Chapter 1: The Entanglement of Fate and Enmity, Haicheng's Solitude

  One hundred successful examples are not as enlightening to people as the story of one failure, just like a hundred mainstream comedies do not leave as deep an impression on people as a classic tragedy. Bao Wenjing's experience of failure is like a tragic play, but it's not a classic one, only leaving a deep impression.

  In that house, she met a person, a quick-handed one. She had managed to avoid the guards at the door, opening seven doors in total, all on the second floor of the villa. In the last room, she met the person, a young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He made a bet with her, and she lost; he let her go but ruined her hand. Li Huqiu asked curiously what they had bet on. She said: I compared whose hands were faster. Da Dingzi asked how they compared? Bao Wenjing replied: Taking chestnuts out of the fire! Da Dingzi took a cold breath. Li Yaru was somewhat skeptical, "You can really do it?" Bao Wenjing shook her head and said she couldn't do it, but she thought no one could do it either, so he shouldn't be able to do it either; she asked him to show her first, and the result was that he really did it, causing her to lose three fingers.

  The house is dead, the lock head is also dead, and even the infrared camera of the security measures is not scary. The most difficult to detect are the personnel of the security. When they heard that there was a person in that villa who could take chestnuts from the fire, Da Dingzi and Li Yaru's faces clearly showed hesitation and fear.

  Plucking a chestnut from the fire is the most difficult test of a thief's speed and accuracy. A furnace, an electric fan, and a steel ball. The fire burns to its strongest point, and the steel ball is thrown into the fire. Before the steel ball is heated by the fire, one must stretch out their hand and pluck it out. In this process, there is an electric fan with three gears separating the furnace. When the wind blows into the furnace, you can imagine the scene - a round and slippery steel ball that is already difficult to pinch with your fingers in normal circumstances, let alone in that situation. Da Dingzi and Li Yaruong have both practiced this move before, but neither of them has ever succeeded. They have self-awareness, knowing that person's speed is much faster than theirs!

  The middle-aged man saw the hesitation of the two thieves and said: "You can choose not to go now, but some things are not for everyone to know."

  Li Ya Rong and Da Ding Zi were frightened, both wanting to speak, but neither dared to say a word. Li Hu Qiu spoke up for them: "You can't force them, it's not that they don't want to go, but even if they did, it would be pointless. That person is obviously an expert, and with someone like that in charge of guarding the painting, they wouldn't have a chance." He then explained the process of retrieving something from the fire again to the middle-aged man. Finally, he said: "Although retrieving something from the fire is extremely difficult, it's not necessarily something only that person can do. His skills may not be superior to theirs, everyone has their own strengths. Looking at that person's behavior, it seems like he's a rogue from the jianghu, but he didn't report us or cause trouble for Bao Jie. What I'm worried about is that he might not be the most difficult part."

  Li Ya Rong sneered, "You think you're qualified to show off just because you were one step ahead of Uncle? Have you ever played with fire?" Li Hu Qiu said calmly, "How about a bet?" Li Ya Rong asked, "What's the betting method?" Li Hu Qiu said, "I'll perform a stunt like I did when I met Bao Da Jie. If I fail, I'll cut off one of my hands and give it to you. But if I succeed, I won't take your hand either. I just want to learn your Soul Hook technique. If you teach me, I'll steal the painting myself, and we can call it a deal between us three!" Da Ding Zi interrupted, "In that case, count me in too! If you lose, I'll go steal the thing for you. I just want to ask you to pass on a message to my wife when you return to Northeast China: tell her that even though our son isn't mine by blood, he can't be mistreated now that he's getting married." He added, "You're young and don't have any prior convictions, so if your hand gets hurt again, they won't be able to do anything to you as long as they're reasonable."

