Chapter 26: Killing Thieves Like Pigs And Dogs
That day.
In the Du Gu Guan, everything was as usual.
The Daoist Children cultivated as usual, Senior Sister Yu Er smiled and applied medicine to the Daoist Children as usual, the Dojo Master drank tea and burned incense as usual, and Fang Shu also chatted idly with Li Hou Er and ate steamed buns as usual.
When night was deep and quiet, he got up alone and left the bunk room.
His roommates were used to it, thinking he was going to diligently practice and waste his qi again.
But Fang Shu went straight ahead, neither to the cultivation hall nor out the main gate, but to a low wall of the Du Gu Guan, where he put on a set of black clothes hidden by the wall, and applied silence talismans for concealing breath and quiet steps.
Then, he nimbly flipped over the wall and out, first rushing straight to the depths of the marketplace, and after circling around once or twice, he suddenly changed direction and rushed straight to the paper workshop.
Just before arriving at the paper workshop, he took out the fox fur from his bosom, shook it lightly, draped it over himself, crouched down and transformed into a six-foot-tall gray fox.
Rustle! Transformed into a fox, his footsteps became even lighter, and his movements even more ghostly.
Not long after, he appeared near Cheng Guanzi’s paper house.
Fang Shu did not rashly approach; he circled the paper house twice, saw the remaining lamplight inside, chose to quietly lie down nearby, and took out a Bigu Pill from his bosom and swallowed it.
By now the night was deep, the paper workshop was quiet, and Fang Shu had scouted the place beforehand.
Normally, there shouldn’t be any accidents, but he still had to prepare for squatting guard all night without success. In this situation, he absolutely could not be disturbed by eating, relieving himself, or such things.
“Come on, eat! Keep eating!”
Shouts faintly came from the paper house; it seemed there was not just Cheng Guanzi alone.
The two in the house were drinking, slurring their words, laughing and saying:
“Just listen to me, Gui Qi, you’re guaranteed not to lose out. A bunch of rundown paper workshop neighbors, what backbone do they have to resist to the end!”
“Yes, yes, yes, Cheng, when the time comes, you gotta take care of me a bit. I’ll definitely support you.”
The one suspected to be Cheng Guanzi said satisfiedly:
“Good, good, good, there’ll be no lack of benefits for you then. Good words can’t persuade a damned ghost; they don’t want to move now, wait till they’re all driven out to live like wild men, they’ll have plenty of time to cry.”
Cheng Guanzi seemed to be conspiring with the man named “Gui Qi,” but not quite; the two laughed loudly as if no one else was there while discussing matters.
Fang Shu heard it and felt slightly surprised, but he didn’t pay much attention.
Tonight he was only here to kill this bastard Cheng Guanzi; all else was secondary, he could not be distracted.
So he suppressed the stray thoughts in his heart, quietly adjusted his breathing, restrained his qi, like just a stone by the gutter.
Time passed.
A creaking sound rose from the paper house, and the paper door opened.
“Cheng, wait… want me to call my wife to serve you?”
“Get lost, damn it, I’ve long gotten tired of playing with your woman; call your daughter, and I might consider it.”
The one called “Gui Qi” cowered, not daring to respond, and quickly took his leave.
Then the one suspected to be Cheng Guanzi staggered to the gutter, undid his belt, and shakily relieved himself.
A burst of urine stench and alcohol smell filled the air.
And Fang Shu lay in the gutter, eyelids slightly raised.
He did not strike, nor stare closely at Cheng Guanzi; he just swept his gaze over him casually with his peripheral vision, confirming the man’s identity.
Now was not the best time to strike.
Fang Shu’s greatest reliance this trip was that he was in the dark while the enemy was in the light, and he had the marketplace-forbidden fox fur technique to hide his body and conceal his form.
After Cheng Guanzi finished relieving himself, he shivered a bit more, utterly unaware, and returned to the paper house.
Soon after, snoring like thunder came from the paper house.
But Fang Shu still did not act.
He continued to wait patiently, suppressing his killing intent.
He waited motionless for most of the night, until less than an hour before dawn, when Fang Shu bit out several talismans from his bosom.
He quietly approached and pasted a silence talisman on each of the four sides of Cheng Guanzi’s paper house, front door, and back; though they couldn’t fully soundproof, they could reduce noise.
Then, biting a smoke talisman, he quietly went forward and stuffed it into the door crack of the paper house.
Crackle, the tiny sound of candle sparks bursting rang out.
A thick smoke immediately rose in Cheng Guanzi’s paper house and wafted out from the paper house windows.
Seeing this, a ripple finally appeared in Fang Shu’s calm eyes.
At this point, all the preparatory advantages he could take had been secured.
