Chapter 10: The Little Thief of Fengtian (5)

  Qijian Er saw Huo Xiaoxie and the others hiding in a dilapidated house, their faint light visible from afar. He snuck up quietly and heard them talking inside. With one swift kick, he burst open the door and rushed in to capture them.

  Qijian Er slapped Huo Xiaoxie's face with a loud "slap" and scolded, "Don't you dare to talk back! Don't you see what kind of situation this is?" Huo Xiaoxie was stunned by the slap and fell to the ground. The onlookers were all frightened and didn't dare to resist, they crowded together watching Qijian Er.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yé was slapped in the face, feeling resentful and humiliated, but not daring to show it on his face. He could only secretly curse: "Qí Huò Zǐ! You dare to hit my grandfather? I'll pay you back double in the future! Alas, how did Qí Huò Zǐ find us so quickly!"

  Qijian Er rubbed his hands together, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. He looked around and said, "What's with this greasy smell?" Qijian Er sniffed around, quickly focusing on the mouths of the four people. Huo Xiaoxie and the others had been eating happily, their mouths smeared with crumbs. Qijian Er grunted, "You little rascals! Not reporting back! Sneaking off to eat in secret?"

  Qī Jiàn èr "shàng wǔ líng" de bèi fèn yě bù shì xū míng, zuò zéi de zuì shì yǎn jiān, shuō dào zhè lǐ shàng qián yī bù jiù jiāng zhe cáng zài sì rén jiǎo biān de zhuāng diǎn xīn dài zǐ ná le chū lái, dèng le sì rén yī yǎn, dǎ kāi dài zǐ, shēn shǒu jìn qù zhā chū yī kuài diǎn xīn lái, fàng zài bí zi biān yī wén, nán nán zì yǔ dào: "zhè diǎn xīn yóu kě yòng de zhòng ā, bù shì xún cháng rén jiā de diǎn xīn!" Shuō zhe, jiāng diǎn xīn sòng dào zuǐ biān yǎo le yī kǒu, jiáo ba jiáo ba yàn xià qù le.

  Qī Jiàn's face sank, and he tossed the pastry back into the bag. He grasped the bag tightly and pointed at Huǒ Xiǎo Xié and the others, scolding: "Speak! Whose house did you steal pastries from? If you tell a single lie, I'll break all four of your legs!"

  Lang Deben, Lao Guanqiang and Bi Hou all involuntarily looked at Huo Xiaoxie. Huo Xiaoxie knew that hiding it would be meaningless, so he swallowed his saliva and said: "It's Zhang, the pastry from Zhang Siye's house."

  "Zhang Siye? Can you steal pastries from Zhang Siye's house? Do you dare to go to Zhang Siye's house and steal things?" Qi Jian was 20% skeptical.

  "Yes, it's Zhang Siye's house." Huo Xiaoxie replied listlessly.

  "Damn it! You're still alive? Speak up! How did you steal it?" Qi Jian'er seemed to be very interested in what they had stolen from Zhang Siye's house.

  "In the Zhang family's courtyard, there was a crooked-necked tree. From the edge of the tree, one could swing to the eaves of a house, where one person could crawl through and hide from people in the corridor. After crawling for about 10 feet, a loose board allowed entry into the attic. Following the scent, one could reach the top of a Buddhist hall, where many people were busy walking in and out. After waiting for a while, it seemed like no one was around. I used a rope to lower myself down and pull up some pastries."

  Fire Xiaoxie's words were vague, seemingly casual, but actually, this trip was truly astonishing and extraordinary. Just the move from the tree branch to the eaves of the house was something that only Fire Xiaoxie could accomplish by risking his life. This journey was full of twists and turns, and it wasn't something that could be fully explained in just a few words."

  Huoxiao Ye said so, and Qizheng Er also listened very carefully.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié said: "That's it. When we came out, still a bit careless, when we climbed up the tree from the eaves, they discovered us and chased us all the way to the outer courtyard, beating the four of us with sticks. Luckily, a little maid came and said that today was Zhang Siye's happy day, so they spared our lives and didn't take back the pastries either."

  [Huoxiao Xie] raised his eyes and glanced at Qi Jian'er, who was deep in thought. Huo Xiao Xie called out: "Qi Lao Da, I'm done."

  Qijian Er finally came back to his senses, his face twisted in an eerie way, and said: "Huo Xiaoxie, are you telling the truth?"

  Huoxiao Ye said: "Qi Lao Da, I have a lie to tell you, and I'll be beaten to death." Lang De Ben, Lao Guan Qiang, and Bi Hou also nodded in agreement. Lang De Ben said: "Qi Lao Da, they really hit us hard, almost killed us." Lao Guan Qiang also said: "Yes, yes, Qi Lao Da, look at my face, this half is still swollen."

