Chapter 4 – Drunken Murder (2/2)

Arriving before a run-down house, he heard a hubbub from inside. Li Qingshan recognised them clearly. They were the ruffians from the ancestral hall today. He quickly pressed against the wall and crouched down, eavesdropping on what they were saying.

“Today’s alcohol came far too easily. We just stood around in the ancestral hall and caretaker Liu rewarded us with so much.”

Li Qingshan immediately recognised the voice. Patch-haired Liu was a renowned ruffian in the village. He would loaf around and be up to no good everyday. He had a vicious and twisted personality, often carrying a woodcutter around with him. The villagers were all rather afraid of him. Even when they found him stealing things, they were afraid to do anything to him. The other scoundrels followed him as their leader.

“This is all thanks to your might, big brother. Didn’t you see that kid’s face? He even turned pale from fright.” A roar of laughter rang out from inside.

Li Qingshan had no idea how he looked back then, but he was definitely bright red now. The tipsiness mixed with his anger and rushed to his head.

“It’s just a pity that the coward didn’t try to pick a fight. I haven’t used my arms and legs in a long time. Originally, I planned on using him for some practise. That kid never takes me seriously.”

Having experienced two lives, Li Qingshan was not as afraid of him as the ordinary villagers were. He had never thought that it would lead to hostility.

“Big brother, if you want to beat him up, it can’t be any easier. That idiot built his house outside the village. We can throw something over his head and give him a bashing. How simple is that? We might as well lead his ox away and sell it on the market. We’ll be able to get some money for drinking too.”

The other scoundrels all played along and agreed.

Li Qingshan let out a breath of alcohol and grasped the knife in his bosom.

Patch-haired Liu had been filled up with alcohol. He came outside to take outside, but he did not return inside afterwards. Instead, he made his way south of the village along a path.

Li Qingshan found this to be strange. He immediately followed along and saw him arrive before the house of the renowned widow Liu of the village, calling out for her to open the door. Only then did he understand what he wanted to do.

The door remained firmly shut, and not a single lamp had been lit up either. She was clearly afraid of him. There were a few cottages nearby, but everyone actually ignored him.

Under the influence of alcohol, patch-haired Liu let loose a great string of profanity and kicked the door viciously a few times. His swearing led to a series of dog barks around the village before he finally turned around and left.

The widow inside eased up a little and silently peeked outside through the door slit. As expected, patch-haired Liu had left, causing her to finally relax. Suddenly, there was a flash right before her, and she saw a figure following patch-haired Liu closely. It was dark, so she was unable to make out the figure’s appearance or attire. She only thought he was one of patch-haired Liu’s followers, but she could feel that something was rather off.

Li Qingshan followed patch-haired Liu to a remote area. Making up his mind, he yelled out and suddenly lunged forward.

Patch-haired Liu turned around in surprise, but all he saw was a dull knife stab towards him. He immediately became half-sober. He wanted to escape or fight back, but his arms and legs were powerless. Normally, he only used a blade to scare some villagers and would get involved in some scuffles. When did he truly experience an actual battle for his life? The assailant was just a teenager, but when his killing intent and determination flooded over, he was like a wild beast from the mountains.

Without any obstruction, the knife plunged into his body. Even Li Qingshan himself had never expected patch-haired Liu who swaggered around daily to be so useless. Looking at patch-haired Liu’s terrified, begging expression, he seemed to become even more drunk. His eyes shone with a dim redness as his head seemed to stop working. Only his hands continued to move constantly.

The sheen of the knife and the colour of blood danced about in the darkness.

By the time that Li Qingshan had calmed down, patch-haired Liu had already collapsed in a pool of his own blood. He could not be more dead than that. The heavy smell of blood under this moonlit night was slightly chilling.

Li Qingshan forcefully composed himself and left in a hurry. He ran all the way to the stream below the Crouching Ox hill in one breath before stopping. He looked at himself in the reflection of the water and could not help but leap in fright. “Is this still me?”

The water reflected a bloodied teenager, his mouth tightly shut and his eyes wide open with an undispersed sense of murderousness. It was extremely terrifying.

Li Qingshan cupped the cool stream water and washed all the blood off himself before returning to the cottage. He did not pay any attention to the black ox beside him. Instead, he directly collapsed on his bed.

Only now did his hands begin to shake; they were suddenly covered in cold sweat, drenching his clothes. He had completely sobered up now.

The black ox asked with a smile. “Aren’t you going to run away?” It was as if it were not the reason why Li Qingshan had gone and killed someone.

Li Qingshan replied, “I need to run away after killing someone like that?” He had not chosen patch-haired Liu on impulse. He was utterly wretched in the village. No one would stand forward for him. If no one reported the matter, there would be no investigation. As long as he did not leave behind any evidence that was far too obvious, nothing definite would probably come up over the death of such a person.

The approval in the black ox’s eyes deepened. Finding a common person who killed once angered was very easy, but finding someone who knew who to kill, who not to kill, and how to remain safe while killing was not. Moreover, even if his current composure were all fake, it would only demonstrate his willpower.

Li Qingshan could not hide his trembling hands from the black ox, but in its eyes, there was no shame in this. There were plenty of people who were so fierce and cruel that murder was nothing in their eyes, but to be able to suppress this nervousness and fear until now was truly impressive.

Quite a while later, the black ox asked, “How do you feel?”

The black ox chuckled. “Get some sleep. There’s a lot to do tomorrow!”