Chapter 20: Indistinguishable from Water and Fire (2)

  Poor Xiao Huo, these half-grown kids, from young to old, have always been stealing things and then being chased by people wielding sticks, running for their lives. This has become their natural physiological reaction, without even thinking about it. To say that Xiao Huo is stupid would be unjust to him, but he just can't help doing stupid things.

  Then, Huo Xiao's eyes turned red like a big toad, and with a loud "thud", he jumped out, grabbed the container bottle, and ran back into the alley. At this moment, Huo Xiao didn't care if it was a dead end or not, and his frantic running was no different from that of a mouse. Lang Deben, Lao Guanqiang, and Piao Hou also didn't think twice, following closely behind Huo Xiao as they wildly ran away.

  Huoxiao Ye ran for seven or eight steps before he came back to his senses, cursing himself in his heart: "Huoxiao Ye, you really can't change a dog's habit of eating shit!" But things were already like this, and his feet couldn't stop running. He could run as far as he could, and when there was no way out, then he would think about it!

  In the old society, thieves had a bad habit of not crying until they saw their coffin. Even if you stole the golden egg from the sacred mountain's dragon, and were chased by ten thousand heavenly soldiers with thunder and lightning, as long as it wasn't your own neck on the chopping block, you wouldn't give up first. You would escape with your life. Huo Xiaoxie had stolen pastries from Zhang Siye's house before, and when the butler came after him with a stick, Huo Xiaoxie didn't return the pastries until he was beaten badly and feared the butler would kill them.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yē grabbed the container of Yuè Tāi Zhū and ran wildly, followed closely by Làng Dé Bēn. Who could still care about talking to each other?

  "This move of Hei San Bian is fierce! Zhang Si Ye and the others' attention has always been on Hei San Bian, and from Hei San Bian falling off his horse to throwing away the container, it seems like many things happened, but in fact, it didn't exceed one minute. So how could Zhang Si Ye and the others have time to observe whether there were a few black silhouettes hiding in the corner? Therefore, Huo Xiao Xie and the others picked up the container and ran away frantically, leaving Zhang Si Ye stunned on the spot, his eyes wide with shock. Hei San Bian lay motionless on the ground, laughing loudly!"

  Zhang Siye listened to the laughter that pierced his ears, his ears burning with rage. He came back to himself and shouted: "Pursue! Catch them all alive!"

  There were eight hook soldiers, estimated to be unusually tacit in their daily training, without even discussing it, four stayed behind to continue controlling the Black Three Whip, and the remaining four, two up and two down, chased after Huo Xiao directly from the rooftop and the ground.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié and his companions ran out not far, and saw Hei Sān Biāo using fire to seal off the entrance of the alley. At this time, flames were shooting up into the sky, and it seemed that a large group of people were gathered at the entrance of the alley, shouting loudly as they tried to put out the fire, but not rushing in.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié suddenly understood that running forward was still a dead end, and his heart calmed down. He looked around to the left and right, and saw in front of him not far away a damaged short wall, which wasn't too high. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié turned his head and shouted loudly: "Up the wall!" Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's words were clear to everyone, meaning they should climb over the wall and run.

  Huoxiao's body was extremely agile, and with a sudden burst of speed, he kicked off the ground and jumped up, his hands grasping the two brick seams on top of his head with great accuracy. With a mighty effort, he pulled himself up and swapped hands twice before climbing over the wall.

  Huoxiao Ye pulled Laoguanqiang up onto the wall, and then reached out his hand to pull Rangdebao up as well. Among the four of them, Huoxiao Ye was the most agile, followed by Laoguanqiang, then Daxiong, and lastly Rangdebao. According to their usual tacit understanding, when it came to climbing walls, Rangdebao would always go last and provide a boost for Daxiong. But this time, Huoxiao Ye yelled out from the top of the wall, "Rangdebao, come up together!"

  Lang Dui heard, just about to climb up with the dwarf monkey. The dwarf monkey couldn't hold on, had just climbed onto the wall, because of its short stature, it couldn't grasp the high brick seam and fell off the wall.

  In the daily life, he always protected the little monkey everywhere. When he saw the little monkey in trouble, he couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" and jumped down from the wall to support the little monkey's feet with his shoulder. The little monkey had a foothold, climbed up the wall, stretched out its hands upwards, and was about to grab the hands of Huo Xiaoyi and Lao Guanqiang.

  Just then, a three-clawed hook shot forth

  Ka! With a sudden movement, Xiaoxiao clamped down on Dahu's elbow, causing his hand to shift, and Huo Xiaoyao made a grab, but failed to catch Dahu's hand. Before their eyes, the rope tied to the three-clawed hook tightened, pulling Dahu straight off the wall.

