Chen Yi returned home as usual and quickly fell asleep. His mother didn't notice anything unusual.
The next day, Chen Yi's mother was a little nervous, she didn't dare to go to the market town to sell fish anymore. Even doing fishing in the lake also made her uneasy.
On the third day, she stayed at home, even if she decided to give up the stall at the Pier Fish Market, she was afraid that Lame Liu would find another reason to forcefully take Chen Ran away.
On the fourth day, to her shock, she heard that Lame Liu's body had been found floating in the lake. The body was bloated beyond recognition, his stomach ripped open by an unidentified water beast, and completely eaten!
Chen Yi's mother was overjoyed. She hurriedly ran back home, grabbed Chen Ran's hands, and exclaimed excitedly:
"He's dead, Lame Liu is dead. We don't have to be afraid anymore. Ranran, you won't be kidnapped or bullied anymore,
This is such great news, sob sob sob~!"
Chen Ran, who was 12 years old and quite sensible, knew that her fate would not be too grim and cried along with her mother.
Chen Yi, on the other hand, stood by with no reaction whatsoever.
After her excitement, Chen Yi's mother looked at Chen Yi with suspicion in her eyes:
"Xiao Yi, aren't you happy? Why aren't you reacting at all?
Could Lame Liu's accident have anything to do with you?"
Chen Yi had an innocent look on his face:
"How could it be?"
"Mother, Lame Liu publicly declared at the fish market that I am a martial arts waste who can't even afford a decoction, or control my Vitality and Blood. He said he could crush me like a bug with one hand, how could I dare do anything to him?!"
Though he spoke thus, a hint of a smile crept onto Chen Yi's face.
Chen Yi's mother scrutinized him for a while longer, but ultimately decided that it was unlikely. Chen Yi was a good boy, just 16 years old and had only been learning martial arts for a few days. He wouldn't dare commit murder, would he?
"Forget it, today is a good day. You just stay at home. If the Fish and Dragon Gang comes to investigate, don't admit that you know any martial arts."
Chen Yi's mother continued to advise him earnestly, now her worry turned to the misunderstanding that Chen Yi may have done something bad.
He had every motive, after all, Lame Liu had announced his intention to oust the Chen family from their stall in front of everyone.
"Mother, how is our relationship with Hu Ye from the fish market? Does he know our father?" Chen Yi asked after some consideration.
"What relationship could there be? Your father sometimes secretly sold Hu Ye any fish over five pounds he caught. Hu Ye never even offered a few more coins, he's not a good man.
Remember, don't spread this around!"
Chen Yi nodded, "Mother, you know, Lame Liu had just been reported and punished by Hu Ye not long ago, and then Lame Liu is dead. Also, isn't Hu Ye a Jin-entering Martial Artist? I wonder..."
"Shh~!" Chen Yi's mother sucked in a breath, "That's true!"
Then, she turned to Chen Yi and warned him seriously: "Don't you dare talk about this! Okay, stay at home and take care of your sister, I'll go out for a bit."
...
"Sister Zhang, are you busy? Tsk, tsk... I heard that Lame Liu is dead, this is... Hey, have you seen Hu Ye recently? He's actually quite good when it comes to doing things by the book, he has never made things difficult for us, right?
...
Ah yes, yes, that's right. It is good that Lame Liu died. Widow Shen from the village can finally be free.
What? You're talking about Wang's Family's Son's Wife? Hiss... Really? I haven't heard about this, could you explain it to me more in detail?"
Before long, a group of women gathered at the entrance of the village. Chen Yi's mother stood in the middle of them, subtly hinting a few things; her children were still young, Hu Ye was too formidable to contend with, and which villager hasn't been bullied by Lame Liu?
Seeing that her mission was accomplished and it was nearly dusk, the group of women each returned home to their chores of nursing children and cooking.
In the afternoon, two muscular men dressed in black gym clothes, each with a long blade at their waist, arrived at the village.
Dong, dong, dong!
A few sounds of the gong, and the village head gathered everyone at the entrance of the village.
"These two gentlemen are from the Fish and Dragon Gang, they've come to investigate the cause of Lame Liu's death. If anyone has a grudge against Lame Liu, please step forward and speak up."
Village head Wang Dachui was a little old man in his forties. His son worked as a handyman for the Fish and Dragon Gang, so he had some influence in the village.
