Chapter Eighteen: The First Glimmer of Dawn

  First glimpse of dawn

  According to Wang Qi's account, it was this summer when he and his brothers went down the mountain to purchase goods that the incident occurred. Wang Qi usually liked to drink a few mouthfuls, so every time he went down the mountain, he would go alone to a wine shop called "Wen Xiang Zui" to buy a pot of wine, which he would slowly savor by himself after returning to the mountain. Because he was a regular customer, the owner of the wine shop greeted him as usual with a wave of his hand and said: "Come on in, Wang Ge! Come try some of my newly opened old wine!" Wang Qi couldn't resist the temptation of the fine wine and followed the owner into the warehouse behind the shop. As soon as he entered the room, he was held at gunpoint by someone hiding in the shadows and taken captive. Just as he was panicking, two men emerged from behind the stacks of goods - one fat and one thin. The fat man didn't mince words and said directly: "Listen up, you're going to be my eyes and ears in Hei Hu Zhai from now on. If you behave yourself, I'll guarantee your safety; otherwise..." He hummed a tune and continued: "Bring them in." Wang Qi was still feeling bewildered when four people were pushed into the room from outside - his parents and his wife and son, all with their hands tied behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with rags. When they saw Wang Qi, they wriggled their bodies and made muffled noises with their noses. Wang Qi saw that his loved ones were being held captive. He was taken aback and initially wanted to rush forward to rescue them, but he didn't do so - he knew it would be useless. As the saying goes: "Man is the cutting board, I am the fish; today I am that fish, that piece of meat."

  The skinny man saw that Wang Qi didn't have much of a reaction, so he went up and kicked him in the leg, cursing viciously: "Your grandma's! Don't you recognize them? Aren't they your parents and wife? What are you pretending to be? You don't want to save them? Fine, I'll kill them right now." After saying that, he pulled out a handgun and pressed it against Wang Qi's son's head.

  Wang Qi glared at the thin man and said angrily: "Speak, what can I do for you to let them go?"

  "Are you going to let them go?" The fat man sneered, "If I let them go, will you still serve me? They are my treasures. If I let them go, what can I use to threaten you? You wouldn't make such a losing deal, would you? But don't worry, as long as you obey me, they will be well-fed and warmly dressed. Otherwise... Hmph, you know what I'll do."

  Such a straightforward threat made Wang Qi abandon his last line of defense. He closed his eyes and said helplessly, "Okay, as long as you can ensure the safety of my family's lives, I'll listen to you." After finishing speaking, he actually started crying. He slowly knelt down in the direction of Black Tiger Peak, grasping his own hair with both hands, and painfully said, "Boss, sorry, I'm also being forced into a corner..."

  The skinny guy kicked Wang Qi again with a provocative attitude and said, "Damn it, what are you pretending to be? You've done something wrong, don't even think about setting up a chastity monument. I don't have time to watch your show."

  Enraged to the extreme, Wang Qi sprang up, swung his fist and hit Xiao Zi's face, then pinched Xiao Zi's neck with his left hand, pushed him onto the pile of goods, pointed at his nose with his right hand and said word by word: "You son of a bitch, do you believe it or not? Today I'm willing to risk my whole family's life just to kill you, this damned egg, and ruin your long-planned conspiracy in an instant."

  Everyone present was stunned by Wang Qi's actions. The fatty shouted loudly, "Quickly, pull him away, pull him away for me!" Several people beside the fatty hastily pulled Wang Qi away and held him up. Wang Qi still gnashed his teeth and roared, "I've already ended up like this, are you looking for trouble with me? Are you afraid of death?" Wang Qi's anger had completely ignited the fearlessness of his family members. Even Wang Qi's 14 or 15-year-old son nodded heavily along with his grandfather. Seeing all this, Wang Qi let out a miserable laugh and said, "It's good, our whole family will go to the Yellow Springs together, it's also quite carefree and happy. Let these dogs' sinister plans not come true."

  The thin man got up, rubbed his neck, shook his shoulders, and then punched Wang Qi's stomach with a fist. He let out a strange laugh and said: "Want to die together as a family? Okay! Is it from the old to the young or from the young to the old? You choose, tell me." He pulled out a dagger from his waist and placed it on Wang Qi's face, laughing strangely and saying: "Have you chosen yet? Or should I start with the young one? I'll cut off his flesh piece by piece, let him die slowly in agony, and make him enjoy my wonderful skills." He turned around and shouted: "Bring that kid over!" Then he said to Wang Qi again: "How about it? Shall we begin?" As he spoke, he placed the knife on the child's ear and drew a line with it, saying: "I think I'll start from here."

  Wang Qi's spirit had completely collapsed, he shouted desperately: "No, no, let him go! Let him go!" His voice grew smaller and smaller; "I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you..." He sat paralyzed on the ground, wailing in tears.

  The fat man who had not spoken finally spoke up, he slowly walked to Wang Qi's front and pulled him up with his hand, saying: "This is right, isn't it? Why must you fight against your own life? If you really get cut into 70 or 80 pieces here, can the brothers on your mountain still save you? Be more open-minded!"

  Wang Qi compromised, and the first thing he did was bring a letter and a photo to Hu Sancai.

  The foolish monk widened his eyes and asked: "A photo? Whose photo?"

  Before Wang Qi could speak, Yun Xiang Tian took over: "It's a photo of Hu Sancai's son. They want to use Hu Sancai's son to coerce Hu Sancai into stealing the Black Tiger Token."

