Two quarters past Xu hour (around 8:30 PM), the morning stars twinkled in the sky. Outside Jiangning City, near a desolate riverbank, the night wind howled, brushing over the houseboats on the water. Light shone from one of the rooms.

I woke up groggily, my consciousness not yet fully clear. There wasn't much light, and the sounds from outside were both loud and faint, entering my mind. Before my brain could properly function, I couldn't make sense of the fragmented sentences.

"Drink less wine..."

"A scholar without the strength to truss a chicken..."

"This time's meat pig..."

"At midnight, Dàláng will take a torch to the mountain to wait for people... he should know these things too..."

"Signal is known..."

"Three circles to the left, three to the right..."

"Daddy, that meat pig... pretty shoes..."

"Don't mess around!"

"But..."

"This kind of meat pig... must be at least thirty, if not fifty..."

"He won't wake up before midnight, let him be..."

"Daddy, this kind of meat pig... let him use one hand..."

"Behave..."

The back of my head throbbed faintly. It took a long time for my thoughts to coalesce, creating an indescribable, complex feeling.

It had been a long, long time since I had felt such naked hostility. Even the time with Tang Mingyuan wasn't like this.

I tried to recall what had happened before, that look in the eyes, the swing of the club... Who was doing this?

The Su family, the Xue family, the Wu family... It shouldn't be them; it didn't make sense. The Su family had no reason to do this to me now, unless someone wanted to kill the Old Master and then eliminate Su Boyong and his daughter. The Xue and Wu families also had no need to attack me. All I possessed was some minor reputation. For merchants of their level, such a direct attack was usually a last resort. Once done, there was no turning back. Such a blatant act would lead to complete loss of control, so it shouldn't be their first move against me…

The Wu Lie Army? Even less likely. If it were them, it wouldn't be like this…

Who could it be? Who had I offended?

I was usually sensitive to goodwill and malice. If there had been any signs before, I would have noticed them. This truly felt sudden. I mentally filtered through possible suspects. Xue Jin was one, but he lacked the decisiveness and courage for something like this. Even if he went mad, it was unlikely. Beyond him, I couldn't think of anyone. Or was this a random kidnapping for ransom?

Meat pig, midnight… it didn't seem like it.

No matter how I tried, I couldn't determine the source of the hostility. However, now wasn't the time to dwell on it. My hands and feet were tied. The room was dark, and in the next room, several people were eating and drinking. The light from the oil lamp filtered faintly through the cracks in the wall. The room was swaying slightly, and I could hear the sound of water, indicating we were on the river…

I remembered the image of the man before I passed out: a giant over two meters tall, practically a boxing champion. And there were accomplices. This would be difficult to deal with... I closed my eyes, tensing my body slightly, then relaxing it again. My fingers worked tirelessly behind my back, searching for anything that could be used as leverage. It seemed like someone occasionally walked past in the corridor outside…

Baffling, inexplicable, damn it, I couldn't understand, why, who was it… A slight anxiety, a restless feeling welled up, but it was quickly suppressed by calmness and self-control. Not being able to figure out the slightest clue was the most infuriating thing for me. My fingers kept moving, slowly, inch by inch, trying not to make any noise.

After a year of systematic training, plus the ominous feeling I had when I saw that look in his eyes, I had actually made a slight dodging motion when the club came down. Perhaps that was why they had misjudged the time. This might be the only opportunity. There was no time to think or complain. I had to deal with the immediate threat before I could afford to think. Opportunity might not be found, but I had to stay calm. Don't be impatient, don't be impatient…

*******************

Time, like the water flowing beneath us, ticked by. As the burning sensation at the back of my head gradually subsided, the oppressive darkness gave way to a quieter environment, and the surrounding situation became clearer. The voices of conversation, the sounds of drinking and eating – in the next room, there were two adults, two children (though the children were probably adults as well), and a woman… Perhaps it was a family.

Meat pig… this wasn't their first time doing this. There must have been murders. That giant was too dangerous; he wasn't in my weight class. If an ordinary scholar saw him, they would probably be terrified. I adjusted my breathing, analyzing the situation in my mind. Then, at some point, I heard a faint noise from the doorway. I opened my eyes slightly. Someone was quietly picking the lock.

The lock was halfway open when it stopped. "Brother, what are you doing?"

"Brother, that meat pig's shoes… he won't need them anyway."

"Dad said not to mess around. Give me the key!"

"Oh."

The brothers were speaking in hushed tones, then each went their separate ways. I had taken a deep breath, but now I exhaled it slowly. My hands on the wall behind my back accelerated the slight friction.

Before long, there was another faint sound from the doorway.

**********************

The door opened a crack, and a sturdy young man slipped in, then chuckled softly, pleased with himself. He held a stick in his hand, tucking the wire he used to pick the lock into his pocket.

The young man walked toward the corner, clearly seeing the scholar tied up and thrown on the floor. This scholar was weak, not even as strong as him, just a feeble-looking thing.

