Feeling Cool Down There?

Fifth Brother carried Sun Yixie into the cave and headed onward. Before he had gone very far, light appeared ahead. Without a doubt, the cave was fitted with lighting; otherwise, those six scoundrels could never have holed up here long-term. At first, fearful that villagers might venture inside to investigate, the six had kept a low profile, setting up oil-lamp sconces embedded into the walls only deep within the cavern, far from the entrance. Later, however, once they had figured out the villagers' docile temperament, they grew bolder, extending the sconces further and further outward. As long as no light was visible from the entrance at a glance, they were in the clear. A short while later, Fifth Brother had wound his way quite a distance through various twists and turns, ending up in some remote, forgotten corner of a branching tunnel. At last, upon reaching a dead end, he stopped. It was not because he was tired, but because he intended to "execute" Brother Sun on the spot. People could be like that, especially lechers. Once their lust flared up, they threw all caution to the wind. Fifth Brother was thinking: why did every girl sent here have to pass through Kang Haijiao's hands first? And after Kang Haijiao came Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother. By the time it was his turn, the girl was already a broken flower, a withered willow—what fun was there in that? So this time, he planned to steal a taste for himself first. Once he was done, he would threaten her into silence. Taking it a step further, even if the truth came out eventually, Fifth Brother figured his sworn brothers would not turn against him over a woman destined to die anyway. At most, they would just curse him out a bit. With his mind made up, he had brought the "girl" into this secluded corner of the cave... "Heheh, little lady~" Gently setting Sun Yixie down, he rubbed his hands together with a lewd grin. "Anxious, aren't you? Don't worry, Fifth Master is going to show you a wonderful time right now." As he spoke, he reached out to lift the bridal veil over Sun Yixie's head. At that moment, Fifth Brother's blood pumped hot and fast. His anticipation was like waiting for a lottery drawing, full of eager excitement about what this "girl" would look like. Yet the instant the veil was lifted... just as Fifth Brother jumped in fright at the sudden appearance of a man's face, Sun Yixie struck without warning, unleashing a lightning-fast kick straight between his legs. The Sun Yixie of today was far from what he used to be. Having absorbed five years of internal cultivation from Yihuai, the Iron Monk, his strength and speed were vastly amplified. With this single kick... the prep work for scrambled eggs was thoroughly complete. Against such a vicious strike, Fifth Brother had no time to react at all. By the time the pain registered and he clamped his hands over his crotch, squeezed his thighs tight, and dropped to his knees... his trousers were already in a sticky, squelching state... "Yeegh—" Anyone who had ever taken a kick to the groin understood that when a man suffered a heavy blow down there, he could not let out a loud shout of "Ah—"; he could only manage a muffled grunt or a faint, strangled groan. And that was precisely Fifth Brother's situation. Clutching his crotch, he sank to his knees, pitched forward, and let out a bizarre, high-pitched, strangled whimper. Seeing this, Sun Yixie chuckled. "How's that? Feeling nice and cool down there?" By all rights, after taking a kick like that, a man would not be getting up for at least five minutes. Sun Yixie, however, was not the type to get careless just because his opponent was temporarily incapacitated. In the fish market, he had seen far too many dirty tricks like grabbing ankles from the ground or cracking skulls with a stray brick; unless his opponent was completely neutralized, he would never feel at ease. Faster than words could tell, before Fifth Brother could even catch his first breath, Sun Yixie's follow-up arrived. Adopting a posture resembling a volley kick from modern football, he launched another boot straight at the man's chin. Like an upturned turtle, Fifth Brother was knocked backward out of his kneeling sprawl, crashing onto his back before flopping sideways onto the ground. Through the entire ordeal, his hands never left his crotch—because compared to the pain in his chin, the agony below was far worse. This was still not enough. Thinking that the man's limbs were still functional and thus a potential threat, Sun Yixie casually snatched up a rock from the ground and, with a few sharp cracks, shattered the joints of both hands and both feet. Having done all this... he finally felt somewhat reassured. Only then did he step onto Fifth Brother's chest, looking down from above. "Heh... brother, I certainly had a wonderful time just now. I just wonder if you enjoyed yourself?" "Y-You..." Only now did Fifth Brother begin to process the brutal ambush. "You're... a man..." "Heheh..." Sun Yixie smirked smugly. "That's right, I'm a man." As he spoke, he pointedly glanced at the patch of blood soaking through the other man's trousers. "Though whether you still are... is hard to say." At these words, Fifth Brother nearly ground his teeth to dust. "I don't care who you are, my brothers won't let you get away with this! If you know what's good for