Water rights
Wei He was just about to beg for mercy when an iron fist knocked him unconscious.
When he came to,
he found himself bound to a cross.
Several iron pots had been set up around him, with fires burning beneath them.
Chen Sanshi, the hall master of Warm Breeze Hall, sat in a chair. Behind him stood a screen, and in the reflected firelight, a woman wearing a hairpin could be seen sitting behind it.
Hei Hu and Sun Yan stood on either side of Chen Sanshi, holding a steel saber and an iron fork like two malevolent gods, glaring viciously at Wei He.
Splash!
Tang Baihu threw a bucket of water over Wei He, who was bound to the cross.
"What are you doing? Let me go! Isn't it just a hundred taels of silver? Are you afraid I can't pay it back?"
Wei He struggled.
"Death is at your doorstep, and you still dare to talk tough. Do you know where your two elder sisters are right now?"
Chen Sanshi sneered.
"What have you done to them? Don't touch them! I'll repay the silver. I'll give you my courtyard house, all right?"
Wei He's expression changed abruptly.
His two sisters were his lifeline.
"Your house has already been mortgaged. Other creditors will seize it in a few days. Did you think we didn't know?"
A woman's voice came from behind the screen.
"Who's there?"
The reflected firelight blurred Wei He's vision.
"Warm Breeze Hall's grand lady. If she hadn't given the word, do you think someone like you could have borrowed money from us?"
Chen Sanshi snorted coldly.
"Everyone in Baiyang County now knows that you failed to break through to Dark Force and damaged your foundation. You no longer have any chance of becoming a Dark Force expert.
"To break through and buy blood-and-Qi tonics, you borrowed from every friend and relative you had. Your fellow disciples at the martial hall all avoid you, and you owe money to plenty of gangs and restaurants. Did you think Warm Breeze Hall didn't know?"
Zhang Pingping snorted coldly.
"Then what do you want? I may have failed to break through to Dark Force, but I'm no ordinary man. Someday, I'll repay what I owe you, principal and interest. If you kill me, you really won't get anything."
Wei He reminded them.
"Have you forgotten your two sisters? If you die, those sisters of yours will fetch a good price."
Chen Sanshi smiled.
"Don't touch my sisters! I'll do whatever you want. I'll definitely repay the money."
Wei He spoke in furious frustration and deep fear.
"Unless we have no other choice, Warm Breeze Hall only seeks money, not lives."
Zhang Pingping spoke.
"I'll do anything you want, as long as you spare my two sisters."
Wei He heard the meaning between the strings.
"Very well. Since you're a martial artist too, we'll give you a chance."
Zhang Pingping coughed softly.
Tang Baihu understood at once.
He went over to the screen, took a portrait, and brought it before Wei He. The man in the portrait was a rugged middle-aged man whose bearing also marked him as a martial artist.
"Take this portrait to Little Moon Mountain tomorrow and cripple this man. The hundred and twenty taels you owe Warm Breeze Hall will be wiped clean."
Chen Sanshi walked over as he spoke.
"Who is he?"
Wei He did not know Hong Wenjun. After all, Baiyang County had many martial halls.
There were several hundred Ming Jin experts.
"You don't need to know. If you want to clear your debt and keep your sisters safe, do as you're told."
Chen Sanshi snorted coldly.
"Fine. I agree."
Wei He had no other choice.
Hei Hu and Sun Yan immediately untied him.
After getting down from the cross, Wei He held the portrait while actually examining his surroundings. Chen Sanshi stood before the screen with his hands behind his back, while the figure behind it appeared unfathomable in the reflected firelight.
Remembering that his sisters were in their hands,
and seeing how confident they were, Wei He dared not act rashly.
He cupped his hands. "Once it's done, I hope you'll keep your promise."
"Have it done by noon tomorrow."
Zhang Pingping spoke.
"Fine."
Wei He nodded.
"The man you're to cripple is slightly weaker than you, but he won't be easy to handle. Take this packet of lime powder, just in case."
Chen Sanshi tossed Wei He a packet of specially prepared lime powder.
Recalling the throat-choking smell of chili when he had fallen victim to it, Wei He, whose eyes were still swollen, reached out to catch it. After thanking him, he quickly left.
He went home first and found that his two sisters were indeed nowhere to be seen. Angry and furious, yet helpless, he could only rest and conserve his strength. Once he had gathered enough strength, he took an ox cart to Little Moon Mountain.
His sisters' lives were at stake.
Wei He dared not be careless.
"I was really afraid he'd try something just now."
Zhang Lingfeng emerged from a corner.
After subduing Wei He, he had sent Liu Feng home first. Liu Feng thought they intended to recover the money, when in fact they wanted Wei He to cripple Hong Wenjun.
"His sisters are his lifeline. Until he confirms they're safe, he won't dare try anything."
Zhang Pingping was full of confidence.