The rich folks in the city were all like this.

"Meat pig, if you wake up and dare to cause trouble, I'll smash your head with this stick…" the young man said fiercely and quietly, waiting for a moment, then putting the stick aside and squatting down to take off the scholar's shoes. He looked at them admiringly in the dim light. Then he sat down with his back to the scholar, taking off his own shoes—a subconscious action to avoid being seen while changing.

First shoe, second shoe, so beautiful and a perfect fit… Just as he was about to stand up, the figure behind him silently sat up. His hands stretched out in the darkness, and the ropes fell from his wrists. Those hands suddenly clamped shut.

*Crack—*

His head turned in an unnatural direction.

*********************

He didn't put on the shoes, but silently pushed open the door and went out. Outside was the corridor of the houseboat, a "king" shaped structure with six rooms. He had been locked in the room between the living room and the kitchen. There was no door there, and the other three rooms only had windows. There was no one in the corridor. He quietly moved toward the living room and glanced inside, quickly pulling back.

Three people, one table, one oil lamp. One of them was the giant who had spoken to him, another was equally burly, like an iron tower, and the third… must have been the giant's eldest son, who was also over 1.8 meters tall.

Three lotus roots floating in a green pond…

Inside the room, the iron tower of a man was talking to the giant's eldest son.

"...Dàláng, Uncle tells you, in this jianghu, only the truly ruthless, the truly bold and meticulous, can gain a foothold. But don't think ruthless means being quick to fight. True ruthlessness is only brought out when it's really needed, and just once will make everyone fear you. Back then, that guy surnamed Lei..."

The words didn't register in Ning Yi's mind at the moment. Blah blah blah, what the hell, philosophizing like some kind of philosopher... He looked around, the door was on the living room side, how was he supposed to get out? His swimming skills were poor, and although the current outside was relatively gentle, the sound was loud. If he was heard, he wouldn't get far.

His face darkened. Following his original steps, he walked to the other side, toward the kitchen. A fat woman was cooking. Ning Yi looked around, checking the stove and chimney, and two seconds later, he went inside and picked up a knife from the cutting board.

The woman turned around. The next moment, blood spurted into the air like a fountain, splashing into the pot with a sizzling sound. A black shadow flickered on the wall as the cleaver came down again and again.

***********************

Fresh blood seeped through the floor, perhaps dripping into the river below. The black shadow stood in front of the stove, expressionlessly pouring pork, kerosene, and various oils into the boiling pot. His eyes darted around, constantly filtering through the various items in the kitchen. Sometimes he took down paper packets, opened them, then threw them away. After the oil in the pot was completely boiling, he poured the scalding oil into earthenware jars wrapped with grass rope.

Then, he heard a sound from the living room: "Dàláng, go see if your mother has finished cooking…"

Ning Yi quietly pushed the kitchen door closed, took a weight from the scales in one hand, and a boning knife in the other. He hid to the side of the door. Footsteps approached, closer and closer. As the door opened and the person stepped inside, Ning Yi blew out the lamp, as if a gust of wind had done it. The firelight from the stove still flickered. The young man paused for a moment: "Mother…"

Ning Yi swung the weight in his hand, slamming it into the back of his head with a *thud*. As the body fell to the side, Ning Yi caught him.

***********************

"That guy surnamed Gu, I heard he got a position as a magistrate..."

"If we could get Dàláng and Èrláng to go with him as clerks or something, that might be good. We have leverage on him..."

"We shouldn't push these scholars too hard..."

In the room, Yang Yi and Yang Heng were talking, occasionally drinking some wine and eating peanuts. Realizing that Dàláng had been gone for some time, Yang Heng frowned.

"Why hasn't Dàláng..."

"Mother—" The sound suddenly came from the kitchen, desolate and hoarse. The two jumped up, Yang Yi grabbed a crossbow and rushed into the corridor, while Yang Heng drew his steel saber and went outside.

"Watch the meat pig!"

Yang Heng rushed out the door to see if anyone was escaping in the river. A few seconds later, Yang Yi's sharp cry suddenly came from the room behind him: "Let him go—"

When Yang Yi rushed into the central corridor, it was dimly lit, with only a faint glow from the kitchen. Before he could open the second door to check on the meat pig, his eldest son was pushed out, his head covered in blood, swaying. He had obviously been knocked slightly conscious, but now he had been beaten like this again.

A bloodstained boning knife was held to his neck, held in one hand. The slightest movement could cut his throat. Hiding behind his son, pushing him along, was the meat pig he had kidnapped. The seemingly harmless scholar was covered in blood.

"Let him go!"

Yang Yi gnashed his teeth and raised his crossbow, shouting in a deep voice.

Ning Yi's body wasn't exactly short, but Yang Yi was huge, now blocking the way like a wall. Both sides paused slightly, then a voice came, not as loud as Yang Yi's, but conveying a deep disgust, simply and directly.

"Shoot."