Wang Wu

Liu Yuanzhou walked into his courtyard and saw two piles of snow in the middle, the ground swept clean, likely by his father and elder brother.

He lifted the door curtain and entered the central room, seeing his parents and elder brother sitting on the heated brick bed. He said, "It's really cold outside."

His mother, Zhang Shi, quickly said, "Second Child, quickly come up on the bed." She then said to Liu Da, who was beside her, "Go add some firewood to the stove."

Liu Yuanzhou quickly said, "I'll add it." After adding some firewood to the stove, he also took off his shoes and jumped onto the bed.

Zhang Shi was making a shoe sole and sighed, "Ah, in just over ten days, it'll be the day for Da Wa's wedding, but it's snowing so heavily. What kind of luck is this?"

Liu Da was smoking a dry tobacco pipe, his face also full of worry. Zhang Shi coughed twice from the smoke, annoyed, "What are you smoking? Go outside to smoke. It's suffocating."

Liu Da silently extinguished the pipe.

Although Liu Yuanbo was also anxious, he didn't show it on his face. He comforted his parents, saying, "Mom and Dad, don't worry. There are still more than ten days. The snow will have melted by then."

"I hope so," Zhang Shi sighed.

Time flew by, and unknowingly, another seven or eight days passed. On the sixth day of the eleventh month, it was market day at Crouching Tiger Slope.

Liu Yuanzhou returned from Third Master's house. As soon as he entered the door, his mother, Zhang Shi, complained, "Where did you run off to so early in the morning? The whole family is waiting for you."

The day for Liu Yuanbo's wedding banquet was set for the tenth day of the eleventh month, less than five days away. Therefore, last night, Zhang Shi said that the whole family would go to the market the next day to buy everything needed for the wedding banquet and the wedding itself.

Liu Yuanzhou quickly apologized to his mother, and the family hurriedly left. Liu Yuanbo pulled the flatbed cart, and Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Da each held one side of the cart. The four of them left their courtyard and headed straight for Crouching Tiger Slope.

On the way, they ran into Liu Chuang and Zhang He, who were also going to the market. Liu Chuang asked, "Second Brother, are you going to buy things for the banquet?"

Liu Yuanzhou nodded and said, "Yes, the day is in four days, so we need to buy almost everything today." Liu Chuang and Zhang He then said they would come along to help, as they didn't have anything important to do at the market.

The group quickly arrived at the market and split into two groups. Zhang Shi and Liu Yuanbo went to the temporary market to buy things, while Liu Da, Liu Yuanzhou, and the other two came to the entrance of the butcher shop. Liu Yuanzhou said to his father, Liu Da, "Dad, go in and buy the meat. Hu Wa and I will go see where they're selling fish first."

Liu Da went into the butcher shop to buy meat. Liu Yuanzhou parked the flatbed cart at the entrance of the butcher shop and asked Zhang He to watch it. He took Liu Chuang to the temporary market to look for fish sellers. Crouching Tiger Slope was, after all, a small market town, and there were no specialized fish shops. Only fishmongers came to sell fish on market days.

Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang searched the market for a while and saw a fish stall. The stall only sold one type of carp, and they were all frozen, not live. After all, only a few people in the north ate fish. The fish wasn't expensive, about two jin for a fish selling for six copper coins. Liu Yuanzhou bargained the price down to five coins each, and he bought twenty-odd fish according to plan.

Liu Yuanzhou paid the money, put the fish in a bamboo basket, and was about to call Liu Chuang back when he saw Liu Chuang staring at one spot. He patted his shoulder and asked, "Let's go. What are you looking at?"

"Second Brother, isn't that the loafer from Little Wang Village, the one called Wang Wu?" Liu Chuang pointed to a person not far away.

Liu Yuanzhou followed his finger and looked over. It was indeed Wang Wu, wearing a tattered sheepskin hat, his hands tucked into his sleeves, shrugging his shoulders, looking around in the crowd. "It's him. So what? We don't seem to have any dealings or grudges with him, right?" Liu Yuanzhou said.

"I just saw him steal Fourth Grandma's purse," Liu Chuang said in a low voice. Fourth Grandma was a widowed old woman in the village, with only one daughter who had married into another village.

