I never expected that these tomb robbers would raise a big wolfdog, and that it would wake up at this time and sneak up on me without a sound. It was fortunate that I suddenly turned around to leave, otherwise, if it had pounced on me from behind, even if I didn't die, I would have been bitten into a cripple. Looking at its mouth, as wide as a hungry wolf's, its biting force alone would have been at least a hundred pounds.
Actually, I was also a bit puzzled. This dog in front of me, after being hit on the ear with my Phoenix Eye Fist, wouldn't wake up for at least two hours. How could it have woken up so quickly? Was it a special breed?
This move of hitting a dog's ear with the Phoenix Eye Hammer was a skill I developed while studying with my master. It was born out of being chased and bitten by the dogs kept by various families in the village.
Because of this, many people found my master's house, and I had my fair share of "eating" stewed meat with bamboo strips.
For a period afterward, perhaps my master feared I would miss my parents, or wanted me to overcome my grief, he would always bring all sorts of dogs and leave me with just one sentence:
"Choose one: let the dog bite you, or make the dog fear you."
I remember the first time my master brought a dog that was almost as tall as my waist. I was so scared that I peed my pants and fainted on the spot.
When I woke up, I was severely reprimanded by my master, who told me, "If you are afraid of dogs now, then you won't be able to learn Yin Gua in the future, because Yin spirits are even more terrifying than dogs."
The next day, when I faced the same dog that had scared me into peeing my pants, I don't know where I got the courage from. I picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at the dog.
They say wolves fear a bent waist, and dogs fear a drawn knife, but at that moment, with a half-brick in my hand, the dog was so scared that it tucked its tail, whimpered twice, and bolted away.
From then on, my master often used this method to hone my reaction speed, and it was also part of my physical training. However, I couldn't injure the dogs; I had to subdue them. Finally, I discovered a trick: hitting them on the root of their ear. It was almost like hitting a person; one Phoenix Eye Hammer strike would render them immobile for several hours.
At this moment, there was no more discussion from inside the house. The candlelight that had just been lit was instantly extinguished.
I secretly thought, "This is bad." I probably had already been discovered by them. Facing the hungry dog before me, there was only one way: to end it quickly.
Old people often say that dogs and wolves are the same: bronze heads, iron legs, and tofu waists. Besides the roots of their ears, their waists are also their weak points. As long as their waists are injured, they lose all fighting ability.
Facing the hungry dog lunging for my throat, I leaned back, letting it brush past my chest. As it was about to pass, I clenched my hands into Phoenix Eye Hammers and struck its hindquarters at the crotch.
Awoooo—
The hungry dog, which had been silent, let out a piercing scream. The shrill sound didn't sound like it came from a dog's mouth at all; it felt more like a human's cry.
However, I couldn't afford to worry about that now, because upon hearing the dog's cry, there was a commotion from inside the house.
"Damn it, someone's gotten in! Grab your weapons!"
"Bear, you're as useless as..."
"I..."
Listening to the curses coming from inside, my body moved like a spring. I dodged the dog's attack and quickly straightened up, pushing off the ground with my feet and charging towards the courtyard wall at a hundred-meter sprint.
"Stop! If you run again, I'll shoot."
I didn't even look back, cursing in my heart that turning back would be foolish. Given your kind of behavior, wouldn't you just kill me? While still in mid-air, I heard a gunshot.
Bang—SUDAN NOVEL NETWORK
Feeling the shattered bricks falling around me and the debris flying past my head, I estimated that if I had been a moment slower, my skull would have been blown off.
I rolled on the ground to absorb the impact, identified the direction I came from, and took off running. This wasn't because I didn't want to go directly back to Old Mrs. Wang's house, but because the houses in East Village were built like a labyrinth. If I didn't take a long detour back, I would surely get lost, and the chance of being caught would be much greater.
Just as I rounded a corner, I heard the sound of bricks shattering again from behind the wall. The broken bricks hit me, causing pain.
"Bastards, I'll get revenge sooner or later!"
At this moment, I couldn't be bothered to think about how these tomb robbers had such audacity to fire guns in the village. I only regretted not having grown a couple more legs, otherwise, I could have run even faster.
After turning several corners, I finally felt like I had escaped their pursuit. Thinking that Zhao Defu was the real leader of these tomb robbers, Wang Jun and his gang, my heart turned cold.
I never expected that this old fellow was hiding so deeply. If I hadn't come out to buy things to eat today, I wouldn't have discovered this secret.
Now, I figured that the news of my return had already spread. I didn't know how many eyes had seen me from the shadows when I came out. If I went back like this, it would be difficult not to attract Zhao Defu's attention.
Moreover, from the time Zhao Defu came out until I jumped over the wall and left, I had always been facing away from them. They shouldn't have realized it was me eavesdropping on their conversation.
I took two deep breaths, calming the surging blood from running, and walked into the mutton soup restaurant.
When the owner saw me, a friendly smile appeared on his face. "Young man, where did you go? The soup has been heated and is about to get cold. If you don't eat it soon, it won't taste good."
I casually used the excuse of "having a stomachache and going to the restroom" and left with the packed mutton.
Not long after I walked out, I saw several people emerge from an alley. The one leading them was Zhao Defu.
I cursed under my breath, "They're all like dogs, following so closely." Then, I turned into a side path and quickly ran towards Old Mrs. Wang's house.
When I returned to Old Mrs. Wang's house, I saw Zhang Dabiao and Bai Ling'er, one a person and one a snake, glaring at each other. They were so engrossed that they didn't even notice me approaching.
"What are you doing?" I said, placing the packed mutton on the table.
Upon hearing my voice, Bai Ling'er turned her head to look at me, then quickly turned it back.
"Haha... I told you you were a stupid snake, and you didn't believe me. You're truly incredibly stupid," Zhang Dabiao said with a booming voice, laughing heartily.
"It's all your fault! Why did you come back so late? You just had to come back when I was about to win. You've made me so angry," Bai Ling'er said, looking at me with anger in her eyes, wishing she could bite me a few times to vent her frustration.
"From now on, you'll call me 'Loach' in front of me. No cheating!" Then Zhang Dabiao patted me with a smile. "Why did you take so long?"
Bai Ling'er didn't protest. She nimbly opened the packed mutton and began to eat it heartily, though her eyes occasionally drifted towards Zhang Dabiao.
"I saw Zhao Defu."
Then, I recounted to Zhang Dabiao how I discovered Zhao Defu and what I heard them discussing.
Zhang Dabiao's expression changed twice rapidly. "You're saying that all of this was orchestrated by Zhao Defu and his gang of tomb robbers?"
"It seems so. I suspect even my fortune-telling for Sui Wan'er was within their calculations."
I wasn't just guessing about this.
Li Lao, Li Jian, who was with Fang Huixin at the time, had mentioned something: "If I didn't have something going on, why would I have found a young fellow like you to arrange a Yin marriage for a Yin spirit?" If I hadn't heard the conversation tonight, I would have thought that Li Jian truly had other important matters that prevented him from arranging the Yin marriage.
But from Zhao Defu's words, I heard him mention with schadenfreude that Li Jian's second uncle, Li Zuoquan, was almost killed. It's likely that he not only knew about the problem with Sui Wan'er's remains back then but also deliberately sought me out, an outsider Yin Gua master, to perform the fortune-telling. This meant he had long intended to use an outsider to harm Fang Huixin.
I was the foolish one who was used as a guinea pig to be tricked.
Just as I was contemplating whether to change my hiding place or escape, a loud crashing sound came from outside.