Chapter Two: Lord Buddha

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At first glance, the man’s face was unforgettable—one look, and you would remember it for the rest of your life.

He appeared to be somewhere between thirty and forty. His eyes were narrowed to slits, his face was covered in pockmarks, his front teeth were widely spaced, and a thick beard covered his mouth and cheeks, as though he had been born wearing a mask.

He wore a black cotton jacket with close-fitting sleeves and soft-soled, high-topped shoes that made no sound as he walked.

He was an old hand in the underworld. The moment he opened his mouth, he spoke in the secret jargon of thieves.

“Friend, what sort of thief are you? State your name.”

Jiang Xiaodao knew nothing of such underworld cant. But the man spoke in a soft, lilting voice and did not seem intent on apprehending him. From that alone, Jiang Xiaodao could more or less guess that the fellow was in the same line of work.

Seeing that Jiang Xiaodao had calmed down, Big Gap-Toothed slowly released his grip.

Jiang Xiaodao now felt somewhat reassured and naturally stopped being afraid. Besides, having just been hauled halfway out of a dog hole, he felt his dignity had been trampled on. He raised a hand and shoved the man away without the slightest show of courtesy.

“Shove your crap! Why the hell did you drag me out?”

Big Gap-Toothed was nearly choked speechless. He thought, What a little bastard! Quite the tough guy!

As the saying went, even a master could be beaten to death by a flurry of wild punches.

Jiang Xiaodao’s brazen attitude instead made it impossible for the other man to determine his true background.

The fact that his companion did not announce his affiliation did not mean he did not understand the jargon. Perhaps he simply did not want to reveal his hand or identify himself.

The hidden underworld was full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. The more seasoned a man was, the more cautious he became.

Big Gap-Toothed smacked his lips, swallowed his anger, and continued probing.

“Brother, I’ve been casing this place for three days. This establishment is definitely a fat target, but the wind isn’t right, there are too many snags, and the whole place is crawling with armed guards and trained fighters. It won’t be easy! How about you go ask the way first?”

What he meant was: Friend, I’ve been secretly surveying this household for three days. It is no empty shell; there is certainly money here. But there are too many people and too many watchful eyes inside, and the guards are all genuine martial artists. It will not be easy to make a move. How about you go test the waters first?

Jiang Xiaodao understood none of this. He only asked, puzzled, “Ask the way? Where are you trying to go?”

That was when his ignorance was fully exposed.

Big Gap-Toothed immediately realized that this was an outsider who knew nothing of the trade.

His eyes rolled, and he instantly put on a smiling face.

“Little brother, how about we team up?”

“You still haven’t said what way you want me to ask about.”

Jiang Xiaodao grew wary.

Though he did not understand the thieves’ cant, he could tell that the other man’s words concealed another meaning. He was being kept in the dark, and that naturally put him at a disadvantage. His courage began to fail him.

Big Gap-Toothed did not conceal the truth. He grinned and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. Just a few bits of underworld slang! Relax—we’re in the same trade. Would I cheat you?”

“How would I know?” Jiang Xiaodao backed away two steps. “Forget it. You can crawl through this dog hole yourself. I’ve got business elsewhere. I’m leaving.”

“Hey! Don’t!”

Big Gap-Toothed hurried forward and blocked his path.

“Little brother, a thief never leaves empty-handed. Since we’ve come all this way, how can we go back with nothing? We’d be insulting our ancestors! In weather this cold, if we don’t pull off a job, what will we use to celebrate the New Year? Our families are all waiting for something to eat!”

Jiang Xiaodao was hungry too. His stomach was cramping, and sour water kept rising in his throat. After hesitating for a while, he found himself tempted.

“Then tell me how you plan to do it.”

“Simple!” Big Gap-Toothed narrowed his eyes. “You keep watch for me while I go in and take the goods. Once it’s done, we split everything fifty-fifty. How’s that?”

“Keep watch here?”

“This side won’t do. We have to climb over the eastern wall.”

“There’s a perfectly good dog hole right here, and you want to go around and climb the wall?”

Big Gap-Toothed waved his hand. “Little brother, are you new to the trade? Where would any household keep its valuables if not in the eastern side room? If we crawl in from here, we’ll have to cross through two halls. Too dangerous.”

Jiang Xiaodao thought it over and found that it made sense.

“Just as I thought! Experience really does count for something!”

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Big Gap-Toothed chuckled and asked, “Well? Are you in?”

“I only have to keep watch?”

“Only keep watch!”

“You’re being serious?”

“Of course! If I let you go in and steal, I’d never feel at ease!”

Jiang Xiaodao rubbed his stomach and pondered for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth and nodded.

“All right!”

“See? Heroes have always come from the young!”

Big Gap-Toothed gave him a thumbs-up and showered him with praise.

Jiang Xiaodao was delighted by the words and immediately began to swell with pride.

“Of course! Shall we go now?”

“After you, little brother.”

The two of them circled around to the rear courtyard. Before long, Big Gap-Toothed found a section of wall.

“This spot is perfect. Once we get over it, we’ll land right in the central hall.”

As he spoke, Big Gap-Toothed lowered himself into a horse stance and clasped his hands together to form a foothold.

“Little brother, come on. I’ll send you up first!”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony!”

Jiang Xiaodao could not resist the flattery. He happily wound his braid around his neck and struck the pose of a dashing bandit hero.