"Are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Liu Yuanzhou asked, frowning.

"Definitely didn't see wrong. Fourth Grandma was looking at that cloth stall just now, and this kid went up and reached into her pocket and took a purse," Liu Chuang said with certainty. Then he asked, "Should we go up and get the money back now?"

Liu Yuanzhou pondered for a moment and said, "You keep an eye on Wang Wu first, don't let him slip away. I'll go find Fourth Grandma and bring her over."

Liu Yuanzhou asked the fish stall owner to watch his fish and that he would come back to get it later. Fourth Grandma hadn't gone far. Liu Yuanzhou walked up to her and asked, "Fourth Grandma, are you at the market? See if your purse is still there?"

Fourth Grandma saw that it was Liu Yuanzhou from her village and didn't think much of it. She said, "It's Second Child. What's wrong?" She reached into her pocket to feel around, and suddenly her face changed. She felt around in her other pocket, greatly alarmed, and cried out, "My money is gone!"

Liu Yuanzhou quickly comforted her, saying, "Fourth Grandma, don't worry. I saw who took your money. Come with me." He led Fourth Grandma towards Wang Wu.

Liu Chuang saw Liu Yuanzhou bringing Fourth Grandma over and immediately stepped forward to grab Wang Wu's arm, shouting, "You dare to steal from our village. Are you tired of living?"

Wang Wu's arm was suddenly grabbed, and he was accused of stealing money. He quickly shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about?" He tried to break free with force.

"Fourth Grandma, he's the one who took your money bag." Liu Yuanzhou said to Fourth Grandma, stepping forward to grab Wang Wu's other arm.

With both arms seized, Wang Wu knew that today's matter would not end well. He stopped struggling, staring fiercely at Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang.

"You grandson, quickly return the money you stole from me!" Fourth Grandma shouted, hitting Wang Wu's shoulder repeatedly.

People nearby who were at the market heard the shouting and stopped to watch. Before long, a circle of people had gathered.

Seeing more and more people gathering, Wang Wu grew anxious. He glared at Fourth Grandma and said harshly, "What nonsense are you talking about? Which eye saw me steal your money? Talk more nonsense and I'll kill you all."

Fourth Grandma was so frightened that she stumbled back a few steps. She looked at Liu Yuanzhou, then at Liu Chuang, looking completely at a loss. Liu Chuang, with his fiery temper, grabbed Wang Wu's arm and twisted it behind his back. Wang Wu immediately bent over, howling.

"You say you didn't steal it, right? Good, we'll go to the pavilion and let the officials judge this case." Liu Yuanzhou said, then asked Fourth Grandma, "Fourth Grandma, what color is your money bag? How much money is inside, and what else is in there? When the time comes, you can explain all of this clearly to the officials in the pavilion and see how he denies it." The government had set up a rural pavilion at Crouching Tiger Slope and appointed officials to manage village security, taxes, corvée labor, and other affairs. The officers of the rural pavilion were generally called officials.

When Wang Wu heard that he was going to see the officials, his heart sank. A hoodlum like him was most afraid of seeing officials. His mind raced, and he forced a smile onto his face, saying, "Good brother, let's not trouble the officials. Oh, I remember now, I picked up a money bag on the ground just now. Quickly let me go, I'll take it out and show you if it's this grandma's."

Liu Yuanzhou gave Liu Chuang a look, and Liu Chuang released his hand.

Wang Wu slowly reached into his pocket and took out a money bag, waving it. "Is it yours?" he asked.

When Fourth Grandma saw the bag, she quickly said, "It's mine, it's mine."

Wang Wu threw the money bag forward and shouted, "Here, take it!" Then he turned around and ran.

Without thinking, Liu Yuanzhou reached out to catch the money bag, but Liu Chuang was more cautious. Seeing that Wang Wu had already turned around to flee, he reached out and grabbed his waistband. With a "rip" sound, Wang Wu's waistband broke, and his cotton pants fell down, revealing his bare white buttocks.

Liu Chuang was dumbfounded, and Liu Yuanzhou was also dumbfounded. The surrounding crowd watching the commotion fell silent, then burst into laughter. Several young women quickly covered their eyes, spitting inwardly at the hooligan, calling him vulgar.