  Li Ya Rong's face changed when he heard Da Ding Zi say that the big and small sons were not his, and asked: "Zhang Bao Ding, whose children are Yu Lan's big and small sons?" What is the concept of a biological son to this old man who is more useless than the Five Lakes? Bao Wen Jing said: "Who else can it be besides you, this old immoral ghost?" Li Ya Rong was incredulous and asked: "Zhang Bao Ding, are what she said true? I treated you like that, but you still helped me raise my son?" Da Ding Zi snorted coldly: "The child is called Li Yu Gang. Don't be self-righteous, I didn't help you raise your son, I helped my master raise his grandson. If it were for you, even a hundred Li Yu Gangs would have been thrown to death by me!" Li Ya Rong knelt on the ground with a thud, knocking his head and wailing: "Master brother, I am sorry to you!" Then he burst into loud sobs.

  Dà Dǐngzi's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, his eyes blazing with anger, and he remained silent for a long time. He stared at the white threads in Li Ya Rong's hair roots, and all his resentment and entanglement finally turned into a long sigh.

  Li Huqiu was confident that he could do it, he was different from Dadingzi and others, he was a real thief, besides being a thief, he also had real kung fu skills. The three most important points of taking chestnuts from the fire were accuracy, speed and bravery! These were all Li Huqiu's strong points.

  The middle-aged man, on the one hand, also wanted to broaden his horizons. On the other hand, he was well aware that if he forced the two old thieves who didn't have much confidence to take action rashly, the result would not be much better than Bao Wenjing's. He nodded in agreement with the three men's request and arranged for someone to prepare the necessary things for taking chestnuts from the fire.

  In the yard outside the villa, a coal stove was burning fiercely. A steel ball with a diameter of five centimeters and weighing nearly one kilogram was taken out from under the protective cover of an electric fan, which was then placed above the stove. The fan started to rotate, and Li Ya Rong threw the steel ball into the fire below it. The sparks blown by the fan's wind splashed everywhere, dazzling people's eyes with its brilliance. At this moment, Li Hu Qiu suddenly made a move, his arm piercing through the fan, two fingers like precision-guided weapons clamping down on the steel ball, completing the action of catching it in one-tenth of a second. The steel ball between his two fingers was shining with a galvanized light, and it had only been slightly heated by the fire.

  "In 'Three Hands of Rice', the fastest hand in the realm, Fire in the Middle of the Plums, the young thief king's hard work and opportunity to hone his skills to the extreme, shocked everyone present. Even middle-aged people felt unbelievable and sighed in admiration. Li Ya Rong and Da Ding Zi couldn't help but cheer repeatedly. Bao Wen Jing also admired him so much that she wished she could prostrate herself on the ground. On the second floor of the villa, at the window of a room, Gao Yu Feng watched this incredible scene, her small mouth agape in surprise - this little devil was actually more ruthless than those two old thieves!"

  Li Huqiu withdrew his hand and put down the steel ball, patted his hand and laughed: "I'm willing to bet and admit defeat, I did it! The two of you can't hide your soul hook skills anymore. Besides, since this matter has already become unavoidable for me, I'd like to make another request, hoping you can fulfill it." He said, casting his gaze at the middle-aged man.

  The middle-aged man smiled slightly and praised: "Good! It's really a magical skill, it's hard to believe if you don't see it with your own eyes! You say, what do you want? As long as it's reasonable and within my ability."

  Li Huqiu said that you have trapped these thieves, most of whom are equipped with extraordinary skills. The black fox's lock-picking skill, the crab-clawed footwork, and the Ba dog's tongue-bottom qigong - I want to learn all these extraordinary skills, which are the untransmitted ultimate techniques within the thief community. Since they have fallen this time, it is likely that these extraordinary skills will be lost forever. This deal is fraught with difficulties and dangers, but in our line of work, we value having multiple skills at one's disposal - if I can master these ultimate techniques, I can use them when the situation calls for it.

  The middle-aged man nodded and said: "That makes sense, as long as you can bring me the goods, you can learn whatever you want. Those big thieves who have fallen into the net, just name them at will."

  Li Huqiu said: "The three people I mentioned earlier are enough."

  ???????

  Three days later, it was still in this villa. Chu Lie led the team, a 20-person public security squad, one by one fully armed and solemnly took away five old thieves including Da Dingzi and Li Yaru. The middle-aged man said to Li Huqiu: "Their era has ended, and some of the old Jianghu's vulgar skills will also be lost from now on. This is the need of the country, for both public and private reasons, each of them has a reason to be caught, in this regard you are different from them."

