Three sips of wine later, Hei San finally interrupted, “Shixiong Liu, you needn’t be too harsh on him. I’ve already asked for people to sack him from the Miscellaneous Department, take all Spirit Stones and gold on him, and give him a good beating every three days paired with a small beating every two, so I’m sure he’s endured enough punishments before coming to you. You shouldn’t do this now that he’s come here to apologize. Besides, it would be all the more troublesome if he were to die here under your beatings….”

　　“Heh heh, it wouldn’t be fun if I were to beat him to death today anyway. Gotta keep this mutt here a bit longer.” Coldly, Liu laughed again. “That brat is dead, and it’s such a pity he didn’t die under my hands. So unfortunately, I’m left with only this fat pig to vent my anger on. His fault for not knowing who to befriend. Humph, Shidi Yu Sanliang, don’t say that I didn’t give you a chance; if you crawl a hundred laps around this terrace like a turtle[1] while yelling ‘Fang Xing is a little bastard’ after each lap, I’ll forgive you. What do you say?”

　　“I— I’ll crawl…. I’ll crawl….”

　　The excess fat on Yu’s face wobbled and he had an urge to throw the wine jug right into Liu’s face, but he only put it back down on the table instead. In a daze, Yu climbed down the terrace and kneeled on the dusty ground—just as a real turtle would—and slowly crawled. One step, two steps…. The terrace was not large, and the circle was completed before long.

　　The plump Taoist opened his mouth, but no sound managed to come out. There was a strange urge deep within him, as if he had suddenly remembered the way Fang Xing had taken a drink of his wine before tossing some Spirit Stones to him. It was a feeling so strange that he could not help but to pause before saying those words.

　　“What are you doing, motherf*cker? Yell it out!” Liu loudly cursed before throwing the wine jug right at Yu’s head.

　　THUNK

　　As the wine jug fell, it did not arrive atop the plump Taoist’s head. Instead, a small pair of hands caught the object steadily in their grasp.

　　“If they’ve asked you to say it, just say it, Shixiong Zhu. If it means you’ll have fewer beatings and less torture, let alone calling me a bastard, even cursing all of my ancestors is fine.”

　　The plump Taoist turned around as though electrified, his body still shivering upon hearing someone.

　　It was a grinning child, and even though his clothes were tattered, he was clearly still alive. In his hands, he shook the wine jug to discover that there wasn’t much of the wine left within before throwing it to the side.

　　“Why are you so stupid?” the boy complained. “It won’t hurt you if you simply curse me a few times. What are you waiting for when this can stop all of the beatings?”

　　The plump Taoist was frozen for a few seconds before tears began to shed uncontrollably from his eyes. “You goddamned little bastard, it’s all your fault I’m in this state now! Do you know how many times I’ve cursed you? A hundred times doesn’t even do me justice!”

　　As Yu cried, he opened his arms and moved towards Fang Xing in an attempt at a hug. However, seeing the blooded and dirt-ridden man, Fang Xing’s eyebrows cringed and he kicked Yu back. “Ew! Go away!”

　　Despite being kicked away and tearful, Yu’s gaze no longer held despair.

　　In these periods of beatings and humiliation, the plump Taoist had almost lost any form of hope. Yet, just as he was about to give up entirely, the unconcernedly smiling little face of Fang Xing showed up, and this was when the strange feeling had become overwhelming.

　　The little monster had returned?

　　He was alive?

　　Though Fang Xing was no more than a small child, Yu couldn’t help but feel as though he was seeing a large tree offering him its shade. It was also at this moment that the grin on the child’s face was replaced with a sharp gaze that pierced right towards the bamboo terrace.

　　Both Liu and Hei San in the terrace above were startled, and they both had to rub their eyes before they were able to confirm it was definitely Fang Xing himself—not his ghost—right there in the flesh. The surprise was more than words could describe, and it took a good moment before Liu managed to finally react as he jumped up. “You’re not dead? You little bastard, where’s Shixiong Hou? How could they let you go?”

　　Fang Xing folded his arms behind his body while slowly walking onto the staircase leading up to the bamboo terrace. “Hou Qing is waiting for you somewhere.”

　　Liu looked slightly relaxed before calling back in a louder voice, “Shixiong Hou wants to see me? Where is he?”

　　Fang Xing looked up at Liu with a faint smile. “He’s in hell, and soon you’ll be there with him!”