It was just a pity that the smoke talisman in his hand was only for escaping or signaling in the wilderness; the smoke it produced was neither blinding smoke nor poisonous smoke. Otherwise, his advantage would have been greater!
Cough cough cough!
A burst of coughing immediately sounded from the paper house.
Cheng Guanzi woke from sleep in shock and suspicion, cursing: “Damn it, who dares to set my house on fire! Tired of living!”
The other party seemed unconcerned at this point; he did not rush straight out of the paper house but chose to endure the smoke signal, rummaging for something inside.
After enduring for a short half cup of tea, the man’s fat body finally slammed open the paper house, cursing and rolling out toward the outside.
At this moment, Fang Shu struck.
He was lying at the paper house doorway; as soon as Cheng Guanzi’s figure appeared, he spat out his long tongue with a hiss.
The long tongue sword went straight, stabbing viciously toward the opponent’s crotch!
“Who!” Cheng Guanzi suddenly felt a chill; his body panicked, he twisted hastily, dodging the vital spot.
This offset Fang Shu’s sudden strike, but the long tongue sword was like a whip; though it failed to directly sever the opponent’s root, it still slashed at the root of the opponent’s thigh.
Pfft! A scream rang out.
Cheng Guanzi this bastard fell to the ground, left leg going soft, howling shrilly.
Then this guy’s first reaction was not to grab a weapon, muster magic power, and fight Fang Shu desperately, but surprisingly to scream:
“Help! Thieves, assassins! Quick, call the bailiffs!!”
This scene truly caught Fang Shu off guard, but he was not panicked; instead, he was delighted.
He shook the long tongue sword, flicking the tongue sword to slash, conveniently wounding Cheng Guanzi’s other leg as well, deep to the bone.
Now Cheng Guanzi’s both legs were crippled, nowhere to escape.
The opponent screamed in pain again and finally realized survival was paramount.
He hastily pulled things from his bosom, trying to get talismans or pills to stop the bleeding and save his life, but what he pulled out were all talisman money and such.
So the bastard hurled the talisman money viciously at Fang Shu, tremblingly saying:
“Spare my life! Hero, spare me, I’ll pay money for my life!”
Only now did this bastard seem softened to the bone by comfort; he still hadn’t thought to fight desperately, truly surprising Fang Shu.
Fang Shu did not waste the opportunity given; he grinned, mouth opening wide.
Whoosh! The long tongue sword hooked like a hook, stabbing viciously toward Cheng Guanzi’s throat, to yank out the windpipe in one go and kill him thoroughly.
Thud!
At this moment, the usually invincible long tongue sword finally met an obstacle.
The tongue sword stabbed at the opponent’s throat bone or spine bone but failed to cut through the bone, instead being blocked.
Gurgle, Cheng Guanzi’s eyes filled with terror, blood spilling from his mouth.
He couldn’t speak and finally realized the visitor tonight sought not money, but straight for his life.
Pfft! So Cheng Guanzi mustered the qi and blood in his mouth and spat fiercely at Fang Shu.
His qi and blood was like arrows, hissing as it hit the ground, sinking three or four feet in!
This man was indeed a First Calamity Immortal; this qi and blood power was not to be underestimated, probably having cultivated lung or breath-expelling-class magic.
Roar… At this moment, another tiger roar issued from Cheng Guanzi’s mouth.
The sound was immense, not only slightly halting Fang Shu’s movements but also making his eardrums faintly bleed.
It also turned all the silence talismans Fang Shu had pasted around into ashes, thoroughly alarming the entire paper workshop.
In an instant.
In the paper workshop, creaking sounds, voices of suspicion, panicked voices, children’s crying, crashing of table and chairs, basins and bowls, all erupted.
All the paper workshop neighbors were awakened.
But after Cheng Guanzi roared, he surprisingly did not seize the chance to pounce on Fang Shu and make trouble for him.
His bones weren’t soft, but his resolve had long been softened by comfort.
This bastard chose to turn and run; unable to run, he supported himself with hands on the ground, crawling madly toward other paper house doorways.
Crawling to the first neighboring paper house, the bastard pounded the door madly, his throat like a broken bellows: “Gah gah…”
But the neighboring paper house remained still, as if empty.
By now Fang Shu had shaken off the tiger roar; shock lingered on his face, but he didn’t delay, immediately retracting the long tongue sword, gripping it with fox claws, and continuing to pounce and kill toward Cheng Guanzi.
Seeing Fang Shu chase up, Cheng Guanzi roared in terror, hastily abandoning the first neighbor and fleeing to the second house.
Bang bang bang!
He continued pounding the door, seeing lamplight ignite inside the paper house, clutching his neck and painfully croaking:
“Old Wan! It’s me… Cheng Guan… save me!”
Resulting in a snap, the lamplight in the second paper house immediately went out, also remaining still.