  Li Huqiu narrowed his eyes and looked at him: "You never intended to let us go, did you?"

  The middle-aged man's face sank and he didn't answer, instead asking: "Do you think they deserve to be let off?" Then, without waiting for Li Huqiu's response, his expression relaxed, and he asked again: "How about telling me about your skills, have you made any progress? Do you have confidence in getting the painting?"

  Li Huqiu lightly swung his arm, and a soul hook like a spirit snake poked its head out of his sleeve before retracting back in. Li Huqiu nodded in satisfaction, "Hmm, not bad! Do you have confidence? If not, we'll all go." Li Huqiu understood that this was no longer the world where one could right wrongs and roam free, firearms had changed the rules of this world. Although he was unwilling to accept it, Li Huqiu clearly knew that he didn't yet have the capital to challenge this order. His attitude was still somewhat satisfactory, so he nodded and asked when he planned to take action?

  There is also a taboo for thieves: "Three, six, nine go out, two, five, eight return home." Li Huqiu chose a day with the number six to take action. Before that, there were four days left, during which he repeatedly went to the villa under the cover of night, accompanied by the two young men sent by the middle-aged man to "assist" him. The two assistants didn't say a word to Li Huqiu from start to finish, but silently followed him, whether going to the toilet or sleeping, one of them was always by his side. In fact, Li Huqiu had no intention of running away, he was curious about that house. For Li Huqiu, every unopened door could arouse his curiosity.

  These days, Li Huqiu has been living in that villa. All the bandits he met on his way south were suppressed by the dictatorship of the proletariat, but he, Li Huqiu, is still indulging in food and drink in this villa, bitterly practicing the unique skills of the five great bandit kings.

  Li Ya Rong's soul hook is characterized by a single word: ruthless. The soul hook of Da Dingzi, on the other hand, is marked by a single word: spiritual. Their common trait is speed! Hei Hu Li's lock-picking speed may not be comparable to Li Hu Qiu's, but his familiarity with locks and doors opened Li Hu Qiu's eyes wide. Xie Zhai Er had a natural affinity for Li Hu Qiu, so he readily shared his footwork skills without needing to persuade the middle-aged man. Ba Gou Er possessed a unique skill called "Tongue Bottom Universe", where he would hide a small object under his tongue, making it invisible when speaking or opening his mouth, which could be a lifesaver in critical moments.

  Several old thieves seemed to be aware of their own fate, waiting for them would be endless and unpredictable punishment. Li Huqiu's skills and talents made them admire him endlessly. If their own life skills could shine in the hands of such a legendary figure in the future, even if they were trapped in prison, they would still be worthy of the predecessors of the Thieves' Gate.

  Li Huqiu's skills were already impressive, but after learning the unique skills of these five people, his skills became even more profound and unfathomable. These clever techniques have even affected his martial arts, especially his flying knife skills. The "Throwing Soul Hook" and "Hidden Soul Hook" are extremely high-level techniques, and applying them to flying knives has greatly improved his speed and technique in throwing and concealing flying knives.

  On November 6th, Li Huqiu, who was seventeen years old in virtual age, welcomed another challenge in his life.

  Outside the villa, on the highway, at noon when the sun was shining brightest, Li Huqiu walked down from the car with his hands in his pockets and turned back to smile at the middle-aged man inside: "If I don't come out within an hour, it means I've fallen into a trap, so you all don't have to wait."

  A garbage truck passed by them, and Li Huqiu jumped up and slipped into an empty trash can on the outside. The garbage truck drove to the front of the villa gate, where security personnel opened the door, took a simple look, and let the car in. On the side of the villa, before the garbage truck came to a complete stop, Li Huqiu emerged from inside like a nimble cat, making a leap into a nearby thicket.

  In the car, a middle-aged man waited quietly, occasionally checking the time. An hour seemed to have passed like an eternity, and when the clock's hands firmly pointed to the angle of one hour later, the middle-aged man sighed and said, "Let's go, he's also late."