Scared So Bad He Wet Himself

"Sister-in-law, thank Qing'er for us."

Xu Cheng's voice was a little hoarse, as though something were lodged in his throat. It took him a long while to force it down. "Have him come over for a meal another day. I'll stew some meat for him."

"Ah! That's more like it!" Tong smiled so broadly her mouth nearly reached her ears. She sat in the shop a while longer, rambling on about everything under the sun—from how clever Xu Qing had been as a child, to how formidable his fellow disciples at the martial hall were, to how great the Wu Clan's influence was. Her spit flew as she talked, as though she wished she could praise her son into a flower.

Only then did she leave, thoroughly satisfied.

Xu Yan stood behind the counter, watching Tong's receding figure. At last, tears fell from her eyes.

She wiped them away, then smiled again.

"That child..." she murmured, unable to say whether she felt resentment or comfort. She resented his usual thoughtlessness, yet was comforted that, in his heart, he still remembered her, his second aunt.

In the noodle shop beside the steamed bun shop, the old woman from the Li Family craned her neck and widened her eyes like an old hen that had spotted a bug.

Tong had become carried away toward the end and raised her voice considerably. The old woman vaguely heard that Xu Qing had found someone to beat Chen Jiang to death.

Chen Jiang being beaten to death was naturally a good thing. That bastard had bullied her family plenty as well. Last time, he had eaten two bowls of noodles without paying, flipped the table, and left.

Now that she knew the ins and outs of Chen Jiang's death, she had to tell her husband. From now on, they ought to remember Xu Qing's kindness and praise him a little more whenever they met. That could never be wrong.

Xu Qing had repeatedly told his mother not to spread the matter around, but she simply could not keep her mouth shut. Once she blabbed, the news grew wings. Within two days, it had spread across several streets in the western district.

People talked about it in tea houses, people talked about it in taverns, even Old Wang, who sold tofu at the market, talked about it.

The tale grew more and more fantastical. Some said Xu Qing had personally led people to do it. Some said Wu Mingyuan had dispatched ten experts. Others said Chen Jiang had been beaten alive for an entire night before dying.

Azure Flood Dragon Hall.

Chen Jiang's older sister, Chen, lay in the deputy leader's arms, crying until her eyes were swollen like peaches and her voice was hoarse. "My little brother died so miserably... his face was beaten to pulp... You have to find the murderer... avenge him..."

The deputy leader's surname was Ma. Broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, his face was layered with slabs of flesh. Frowning, he patted Chen's back and spoke irritably. "Enough, enough. What are you crying for? Aren't I investigating?"

That was what he said, but he was irritated inside as well. The death of a brother-in-law was a small matter. But someone from Azure Flood Dragon Hall had been beaten to death in his own home, and they could not even find the killer. Where would the hall's face go if word got out?

His men had investigated for two days and finally found a lead.

A trusted subordinate stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Master Ma, we found something. Everyone outside is saying it was Wu Mingyuan, that Wu Clan bastard son, who had someone do it. They say Master Chen offended a relative of one of his subordinates, so he ordered someone to act."

"Wu Mingyuan?" Deputy Leader Ma's brow furrowed even deeper, squeezing out the character for "river" between his brows.

The Wu Clan was one of the county town's great families. Though Wu Mingyuan was only a bastard son, he was still a young master of the Wu Clan and could not be touched lightly. Even when beating a dog, one had to look at its master, let alone strike the Wu Clan's son.

As for the person who had killed Chen Jiang, even if he knew who it was, he was probably no match. He had examined Chen Jiang's corpse. Hidden Force had shattered his internal organs to pieces, and that force had been incomparably deep and powerful.

He had also reached Hidden Force, but his own strength could never produce such an effect. That person's power far surpassed his.

After pondering for a moment, he rose and went to the hall leader's courtyard.

The hall leader's surname was Huang. He was in his forties, lean and withered like a sun-dried Bamboo Pole, but his eyes shone as brightly as blades.

