The Reversal of the Qing Dynasty

Chapter 8: Slaughtering the Bandits (Part 4)

Chapter 8: Slaughtering the Bandits (Part 4) “Now, can you tell me or not?” Zhang Rui asked, looking at Lei Bao. “Wait a minute. Hero, you said you won’t kill me, but what if you let someone else kill me later?” After hearing Zhang Rui’s oath, Lei Bao wasn’t exactly skeptical of it. After all, in this feudal society—an era when the imperial court itself promoted superstition and belief in spirits—few people dared to joke about an oath made to Heaven. However, given Lei Bao’s cautious nature, he voiced his doubts. “You’re quite the character. You go around offending so many people for no reason. If others want to kill you, what’s it to me? I can only promise not to kill you myself.” “You have so many enemies; those who want to kill you will kill you anyway. Why would I need to let others kill you? Does that mean I’ll have to protect you whenever your enemies come looking for revenge? If you get killed one day, will that count as me breaking my oath? If that’s the case, I might as well just kill you right now and save myself the trouble!” Zhang Rui replied with a look of disgust and impatience. “No, no, I certainly didn’t mean that. I was just overthinking things. I apologize.” Hearing Zhang Rui’s warning, Lei Bao hurriedly apologized, thinking to himself “He’s right. Right now, aside from this little bastard, who else would dare kill me? Unless they don’t want to live anymore. Right, I’ll keep this little bastard in check for now. If you want to take my money, I’m afraid you might have the life to take it but not the life to spend it. Once I get back to the mountain stronghold, I’ll send someone to take you out and get it back.” Thinking of this, Lei Bao couldn’t help but let the corners of his mouth curl up ever so slightly. Zhang Rui saw this but pretended not to notice, merely gazing at him with an impatient expression. “I’ll tell you right now. The silver is hidden at the grave by the first pine tree to the right of that large rock on Dog-Hunting Mountain, which lies on the path leading here from Zhilian Mountain. It’s in a large bone-burial jar, containing roughly twelve hundred taels of silver ingots.” Since they had previously seen Zhang Rui about to kill someone, the onlookers had all retreated more than ten meters away. Now, seeing that Zhang Rui hadn’t killed Lei Bao but had simply taken something from his chest and placed it in his own, and that the two were whispering to each other, Some curious onlookers craned their necks and strained to listen, hoping to hear what they were saying. Others wanted to get closer, but upon seeing the wary look in Zhang Rui’s eyes as he scanned his surroundings, they halted in their tracks. All they could see was Lei Bao pleading for mercy. “Are you sure it’s in the grave by the first pine tree to the right of the large rock on Dog-Beating Mountain? You’re not lying to me? Let me give you some advice: don’t try to pull a fast one on me. I’ll have people dig it up in a moment. If what they dig up isn’t the real thing, don’t blame me for slicing off your flesh piece by piece and then rubbing salt into your wounds.” Looking at Lei Bao, whose eyes were shifting nervously, Zhang Rui toyed with his dagger, waving it nonchalantly in front of him. Lei Bao couldn’t believe Zhang Rui would actually send men to dig it up. He thought to himself, “Doesn’t he know how much over a thousand taels of silver is worth? Damn it, looks like I can’t fool him. Given the situation, I’ll just have to hand it over for now. Later, even if I have to bleed a little to get rid of him, I’ll take him out. Using the same method he just used—yes, that’s it.” “Hero, I was momentarily confused just now. It’s not the grave by the first pine tree—it’s the one by the third.” “Have you made up your mind? You won’t get it wrong again, will you?” “I’ve really thought it through. If I’m wrong again, Hero, just kill me right away!” “Alright, you can go.” “I can go??? Weren’t you going to send people to dig it up and bring it back before letting me go?” Lei Bao asked, somewhat incredulously. “Are you stupid? With this much money, how could I possibly trust anyone else with it?” Zhang Rui looked at him with utter contempt. “Besides, I’m a man of my word. Since you’ve said it like that, I’ll take you at your word! Now that I trust you, if I don’t let you go, do you expect me to treat you to a meal? Don’t let me run into you again. I’ve only agreed not to kill you today.” “Damn it, I actually let that little bastard trick me. If I’d known, I would’ve beaten him to death and insisted it was that spot. What a waste of my silver.” Lei Bao thought regretfully, wishing he could slap himself. But he dared not do anything about it. He gritted his teeth silently, then put on a fawning smile and said “A hero is indeed a man of honor and commitment. From now on, whenever I encounter you, I will go out of my way to avoid you and dare not disturb your peace.” Lei Bao struggled to his feet, bowed deeply to Zhang Rui with both hands, then turned away and thought to himself with bitter resentment: “Kid, you’re still too young—you can’t take a compliment. Just