The auspicious hour had arrived. Yet the wedding procession still showed no sign of setting out.
Niuwang was brought into the Assembly Hall, bound hand and foot. A henchman shoved hard from behind. “Kneel!”
Niuwang stood as firm as an iron mountain, exactly where he was.
The henchman, flushed with furious humiliation, struck him behind the knees with a club. Niuwang finally dropped to one knee.
Da Hu, his face dark with fury, rose from his chair and crossed the room with thunderous strides, seizing Niuwang by the collar.
“Speak — where are Er’hu and Xiao Hu?” Da Hu demanded, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.
“How would this humble one know?” Niuwang said with a furrowed brow. “You forced this humble one up the mountain to fix your father’s fate, and now you want this humble one to rescue your brothers as well — what exactly do you want? Do you really think this humble one is a clay monk who cannot fight back?”
“You would not know?” Da Hu’s face twisted with fury. “Ever since you set foot in this stronghold, every strange thing has happened! First Er’hu goes missing, then Xiao Hu goes missing — if not you — then who?!”
“Just because something happens after your neighbour moves in doesn’t mean it’s necessarily your neighbour’s fault!”
“I don’t even have the same surname as the neighbour!” Da Hu bellowed.
“And what does your surname have to do with this humble one?” Niuwang said, entirely puzzled.
Da Hu wanted nothing more than to crush that bald head in his bare hands.
“Men!” Da Hu shouted. “Round up another four hundred soldiers — armed — and go to the wedding location and bring everyone in. I want to see for myself what exactly was brought into this stronghold — dog or duck!”
The henchman captain received the order and hurried out the door to muster his men.
“You are not a good man!” Niuwang said with furious indignation. “You begged and pleaded until this humble one — out of great generosity — agreed to alter your family’s fortune. And now you turn your back on your word!”
“Since when do bandits count as good men? If you continue to be so obstinate, don’t blame me for showing you what Pingshan Stronghold’s dungeons look like!”
Niuwang stiffened his neck and declared, “Do with me as you please — this humble one is under the protection of the Youzhu Lay Devotee!”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Youzhu Lay Devotee or the Wuzhu Lay Devotee — even the Jade Emperor himself couldn’t save you!” Da Hu spat viciously. “Take him to the dungeon and open his mouth by whatever means necessary!”
Several henchmen immediately stepped forward, grabbed Niuwang, and shoved him roughly toward the door.
Niuwang was led to the northern end of the stronghold, far from the main compound, and brought to a stop before an iron door guarded by two henchmen.
“In you go!”
A kick landed on Niuwang from behind, and he was forced to duck his head and enter the gloomy, damp dungeon.
The stench of stagnant water and the faint tang of blood permeated every corner. The dungeon was dim, and most of the narrow cells stood empty, with only a scattered few containing figures in ragged clothing, gaunt to the bone.
They lay motionless on the ground, like corpses long since gone cold, the only sign of life the faint rise and fall of their chests.
As Niuwang walked past one of the occupied cells, he slowed to a stop.
“Keep moving! Hurry it up! Looking for a beating?!” the henchman behind him snapped harshly.
Niuwang spun on his heel. His bound hands swung up and slammed down on the henchman’s head with the force of a sledgehammer!
A single crushing blow sent the henchman rolling back with whites showing in his eyes. The other henchman behind him was startled and terrified, his voice jumping up an octave: “What do you think you’re doing?!”
Before the words had fully left his mouth, the iron door nearby swung open.
Two hands pressed simultaneously against the henchman’s jaw and the top of his head. A crisp crack rang out. Eyes staring wide, the man crumpled limply to the ground.
Li Que, who had just killed a man, stood expressionless in the spot where the henchman had been standing.
“Where is my teacher?” Niuwang said.
“Elder Brother asked me to take you out first.”
Li Que stripped off his tattered garment, pulled a dagger from inside his boot, and quickly sliced through the rope binding Niuwang’s hands.
“Hold on! The business between us hasn’t been settled yet!” Niuwang said.
“This is the agreed payment in gold.”
A bright, gleaming gold ingot flew from Li Que’s hand. Niuwang instinctively caught it.
