Why Won't You Open the Door

Zhou Qingmei was speechless for a long while. I said there's knockout drug in this meat—why is he still eating? Fang Shuwen not only ate, but wouldn't let Zhou Qingmei eat, either. He said to the eldest Sun: "My wife can't eat rich food, so if none of you are eating this basin of meat, I'll take it all today." Zhou Qingmei lowered her head, so no one would see her composure crumbling. Who's his wife? Pah! But seeing him eat with such relish, she figured he wasn't taking that little bit of knockout drug to heart, so she didn't give it another thought. She had originally thought the eldest Sun would have Zhou Qingmei try some too, but unexpectedly he didn't press the issue. Over the course of the meal, their idle chatter was genuinely enjoyable. After the meal, the wing room had been prepared, and the eldest Sun told Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei to go rest there. The two closed the door and shot the bolt. On the kang, Zhou Qingmei then looked at Fang Shuwen: "Are you all right?" Fang Shuwen smiled: "A little knockout drug—what can it do to me?" Even having mastered the Yijin Jing to Great Perfection, he wouldn't claim to be immune to all poisons, but a mere knockout drug was still nothing to worry about. "...Impressive, impressive!" Zhou Qingmei rolled her eyes, then immediately furrowed her brow: "I originally thought this was just an ordinary household, but I never expected them to slip knockout drug into the food." "Judging by the looks of it, this family has surely done this sort of thing more than once." "I heard my Master say that people of the jianghu have their jianghu ways, but ordinary common folk have their own methods too." "You can't underestimate anyone." "I didn't take it to heart before, but today I've seen it firsthand." Fang Shuwen smiled: "Those who live by the mountains eat from the mountains; those who live by the sea eat from the sea. Food is the people's first priority. But if they can't eat their fill, they have to eat live passersby." "Not only is this Mr. Sun simple and honest in appearance but ruthless at heart. Even his son is no ordinary character. His delight at seeing us couldn't be faked. We have no ties to him, no reason to owe him anything, so his being so happy naturally means there's something in it for him. And since that benefit isn't in the food, it probably lies in the two of us." At the dinner table, Fang Shuwen had given him a chicken leg—that was his final test. The boy hadn't eaten, not out of obedience; the look in his eyes toward his father wasn't asking for instructions but pleading for help. The drugged chicken leg, he naturally didn't dare eat; he needed his father to bail him out. "What do you mean? Are we moving now?" Zhou Qingmei asked. But Fang Shuwen shook his head: "There's no rush; we've been worn out long enough. Let us rest a bit. I also want to see exactly what this family plans to do." Zhou Qingmei glanced at him: "Why is your curiosity so strong? Forget it, suit yourself." "You're not curious?" "I am!" The two smiled at each other. Having shared weal and woe all this way, they really did have some tacit understanding between them. Before coming here, Zhou Qingmei had considered whether to borrow water to bathe. After all, having been in the deep mountains and old forests for so long, the smell clinging to her was truly unpleasant. Now she'd given up on that idea; leaning there, she fell asleep in no time. Fang Shuwen glanced at her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. As night deepened, footsteps came from outside the door. Fang Shuwen gently patted Zhou Qingmei's shoulder, and she instantly sat up. Then they heard someone outside speak in a low voice: "The woman didn't eat; what do we do? She wears a sword at her side, so she probably knows martial arts." The speaker was actually that boy. The eldest Sun's voice rang out: "Don't worry. People who know martial arts have fallen into our father-and-son hands before. Your mother knows too, and what has it gotten her? Looking at them, all in a sorry state, they must have crawled out of the woods after suffering plenty. They're probably out as soon as their heads hit the pillow. I still have some drugged smoke here; in a bit I'll blow a tubeful in, guaranteed they won't wake even to thunder." "Father really does have a way." The boy's voice carried joy. Old Master Sun's voice also reached both of their ears at this time: "You, you're still wet behind the ears. You need to learn more from your father. I look at this girl; she's pretty good-looking. She could stay and be my grandson's bride." "No." The eldest Sun said: "Good-looking ones can't be kept; they cause trouble. The usual rule: kill the man, skin him, strip his tendons, carve the meat, pick the bones, and sell the meat in the city as wild boar. The woman gets sold to a human trafficker. Goods like that can fetch a good sum of silver; then we can buy the boy a bride—isn't that settled? Or do you want him to be like me, ruining his own wife's face, breaking her leg and her arm tendons? If it weren't that she's still fairly obedient, I'd have killed her long ago. What sort of life is this?" His words carried resentment. As he spoke, the window paper bulged slightly, and then a bamboo tube poked in. The two inside, hearing this exchange, had long since turned grim. Fang Shuwen made a quieting gesture to Zhou Qingmei, reached out and gently pinched the bamboo tube, and before the drugged smoke could come in, he pressed the bamboo hole. Then they heard the eldest Sun clearly draw a breath, about to blow, when suddenly from outside the courtyard came banging on the door—bang, bang, bang. The sound came abruptly, and the three of them engaged in wrongdoing simultaneously broke out in a cold sweat. Hurriedly they pulled out the bamboo tube and all looked toward the main gate. The knocking was neither rushed nor slow, but had the feel of: if you don't open the door, I'll keep knocking. The three looked at each other. In the middle of the night, was it a ghost knocking? The eldest Sun gritted his teeth, took a few steps forward, and shouted: "Who is it?" At the same time he waved, telling the grandparent and grandchild to come over quickly, not to stand beneath Zhou Qingmei's window. Someone suddenly arriving at this hour of the night left him uneasy. He didn't know who was coming; listening to the knocking, it didn't seem like a normal person. So he put on an act of being startled by the knocking, shouting loudly on purpose, intending to wake Zhou Qingmei. Harboring evil intentions, they nonetheless wanted to use Zhou Qingmei's martial arts as a safeguard for themselves. But unexpectedly, after that shout, the door was still being knocked on. In the room where Zhou Qingmei and Fang Shuwen stayed, there was not the slightest movement. "Could they be sleeping that soundly?" The eldest Sun regretted it a bit. If he'd known, why bother preparing this drugged smoke? This thing he'd bought from a gang in the city; it was very expensive. Not knowing what to do, suddenly there was a loud boom. The room door had been knocked open. Outside the door stood two people, both in black robes, faces livid, eyes reddened, each holding a hook claw; in the night, the cold light glinted. The three of them, at the instant of seeing them, only felt their scalps go numb, terrified out of their wits. They thought they'd done too many wrongful deeds and a malicious ghost had come to claim their souls. The eldest Sun let out a cry of "Mama!" and turned to run back into the room. But they heard a whoosh—the hook claw dragged its iron chain, crossed through empty air, and hooked fast onto his neck. Immediately after, the whole man was whooshed away and fell into the hands of the one at the doorway. Then that person spoke in a sinister tone: "Why won't you open the door?"',