Crack!
Wei Laohei fell flat on his back, his left knee shattered by the kick!
Before his cry of pain could escape, Wu Shuangren had already stepped forward. Calmly, he planted his right foot on the shinbone of Wei Laohei's right leg-and pressed down.
Crack!
"Ah-"
Wei Laohei let out a bloodcurdling scream.
He had heard similar cries from others many times before, and every time they had brought him pleasure. This time alone, all that surged through him was fear!
He kicked frantically at Wu Shuangren as he shouted:
"Young Master Hong won't let you get away with this!"
"Mist Hidden Temple won't... ah!!"
Wu Shuangren picked his moment and struck Wei Laohei's left shinbone hard with the back of his saber, breaking that leg as well.
With both legs crippled, Wei Laohei fell into utter despair:
"You bastard, if you're going to kill me, then kill me!!"
Wu Shuangren planted his left foot on Wei Laohei's chest, crouched down, and drove his saber into the floor. His movements were neither hurried nor slow, but steady, as though they carried a certain sense of ritual.
Wei Laohei swung his uninjured left fist at him, but Wu Shuangren easily caught the feeble punch.
He seized Wei Laohei's left arm with one hand, jammed the thumb of the other into his elbow joint, and twisted outward-
Another sharp crack rang out, duller this time. Wei Laohei trembled all over with pain, the muscles in his neck taut as ropes.
Then came his right arm, the same spot, the same force.
By the time Wu Shuangren twisted it until it broke, Wei Laohei had utterly collapsed, roaring and cursing without end.
But it was not over yet.
Wu Shuangren pressed his left hand against the side of Wei Laohei's face, spreading his five fingers over half his skull. With his right hand, he pinched Wei Laohei's left ear, then slowly, steadily applied force-
"Aaaaaaaaaah-"
The tearing sound of flesh separating was clearly audible. Wei Laohei's body arched violently as he struggled with all his might, like a shrimp about to be boiled.
Blood gushed from the base of his ear, staining the floor red.
Only then did Wu Shuangren stand and casually toss aside the bloody ear in his hand.
He pulled the saber from the floor, pointed it at Wei Laohei, and said at last:
"Trash like you thinks he's worthy of crossing blades with me?"
With that, he swung his saber.
Splurt-
A head rolled across the courtyard.
37 Attending the Banquet
Moxian Tower.
Hong Fan had already arrived. He entered the restaurant with Luo You and went straight up to the second floor.
Those seated on the second floor rose one after another to greet him.
Hong Fan smiled and responded to each of them.
Today he wore a crimson round-collared robe, his long hair bound up with an openwork silver crown. A jade belt encircled his waist, a gold-and-silver-inlaid incense ball hung from it, and he held a folding fan. He looked every inch the noble, elegant and dashing.
Many of those present were seeing Young Master Hong for the first time. Their hearts could not help but tighten, and they thought that he truly was a great figure from the prefectural city.
Hong Fan entered the private room. The table inside had only six seats, and Bo County's four officials were already seated.
He walked over to his place and sat down. Looking at the only empty seat, he frowned slightly:
"Has Head Constable Wu not arrived yet?"
He Zhixu was also a little surprised. "I thought Head Constable Wu would come with you, Young Master Hong. Weren't you together?"
Hong Fan's face darkened.
He tapped his folding fan against his palm again and again. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Wait another quarter of an hour. If he's still not here, don't bother with him. We'll start the banquet as usual!"
Outside the private room, in the second-floor hall.
Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong sat at a table with county yamen clerks, including a scribe and a chief clerk, among others.
"Shuangren still hasn't come."
Liao Yu spoke in a low voice, his face full of concern.
Wu Dongrong grunted in acknowledgment, his expression rather grave as well.
Liao Yu said, "He wouldn't choose to stay away out of spite, would he? Strike back that way?"
If he really did that, Hong Fan would certainly lose face, but Wu Shuangren would lose both face and substance!
Yet on closer thought, it was very much the kind of retaliation a seventeen-year-old might choose.
Wu Dongrong hesitated, then shook his head. "Surely he wouldn't go that far..."
But he was not entirely confident himself.
Just as the two were feeling uneasy, Zhang Li from the constables' office hurried up to the second floor, looking flustered.
He glanced around, then strode toward Liao Yu.
"Zhang Li, what are you doing here?"
Liao Yu frowned at him, a bad feeling rising in his heart.
Zhang Li bent his head and said something in Liao Yu's ear. Liao Yu looked astonished.
"Is what you're saying true?!"
Liao Yu grabbed Zhang Li's arm and asked in a low voice.