　　As if unable to process what he had just heard, Liu looked unconvinced. “Nonsense! With Shixiong Hou’s abilities and the help of Shixiong Lyu and the rest of them, he couldn’t have died!”

　　“Not just Hou Qing, but Lyu San, Qian Tong, Zhao Zhi, all of them. They’re all dead.” Fang Xing was calm as he pointed at himself before muttering, “I’m the one back alive, because I like to remember who has done me wrong. Especially knowing that there’s still a few of you sons of bi*ches alive inside the sect, I could not possibly die there; I had to come back to see you off first….”

　　Hearing such cold, cruel words coming out calm and collected from a face so young and a body so small was enough to send shivers down both Liu’s and Hei San’s spines. Both of them could feel their blood gradually running cold.

　　“Ha— Hah hah!” Liu purposefully laughed out loud to cover up his discomfort before giving a sneer. “Since you’ve returned alive, come over here and prepare your last words.”

　　Before Fang Xing could step from the staircase onto the terrace, Liu released a loud howl and sent his fist firmly down towards him. Liu did not believe Fang Xing’s words in their entirety, but he saw how clearly present Fang Xing’s murderous intent was and so had chosen to strike first; Liu hoped to gain an upper hand before capturing him for further questioning. Although his wounds were not completely healed, he had only been left in his state after the previous fight due to Fang Xing’s sneak attack. In a face-to-face battle, even with his tendons healed up to only seventy percent, it should still not be a problem to take Fang Xing down.

　　The single punch cleaved the air in two, like a fierce tiger charging straight down.

　　The plump Taoist stopped crying as soon as he saw what was happening, only to look up with intense concern.

　　Fang Xing, on the other hand, silently narrowed his eyes at Liu’s fierce punch. Within a split second, he took a small step up the last flight of stairs before aiming his own small punch towards Liu’s.

　　BANG

　　The two punches colliding with each other caused Liu’s face to display the excitement of victory.

　　Who would have imagined that the boy would try to fight him head-on with a single punch? Liu had been far more concerned about the boy’s agility and cunning physical skills. Even without factoring in the difference between their cultivation levels, the amount of raw physical strength of an adult in comparison to a child was already enough to make it seem as though Fang Xing was courting death.

　　Liu’s thoughts were shattered shortly after as he felt an enormous force coming towards him after the two fists had collided. His hand felt as though it had been struck by a thousand-pound rock, followed by numerous cracking sounds. His arm had been broken into several chunks, and there was a violent friction between his bones that sent sharp pains right into his nervous system.

　　“Ah….”

　　Liu stumbled backwards. He wanted to yell out, but Fang Xing did not even give him time to do so and chased after Liu like a fox. With a loud ‘bang’, Fang Xing broke Liu’s nose and forced him to swallow back his screams, before he jumped up to send continuous dropkicks right onto Liu’s chest. After several of the bones were broken in his chest, Liu lay helplessly on the terrace’s floor.

　　It took a good few seconds before Liu managed to catch his breath, showing nothing else but extreme fear. As he went to scream, he found himself unable to make a sound as Fang Xing stepped right over his throat, cutting him off.

　　“I’ve killed at least ten of you trash-like things before joining the sect. How dare you pull tricks on me!” As Fang Xing spoke, he unbottled a new jug of wine and poured it all over Liu’s head.

　　“No…. Please, don’t….” With fresh wounds all over his body and a desperation to breathe with Fang Xing stepping on his throat, to Liu, the sensation of having alcohol poured over him was like being burned alive while a large portion of the wine was choked into his lungs. The wine that was sweet only moments ago was now like a poison that maddened his senses and almost sent him into unconsciousness.

　　“Shidi Fang, isn’t this a bit finished?” It was Hei San who had opened his mouth, and his look towards Fang Xing was cold and unfriendly.

　　—

　　NOTES

　　[1]To crawl like a turtle: Although turtles or tortoises are sometimes depicted as a symbol of longevity and stability in Chinese culture, its Chinese slang 王八 [wang1 ba], however, has negative connotations to mean “a man whose life depended on prostitutes” or “someone who has forgotten the teachings of the four social bounds and the eight virtues”. In this particular case, the raw text mentions 乌龟 [wu1 gui1], but to have someone act this way is to be demeaning and to bring shame.