Chapter 26: Unruly and Untamed

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Earlier, when I saw my opponent walking upside down on her hands, the pair of cloth shoes dangling in the air had left a particularly deep impression on me.

They had gray uppers, each embroidered with a large golden copper coin.

Although the old man sweeping the floor had changed his clothes and put on a wig, he had not had time to change his shoes.

That was why I concluded that the old man was my opponent in disguise after changing outfits inside the arcade.

I never expected him to be a woman.

The instant I let my guard down, she suddenly pulled a handful of black medicinal powder from her pocket and flung it straight at my face.

I hastily retreated two steps. My body swayed several times, and I put on a dazed expression.

Sorry.

I was only pretending!

The Drifting School was especially skilled in illusions.

Lightning-fast hands to deceive the eye, strange chanting to disrupt the brain, bizarre drugs to leave people stupefied...

In short, they were accustomed to using unpredictable methods to make a person's senses produce hallucinations, whether for performance or deception.

I had always remembered Liao Xiaoqin's warning: every devastating disaster came from carelessness.

While waiting for my target at the entrance, I had already stuffed wads of paper into my nose and ears to prevent myself from falling victim to her tricks.

She mistook me for someone who had already been drugged. Her eyes suddenly lit up. After muttering something under her breath, she struggled to rise from the ground, clutched her chest, and limped rapidly toward a nearby alley.

If my opponent had been a man, the pressure point I had struck just now would have been the Qimen point, an important point along the Liver Meridian. A blow there would disrupt the intercostal nerves, interfere with the movement of the limbs, and leave him limp on the ground, unable to move for quite some time.

But she was a woman. The point was not only covered by a bra but also obstructed by certain proud feminine features, greatly weakening the effect.

Striking pressure points was like suspending a needle in midair: force, precision, and speed were all indispensable.

The slightest deviation could lead to a thousand-mile error.

I watched her stagger into the alley and immediately followed. Then I hurled a pebble ahead of me at high speed.

She had probably assumed that I was drugged and could not possibly pursue her. She had grown careless and failed to dodge.

Thud!

The pebble struck her directly in the hollow behind the knee.

Her leg buckled, and she fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, I pounced on her and pinned her down.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!

After four sharp sounds, both her wrists and both her ankles had been dislocated.

Riiip!

I tore off a piece of cloth from her clothes, gripped her by the throat, and stuffed it into her mouth.

She was a master of the Color Branch, the branch of the Drifting School specializing in sleight of hand.

Her hands and feet were certainly not the only things capable of tricks. Her mouth probably had a few performances of its own.

If I did not gag her, she might sing a couple of operatic verses at me and scramble my nerves. Then all my efforts today would have been wasted.

I had to guard against every possibility!

I reached up and tore off the wig from her head, then wiped away some of the makeup paste on her face.

Her blue-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall. Her skin was fair as a peeled scallion, and her mischievous, enormous eyes brimmed with tears brought on by pain.

I pulled the paper wads from my ears and nose and waved them in front of her.

“Do you surrender?”

To my surprise, she shook her head. She raised her little face, looking both aggrieved and defiant.

She still refused?

I asked again, “You’re from the Color Branch?”

She gave a proud little nod.

I asked once more, “What’s your name?”

She pursed her lips at me.

I removed the cloth from her mouth.

A clear, melodious female voice rang out.

“Your great-grandmother’s name is Ji Xiaoyao...”

Before she could finish, I stuffed the cloth back into her mouth.

Tears of anger rolled down her cheeks as she glared at me furiously.

Fatty Dong called me, urgently asking where I was. He said he had not found anyone in the arcade.

I replied, “I caught the fish. I’m in the alley on the left. Get here, quickly!”

A short while later, Fatty Dong came running over.

The moment he saw my captive, he cursed and charged forward. He raised his fan-sized hand, intending to give her a vicious slap.

But his hand stopped in midair.

He stared at the stubborn face before him, which looked like that of a young calf refusing to yield. His head filled with question marks, and he turned to me.

“A woman?! Little Meng, are you sure you’ve got the right person?!”

I pulled out the bundle that had made her back look hunched like an old man’s and held it up for Fatty Dong to see.

Magician’s props, medicine jars, makeup paste, a wig, the clothes she had changed out of...

Fatty Dong flew into a rage and raised his hand again.

“Well, I’ll be damned! She’s too cunning!”

Ji Xiaoyao did not dodge. Instead, she lifted her little face with an expression that clearly said, If you’ve got the nerve, hit me.