The gold sat heavy in his hand, yet Niuwang did not immediately tuck it away.
“You’ve overpaid. The price we agreed on was —”
“That’s from Elder Brother.” Li Que cut him off. “Elder Brother says: if you and your men wish to return home, this money is your travel provisions. And Elder Brother also says —”
Li Que looked at Niuwang with gravity. “If you think well of him and are willing to follow him and make something of yourselves, then this money is what he owes you from last year’s military pay. From today onward, you follow him.”
Having witnessed the savagery of the Liao army and the corruption of the Yan army, Li Wu was like a torrent of mud and stones in a turbulent age, sweeping away Niuwang’s grim outlook on the future.
The sixteen military governors came from distinguished lineages, and the capable generals at their sides all boasted a variety of deep-rooted connections. He and his brothers, most of them with their backs to the sky and not a character of learning between them, would never be given important roles even if he brought his four hundred brothers to pledge allegiance — the more likely outcome was being used as cannon fodder, pushed to the front lines to die.
The imperial clansmen in panicked flight were even less worth mentioning. The lives of ordinary people had never once figured in their considerations. Struggling to keep themselves afloat as they were now, never mind protecting their own people — it would be considered a surviving conscience if they simply refrained from exploiting them further.
Li Wu had risen from the common folk, possessed outstanding ability, harboured grand ambitions, and yet was a man who held loyalty and fellowship dear.
He was the best choice Niuwang could see.
In the space of a moment, several thoughts had turned over in Niuwang’s mind. At last, he closed his hand around the gold ingot, and gave his answer with the weight of a solemn oath:
“I trust my teacher. I, Niuwang, am willing to stake my life and my brothers’ lives on him!”
“Good. Da Hu has dispatched half the able-bodied men in the stronghold, which means the interior defenses are now thin. This is the best moment to catch them in a trap.” Li Que said. “We first deal with the two guards at the door, then go to rescue Second Brother from the south courtyard. Once Second Brother is rescued, I ask Brother Niu to fire the signal flare and summon your brothers to storm the stronghold at once. We will then proceed to the Assembly Hall and attempt to capture the leader in one decisive strike.”
Niuwang thumped his chest resoundingly. “Leave it to thi— ah, leave it to me!”
He seemed to remember something and called out: “You’ve forgotten one more thing! After we rescue Li Kun, we still have to come back and rescue my teacher and his wife!”
“Rescue?” Li Que said. “They don’t need us to rescue them.”
“My teacher and his wife are no longer in the stronghold?” Niuwang’s mouth fell open.
“They are.” Li Que said. “They are in the safest place in the entire stronghold.”
“And what place is that?”
……
In the dim passageway, candlelight flickered and wavered.
From a wide stone chamber at the far end came the crisp, bright sound of someone contentedly cracking open sunflower seeds.
Li Wu’s lips worked with practiced ease, his tongue nimbly retrieving the seed kernel. The two empty shells fell naturally to the ground at his feet.
“A pity Diao’er isn’t here.” He remarked with a tone of genuine regret, and casually tossed the shell in his hand onto the floor.
Li Wu’s behavior incensed Er’hu, who lay trussed up like a cocoon on the ground. Er’hu said loudly and indignantly:
“You’re cracking seeds in the ancestral tomb of my Pingshan Stronghold’s founding forebears — you’d best watch out for divine retribution. You’ll be struck by lightning!”
Er’hu’s voice echoed inside the sealed stone chamber. Xiao Hu, who had similarly been bound hand and foot and lay nearby, showed no particular interest in Li Wu’s disrespect toward the ancestors. She said nothing, giving no outward sign of her thoughts as her eyes swept quietly over the surrounding space.
“If there truly were divine retribution —” Li Wu cracked open another sunflower seed without any urgency and crouched down in front of Er’hu, spitting out a pair of shells right in front of him. He curved the corner of his mouth into a contemptuous smile. “The retribution for the evils your ancestors committed has long since come down on your own heads.”
“The heavens are blind only because there are no heavens at all.” He rose to his feet and walked over to a stone coffin nearby, giving it a kick with his foot, then said with disdain: “When a person dies, the light goes out. The notion of retribution is nothing but a lie that the weak tell themselves for comfort. If you truly believed in retribution, how could you have done so much evil?”