  "Ah, Xiao Hua!" shouted a small voice. Following the direction of the rope, they saw a blue-clad hook soldier pulling on the rope. Xiao Hua was clamped by the clip and shouting loudly, Lang De Ben rushed over, and the two joined forces to try to pry open the clip, but it didn't budge at all. Just as Xiao Hua was about to be pulled away from the wall by the hook soldier.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Yè and Làng Dé Bēn, the affection between them was deep and profound. Who cares about that? Originally wanting to jump down and rescue him, but seeing a black light on the opposite rooftop rushing towards him, Huǒ Xiǎo Yè suddenly shrank his head, and a three-clawed hook narrowly passed by his ear, hitting the wall and creating a hole. The force was so great that it created a gap in the wall, with debris flying everywhere. If this hook had hit his head, it would have probably taken half of his life!

  Only to see the hook that hit the wall flying into the air, and then quickly retreated back. It was clear that the Hook Soldiers were retracting their ropes. Huo Xiaoyu looked up again and saw two blue-clad Hook Soldiers taking position on the opposite rooftop, while on the ground there were another two, one of whom had already grabbed the sloth monkey, and the other who was running while throwing out a three-pronged hook, which clamped down on Lang Deben's thigh with a "click", pulling him to the ground as well.

  Lang got up and grabbed that hook, rushing towards the wall head's Huo Xiao Xie and Lao Guan Qiang, shouting: "You guys hurry up and leave! Don't mind us!"

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's eyes widened in shock, but he still intended to jump down and die together with Làng Dé Bēn and the others. However, two hook-wielding soldiers on the rooftop simultaneously threw their three-clawed hooks, which Huǒ Xiǎo Xié and Lǎo Guān Qiāng dodged. Losing their grip, they both let out a loud cry as they tumbled from the wall into the inner courtyard.

  The fugitive yelled loudly from the other side of the wall: "Big brother! You guys leave! Hurry up and go! Don't mind us!" The little monkey also cried out: "Big brother, Old Gun, run!"

  Lao Guanqiang and Huo Xiaoxie exchanged a glance, Huo Xiaoxie's eyes were red with rage, he slammed his fist against the wall and shouted: "Let's go!" After that, Huo Xiaoxie and Lao Guanqiang rushed forward again.

  The place where Huo Xiaoyao and Lao Guan jumped over the wall was a backyard of a family. At this time, the people in the house had probably already heard the commotion outside. The master lit a lamp, put on his clothes, and trembled as he came out of the house, just about to go to the front yard to open the gate and sneak a peek at what was happening outside.

  Just as the male owner had just opened the gate, Huo Xiaoxiao and Lao Guan's dog rushed over like a madman, knocking the male owner to the ground with his four feet in the air. They pulled open the gate and ran out. The male owner was about to scold them when he saw two blue-clothed masked men on his roof, making a loud noise as they ran to the edge of the roof and jumped over his head. These two blue-clothed soldiers were extraordinary, using the wall to jump again and landing on the roof of another household, chasing in the direction that Huo Xiaoxiao had escaped. The male owner was so frightened that he didn't dare move or get up, and it wasn't until after a while that he slowly came to his senses, trembling as he said: "I've seen a ghost!"

  The little thief ran out of the yard not far away, and soon heard the sound of tiles falling from the roof behind him. He turned his head to look back, and was shocked to see that the two hook-handed soldiers were jumping on the roof, chasing after him as if they were walking on flat ground, getting closer and closer.

  A hook soldier estimated that the time was ripe, and with a leap from the rooftop, he flew towards the back of Lao Guan's gun. The three-clawed hook was strange in its craftsmanship, able to be retracted into an elongated oval-shaped club, and also resembling a large streamlined dagger. Once thrown out, it sped extremely fast, and as it approached its target, it could suddenly open up with a "ding" sound, and upon hitting the target, it would snap shut with a "click". Unless one was familiar with the method of opening it, it would be impossible to separate the three-clawed hook again.

  Only to see the three-clawed hook flying towards Lao Guan Gun's back, with a loud "thud" sound, the three claws opened at the same time, like an evil python opening its mouth to attack its prey. With a "click" sound, it clamped down on Lao Guan Gun's waist, making him stumble forward and roll over, falling to the ground. His body still had some strength left, but after rolling around a few times, he struggled to get up, wanting to run forward again. However, a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, and he fainted, his eyes rolled back, and his head drooped down, like a piece of wood, stiffly falling to the ground, unconscious.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié heard a loud "pa" sound, turned his head to look back, and saw Lǎo Guān's gun spitting out fresh blood as he fell to the ground. A hook-wielding soldier was still tightly chasing after him. Huǒ Xiǎo Xié felt an intense pain in his heart, let out a mournful cry, and didn't even bother with Lǎo Guān's gun anymore, continuing to run forward himself.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié couldn't run far before hearing the sound of someone jumping down from the rooftop behind him, and he knew this time they were coming for him. At this moment, Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's nerves were stretched taut, his senses heightened to the extreme, and his "grabbing plate" skills kicked in. He felt a massive force hurtling towards the back of his neck, already at an unavoidable distance. With a swift motion, Huǒ Xiǎo Xié pulled out the container holding the Yu Tai Zhu from his chest, grasping one end, and used the long, slender container as a club. With a full-force swing, he heard a loud clang, and his arm went numb from the shock. A three-clawed hook snapped shut in front of Huǒ Xiǎo Xié, its tip grazing his throat and slicing open a bloody gash, also crushing the container into powder.