Seeing such a horrific scene, Chu Niu’s companions were all terrified. Seeing his long blade pointing toward Han Zhe, they let out a shout and charged to kill Han Zhe. Liu Fang flashed to block the still-smiling Han Zhe, drew his horizontal sword, and protected him.
Han Zhe pushed Liu Fang aside. He didn’t even glance at those water bandits charging over, but instead watched with great interest Chu Niu standing in the water, as if waiting for something.
With one hand, Chu Niu tore off his inner garment, twisted it into a rope, and used both his hand and teeth to bind it around his right arm that kept spurting fresh blood. The white hemp garment was immediately soaked red with blood. The bloody smell stimulated those mosquitoes and flies to swarm madly toward him. Chu Niu, who hated Han Zhe to the extreme, couldn’t care about these things. He picked up the horizontal sword again, wanting to fight Han Zhe to the death.
An iron chain suddenly stretched across between Han Zhe and those water bandits. Liu Fang’s pupils contracted. Two giant bald men, drool flowing from the corners of their mouths, laughing “hehe,” stood up from underground. With one step they crossed the deep pit. Iron chains as thick as children’s arms were swung horizontally and smashed heavily into the crowd. Blood mist exploded. The two iron chains crossed like black dragons, whipping the crowd again and again. At first there were still shrill screams, but in moments the screams stopped abruptly. Only the dull sound of iron chains smashing on the ground remained, mixed with the crisp sound of bones shattering.
Han Zhe disgustedly shook off a piece of bloody flesh from his sleeve, turned his head and said to Liu Fang: “Han Nu are like this—they love killing people very much. Once they start killing, they can’t think of anything else. They truly deserve death.”
Liu Fang looked at the two mountain-of-flesh-like strong men, his mouth agape in astonishment. Since ancient times there had been legends of Yellow Turban strongmen. Lord Xinling had heroes who could strike down Jin Bi. Zhang Liang also had iron hammer strongmen. He hadn’t expected them to appear alive before him, and two of them at once. Their resources were so formidable—no wonder the Emperor and Yun Ye proceeded so carefully step by step.
“This old slave was short-sighted just now. Please forgive me, Young Master.” Liu Fang had already very consciously placed himself in the position of steward. Han Zhe was very satisfied with Liu Fang’s self-awareness. He pointed at Chu Niu hurrying at the water’s edge and said: “Look, this is a cornered beast still fighting.”
“There were originally only two alligators in the lake. Later, Han Nu caught two more. I thought I could clean them all up without deploying Han Nu, but these people never follow my plan. And Yun Ye can always carry out his purpose to the end. Speaking of it, I’m not as good as him.”
Hearing his words, Liu Fang quickly turned his head toward the lakeside. Sure enough, Chu Niu had already been caught in a dragon’s mouth, struggling desperately. Unfortunately, he had lost too much blood after all, and was still dragged into the water by the last dragon. Under the water surface churned up great amounts of mud and sand. Large streams of blood dyed the water surface completely red. Under the pale moonlight, it appeared especially sinister. The mountain goat used as bait still hadn’t died, still bleating. The sound carried far.
Han Zhe shouted loudly toward the rocks behind: “Does anyone else have objections to me being the supreme leader?”
Without needing to shout a second time, a large group of people walked out from behind the rocks, silently kneeling on one knee and shouting loudly: “We greet the Supreme Leader!”
“From now on, whatever Master Han says is my command. You must obey, otherwise don’t blame me for being merciless.” Liu Fang saw Han Zhe pointing at him as he spoke, so he stepped forward, waiting for Han Zhe’s further orders.
“Rob civilian ships, collect supplies, await the right time.” Han Zhe’s order was simple and clear. Liu Fang acknowledged. When he straightened up, he saw that Han Zhe had already taken the two giant Han Nu into the main stronghold.
Giant eagles, Han Nu—this was just the tip of the iceberg of what these people had revealed. Just one Han Zhe coming out had thrown the Great Tang’s court and countryside into unrest. If their forces fully deployed, who knew how astonishing it would be? The worried expression on Liu Fang’s face grew heavier and heavier.
“If you dare steal my doll again, I’ll beat you.” Xiao Ya domineeringly snatched her cloth rabbit doll from Shi’er’s hands. This was made from a pattern her brother personally drew, crafted by a master artisan, stuffed full of snow-white cotton—it was specially given to her as a birthday present. She wouldn’t even let Xiao Wu touch it, let alone this delicate and affected Shi’er.
The male students at the academy were all blind. What was so good about such a crybaby punching bag? As soon as she appeared, those male students one by one became upright gentlemen who looked straight ahead. Fellows who wolfed down their food would immediately become extremely refined. Those with messy hair would spit on their hands and smooth it down. Most infuriating was getting food—as soon as she appeared, the fellow at the very front would definitely shout loudly: “Miss Shi’er, come get your food here. The food in the women’s dining hall isn’t good.” Although this would draw the cook’s displeasure and he’d vengefully give them only a small spoonful of broth, these fellows still enjoyed it endlessly.
“Xiao Ya, your cloth rabbit doll is so cute. Where did you buy it? I’ll have my father buy me one too.” Through these days of understanding, Shi’er also knew that Xiao Ya had this kind of temperament—sharp-tongued but extremely kindhearted. Several times it was Xiao Ya who dragged her to finish running their laps.