He walked to stand before Xiao Hu and placed his foot on the end of the rope.
“Isn’t that so? Hua Muhu?”
Xiao Hu went rigid and did not move.
Li Wu crouched down and re-tied the rope that she had nearly worn through against the stone wall at her back.
“Third time’s the limit. Make me tie this a third time, and I’ll throw you straight into the stone coffin to keep the ancestors company.”
“Why do you call him Hua Muhu?” Er’hu asked with a look of bafflement.
“Because I feel like it.” Li Wu gave him a sideways glance, then stood up. “Stop chattering at me — we’re discussing serious business now.”
Er’hu’s face contorted with fury. “I’ve asked you over and over what you intend to do, and all the while you sat on my ancestors’ stone coffin wasting time cracking seeds, and now you say I’m the one chattering?”
Li Wu gave no indication of having heard a word. He said, “Your ancestors are here to bear witness — just say whether you want to live or die.”
“Of course I want to live!” Er’hu said furiously.
“Then pay money to ransom yourself.” Li Wu walked over and crouched down before him again. “That fine brother of yours seems to think the world would be better off without you — what do you think?”
“He wouldn’t dare!” Er’hu’s face went instantly grey. “My father won’t let him get away with it when he wakes up! And my mother won’t stand by and do nothing!”
“Your father — he first has to actually wake up for that to matter. And your mother — where exactly does your mother stand in this stronghold? Does she have any say?” Li Wu said. “You’ve been throwing your weight around all these years, throwing money around too, no doubt — you’ve put away quite a bit, haven’t you? I’m not asking for much. Give me ten thousand and that’ll do.”
“Dream on!”
Li Wu drew Er’hu’s own folding fan from his waist and began patting it repeatedly across Er’hu’s face.
He laughed coldly. “I don’t mind at all — if you want to die, I won’t stop you. After all, your elder brother has already paid Xiao Hu’s ransom, so I’ll profit either way. As for you — you’re both despised and looking for death. Even your ancestors up above couldn’t lay any blame on me for that.”
“You —” Er’hu was now glaring at Li Wu with raw hatred, and he split that hateful gaze to include Xiao Hu beside him as well.
“My time is precious. I’m counting to ten — live or die, you decide.” Without waiting for Er’hu to react, Li Wu started counting at once. “Ten, nine, eight…”
“The fighting has started outside!” Shen Zhuxi, who had been crouched at the entrance to the passage keeping watch and not daring to go in, came hurrying inside with urgency. “I can hear sounds!”
Li Wu leapt instantly from eight to three.
His impatient voice echoed through the burial chamber, like a death summons delivered straight from the King of Hell himself.
“Three, two —”
Er’hu’s face went ashen. He cried out:
“I’ll pay! I’ll pay!”
“Pay then.” Li Wu held out his hand.
“I don’t have ten thousand silver taels on me! Let me out and I’ll —”
“Do you think I’m a fool? If you can’t produce ten thousand taels right now, I’ll send you on your way this very instant.”
Li Wu drew the dagger from his waist. Er’hu immediately abandoned every last trick, and said in a trembling voice: “My folding fan — the jade pendant on the fan! Take it to Wanfu Silver House and you can redeem three thousand taels of gold!”
With his defenses entirely shattered, Er’hu could not hold back his tears:
“That was everything I’d saved over a lifetime…”
Li Wu snapped the red cord and pocketed the jade pendant.
“This one is your own fault, you know. Wealth is an external thing — lose it once and you can earn it back!” he said, his tone entirely unapologetic and full of self-righteous conviction.
“A person ought to be like me — treat money as so much dirt beneath your feet and set your gaze on something loftier. Don’t let yourself be moved by petty gains.”
Robbing a bandit inside a bandit’s own lair — the sheer audacity was beyond bearing!
Er’hu had never in his life encountered such a brazen, shameless individual. He was so furious he could do nothing but weep in wretched despair.
Oh ancestors up above — could you not send a bolt of lightning down to strike this thief dead?