Zhang Li was almost in tears. "Boss," he said in a trembling voice, "how would I dare lie about something like this?!"
Liao Yu's expression shifted repeatedly. Finally, he said in Zhang Li's ear, "Go immediately and..."
After Zhang Li left, Liao Yu leaned close to Wu Dongrong's ear and whispered to him for a while.
Compared with Liao Yu, Wu Dongrong seemed much calmer. He listened to the end without a change of expression.
Only the veins bulging on the hand he had laid on the table betrayed him.
"Head Constable Liao, Jailer Wu, has something happened?"
A chief clerk at their table asked.
Liao Yu smiled. "Nothing serious. There was a little mishap at the constables' office, a minor problem."
Since he said so, the others at the table asked no more.
Time passed, and noon arrived.
The people in the restaurant murmured among themselves, wondering why the banquet had not started yet.
At the entrance to Moxian Tower, the proprietor waited anxiously.
Before long, he saw a figure appear at the street corner.
"Militia Commander Wu!"
The proprietor of Moxian Tower hurriedly raised a hand in greeting.
When Wu Shuangren drew near, the proprietor smiled and started forward to welcome him, only to widen his eyes and freeze in place.
Wu Shuangren wore new clothes, a saber at his waist, and carried a round bundle in his left hand.
His clothes were stained with conspicuous patches of blood, and blood was still dripping steadily from the bundle he carried.
Looking like that, he did not seem to have come for a banquet at all. He looked more like he had come seeking vengeance!
"Militia Commander Wu, you..."
"I've come for the banquet."
Wu Shuangren nodded to the proprietor and calmly walked into the restaurant.
"Militia Commander Wu is here!"
"Militia Commander Wu..."
When the people on the first floor saw Wu Shuangren, they rose to greet him, their manner warm.
But once they saw him clearly, their throats seemed to be seized by an unseen hand.
Wu Shuangren smiled and cupped his hands to the crowd. "Thank you all for coming to the banquet today!"
With that, he carried the bundle up to the second floor.
"What's going on?"
"Something's happened..."
"That thing in his hand..."
People murmured among themselves.
When Wu Shuangren reached the second floor, he likewise drew a host of astonished looks.
Luo You was standing guard outside the private room. When he saw Wu Shuangren, his expression changed, and his eyes fixed on the bundle dripping blood.
"Today is the day I, Wu, officially become commander of Bo County's militia. I am deeply grateful to all of you for coming to offer your congratulations."
Standing at the head of the stairs, Wu Shuangren circulated his Internal Skill and spoke loudly. "I was only delayed by a matter, so please forgive me-"
Liao Yu and Wu Dongrong had stood up the moment they saw Wu Shuangren, their expressions complicated.
The others also rose one after another, pointing at Wu Shuangren's clothes and the bundle in his hand as they whispered among themselves.
"Wu Shuangren!"
Hearing the commotion, Hong Fan rushed out of the private room and stared at him in disbelief.
"Young Master Hong."
Wu Shuangren met Hong Fan's gaze with the faintest hint of a smile.
Hong Fan gripped his folding fan tightly, veins bulging. "Where's Wei Laohei?"
Wu Shuangren did not answer. He went on as though Hong Fan had not spoken. "The day before yesterday, a tragedy took place at Butcher Zhang's home in the west of the city. Someone was overcome with lust and broke into Butcher Zhang's home with an accomplice. One injured Butcher Zhang while the other assaulted his wife..."
"Enough!!!"
Hong Fan cut him off sharply, pointing his folding fan at Wu Shuangren. "Do you know what you're doing?!"
"Of course I do."
Wu Shuangren's voice immediately pressed back against his. "But do you know what you're doing, Young Master Hong?"
"Ha?"
Hong Fan looked stunned, gripped by a powerful sense of unreality.
The talk around them grew more heated, and the expressions with which people looked at the two men turned subtle.
A strange atmosphere began to spread.
"Without my support, you still think you can be commander?"
Hong Fan spoke through gritted teeth.
He knew that the other man had ruined his first important appearance on life's stage!
Wu Shuangren looked toward the four officials who had also emerged from the private room. "I was personally chosen as commander by the four honored officials of Bo County: the county magistrate, the deputy magistrate, the chief registrar, and the county commandant. They support me as commander, so why shouldn't I hold the post?"
Local militias were, in essence, private troops maintained by powerful local families, but nominally they followed the government's command, and in theory their various posts were also assigned by the government.
Thus Wu Shuangren's words sounded perfectly grand and proper, and none of the four officials present could refute them.