you, let me go right now! Otherwise, once Master Fifth recovers from his injuries, I'll slaughter your whole village... Mmph—" Before he could finish, the sole of Sun Yixie's shoe pressed down hard against his cheek, twisting his mouth out of shape. "I don't care who you are either. I have a few questions for you now. If you know what's good for you, spit out every last detail. Otherwise, I'll make you eat what you just lost down below through your top hole." *** Meanwhile, after slipping into Dragon King Cave, Huang Donglai quickly caught up with Third Brother and Sixth Brother, who had entered just ahead of him. Truth be told, Huang Donglai's tracking skills were nothing exceptional, but because the two scoundrels had carried the heavy "tribute" into the cave, their burdened steps left unusually deep footprints, making them nearly impossible to miss. Once he caught sight of their backs, Huang Donglai used his lightness skill to mask his footfalls, quietly trailing them from a safe distance. At this point, he had no idea that Fifth Brother had carried Brother Sun off to a different location. After all, by ordinary logic, Sun Yixie—playing the "bride"—should have been brought to their lair along with the offerings. Of course, this minor surprise would not disrupt their operation much. The two of them were exceedingly cautious. Before coming here, Sun Yixie had already asked Huang Donglai for some "self-defense items." Combined with Sun's newfound martial progress, acting alone was well within his capabilities. There was nothing more to say along the way. After trailing them for about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Third Brother and Sixth Brother arrived at their destination. It was a fairly large chamber within the cave, resembling the master quarters of a monster's lair in television dramas. Inside were tables and stools, and even a bed fashioned from a smooth, polished stone slab. The chamber was brightly lit. Hiding in the shadows, Huang Donglai looked in from afar and found that besides the two carrying the goods, three others were sitting around a table, drinking wine and eating meat. At this point, Huang Donglai did not know that the gang had only six members in total. Had he known, matters would have been simple: he could have charged out, blocked the doorway, scattered a handful of poison powder, and wiped them all out in one fell swoop. Precisely because he did not know, however, he decided to watch and wait, wary of alerting the enemy only to have a hundred or more men swarm out from other corners of the cave. "Hey, where's Old Fifth?" Inside the chamber, Kang Haijiao, who was drinking, spat out a half-gnawed bone upon seeing Third Brother and Sixth Brother return with the goods, asking casually. "Huh?" Hearing this, Third Brother's expression changed. "What? He hasn't come back?" "Nope," Second Brother replied. "Didn't you go together? Why ask us?" "Not good..." Third Brother dropped what he was carrying and slapped his thigh. "That punk probably hauled that broad off to some corner... to do the deed first." "What?" Only upon hearing the word "broad" did Kang Haijiao remember that today's tribute included a person in addition to supplies. "What do you mean? Spell it out." And so, Third Brother briefly recounted what had happened when he, Fifth Brother, and Sixth Brother went out to collect the offerings. When he finished, Kang Haijiao cursed foully on the spot. "Goddammit... Old Third, you're an idiot too! You know damn well that punk's lust knows no bounds. How could you let him run off with her first?" "I... well..." Third Brother felt wronged, yet had no words to defend himself. "Let it go, let it go, Big Brother. We're all sworn brothers here," Fourth Brother, who had received some schooling, chimed in as the usual peacemaker. "Just consider it giving Old Fifth a break this once." "Bah!" Unexpectedly, Kang Haijiao refused to take the easy out. Slapping the table, he stood up. "This isn't the first time that punk has screwed things up over a woman! Now he's pulling this crap on his own brothers? How can we tolerate this?" "Big Brother, it's just a woman..." Second Brother tried to mollify him as well. "No need to get so worked up..." "It's not about the woman!" Kang Haijiao waved his arm dismissively, bellowing through his liquor-fueled rage. "Don't anyone try to stop me today! I'm going to clean house!" His words were much like what people often said—"It's not about the money"—when, at the end of the day, it was about exactly that. Once a man's temper flared, there was no stopping it. A reasonable man might still be talked down, but someone like Kang Haijiao? Forget it. Besides, none of his brothers were going to risk their own skins for Fifth Brother's sake. "You three wait here. Old Third, you're with me." Saying this, Kang Haijiao grabbed his weapon from the rack against the wall—a wolf-tooth club—and stormed out in a fury. Third Brother was obedient enough, immediately picking up a single-edged saber and following him. Seeing this, the remaining three stopped trying to intervene and simply went back to eating meat and drinking wine. Watching from the shadows, Huang Donglai pondered for a moment. Figuring the three in the room would not be doing anything for now and could easily be dealt with later, he tapped into his lightness skill once more and quietly shadowed Kang Haijiao...