novelhk Page 122
Page 122
Wang Dingliu nodded thoughtfully, thinking to himself, "Even someone as incompetent as me, my brother doesn't look down on me and tries his best to befriend me. How can he not be convinced?"
Thinking of this, he suddenly sighed.
Seeing him like this, Ruan Xiaoqi asked in confusion, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Wang Dingliu replied, "Someone as incompetent as me is still so highly regarded by my brother. I'm afraid I'll let him down!"
Ruan Xiaoqi shook his head, amused. "The Yangtze River is so turbulent, yet you can move freely in and out, and you still say you're incompetent? According to you, am I, Ruan Xiaoqi, also incompetent? Brother, our elder brother always said, 'A hero's origins are not important.' You're selling wine by the river, while I, Ruan Xiaoqi, was catching fish in the lake back then. Don't worry about it. If you think you can't read, you can ask Pei Kongmu for instruction later. If you think you don't know how to use a spear or staff, you can seek guidance from Instructor Lin. You don't need to tell your brother about these small things; I, Ruan Xiaoqi, can find people for you!"
Wang Dingliu was overjoyed upon hearing this and was about to bow in gratitude.
Ruan Xiaoqi didn't help him up, but slapped him on the head and scolded, "We're all brothers in the stronghold, why are you being so polite!"
Wang Dingliu smiled sheepishly and got up on his own.
"Brother Xiaoqi, you don't know how many masters I had to apprentice under and how many scornful looks I endured in order to learn how to make a staff. Now that I've met you, I feel that all the problems that seemed as high as the sky before have been easily solved!"
Ruan Xiaoqi snorted and said indignantly, "They worship those random masters, but they only care about money. What skills do they have? Look at Instructor Lin in the mountain stronghold. He has such great skills. He always gives way to everyone he meets. My brother said that's called being humble and modest! Anyway, I don't understand. I only know that anyone with real skills should be like Instructor Lin!"
"I brought Doctor An back this time, hoping that he can save Instructor Lin. Otherwise, Heaven is too unfair!"
"Don't worry, Brother Xiaoqi, Instructor Lin is lucky and will be fine," Wang Dingliu comforted him.
"I hope so," Ruan Xiaoqi nodded. "If Doctor An heals Instructor Lin this time, I'll take you to see him when he has time. If you can get his instruction, wouldn't that be a thousand times better than those bird masters?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Dingliu was overjoyed: "If I could learn a few moves from Instructor Lin, my life would not have been in vain. I could also earn some face for my brother and prevent people from saying that he misjudged me!"
Chapter 164 Demonstrating Power on the Yangtze River
Ruan Xiaoqi was chatting happily.
Suddenly, Wang Dingliu cried out in surprise.
"What's wrong? Have Doctor An and the others arrived?"
Ruan Xiaoqi hurriedly got up and looked at the official road, but found it empty, without a single person in sight.
"Brother, what are you yelling about for no reason?"
"Brother Xiaoqi, look over there!"
Wang Dingliu pointed to the distant river and said loudly.
Their hotel is next to the main road.
On one side is a forest, and on the other side is the Yangtze River.
Looking out by the moonlight, Ruan Xiaoqi could vaguely see the shadow of a small boat in the middle of the great river, though it was not very clear.
"It's just a small boat, what's so surprising?"
"Brother Xiaoqi, you don't know this!"
Wang Dingliu hurriedly explained, "On the Yangtze River near here, there are two men who specialize in robbing people. One is Zhang Wang, known as the 'River-Intercepting Ghost,' and the other is Sun Wu, known as the 'Eel in the Oil.' These two only care about money and have no sense of loyalty whatsoever. Once you get on their boat, no matter who you are, you'll either end up eating tough meat or wonton noodles!"
"Judging from the state of the river in the darkness, it must be those two trying to harm innocent passersby again!"
"Since we've encountered this situation, we can't ignore it!"
Ruan Xiaoqi held the long knife in her mouth and began to undress.
Seeing this, Wang Dingliu slapped his forehead, also remembering that he was now a Liangshan hero who acted on behalf of Heaven.
How could we not help when faced with such a situation!
So he quickly followed suit and started taking his clothes off as well.
The two casually tossed their clothes into the shop and headed towards the riverbank.
Even though the water was already up to their waists, Ruan Xiaoqi still waded into the water, with Wang Dingliu following closely behind.
Ruan Xiaoqi was an expert in water sports. Judging from Wang Dingliu's swimming posture, he knew that this man was skilled. His claim of crossing the Yangtze River was indeed not just empty talk.
The two men swam swiftly towards the small boat as if walking on flat ground in the river.