wait until I get back; that’ll be the day you die. Peace and quiet? Sure, once you’re dead, won’t that be peace and quiet!” Lei Bao felt like laughing, but dared not. It seemed he’d managed to get through this crisis; he couldn’t afford to be careless anymore. The onlookers were completely baffled. Just a moment ago, there had been fighting and bloodshed, yet now it seemed as if nothing had happened. Even Li Si, who had been helped over by Aunt Li, couldn’t make sense of it. He was just about to go ask Zhang Rui what was going on. “Wait.” Lei Bao froze upon hearing Zhang Rui’s voice. Was he going to back out? Just as he turned to say a few more conciliatory words, his left hand was suddenly slashed viciously by Zhang Rui, blood gushing out. “Ah… What are you doing? Are you going back on your word? You just swore you wouldn’t kill me.” Lei Bao roared at Zhang Rui, clutching his wounded left hand. “Swore not to kill him?” The others were even more puzzled. What was going on? Had something happened? Hearing this, Li Si felt a chill run down his spine. Why would Gouzi swear not to kill him? Did that mean he couldn’t avenge Goumao? What had happened? Burdened with doubts, he decided to wait and see. If Gouzi was afraid of retaliation, then he would go and kill him himself—even if it meant a mutual suicide, he would avenge his poor Goumao. Just as Li Si made up his mind, he saw Zhang Rui say to Lei Bao “Don’t read too much into it. It’s just that Boss Lei was so heroic a moment ago—your left hand slapped me right in the face. I’m a country bumpkin and don’t know much, but I do understand the basics of reciprocity. You slapped me, so I’ll give you a knife. It’s only fair, isn’t it?” “You…” A thousand curses raced through Lei Bao’s mind. He was about to let loose with a tirade, but then he thought better of it and held his tongue. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to provoke me so he could take me out. I’m not stupid. I’ll hold my tongue. Once I get back, I’ll pay him back double. Lei Bao’s grim expression instantly gave way to a forced smile. “Right, right—I’m speaking to a hero. It’s this ignorant lowly man who’s at fault. This… this… this exchange of courtesies is indeed proper. May this lowly man take his leave now?” “Hmm, very good. It seems you’re quite sensible. I’m actually starting to like you a bit. You’re injured—hurry back and get that bandaged up!” Zhang Rui said approvingly to Lei Bao, his face beaming with joy “Yes, yes. I thank the hero for his concern. I’ll be on my way now. I won’t keep the hero any longer.” Hearing Zhang Rui tell him to leave, Lei Bao was overjoyed, “That should be it, right?!” He quickly turned to leave. “I can spare an arm. Once I’ve saved my life, I’ll settle this score with you slowly.” The onlookers were completely baffled. Didn’t he say he wouldn’t kill him? Why did he just slash him again? And Lei Bao actually had to thank Gouzi? It was truly incomprehensible. “Oh, wait…” Hearing the voice, Lei Bao’s whole body jolted. What was he up to now? Just as he was about to pretend not to hear and walk away, a sharp pain shot through his right arm. “Damn it, what the hell are you playing at? Do you want to kill me? Then just do it already! Come on…” Unable to bear the pain, Lei Bao spun around and lashed out at Zhang Rui in a rage “No way. I swore I wouldn’t kill you—why would I even think of it? Here’s the thing: didn’t you just slash my Uncle Big Dog? I wanted to ask you to wait so we could discuss whether you should pay for his medical expenses. You know, Uncle Big Dog once gave me half a steamed bun. Don’t I owe him a favor?” “But you acted like you didn’t hear me. I figured you probably don’t have the money to pay anyway, so I might as well cut him back. That’s why I slashed you. So, is that how it goes?” Zhang Rui replied with a look of innocence “Right, right, the hero’s right. “So, is everything settled now?” Lei Bao said, fuming and gritting his teeth “It’s settled. But what the hell did you mean by that ‘damn it’ just now?” “That was just a lowlife spouting nonsense—not directed at you, Hero. I was just cursing myself. Is it really settled this time?” Lei Bao hurriedly explained With both hands wounded by the knife, Lei Bao could only clasp them together. If the bleeding didn’t stop, he’d bleed to death, so he didn’t want to waste any more time here with Zhang Rui. “It’s really over. You can go now!” Hearing Zhang Rui’s words, Lei Bao still felt a sense of fear and didn’t dare to trust him. He took a couple of steps, turned around, and glanced at Zhang Rui, only to see him standing there motionless, staring at him “It’s really fine now, you can go! Make sure to stop the bleeding.” Zhang Rui said to Lei Bao with feigned concern. Lei Bao was quite puzzled. Could it really be over? He took two more steps and turned back to look at Zhang Rui. He saw Zhang Rui playing with a dagger while looking around, not even glancing at him anymore. “Looks like it’s really okay. I’d better run quickly before he changes his mind.” Lei Bao felt a surge of joy. Just as he was about to run, a sharp pain shot through his right calf again, and he collapsed to the ground. When Lei Bao