Before dealing with Wei He, she had sent Hei Hu and the others to ask around. Wei He and his two sisters had depended on one another since childhood. Though he had spent plenty on martial training and was up to his neck in debt, he had never shortchanged his sisters in their daily lives.
That was precisely why the siblings were confident they could keep Wei He in hand.
"Sanshi, get ready. We'll set out shortly."
Zhang Lingfeng gave the order.
"Yes!"
Chen Sanshi answered.
How could Zhang Lingfeng feel at ease leaving Wei He alone to deal with Hong Wenjun?
"Tomorrow, we can have Grandfather visit Master Li and tell him the upper water source on Little Moon Mountain belongs to our Zhang Clan now. If the Li Clan wants to use it, they'll have to pay us a monthly fee."
Zhang Pingping spoke.
The Li Clan had cut off the water, jeopardizing this year's harvest on those three hundred and sixty mu of land. The siblings had been holding it in for nearly half a month, and both were furious.
Afterward,
once Zhang Lingfeng and Chen Sanshi had eaten their fill, they set out overnight for Zhang Family Gully.
They returned home before dawn.
"My dear grandson!"
Finally seeing Zhang Lingfeng return, Master Zhang, Zhang Da, and the others could not help laughing. They knew that with Zhang Lingfeng back, the water problem could be resolved.
Time hurried by.
Before long, it was noon.
The blazing sun shone overhead.
A group of the Li Clan's hired thugs had been guarding the water source all along.
Wei He had arrived an hour earlier. He had not seen Master Hong, but knew that if he drove these men away, Master Hong would appear.
As someone at Peak Ming Jin,
he found the Li Clan's few hired thugs utterly inadequate. In a few swift moves, he sent them running down the mountain, howling.
Zhang Erxi was thrilled at the sight. He hurriedly led the laborers to dig open the blocking dam, letting an endless stream of water flow toward those three hundred and sixty mu of land.
"It's time."
At that moment, Master Zhang also arrived at the Li Clan estate in an ox cart, escorted by Zhang Da, and went straight to Master Li.
By then, Master Hong had also rushed up Little Moon Mountain.
He saw the Zhang Clan's laborers all working in the fields.
Only one young man guarded the water source.
"May I ask who you are?"
Master Hong cupped his fists as he asked.
He did not act rashly.
He could also tell that Wei He was a martial artist.
Wei He said nothing. He merely unfolded the portrait to compare it, confirmed that this was indeed Master Hong, then rose and walked toward Hong Wenjun.
He said, "Sorry, someone sent me to cripple you."
As he spoke,
Wei He threw the crumpled sheet of paper at Master Hong.
Master Hong easily dodged it.
Poof!
Unexpectedly, Wei He had concealed another move behind that throw. As Master Hong dodged the paper ball, a handful of lime powder struck him squarely in the face.
He could not dodge in time.
His eyes burned painfully, and his vision blurred.
"Despicable!"
Fortunately, he carried a mountain-cleaving saber.
He drew it at once and slashed repeatedly at Wei He.
Wei He used his footwork to dodge again and again, intending to wait until the lime powder burned Master Hong's eyes red and obscured his vision before striking.
Yet after a short while, Master Hong's steps grew unsteady.
His breathing quickened.
His entire face flushed red.
Wei He thought the chili powder had taken effect.
He lunged forward.
Several punches struck Master Hong's shoulders and thighs, breaking his arms and legs outright, before Wei He disarmed him of his mountain-cleaving saber.
"Aah!"
Master Hong screamed.
"Black Baleful Intent Fist! You're Elder Zheng's disciple."
Master Hong recognized Wei He's lineage.
"Your eyes?"
Wei He saw that Master Hong's eyes were bleeding, which did not look like injuries caused by chili powder and lime.
His whole body was also stiff.
He had clearly been poisoned.
Only then did Wei He realize that the lime powder had been mixed with poison, not chili powder.
If Warm Breeze Hall's men had used this packet of lime powder against him last night, then he...
At that thought, cold sweat broke out across Wei He's back.
Warm Breeze Hall not only lacked martial virtue, but was viciously cruel.
"Why would you work for the Zhang Clan..."
Crack!
Master Hong could not understand. Wei He had reached Peak Ming Jin at such a young age, and breaking through to Dark Force in the future should have been well within his reach. Why would he risk his life for petty landlords like the Zhang Clan?
But Wei He, realizing something was wrong, punched Master Hong in the throat, breaking his neck and killing him on the spot.
Since he had already dealt a lethal blow,
he could hardly leave Master Hong alive. What if he came seeking vengeance later and hurt his sisters?
Things had reached this point.
He could no longer settle for merely teaching Master Hong a lesson and breaking his arms and legs.
Injured tendons and broken bones were commonplace for martial artists.
Ordinarily, broken bones could still heal with six months of proper rest and nourishing blood-and-Qi tonics, allowing one to continue cultivating.