Wang Wu was also stunned. He was so ashamed and angry that he wanted to die. He bent down, pulled up his pants, and ran away without looking back.

Liu Yuanzhou picked up the money bag on the ground and handed it to Fourth Grandma. Fourth Grandma took the money bag and tucked it away, thanking Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang repeatedly.

The crowd dispersed. Liu Chuang looked at Liu Yuanzhou with an innocent expression and said, "Second Child Brother, I really didn't do it on purpose."

Liu Yuanzhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head and said, "Let's go quickly."

It was said that Wang Wu, holding up his pants with both hands, fled the market in a sorry state. Passersby looked at him, and some who recognized him shouted, "Wang Wu, what's wrong? Did you wet your pants? Haha?"

Wang Wu ran out of the market and hid in a corner of a wall. He quickly tied his pants with a strip of cloth, which he had grabbed from some stall earlier. Wang Wu thought about the sight of his bare buttocks in front of everyone, and he felt like dying. "How will I ever be able to hang out at Crouching Tiger Slope again?" He couldn't help but feel sad, and tears fell down his face.

After a while, he wiped away his tears, his heart full of hatred. "If I don't avenge this, I'll change my name." He swore secretly. He walked out of the corner of the wall and walked towards the village. Before long, he came to the side of a courtyard. The courtyard had walls, and it was on the edge of the village, next to a small river. Wang Wu entered the courtyard and walked straight to the door of a cave dwelling on the side. "Dong, dong, dong," he knocked three times on the door.

"Is that Wang Wu? Come in." Someone said from inside.

Wang Wu lifted the curtain and pushed the door open, entering the cave dwelling. The cave dwelling was brightly lit. Near the window, a man in his thirties was sitting at a desk, wearing a white cloth turban on his head and sporting a short, dense beard. He was holding a pen and writing something at his desk.

When the man saw Wang Wu enter, he put down his pen, looked up, frowned slightly, and asked, "What is it?"

"Master, you must avenge me." Wang Wu said with a mournful face, recounting what had just happened. Finally, with a tearful voice, he said hatefully, "Master, please use your magic to inflict a great disease on those two boys, so that they can neither live nor die."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I only use magic to treat disease and save people, how could I harm people!" the man shouted.

Wang Wu stuck out his neck, looked at the man, and said nothing.

"But, since you call me Master, I can't just stand by and watch you get bullied." The man's tone changed. He pondered for a moment and then asked, "Do you know those two people?"

"They seem to be from Liu Li Village. I'll ask someone and find out who they are." Wang Wu quickly said.

"Good, I have three talismans here, one called Disease, one called Plague, and one called Crippling. Choose one." The man said, opening a small black lacquer box on the table, taking out three palm-sized, yellowed talismans with strange runes drawn on them.

"I choose the Disease talisman," Wang Wu said cautiously, still in awe of these mysterious talismans.

"Alright, find a place with water, burn the talisman at the third quarter of the Zi hour, and silently recite the name of the person you want to curse nine times before the fire goes out. Within forty-nine days, he will surely suffer a major Disease," the man said expressionlessly, picking up one of the three talismans and handing it to Wang Wu.

Wang Wu looked delighted. He took the talisman with both hands, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket. "It won't kill anyone, will it?" he asked the man anxiously.

The man glanced at Wang Wu with disdain and said, "Won't die."

"That's good." Wang Wu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to curse anyone to death.

"I've helped you with your revenge. How is the matter I asked you to handle?" the man asked again.

"I've inquired about everything. In the dozen or so villages around here, there are five grottoes with carved Buddha statues. I've found out the specific locations, and I can take you there at any time," Wang Wu quickly said.

"Good, don't rush. I will notify you when it's time to go." A look of joy appeared on the man's face. He looked at Wang Wu and said with a smile, "How is the cultivation method I taught you coming along?"

"I recite the incantations and spells every night, but I haven't felt anything yet," Wang Wu said in a low voice, bowing his head and not daring to look at the man.

"You must practice diligently." The man's tone was dissatisfied, and then he waved his hand impatiently and said, "Leave quickly if you have nothing else."