After Yan Fei had secured the girl in her dorm, he left.
Next, he headed over to the dinosaur world where he had a hearty meal, played a while with three puppies, and checked the progress of the Sarcosuchus skin tanning. Only then did he transform into a bird and flew towards the Sancha River.
As he approached the precincts of Sancha River, he suddenly started circling in the sky overhead, observing two men on the ground below.
Down on the ground, the pair was oblivious to the observation from above and continued chatting and laughing heartily.
"Er Gouzi, no disrespect but, you’re too timid! In this day and age, the bold thrive, and the timid starve. I’ve already looked into it: tonight is our last opportunity, night patrols will start soon. Will it be this convenient then?" boasted one of them.
"Absolutely," the second man, Er Gouzi, effusively agreed. "Following Brother Liang brings benefits, I used to be scared too, when can such a man strike it rich? Being with Brother Liang is good. He’s a powerhouse, stealing cows can bring us thousands."
"Of course!" Brother Liang reveled in the flattery. "Let me tell you, this line of work yields the best reward when stealing cattle. With a little exertion, we get a few thousand yuan in our hands. Easy and fast money, don’t you think?"
"Absolutely. Brother Liang’s expertise is unparalleled. I hope to learn from you in the future!" Er Gouzi continued to flatter.
"Rest assured! With me, you’ll have meat to eat," Brother Liang boasted. "Now do you realize how easy stealing cattle is? The only challenge is to avoid being spotted by people. There are simpler jobs, like chicken theft."
"Really? I’ve heard stealing chickens is one of your specialties, Brother Liang. The chickens don’t even squawk, right?" Er Gouzi seemed eager to learn.
"Making chickens quiet is actually quite easy," Brother Liang explained, not holding back any tips, totally generous with his accomplice, and began sharing his killing blow.
"Chickens are just like humans in that they get drowsy late at night, practically asleep. If you’re gentle enough to lift it by the belly, it won’t make a sound. You could even rest it on your shoulder and it will stay put. Since we’re going through the effort, we’d be fools not to take more than one. Bring along a basket to carry them off, so you can fit more."
"Brilliant, truly brilliant!" Er Gouzi, free hand giving a thumbs-up, admired Brother Liang.
"Oh, nothing much," Brother Liang replied modestly. "Actually, chicken theft isn’t bad either, although the money is slow, each night a few chickens net several dozen yuan. It’s also safer, getting caught only means a fine, which we couldn’t pay anyway, so the worst would be few days detention. Getting caught stealing a cow, however, means lengthy prison time. But the payoff is so much more! It really does pay to be bold!"
"Absolutely, had I not been following Brother Liang, I wouldn’t have dared either," Er Gouzi agreed. "Brother Liang, you are smart! Stealing across the boundary into Tanghe County is brilliant! A few steps and we’re back in our own county, and the Tanghe police can’t touch us."
"Naturally, if we’re going to do this, we’d better do it well. For our line of work, selecting the right location is critical..."
The two thieves, viewing their stolen cow and anticipating their payoff, were in high spirits.
Just then, a shadow loomed in front of the duo: A slow-moving, backpack-toting young man. The young man stopped in front of them, reached into his bag and pulled out a small, black pistol: "Don’t move or I’ll shoot!"
Er Gouzi’s legs turned to jelly, and Brother Liang, though briefly startled, quickly regained his composure, looking the young man up and down before smirking: "What gang are you part of, ’bro’? Trying to bluff us? A gun? You’d have to be holding a hunting gun for us to believe you, but a hand gun? Who are you trying to frighten?"
Without hesitation, the young man pulled the trigger.
A jet of water sprayed directly onto Brother Liang’s face.
Brother Liang became furious: "Er Gouzi, hold the cow, I’ll teach... Ah..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the young man kicked him away. The youngster then seized the cow’s reins from Er Gouzi and pushed him to the ground too.
Next, with a flick of his wrist, the gun vanished, replaced by several skinny bamboo sticks. He began hitting the two men with them.
The bamboo sticks were more effective than the water gun; they were soft, being used like a whip, so no matter how forcefully they were applied, they wouldn’t kill a person unless a vital spot was hit. But, they were painful; just one hit, even through thick clothing, would burn like fire.
After a few strikes, the sticks were reduced to splinters. Any further hitting would result in bloody welts wherever skin was exposed.
It was really painful.
"Big brother, stop hitting... Let’s talk it out... Ah..."
"Big brother, gentle... Ah..."
"Big brother, take the cow... Ah..."
The petty thieves were weeping and rolling on the ground begging for mercy.
The young man landed a few more blows, then stopped. Just as he was about to discard the splintered bamboo in his hand, he caught sight of Brother Liang and his rage rekindled. He flipped around, cracking Brother Liang a few more times while bitterly declaring: "I spent good money in the Provincial City on this gun and you don’t believe it’s real? Who else should I hit?"
Brother Liang could only cry: "It’s real, it’s real! Big brother, stop hitting! Your gun is definitely real, as real as it can get!"
"Now you’re admitting it’s fake while insisting it’s real? Are you mocking me?"
Poor Brother Liang! You did ask me to believe your gun is real, didn’t you?
After a few more lashes, the young man looked at the destroyed bamboo, threw it away and then said, "Where did you steal this cow from? Lead me there to return it."
"You want to return the cow?" Both thieves were flabbergasted. They had assumed the young man was robbing them, but it turned out he was performing a Righteous Act.
"Hurry up! Your choices are: return the cow or get beaten to death. Your choice! Keep stalling, and I’ll start hitting!" the young man threatened, pulling a thick wooden stick from behind his back.
The two men quickly clambered to their feet, ignoring the pain.
While it was true that their heavy clothing had absorbed most of the bamboo’s impact, the clothes would not stand up to such thick wood.
Still, don’t imagine that the duo were going to meekly lead the way, they were whimpering and complaining all along, clutching at their pain: "Big brother, we’re giving you the cow, can’t you let us go?"