Initial Ambition. Initial Undertaking. (Part 3)
“They abducted the puppy. I’m sure of it.”
As ironic as it was, I really wanted to tell Su Xiao he was framing the innocent. Anyone should’ve been able to tell a bunch of armed men sneaking around at the door of a big estate wanted a share of the dog hotpot.
“They’re going to run!” Su Xiao sprinted at the group. “Freeze!”
“Boss, constables!”
The one-eyed leader with a “t” scar on top of his dome swept his gaze over. “Stop pooping your pants. Since we’ve been found, we’ll have to silence them.” He licked his lips as he ran his gaze up and down Su Xiao. “Heh, this harlot is smok-, pfft!”
The grunts weren’t even a match for Su Xiao, never mind Tang Ye. Su Xiao forced the leader to involuntarily backflip with an uppercut using his scabbard. Tang Ye didn’t need to use internal energy to floor them.
I don’t know if you lot are brave or stupid.
“Speak.” Su Xiao stomped his foot onto the wall and pulled the leader in by the collar. “What are you doing here?”
Unlike his buddies, the leader refused to show any indications of pain or fear no matter how he was interrogated. Not even Tang Ye could shake him down despite the gap in their skill. They had been stripped of their weapons, and there was no lying their way out when they were caught. As per the unwritten codes of the pugilistic world, what happens in the pugilistic world stays in the pugilistic world. Given they never committed the crime they intended to perpetrate, they would be let off the hook if they owned up to it.
“W-we’re here to murder and loot.” The leader didn’t sound so staunch when he had to admit to his plans.
“Hmph, you can’t fool me!” Su Xiao scoffed.
“Huh?”
“You think I was born yesterday? Fess up: where is the dog?”
“What? Dog?”
Su Xiao slapped him across the face. “Did you just spit an insult?!”
As blood spilt from his mouth, the thug pondered what he said wrong.
“Still not going to be honest?!”
“Okay, okay, I admit I was the leader of the robbery at the gold store on Thirteenth Street last year.”
“Cut the rubbish! The truth!”
The leader clamped down on his teeth. “Five years ago, I colluded with bandits to raid a village. Three years ago, I killed our chief to replace him. I’m also the reason the mistress of the seventy-year-old martial artist got pregnant last month… I’ve confessed. What else do you want to know?”
“That’s not what I was asking about.”
“Huh?!”
“I want to know if you’re the one who abducted Mrs. Liu’s puppy.”
“What? Dog?”
“Stop calling me a freaking dog!” Su Xiao clapped his face thirty-plus times, finally beating the thug into submission. “You could’ve saved yourself all the pain if you admitted to it earlier.”
Finally breaking down in tears, the thug bemoaned, “Just kill me now… I never expected this.”
“Never expected karma to exist, did you?”
“I never expected a dog to be the reason I’d surrender after decades of dominance in the pugilistic world. You people, you people are brutes! You have no regard for the law! You think Xiuyu is a lawless city?!”
“That’s rich, coming from you.” Because I grabbed his hand before he could dish out another beating, Su Xiao grouched, “Big Brother Ming, he deserves to get hit!”
“He has a point. You can’t keep beating him. You have to respect the laws of Xiuyu,” I urged.
“Heh, now there’s a man who’s understanding.”
A while later…
“Their testimonials are here in detail, and I have obtained their thumb prints. You can take them in.” Su Xiao handed the captured guards over to the local constables.
“You underhanded rat!”
“You lot again! You lot were only released half a year ago after being put behind bars for raiding a village. None of you are walking again. Move along!”
Xiuyu’s laws were Green Prince’s laws, and they were strict, so the group was truly never walking free again.
“Hey! Where’s the puppy?!”
I had to drag Su Xiao back to tell him, “He told me the puppy is with Mrs. Liu’s neighbour.”
At long last, we retrieved and returned the puppy to its rightful owner. By the time we wrapped up the case, the sunset had blossomed upon the horizon as if a million scarlet blooms ignited.
Su Xiao stretched his arms overhead. “Found the lost puppy and detained a group of crooks. Today was well spent.”
“If there was a braised meat store in Xiuyu, then it’d be a perfect day.”
“Let’s go, then. My treat.” Su Xiao, pulling me by the arm, raced to a restaurant, then ran over to ask the proprietor to serve some meat.
Turning my head with by my chin, I shifted my gaze from grumpy Su Xiao to Tang Ye. “Whatchu looking at?”
“… I thought we’re marching into Nieyao.”
“I don’t know how you heard about that from the carriage, but I applaud you for it.”
“Luo Siming occasionally speaks to me when he delivers Luo Ming’s meals.” Tang Ye stared straight into my eyes as if he was monitoring every response I gave. “You don’t plan to bring us along, do you?’
“It’s too soon for you.”
“… How do you know I’m not ready?”
“You’re overreaching.”
“…”
“You have a distinct goal and are blessed with unmatched talent. Why not exercise patience and slow down a tad? There’s a time and place for everyone’s debut. It’s not time for you two to take to the stage yet. Why not take your time to expand your horizons and stumble so that you won’t feel empty when you look back? It was pretty nice searching for a puppy, wasn’t it?”
How in god’s name it happened was beyond me, but Tang Ye slightly elevated the corners of his lips. “I agree.”
I unleashed an endless slap combo on my thigh. “Hahahaha, you look uglier smiling than crying.”
Su Xiao came stomping back, then leaned onto the table. “Big Brother Ming, meat is half price today!”
“Serious?!”
“Yes! It’s first come, first serve! They’re fighting to secure serves now!”
Tang Ye got up. “Time to show them.”
I whipped my robe across my body. “Gentlemen, ready?”
“Don’t stand so close to me. You two make me look bad…”
“Who gives a toss? Get them!”
Thus, that was how the legend of Xiuyu’s “Three Shadowless Scum”, “Meatvengers” and “Enemy of Restaurants” titles came to be subsequent to setting the fastest record for clearing the stock of a restaurant. Do I need to mention we ate all the meat of every other restaurant?
It was late at night by the time we settled down a little, so I couldn’t remember it clearly, but I think Tang Ye and I had a conversation along the lines of…
“By the why, Big Bro, Luo Siming never mentioned the details. When are you sortieing?”
“He didn’t tell you? Why would he leave out something that important? Not long. It’s…”
… Tomorrow.
Glossary
Dog and insult – The character the thug uses to ask “what” sounds similar to the character for another character that, when combined with dog, would mean “tard”. Obviously, the joke is lost in translation.
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