pertwk Chapter 53 The Big Dog Died
Chapter 53 The Big Dog Died
When Zhou Ye left the martial arts school, he felt pain all over his body. Although it hadn't caused any serious injury, it was definitely very painful.
That was when they were learning the Wind and Thunder Grappling Technique earlier, Du Keyuan kept whipping Zhou Ye with a rattan cane, repeatedly correcting his incorrect movements. And he was hitting the most painful spots?
However, Zhou Ye strongly suspected that the old man was doing it on purpose. He simply lacked evidence!
Oh well. Who told me to be so unlucky? But at least I gained something. The panel has already appeared—Wind and Thunder Grappling Hand (Third-rate martial art): Not yet mastered (0/10)
So, considering he could quickly earn points, Zhou Ye decided not to argue with that overprotective old man.
After returning home, he picked out more than 100 kilograms of charcoal and soon arrived at the woodcutter's charcoal shop.
In front of outsiders, Zhou Ye always maintained his weight of over 100 pounds, preserving his image as an ordinary person to prevent others from noticing anything unusual.
"Hey buddy, is Big Dog here?" After receiving the money, Zhou Ye called out to one of the charcoal shop's employees.
"Big Dog Bro? Wasn't he already dead?"
"Huh?" Zhou Ye was taken aback. Hadn't he seen the big dog on the night of the rebellion? Wasn't it still alive and kicking back then? How could it suddenly die in just over ten days?
The reason I came to see Big Dog today was to find out what was going on outside. People in the underworld usually have good connections; maybe they can find out some truth?
Just as Zhou Ye was taking a peculiar look, the waiter called over a short, stocky thug. The man asked, "Who are you? What do you want with Big Dog?"
"Oh! My name is A-Ye, and I'm also a member of the Woodcutter's Gang." Zhou Ye took out the wooden plaque and said, "Isn't it supposed to be 200 coins a month? I used to give that to Brother Big Dog. If you don't believe me, you can ask some of the brothers around Big Dog."
"Hmm." The man glanced at the wooden sign casually. "Ah Ye, right? Big Dog and his henchmen are almost all dead. Call me Brother Stone! Big Dog has handed over all his territory and men to me. From now on, you'll work for me. Give me that 200 yuan too."
"Yes, yes." Zhou Ye obediently paid the protection money. "Brother Stone, may I ask how Big Dog died?"
"What? You still want to avenge him?" Stone said with a half-smile.
"No, no, I don't have that ability at all."
"I doubt you have any," Stone said. "Don't pry. It's just a feud between江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world), and the gang will handle it."
"Understood, understood. Thank you, Brother Stone."
"..."
I never imagined that being a thug would end badly. And why is Big Dog's death being handled with such mystery? Is there some unspeakable secret involved?
Seeing Zhou Ye leave looking completely bewildered, the man with the stone turned to the charcoal shop owner and asked, "Do you know what that A-Ye does? Is he also a mountain herder?"
"Yes! Brother Stone. He was originally a mountain dweller, so he probably hasn't been in the county town for very long."
"A mountain dweller?" Stone's interest was immediately piqued. "Should we bring him into our hunting party this time?"
"Maybe we shouldn't bother? I heard he was very lucky and found a private kiln camp in the mountains. He delivers charcoal three or four times a month. Besides, he's extremely timid and doesn't want to risk going to other places in the mountains."
"Cowardly? Cowardly is good! They're perfect as bait, aren't they?" After thinking for a moment, Stone shook his head in the end. "Let's skip it this time. With the two we caught yesterday, we should have enough cannon fodder."
"..."
Zhou Ye never expected that simply changing a minor leader of the woodcutter's gang would lead him to set his sights on him.
When he returned home, he called Xinghua over and handed her the dirty clothes and bedding.
However, as he was leaving, Zhou Ye suddenly saw Gao Xiaoyi. A thought suddenly struck him: wasn't there another well-informed gossip here?
"Xiao Yi, I've been looking for you."
"What's up, Brother Ye?" Gao Xiaoyi jogged over.
"I just wanted to thank you and buy you a drink. My family has been so well taken care of these past few days."
"What's this?" Gao Xiaoyi said politely with a smile.
"Of course. I brought a lot of local produce from the mountains this time. Shall we two brothers try some of it together?"
"Well... let's go to my place! It's not very convenient for you to be alone. My mom can help with the cooking."
Zhou Ye thought for a moment and said, "That works too. Let's go to my house first and I'll help you carry the things over."
"hehe."
The two arrived at Zhou Ye's house together. There wasn't anything particularly important inside.
When Zhou Ye left last time, he took a batch with him. The rest are already stored in the cabinet, and if you don't search for them, they look just like anything in an ordinary person's home.
After sorting through the mountain produce, it filled an entire straw bag. Zhou Ye also grabbed two bottles of honey as a gift for Lao Gao and his wife.
Unexpectedly, when I turned around, I found that Gao Xiaoyi had already taken down the bow hanging on the wall.
That was the earliest military bow and arrow. With the advent of the eight-stone and ten-stone hard bows, this bow had actually become obsolete.
Seeing Gao Xiaoyi's obvious delight, Zhou Ye couldn't help but chuckle: "Xiaoyi, if you like it, this bow is yours."
"How can that be?"
"Don't mention it. I no longer use this bow; I have a new one. If you enjoy archery, you can have the quiver of arrows next to it as well."
Perhaps Gao Xiaoyi was just the kind of person who enjoyed playing with bows and arrows. He moved his lips, but finally said, "Well... thank you so much, Brother Aye."
"As long as you like it. The bowstring was just changed, so it should be able to fire many more times."
"Hehehe."
Gao Xiaoyi happily hugged the bow and arrow to his chest, grinning foolishly and unwilling to let go, as if he had obtained the bow of his dreams.
Upon arriving at the Gao family home, they were greeted by numerous gifts, including the bow and arrows given to Gao Xiaoyi. The Gao couple were incredibly hospitable. Old Gao even personally joined them at the table while they drank.
After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere at the table became quite lively.
"...Ah Ye, you're asking about war? It's happened quite a few times before. Isn't it just our county officials fighting with high-ranking officials in the imperial court?" Old Gao was clearly drunk, and he became more talkative. "Actually, it's nothing serious. Ordinary people like you and me don't need to bother with it."
"A battle of wits? Why would they want to fight?"
"That's a long story. It has to start with the history of our Fufeng County. But this war is a little different. The original prefect was sent by the imperial court. He was causing a lot of resentment and even withheld the soldiers' pay. Who could tolerate that? So the garrison general led his soldiers and beheaded the prefect."
"Huh? Have they rebelled?" Zhou Ye was startled.
"Heh, it wasn't a rebellion. They just beheaded a couple of prefects."
"???"