He gripped the top of the wall with both hands and planted his right foot forward. Just as he was about to push off, Big Gap-Toothed suddenly kicked hard, sending his small body sailing over the wall.

“Off you go!”

The force was so great that Jiang Xiaodao instantly lost his balance. He spun atop the wall, then came crashing down with a loud bang, landing flat on his back and limbs, grimacing in pain.

The courtyard erupted in commotion.

Jiang Xiaodao scrambled to his feet. He was just about to start cursing when Big Gap-Toothed shouted from outside the wall:

“Help! Catch the thief!”

At once, the Wang residence exploded into chaos.

The underworld was a treacherous place!

Jiang Xiaodao’s head rang with a loud buzz. In his heart, he cursed, You son of a bitch! You set me up!

Amid the uproar, the household guards and servants hurriedly threw on their clothes and emerged one after another.

The gongs pounded without pause. In no time, lights began blazing in every room.

Jiang Xiaodao had no time to hesitate. He turned and tried to flee, but the wall was too high. Though desperation could make a dog leap over a wall, he was weakened by hunger and panicked out of his mind. His legs went soft and his muscles cramped. Forget climbing the wall—even running a few steps sent him tumbling and crawling in utter disarray.

The guards’ voices drew nearer.

“Where is he?”

“Sounds like something happened by the eastern room in the rear courtyard!”

“Didn’t you hear the signal?”

“No.”

“Strange.”

The leader immediately began issuing orders.

“Third Brother, guard the master’s side! Er-Qiang, there’s a dog hole at the foot of the western wall. Go around and cut him off! The rest of you, draw your weapons and follow me!”

By then, Jiang Xiaodao was completely beside himself. He kept his head down and darted wherever it was darkest.

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Fortunately, even in his panic, he remembered that there was a dog hole beside the old well at the foot of the western wall. While the residence was still in confusion, he rushed through the halls and courtyard toward it.

Luckily, Jiang Xiaodao was thin and nimble. Driven by the desperate will to survive, he summoned strength he had not known he possessed. Perhaps fate had not yet decided to kill him. Dodging left and right, he actually found the old well and immediately bent down to crawl into the dog hole behind it.

What he did not know was that someone had already been waiting there to ambush him.

The moment he poked his head out, he saw a huge crimson face squatting directly in front of him, glaring viciously.

“You little bastard. Trying to run?”

The Red-Faced Man seized Jiang Xiaodao by the braid and shouted, “Don’t panic in the courtyard! We’ve caught him!”

A fierce tiger before him, a vicious wolf behind.

It was over!

A chill ran through Jiang Xiaodao’s entire body. He immediately dropped to his knees and begged for mercy.

“Big brother, I was wrong! I really was! I didn’t steal a thing, I swear! Please let me go!”

He had only just begun to sob—not a tear had fallen, nor had even a drop of snot escaped—when suddenly there came three consecutive sounds:

Whoosh—smack—thud!

It sounded like a sack of sandbags hitting the ground.

Jiang Xiaodao looked up and saw that the household guard who had been watching the place was somehow already lying stiffly on the ground, twitching and groaning.

Then, from somewhere in the darkness, a bundle wrapped in blue cloth came flying through the night.

At that very moment, from the courtyard behind him, the wealthy master of the Wang household, Wang Youcai, shouted frantically:

“Someone come! Quickly, someone come!”

The guards’ chief heard this and thought, This is bad! A diversion—we’ve fallen into their trap!

Hearing that Er-Qiang had already caught the “decoy” outside the courtyard, he did not give the matter another thought. He immediately said, “The master and his wealth come first. Let’s go back and see what’s happening over there!”

Thus, Jiang Xiaodao was inexplicably rescued from his predicament.

He stood dazed for a brief moment, then rolled to his feet, snatched up the heavy bundle on the ground, and ran for his life.

After only a few steps, Jiang Xiaodao suddenly remembered something. As if possessed, he turned back, charged at the guard lying on the ground, and kicked him squarely in the head.

“Go to hell, you bastard!”

It was not for any other reason. Even if it meant risking capture, he had to recover the face he had lost.

That was simply his temper.

Having vented his anger, Jiang Xiaodao finally turned around, satisfied, and vanished into the vast darkness of night.

He did not see Big Gap-Toothed again along the way, but he was certain that the bundle in his hands had been arranged by the man.

That old bastard had set him up, but he had promised a fifty-fifty split. A promise was a promise, so Jiang Xiaodao decided not to hold it against him.

Jiang Xiaodao ran along, grinning from ear to ear.

It made sense, after all. If he had been caught, he would certainly have confessed the entire affair. Big Gap-Toothed had saved him in order to save himself as well.

Unfortunately, Jiang Xiaodao was still young and knew nothing of the ways of the world. He had no idea that on this very night, while he was completely blind to what was happening, he had been drawn into a deadly struggle in the underworld.

A catastrophe capable of bringing down the heavens was already looming over him.

When Jiang Xiaodao returned home, he quietly shut the door. Then he turned around and eagerly opened the bundle.

In his carelessness, he saw a round object roll off his knee and spin across the floor.

Jiang Xiaodao caught sight of it from the corner of his eye. His throat tightened, and a sense of foreboding seized him. Under the hazy moonlight, he looked ahead.

Sure enough, it was a blood-soaked human head.