After listening to Deputy Leader Ma, he lifted his teacup, took a sip, and said unhurriedly, "Someone from the Wu Clan? That makes sense. There are not many masters who can order a Hidden Force expert to kill, and the Wu Clan is one of them. We cannot lightly provoke the Wu Clan."

He set down his teacup, his tone giving away neither pleasure nor anger. "I heard that Wu Clan brat is learning boxing at Zhao Family Martial Hall. Go ask around first and see whether this is true. If someone from our Azure Flood Dragon Hall truly did something wrong and provoked him, then getting beaten up to vent his anger is one thing. But beating someone to death alive like this is rather inappropriate."

He paused, lifted his eyelids, and glanced at Deputy Leader Ma. "Don't make things too stiff. The Wu Clan has great influence in the city. If we tear our faces apart, it will do us no good."

"Rest assured, Brother. I know what I'm doing." Deputy Leader Ma nodded and withdrew.

Near midday, Wu Mingyuan left the martial hall.

He did not walk quickly, but his back was straight. His moon-white training clothes gleamed almost blindingly white beneath the noonday sun.

He had just left the street where the martial hall stood and turned into a quieter alley when Deputy Leader Ma approached, followed by two or three subordinates who kept neither too close nor too far away.

"Young Master Wu." Deputy Leader Ma cupped his hands with a genial smile, as if chatting about household matters. Yet his eyes kept studying Wu Mingyuan's face. "I am Ma Feng of Azure Flood Dragon Hall. Forgive my boldness, but may I ask whether you were the one who had someone handle the matter of Chen Jiang?"

Wu Mingyuan glanced at him, his gaze indifferent. "Chen Jiang? I don't know him. Nor do I know what matter you are talking about."

His tone was level, without the slightest ripple. Deputy Leader Ma had been in the underworld for many years; he could hear clearly and see plainly. Wu Mingyuan was not lying, nor did he need to lie. If he had done it, what was the harm in admitting it? If he had not, there was no reason to carry someone else's black pot.

"Fine. Then I understand." Deputy Leader Ma cupped his hands. "Sorry to disturb you."

Wu Mingyuan paid no further attention to Deputy Leader Ma's group and walked away on his own.

As he walked, his steps suddenly paused ever so slightly, and one brow lifted.

He remembered the name "Chen Jiang."

A few days ago, Xu Qing seemed to have mentioned Chen Jiang and his second uncle's steamed bun shop.

That day, Xu Qing had sidled over and yammered on endlessly about how Chen Jiang had harassed his second aunt and how the shop's business had worsened. He had made it sound pitiful indeed.

But Wu Mingyuan had not taken it to heart at all. It had gone in one ear and out the other, forgotten as soon as he heard it. Was the matter of some street hooligan even worth his, Wu Mingyuan's, attention?

Wu Mingyuan's eyes were cold as he gave a faint snort. He did not think further about Chen Jiang or Xu Qing, nor did he care in the slightest about this affair. In his eyes, such people were merely roadside weeds, not worth a second glance.

"What the devil is going on? If Wu Mingyuan didn't have someone do it, then who did?" Deputy Leader Ma stood where he was, brows deeply knitted. Stroking the stubble on his chin, his thoughts circled several times. "Was it that Xu Qing? Or did he find someone else?"

Deputy Leader Ma suddenly looked at his trusted subordinate beside him, lifted his chin, and ordered, "Go to Zhao Family Martial Hall and call Xu Qing out. Tell him something happened at his family's shop. We'll wait for you two at the intersection by his shop."

Xu Qing had just turned onto the street where his family's shop stood when he ran straight into five or six burly men.

They stood across the road like a wall, blocking it completely. He recognized the broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man with the fleshy face at their head. It was Deputy Leader Ma of Azure Flood Dragon Hall. He had seen him from afar on the street once before and had been so frightened that he took a detour through three streets.