Just as they were about to arrive, they suddenly heard a man's urgent voice from the boat: "Hero, spare the lives of my mother and me, and I will give you all the gold and silver!"
The boatman replied, "I want the gold, and I want your and your child's lives!"
The man was on the verge of tears, and pleaded urgently, "My mother has a back ailment and cannot be exposed to water! Good man! Please listen to me. In this world, who is not born of a mother and raised by parents? If you only care about harming my mother, won't you suffer retribution?"
The boatman laughed loudly, "Your mother isn't my mother, why are you spouting this nonsense to me?"
Just then, an old woman said, “Son, don’t beg him! Even if I die, it doesn’t matter, this is retribution! Your elder brother has never done any good deeds in his life, only harming good people. I’ve tried to persuade him so many times, but he just won’t listen! Now I have this deadly disease, famous doctors are shaking their heads, and no medicine can cure it. Your elder brother just pretends to be blind, not even glancing at me, as if my life or death has nothing to do with him! You say that Heaven ignores this beast, but only cares about bringing this calamity upon you and your son? Is it really blind?”
Upon hearing this, the boatman laughed and said, "So you're also family members of evil people. Taking your lives can be considered as ridding the people of a scourge. Please have a safe journey, gentlemen!"
The old woman suddenly shouted sharply, "My son and I are innocent people. Although he was misled by his elder brother and did some foolish things in the past, he only cheated people out of money, which is not a crime deserving of death! Moreover, I have now persuaded him to turn back. If you want to harm us, you can't just use a knife to kill us. If you just push us into this river, I will never haunt you even after I become a ghost!"
Upon hearing this, the bound man burst into tears. As a son, how could he not know his mother's heart? He knew that his mother was going to sacrifice herself to save him!
Falling into the water was like coming home to him. Even if he was being carried by ropes or iron chains, he could find a way to escape.
But my mother has a back ailment, so how can she get her back wet?
Thinking of this, the man could no longer contain his grief and indignation.
Ignoring the fact that he was tightly bound, he was about to rush forward and fight his brother's companion to the death.
Upon seeing this, the old woman quickly shouted, "If you dare to move, I'll jump into the water myself!"
The boatman laughed heartily, "Since you've spoken, madam, how dare I refuse? Let's discuss who will jump first!"
Upon hearing this, the man felt as if his heart was being torn apart. He knelt down on the boat and pleaded, "Hero, if you spare my mother's life for even a moment longer, I will be eternally grateful!"
The boatman chuckled: "So you're saying you jumped first?"
At this moment, another boatman noticed something amiss and stepped forward, saying, "Fifth Brother, is this man trying to deceive us? His mother said that one of his brothers is not a good person either. I'm afraid this man is hiding something suspicious!"
Upon hearing this, Fifth Brother thought for a moment and then suddenly realized, "No wonder you two dared to cheat in front of the master, even though you were just waiting to die whole?"
After saying this, he looked furious and was about to draw his knife to kill the mother and child.
The bound mother and child were terrified, and then they heard the old woman cry out in a heart-wrenching voice, "Jump! Jump! You unfilial son, are you really going to force me to my death!"
Fifth Brother was not about to let this man go, and raised his knife to strike him.
He threatened, "If you dare to jump, I'll take your mother's life first!"
The old woman let out a terrible scream and, in an attempt to save her son, jumped into the river with her eyes closed.
Seeing this, the man felt as if a thousand arrows had pierced his heart. He knelt down and looked at the waning moon in the sky, letting out a wail.
At this moment, Fifth Brother, grinning, drew his knife and was about to finish him off when he suddenly felt a pain in his leg.
When he looked down, he saw that his entire foot had been chopped off.
All that could be heard was Fifth Brother's piercing scream as he collapsed onto the boat.
Another boatman arrived and, upon seeing this, flew into a rage, cursing, "Sixth Brother Wang, you little bastard, how dare you lay a hand on the master!"
Wang Dingliu snorted coldly, held the boat with one hand, and swung his knife horizontally with the other. The boatman hurriedly ran towards the stern.
At this moment, Wang Dingliu flipped onto the boat and, with a swift stroke, killed "Oil-in-the-Lake" Sun Wu, who was lying on the boat groaning in pain.
Just as they were about to rush to the back to take the life of "River-Intercepting Ghost" Zhang Wang, they suddenly heard the bound man shout.
"Hero, please untie my ropes first, my mother has fallen into the water!"
Wang Dingliu casually picked up a knife and cut the ropes binding the man.
However, due to this delay, by the time he reached the stern,
Zhang Wang, the River Demon, had already jumped into the river and disappeared without a trace.
The man who untied the ropes paid no attention to anything else.