But if poison left lasting damage, even if Master Hong survived, his foundation would be harmed. That was little different from killing him. If Wei He did not eliminate Master Hong now,
when he fought back desperately in the future, both sides might end up grievously wounded.
Hiding in the shadows, Zhang Lingfeng and Chen Sanshi watched the scene from afar before leaving by the back of the mountain.
At the Li Clan estate.
"Old Worm Zhang, take these five hundred taels before I change my mind. Otherwise, once Master Hong returns, your Zhang Clan won't get anything."
Master Li was full of confidence.
He knew that Master Zhang had arranged for someone to teach the thugs guarding the water source a lesson.
But Master Hong was a Peak Ming Jin expert, a martial instructor supported by the Li Clan. The Zhang Clan only had Zhang Lingfeng, who had just entered Ming Jin. How could he possibly be Master Hong's match?
Were it not for Zhang Lingfeng also being a martial artist, and his own wish to avoid a complete falling-out, he would not have given them a single tael.
"Then thank you, Master Li."
Master Zhang rose and put away the five hundred taels of silver.
"Hahaha, at least you haven't lost all your sense."
Master Li laughed aloud.
A woman in the rear hall heard their conversation and could not help smiling as well.
The woman was none other than Wang Fang, whose engagement Zhang Lingfeng had broken off.
She wanted to see with her own eyes the Zhang Clan begging the Li Clan for magnanimity, only to end up selling those three hundred and sixty mu of land to the Li Clan for a pittance.
"Eldest, write out a water receipt."
Master Zhang spoke with a smile as well.
"Yes!"
Zhang Da came over carrying a bundle on his back, containing the Four Treasures of the Study.
The Zhang Clan had seized water sources before, too.
Some tenant farmers or laborers belonging to their Zhang Clan sometimes had to pay water fees as well.
Writing water receipts was a familiar road for Zhang Da.
"What are you doing?"
Master Li froze.
"The Li Clan has a total of seven hundred and sixty-three mu of land on Little Moon Mountain. You'll need to use the mountain's water sources from now on, and our Zhang Clan has always been fair.
"From now on, we'll charge your Li Clan two hundred wen per mu each season.
"For seven hundred and sixty-three mu, that comes to fifteen thousand two hundred and sixty wen each season, a total of one hundred and fifty-two taels and sixty wen.
"We'll knock off the extra sixty wen, making it one hundred and fifty-two taels.
"Two seasons of rice and one season of wheat a year, three seasons in total, comes to exactly four hundred and fifty-six taels of silver.
"You just gave me five hundred taels of silver, so we'll put the remaining forty-four taels toward next year's fees."
Master Zhang spoke with a perfectly serious expression.
"Master Li, the water receipt is ready. Please check whether there are any problems."
By then, Zhang Da had finished writing the details of the water payment on the receipt and handed it to Master Li.
Master Li had initially been rather dumbfounded.
Only after seeing the contents of the water receipt did he realize that the Zhang father and son were serious. He flew into a frenzy of rage on the spot and snarled, "You bastards! You dare try to collect from me? Let me tell you now, not only am I taking those three hundred and sixty mu of land, but your Zhang Clan won't get a single wen!"
"Men!"
Master Li wanted Zhang Da and his father tied up.
Several sturdy hired farmhands rushed in through the doorway.
Though nervous, Master Zhang and Zhang Da forced themselves to remain calm and looked at Master Li with cold smiles.
"Master, something terrible has happened!"
Just then, a figure came rushing in from outside.
That voice was like a lifesaving talisman, letting both Master Zhang and Zhang Da breathe a sigh of relief. They could not help sitting back down in their chairs and drinking the tea the Li Clan's servants had brought them.
"What happened? Speak!"
Master Li suddenly had an ominous premonition.
"Master Hong has been beaten to death."
The man spoke with his mouth and throat parched.
"Nonsense! Master Hong is the strongest martial arts master around. How could anyone beat him to death?"
Master Li seized the servant by the collar.
"Master, I saw it with my own eyes. In just a few exchanges, that young man broke Master Hong's throat with a single punch. Master Hong is being carried back now, but he's already stopped breathing."
The servant spoke with terror written all over his face.
Wei He's full-force punch had knocked Master Hong's neck out of alignment. That terrifying force was not something people like them could withstand, and the bloody sight had long since scared them out of their wits.
"This..."
Master Li collapsed onto the ground.
He instinctively assumed that Zhang Lingfeng had killed Master Hong with a single punch.
Had Zhang Lingfeng already reached the threshold of Dark Force?
If that were true, the Li Clan was finished.
"Master Li, remember to pay next year's water fees in full before the crops are sown."
Master Zhang spoke.
Then he left with Zhang Da, the two striding away as the water receipt Zhang Da had just written for the Li Clan fluttered in the air.