Dull thunder rumbled intermittently in the sky, and the light dimmed as clouds thickened—rain was likely by evening.
“It won’t come until night,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, watching the maid rise to take her leave.
“Forgive me for disturbing you, my lady,” the maid said again, bowing her head in full remorse.
The other maids looked just as remorseful, though Ban Qin couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“That’s why it’s said people are scarier than thunder,” she said with a laugh, raising a hand to cover her mouth. “I’m usually not afraid of thunder at all.”
“I was already awake by then,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied. “It wasn’t really a disturbance.”
The maid gave an embarrassed smile and withdrew.
“I’ll go see her out,” another maid offered.
This sort of thing had usually been her responsibility, so Ban Qin paused and watched the maid step down from the veranda.
“Miss, would you like to write?” she then turned and asked. “I’ve already tidied the study.”
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded, and the two of them headed off toward the study together.
The maid followed the other maid out the door.
“Don’t see me off. Go back inside,” the maid smiled.
The maid reached out and grabbed her, her expression complicated.
“Are you really going to be gone for several days?” she asked.
Once again asking this, the maid’s expression turned serious.
“What’s really going on?” she asked.
The maid lowered her gaze.
“It’s nothing,” she said, shaking her head, then looked up and smiled. “I just keep thinking that if the old master is in the capital, Miss will have someone to rely on. After all, the business is getting bigger, and the relatives are so unreliable.”
The maid looked at her and smiled.
So what if the relatives are unreliable?
So what if the Taoist temple is full of danger?
“Don’t be afraid,” she said, reaching out to pat the maid’s arm. “Just listen to Miss, and there’s nothing to fear.”
The maid looked at her.
“Sister,” she hesitated for a moment before speaking, “have you… seen someone killed?”
She wasn’t just a naive girl. How could a clap of thunder have frightened her so much? People are the ones who truly scare people.
The maid looked at her and gave a small smile.
“I’ve only seen people bring misfortune upon themselves, and heaven doesn’t show mercy,” she said.
As expected, the heavy rain began pouring down at sunset, and the dense crowd in the streets quickly dispersed.
In a courtyard, a man hurriedly rushed in through the rain, removing his bamboo hat and rain cloak.
“Zhu Wu,” several men inside the room called out in an unfriendly tone, “If the money isn’t delivered soon, we’ll have to bury one of our brothers.”
The man called Zhu Wu laughed loudly, tossing a pile of money onto the floor with a clatter, indicating it was quite a large sum.
The expressions of the men inside the room softened slightly.
“It’s my oversight. I didn’t expect there would be several tough men over there, and that you all would be startled,” Zhu Wu said with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “This money is to help calm your nerves.”
His polite words, however, had an undercurrent that sounded somewhat harsh.
“Bah, tough men? It’s just that we were careless for a moment,” the leader spat, his face wrapped in a circle of white cloth covering his nose, making him look rather comical. As he spoke, the movement pulled at his wound, causing him to bare his teeth in pain. His anger flared even more. “I’ll make them pay, or else I might as well forget about living in this capital city!”
“Wang Da, it’s inevitable to suffer a bit,” Zhu Wu chuckled. “Don’t get too worked up.”
This remark was undoubtedly more of an insult, and a few ruffians grumbled angrily, about to stand up.
“Zhu Wu, you don’t need to insult me with your words,” Wang Da grunted. “I embarrassed myself, so I’ll make sure to get it back. It has nothing to do with whether or not I take your money.”
If you don’t take the money, would you idiots really be willing to do this for nothing? You ruffians really think you’re some kind of tough men?”
Zhu Wu sneered inwardly, but his face remained in the same smile.
“Wang Da, you’ve misunderstood. That’s not what I meant. What I meant is, if you’re going to vent, you might as well throw a punch or two,” he said.
Wang Da gave a surprised grunt and looked at Zhu Wu.
“Then what can we do about it?” he asked.
“There’s the government,” Zhu Wu replied with a smile.
Wang Da froze for a moment, then quickly seemed to realize something, his face clearing in understanding.
After seeing Zhu Wu off, the men in the room couldn’t wait to dump the bundle of money out. The large amounts of cash scattered on the floor made their eyes light up.
“Seems like this Tai Ping Residence is really a thorn in someone’s side, to have someone pay so much to deal with it,” one ruffian said.
“Looks like they’re not just going to deal with it,” Wang Da said, touching his wounded nose and grinning maliciously. “They’re going to swallow it whole.”
Cause trouble, draw the attention of the government, and end up in prison—such a place was easy to enter but hard to get out of.
“Enough. Pack up, get some people, and let’s go take revenge!” He grabbed a handful of money from the floor and tossed it into the air, causing a ruckus as the ruffians scrambled and fought to grab it.
After the heavy rain, the road was a bit muddy, but this didn’t stop Wang Da and the others from deliberately arriving at Tai Ping Residence around mealtime.
“Something’s not right… why is no one here?”
Looking at the quiet front of the place, several of them stopped and said.
Wang Da also dismounted, scanning the surroundings.
What had that brothel girl once sung? “The door is cold and lonely, the carriages few…”
Just then, someone on the second floor stuck their head out.
“…We are temporarily closed for business. Please find another place to stay.”
Closed for business?
Wang Da looked up at the second floor and saw it was a waiter.
The waiter also saw them, and immediately let out a loud shout before quickly retracting his head and disappearing inside.