Standing on the side of the boat, one is about to jump into the water.
Suddenly, a sound came from the water.
"Hey sir, don't be impatient. Take a look at who I'm holding up in my hand."
Chapter 165 White Streak in the Waves
The man was startled upon hearing this and quickly looked down.
Only then did he realize that his elderly mother was being lifted up on the water by a man in the water!
Upon seeing this, the man was overwhelmed with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy, and was momentarily stunned.
Fortunately, he woke up soon after.
Looking at the situation before me, I suddenly felt a little worried.
For no other reason than that this man was originally a dragon in the water.
How could they not know how difficult it would be to lift a person on the water without getting wet!
Fearing that the man underwater might give up and endanger his mother, he hurriedly cried out, "Hero! Don't let go! My mother has a back ailment and absolutely cannot get wet! Please hold on a little longer!"
"It's alright, even if it takes until dawn, it doesn't matter!" Ruan Xiaoqi replied with a smile.
The man, hearing the man's strong voice, knew he wasn't exaggerating.
Overjoyed, he quickly added, "My mother has a back ailment, so please don't move rashly. If you push her up uninjured, it could aggravate her injury, which would be disastrous. I'll get down and take your place!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he disregarded the fact that the ropes on his feet were still untied and jumped into the river with a "plop".
Upon seeing this, Ruan Xiaoqi exclaimed "Eh!" and quickly looked around at the water.
But all that could be seen was the surging river; the man from before was nowhere to be seen.
"Judging from how anxious that man was just now, he probably wouldn't abandon his mother and jump into the water to commit suicide!"
Ruan Xiaoqi pondered, "Since he dared to jump into the river, he must have been absolutely certain of success. I'll wait and see!"
Ruan Xiaoqi floated in the water, using her head and hands to support an old woman, clearly having no strength left to help Wang Dingliu.
Remembering that there were two thieves on the boat earlier, he worried that something had happened to Wang Dingliu, and quickly shouted.
"Brother, how are you?"
"Brother Xiaoqi, I've already killed Sun Wu, the 'Loach in Oil,' but Zhang Wang, the 'River-Crossing Ghost,' jumped into the river at the stern!"
Wang Dingliu replied loudly, "I searched the stern for a long time, but I couldn't find that fellow. He's probably already escaped!"
Ruan Xiaoqi was relieved after hearing Wang Dingliu's reply.
Then he went to look at the old woman he was supporting.
Thinking to himself, he wondered if the old woman had fainted since she jumped into the river and remained motionless.
He waited in the water for a while longer, but the old woman's son still didn't surface.
Based on Ruan Xiaoqi's estimated time, she already felt that the man was probably in grave danger!
Thinking of this, Ruan Xiaoqi anxiously looked out over the river, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find the man's figure.
He could only think to himself, "No matter what happens to that man, I must deliver this old woman to Doctor An. I can't let him down!"
Just as Ruan Xiaoqi was feeling anxious, a head suddenly popped up from the bottom of the water.
Ruan Xiaoqi hurriedly went to look, and it turned out to be the man who had jumped into the river earlier.
Seeing that he was swimming freely on the river, it seemed that he had already untied the ropes binding his feet in the water.
Ruan Xiaoqi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Brother, I didn't know you had such skills!"
The man spat out a mouthful of river water and said gratefully, "I am deeply grateful to this kind man for saving my mother and me!"
Ruan Xiaoqi laughed and said, "It was quite a coincidence. My brother and I were looking out over the river when we saw that this boat looked suspicious. My brother said that there must be some river pirates committing crimes here, so we swam over, thinking that we should at least try to save them. We didn't expect to run into you and your child! Isn't it fate?"
The man nodded hurriedly, repeatedly echoing, "What a coincidence! What a coincidence!"
Seeing that this was not the time to speak, and seeing that the man was skilled in swimming, Ruan Xiaoqi said, "Since your mother is sick, you take her first, and I will go up first and help my brother to slowly bring her to the boat!"
The man said gratefully, "Thank you both for your help!"
After saying that, he quickly came over to catch his mother. Seeing this, Ruan Xiaoqi reminded him, "Brother, make sure you hold on tight!"
The man carefully supported his elderly mother, but then Ruan Xiaoqi pulled the boat out of the water and landed steadily on the boat.
At this point, Wang Dingliu had given up searching for Zhang Wang, the River-Intercepting Ghost. He had just reached the bow of the boat when he witnessed Ruan Xiaoqi bursting out of the water.
He immediately exclaimed, "Brother Xiao Qi, what amazing kung fu!"
Ruan Xiaoqi turned around and smiled: "Let's save people first!"