Beating the Drowning Dog

Beating the Drowning Dog One trip out on the boat had brought in such a haul. Not only a treasure fish, but his marsh spirit fusion had broken past 10, reaching 11.7. The Zeye Marsh really was a land of blessings. It was worth exploring a great deal more. He had charted less than half the waters around Shangrao Landing. He needed to find the chance to map more of it; apart from treasure fish, treasure plants were excellent too. Liang Qu had also noticed that as he grew stronger, his spirit had grown as well. Perhaps before much longer he would be able to dominate another water beast. The weather was turning colder and colder, and the part Cannot Move could play was growing smaller by the day. He would have to find a water beast to take its place; that would help whether he was catching fish or exploring the deeper waters. It was noon by the time Ah Fei had caught about thirty fish. Only then did Liang Qu row back to the wharf, pretending he had been fishing all night. He sold them to the fishing yard as usual, and the one who received him was again Lin Songbao, second son of the yard's manager Lin Di. Lin Songbao helped him move the fish and asked, "Ah Shui, how come you didn't come to sell fish the last few days? Did you go to town too? If you ask me, you're such a good hand at fishing — what are you wearing yourself out walking those ten-odd li for? Carrying a few dozen fish on your back is hard work." Liang Qu smiled. "I did go to town, but not to sell fish. I went to learn martial arts." "Learn martial arts?" Lin Songbao, who was weighing the fish, was startled. He looked Liang Qu up and down, his tone full of pity. "Ahh, you took the money from selling that treasure fish last time and put it all into martial arts?" "That's right. What of it?" "You—you—you fool!" Lin Songbao was beside himself, like a man watching good iron refuse to become steel. "Ah Shui, you're still too young. You don't know how deep the waters of martial training run. Sure, the bar to get into a martial hall is only six or seven taels, but without tens of taels of silver for medicinal herbs, you'll never make anything of yourself. Those three martial halls over in Pingyang Town — who knows how many farmers and fishermen save up for a dozen years just to get inside. And after they get in? What then? Three months later they come slinking back all the same, and in the end they're farmers and fishermen for the rest of their lives. Some don't have the qi and blood for it and train themselves into cripples — train themselves to death! If you'd held on to those seven taels, and with your skill at fishing on top of that, you'd have been sure to marry a fine wife. Ahh, what a waste..." It was plain that Lin Songbao truly felt the loss, certain that money spent on martial arts had been thrown away for nothing. Liang Qu smiled and scratched his head. He said nothing more, only counted the copper coins from the sale; once he was sure they were right, he headed home. He didn't plan to go back to the martial hall for the next couple of days. Having eaten a treasure fish, he had changed rather noticeably, and it would be bad if someone noticed. He hadn't finished learning Tiger Fist and Crane Fist, but he had finished Ape Fist, and practicing it at home worked just as well. "Why isn't that brat back yet?" Three young men were squatting at his door — one chewing on a grass stem, another draped over the top of the wall — looking thoroughly impatient. "Let's go in and search again. I'm betting he hid the money in the house. Who carries that much silver around all day?" "Didn't we already turn the place upside down? Damn it, there's nothing there — a few jin of coarse rice, and even his bedding is rotten. He sold a treasure fish for all that money, so why isn't he spending any of it?" "You don't think he took the money off to learn martial arts, do you? Six taels five would just about cover it." "A mud-caked peasant like that, trying to make a name for himself through martial arts?" "Some people are just stupid and can't see it. Maybe... hey, hey, hey, Second Brother, look — that kid over there, isn't that him?" The man called Second Brother narrowed his eyes at the distant figure. He couldn't be sure; he only had the feeling that the newcomer carried himself differently from before, but the build was unmistakably like his. "That's probably him. Let's hide, so we don't scare the little bastard off." In the distance, Liang Qu frowned slightly. Ever since he had refined the marsh spirit, his ears and eyes had grown sharp, and he had spotted the three young men at his door long ago. He had even watched them scurry into hiding the moment they caught sight of him, as though afraid no one would guess they meant trouble. Liang Qu knew the three of them: the Wang brothers, notorious in Yixing. They were not fishermen but farmers, with a dozen-odd mu of fields on the back