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

  A true strong person's most important achievement isn't about defeating many people who are weaker than themselves, but rather about how many times they have defeated their own yesterday self. Hao Cuizi obviously hasn't been defeating himself for a long time now, whereas Li Huqiu almost every day challenges and defeats his own self.

  "Hao Qiu Zi, you've been stuck in the same place for too long, not only has your body become numb, but even your brain is crippled. Ever since you used chemical metal to harm me and failed last time, it's as if overnight you've changed into a completely different person, tucking your tail between your legs, submitting to circumstances, even more obedient than the new daughter-in-law who just entered the house. Do you think this is pretending to be honest to deceive me? I'm telling you, this clearly shows that you still want to play tricks, so I can only accompany you in playing tricks."

  Hao Su's face turned ashen, and he asked: "How did you manage to break free from the binding? The rope was tied around your fingers, it's impossible for you to escape." Li Huqiu stared at him with a mocking gaze and said: "Am I not allowed to have a few secret skills?" After finishing speaking, he loudly called out to Zhang Tiejun: "Stop pretending, hurry up and come bind people, the new boss of Beizhan, Brother Tiejun!" Hao Su heard this and suddenly felt like he had been struck by five thunderbolts, and in an instant everything became clear. No wonder Li Huqiu still had hidden daggers on him, no wonder when Li Huqiu let himself be bound, he deliberately stretched out his hands towards Zhang Tiejun.

  Zhang Tiejun walked over with a sly smile and tied up Hao Diaozi. All the small thieves present chose to remain silent, as these two old thieves did not have a high reputation in their minds. At this time, it was a case of "when the drum is broken, everyone beats it", which is what people's hearts were inclined towards.

  Li Huqiu's sharp flying knife pointed at Hao Cui's face, which was tied up like a rice dumpling. He said coldly: "You wanted to kill me and throw my body into the river, but I never thought of that. If you died like this, it would be too cheap for you. Every night, I can hear you being scared awake in your dreams. I know it's because you've done too many evil things. You only have a conscience in your dreams. I should spare your life to let you continue having nightmares, so that you'll never forget the family of four you burned to death. Their vengeful spirits will haunt you from time to time, won't they?"

  Li Huqiu asked this question, and Lao Chen, who had arrived on time and was hiding behind the fake mountain, trembled with his hand involuntarily reaching into his pocket for his pistol. His finger joints had turned pale due to excessive force.

  Hao Quezi was shocked: "Don't talk nonsense, I didn't have a nightmare, nor did I dream of Chen Dewang's wife and children!" Li Huqiu grabbed his neck and said: "Old fox, you still want to deny it at this time. Did I say that the four people you burned to death were Chen Dewang's family of four? You damn old lame donkey, you're so guilty that you can't help but confess."

  Li Huqiu's grip wasn't tight, but Hao Qiu seemed to be suffocating as if he couldn't breathe. He was clearly stunned by the sudden turn of events and stuttered, unable to speak. Li Huqiu continued, "You burning Chen Dewang's family to death has nothing to do with me, and I'm too lazy to hate you for it. But you ruined Yanzi, didn't let her see a doctor, and ultimately killed her. This debt you must pay back to me. Do you admit this or not?" Li Huqiu's last few words were shouted out, shocking Hao Qiu, who was already stunned, and scaring him so much that he hastily nodded and cried out, "I admit it, I admit it! Li Huqiu, please spare my life! I was wrong to Yanzi, wrong to Xiao Yanzi, and even more wrong to the Chen family of four whom I burned alive. Please forgive me, don't come after me again!" After saying this, he fell to the ground, holding his head and wailing loudly. He had been carrying that enormous pressure in his heart for decades, and every day needed to rely on alcohol to fall asleep.

  Chen Dewang emerged from behind the fake mountain, holding a handgun, with bloodshot eyes and trembling hands that revealed his inner frenzy and excitement. With an unstoppable momentum, he arrived in front of Hao Cuozi, raised his hand and fired a shot, causing a burst of blood to splatter everywhere, and Hao Cuozi's other leg was hit by the bullet. Chen Dewang, still unsatisfied, wanted to fire again, but Li Huqiu kicked his wrist with a flying kick, shouting: "One shot is a warning, if you fire a second shot, I'll have to settle accounts with you together!"

