The sky over the rivers and lakes is very clear

Chapter 8

The boy looked at them with admiration, finally understanding how those two large fleshy balls had been formed! He caught a fried quail thrown at him by the gray-shirted fleshy ball and asked in surprise, "What are you doing?"

"Look how greedy you are, your drool is dripping down your feet!"

"Who's drooling?" The boy, embarrassed and angry, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, making sure he really hadn't drooled. "No way!"

The two fleshy balls couldn't help but laugh.

The boy got angry and threw the fried quail back into the bamboo basket: "What garbage! Even the ones I make with my feet taste better than this!"

"Hey, hey, don't litter! Did you wash your hands after touching the latrine bucket?"

The gray-shirted meatball hurriedly tossed the fried quail to "Huahua," who was lying in the straw pile. "Huahua," with her proud spirit, blinked her little eyes and glanced at the boy before awkwardly turning her head to look at him.

The boy glanced at the two fleshy mounds, picked up a burning piece of wood from the fire, and casually asked while poking at the flames, "What is it?"

The gray-shirted meatball laughed: "Kid, you had a good time at Peach Blossom Ferry on Liuhua River during the day!"

The young man humbly replied, "You flatter me!" These two don't seem like good people at all; they certainly don't have any good intentions!

Stretching lazily, the boy suddenly shouted, "Hua Hua, run!"

He stabbed the burning firewood in his hand at the face of the gray-shirted, fleshy man, while simultaneously kicking the bamboo basket at the green-shirted, fleshy man. Taking advantage of their dodge, he and "Huahua" rushed towards the tower entrance. Just as he was about to step out of the tower gate, his vision blurred, and his head crashed into a pile of soft, fleshy things. Startled, he was suddenly struck by a powerful force—

With two loud thuds, the boy and "Huahua" fell flat on their backs into the pile of rotten grass.

The two fleshy balls stood side by side at the door, completely blocking the entrance. They rubbed their bellies and said with a laugh, "Why are you in such a hurry? We haven't finished dinner yet!"

The little girl, probably dazed from the impact, lay groaning in the hay. The boy's head was spinning too, and he was secretly alarmed: "Who are you people?"

The fat man in the gray shirt chuckled and said, "You've been wandering the streets and alleys of Qingyang City for half a month now, haven't you heard of the 'No Food, No Drink' brother?"

"Never heard of it." The boy rubbed his head and stood up.

The fat man in gray wasn't angry. He laughed and said, "Not having heard of us doesn't mean we're unknown. It just means you're ignorant. I'm Zhang Buchi, and my brother is Wang Buhe. Within a hundred miles of Qingyang City, if we brothers claim to be second, no one dares to claim to be first."

The boy grinned and smiled wryly: "So, in Qingyang City, even the gluttons are ranked by status!"

This "never eats or drinks" brother really got his fat for nothing, otherwise he wouldn't have such a thick skin! Hey! Not eating or drinking, yet he's grown into this pig-like creature—no, I can't insult pigs, at least Flower is prettier than them…

The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter Three (6)

Wang Buhe, the meatball in the green shirt, frowned and said, "You kid, not only are you unethical in your actions, but you also have a sharp tongue!"

"How dare you talk like that? Who's the one who's being rude? Hua Hua and I were just peacefully spending the night here, and you guys came to steal my territory and even knocked us over. And you expect me to call you 'masters'?" the boy retorted.

Zhang Bu laughed: "Don't even mention 'grandpa,' it won't do you any good even if you call me 'grandpa'! Hey, you don't need to roll your eyes around like that, you can't escape from this Yanhe Pagoda!"

The boy wasn't afraid. He rubbed his nose and said, "Stop talking nonsense and get to the point. I didn't steal anything from your family, and Huahua didn't kidnap your pig. Why are you bothering me?"

