Before setting out in the morning, the fifth child and the three dogs secretly went to the east courtyard. Not long after they left, the east courtyard was filled with shouts of people searching for socks.
"Lu Tong, have you seen my socks?" Lu Tie asked, sitting on the bed and craning his neck.
Lu Tong shook his head, "Your socks are so smelly, perhaps the dogs carried them off?"
"Where are they smelly? I've only worn them for five or six days!" Lu Tie retorted, unresigned.
Lu Tong pursed his lips, clicked his tongue twice, and shook his head before leaving.
Next, Lu Tu and Lu Shui from the neighboring room also yelled, complaining that their freshly changed dirty socks had disappeared.
Their search yielded no results, and eventually, both of them blamed San Gou Zi for the matter.
San Gou Zi silently bore everything.
While it was true that the stinky socks were indeed carried away by them, it was the command of their young masters, and they dared not disobey.
Moreover, to carry away those pairs of smelly socks, they were all so nauseated that they vomited. As dogs, was it easy for them?
On the way to the medical hall, Lu Yun asked everyone to seal and pack the stinky socks, lest they themselves be suffocated before they could avenge their wrongs.
Tian Dou covered his nose and said, "The water used to wash these socks could definitely fertilize two acres of land."
The children burst into laughter.
They were unsure of the price of leeches. Except for Lu Yu, whose savings were all spent in Qingzhou Ye City, the other four children brought their small money bags, just in case they didn't have enough money.
To avenge Tian Ya, they were willing to spare no expense. Tian Ya felt that if he didn't find his enemies today, he would be letting his brothers down.
Even if they couldn't find those thugs, they had to find other enemies to take their place. There were too many people who had bullied him for no reason during his years in the capital, and he remembered them all firmly.
They absolutely could not repeat yesterday's situation where their brothers worked in vain.
In addition to their money bags, each person also carried a large cloth bag, which was bulging with contents.
The fifth child went to several medical halls and finally bought leeches. Twenty leeches cost one tael of silver, which was indeed a bit expensive.
If they had time, they could have caught a large handful in the ditches outside the city in a short while.
Lice were not difficult to find. Lu Yun went to the beggar's den and asked the beggars to find lice in each other's hair, charging one copper coin for every fifty lice, with the condition that they must be kept alive and dead ones were not wanted.
In less than an hour, Lu Yun had obtained over a thousand lice. When placed in a white porcelain bottle, it was truly enough to make one's scalp tingle.
Wearing half a mask wasn't secure enough, so the fifth child bought a mask for each of them. In the capital, it was normal for young children to wear masks, and people would only assume they were playing, not making any other connections.
With everything ready, all that was needed was the east wind. The next step was to find their enemies.
Tian Ya had a vivid memory of those hooligans because they had left him with extremely painful memories.
If it weren't for the old beggar who adopted him protecting him, he would have been tortured to death long ago. However, those people even beat the old beggar.
Because the old beggar was beaten too severely, his health gradually declined, and he passed away soon after.
There were quite a few hooligans who bullied Tian Ya. Today, they planned to go after the three ringleaders first.
Those three hooligans generally operated near the West Market and were fond of drinking, eating, whoring, and gambling. They wouldn't go to brothels during the day, so they were more likely to be found in gambling dens.
Additionally, they liked to force young beggars to steal or swindle money. If they refused, they would torture them in various ways. At that time, Tian Ya refused to comply, which led to him being severely beaten and abused.
Tian Ya led his brothers, wandering around the West Market for a while, and finally found a relatively hidden environment for revenge.
Then, Lu Yun wrote several small notes and found some young beggars who knew the hooligans, asking them to deliver a note to each of the three hooligans separately.
After delivering the notes, if the hooligans arrived on time, the young beggars could collect thirty copper coins and two meat buns. If the hooligans did not come, they would only receive ten copper coins.
The young beggars responded enthusiastically, as it was just delivering a message and there was no danger.
Lu Yun, as the "Dung General" and a member of the guard team, had also earned a lot of money. Coupled with the red envelopes his sister-in-law gave him during the New Year and the pocket money he usually received, he was considered quite well-off among the children.
As long as they were willing to spend money, there was nothing that couldn't be accomplished.
The notes given to the hooligans read: "Within an hour, come under the Tu Niang Niang Bridge in the West Market, and you will receive ten taels of silver."
The hooligans were short of money, and with the young beggars' persuasion, they would definitely rush over immediately.
All they had to do was wait patiently under the bridge.
The fifth child was both excited and worried.
Excited because they could finally avenge Tian Ya, confront the bad guys head-on, and have a great fight.
Worried about how many people the opponents would bring, what their skills were, and the fact that the opponents were adults, and thus more sinister and cunning. What if they couldn't win, wouldn't that be very dangerous?
However, after Tian Ya calmed down and carefully analyzed the situation, the children gradually gained confidence.
Firstly, those hooligans would not bring too many people, as more people meant less money to share. Moreover, the young beggars, in order to lure them over, would surely describe Lu Yun and the others as "harmless," causing them to let down their guard.
Secondly, even if they had some fighting skills, they likely hadn't received specialized training. But Lu Yun and his siblings had diligently trained for over a year and had read many military books and strategies. Their combat strength would definitely not be inferior to theirs.
Finally, they also had San Gou Zi, as well as the sleeping powder and itching powder that his sister-in-law had given them, while the opponents had none.
The sleeping powder was obtained from Lu Huo's sister last time. Although it was only the size of a fingernail, it was enough to knock out those three people.
Therefore, their chances of winning were very high.
With that, the fifth child rubbed his hands, eager to begin. San Gou Zi also pricked up its ears alertly, its tail stiffening at the same time.
Tian Dou took a deep breath and showed off the muscles in his arm.
Lu Yu glanced at him and mumbled, "Brother Dou, why do I feel like you're becoming more and more like Brother Wen?"
During their morning exercises, Tian Dou followed Wen Zhi Mo in lifting stones, becoming more like Wen Zhi Mo, and was clearly destined to become a muscular man in the future.
Tian Dou said with admiration, "If only I had Brother Wen's physique. When enemies come, I could just crush them to death with my muscles."
The other children exchanged glances, smiling without speaking.
No matter how hard muscles were, they couldn't be harder than swords. Even the dullest sword, with a casual swipe, would cut through those muscles like tofu.
After waiting for about half an hour, the first hooligan arrived.
The hooligan was in his twenties, with only one follower behind him. Both of them held daggers in their hands.
The young beggar who delivered the note to him stood far away, nervously picking his nose, afraid to come forward to claim his reward. Lu Yun asked Lu Yu to run over and hand him the reward.
The young beggar, holding thirty copper coins and two meat buns, ran off.
"Brother Yun, his name is Jian Tou," Tian Ya said softly to Lu Yun, leaning to the side.
Lu Yun looked at his head, which was indeed pointed, and his entire person seemed cunning and sharp.