He thought the matter had been exposed. The color drained from his face with a whoosh, leaving him white as paper, even his lips pale.

"Y-you..."

"You're Xu Qing?" Deputy Leader Ma sized him up like a chicken awaiting slaughter, looking him over from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, until Xu Qing's skin crawled.

Xu Qing's legs began to go weak, his knees shaking, and even his voice changed pitch. "I... I am... What do you want? I don't know anything..."

He backed away as he spoke, but after only two steps, his back struck a wall of flesh. At some point, two men had already circled behind him.

Deputy Leader Ma could not be bothered with nonsense. With a wave of his hand, two burly men seized Xu Qing's arms from either side and pinned him against the wall at the alley entrance.

His back slammed into the cold brick wall, jolting his spine with pain. Xu Qing seemed to have been hollowed out entirely. He shook like chaff in a sieve, his teeth chattering.

"I'm asking you." Deputy Leader Ma leaned close, his fleshy face nearly pressed against Xu Qing's nose. The viciousness on that face frightened Xu Qing into shrinking back, wishing he could embed himself in the wall. "Was it you who found someone to handle Chen Jiang?"

"No! It wasn't me!" Xu Qing's voice was shrill and piercing, like a pig being slaughtered. "I only mentioned it to Senior Brother Wu! Senior Brother Wu is from the Wu Clan! I asked him to deal with it, I didn't ask him to kill anyone! He did it himself—"

"Wu Mingyuan has already said that Chen Jiang's matter had nothing to do with him." Deputy Leader Ma's voice was not loud, yet it was like a knife stabbing into Xu Qing's heart. "And you still want to shove it onto him?"

Xu Qing's mind exploded with a buzz.

It was not Wu Mingyuan?

If it was not Wu Mingyuan, then who else could it be? He had not told anyone else. Wu Mingyuan was the only person he had mentioned it to.

"I... I really don't know... I only told him..." Xu Qing babbled incoherently, his tongue tied in knots. Tears and snot smeared across his face in a sticky mess, impossible to tell one from the other.

Suddenly, warmth spread through his crotch. A stream of warm liquid ran down his pant legs and dripped onto the ground, spreading into a dark wet stain that stood out starkly against the dusty gray earth.

Deputy Leader Ma frowned and stepped back in disgust. He had seen cowards before, but never one this cowardly. Nothing had even happened yet, and he had already pissed himself.

The burly men at his sides did not loosen their grip. Instead, they wrenched Xu Qing's arms higher, his joints cracking as though they might dislocate at any moment.

"Ah—! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! I'm telling the truth! It really wasn't me! It really has nothing to do with me!" Xu Qing's face twisted from pain as he cried and begged. "Master Ma! Master Ma, spare me! I really don't have the guts... Please..."

The neighbors had long since been alerted.

One after another, they craned their heads and stretched their necks to watch.

Someone recognized Xu Qing and whispered, "Isn't that Old Xu's son? How did he provoke Azure Flood Dragon Hall?"

"I heard he found someone to beat Chen Jiang to death..."

"Don't paste gold on his face. Look at that pathetic state of his. Does he look like someone capable of finding people to kill Chen Jiang? His crotch is already wet."

"Exactly. Didn't you hear him? The brat denied it flatly and got so scared he pissed his pants. His mother was still bragging about some Wu Clan young master standing up for him, but now Young Master Wu won't acknowledge it at all."

"Pah! And here I was remembering his kindness. So it was all his own boasting. That skin of his is thicker than the corner of the city wall."

"..."

The murmurs pierced Xu Qing's ears like needles, every sentence stabbing into his heart.

He wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl into it, but his arms were held fast and he could not move at all. He could only lower his head, tears dropping one by one onto the ground and mixing with the puddle of urine until they could no longer be distinguished.

Over and over, only one sentence came from his mouth: "It wasn't me... It really wasn't me..."