Chapter Forty-Eight: Double Repayment

The Seven Tribulations of All Living Beings has been renamed Urban Ghosts and Gods. I hope everyone will continue to support it—thank you all!

The next day, though the three of them were most unwilling, it seemed the training would not be paused. Ye Dong whispered to Instructor He, “Look at Xiao Bao’s state, he’s in no condition to participate in training, don’t you think?”

Instructor He glanced at Xiao Bao, who hung his head and wept, and spread his hands in helplessness. “Doesn’t look like your ‘chief’ agrees with you.”

Upon hearing this, the three were even more infuriated. “Well done, Officer Li. Well done!” Their resolve to resist only grew stronger.

Xiao Bao choked out between sobs, “Instructor He, my backside is really uncomfortable. I’d like to take a day off—can you approve it?”

Instructor He’s eyes grew moist, and he sighed inwardly. “For a grown man to suffer such humiliation, it’s only natural he needs some time to recover.”

He glanced up at the high platform. “Looks like the chief has left. Go on, get yourself cleaned up and rest.”

Xiao Bao’s face lit up. He gripped Instructor He’s arm tightly. “Brother He! I’m really grateful!”

Instructor He looked embarrassed. “Xiao Bao, let go! That stuff is getting on my clothes!”

Xiao Bao quickly released him. “Sorry, sorry! Go wash your hands, Brother He!” He paused, his gaze suddenly lonely and bleak. “Otherwise, if the dogs get your scent, you’ll be in trouble. I’m already not a whole man anymore…”

Instructor He sighed. “Don’t cry, Xiao Bao. A real man sheds blood, not tears!” He eyed his soiled clothes and muttered, “I’d better get these clean. No, actually, I should just take a shower to be safe!”

In his haste, Instructor He left behind that infamous canister of secretions.

Ye Dong and his friends exchanged a glance and grinned. “Da Chun, I’ll cover you—dump that stuff out, quick!”

Da Chun’s nimble fingers soon had a good amount of the secretion sealed in a canned pork bag. “Done!”

Ye Dong whispered, “Xiao Bao, after Da Chun and I finish training, we’ll meet up with you.”

Tears glistened in Xiao Bao’s eyes. “Brothers, I’ll leave our vengeance in your hands!” With a hot tear, he strode away without looking back.

Ye Dong and Da Chun, eyes brimming, watched Xiao Bao’s forlorn silhouette recede, and couldn’t help but break into song: “Brotherhood and loyalty are worth a thousand gold; what regret is there in braving the mountain of blades?”

At dusk, in Room 3 on the second floor, the three huddled together, whispering furtively. “Any luck?”

“Nothing on my side.”

“Where on earth did Instructor He hide the key?”

Suddenly, Ye Dong exclaimed softly, “Guys, come see what I found!”

Xiao Bao poked his head over. “My god! A limited edition photo album of Miss Cang?!”

Da Chun’s eyes lit up. “And it’s signed! Who would’ve thought upright Instructor He was such a sly old dog!”

They flipped through a few pages, finding it hard to stop, until Ye Dong suddenly stuffed the album into his jacket and scolded in a low voice, “A teacher hiding this sort of thing? I say we confiscate it. Any objections?”

Da Chun and Xiao Bao chuckled. “Unanimously approved!”

“Right, let’s not be charmed by Instructor He’s honey trap.”

“Who would’ve thought he’d use a ‘limited edition photo album’ just to hide the key? If not for Dong’s sharp eye, we’d have fallen into his trap today!”

Ye Dong clapped his hands softly. “Keep looking! It should be in the pocket of his uniform!”

“Found it!” Da Chun pulled out a bunch of keys. “This red one’s for the dog pen!”

The three could barely contain their excitement. Ye Dong instructed, “Xiao Bao, you help Da Chun open the dog gate. Da Chun, once I give the signal, grab the cloth with that stuff on it and run like hell toward the bathhouse. Don’t mess this up!”

“Got it!”

