Chapter 28: The Brothers' Quarrel

  In the inn, Ma Fei and Zhao Erhu were still fast asleep with their heads covered.

  Li Guoting stormed into the inn with a furious face, and as soon as he entered the room, he turned around to close the door and walked up to the bed closest to the entrance.

  The one sleeping on the bed was Zhao Erhu, he had a habit, every time before going to sleep, he liked to bury his head in the quilt. It is said that when he was young, he listened to the old people in the village tell ghost stories too much, so he was afraid and didn't dare to stretch his head out of the quilt.

  He also has a bad habit, which is snoring while sleeping. Although he's not old, his snores are as loud as an adult's. Fortunately, Li Guoting himself also snores, so it doesn't affect him much.

  Just as Li Guoting stepped in front of Zhao Erhu's bed, he was still having a good dream. The snoring sound was so sweet and he was sleeping very soundly.

  Li Guoting couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, stepped forward, and with one swift motion, pulled down the quilt covering Zhao Erhu's head. He grabbed Zhao's collar and with a burst of strength, lifted him off the bed.

  "You're a good one, Zhao Erhu! What a wonderful thing you've done!" Li Guoting glared at him with anger and resentment.

  Zhao Erhu, who was sleeping soundly, was suddenly pulled out of the warm quilt by Li Guoting and woke up with a start. As soon as he opened his sleepy eyes, he was met with a loud shout from Li Guoting, which left him stunned. He stared at Li's triangular eyes, took a closer look, and realized that it was none other than his sworn brother Li Guoting who had pulled him out of the warm quilt.

  "Big brother, what's wrong?" Zhao Erhu asked in surprise.

  "What's going on? You little scoundrel, you're asking me? Tell me, what did you do to that kid from the Feng family? Speak up!" Li Guoting was furious, his eyes blazing red as he glared at Zhao Erhu.

  Zhao Erhuo hadn't come back to his senses yet: "What Feng...Feng family?" He asked with a surprised expression, his mouth agape.

  "You damned Second Tiger, you've been fooling me!" As he spoke, Li Guoting swung his palm and slapped Zhao Erhu's sleeping face.

  With a "slap", this slap hit Zhao Erhu, who was in a daze, and his eyes were filled with stars. Zhao Erhu hurriedly covered his face with his hand and stared at him with triangular eyes, asking: "You... why did you hit me?"

  "Beat you, beating you is nothing. I'm asking you, didn't you fail to release Young Master Feng and that old servant? Didn't you secretly kill both of them?" Li Guoting angrily interrogated.

  "Kill? What's there to kill? Can't we all just get along?" Zhao Erhu was still pretending to be clueless.

  "It's all good, it's all good. You're deceiving me, and it's all good. The police station has put up a wanted notice on the street, which clearly says that two young men kidnapped Feng Dengke, extorted 50 silver dollars from the Feng family, and killed Feng Dengke and an old servant in a brick kiln. What's going on?" Li Guoting shouted.

  Zhao Erhu finally understood that he and Ma Fei had secretly killed the two hostages, it seemed that Big Brother Li Guoting had found out.

  He turned his face and looked at Ma Fei, who was still asleep, and did not dare to say that it was Ma Fei's order, so he stammered and said: "It...it was me who killed them."

  Li Guoting heard this and pushed Zhao Erhu heavily onto the bed, shouting at him: "You bastard, who told you to do this? Didn't I tell you that we shouldn't harm people's lives after taking their silver? Why did you still want to kill them? You're really ruthless. I...I..." Li Guoting was so angry that his temples were bulging with veins, and he raised his hand to hit Zhao Erhu again. Just then, a hand reached out from behind him and grabbed his wrist, pulling it back down.

  "Big brother, don't get angry first, killing those two people was my idea, and it was done by me and Second Tiger together."

  Ma Fei didn't know when he got up, and from behind Li Guoting, he caught the palm of Li Guoting's raised hand.

  Li Guoting turned around in surprise, looked at Ma Fei and asked: "Second brother, didn't I tell you to let them go after taking their money? Why do you want to kill them?"

  "Big brother, don't get excited, don't shout loudly, this is an inn. If outsiders find out, the three of us will be caught and beheaded. Come on, sit down first, calm your mind and listen to me." Ma Fei seemed to not care, he reached out his hand and pressed Li Guoting to sit on Zhao Erhu's bed.

  "Big brother, this matter can't be blamed on Third Brother, it was all my idea. It's not that I didn't follow big brother's intention to release them, releasing them wouldn't be difficult, untying the ropes and they would leave. What I'm afraid of is that our three faces have been remembered by them, big brother hasn't been in the jianghu before, doesn't know how treacherous people can be. I've experienced it myself. If we release those two men, would the Feng family willingly let us three take their 50 taels of silver? Would they not report to the authorities? Moreover, that place is only a few miles from the county town, before we even escape the village, it's possible that the people who will catch us have already arrived. Think about it, big brother, relying on your and my brother's two pairs of legs, can we outrun the officials' horses? Can we avoid the police's guns? To be absolutely safe, we can only kill them and destroy all evidence. Therefore——."

  "So you and Second Tiger killed them all." Li Guoting finally understood, turned his face and asked Ma Fei.

