Reconnaissance

The next day, Liu Yuanzhou invited Liu Chuang and Zhang He for a drink at his Cave Dwelling. After a few rounds, Liu Yuanzhou raised his glass, looking at the two men earnestly, "Hu Wa, Xi Zi, let's drink this cup, and let bygones be bygones. From now on, we're still good brothers."

Liu Chuang and Zhang He smiled at each other, raised their glasses, and drained them in one gulp.

Seeing the two finally reconcile, Liu Yuanzhou felt genuinely happy. He smiled and kept urging them to drink, and the atmosphere at the table became lively. The three of them exchanged toasts, played drinking games, and made guesses until nearly midnight when Liu's mother, Zhang Shi, came in to check on them before the party broke up. All three were very drunk, and in the end, Liu Yuanbo and Liu Da escorted Liu Chuang and Zhang He home.

The next morning, Liu Yuanzhou woke up with a splitting headache and his stomach churning. He secretly vowed, "I'll never get drunk again." It wasn't until after breakfast, and another bout of vomiting, that Liu Yuanzhou felt a little better. In this state, practicing martial arts was out of the question, so Liu Yuanzhou decided to slack off for a day.

The evening of the second day after drinking, Liu Yuanzhou finished his meal and, using the excuse of looking for Liu Chuang, slipped out of the house. Leaving the courtyard and reaching the main road, he headed towards Crouching Tiger Slope. Liu Yuanzhou was going to Fatty Wang's house to scout out the Wang Family's old residence.

How to teach Fatty Wang a lesson? Liu Yuanzhou actually had two plans. One was to sneak into his house and quietly beat him up. The other was to catch Fatty Wang alone and teach him a lesson.

The biggest obstacle to the first plan was the Wang Family's Martial Master, Martial Master Zheng. He knew how powerful Martial Masters were. Liu Yuanzhou doubted he had the ability to sneak into the Wang Family under the nose of a Martial Master without being discovered. The biggest problem with the second plan was that it was difficult for him to catch Fatty Wang alone. He and Liu Chuang couldn't keep an eye on Fatty Wang every moment, so it depended on luck.

Liu Yuanzhou favored the first plan. In his opinion, Martial Master Zheng wouldn't stay in the Wang Family mansion all the time; he would always go out, and that would be his chance. So he planned to go near the Wang Family mansion first to check out the terrain and prepare for future action.

As for Martial Master Zheng's whereabouts, he planned to entrust Zhang He to inquire about them. Liu Chuang was still keeping an eye on Wang Wu. Liu Yuanzhou always believed that Wang Wu and the White-Haired Taoist would make a big move. Because of the drinking that day, Liu Yuanzhou had also told Zhang He about seeking revenge on Fatty Wang, and Zhang He had gladly joined the revenge squad, so Liu Yuanzhou assigned him the task.

The Wang Family's old residence was located at the foot of a mountain on the south side of Crouching Tiger Slope, about two or three miles away from Crouching Tiger Slope. The residence had high walls and vermilion gates, with houses connected in rows. Fatty Wang's family lived here. This was common knowledge.

At this time, Liu Yuanzhou was standing on the top of the mountain behind the old residence, looking at the courtyard below. The courtyard was surrounded by high walls, and the houses were connected in rows and columns.

It was almost dusk, and Liu Yuanzhou saw people entering and leaving the houses in the courtyard, many people. From time to time, there were also dog barks, indicating that dogs were kept in the courtyard to guard the house.

It wasn't until the sky was dark and lamps were lit in the courtyard that Liu Yuanzhou went down the mountain along the way he came, and after passing through a forest, he arrived at the village of Crouching Tiger Slope.

Leaving Crouching Tiger Slope and walking on the way home, Liu Yuanzhou frowned and pondered.

He had observed a lot on the mountaintop just now, and he roughly figured out the layout of the courtyard, but he couldn't determine which house Fatty Wang specifically lived in.

The courtyard kept dogs, which was easy to solve, just a few bones.

Also, whether Martial Master Zheng would stay in the house all the time would have to be analyzed based on the information Zhang He had gathered. He hadn't seen Martial Master Zheng in the courtyard today.

"It seems I have to come a few more times to get the desired result," Liu Yuanzhou thought, and unknowingly walked into his own courtyard.

In the following seven days, Liu Yuanzhou went about his business as usual, helping his family plow the fields and plant the land, and secretly climbed to the back of the Wang Family's old residence every one or two days to investigate.

During this time, Liu Yuanzhou, Liu Chuang, and Zhang He met once to report on the progress of their actions. The results were not satisfactory. Zhang He had not inquired about Martial Master Zheng's situation, and Liu Chuang had also inquired about Wang Wu's recent situation several times, but everything was normal.

It was normal, after all, it was the first time for the three of them to do this kind of thing, they had no experience, and because this matter involved their own safety, they were all careful and cautious in their actions.

Finally, Liu Yuanzhou concluded, "Zhang He, you can't inquire blindly. Doesn't Xiucai have many classmates in Crouching Tiger Slope? They may have contact with the Wang Family. You can get to know them through Xiucai and then slowly inquire."

