In his heart, Liu Zhongqi knew that this group of people who could run a porcelain scam on a kid in the middle of the street weren't good people but a person's line of thought tended to follow the same path. It was just like when a stock market player saw the stock price going up today, they would always feel that it would continue to go up tomorrow. When the young man who had never been bullied before in his life saw a little bit of goodness in the villain, he would also always feel that the other party could one day become a better person.

Hence, when he saw the bald man, his two legs were rooted to the ground. He had no thoughts of running, nor did he have his guard up. After all, this band of people had just let him go and had even treated him to breakfast.

The bald man moved too fast. He was like a fierce eagle swooping down from the sky and plucking away a baby wild rabbit, catching everyone off-guard.

Before Liu Zhongqi realised what was happening, his throat was grabbed by a large hand. Then, his legs dangled in the air; the bald man was holding him up in the air by this throat. He could not breath and he could feel his heartbeat thumping madly in his ears. Black spots appeared in his vision.

"Lao-San!"

"Shixiong, what are you doing?"

Even the disabled er-shixiong and the scarred-face man were shocked, much less Liu Zhongqi. Their eyes bulged and their mouths fell open as they stared at the bald man.

The bald man's face gleamed from not being washed over the night. The red lines in his eyes were as fine as spiderweb and veins were bulging on his forehead. He looked like he had walked out from one of those stories about people accidentally stepping into the territory of evil spirits and ended up possessed by demons.

"500,000," he said, low and unclear. "Tell this kid's family to give us 500,000."

Er-shixiong burst out, "You're going to choke him to death!"

The bald man shouted, "Or else I will choke him to death!"

Liu Zhongqi started to run out of air. His hands scrabbled futilely at the bald man's arms.

The newly sixteen years old teenager's bones had gone through their growth spurt but the other parts of his body had yet to catch up. In the bald man's hands, he was like a limp noodle.

The scarred-face man blurted out, "B-But you can't choke him to death before you get the money!"

Er-shixiong said, "Shut up! You're making it worse! Get lost!"

But it was this rather "to the point" comment from the scarred-face man that the bald man actually listened to. He loosened his grip a little. A sudden, rushed breath of air swept into Liu Zhongqi's lungs, and he choked until he wanted to vomit.

"Lao-San… Zhiyong." The disabled er-shixiong moved a step forward. The laugh lines on either side of his mouth drooped low, and he looked old and weary. "Don't be muddled. At this point in time… I beg you, don't make Shixiong worry so much!"

The bald man's hands were shaking, his lips were shaking, his entire body seemed to be shaking.

"Let go now!"

"I won't. Shixiong, you two don't interfere with this. This matter today has nothing to do with the both of you. If anything happens, I'll go to prison myself." The bald man shook his head. Suddenly, his mad yet calm words had a hint of tears. "Anyway, among us four brothers, I'm the most useless one. I'm the most annoying and Shiniang likes me the least since young. Shifu also disliked me for being stupid. There's no loss if I'm jailed! I'll exchange my life for Da-shixiong's!"

"What the hell are you saying!" The disabled er-shixiong was so angry his face and ears were red. "Do you want me to die of anger before you're happy!"

The scarred-face man meekly offered, "A-About this matter… Even if you choke that kid to death, his family might not necessarily give us the money. Even if they do… Da-shixiong might not necessarily be cured… You said that it's a life for a life, b-but, this exchange might not necessarily happen…"

The disabled man raised his arm and pushed him until he stumbled. The scarred-face man shrank back and didn't dare say anymore.

Right then, a voice sounded from behind them. "I think his words make sense."

In unison, the three kidnappers and the one victim present at the scene were all stunned.

At the same time this was happening, Beggars' Sect announced a secret order. A large net that was buried deep in the very foundations of the city was dragged out to capture every breath of wind and rustling of the grass from all directions.

Old Master Yang's water came to a boil. He asked Yu Lanchuan to sit for a while. Extending a pair of hands that were covered in age spots, he slowly brewed a round of gongfu tea. Warming up the cup, drying the teapot—his movements were like flowing water. "Here you go."

Yu Lanchuan accepted the teacup absent-mindedly. He was just about to speak when Old Yang raised a hand to stop him. "Don't rush, wait."

Steam rose from the tea. In the midst of the vapour, Old Yang said lightly, "When I was young, I drank alcohol and refused tea, and even looked down on those who drank tea. Then, I got old and was forced by my descendants to give up alcohol. Slowly, I finally realised that I was wrong. Drinking alcohol is cultivation, drinking tea is also cultivation. Walking, sitting, laying down are all cultivation; joy and anger, sorrow and cheer, are also all cultivation. You must steady your heart. Today, Grandpa Yang can help you; tomorrow, he may step into his grave. All matters in the martial arts world, big or small, will have to be handed over to all of you, the younger generation. Xiao-Chuan ah, all of you must learn to cultivate your minds."

