Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 42: Watching Dogs Eat Dogs

Today, as she was leaving the roasted mutton shop, she asked Han Dashan to let someone know if anything happened in the village. Han Dashan said there was no need for that, as anything serious would cause the earth to shake.

In retrospect, it seems this "earthquake" might have been preordained.

Without hesitation, Zhou Zhao leaned close to Xie Laosi and whispered a few words before opening the door and leading Liu Huang out.

The person shouting in the courtyard was a man of about forty years old, dressed in cloth clothes, with a few feathers stuck in his hair, like a sparrow from a tree that had come to life.

He had a round face and a hooked nose just like that old woman Zhang, so he was most likely her son and a favorite of Brother Sun.

"My name is Zhang Yang, Miss Zhou, and Xie Laosi..."

Upon seeing Zhou Zhao emerge from Xie Laosi's room, Zhang Yang's gaze towards Zhou Zhao instantly became ambiguous.

Zhou Zhao couldn't understand how badly Xie Laosi had fallen on hard times! How come everyone thought he was a gigolo who relied on his looks to get ahead?
Besides, Liu Huang is a grown man, wearing a bamboo hat in the middle of the night, do you really think you couldn't see him?

Zhang Yang quickly looked away, picked up two buckets full of water, and rushed out. In the courtyard, besides the few of them, there was a woman who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old. She had a scorpion braid, was carrying a copper basin, had a green whip at her waist, and her cat-like eyes were darting around.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhao followed suit and picked up a wooden bucket filled with water from the well in the courtyard.

When she turned her head again, she saw Liu Huang, who was following her and imitating her, carrying a small water vat on his shoulder.

Zhou Zhao's lips twitched, and he quickened his pace to go forward.

The girl with the scorpion braid grinned when she saw Zhou Zhao following her, revealing eight large teeth. "My name is Xu Qifang. I heard you also killed your husband and fled here?"

Xu Qifang then pressed herself against Zhou Zhao, looking at her as if she were her long-lost sister. "Me too! But I didn't mean to! My husband is no good; he gambled away all our money and even beat me!"

“I was beaten for a whole year! My face was swollen like a pumpkin, and he almost beat me to death. When he did, I snatched his whip and lashed it back at him!”

"Who would have thought that I, Xu Qifang, am a genius? I killed my husband with just a few slaps! Hehe, there are few girls my age in Tiandou. I was so happy when I heard from Brother Zhang that you, Zhou Zhao, had arrived! I'm finally going to have a friend!"

Before Zhou Zhao could even smile at Xu Qifang, the two of them had already rushed to the gate of Tiandou Village.

It's not that she lacks manners, it's just that Xu Qifang can talk from dusk till dawn.

The gates of Tiandou Village were wide open, and the firelight illuminated half the sky. From a distance, the sounds of clashing swords could be heard, accompanied by faint screams.

Hearing the sounds, Xu Qifang's face lit up with eager anticipation. She threw the copper basin in her hand away with a bang, drew her green whip, and charged in like a wild horse, slaughtering indiscriminately.

Zhang Yang called out helplessly, but Xu Qifang had already disappeared into the crowd.

Thinking of the two people following behind him, he said, "Brother Sun said..."

But when he turned around, he found that there was nothing behind him. At the entrance of the village, there was a water vat that was in the way and a wooden bucket that had been emptied of water.

Zhang Yang remained silent.

……

Behind the main hall of Tiandou Village, there is a magnificent mansion, which was built by Cheng Yuyuan, the leader of Tiandou Village, in imitation of the courtyard where she lived in her old home.

The ornately decorated house is now engulfed in flames, with occasional loud bangs and explosions.

“Sun Youshan, what do you mean by this? The chief has treated you well. Have you forgotten how you knelt on the ground like a stray dog, begging the chief to take you in? Even if you were to raise a dog like this, you would have tamed it by now.”

Sun Youshan fiddled with the beads in his hand. Hearing this, he sneered and pointed at the woman crouching on the ground, shivering in a cloak. "Chengming, do you think someone so cowardly and suspicious, who doesn't even know kung fu, is fit to be the leader of Tiandou Village?"

“If you were the chieftain today, I, Sun Youshan, would accept it. But since the chieftain is that madwoman Cheng Yuyuan, I refuse to accept it. When it comes to dogs, who is more like a dog without any dignity than you brothers!”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ming took a difficult step forward and stood in front of Cheng Yuyuan, completely shielding her from view.

His angry movements were so exaggerated that he couldn't help but gasp.

The firelight illuminated his face, making all his subtle movements clearly visible.

Sun Youshan looked at it and laughed out loud, "It's really heaven helping me. I've long been tired of this crazy woman's wrath. I didn't know that your brother was openly monitoring me, and that Zhu Wu guy was secretly watching me. Zhu Wen is your confidant."

“Zhu Wu has been reporting every detail of my every move to you through Zhu Wen, hasn’t he?”

"Just as I was about to make my move, Zhu Wu had twenty-seven bones shattered. Even if he recovers, he'll be crippled. And you... it seems you're seriously injured! You're even hurting when you walk!"

Cheng Ming's face instantly darkened.

If thoughts could kill, he would have torn Zhou Zhao to pieces in his mind long ago!

Tonight, he obeyed Cheng Yuyuan's orders to kill the people in the house opposite Xie Laosi, but he didn't expect that the newcomers were Zhou Zhao and Liu Huang. He was accidentally kicked in a vital spot by Zhou Zhao and barely managed to escape despite the pain. Once inside the village, he found it engulfed in flames, with Cheng Yuyuan trapped in the inferno. After all that, the pain became increasingly unbearable.

"Heroes cherish heroes. Cheng Ming, if you brothers are willing to pledge your loyalty to me, I will only kill Cheng Yuyuan and Li Zhan tonight. Otherwise..."

Cheng Ming pointed the tip of his dagger at Sun Youshan and interrupted him without even thinking.

"We brothers are family members, whether we live or die! No need for further words, the victor is king and the loser is villain. In Tianying City, whoever has the biggest fist is the boss."

"You don't actually think that by setting a fire and having this place surrounded, you can win? That's ridiculous."

Cheng Yuyuan, who doesn't know martial arts, is able to maintain her position as the chieftain. Why is that?
Naturally, the two brothers fought their way out one by one.

Especially his younger brother Cheng Dong, although he is slightly less intelligent, he is the most powerful humanoid weapon.

Sun Youshan sighed softly. He suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a meat pie. He then threw it towards the skinny monkey Cheng Dong. Cheng Dong leaped out, grabbed the meat pie, and stuffed it into his mouth as usual.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. By the time everyone came to their senses, Cheng Dong had already eaten the meat pie.

"I originally wanted to let your brother go, but unfortunately you didn't choose him."

Cheng Ming was stunned. When he looked at Cheng Dong again, he saw that dark red blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth. Then blood began to gush from all seven orifices. His eyes were wide open, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Sun Youshan, I'll kill you!" Cheng Ming roared, his voice shaking the heavens.

In the tree canopy not far away, Liu Huang looked at the newly unearthed corpse, his hand gripping the tree trunk restless.

"Ah Zhao, when are we going out? Which side should we attack? I want to dissect that corpse; the poison is so potent!"

"No rush, of course we'll wait until they've smashed the dog's head before we go out and kill Sun Youshan!"

It wasn't that she had any affection for Cheng Yuyuan, but rather that Sun Youshan was a man of great patience and cunning, not someone easy to deal with.

Most importantly, when they were in the dilapidated temple, Sun Youshan saw her hair ribbon, and he was a potential threat that had to be eliminated.