"As for Hu Wa, continue with your original method, but be careful not to attract the attention of Wang Wu and the others."

Liu Chuang and Zhang He nodded in agreement.

Another seven or eight days passed, and Liu Yuanbo's saplings were also planted, right on the hillside behind the village. Liu Yuanzhou had been helping to carry water and water the trees every day for the past few days. Whether the saplings could survive depended entirely on whether they were taken care of properly during this initial period. Liu Yuanbo was even more immersed in the orchard every day, taking care of them meticulously, and he had lost a lot of weight.

Zhang Shi felt sorry for her son and complained to her daughter-in-law, "I knew I shouldn't have let you plant any trees. Look how tired Da Wa is." Li Shi could only secretly wipe away her tears and dared not retort.

On this day, the three met again. Zhang He excitedly announced good news: the Wang Family's Martial Master Zheng had gone on a long trip. Zhang He had accidentally learned this from Xiucai and a few classmates chatting idly. He also pretended to be curious and asked Xiucai's classmate where Martial Master Zheng had gone and when he would return. The man said he didn't know either. But this news was also extremely valuable.

After seven or eight investigations of the Wang Family's old residence, Liu Yuanzhou had also roughly figured out Fatty Wang's residence. Liu Chuang had not yet inquired about anything substantial. He was very unhappy about this, but it seemed that his news was irrelevant to the entire revenge plan.

So, Liu Yuanzhou told the two of them about the first plan he had made, and the two became extremely excited after hearing it.

Liu Chuang said anxiously, "What are we waiting for? Let's do it tonight, I can't wait another moment."

Zhang He also said, "Yes, Second Child brother, let's do it tonight." As he spoke, he kept rubbing his hands together.

Liu Yuanzhou pondered for a moment and said, "Tonight is too rushed, we still need to prepare some things, and there are some details to discuss."

Liu Yuanzhou had already prepared the things. He got up, opened the wooden box on the kang, and took out three black masks, three arm-length wooden sticks about three fingers thick, and a rope.

Liu Chuang twirled the stick in his hand, looking admiringly, and said, "Second Child brother, you're really something."

Zhang He, wearing the mask, made funny gestures.

Liu Yuanzhou quickly said, "This is not for you to play with, it's for the operation. Come over here, we need to discuss the specific details of the operation."

Liu Chuang and Zhang He reluctantly put down the wooden sticks and masks, and sat down next to Liu Yuanzhou.

Liu Yuanzhou said, "We plan to act tomorrow night, how about that?" Seeing Liu Chuang and Zhang He nod, Liu Yuanzhou continued, "After dark tomorrow, we'll gather under the Old Locust Tree at the village entrance. Our excuse to our families is that we're going to Crouching Tiger Slope to drink with the Xiucai."

Liu Yuanzhou took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and spread it on the kang. Liu Chuang and Zhang He both leaned their heads over to look. On it was a crude map, roughly showing a courtyard, a mountain, and a forest. Seeing that Liu Yuanzhou had even drawn a map, Liu Chuang and Zhang He admired Liu Yuanzhou even more.

Liu Yuanzhou pointed to the map and said, "This is the Wang Family's old house, you all know the location. We'll climb over the wall from here, and this location is the room where Fatty Wang lives."

"When the time comes, I'll climb over the wall, knock Fatty Wang unconscious, and kidnap him. You guys will be outside the wall to meet me. As for how to kidnap him, you don't need to worry, I have my own way."

"Then we'll take Fatty Wang to this forest, which is about half a li away from the courtyard. We'll give him a good beating here."

"That's my plan, what do you think?" Liu Yuanzhou said finally, looking at Liu Chuang and Zhang He, wanting to hear their opinions.

Liu Chuang pondered for a moment and said, "The plan is good, but Second Child brother, I'll go into the courtyard with you to get Fatty Wang out, and let Xi Zi be outside to meet us."

"Hehe, no need for that, I have my own way. Your presence would only affect my actions." Liu Yuanzhou shook his head and smiled.

"Then we'll do everything according to your plan." Liu Chuang said. Ever since Liu Yuanzhou showed his hand at the Xiucai's house, beating Li Xiaoming and the others, Liu Chuang knew how powerful Liu Yuanzhou was. He vaguely knew that he seemed to have learned some powerful martial arts, so he listened to Liu Yuanzhou and didn't say anything more.

"Second Child brother, we can also pretend to be Jiangyang bandits, so Fatty Wang won't guess it's us." Zhang He said at this time.

Liu Yuanzhou nodded in approval and said, "Good, we'll claim to be heroes from Two Dragons Mountain, passing by here and borrowing some travel expenses from Fatty Wang." They had heard Third Master tell stories of the Water Margin, mentioning Two Dragons Mountain, where heroes like Lu Zhishen had taken refuge.

"Good, let's say that." Liu Chuang and Zhang He cheered.

With the plan settled, the three parted ways, and Liu Chuang and Zhang He went home.