Youth is not lived in vain.
Though I, at eighteen, had been tempered by my master for ten years, the nature of youth naturally brought with it youthful arrogance and, concurrently, youthful fury. The folding stool I hurled was a manifestation of that rage.
However, youth also possesses its advantages; anger flares quickly and dissipates just as fast. If one realizes they have erred, the anger vanishes with it.
Gazing at the five or six handguns pointed at me, even the greatest fury within me was extinguished.
Wang Jun's modified double-barreled shotgun had already forced me to lower my head in resignation. What more could be said about the handguns carried by the men flanking the man in the red suit?
At that moment, I suspected that not only I, but even my master, who boasted of his invincibility when drunk, would have lost all arrogance.
Following closely, Zhang Dabiao rushed out and stood before me, his Pishandao held across his chest.
"What do you want?"
Pulled behind Zhang Dabiao, I regarded him as a hero.
What is a hero? This is a hero. Someone who fears no handguns, is he not a hero?
Though I was terrified, I did not believe this man would kill me. In our brief encounter, I recognized the man in the red suit as the same man in sunglasses I had seen at the old house in the west of the village. He had merely changed his attire.
Then, I stepped over Zhang Dabiao and walked, step by step, towards the man in the red suit.
Was I afraid?
Yes, to be honest, I was very afraid. But I refused to be threatened into submission.
Moreover, as I rushed out, I had already activated the Tianqiao Seal on myself. If I could get a little closer, the outcome would be uncertain.
"If you have the guts, order them to fire. Let's see who dies first, you or me?"
The man in the red suit pulled down his sunglasses. "Is that so?"
As soon as he spoke, a chorus of cocking sounds echoed around us.
From behind, Zhang Dabiao worriedly exclaimed, "Qingyun, are you crazy?"
Listening to the sounds of firearms being readied, my heart trembled violently. Yet, I did not believe the man in the red suit would shoot me. If he had wanted to kill me, he could have simply warned Wang Jun at the old house in the west of the village, and I would never have left alive.
I remained silent, my gaze fixed on the man in the suit. If he made any move to have his men act, I would use him as a shield for the first time.
The man in the red suit removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of narrow, phoenix-like eyes that regarded me with a slight squint.
"Aren't you afraid I'll really order them to fire?"
I met his gaze with a blank expression.
"You can try."
After a moment of eye contact, the man in the red suit let out a chuckle.
"Haha..."
He laughed inexplicably, while my expression remained cold.
After leaving the Prince's mansion, I understood a principle: when facing trouble, the calmer you appear, the less your opponent can fathom your thoughts. Only then can a disadvantage be turned into an advantage.
When the man in the red suit finished laughing, he put his sunglasses back on.
"Some people just like to overestimate themselves. They promise things but don't deliver. Isn't that annoying? Here, this is a gift from that person. Now I'm giving it to you. I hope you like it." As he spoke, a person who had accompanied him stepped out from behind him, holding a wooden box about a foot square.
"Please accept it."
The man in the red suit smiled at me, then turned to leave. After a few steps, he stopped.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you, my surname is Li."
With a triumphant laugh, the man in the red suit departed the courtyard.
Looking at the wooden box, about a foot square, I frowned. Though the box was unopened, it exuded a faint, ethereal chill.
After the man in the red suit left, Zhang Dabiao approached.
"Qingyun, do you know him?"
I shook my head. "No, we met him when we were looking for Sun Chuang's soul at the old house in the west of the village. He was the one who led Wang Jun to charge the gate." I then recounted my encounter with him.
"That kid doesn't look like a good person. This box might be dangerous; you shouldn't open it."
I agreed that the man in the red suit was not a good person, but I didn't believe the wooden box held danger.
"The contents should be harmless. Besides, it seems he's just here to warn me."
Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment, then motioned for me to step back. He then used his Pishandao to pry open a gap in the wooden box. Before I could get a clear look at the contents, he quickly closed the lid.
"What is it, Brother Zhang? What's inside?"
"This young man named Li really is something else." Zhang Dabiao's face darkened as he spat on the ground. "You really shouldn't look."
Zhang Dabiao's words, instead of dissuading me, only piqued my curiosity.
Ignoring Zhang Dabiao's objections, I opened the wooden box.
I took one look, and my stomach churned. I quickly closed the box and ran to the side, retching.
"Ugh... ugh..."
Zhang Dabiao came up behind me, patting my back and scolding, "I told you not to look. Why are you so curious?"
"Ugh... How was I... supposed to... know... it was this inside. Ugh..."
After vomiting for about ten minutes, I finally felt a little better.
I slumped to the ground. "Brother Zhang, let's call the police!"
I never could have imagined that what the man in the red suit had sent me was a human head. And the owner of the head was none other than Wang Jun.
Wang Jun's eyes were wide open, clearly indicating he had died with unfinished business. Even with the wooden box closed, a palpable resentment seemed to emanate from it.
"It's no use," Zhang Dabiao said, shaking his head and refusing my suggestion.
"Why?"
"Do you think they wouldn't have considered that? This is a no-man's-land. Even the time we were arrested by the police might have been orchestrated by these people. Do you think they're afraid?"
A bit dejected, I asked, "Is there no law here at all?"
Zhang Dabiao calmly lit a cigarette, his voice hoarse.
"Alas! Matters of the martial world are settled within the martial world. Even if Wang Jun wasn't killed by others, he would have died if caught. How many of these desperate grave robbers don't have at least two lives on their hands?"
Feeling slightly better, I got up, leaning against the wall.
"Brother Zhang, have you killed anyone?"
Zhang Dabiao neither admitted nor denied it. He flicked away the cigarette butt and replied, "There are some things one cannot control. You'll understand when the time comes." With that, he picked up the box containing Wang Jun's head and went out with a shovel.
Watching Zhang Dabiao's retreating back, I knew he was going to find a place to bury the head.
But everything that had just happened had impacted me too greatly. I had never imagined that a person's life could vanish so silently, without even a ripple.
I wasn't close to Wang Jun, but I had met him twice. He had given me the impression of a sinister and vicious desperado. Now, he was inexplicably packed into a box and given to me as a gift. Was this what my master meant by "in the martial world, one cannot control oneself"?