Revenge

Night, beneath the great locust tree at the village entrance.

"Is that Second Child?" Liu Chuang and Zhang He lay behind the great locust tree, staring at the vague figure approaching in the distance as they called softly.

"No." The dark figure in the distance replied.

Liu Chuang and Zhang He stepped out from behind the tree. They had already recognized Liu Yuanzhou's voice.

"Second Child, and you're still joking at a time like this?" Liu Chuang said in displeasure.

"Hehe, just lightening the mood. I was afraid you'd be nervous." As he spoke, Liu Yuanzhou had already reached them.

The three met up. Liu Chuang asked Liu Yuanzhou whether he had brought everything, and Liu Yuanzhou patted the cloth sack in his hand to show that he had. He then handed two of the three wooden sticks to them. Since they had already discussed the plan, the three did not waste words and set off beneath the moonlight.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, the three stumbled deep and shallow through the darkness into the woods east of the Wang Family Old House. The old house nearby was still brightly lit. They looked at one another in the darkness and realized a problem—they had arrived too early.

They certainly did not dare go in and seize someone now. Wouldn't that be courting death? They could only wait patiently. The three leaned against a tree in a circle and excitedly went over the details of the operation again, though they kept their voices very, very low.

As the night deepened, the cold grew biting. The three gradually lost interest in talking, and the woods fell silent. They were freezing unbearably, so they all got up and paced around the tree to warm themselves. After waiting for about half an hour, the lights of the distant Wang Family Estate finally went out one after another, and their spirits rose.

When the distant estate had been swallowed entirely by darkness, Liu Yuanzhou waved ahead. "Move out!" He took the lead and ran toward the compound, with Liu Chuang and Zhang He hurrying after him.

Beyond the woods lay a stretch of flat fields. The three crossed the fields to the wall, then followed it south for several dozen steps before Liu Yuanzhou stopped. He had left a marker there—a stone tied with a strip of cloth.

Liu Yuanzhou patted Liu Chuang and Zhang He on the shoulders, signaling them to stop. The two immediately knew they had reached their destination. On the other side of the wall should be Fatty Wang's room.

The Wang family possessed vast wealth and property, and there were many buildings within the estate. Fatty Wang and his parents each lived in separate houses. Liu Yuanzhou had learned all this during his earlier scouting.

Liu Yuanzhou took face coverings from the cloth bag and gave them to Liu Chuang and Zhang He, signaling them to wait here and provide support. He covered his own face as well, tightened his belt, and felt the wooden stick tucked at his waist. Everything was ready.

Using the gaps and protrusions in the wall, Liu Yuanzhou scrambled up the upright wall, more than ten feet high, in a few swift movements.

Below, Liu Chuang and Zhang He could only stare in stunned amazement.

Liu Yuanzhou climbed to the top of the wall, crouched there, and surveyed the courtyard beyond.

A hooked moon hung low, and the sky was dim. The Wang Family Estate was pitch-black, and Liu Yuanzhou could only vaguely make out the raised outlines of the buildings.

Liu Yuanzhou leaped down from the wall, landing in a half-crouch with only a soft slap.

Suddenly, barking rang out from afar. Before long, two dogs shot out from beside the wall.

Liu Yuanzhou was startled and instinctively turned to climb back over the wall.

But he forcibly restrained himself. If two dogs scare me back, I'll lose all my face. I've practiced real martial arts for days now—am I really no match for two dogs? He had forgotten to bring a few meat bones to deal with them.

He drew the wooden stick from his waist with his right hand and held it horizontally before him, calming his mind and focusing his breath. In the blur, a shadow lunged toward him.

Liu Yuanzhou had no time to think. He thrust the stick forward, striking the shadow squarely.

The shadow was sent flying backward by the blow. After landing, it let out two whimpers and actually turned and fled.

Seeing its companion beaten away, the other dog did not charge either. It merely barked wildly.

Worried that delays would breed trouble, Liu Yuanzhou knew it would be troublesome if the barking woke the Wang family and brought them out to investigate. Following the sound to locate it, he raised his stick, stepped forward, and chopped fiercely toward the left front. With a bang, the stick struck something hard. He must have hit the dog's head.

That dog also whimpered a few times and ran away. For a while, silence returned to the courtyard.

Liu Yuanzhou quietly let out a long breath. His right arm was actually a little weak and sore; clearly, he had used too much force when beating the dogs.

Only a dozen or so breaths had passed from the first bark to driving the dogs away, yet Liu Yuanzhou was already sweating. Fortunately, no one from the Wang Family Estate had come out to investigate.