But when he asked who had a grudge against Lai Zi Liu, no one moved. At this point, the village's bold woman, Zhang Xiaohua, sneered and shouted:
"What kind of question is that, Village Chief? Just say it, isn't every decent family in our village been bullied by Lai Zi Liu?"
As soon as she spoke, everyone started arguing,
"Yeah, yeah, Old Chen's Family was about to be driven off their fish stall by Lai Zi Liu. The widows from Old Zhao and Xiaowang's families were both forced to sleep with Lai Zi Liu. Do you know how many fish from Little Li's Family Lai Zi Liu has eaten? Everybody knows!"
"Hold on there, Sister Zhang, the woman from Old Zhao's Family is a widow, but Xiaowang's Wife isn't. Her husband is just lame, not dead.
It's said that when Lai Zi Liu went to Xiaowang's House to harass them, he even tied up her husband and made him watch...
If anyone were to have a grudge against Lai Zi Liu, it might be Lame Wang, right?"
"But that Lame Wang can't even walk, what's he going to use to kill?
Village chief, you know everyone in our village, they're all honest people. We've been bullied by Lai Zi Liu for so many years. If we wanted revenge, wouldn't we have done it a long time ago instead of waiting until now?
Maybe you should look outside the village? See who Lai Zi Liu has recently offended?"
Standing in the crowd, Chen Yi's Mother didn't utter a word.
The things that she had said earlier in the morning to a group of women from the same spot, now being said by the women of the village in a torrent of words, had achieved her purpose.
The two brutes from the gang finally got the picture. They went to Lame Wang's house and left after a quick glance.
...
"Vice-leader, after an investigation, there is no suspicious person in the West Lake Village where Lai Zi Liu lived. However, a few days ago Lai Zi Liu reported Hu Ye for violating gang rules, and then he got into trouble. What do you think?"
The two men returned to the Fish and Dragon Gang and made a report to Deputy Gang Leader Cheng Jiu.
Cheng Jiu, nearly fifty, with a shaved head, strong and muscular, his eyes bright and sharp, gives off a sense of oppression as soon as he sits down. Several years ago, he made breakthroughs in martial arts and entered into Transformation Realm, thus being promoted to Vice Gang Leader. It seems that his vitality and blood are showing no signs of decline.
He pondered for a moment and said, "There's no doubt about Ahu. He's been punished hard enough and doesn't need to be checked any longer.
Nevertheless, Lai Zi Liu is nothing more than an useless fellow who can't even access his Jin. So, go back to West Lake Village, grab Lame Wang, tie him up and kill him. That would serve as an explanation to the gang members."
"But Vice-leader, Lame Wang can't even get off the bed..." One of the naive younger members tried to explain,
Only to be cut off by Cheng Jiu's glowering eyes: "If I say he killed Lai Zi Liu, then it's him who did it. Just fucking do as I said!"
The naive member was quickly pulled aside by an older gang member and bowed out,
"Are you fucking dumb? The leader has been in retreat practicing his skills for the past two years. The Vice-leader is the one in charge of all matters, big and small in the gang. His word is law. How dare you contradict him?"
"But how could that Lame Wang possibly kill someone?"
"Does it matter? Couldn't have he crawled out with his hands to do it? Or ambushed Lai Zi Liu from the bushes while he was drunk? Or set up a trap with a big rock for Lai Zi Liu to step on, then pushed him into the lake?"
"Use your fucking brain. The answer given by the leader is always the correct answer. You got to figure out a way to perfect the case, as long as it generally makes sense, that's enough!"
....
Late in the day, Lame Wang was forcefully taken away by the Fish and Dragon Gang for supposedly killing Lai Zi Liu, turning Wang's Family Son's Wife into a real widow,
However, with one less mouth to feed, she sighed with relief,
As for the other villagers, no one empathized, they just became more cautious.
On the other hand, at Hu Ye's house, Cheng Jiu put down the replenishing medicinal materials he brought and looked at Hu Ye, who was still pretending to be sick in bed:
"Ahus, you might have rushed things with Lai Zi Liu. But I've managed to cover for you, so you don't have to worry anymore.
In the meantime, you should rest and heal. I will hand over some tasks from the secret place to you afterward,
We need to continue to save up some money and manpower. Once I can figure out the old man's physical condition, we will take action,
Now, stop lying on the bed. You need to eat more and recover in these few days, and work on your killing skills again. I have to leave now."
After watching his boss leave, Hu Ye was thoroughly confused:
What does he mean 'rush things with Lai Zi Liu'? What did I do ?"