Chapter 10: The Hidden Palace p1
Dawn broke.
Fang Qiang hadn’t yet decided which city to flee to, so he sat down at a streetside soy milk shop and ordered a simple breakfast.
As he ate his youtiao and drank his soy milk, he casually picked up a newspaper lying nearby and began to flip through it.
Suddenly, a news story caught his eye.
The headline read: WILD MONKEY INFESTATION ON TIGER MOUNTAIN BAFFLES GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS!
The article explained that a large number of wild monkeys had recently migrated to Tiger Mountain on the outskirts of Dragon City, causing considerable trouble for nearby farms and orchards, and that the relevant authorities were at a loss as to how to deal with them.
Fang Qiang’s eyes lit up. He slapped his forehead in a moment of insight.
With this new idea, he didn’t even bother to finish his breakfast. He immediately paid and rushed out, hailing a taxi to take him to Tiger Mountain.
Tiger Mountain was located on the outskirts of Dragon City. Spanning several dozen square miles, its treacherous terrain and lack of resources meant it had never been developed. It was essentially a barren mountain.
As the car approached the mountain, the road became rough and uneven. The driver only agreed to continue after Fang Qiang promised to pay double the fare.
As they were bumping along, an off-road jeep suddenly appeared behind them, driving at high speed. It overtook the taxi in an instant, then swerved sharply in front of them and stopped.
The taxi driver slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision.
“You son of a bitch! How do you drive?” the driver yelled, getting out of the car. But after just one curse, he fell silent.
Five large men, all with black cloth sacks over their heads and machetes in their hands, jumped out of the jeep.
The Hand-Choppers!
The driver recognized them and instantly shrank in fear.
“This has nothing to do with you. Tell your passenger to get out, and you can scram,” the leader, a slightly hunchbacked man, said to the driver. With a gesture, his four subordinates surrounded the taxi.
As if granted a pardon, the driver scrambled back into his seat and demanded that Fang Qiang get out.
Without a word, Fang Qiang calmly got out, carrying his suitcase, his expression composed.
The taxi sped away.
They were on a remote path, with not a soul or another car in sight.
“Mr. Fang, come with us quietly. Don’t resist, or you’ll be the one to suffer,” the hunchbacked man said, his voice sinister from behind his mask, the blade in his hand glinting.
“Who are you?” Fang Qiang asked, feigning ignorance.
“I’m the leader of the Hand-Choppers, and these are my four great warriors. You’ve probably heard of us,” the hunchbacked man said arrogantly.
Fang Qiang snorted, his face filled with disgust.
These five were the leaders of the Hand-Choppers. They were murderers, arsonists, rapists, and robbers who had committed countless crimes. Every citizen in Dragon City gritted their teeth at the mention of their names. The vast majority of the city’s violent crimes were their “masterpieces.”
“What do you want with me?”
“You cost me three of my men. I have to avenge them. I’ll give you two choices: join us, or be hacked to pieces by our knives.”
Fang Qiang found it almost comical. These bandits were actually trying to recruit him.
“Sorry, I’m quite happy being a law-abiding citizen. I have no interest in your line of work.”
“A law-abiding citizen? Haha… You call yourself a law-abiding citizen? Hahaha…” The hunchbacked man burst out laughing, and his four warriors joined in with boisterous ridicule.
“You think we don’t watch TV or read the papers? You think we don’t know about your heroic deeds, Mr. Fang?” the hunchbacked man mocked. “Wake up, Mr. Fang. You’re no law-abiding citizen. You’re just like us—social scum. Understand? The kind of trash that real law-abiding citizens despise.”
The words enraged Fang Qiang, but he simply smiled. “Alright. If you’ll let me be the leader, I’ll deign to join you.”
The hunchbacked man roared, “Damn you! Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!”
With a command, they all began to close in, their blades gleaming. Fang Qiang set down his suitcase, clenched his fists, and prepared to fight. These criminals were guilty of heinous crimes; every one of them deserved to die. Today, he would rid the world of this scourge and vent some of his own frustration.
Just then, an idea flashed in his mind.
Yes, that’s what I’ll do.
With that thought, Fang Qiang charged forward, straight into the flashing blades.