Zhang Buchi's ever-smiling face suddenly turned cold: "You came to Qingyang City at the beginning of this month, and today is the sixteenth, exactly half a month. In these two weeks, Mao Daya's cooking pot in Hejiazhuang was thrown into pig manure, Widow Sun in Huangyepuzi lost twelve chickens, Master Zhao was suddenly bitten by dogs all over the street and had to run all over the place, Zuihong, the girl from Zuihongxuan, was kidnapped in the middle of the night and thrown into the river to soak for most of the night, and five baskets of the best candied fruit from the capital went missing from the general store in the city—those are five baskets of sweets, how come you didn't die from the sweetness..."

He counted on his fingers: "Thirty-one items in total, big and small. You did it, right?"

"Which eye of yours saw me do it?" The boy was extremely stubborn, determined to deny it to the death!

Wang Buhe sneered, "If I'm not mistaken, that chicken was the one you stole from Widow Sun's house, wasn't it?" He pointed to a pile of chicken feathers lying in the corner of the tower.

"The chicken feather says 'Widow Sun,' right? You say it belongs to the Sun family, so tell it to answer!"

This scoundrel was so unreasonable! Wang Buhe's face showed a hint of anger, but he really didn't have the ability to make that chicken feather admit that his surname was Sun. He held back and said, "Today, there was a great disturbance at Peach Blossom Ferry, and countless people were present. You can't deny that, can you?"

The boy retorted confidently, "Why would I deny it! So what if I did it? That fat old hag with rouge on her cheeks dared to kick my Huahua! Grandpa didn't chop off her dog feet, that's too lenient! Giving her a few buckets of 'gold' is considered a favor to her business!"

“Rouge Studio!” Zhang Buchi corrected.

"I don't care what it's called!" the boy scoffed. "So, you're pimps from Rouge Qi!"

"Bullshit!" Wang Buhe slapped him across the face. This sharp-tongued scoundrel actually thought they were pimps. He was going to knock out two of his teeth to teach him a lesson.

The boy ducked down, a slap passing over his head. Though he wasn't hit, his tattered hat was knocked off, and his messy hair stood on end. Enraged, he cursed and glanced at the door, preparing to flee. However, upon seeing something outside, a look of panic and fear suddenly flashed in his eyes.

Zhang Bu laughed heartily: "Kid, you were so tough before, are you scared now?"

The boy forced a smile, raised his trembling hand, and pointed to the tower gate: "Behind...behind..."

Zhang Bu laughed and said, "Don't try that! I'm an old hand at this, I won't fall for it! You just lie here obediently and let me beat you up, then get out of Qingyang City, and we'll call it even..."

Laughing loudly, he reached out with his five fingers to grab the boy, but halfway there, he suddenly shot backward, his body as light as a paper crane despite his enormous size.

At the same time, Wang Buhe also moved, swinging his palm to split open the wooden window, and his large, fat body emerged from the accumulated dust.

As soon as they moved, the boy moved too.

He gave "Huahua" a light kick on the bottom. "Huahua" was very clever and turned to dart into the straw. The boy quickly covered it up, rolled on the spot, covered his head, and shrank into a corner where he couldn't be attacked, leaving only his two round eyes peeking out.

Outside the Yanhe Pagoda, there is a tall pine tree. On its branches hang two small corpses upside down. Only the bodies are there, but the heads are missing. It seems that they have been dead for half a day, and all the blood has been gushed out. The blood that flows down is in droplets.

Judging from their clothes, these were the same two boys who had brought the food and drink earlier.

Zhang Buchi stood before the corpse, holding a pair of short hooks in his hand. His fat face was now relaxed, his expression showing anger, sadness, and fear.

The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Part One: The Sky Over the Martial World is Clear - Chapter 3 (7)

These two children were only thirteen years old. They were abandoned babies raised by him and Wang Buhe. They were usually bright, clever, and hardworking. But now, they had been beheaded and hung upside down from a tree...

Behind me, I heard the sound of wind rustling through my clothes.

He turned around abruptly, and standing three zhang away was a man in black. He was of medium build, dressed entirely in black from head to toe, his face completely covered by a black cloth, and carrying an unsheathed, cleaving blade on his shoulder.