By now Fang Shu had caught up, shaking the long tongue sword and stabbing toward the opponent’s body.
Pfft, another hole appeared on Cheng Guanzi’s body, blood gushing.
The opponent spat blood fiercely at Fang Shu again, roaring to force Fang Shu back.
Then he desperately crawled toward the third paper house, leaning on its door, bloody hands pounding bang bang:
“Please… please open the door.”
But the third paper house not only didn’t open the door, even the paper-pasted window snapped shut.
At this point Fang Shu advanced again, steadying himself and viciously stabbing the bastard with two more strikes.
And Cheng Guanzi, from excessive blood loss, could no longer spit blood arrows or roar; he turned his head and bluffed at Fang Shu.
Then his eyes showed desperate pleading, continuing to crawl to the fourth, fifth houses.
Fang Shu now also saw that the alarmed paper workshop had strangely gone quiet.
No one came out the door, no one went to report.
He couldn’t help but smile.
So Fang Shu’s gaze darkened; he no longer rushed forward to fight the opponent, lest the bastard jump the wall in desperation.
He began like walking a dog, forcing Cheng Guanzi to crawl a yard forward, then advancing to give a stab.
“Don’t! Don’t kill me.”
Pfft!
“Help, help, I have money…”
Pfft.
Fang Shu walked, Cheng Guanzi crawled.
Under the pale moonlight.
On the paper houses by the gutter, walls and doors were covered in bloody handprints, the ground before the doors like brushed with red paint, deep crimson.
Crawling all the way to the seventh paper house, Cheng Guanzi weakly patted the door, voice like a kitten:
“Open… help, save…”
Resulting in the seventh paper house door truly creaking open a crack.
A girl’s childish voice sounded from behind the door: “Who is it.”
This sparked hope in Cheng Guanzi’s eyes, especially as he recognized this seventh house belonged to Gui Qi.
Then panicked voices rose, scolding: “Come back, quick come back!”
A plump figure rushed up, covering the little girl’s mouth.
The girl who had opened the door for Cheng Guanzi whimpered, mouth covered, roughly dragged back into the depths of the paper house.
This dimmed the hope in Cheng Guanzi’s eyes.
That scolding voice just now was very familiar; it was Gui Qi’s woman, who often served under him, fawning endlessly, calling “Cheng” with every breath.
Then, through the door crack, Cheng Guanzi saw that good-for-nothing Gui Qi, trembling, face incredulous.
Cheng Guanzi looked at Gui Qi, proactively showing goodwill, wanting him to open the door.
Resulting in Gui Qi kicking straight through the door crack at Cheng Guanzi, tremblingly stomping on his face.
“Get lost, get far away.”
After kicking, Gui Qi stomped inside the door, face panicked as he begged, then snapped the paper door shut and braced it dead with his back.
Now, despair filled Cheng Guanzi’s eyes.
But he still didn’t want to die, coughing as he continued struggling toward the gutter, planning to hide in the water.
But after finally crawling to the gutter side, his blood had drained, head lolling, collapsing drunk-like half in the gutter.
Behind this man, Fang Shu kept distance, exhaling long.
He shook the long tongue sword, stabbing several more holes in the body with pffts.
Seeing the opponent seemingly dead, Fang Shu still wasn’t assured.
Because this bastard’s bones were hard, hard to sever the head; he smashed the eyes and skull.
After this, he dared to carefully approach and inspect, groping around.
Checking thoroughly and confirming death, Fang Shu finally relaxed completely.
Then, unhurried, he methodically began cleaning up, destroying the wounds on Cheng Guanzi’s body.
And inspecting inch by inch the blood trails he had crawled, not missing any trace that could expose him.
Returning to Cheng Guanzi’s paper house doorway, Fang Shu thought and did not enter the home to loot, lest it be a trap.
Snap!
A fire talisman was ignited by Fang Shu and boldly tossed into Cheng Guanzi’s paper house.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh, the paper house was instantly ignited, like a chimney with flames roaring up, burning fiercely.
Only then did Fang Shu gaze at the firelight, mouthing silently:
“Good riddance.”
Crackle crackle, explosive sounds rang from the house, as if some mechanisms or talismans were burning, but Fang Shu stood far away, unaffected.
He stood upright in fox form, quietly watching the paper house burn, confirming it wouldn’t go out for a while, then crouched and slipped into the darkness.
The great fire blazed, the paper workshop quiet.
Until dawn, still no one came out; everyone seemed to sleep deeply.
Only by the gutter.
Cheng Guanzi lay like a dead dog, empty black sockets staring, motionless.
The water in the gutter flowed unceasingly, blood long washed clean, no trace of red, not delaying anyone’s morning wash or cooking smoke meals.