Yu Lanchuan tasted the tea but did not accept this string of mystical and fanciful words from the elder. "Grandpa Yang, it is my opinion that you are not attributing the issue to the right cause. Hence, your suggestion does not appear to be feasible."

At once, Old Yang was dragged from an ancient temple on a cold, lonely mountain all the way to a meeting room in an office building. For a moment, he was completely lost.

Yu Lanchuan said, "There is a high chance that the disappearance of my younger brother is due to kidnapping. There is a high chance that he will be physically harmed and hence, it could result in injuries, disabilities or death. I cannot accept any of these terrible outcomes and I would not be able to explain it to my parents either. That is why I am very, very anxious right now. The reason why you are calm when facing this matter is because you have power and control over your esteemed sect, and control has always been a very effective tool for dealing with anxiety. Hence, when you look back on the past and realise that you have become someone as placid as a fine day with light wind and light clouds, it is very likely that it is actually not because of that so-called 'mind' that you have cultivated, but because you have achieved a wider scope of control along with the increase in your age and abilities."

Old Yang, "..."

The lesson on arcane arts had turned into a lesson on social science theory.

Yu Lanchuan said, "I beg your pardon. The reason why I am talking so much nonsense right now is because I am dealing with anxiety."

At that moment, Old Yang's old-people phone rang. Yu Lanchuan immediately sat up straight. Yu Yan who had been smoking outside all the while also rushed in.

Old Yang gave them a look that told them to be patient and picked up the call. A short while later, he hung up and stated a few locations. "My brothers from these locations reported that they saw suspicious people but they're not certain if they are the people we are looking for. The police will have to confirm."

Yu Yan leaped up. "Understood. We'll split up and check the nearby CCTV!"

"A place like Yanning has lots of CCTVs. It's true, I'm not lying. It's only small, out-of-the-way corners like Mudpool Backlane that don't have them so you guys could luckily escape. Yesterday night, this person here carried this large human here and swaggered all the way from Mudpool Backlane to this place. Who knows how many cameras have captured his image? As long as the police shrink their scope of investigation, they have the tech to find you." Gan Qing came to a stop around two meters away from the group of three hoodlums. From her bag, she dug out the wooden sign that was split apart by the bald man and asked him very politely. "That aside, if I may ask, did you leave this for me?"

The disabled er-shixiong had just wanted to tear the bald man apart with his bare hands but once he saw an outsider, he stepped forward and shielded the bald man behind him. "From where is this master from?"

"From nowhere and also not a master." Gan Qing spread her hands helplessly, revealing a section of her scrawny wrists. Her right hand was even trembling slightly. "That day, this bald dage kept following me. I was a little scared, so I played some tricks. Actually it's not much, it's just that I'm familiar with that area while you aren't. There are a few spots that look like dead ends but actually have small openings that you can slip into as long as you're thin. It's just a matter of running a bit faster. Oh, that's right, I also used a plastic toy gun to shoot at you. I didn't expect that I would actually hit you, maybe you had a bit too much to drink that day."

The bald man, "..."

"That's roughly what happened. If you have nowhere to vent your anger and have no qualms about hitting a woman, then you can beat me up. In any case, I'm already here and I can't fight back either. As long as you don't beat me to death, no one will come after you in the future." Gan Qing said in a low and calming tone. "Let go of that kid. If you wait until the police are here, this will become a different matter."

After hearing that, Liu Zhongqi gathered a hero's courage from who knew where and started struggling fiercely. "Run… ugh… quick, run!"

Gan Qing sighed. This kid never learned from his mistakes and that was probably because he had not been hit until it really hurt. But that was good too, it seemed like he didn't suffer much in their hands.

"Fuck your venting anger!" The bald man's voice sounded a little like he was crying and his voice broke as he spoke. "Tell this kid's family to hand over 500,000 and cut the crap!"

"I don't know why you need 500,000." Gan Qing took a few steps towards them again and met the bald man's eyes calmly. "But the police have already turned this into a case. If you've watched TV, you know that the police will definitely not let you exchange a person for money. When that happens, what will you do? You actually don't know, am I right?"

The scarred-face man subconsciously gave her a push. "Don't come near!"

Gan Qing was like a kite, light as a feather. The scarred-face man's push made her take a few steps back. The ground in the urban village was uneven. She tripped and fell, and the worn out cloth bag on her shoulder also fell to the ground, rolling in the dust.

Flustered, she straightened her elbow to break her fall and her palms were immediately cut open.

Gan Qing hissed in pain. She cut a sorry figure as she smiled bitterly. "Dage, you are really getting physical with me."