That shout was undoubtedly a declaration of war.
The enemy had retreated, so why not seize the moment and fight?
The ruffians didn’t need Wang Da to instruct them; years of experience had them immediately surround the front of the restaurant, starting to shout and make a racket.
“…Open the door…”
“…Are you going to hide after beating someone?”
“…Is no one going to do something about this injustice?”
The door was being pounded with a loud clattering, and people on the street turned to look, though no one dared to approach and inquire.
Wang Da stood in front of the door, his large, pig-like head tilted back as he stared at a window that was slightly open on the door.
“Is that it? You beat someone, and now you’re scared? What about my injuries, don’t you care about them?” he shouted loudly. “Tell your boss to come out!”
Someone upstairs peeked their head out, seemingly startled by the commotion outside, but quickly pulled back in.
This time, despite the curses, no one came out.
“Bro, they’re hiding, not willing to confront us. Making a scene around the door won’t do any good.” A ruffian stepped up in front of Wang Da and whispered, “Even if the officials come, there’s nothing we can do.”
Wang Da glared fiercely at the restaurant in front of him and spat on the ground.
“Smash the door and charge in!” he commanded.
The ruffians shouted in agreement and charged toward the front door, with some heading toward the side and back doors.
The sound of banging and crashing echoed as they slammed against the door.
“Be smart, don’t kill anyone directly. Just break their limbs or something, and remember to find the right moment to fall down too…” Wang Da cautioned.
“Don’t worry, bro. It’s not our first time.” The ruffians laughed.
Accompanied by their response, the door was suddenly knocked down with a loud crash.
“Son of a bitch…”
A few ruffians cursed as they charged in, but before the words had even left their mouths, a scream rang out. The three men at the front fell backward, crashing into the others following behind, causing a pile-up at the door.
The sudden chaos threw everyone into confusion, with shouting, cursing, yelling, and laughing all mixed together. Then, a sharp voice pierced through the noise.
“…They’ve killed someone…”
Killed someone?
Wang Da, who had been watching with some satisfaction as his men rushed inside, froze for a moment.
“Damn it, didn’t I say take it easy…” he spat and cursed, raising his foot to head in that direction. But as he got closer, he suddenly stopped, his expression shocked and filled with disbelief.
Seven or eight of the ruffians had slowly retreated, allowing Wang Da to clearly see what had happened in front of the door.
Three of the ruffians lay on their backs, their eyes wide open in shock, with arrows sticking out of their necks. They were unmistakably dead.
Inside the door, three figures were slowly approaching, each holding a hunting bow. The somewhat rough, unpolished arrowheads were aimed directly at Wang Da.
Wang Da recognized the one in the lead as the person who had punched him and shattered his nose.
At this moment, the man was still wearing the same old blue cloth shirt from that day, his expression calm, neither happy nor angry. He took slow, deliberate steps forward.
“You… what do you want to do?” Wang Da shouted, his mind buzzing.
What’s going on? What’s happening?
They came to cause trouble, and he had specifically told them not to kill anyone. How did his men end up being shot dead in the blink of an eye?
“You dare kill someone in broad daylight!” one of the ruffians next to Wang Da shouted, trembling and shrieking.
Xu Maoxiu looked at him and gave a slight smile.
“Why? You’re not afraid?” he asked. Before the words had even left his mouth, the bowstring in his hand thrummed, and the arrow was released.
The crude hunting bow, in the strength of those arms, shot the arrow fiercely, and it didn’t just pierce the man’s body—one of the ruffians standing behind saw the arrow tip break through his clothes, stained with blood and flesh.
The ruffian gagged, fell to the ground, and screamed as he scrambled away, his movements frantic.
Wang Da was speechless, feeling as if he were in a dream, the worst nightmare of his life.
What’s going on? This was supposed to be the easiest thing, but how did it end up like this?
It was just a fight, causing some trouble—how did it escalate to the point of using deadly weapons…?
These outsiders really don’t know the rules!
“You killed someone… you dared kill someone… you dared kill someone…” he repeatedly muttered, his eyes, wrapped in a medical cloth, filled with terror.
“You don’t even deserve to be called a human! You’re thieves!” Xu Maoxiu shouted, then drew another arrow, nocking it on his bow and aiming at Wang Da. He stepped forward sharply, closing the distance. “Tell me, who sent you here… to steal my shop’s secret recipe!”
His tone started weak, but when he asked who sent them, he suddenly raised his voice, causing Wang Da and the others to hear a ringing in their ears, and they couldn’t quite catch the rest of the sentence.
Wang Da and the others looked at the three men in front of them. In their hands were crude, rough bows, seemingly hastily made, and one man even had an arrow without an iron tip. But looking at the four ruffians who had quickly fallen around them, no one doubted that, even if it were just a stick, these men could take their lives.
Not only were they skilled, but they also had ruthless hearts.
If he had known this would happen, he would never have been so greedy for money and acted recklessly!
Seeing that the ruffians in front of him were already terrified out of their wits, Xu Maoxiu stepped forward again.
“Tell me, who sent you?” he demanded.
“It was Zhu Wu!” Wang Da blurted out.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Maoxiu’s arrow was released with a whoosh, the long arrow piercing Wang Da’s throat with pinpoint accuracy.
Wang Da collapsed, reaching out in front of him, clawing twice before his eyes widened and he died in a final gasp.
Why? He revealed the mastermind, yet he was still killed?