  Hao's blood splattered on Zhang Tiejun's face, and the guy was scared stiff. The surrounding thieves were even more frightened, not knowing what to do. Li Huqiu walked over and kicked him in the chest, saying "What are you looking at? Get down quickly and wait for the government to deal with you!" Li Huqiu looked out of the park, and Zhang Tiejun took the hint and ran away. All the thieves except the Qi brothers, who couldn't run, followed him and escaped cleanly.

  Li Huqiu rushed up to Chen Dewang, made a fist and said: "Mr. Chen, I know you're a good man, but you can't save any of these three people, just watch them bleed to death, then call an ambulance, after they die, you'll say that you happened to pass by the scene, saw Hao Qiu and Qi brothers fighting, Hao Qiu was skilled at flying knives and injured the Qi brothers, you had no choice but to shoot and injure Hao Qiu."

  Chen Dewang raised his hand to interrupt him and said: "Kid, I understand what you mean. You go your way, and I'll pretend I've never seen you."

  Li Huqiu couldn't see the resolute look on Chen Dewang's face, nodded and turned around to run away. Not far from running, he heard three gunshots coming from behind him.

  Li Huqiu walked out of the park and saw police cars arriving at the gate. Nobody noticed Li Huqiu, who looked like a child, and he ran back home smoothly. Zhang Manli was anxiously waiting, and when she saw Li Huqiu return safely, she couldn't hold back her excitement and rushed over to hug him tightly in her arms.

  Li Huqiu followed Mo Xue to learn magic, learned the means of the Demon King but cultivated a Bodhisattva's heart, from this it can be seen that even a mad demon cultivates, on the day of attaining the Tao, he may not necessarily become a Buddha.

  The next day, news came that a shooting had occurred in Sanhu Park. Chen Dewang, a police officer from the South Station Police Station, surrendered himself. He said that before the incident, he had heard that there were hooligans gathering at Sanhu Park to fight, so he immediately rushed to the scene with his gun. As a result, the people involved in the fight scattered, and only three people were left. Chen Dewang claimed that he killed the three hooligans in self-defense. Chen Dewang has been suspended from duty, and the prosecution will charge him with misusing firearms and manslaughter. Li Huqiu went to visit him despite his own difficulties, but Chen Dewang did not see him, only asking him to help burn some paper money on a grave for his family.

  Public cemetery.

  Facing the sun, spring flowers are in bud, and swallows return. Li Huqiu holds little Yanzhi's hand standing still in front of Yanzhi's grave.

  "Sister, the old cripple is dead, you can rest assured and be reborn in the next life. I brought Little Swallow to see you off, let her sing a song for you. She learned to sing from me, if it doesn't sound good, don't blame her, it's all because I didn't teach well. Our daughter is actually very clever."

  Little Swallow, wearing a floral dress, comes here every spring. I ask the swallow where you come from? The swallow... The childish voice of Little Swallow is pure and clear, but the tune is exactly the same as Li Huqiu's desolate and rigid melody.

  That voice awakened a memory fragment deep within Li Huqiu's soul. Before his eyes, there seemed to be a large tree; he was standing opposite the tree, stretching rubber bands, with a girl jumping back and forth in between, her clear voice saying "small ball, banana pear". Li Huqiu let out a loud roar: Sister, you can leave now! I've sent the old cripple down, you don't have to worry about anyone bullying Little Swallow anymore!

  In another corner of the cemetery, Li Huqiu spent money to buy two large public graves and separately buried the ashes of the four members of the Chen family, which had been stored in the crematorium. A large pile of paper was burned. In the midst of the raging flames, Li Huqiu comforted the deceased spirits, saying that their grievances had been avenged.

  In 1992, late autumn.

  On the street, a Xinjiang man selling lamb skewers was shouting in stiff Mandarin. Little Swallow was tempted by the aroma of the lamb skewers and said, "I want to eat." Li Huqiu held her hand and walked straight to the stall, saying, "Give us ten yuan's worth." The Xinjiang man quickly grilled the lamb skewers while asking Li Huqiu if they wanted it spicy or not. Little Swallow's clear voice told him: We want the spiciest! Li Huqiu said that girls who eat spicy food get big pimples on their face. Little Swallow giggled and said, "Daddy has pimples on his face, but I don't." The lamb skewers were done, and the Xinjiang man was about to hand them over to Li Huqiu when a Mercedes-Benz drove up alongside, the window rolled down, revealing an old face that seemed to have experienced 5,000 years of vicissitudes. With a haughty tone, he said, "Lamb skewer seller, give me ten yuan's worth of lamb skewers."