Fatty Dong’s hand stopped once again. His chubby face twisted with conflict and irritation.

“This Daoist has never hit a woman... Little Meng, why don’t you do it for me? I’ll give you a hundred yuan for your trouble.”

“Get lost!”

I did not hit women either.

I had struck her pressure point only because I had thought she was a man. I had thrown the pebble merely to stop her from escaping.

“Ji Xiaoyao, right? We have no deep grudge against each other. You’ve suffered enough today. As long as you return the money and jade pendant you swindled from this fatty last month, we’ll wipe the slate clean and forget the whole thing. How does that sound?”

After saying this, I pulled the cloth from her mouth.

Ji Xiaoyao lifted her chin.

“I cheated him through my own ability. Why should I return anything...”

Fatty Dong: “...”

I immediately stuffed the cloth back into her mouth.

This girl was as stubborn as a young calf—wild and impossible to tame. But what was I supposed to do?

Report her to the police?

We had no evidence. Besides, Fatty Dong and I were both somewhat apprehensive about the matter.

Beat her up?

It was difficult for two grown men to lay hands on a young woman.

Reason with her?

She could not even speak with the gag in her mouth!

I scratched my head.

“Fatty, she’s not wrong. If she cheated us through her own skill, she can simply refuse to pay us back.”

Fatty Dong’s eyes widened.

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“Have you lost your mind? That jade pendant was the only thing the old man left me—a priceless piece of ancient Han jade!”

I said, “What I mean is that this girl has had a hard time too. We can take something from her to cover the debt and call it even.”

Fatty Dong frowned.

“What thing?”

I pointed at Ji Xiaoyao.

“Her clothes look pretty fancy. Just strip them off and burn them for the old man when we get back. That should count as an explanation.”

Fatty Dong froze for a moment. Then he understood, clapped his hands, and gave an evil smile.

“Excellent idea!”

The moment he finished speaking, the brute reached for her clothes.

At first, Ji Xiaoyao’s eyes blazed with fury. Her little face flushed bright red as she struggled and twisted.

But when Fatty Dong undid the second button, tears began streaming down her face. She turned toward me and whimpered frantically.

She was scared stiff!

I raised my hand to stop Fatty Dong and smiled at her.

“Are you going to return it or not? Nod for yes, shake your head for no!”

Ji Xiaoyao was both embarrassed and anxious. She nodded repeatedly.

I pressed the Dumb Point on her body, pulled the cloth from her mouth, and reset both her dislocated wrists and one of her ankles. I left the other ankle dislocated so she would not be able to escape.

Each of us held one of her arms. Supporting Ji Xiaoyao between us, with her chest heaving and only one leg usable, we left the alley, hailed a taxi, and set off to retrieve the items.

The driver found our appearance rather strange.

“What happened to this young lady?”

I answered, “She twisted her ankle, and she just had surgery on her tongue.”

Following Ji Xiaoyao’s directions, we went to a chaotic residential district in Yingshang.

The area was undergoing extensive construction. Workers’ prefabricated housing stood mixed together with ordinary residences, and nearly everyone living there was a migrant tenant.

The three of us arrived before a dilapidated rental house. The door was half open, and a strong smell of traditional medicine reached our noses.

“Xiaoyao... cough, cough. Have you come back?”

An old man’s voice came from inside, accompanied by violent coughing.

I peered through the window.

An emaciated old man lay in bed beneath a quilt. Beside him sat a bowl of untouched medicinal soup.

When Ji Xiaoyao heard him, she looked at me pleadingly and gestured for me to release the pressure point in her throat.

The so-called Dumb Point merely caused a temporary interruption of breath that prevented a person from speaking. It was not as miraculous as the legends claimed. After ten minutes or so, the effect would naturally disappear.

Of course, she did not know that.

Seeing that there was an immobile patient inside, I was no longer very worried about her trying anything. I pretended to pat her back, then reset her other dislocated ankle.

Ji Xiaoyao bit down on her pearly teeth. Her little face looked fiercely adorable as she said in a low voice, “I’ll go get the things. Don’t come inside.”

Did she think I would listen?

If we did not keep a tight hold on her lifeline, this little brat was clever enough to play some trick within minutes and have us buried beneath the construction site, where we would sprout into crops.

I strode into the room first, sat directly beside the bed, took the old man’s hand, and spoke with concern.

“Good day, sir!”

“I’m Xiaoyao’s friend. I came especially to visit you today!”

Outside the door, Ji Xiaoyao planted her hands on her hips. Her chest heaved, and she looked as though she were furious enough to burst a lung.

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