The disabled er-shixiong raised his shoulders a little, straightening up as he stood in thought. When people who had gone through training fell backward, they would not straighten their elbows to meet the ground. It was very easy to be injured this way. This was the first lesson shifu had taught when he was young.

Perhaps she was afraid of falling again, Gan Qing directly sat on the ground and did not get up. She dusted off her hands and smiled. "I keep feeling that someone who wants money would have better plans. What you are doing is just venting anger. You are raging at those who want money, raging at those spending money, raging at yourself for not being capable enough and for not being able to earn money… You drown your worries in alcohol and once you sober up, you rage at yourself again for not keeping your mouth shut-"

"Shut up!" The bald man started spewing obscenities.

Gan Qing's countenance remained unchanged, as though all that was going into her ears was a round of dog barks. Right then, the disabled er-shixiong suddenly stretched out a hand, not to do something to Gan Qing, but to give an oblique chop to the bald man's elbow. This blow landed directly on his ulnar nerve. The hand that was holding Liu Zhongqi's neck abruptly lost strength and Er-shixiong pulled Liu Zhongqi away in one movement.

Almost simultaneously, the bald man realised what was happening. He let out a roar and grabbed Liu Zhongqi's shoulder in an unforgiving grip. The shixiong and the shidi pulled at the unlucky hostage from both sides, like they were demonstrating how to tear a kidnap victim apart with bare hands.

The disabled er-shixiong said, "Let! Go!"

The bald man stiffened his neck and panted harsh breaths.

The corners of Gan Qing's mouth quirked up. She was enjoying watching this internal conflict unfold.

When she felt that the moment was right, she brought out the "mystic accent" she used to hoodwink foolish big spenders at the shop and interjected faintly from the side. "Dage, when you drown your worries in alcohol, you regret when you sober up. If you vent your anger on a person, you will regret it even more when the matter is over. There is essentially no difference between these two things. If you hate your alcohol addiction that much, why do you still continue doing the same thing? How many times can the same pitfall trip you up?"

The bald man suddenly paused.

Gan Qing said, "Before the police get here, there is still time. If you let go of him now, it would not be considered a kidnapping and extortion case. Sometimes, when you take one wrong step, what awaits you for the rest of your life are small paths filled with thorns. You can see the wide and open roads that other people have but you can't turn around anymore. Is it worth it?"

Who knew how much the bald man was actually listening to. On the other hand, the disabled er-shixiong stared blankly for a while, like he was dazed.

The scarred-face man was so flustered he was almost crying. "San-shixiong, stop it already!"

Er-shixiong came back to himself. There was a glimmer in his eyes and he softened his voice. "About the money and Da-shixiong's illness, we three brothers will think of a way together. Listen to me."

The muscles on both sides of the bald man's face were taut. A few seconds later, the fingers that were almost digging into Liu Zhongqi's flesh gradually weakened.

Everyone on the scene left out a relieved breath.

The disabled er-shixiong pulled the teenager who was frightened to near tears to his side. "Zhiyong, you-"

And then, right at that moment, something unexpected happened.

The police who had locked on to the kidnappers' location chose this moment to arrive.

If they were a few minutes earlier, what they would have seen were evil and vicious kidnappers. Whether they arrested or killed them, it would be an expected ending. If they were a few minutes later, the disabled er-shixiong would have returned Liu Zhongqi to Gan Qing. This matter could turn from a major issue to a minor one, and from a minor one to nothing.

But then…

Perhaps fate bullied the weak and feared the strong. The gods picked on the unlucky ones to play with.

Gan Qing was momentarily stunned. Instead of being elated, she was shocked. Not good!

Shocked witless, the disabled er-shixiong and the bald man unconsciously did the same thing—they both pulled Liu Zhongqi towards themselves with all the strength they had. The disabled er-shixiong grabbed the teenager's neck. The bald man reached out and grabbed, and because he was tall, his hand landed right over Liu Zhongqi's nose and mouth.

What the disabled man was thinking: Lao-San is still young. Let this cripple bear the crime for him.

What the bald man was thinking: I cannot drag Shixiong into this.

They had spent many years wandering on the fringes of society. The moment they saw someone in uniform, they unconsciously felt that they had done something wrong. At the moment, other than "stubbornly resist with backs to the wall" or "plead guilty and surrender," it didn't seem like there was a third option.

Only those who lived with confidence and ease would have lines of thought that were wide and open; those who were at the end of their rope did not know how to be flexible.

But what these two people were fighting over in their hands was a large, living person. If they pulled hard to the right and to the left, Liu Zhongqi's slender neck would definitely snap on the spot!

Right at that moment, a ghostly figure flitted past. Out of nowhere, a thin, withered hand cut in...