In a second-floor guest room in the Galloping Horse Gang's rear courtyard.
He... he had been betrayed by his big brother.
Though Little Bat was honest and straightforward by nature, he had extensive experience in the martial world. After bolting upright, he was already mostly sober. With just a little thought, he understood his predicament.
"Little Stutterer!" At the doorway, Red Face crouched on the floor, cradling his brother's still-warm corpse in both arms. An instinctive, anguished wail escaped him. "Brother, medicine... medicine. I'll give you some pills."
At that moment, his mind discarded every scrap of common sense. All he could think about was saving him immediately, forgetting that Little Stutterer was already beyond even an immortal's help.
Red Face took off his belt pouch, pulled out several pills for treating external injuries and ordinary Gu Poison, and desperately stuffed them into Little Stutterer's mouth. But his lips were tightly shut and his tongue was stiff. The pills could neither enter his mouth nor be swallowed. He had already breathed his last.
No one knew how Little Stutterer had returned to the second floor with three arrows in his body, but those final words had been his last sign of life.
Thud, thud!
Bare feet slapped against the floor as Little Bat rushed to the doorway. Whether from drunken sluggishness or the shock of seeing his brother dead, his gaze was somewhat dazed and vacant.
Still, his mind was working, and he shouted almost instinctively, "S-Second Master! Go to Second Master, quick!"
"Little Stutterer!"
"Put his body away, hurry." Little Bat first gave Red Face a hard tug, then stepped outside and shouted, "Second Master, it's an ambush!"
Red Face raised a hand. His belt pouch floated up on its own, its opening expanding like an inflated ball. Aimed