped him back into the room to lie down.

Xu Qing stood in the yard, watching the sun gradually sink westward as he calculated in his heart.

He had originally planned to return to the martial arts school that very day, but now there was no rush.

In the past, whenever trouble came, he endured it because he had no ability, because his fists were not hard enough and his back could not straighten. He could only grind his teeth to pieces and swallow them into his belly.

When people stole his silver, he endured. When people beat him, he endured. When people trampled him beneath their feet, he still had to force a smile and endure. Because if he did not endure, he would suffer even greater losses, and his family would be dragged down with him.

But now, things were different.

He had trained in martial arts. His insight had improved, and he could see everything clearly. Liu San and his gang were nothing more than pretenders. They relied only on a streak of viciousness to scare people. If they truly fought, any fellow disciple at the martial arts school who had gotten started could knock them down.

The progress from his recent training surfaced in his mind—

[Five Elements Fist (Minor Mastery): 69/200]

[Three Talents Stake (Beginner): 30/100]

He had ability now.

He no longer needed to endure.

New grudges and old debts—it was time to settle them all together.

That night, Xu Qing did not return to the martial arts school.

He waited until Second Uncle and Second Aunt were deeply asleep, until Xiuer's even breathing drifted from the inner room, until only the wind and the occasional sound of water from the distant river bend remained inside and outside the yard. Only then did he rise soundlessly.

The moonlight was faint, mostly covered by clouds, leaving only a hazy trace of brightness on the ground.

Using that faint light, he felt his way to the storage room and found a fish-killing knife behind the door. The blade was not long, but it had been sharpened keenly. It had slaughtered hundreds, thousands of fish in Blackwater Bay, its edge gleaming coldly.

He tucked the knife at his waist, pushed open the courtyard gate, slipped outside, and gently pulled the gate shut behind him.

The night wind rushed toward him, carrying the fishy stench of river water and the chill of late autumn.

Xu Qing took a deep breath. The fire in his chest instead calmed, turning cold and heavy. It no longer burned or leapt. It was like iron tempered in fire—hard, solid, and weighty.

He hurried down the small road beside the dock, his steps as light as a cat's. Not even the gravel made a sound beneath his feet.

Liu San's den was at the eastern end of the dock. Xu Qing had long known that. Every time he passed that place before, he would lower his head and bend his back, not daring even to glance at it.

He easily circled around to the back of the house and crouched against the wall to listen for a while.

Snoring came from inside, rising and falling. One was heavy, like a bellows being pulled. One was thin and sharp, as if something were stuck in the sleeper's throat. The last came and went, pausing whenever its owner turned over before resuming again.

All three were inside.

Xu Qing went around to the front door and pushed it open—

The door opened.

The bolt had not been fastened. Blackskin had gone out to piss during the night and forgotten to bar it when he returned.

Xu Qing slipped inside and closed the door behind him.

The room was pitch-black. The stench of alcohol, sweat, and feet mixed together, enough to make one dizzy.

Xu Qing's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.

He saw a plank bed against the wall, with Liu San sprawled across it, snoring loud enough to shake the heavens.

Two ragged quilts had been spread on the floor, and two lackeys lay curled beneath them.

One had his head tilted to the side, mouth hanging half-open, a puddle of drool spilling out. The other was as black as a loach, curled into a ball with his blanket kicked aside, exposing two thin, dark legs.

Bamboo Pole and Blackskin.

Xu Qing slowly drew the fish-killing knife.

The blade flashed once in the darkness, then dimmed again. Like a fish turning over at the water's surface, silent and soundless.

He had thought it would take some effort. He would have to subdue this one first, then deal with that one. There would inevitably be a fight.

But when he truly stood before those three men, he suddenly felt—

It was too easy.

They slept like dead pigs, not even turning over once.

Xu Qing walked over to Bamboo Pole and looked down at that thin, wrinkled face.

This man had followed Liu San in bullying men and women alike. He had committed no shortage of evil deeds.

He deserved to die.

Xu Qing crouched down, covered Bamboo Pole's mouth with his left hand, and drove the knife into his heart with his right.

The sound of the blade entering flesh was dull, like piercing a layer of thick cloth.

Bamboo Pole's body stiffened violently. His eyes flew wide open, and a muffled "Huh" escaped his throat, completely blocked by Xu Qing's palm over his mouth.

He struggled twice, his hands and feet flailing a few times, then went still.