The sound of battle cries erupted from all sides…
Two minutes later, the one-sided fight was over. The bandits were all on the ground, crying for their mothers, seriously injured and vomiting blood. Fang Qiang took the belts from their waists, tied them up, and carried them one by one back to the jeep. He got into the driver’s seat and drove deep into Tiger Mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, the man-made road ended. It was only thanks to the jeep’s excellent off-road capabilities that they were able to continue. After navigating muddy pits and uneven piles of rock, they entered a small patch of forest, and the jeep finally came to a stop.
This was as far as any vehicle could go.
Fang Qiang got out and surveyed his surroundings. The place could only be described as desolate. Even the local farmers who came to the mountain to cut firewood or hunt would never venture this far.
The experiment can begin.
Fang Qiang dragged the bandits out of the jeep and threw them on the ground. Then he opened his suitcase, took out a syringe, and filled it with the synthesis agent. He chose the version mixed with mouse genes and injected it into the arms of the hunchbacked leader and another short, fat bandit.
“Hey, hey, brother, we’re just robbers. We’re not into drugs…” the hunchbacked man protested, thinking it was narcotics, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
But the short, fat bandit’s eyes lit up. “Speak for yourself, boss,” he said with a look of pleasure. “I’m a fan…”
“What? You son of a bitch! Didn’t I tell you no drugs?” the hunchbacked leader cursed, enraged.
The short, fat bandit snorted. “You can’t even beat this Mr. Fang, and now you won’t even let us get high? Screw you! Why should I listen to you anymore? Mr. Fang is a great fighter, and he gives out free drugs. From now on, he’s my boss, not you!”
At this, the other bandits chimed in with flattery.
“Yeah, yeah, Boss Fang is the best!”
“Boss Fang, thank you for letting bygones be bygones and even giving us drugs. From now on, I, Li Er, am your man!”
“Long live Boss Fang!”
The bandits all began to suck up to him, enraging the hunchbacked leader.
But Fang Qiang just watched with an amused smile, his attention focused on their reaction to the drug.
In less than a minute, the faces of the hunchbacked leader and the short, fat bandit changed. They clutched their stomachs, writhing and moaning in pain on the ground.
“This… this isn’t a drug, it’s poison! Oww… it hurts so much…”
The other three bandits were terrified. They instinctively tried to flee, propping up their injured bodies and scrambling away on all fours.
Fang Qiang strode over and stomped on their legs, snapping the bones. They screamed in agony, unable to move.
“You… you’re a devil!” the hunchbacked leader gasped, a mixture of anger and fear in his eyes. After spitting out the words, he was seized by another spasm and his breathing grew faint. The short, fat bandit was also on the verge of death. Seeing that the time was right, Fang Qiang took a can of spare gasoline from the jeep and poured it on the ground around the two men.
He found a lighter and lit it. The flames shot up and, fanned by the wind, quickly grew into a raging fire.
Though they weren’t directly in the fire, the intense heat made the two men scream and roll on the ground. But as they rolled, their bodies touched the flames, and they were instantly set ablaze. They thrashed about, but it was their last burst of energy. Soon, they were still.
The remaining bandits were pale with terror. Some lost control of their bladders and began to scream for help.
Fang Qiang, who had been digging up sand nearby, saw that the two men’s clothes had been burned off and their skin was turning black. Deciding it was enough, he threw the sand on them, extinguishing the flames.
Then he found a clean tree stump, sat down, and waited patiently for a miracle.
But no miracle occurred. The two bandits were long dead, whether from being burned alive or from the poison, he didn’t know.
Fang Qiang was surprised. “Was the fire too intense?” he muttered to himself. “Or… maybe too much gasoline?”
The bandits were horrified. “It’s over, it’s over,” they whispered among themselves. “This lunatic must be a chef. He’s experimenting on how to cook us.”
And indeed, Fang Qiang began to move again. He gathered several large rocks and built a makeshift stove. He placed a thick tree trunk over it, then picked a tall bandit and tied him to the trunk like a roasting lamb.
“Waaah… my meat is tough, and I have B.O.! Please don’t eat me…” the tall bandit screamed, begging for his life. But it was no use. After a few screams, he passed out from the pain.
Fang Qiang injected him with the synthesis agent and then lit the fire.
This time, he learned from his experience. He constantly adjusted the intensity of the fire, monitoring the bandit’s condition, making sure he was being severely burned but not killed.
