Chapter 63 The difference of a hair's breadth (3)

  They gazed out the back window, each one anxious and impatient. This half-hour felt like a year had passed. Yan Shou Chen thought of getting up several times but was firmly held down by Yan Jing Tian. Fortunately, there were people like Yan Jing Tian around; if they were all as hot-headed as Yan Shou Chen, they would have stood up to cause trouble the moment Huo Xiao Yao's first knife came through, which not only wouldn't allow them to escape but also put Huo Xiao Yao and Shui You Er in danger. The things being stolen, "Wang Zi" (referring to the stolen goods), sometimes had their own characteristics, such as precious birds that would cry out for help when startled. If one didn't grasp and control these characteristics beforehand, the success or failure of stealing depended on the "Wang Zi" itself rather than the thief's skills. In thieving techniques, this situation was also known as "double-stealing".

  Yan Jing Tian suddenly heard a very faint sound coming from afar, and his ears perked up immediately. He only heard the Water Demon speaking in a slow and deliberate tone, "Is... I... Wa... ter... De... mon... passed... on... to... you? Can... you... hear?" This way of speaking, where each word is drawn out and spaced apart, was known as "Dun Kou Hua" in the art of thievery. It was a type of thieves' language used for communicating in secret, in a quiet and enclosed space where people were being watched and couldn't see each other. The speaker had to follow the rhythm of their own breathing, speaking slowly and drawing out the sounds as much as possible. If someone wasn't intentionally listening, they would think it was just meaningless noise. This method was closely related to human auditory habits, but he didn't delve deeper into its origins.

  Yan Jing Tian listened attentively and saw a faint light coming from the small hole, knowing that everything was safe. He coughed several times, interspersing his responses with "Good! You wait!" This was another way of communicating among thieves, called "resonance rolling", where one would make unrelated sounds, such as severe coughing, to conceal the message being conveyed. This method of speaking was even more difficult than "Dongkou speech" and harder to understand; the five major families' people were proficient in various thief languages and could understand each other.

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié hadn't understood Shuǐ Yāo ér's "dòng kǒu huà" and Yán Jǐng Tiān's "xiǎng lǐ gǔn", was scratching his head, when Shuǐ Yāo ér turned around and whispered to Huǒ Xiǎo Xié: "We'll retreat, leave some space, Yán Dà Gē and the others have already connected with us, wait for them to open a hole." The two of them hastily made way at the entrance of the cave, retreated into the tunnel, and adjusted the light to be dim.

  Yan Jing Tian made several hand gestures to Yan Shou Zhen, Yan Shou Ren and Yan Shou Yi, accompanied by low whispers. The complete meaning was: "Listen to my command, Shou Zhen you kick open the wall, Shou Ren and Shou Yi cover up, after the wall is kicked open, follow closely, I'll bring up the rear."

  Yan Jing Tian looked up at the top of the pit and saw a patrolman walking slowly by, holding a torch and constantly looking down at the bottom of the pit. Yan Jing Tian watched the man's movements and pointed with two fingers towards the back window! Yan Shou Chen's body was as agile as a rabbit, and before he knew it, he had jumped up from the ground and was already standing at the back window. Yan Shou Chen turned his head to look back, and Yan Jing Tian suddenly started coughing violently. Yan Shou Chen followed the sound of the coughing and kicked open the entrance to the hole with a loud crash. The wall did not shatter, but instead fell into the hole in one large piece, thanks to the Water Goblin's careful planning. Yan Shou Chen silently praised, "Well thought out!" His body flashed like an arrow, and he dove headfirst into the hole, disappearing from sight.

  Wan Gouzzi looked down with his head bowed, and Yan Jingtian was standing coughing at the same time, throwing away the large brick in his hand to one side, smashing the ground with a dull thud, using it to cover up the sound of Yan Shou's kick opening the hole. Wan Gouzzi shouted: "What are you doing! Be honest!"

  Yan Jing Tian raised his head and scolded, "Sitting here for an entire evening is suffocating! Can't even move around a bit?" As he spoke, he kicked away a brick at his feet.

  The squad leader gave them a once-over and didn't notice whether there were three or four people below, and cursed: "You'd better behave yourselves! Don't move around! Did you hear?"

  Yan Jingtian grunted and sat down. Wàn Gǒuzi cursed and continued to circle around the pit.

  Yan Jingtian pointed with one hand, Yan Shourong supported Yan Shouyi as he crawled towards the entrance of the cave. Although Yan Shouyi had broken a leg, the two of them moved swiftly on three legs. Yan Jingtian also quietly got up and followed behind Yan Shourong. The three of them quickly arrived at the entrance of the cave, with Yan Shouyi first, Yan Shourong second, and Yan Jingtian third. The Huo family's movements were extremely agile, not needing to adjust their bodies at all, just like loaches burrowing into a hole, their figures flashed by in an instant and disappeared without a trace!

  Huǒ Xiǎo Xié and Shuǐ Yāo ér were waiting for Yan Jing Tian and the others in the underground tunnel. Everyone was reunited, and they all couldn't help but sigh! Huǒ Xiǎo Xié's face was blackened by smoke, making it impossible to see his expression, but his eyes had turned red, and he only managed to weakly call out "Yan Ge" before being unable to speak further. The group didn't exchange any words, instead using their eyes to communicate with each other. Shuǐ Yāo ér led everyone quickly towards the exit of the tunnel behind the kitchen, not forgetting to bring Qian Zhanggui along as well.