  The Xinjiang man holding the roasted meat skewers still wanted to hand them over to Li Huqiu, but the owner of the old face in the Mercedes-Benz had already started scolding: "Damn it, I told you to want 10 yuan mutton skewers, can't you stupid guy understand?" The Xinjiang man stood still and replied: "This is what the guest on that side ordered, wait a minute and I'll roast some for you."

  The passenger door of the Mercedes-Benz suddenly opened, and a young man wearing sunglasses got out. Without saying a word, he rushed over and slapped the Xinjiang man silly, snatching the lamb skewers from his hand. "Song San wants to eat lamb skewers, you dare to give it to someone else first," he cursed. After that, the guy cast a provocative glance at Li Huqiu and loudly asked, "What are you looking at? Not convinced?"

  Li Huqiu picked up the little swallow and walked straight to the Mercedes-Benz, lightly tapping on the window. Song Yu Jia's face, which was born with a natural air of superiority, appeared. The car door opened, and Old Song's tone was the same as it had been in the past: "Huqiu, get in quickly, I'll take you wherever you want to go." Li Huqiu didn't move, looking at the young man who had just been arrogant but now looked a bit stunned. He said, "Old brother, if you want to mix for a long time, it's best to keep people like this away from your side as much as possible. Otherwise, one of these days they will bring you big trouble." After finishing speaking, he let the little swallow call out "grandfather" and then shook hands with Song Yu Jia to bid farewell. Song Yu Jia chased after Li Huqiu, snatched the lamb skewer from the young man's hand, and handed it over to him, saying only that "brother, I will remember what you said. If something happens, don't bear it alone, think of old brother, and if there is anything I can help with, I will definitely lend a hand." Li Huqiu nodded and said he would! Song Yu Jia said: "You must be kidding! You handled the matter of Old Man Zhang, and it has already spread throughout the circle. Brother, old brother knows you are a good man, but there is a saying that one good man needs three helpers. When we mix in the underworld, when something really happens, we still need friends to help us out."

  Li Huqiu took the skewer of mutton, smiled and said: "Third Brother, if I can't even take down that old cripple, do you think I'm still worthy to be called your brother?" After finishing speaking, he gave Song Yujia a fist bump and turned to leave. His voice floated back through the air: "Even if you have the ability to gather 108 good men, the Communist Party is not the Northern Song Dynasty, you won't have the chance to surrender."

  A long time ago, Song Yu Jia discovered that Li Hu Qiu had a high level of awareness and did things in an orderly manner. He felt that this child would definitely be extraordinary in the future, so he intentionally cultivated him, introducing all the classics he thought were good to Li Hu Qiu. At that time, the Knife Gun Cannon gang was not yet prominent, and Song San was just Song San, neither a respected Three Masters on the road nor a glorious Boss Song in front of and behind people. Once, after Li Hu Qiu finished reading the last chapter of Water Margin, he suddenly asked him, "The heroes of Liangshan are rebelling to unite against the imperial court for survival, why do you guys from Knife Gun Cannon fight with people all day, what's the point?"

  This is a very ordinary question, just like asking what you're living for in this life. The answer isn't profound either. Swords and guns are for fame and fortune! Li Huqiu asked another question: "What do you do after gaining fame and fortune? If there's no benefit or purpose, aren't you all idiots?" This was no longer a question that could be answered with childish innocence, Song San thought seriously but had no idea, so he tried to ask Li Huqiu back: "What should we do?" Li Huqiu said you should learn from Jiang Mengen and Zheng Tu, do business and collude with various 'regional officials', become a group of wealthy rascals.

  That year, Li Huqiu was ten years old when he said this sentence. He knew Jin Yong, Gu Long and Shi Nai'an, and read "Water Margin". In the end, he told Song San that the people worth learning from were neither Wu Erlang nor Lu Zhishen, but rather two insignificant extras in "Water Margin". From that year on, Song Yu Jia embarked on the path of a contractor, relying on his reputation for violence to cheat and bully his way through the market, quickly accumulating wealth, then using money to bribe officials, until today he became the famous San Ye in Ha City.

  Watching Li Huqiu's back, Song Sanye, who dominated the underworld of Ha City, stood up with respect. This respect has nothing to do with age or status, but only for wisdom and strength. With gratitude and admiration.

  On the edge of the street stall, an old man squinted his eyes and gazed at Li Huqiu's back, muttering to himself in his heart, no mistake, it must be this kid.