Liu Yuanzhou crouched beneath the wall for another incense stick's time. Seeing that the dogs did not bark again and hearing no one approach, he finally relaxed.

He felt his way more than ten steps to the right front, until his hand touched a wall. This was the rear wall of Fatty Wang's room. According to what he had learned while scouting, there was a narrow high window in the back wall of this room, with a large window on each side. He planned to slip in through the right-side window.

Liu Yuanzhou followed the wall to beneath the right-side window and listened carefully. Waves of snoring came from inside. Fatty Wang was clearly sleeping like the dead; the barking had not woken him.

He gently pushed open the window and climbed inside, holding his breath as he inched forward through the pitch-black darkness, following the snores. At last, his foot struck the edge of the kang bed. He could now feel the warmth of the sleeping man's breath.

Liu Yuanzhou took a fire striker from his clothes, pulled out the stopper, and blew gently. A flame sprang up in the darkness, and the room immediately brightened.

There was a man lying flat on the kang bed, fat-headed and big-eared. Who else could it be but Fatty Wang?

Delighted, Liu Yuanzhou wasted no more time and thrust his fingers beneath Fatty Wang's nose. This was one of the methods Miss Qin had taught him for knocking someone unconscious. It was Liu Yuanzhou's first time using it, and the effect was astonishingly good.

Fatty Wang's body convulsed violently a few times in his sleep, then his head lolled to one side and he stopped moving. Liu Yuanzhou was so frightened that he quickly held a finger beneath Fatty Wang's nostrils. Only when he felt breathing did he relax. He had truly feared killing him with one blow.

Liu Yuanzhou blew out the fire striker and tucked it into his clothes. In the dark, he wrapped Fatty Wang up in the bedding, tied it tight with rope, then hoisted him onto his shoulder and climbed out through the window.

Fatty Wang weighed around one hundred and fifty jin, but Liu Yuanzhou did not find him particularly difficult to carry. He returned the way he had come to the foot of the wall, pursed his lips and whistled, then tossed one end of the rope over the wall.

Before long, Liu Yuanzhou felt the rope tighten, and Fatty Wang in his arms slowly rose. Clearly, Liu Chuang and Zhang He outside the wall had begun pulling.

Liu Yuanzhou released the rope and climbed onto the wall, then grabbed the rope again. Alternating his hands, he hauled Fatty Wang over the top and shouted softly, "Catch him!" Then he loosened the rope.

When Liu Chuang and Zhang He saw a dark figure dropping straight down at them, they hurriedly held out their hands. Fatty Wang was caught firmly and securely. Liu Chuang was consumed with hatred, and he swung his fist, giving Fatty Wang several hard punches through the bedding before his anger finally subsided.

Liu Yuanzhou jumped down from the wall and said, "I'll carry him. You two follow behind." As he spoke, he took Fatty Wang and slung him over his shoulder, then hurried toward the distant woods, with Liu Chuang and Zhang He quickly following.

The three ran into the woods, panting heavily, and stopped. Liu Yuanzhou threw the Fatty Wang on his shoulder onto the ground. A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, so the fall would not kill him.

Bent over with both hands braced on his knees, Zhang He said, "Second Child, you're really strong. You can run so fast carrying this dead pig, while we can't even keep up empty-handed."

Leaning against a tree, Liu Chuang panted, "You... are you still the Second Child we know?"

Liu Yuanzhou had no strength to waste on them. Carrying Fatty Wang, who weighed over a hundred jin, and running for dear life all this way had left his legs weak and his breath roaring like an ox. "Tie him to the tree. I need to rest for a while."

He dropped down against the trunk with a thud, took a deep breath, and began using the breathing method of the Limitless Stance. Before long, the exhaustion drained from his body. I never thought the breathing method had this kind of effect. He felt even more deeply that the Limitless Stance was no ordinary martial art.

Liu Yuanzhou stood up. By then, Fatty Wang had been tied to a tree by Liu Chuang and Zhang He like a zongzi, and he walked over.

Liu Chuang said, "This guy sleeps like the dead. We can't wake him no matter what we do."

Liu Yuanzhou said to Zhang He, "Xi Zi, light the lantern." Then he said to Liu Chuang, "I'll wake him. I knocked him out."

Zhang He lit the lantern and hung it from a branch. The surroundings immediately brightened.

Fatty Wang's head hung crookedly to one side, with drool still running from the corner of his mouth. Liu Yuanzhou pressed his thumb several times behind Fatty Wang's ear, and Fatty Wang's eyelids slowly opened.

Liu Chuang and Zhang He were astonished once again.