Just as they were about to climb out the window, a female voice rang out. “I know, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry. It’s been so long, and I’ve come to terms with his disappearance.”

“Huiyan?”

Ye Dong’s heart skipped a beat. “Who is she talking to on the phone? She sounds like she’s about to cry…”

Da Chun gave Ye Dong a sharp tug. “Now’s not the time to lose our nerve!”

Ye Dong gritted his teeth and snapped back to attention. “Right. Let’s split up and move!”

Huiyan ended her call and gazed into the distant night, her eyes narrowing. “That figure… looks just like Ye Dong?”

Holding his breath, Ye Dong crept into the bathhouse. The sound of showers and boisterous laughter filled the steamy air, a scene of raucous camaraderie best left to the imagination.

“Good thing I came to the bathhouse with you guys last night,” Ye Dong mused, eyes darting. “Instructor He likes leopard-print underwear, Xiao Yang’s are bright red, and to think Xiao Wang favors pink…”

Feigning nonchalance, Ye Dong gently rubbed the secretion onto their clothes. “You’ve all done me such ‘favors’—now it’s time to return them double. My brother suffered at the paws of the dog pack, and you can still laugh in the bath?”

Even as he carried out his mischief, Ye Dong thought of his comrade of over a decade, Liang Lingzhi. “Idiot, if you were here, you’d have done this yourself, wouldn’t you?”

Suppressing an evil grin, Ye Dong finished up. “Once they get dressed, I’ll signal Da Chun to lure in the dogs!”

The bathhouse was redolent with shower gel and shampoo, enough to temporarily mask the stench of the secretion—one of the main reasons Ye Dong chose to strike here.

He heard the showers stop and was elated. He dashed outside and blew a piercing whistle.

“Da Chun! Once you’ve got the cloth, run for your life!” Xiao Bao panted, “Ready?”

From a distance, Da Chun grinned through clenched teeth. “Open the gate!”

CLANG! The iron gate swung open, and dozens of lust-crazed, hungry dogs caught the scent and tore off after Da Chun.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Hearing the furious barking in the distance, Ye Dong’s heart pounded with both dread and excitement. “Da Chun, don’t let them catch you!”

In the darkness, Da Chun’s silhouette streaked past. “Hurry, brother!” Ye Dong muttered, “It’s all on you now!”

Da Chun ran so fast his hair streamed back. Gripping the reeking cloth, he hurled it in a tight bundle straight into the bathhouse.

Ye Dong glanced over—Instructor He and the others, now dressed and laughing, were just stepping out.

“What’s going on? Why are there so many dogs!?”

Instructor He’s face went pale. “We need to get out—now!”

Xiao Wang shouted, “Damn it, the bathhouse door’s locked!”

A dozen instructors, including Instructor He, Xiao Wang, and Xiao Yang, gasped for breath as they faced the pack of ravenous dogs, eyes wide with dread. “We’ve… we’ve been set up!”

The dogs attacked.

Screams of utter misery and despair rang out from within. Suddenly, Instructor He shouted, “It’s the secretion on our clothes—strip them off!”

Trust the old hand to figure it out.

But faced with the frenzied pack, there wasn’t a chance to undress.

“Use water!” Calm in crisis, Instructor He kicked two mongrels off his backside. “Turn on the taps!”

“It won’t work! The water’s been cut off!”

A deep sense of helplessness welled up in Instructor He’s chest. Surrounded, he looked up and wailed, “Do I have to use my ultimate move?”

Xiao Wang brightened. “Old He, if you’ve got a trick, use it now! We’re done for!”

Instructor He drew a deep breath and shouted out the barred window, “Help! Somebody help!”

Xiao Bao stared straight at the bathhouse, smoke curling from his cigarette as the screams echoed on. “Ye Dong, Da Chun, I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”

Ye Dong gently wiped away his tears with a thumb and clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s go home.”

A cool breeze stirred. The three cast a cold smile back at the bathhouse, then turned away, their deeds hidden, their names unsung.