Now, the moment Lei Ming and Chen Liang saw Hua Yunlong, their anger surged up. They reached for their knives, meaning to go down and seize the lecher. Liu Rui grabbed Lei Ming with one hand. “Second Brother, Third Brother, what are you going to do?” “We go down and take Hua Yunlong,” said Lei Ming. “Wait, my brothers,” said Liu Rui. “If you’ll take my advice, there’s no need for this. For one thing, there are only a few of us, and he has a whole crowd of his gang here. For another, none of us serves at a yamen, so even if we did take Hua Yunlong, where would we hand him in? Besides, we all burned the same incense with him before the gods1 in the old days. If it was going to come to this, why did we ever swear? He can be heartless if he likes, but we mustn’t break faith. He does evil and wickedness; Ji Gong will catch him in his own time. Why should we make an enemy of him? And it isn’t even certain we could take him.” Chen Liang saw the sense in this. “Second Brother,” he said, “leave him be. Let him go.” Lei Ming could only nod. The three heroes watched from hiding. They heard Hua Yunlong say, “Brother Wu, give me some travelling money. I’ll go and stay with Brother Tian for a while first, and then I’ll come and stay at your house. As long as I have the two of you, I’m not afraid.” “Very well,” said Wu Kun. “Boys, open the strongroom and fetch some silver.” The steward, Wu Bao, lit a lantern, found the keys and went out of the main hall.

Listening in hiding, the three heroes learned that the villain even kept a strongroom in his house. The three put their heads together and followed in the dark. They saw Wu Bao, lantern in hand, head for the back by the side passage east of the main hall. He came to the second courtyard, where a side gate led east. Inside the side gate was a watchmen’s room, with several watchmen in it. “Working hard, all of you?” said Wu Bao. The watchmen looked up. “What is it, Steward?” “On the master’s orders I’ve come to open the strongroom and fetch silver,” said Wu Bao. “The master of the manor has a friend visiting.” “Who’s come?” said Wang Er, one of the watchmen. “Second Grand Master Hua Yunlong, the Thieving Rat of Heaven and Earth, from Xichuan Circuit,” said Wu Bao. “Off you go, Steward,” said Wang Er. Wu Bao came to the steps of the north building, set the lantern down on the ground, took his key and unlocked the door, and opened it. When he turned round, the lantern was gone. Wu Bao thought, “That must be Wang Er the watchman playing a joke on me.” He went back to the door of the watchmen’s room. There was the lantern, sitting on the ground at the door, and blown out too. “Wang Er,” said Wu Bao, “which of you lot stole my lantern?” “Nobody did,” said the watchmen. “None of us has set foot out of the room. Who’d take your lantern?” “Don’t deny it,” said Wu Bao. “If nobody took it, how did the lantern run off over here?” As he spoke he lit the lantern again and headed back to the north building. Little did he know that by this time Lei Ming, Chen Liang and Liu Rui were already inside. When the three came into the room and looked around, it was all big cabinets and long chests. They were just about to open the chests and take silver when they saw Wu Bao coming. The three hurried into the east inner room and hid under the cabinets. Wu Bao came in, opened a cabinet and took out two packets of silver2. Then he turned and went out, pulled the door shut and locked it. The three heroes, too, helped themselves to two packets of silver each from the cabinets and meant to leave, but found the door locked. They felt about with their hands: the windows all had iron bars, and the walls were faced with shutter boards sheathed in sheet iron. Lei Ming and Chen Liang felt it all over. “Now we’re in a fix,” they said. “We can’t get out!” In a tight spot, Liu Rui hit on a trick. “Don’t worry,” he said. At once Liu Rui mewed like a cat. The watchmen heard it. “Steward, come back! You’ve shut the cat in the room.” Wu Bao heard and came back. “That tabby is a real pest,” he said. “It’s always under my feet.” As he spoke he opened the door again with the key. He shone the lantern round the outer room: nothing. Wu Bao went into the west inner room. The three heroes had already slipped out of the east inner room and gone up onto the roof. Liu Rui mewed like a cat again. “The cat’s got out and gone up on the roof,” said the watchmen. Only then did Wu Bao come out, lock the door and head back to the front. The three heroes watched in hiding as the servant took the silver to the main hall and handed it to Hua Yunlong. The villain took his leave at once. Wu Kun saw him all the way out of the main gate. “Younger Brother Hua, come back in a few days. Your elder brother will be waiting for you here.” Hua Yunlong said goodbye and went.

Wu Kun stepped back toward the house. No sooner had he come in through the main gate than — he never dreamed it — Liu Rui, who had been hiding behind the gate all along, caught the villain unawares with one stroke of his knife and finished Wu Kun off for good. The household was thrown into an uproar, but Liu Rui had already twisted round and sprung away. The next day the household reported it to the authorities, who came to examine the body; but as for catching the killer, where were they to catch him? With Liu Rui having rid the world of the bully, the three heroes went back to their inn to rest. They got up early the next morning. “Where are you two brothers off to?” said Liu Rui. “We’re going to Quzhou Prefecture to do a job for Ji Gong,” said Lei Ming and Chen Liang. “I still have a few friends to look up,” said Liu Rui. “We’ll part here, brothers, and meet again another day.” The three settled their bill and left the inn. We leave Liu Rui there and speak only of Lei Ming and Chen Liang, who took the highroad for Quzhou Prefecture. They had just come outside the eastern entrance to the village of Wulibei when they saw a temple on the north side of the road. At the temple gate stood a big, burly man in a black jacket, gaunt and wasted, barely able to stay on his feet, crying out, “O Heaven, Heaven! Gods and Buddhas who won’t open your eyes, Heaven and Earth with no ears and no eyes — I never thought I’d come to this!” Lei Ming knew him at a glance. “So it’s him!” The two heroes hurried up to him. “Second Brother, how did you come to this?” The big man looked at them. “You two are Ox-Head and Horse-Face3, come to take me away?” “You’ve gone mad,” said Lei Ming. “We’re Lei Ming and Chen Liang.” “So you two aren’t Ox-Head and Horse-Face,” said the big man. “You’re the Yellow-Banner Boys4, come to fetch me to the Western Heaven.” “Second Brother,” said Chen Liang, “you don’t know people anymore. We’re Lei Ming and Chen Liang.” The big man’s mind cleared. “So it’s my good brothers Lei Ming and Chen Liang. Oh, the pain — I’m dying!” With that he toppled over and could not move. Chen Liang hurried to a house just inside the village entrance and knocked at the gate. An old man came out. “Whom are you looking for, sir?” “Venerable sir,” said Chen Liang, “lend me a bowl and give me a drop of boiled water. There’s a friend of mine at that temple gate, very sick, and I want to dissolve some medicine for him.” “So that’s it,” said the old man. “That big fellow is your friend. He’s been sick outside our village for days. The first couple of days I even took him a little gruel. These last two days I could see how bad he was, and none of us dared give him anything. Wait here a moment, sir, and I’ll fetch the water.” With that he turned and went in, came out with a bowl of water and handed it to Chen Liang. Chen Liang took it, dissolved the piece of medicine from Ji Gong, and poured it down the man’s throat. After a little while they heard a rumble in his belly: the breath drew the blood along5, and the blood carried the breath. At once all his inner organs felt clear and fresh, and the burning sickness left him. He turned over and sat up. “My good brothers Chen and Lei, where have you come from?” “Brother Guo is well again!” said Chen Liang.