  Qijian Er hesitated for a moment before saying: "Today I'll spare your lives! Get out of here, follow me!"

  The four of them, including Huo Xiao, did not expect that Qi Jian'er would be so cheap, and they were delighted. They didn't care what kind of trick Qi Jian'er was playing, and they all stood up in a hurry to follow him.

  Qijian Er walked very quickly, and Huo Xiaoyao and the other three followed behind him with aching bodies. As they walked, Huo Xiaoyao couldn't help but take a look around and saw that it wasn't in the direction of Qijian Er's residence, "Haozi Building". He took a step forward and asked: "Qijian Daoren, aren't we going back to Haozi Building?"

  "Cut the crap! Follow me!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié didn't dare to ask more, thinking that with Qi Jian'er's sneaky appearance, there probably wasn't anything good going on. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié hadn't encountered any good things since following Qi Jian'er, so he didn't think about where Qi Jian'er was taking them at all.

  They walked hastily for a while and finally arrived at the gate of a mansion in the eastern suburbs of Fengtian City. The two men who followed them dispersed to keep watch, and with Fire Xiao Yao, they approached the entrance. Fire Xiao Yao took a look and suddenly remembered that he had been here before. This was one of the residences of Liu Fang Bao, also known as "San Zhi Liu" (Three Fingered Liu), a master thief in Fengtian's underworld.

  To know that these thieves who steal money from passersby, the size of the items is not very difficult to guess, but the hardest thing is to steal small things. According to the thief's slang, it says: "Small by one millimeter, danger increases by fivefold; stealing a needle tip is considered sacred!" In other words, if the thing you want to steal is smaller, it's harder not to be discovered and get caught quickly, it's more dangerous than stealing something bigger. If you can steal something as small as a needle tip from someone's body, that's a saintly hand! Think about it, even if you put something the size of a needle tip on a table, using tweezers to pick it up requires extreme care and concentration, let alone when it's hidden in someone's clothes.

  Although Sanzhi Liu was still far from being able to steal a needle, it is said that he could remove the jade and agate inlaid on a woman's earrings without her noticing, which also made Huo Xiaoyi exclaim in amazement!

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié is the "second item" in the "lower five rings", that is, the second generation of the "lower five rings". It was given to Huǒ Xiǎo Xié by Liu Fēng Bǎo himself, so how could he dare forget this place?

  Qijian Er walked to the front of the door, looked around and saw no one, then knocked twice with a "bai shan kou" rhythm, turned his head and glared at Huo Xiaoxie and others, whispering: "No one is allowed to speak out of turn!" Huo Xiaoxie and others all nodded hastily, everyone now understood that Qijian Er had come to see an extremely important person.

  Just after Qi Jian'er finished scolding, footsteps were heard coming from the courtyard. An old woman's voice recited: "Black lamp blind fire, what business do you have coming at this hour? Go to sleep!"

  Qijian II hastily made a fist and said with great respect: "The wind is high, the moon is round, Qijian II from Beicheng has come to offer candles to the old master."

  The old lady inside the door responded with a "oh" and asked: "Didn't you bring any sweet fruit?"

  Qī Jiàn èr said: "Not yet planted! No energy for that."

  These two people's conversation sounds inexplicable, but it is actually slang from Fengtian Rongxing. In fact, when translated into plain language, it means this:

  "Qi Jian'er: I am Qi Er from the north of the city, if there's anything you want to know, don't hesitate, come and report it to me quickly."

  Old woman: "If you have troubles on your mind, don't come in."

  "Absolutely not! I swear on my head!"

  The old woman opened the door and a group of people walked quickly into the courtyard with their heads down.

  The old woman closed the door, looked at Huo Xiao and others for a while, her eyes were sharp, making Huo Xiao's heart feel a chill. Huo Xiao and others knew their status, so they hurriedly lowered their heads, slightly bowed their bodies, with their hands straight down, tightly attached to their pants, only moving their legs slightly as they walked. This posture was also a rule, for thieves, before taking action, they would look around, stand up straight, raise their heads, and wait for the right moment, then lift their arms and fingers, position themselves, and when the opportunity arose, use the shortest distance to stretch out their hands quickly and accurately. Therefore, Huo Xiao's posture was a clear indication of his lowly status, absolutely not daring to be presumptuous, showing respect.

  The old woman led them in, leading the way through a dark and gloomy front hall to a room in the backyard. The room was not large, with incense burning, but it had an ancient charm. The old woman said: "Qī èr Gǔnzi, wait here!"