Blood surged from the wound, flowing down the hilt onto Xu Qing's hand, warm and sticky.

Xu Qing pulled out the knife, wiped it on Bamboo Pole's clothes, and stood.

Blackskin slept beside him, less than three feet from Bamboo Pole.

Bamboo Pole's brief struggle had knocked him awake.

Half-asleep, he rolled over and muttered, "Bamboo Pole... you fucking... why'd you kick me..."

Halfway through his words, he opened his eyes.

In the darkness, he saw a shadow crouching beside him, gripping something that gleamed.

"Who—"

Xu Qing did not wait for him to cry out. He drove the knife into his throat.

The strike was fast and precise, plunging straight into his windpipe.

Blackskin's voice was blocked in his throat, turning into a string of gurgling blood bubbles.

He clutched his neck with both hands, his body flopping a few times like a fish thrown onto shore. His legs kicked twice, then he went still.

Xu Qing pulled out the knife and stood.

Liu San was finally startled awake.

After all, he had practiced boxing for a few days, and his reaction was quicker than the other two. Hearing the commotion, he snapped his eyes open, rolled off the bed, staggered back two steps, and knocked over a stool in the corner.

"Who?! Who the fuck—"

His voice trembled with alarm and the confusion of just waking up.

His hands fumbled wildly along the wall, trying to find some kind of weapon.

Xu Qing did not answer. He merely pressed forward a step.

Liu San's eyes finally adapted to the darkness. By the faint light filtering in through the window, he saw the person before him clearly.

That young, sharply defined face. Those cold eyes without a trace of warmth.

"Xu... Xu Qing?!"

His voice cracked, as if he had seen a ghost.

"You... you've gone mad?!" He backed away until his back struck the wall, his voice shrill and hoarse. "I'm a man of the Leviathan Gang! If you dare touch me, the gang won't let you off! Your Second Uncle, your Second Aunt, that little sister of yours! None of them will get away!"

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.

He thought of Second Uncle's sallow face, of Second Aunt's reddened eyes, of Xiuer's tiny figure squatting by the doorway and drawing branches on the ground.

He did not give Liu San another chance to speak.

He stepped forward, grabbed Liu San by the collar with his left hand, and pinned him hard against the wall.

Liu San struggled desperately, kicking and striking wildly, but in Xu Qing's grip, he was like a chicken caught by the neck. He flailed a few times, but it was useless.

Xu Qing's hand was like an iron clamp around his throat, nailing him firmly to the wall.

Holding the knife in his right hand, Xu Qing stabbed it into Liu San's lower abdomen.

"Ugh—!"

Liu San's eyes bulged suddenly. His mouth opened wide as a muffled groan escaped him.

Blood poured from the wound, running down his trouser legs and dripping onto the floor.

Xu Qing pulled out the knife and stabbed him again.

This strike went into his chest. The blade scraped across his ribs with a crack, like snapping a dry branch.

Liu San's body convulsed violently. A rasping "huh, huh" sounded from his throat, his eyeballs bulging as though they would pop out.

Xu Qing released him.

Liu San slowly slid down the wall and collapsed on the ground. Blood foam poured from his mouth as his body twitched.

He stared wide-eyed at Xu Qing, his lips moving as though he wanted to say something, but only bloody froth spilled from the corners of his mouth.

A few breaths later, he stopped moving.

The room fell completely silent.

Xu Qing stood amid the three corpses, looking down at his hands covered in blood.

The fish-killing knife was slick with blood, which dripped from the blade. One drop, then another, fell to the ground and seeped into the soil.

His hands were steady. So was his heart.

There was not the slightest panic or discomfort from killing someone. There was only an indescribable, exhilarating release. Like a breath he had held for far too long, finally exhaled. Like the stone weighing on his chest, finally lifted away.

He searched Liu San and found a heavy money pouch.

Opening it, he found more than five taels of silver, along with several dozen copper coins.

Liu San had won it at the gambling house that night and had not yet had the chance to spend it.

Xu Qing searched Bamboo Pole and Blackskin as well, finding only several dozen copper coins, which he took too.

Xu Qing repeatedly wiped the knife on Liu San's clothes before tucking it back at his waist.

He gave the three corpses on the ground one final look.

Moonlight streamed through the window, shining on those three deathly pale faces and the blood all over the floor.

Then he turned, pushed open the door, and vanished into the night.