  Wan Gouzzi huddled his neck, yawning, and continued to circle the pit slowly. In the early spring of Northeast China, the time just before dawn was especially cold, so cold that people's reactions became numb. Wan Gouzzi grumbled: "It's always me who does these thankless tasks, damn it! Those good-for-nothings at the bottom of the pit should have run away long ago! What's the point of patrolling?" Wan Gouzzi cursed under his breath, but his duty as a sentry still made him take a look down through the broken hole, only to find no one in sight.

  Wan Gouzi was both tired and sleepy, muttering to himself: "Oh, it's gone." He lifted his head intending to continue walking, but suddenly realized something, his eyes widening in shock. He quickly looked down carefully, wondering if there were still people in the pit house below. Wan Gouzi's whole body trembled as he ran around the pit a few steps, looking from several corners, but still couldn't see anyone. Wan Gouzi was so scared that his tongue didn't know how to move, and after shouting "Ah" several times, he finally managed to shout out: "People! Where are they? Zheng Lao Da! People have disappeared!"

  Zheng Dachuan, Liu Xingdao and Zhao Yanzhuan were all outside, drowsy. Zheng Dachuan heard Wang Gouzishouted that someone was gone, he sprang up with a start and cursed: "Damn it! Did you take a good look?"

  "Almost all of them were about to cry out loud and said: 'Zhen, Zhen is gone!'"

  "Your mother's big watermelon!" Zheng Daquan cursed loudly. He got up and ran to the edge of the pit, Liu Xingdao, Zhao Yanguan and others also woke up with a start, and followed Zheng Daquan to the edge of the pit. More than ten torches were lit, illuminating the interior of the house at the bottom of the pit in a bright light.

  Zheng Dahe's face turned blue with rage, he stomped his foot anxiously, and shouted wildly while pointing at Wandouzi: "Wandouzi! I'm going to kill you!"

  The whole dogzi was frightened and fell to the ground on his knees, shouting: "Zheng Lao Da, I really don't know what's going on!"

  "Damn it! You son of a dog, go jump and find it for me! If you can't find any trace, I'll take your life right away!"

  "Zheng Lao Da! Spare me!" Wan Gouzi cried out in tears.

  Liuxingdao took a step forward and rushed over, twisting Wanguzi with one hand, about to push him into the pit.

  "Far away in the darkness, someone shouted loudly: 'No need to look for us, we are here!'"

  Zheng Daquan was taken aback and turned his head to look, only to see Yan Jingtian walking out slowly from the shadows alone.

  Zheng Daquan and the crowd were shocked, where they still cared about what Wan Gouzzi, hastily wanted to turn around and grab their guns. But just as they lowered their heads for a moment, two figures suddenly darted into the crowd from who-knows-where, like fish swimming through the gaps between people. Before they could react, they felt something was off in their hands, and the guns on their backs had vanished into thin air.

  The crowd dropped their guns and shouted loudly, but the two figures had already escaped from the crowd with their guns and ran back to Yan Jing Tian's side, throwing seven or eight long guns on the ground. Upon closer inspection, the gun bolts had all been removed.

  Yan Shouzhēn and Yan Shourén clapped their hands, gathering around Yan Jingtiān. Yan Shouzhēn laughed loudly: "With your skills, stealing your guns is as easy as picking up things." Yan Jingtiān smiled with satisfaction, looked up at Zheng Dàchuān and the others, and said: "Zheng brothers, what do you want to do now? Do you want to come again for a few more rounds?"

  Zheng Daquan and Liu Xingdao were holding short guns, which had not been taken away. Liu Xingdao was furious, shouted loudly, raised his gun to shoot, but Zheng Daquan pulled him back with one hand. At this time, Zheng Daquan's face was pale, and he said to Liu Xingdao: "It's useless, you haven't seen their ferocity before, we are not their opponents at all, if we provoke them, it will be troublesome."

  Six Paths Dao arrived late and indeed had not experienced the ferocity of Yan Jing Tian and his group before. Zheng Daquan, also constrained by face, did not elaborate to Six Paths Dao about being brutally beaten by Yan Jing Tian's group in the main hall. Six Paths Dao said in a low voice: "Zheng Lao Da, I'd like to try them out and see what they're capable of!"

  Zheng Daquan angrily said: "You're looking for trouble! Do you want to die?! Give me the gun!" As he spoke, he grabbed the gun from Liu Xing's hand and snatched it away.

  Liu Hang was taken aback, but still put on a tough face: "Zheng Lao Da, we can't give up, there are so many of us, what's to fear from just the three of them?" Zhao Yanqiang hastily pulled Liu Hang and whispered: "Liu Hang, we really aren't their match."

  Zheng Daquan also ignored them, put his two guns together, and with a burst of strength, threw all the short guns in front of Yan Jing Tian. With a gloomy expression, he clasped his fists and said: "Several brothers of the Yan family! Things have come to this, we don't have much to say! We only ask that you gentlemen do not hold grudges against us, and let us go with our lives."

  Yan Shou scolded: "Are you afraid again? I can spare your dog life! Just kowtow to grandpa three times!"

  Liuhang Dao drew his waist knife and cursed, "You're too deceitful! I'll kill you!" Liuhang Dao exerted his strength and jumped out of the crowd, Zhao Yanguan and Zheng Dakuan failed to hold him back, letting him charge forward with his knife. Yan Shou shook his head and laughed loudly: "Good that you've come!" His body swayed, and he was about to rush out.