Mentioning the doll, Xiao Ya became extremely proud. Praising the rabbit doll made her happier than praising herself. After hesitating for a long time, she handed the rabbit to Shi’er, saying: “You can only hold it for a little while. My brother personally made this for me. It’s a rabbit! There’s only one like this in the world. Shishi’s is a tiger, Xiao Wu’s is a bear. Hahaha, the funniest is Xiao Jie’s—it’s a turtle carrying a fork. Dongnan Xibei’s are all pigs. Only my rabbit is the prettiest. Xiao Nan wanted to trade with me, but I wouldn’t trade. I used to raise a pig called Hanhan. In the end it died of obesity, so I’ll never raise pigs again.”
Shi’er carefully held the rabbit, gently stroking its ears, her eyes full of envy: “Your brother knows so much. The brothers in my family are all fools. With great difficulty we have one smart brother, but he’s always away. I’ve seen your brother. It was he who agreed to let me enter the academy. He’s a very good person.”
“Of course! My brother is the smartest person in the world, very very capable. Do you know? When I was young, my brother wasn’t home—he was learning skills from his old teacher. Others all bullied me and Grandmother, and Daya too. Later my brother found us and brought all those bad people who bullied us to kneel at our door. I even kicked that fat young master who always bullied Xiao Nan. Heehee, they didn’t dare dodge—they just knelt there stiffly shouting ‘Miss, spare us!’ Later my brother took us out on the street, put me on his shoulders. We were having such fun when a bad person wanted to bully Sister Yiniang. In the end, my brother almost beat him to death. At the time I was very scared, but also very happy…”
Between young girls, once trust was established, they had endless things to talk about. Just as Xiao Ya was showing off the delicious food at home to Shi’er, Xiao Wu walked in, snatched the rabbit from Shi’er’s hands, stuffed it back to Xiao Ya, and said angrily: “Normally you guard it so tightly—I can’t even hold it for a while. Now you’re being generous. You’ve dirtied my little bear, and I haven’t even said anything. Since you don’t let others touch it, it’s best if no one touches it. Master said this is a matter of principle.”
Xiao Ya awkwardly held the rabbit, not knowing what to do. Shi’er saw things weren’t going well, so she ducked and walked out. Xiao Ya muttered that Xiao Wu didn’t give her any face at all.
“Stop muttering. Master sent a letter telling me to watch over you and Shishi. One is a pushover, the other is a troublemaker. I don’t know what evil I committed to be dragged down by you two. No wonder I’m not happy.”
“Don’t learn to talk like Sister-in-law. She’s like that all day, complaining. Clearly she’s happy as a flower, but she’s always grumbling, as if we all owe her something. My ears have grown calluses from hearing it. Coming to the academy was more than half because of her—I didn’t want to hear her nagging.”
Xiao Wu could only put her arm around Xiao Ya’s shoulder and say: “I know. Master isn’t home. Xiao Jie is as cunning as a fox and won’t suffer losses. It’s you and Shishi who are most worrying. That Shi’er is strange and eerie. Don’t associate with her so much in the future. Today she actually dared to enter our dormitory—what nerve!”
The two quickly became happy again. Xiao Wu held the rabbit and wouldn’t let go, saying she wanted to compensate herself properly. Watching Xiao Wu pull the rabbit’s ears and press down its nose, Xiao Ya’s heart ached…
Di Renjie lay in his master’s bedroom. Whenever Master wasn’t there, this room belonged to him. Holding that heavy eagle claw, he lightly scratched the floor tiles, not knowing what he was thinking about. His father, Di Zhixun, had already entered the court as an official, but he himself had become very unaccustomed to life at home. He always felt the house lacked vitality—it was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. After staying home for three days, he hurriedly rushed back to the academy. Perhaps the Yun household was more like his home.
Master didn’t know how things were at Dongting Lake now. Thinking of that fellow who couldn’t be killed even by an eight-ox crossbow, Di Renjie was filled with worry. With powerful enemies on all sides, he didn’t know if Master could handle them. Last time Master took risks and won a round by luck. If the island affair showed even the slightest flaw, Master would be utterly defeated.
Should I go to Yuezhou to help Master? Di Renjie rolled from the edge of the bed to the inside, waving the eagle claw in his hand a couple times. But seeing Master’s letter at the head of the bed, he immediately sighed. That exciting life had nothing to do with him. He still had to watch over the household to ensure nothing went wrong. How helpless! Baobao never seemed to grow up, and Master apparently had no plans to take more disciples. He had to watch the house. The academy didn’t need his attention, but the household still did—he was the only male.
He heard that annoying reed whistle sound again. That Xiao Wu—didn’t she know how to be a bit more settled? Wasn’t having that fool Hou Jie to order around enough? Did she have to make this young master come out?
Sticking his bottom up as he lay at the dog hole, listening to the long list Xiao Wu recited from the other side of the dog hole, his scalp went numb. Taking the bear doll inside was one thing, but why did she need a hand crossbow? Master forbade casual use of those. If something went wrong with that thing, people could die. It wouldn’t do!
Female students of Yushan Academy weren’t permitted to walk out the academy gates. Male students naturally had no problem. But taking a hand crossbow from home, and the kind made of soft steel—the key to the armory was in Master’s wife’s hands. Being able to get it out would be the strange thing.