hill. They were cast from the same mold as Scabby-Head Zhang, only not so wild — they didn't dare push a man to his death. With three brothers, their household had no shortage of men, and they had bullied plenty of people. Whenever it was time to flood the fields, the three of them would squat at the mouth of the river with hoes over their shoulders. Their family had to be first to draw water, and anyone who tried to cut in got his head split open. Liang Qu didn't farm, but he had heard the stories. With a name that bad, there was no need to guess what the three of them were doing blocking his door. They had seen him sell a treasure fish a few days ago for no small sum of silver, and their crooked minds had started working. But Liang Qu didn't hide. Things were different now. In the old days, dealing with a single Scabby-Head Zhang had taken care and scheming. Now his Water Monkey fusion had passed 10 percent. He wasn't underwater, but his strength had grown, and on top of that he had trained in martial arts and been nourished by two treasure fish and a treasure lotus root — his body was thoroughly fit and strong. Even without having learned the fighting methods of the Three Fists Method, he was far from helpless. In the alley, the Wang brothers waited quietly, but after a good while there was still no sound of a door opening, and they began muttering among themselves. "What's going on? Why isn't he here yet?" "Is the little bastard's leg lame, that he walks so slow?" "Because I was looking for something handy to hit you with." "Who—?" The voice came from above their heads and made them jump. Wang the Eldest looked up and saw a grey brick flying at him. Liang Qu leapt down from the roof, a brick in his hand, and smashed it into Wang the Eldest's face. The blow carried the weight of his whole body. Blood and broken teeth sprayed, and the brick split in two on the spot. "And you!" Liang Qu swung with both arms, left then right, and brought a brick down on the dazed Wang the Second's forehead, splitting his skull open on the spot. Wang the Third, standing to one side, was too stunned to move. Seeing both his elder brothers sprawled on the ground, he put on a fierce front with no nerve behind it. "Liang—Liang Qu, why are you hitting my eldest and second brothers?" "Lowborn scum who need a beating! I hit whoever I please!" With half a broken brick in each hand, Liang Qu went for Wang the Third. A fight was all about momentum. Liang Qu's ferocity was overwhelming, and Wang the Third didn't dare fight back. On all fours he scrambled and rolled out of the alley. Seeing this, Liang Qu threw one of the broken bricks and caught him in the lower back and belly. Wang the Third's shoulders sagged and his head nearly struck the ground. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his back, he kept crawling to escape the alley. Liang Qu had no time to chase him. He turned back into the alley and set upon the two on the ground with fists and feet. "Brought into this world with nobody to teach you manners — lower than pigs and dogs!" Wang the Eldest tried to resist, but Liang Qu slammed him back down one-handed. He couldn't understand how Liang Qu had such strength; his head cracked against the wall and he nearly coughed up blood. A kick sent Wang the Second, who was trying to crawl away, sprawling back down. Then Liang Qu grabbed Wang the Eldest by the head with his left hand and slapped him back and forth with his right. The two could only howl under the beating, blood running all over them, a large wet patch spreading across their crotches. It turned Liang Qu's stomach — there was nowhere left to put his feet. "Get lost, both of you!" Groaning, Wang the Eldest and Wang the Second heard this as a pardon from Heaven. They crawled out of the alley and, propping each other up against the wall, slunk away in a sorry state. Liang Qu's face was cold. If killing a man here hadn't meant the nuisance of disposing of a corpse and drawing the attention of the authorities, he would have struck to kill. A few curs — alive, they did nothing but waste rice. By now quite a crowd had gathered outside the alley, drawn by the noise of the fight. But the Wang brothers' bad name went before them; far from being alarmed, the onlookers cheered. "Ah Shui, you're only sixteen, aren't you? How'd you get so good?" "Not yet. I remember he's fifteen — turns sixteen after the New Year. That's really something." "That's right, and I saw those two brothers' pants were soaked through, ha ha ha!" Liang Qu steadied his breathing and smoothed his expression. "I want everyone to know — I'm this strong because I went to study martial arts. Martial Master Hu at the hall says my aptitude is astonishing, that I'm a martial prodigy the likes of which appears once in a century! Dealing with a few ruffians is naturally nothing to me!" At these words, the crowd's expressions varied. Studying martial arts?