  "Yes, we must kill them and leave no survivors. Now Big Brother doesn't understand, but in the future when Big Brother walks around Jianghu, he will understand everything." Ma Fei said.

  "Yes, big brother, second brother is right. If we let those two go back, we still don't know where we are now." Zhao Erhu looked at Li Guoting and said.

  Li Guoting remained silent after hearing this.

  Ma Fei saw this and said: "Did big brother hear something?"

  "I woke up early. I couldn't sleep, my heart was racing, so I got out of bed and looked outside to see that the sky had already brightened. I thought about going to the street to buy some breakfast for everyone. Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked to the other side of the street, I saw someone posting something on the wall. Passersby gathered around to watch, and I also joined in to take a look. I couldn't read, so I didn't know what was written on the white paper with black characters. Later, someone read it out loud, and that's when I understood. It turned out to be a wanted notice from the police station, which said that two young men from outside had kidnapped and murdered the son of the Feng family in Guanzhen Village, Da Zhuang County, and an old servant, extorted a ransom, and escaped. The notice asked people along the way to catch them if they saw any suspicious objects. There were also drawings of the two men on it. However, I thought one of them looked a bit like me, and the other looked a bit like Zhao Erhu. So I quickly rushed back to ask Erhu." Li Guoting told Ma Fei and Zhao Erhu about what had happened.

  Ma Fei stood up, his right hand supporting his chin, and said to Li Guoting: "Big brother, it seems that our affair has been discovered."

  Zhao Erhu listened to Ma Fei's words and became afraid in his heart. He quickly got out of bed, put on his shoes, and said to Ma Fei: "Second brother, what should we do then? I don't want to be caught by the police and thrown into a big prison."

  Ma Fei pressed Zhao Erhu down onto the bed again and said, "Since we three have already sworn to be brothers for life and death, then we can't have thoughts of being afraid to die. However, things having reached this point, we also can't stay here any longer. I estimate that the city gate will also post a wanted notice. It's best if we hurry up and leave."

  Li Guoting asked: "Second brother, you've run more places than us and know more things. Give everyone an idea, where should we go? How to get there?"

  Ma Fei thought for a moment and said: "Big brother, the three of us can't walk together, that's too conspicuous. We'd better scatter and go our separate ways."

  "Each going their own way? The three of us are parting ways?" Zhao Erhuo asked in puzzlement.

  "It's not a separation, we three will separate and leave the city one by one. This way, they won't be able to catch us easily," Ma Fei said. "According to Big Brother, they have drawn pictures of two people, if we separate, it'll become just one person. I think they won't be able to catch us."

  "Where shall we go then?" Li Guoting asked again.

  "We're going to Chongqing. Let's meet at Chaotianmen Dock. It's not far from Chongqing, a day's journey. Big Brother will go first. I and Second Tiger will follow later. It's best to take a horse carriage or something like that. Don't draw attention to ourselves. If we leave now, we should be able to arrive by nightfall. Everyone find their own place to stay, tomorrow afternoon, we'll meet at Chaotianmen Dock again, where we can buy tickets for the boat to Hankou. I heard they're recruiting soldiers there, the three of us will go sign up." Ma Fei said.

  "Alright, I think Second Brother's opinion is good, let's do it this way." Li Guoting nodded in agreement.

  "I agree too," said Zhao Erhu.

  "Then let's hurry up and move, big brother, you go first. Remember, tomorrow afternoon, Chao Tian Wharf, if we don't see each other, it will be a mess." Ma Fei said to Li Guoting.

  "Alright, Second Brother, Third Brother, I'll take my leave first." Li Guoting stood up, gathered his belongings and headed for the door. As he reached the doorway, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask Ma Fei: "Second Brother, I've never been to Chongqing before, how do I get there?"

  "Hey, big brother, isn't the road just under your nose? Can't you ask and find out?" Ma Fei said.

  "Hmm." Li Guoting nodded and turned around to leave the room.

  Zhao Erhu also packed up his things and said to Ma Fei: "Second brother, I'll go first too."

  "Slow down, Second Brother, let Big Brother go first. We two will walk together." Ma Fei said.

  "Shall we go together? What if we get caught?" Zhao Erhu was a bit worried.

  "It won't. Just now, didn't big brother say that one of the two people drawn on the wanted poster looked a bit like him? That's to say, as long as there isn't my portrait, you follow me and nothing will happen. If someone asks, just say he's my little buddy." Ma Fei said.

  "Alright, I'm your little buddy. I remember." Zhao Erhu said.

  "Em, that's it. We two should also hurry up and leave. This is a place of right and wrong, can't stay." Saying this, Ma Fei and Zhao Er Hu gathered their things and went out the door together.

  Everything went smoothly, and Li Guoting hitched a ride on a horse-drawn carriage heading to Chongqing in the morning. When they left the city gate, they didn't arouse the suspicion of the soldiers on patrol, and they headed towards Chongqing.

  Ma Fei calmly led Zhao Erhu to a local gangster organization, where he reported his grandfather's name. Fortunately, the leader of the gangster organization had heard of Ma Fei's grandfather's name and asked them where they were going. Ma Fei said they wanted to go to Chongqing and hoped that the brothers in the gangster organization could help them get there.

  The boss of the gang then sent someone to hurry up a horse cart and had Ma Fei and Zhao Erhu sent out of the city, heading for Chongqing.