rolled over to look, he saw a dagger stuck in his calf. The excruciating pain made him howl in agony, and without a second thought, he cursed out loud “Fuck you, you bastard! Are you messing with me? Do you want to kill me? You swore you wouldn’t kill me! If you kill me, you won’t fare any better—Heaven is watching you. ” “Shut up! Try cursing again. I may have promised not to kill you, but I never promised not to cut out your tongue. If you dare to make a sound, believe me, I’ll cut your tongue out right now.” Zhang Rui walked over and slapped Lei Bao several times with a loud “smack, smack, smack” as a warning. Terrified, Lei Bao dared not curse anymore, but asked, “If that’s the case, why are you still hurting me?” At this point, many of the onlookers were completely confused. Was he going to let him go or kill him? Hadn’t he sworn not to kill him? If he was going to let him go, why was he slashing him left and right? A very few people seemed to grasp the situation somewhat, though they couldn’t quite put their finger on it. It felt like a cat toying with a mouse—letting it run a few times before snatching it back, then letting it run again, only to devour it in the end. They couldn’t explain it, but that was the sensation. “It’s like this,” Zhang Rui replied. “Didn’t I just agree to let you go?” “Yeah, so what? What’s your excuse for hurting me again?” “Well, I saw all these people gathered around here, and I thought maybe I should tell them to move aside and clear a path for you, so you could get your wounds bandaged up faster. But as I looked around, I spotted my Uncle Li Si.” “Everyone in the village knows that Uncle Li Si’s family has nothing but praise for me, Zhang Liu. I could overlook how you treated his family just now, but I absolutely have to see justice done for the kick you gave him. So, kicking you in the leg is only fair.” “Fine… fine… with you putting it that way, what else can I say? Then go ahead and settle any other scores you have while you’re at it! I’ll take it—just don’t hit me over and over again.” Lei Bao was clearly gritting his teeth and swallowing his anger. “That’s it, really. I swear.” “I don’t believe you. Just get it over with! Stop toying with me.” Lei Bao pleaded. “You don’t believe me? I really have nothing else. ‘I swear. If I, Zhang Liu, harm Lei Bao again today, may I be struck by five bolts of lightning and die a miserable death.’ How about that? Is that enough now?” Zhang Rui said, pointing to the sky. “Fine, you said it. If you dare break your oath, Heaven will surely not spare you.” It was laughable that a ruthless bandit who had committed every conceivable evil was actually relying on Heaven to punish those who break their word in order to save his own life. Leibao gritted his teeth and pulled the dagger out of his right calf. He then used the dagger to cut a piece of cloth to bandage the wound, before rising on one leg and slowly making his way toward Li Hun. Zhang Rui picked up the dagger he’d dropped on the ground, shook his head, and walked back. After struggling along for a short distance, Leibao turned to look at Zhang Rui. He saw that Zhang Rui was nearly among the onlookers. Only then did he curse and shout at Li Hun, who was not far away: “Li Hun, you bastard! Hurry up and find someone to carry me back. Otherwise, don’t blame me for spilling the beans about your dirty little secrets.” Li Hun heard this. If that got out, he’d be in big trouble—he’d be skinned alive if he wasn’t killed outright. He hurriedly ordered the two thugs by his side to go help him back to the Li Mansion to discuss it further. But just as the two thugs were about to move, they caught Zhang Rui’s hostile glare fixed on them. “Damn it, boss, we only heard him swear not to kill you—he didn’t say he wouldn’t kill us.” So the two henchmen refused to go no matter what. Li Hun had no choice; he didn’t dare go himself, so he could only stand there quietly, watching as Zhang Rui hobbled and limped his way over. Seeing that Li Hun and his men weren’t moving, Lei Bao had no choice but to continue cursing under his breath as he crawled over slowly on his own. By now, Zhang Rui had reached Li Si. Li Si, looking utterly stunned, wanted to say something but didn’t know how to put it into words. Zhang Rui handed him the bloodstained dagger he was holding. “Uncle Si, if heaven won’t help us, we’ll have to help ourselves. As for Dog Hair’s revenge, you decide what to do!” After giving the dagger to Li Si, Zhang Rui didn’t look back at him but walked over to the body of the bandit he had killed. Li Si stared at the bloodstained dagger, recalling Zhang Rui’s words, the death of Gou Mao, and all the humiliations he had just endured. Rage welled up within him, and a fierce resolve took hold. He shook off Aunt Li’s supporting hand and charged with all his might toward Lei Bao, who was standing not far away, shouting insults at Li Hun. By the time Lei Bao managed to turn around, a dagger had already pierced his abdomen. The pain sapped his last ounce of strength, and Lei Bao collapsed onto the ground, the dagger still lodged in his stomach, staring at the wrinkled face of Li Si as tears streamed down his cheeks.