  The wisdom of Yun Xiang Tian made Wang Qi extremely admiring, he glanced at Yun Xiang Tian and continued to say: "Mr. Yun said it's not wrong, they are indeed doing this. Hu San Cai was originally unwilling to do it, he even wanted to kill me, then rescue the child himself down the mountain. When he heard about my situation, he calmed down, saying that he was deeply trusted by the bandit chief and doing such a thing is truly worse than beasts, but there's no other way out. He decided to drag it on, but this is not a solution after all. Finally, one day they made me bring another letter to Hu San Cai, the letter said: if Hu San Cai doesn't send down the Black Tiger Token, they will kill his son and make the Hu family extinct without mercy. Hu San Cai was also helpless and sent the Black Tiger Token with me down the mountain. I know doing this will bring heavenly punishment, but I really have no other choice, I am deeply sinful and do not dare to ask the bandit chief to spare my dog life, only asking him to consider my many years of hard work in front of his horse and save my parents, wife, and children.

  Zhen Shantiger slapped Wang Qi with one palm, causing him to fall to the ground. He coldly smiled and said: "You only care about your own personal matters, disregarding the safety of the mountain stronghold. What use are you? However, I will make sure your family is rescued, so you can rest assured." After finishing speaking, he ordered his men to take him out and behead him.

  Yun Xiang Tian stretched out a hand to stop him, saying: "Wait a minute, Tiger's master, although Wang Qi's crime is unforgivable, he is the only clue that can lead us to the real culprit. I think it's better to spare his life for now and talk about it later." He turned around to face Wang Qi and said: "Wang Qi, you have a chance to avenge yourself now, are you willing to take it?"

  Wang Qi said without hesitation: "Yun Gongzi, as long as you can let me avenge my enemy, I, Wang Mou, will rush into boiling water and walk through fire, even if it means dying ten thousand times."

  "Alright, I'll give you this chance today," Yun Xiang Tian shouted loudly.

  At night, the Lingfeng City looked a bit desolate, with only the cold wind wandering on the streets, wantonly teasing the fallen leaves of deep autumn. The boss of Wenxiangzui opened the door of his bedroom leisurely. A girl? Yes, he saw a girl sitting on his bed, who was about twenty years old, looking delicate and charming, with a national beauty. When the girl saw someone coming in, she looked a bit flustered and said: "You...who are you? How did you get in?"

  People only knew that the boss of Wenxiangzui was surnamed Xia, because he was always smiling every day. Good people gave him a nickname called "Xia Kai Xin" based on his surname and characteristics. When Xia Kai Xin heard the girl's question, he first hesitated, looked around inside and outside the house, confirmed that he hadn't gone to the wrong place, and smiled: "Girl, you ask me who I am? I'd like to ask who you are? How did you get into my room?"

  The girl stared at him with a soft voice and said, "Nonsense, how could this be your room? I've been living here for almost sixty years, when did it become your room?"

  The girl's voice was as sweet as heavenly music, and he felt his heart racing with excitement, his back chilled to the bone. He trembled as he asked: "Y-you are...?"

  The girl smiled lightly and said: "You, what are you? What do you want to say? No matter how you put it, breaking into my room in the middle of the night can't be a good thing, right?" Suddenly, she clapped her hands lightly, and the smile on her face grew thicker. She looked a bit shy as she asked: "Oh, I see! Did he send you to deliver a message to me? It's been ages since I received a letter from him. Quick, quick, give it to me!"

  Sweat beads had already formed on his forehead, and he asked anxiously: "What letter? Who is he? Miss, this room really belongs to me, who are you? Did I walk into the wrong place?"

  The girl suddenly became furious, gritting her teeth and saying: "You're not here to deliver a message, yet you ask me who I am. Who are you, then? You keep saying this is your room. Is this mansion something that can be taken away from me, a young lady, just by saying so? You intruded into my room without permission, don't tell me you have some ulterior motive?"

  He secretly thought to himself: This place indeed has high walls and a deep courtyard, how could a woman possibly enter? Is he not human? Is he a ghost? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shiver. He didn't dare think further and stammered: "I don't know why you say this is your home? Since I bought this place nearly ten years ago, the land deed and house deed are all complete. How did it suddenly become your home?"

  That girl suddenly became sorrowful, and she muttered to herself: "How could you just buy the place? Don't even leave me a place to settle down? You're too heartless. I treated you with all my heart, but you treat me like this. In vain did I love you deeply and painfully. Who understands me, who knows me?" After finishing speaking, she covered her face and cried.

  He was ecstatic for a moment, but his mind was already racing with the feeling that something was off about today. He wanted to run, but his legs had gone soft and wouldn't listen to him, all he could do was stare wide-eyed as the girl slowly lifted her head. The girl's face turned deathly pale, tears streaming down her face, no, it was blood. Blood flowed down the girl's cheek, mixing with the blood flowing from her mouth, dripping constantly onto her clothes. The girl stood up, handed something to Xiang Kai Xin and said: "Look, this is the arm that was chopped off for you back then, do you still remember?"

  Blindly happy, he saw very clearly that it was a bloody and blurry arm. He took a cold breath and slowly fell to the ground, unconscious. After Blindly Happy fell down, the ghost-like girl let out a rhythmic coughing sound, followed by four human shadows crawling in from outside the courtyard wall.