The Tale Never Ends Chapter 17 The Belligerent Reunion

The man was none other than Yang Baoshan, the one who had pulled the trigger of his gun and killed "Xuan'er Shou!" It was a face that Lin Fengquan would never forget, for the years of being bedevilled by the memories and nightmares of the incident on that fateful day when "Xuan'er Shou" was robbed from him had deeply etched the image of this very face into his mind! Despite having aged and mellowed after 18 long years, Lin Fengquan would never fail to recognize Yang Baoshan! He leaped from the top of the mound and attacked Yang Baoshan, throwing a feint with his left leg and kicked with his right! In the air, he twisted his body and drew back his left leg so that he could exert more force into his right leg! This was a move known as the Twin Kicks! Yang Baoshan was thrown backward, landing hard into another gravestone just behind and tumbled over it. Lin Fengquan rushed forward and planted a foot on his chest. Due to his boiling rage, he could feel himself trembling uncontrollably! Moments pa.s.sed until Yang Baoshan regained consciousness. He rummaged through his pockets and said "I have but only a little more than ten yuan. Not more... Take them all if you will..." But Lin Fengquan paid no heed to Yang Baoshan's whimpers. The poor fool had mistook him as a robber! He took out a cigarette and lighted it. He took a few swigs and said, "Do you remember the young boy who had almost been shot by you almost two decades ago?" The very words struck Yao Baoshan with shock and amazement that he broke into tears, mumbling hoa.r.s.ely, "For many years I had lived in fear and anguish... Even my accent has changed..."

　　It turned out that Yang Baoshan had fled into the mountains about two decades ago and had left the borders of Wu Zhong County. Reaching a remote village, he changed his name and got married. There was a common practice within older communities where a woman from a family with no able male to contribute to a local workforce would marry a man and have her husband join the local workforce or production brigades as representative of their family. Women in those days could not represent their families for they could only contribute without being compensated with pay or food. Yang Baoshan was one of such men who had married a woman, and he had been working in a production brigade for her family. Moreover, he had attained a high position with important responsibility within the brigade that they had even a.s.signed him a personal a.s.sistant. Hence, with the help of his colleagues and his family, he had evaded arrest and had managed to remain at large until now. Then again, life was far from perfect for him for the nightmares too visited him in his sleep. For many years, "Xuan'er Shou" had appeared in his dreams, haunting him for his transgressions! Hence, he had come on this day to "Xuan'er Shou's" grave to pay respects and offer some sacrifices, hoping that this would ease his guilt and help calm and console "Xuan'er Shou's" soul. Never did he expect that he would meet Lin Fengquan here! This could only be Karma and divine intervention at work!

　　Lin Fengquan reached for a branch hanging from a nearby tree and plucked it down, yanking it hard from its bough and began whipping Yang Baoshan mercilessly. He lashed at the man on the ground with all the hate, anger and bitterness that he had endured for so long until he could go on no longer! Yang Baoshan convulsed and writhed in pain as he rolled on the ground. Lin Fengquan then burned the offerings for "Xuan'er Shou". Piece by piece, he committed the joss papers into the fire as tears fell drop by drop down his cheeks until he began wailing sadly, just like how he did when he was little!

　　Not far away, the old man who was herding his goats had been watching, feeling clueless by what had happened. He did not dare to come over to console Lin Fengquan, witnessing how cruel and brutal his strokes were when he flogged Yao Baoshan hard with the broken branch, afraid that Lin Fengquan would also beat him as well. But seeing the young man crying and howling with anguish filled him with another bout of bewilderment. When Lin Fengquan had finished crying, he walked over to the old man and offered the old man a cigarette. After lighting up the smoke, he asked the old man, "That grave there... Was he from your village?" "Yes!" The old man replied. "Do you know him?" Lin Fengquan asked again. The old man replied, "Of course I do. I was close to his family!" "Please inform his family that I have caught the man who had killed him!" Lin Fengquan pointed sharply at Yao Baoshan who was still squirming painfully on the ground and cried, "That is the culprit and I was that little boy at that time! I am now sending him to the police station!" Hearing this, the old man exclaimed, "Thank you! Thank you so much! I shall go at once to inform his family!" The old man left promptly, leading his goats away. Lin Fengquan stormed towards Yang Baoshan and snarled at him, "On your feet! You will return to the city with me on my bicycle!" With bruises all over reminding him of what Lin Fengquan was capable of, Yang Baoshan could only do as he was told and hopped onto the bicycle. Lin Fengquan got on the backseat and began pedaling his way back to the city...

　　When they had come to the eastern entrance of the city, they saw a roadside stall still open. Lin Fengquan stopped his bicycle and ordered Yang Baoshan to wait for him while he went to the stall for some breakfast. To his surprise, Yang Baoshan cried, "Please give me some food, too!" Lin Fengquan paid no heed to his sniveling request and Yang Baoshan eyed some remains left by some of the other customers. His hands reached hungrily for a pair of chopsticks, only to be slapped hard on his wrist by Lin Fengquan with a loud "snap".

　　Unbeknownst to Lin Fengquan, his treatment to Yang Baoshan had infuriated an onlooker - a young lady, who hastily bought the poor older man two meat buns and went to him, handing to him the buns. Trying to stop her, Lin Fengquan tried to use his folding fan to hit on the young woman's wrist. The stroke sent the buns flying from her hand but the woman - clearly trained in the skills of martial arts - retaliated and attacked him in return. Lin Fengquan used his folding fan to deflect the young lady's blows and they began fighting. As they fought, the young lady called out frantically to a friend! She was calling to her friend to rescue Yang Baoshan! Another young man who was sitting on a bench by the woman's table hurried over and dragged Yang Baoshan with him, scurrying towards the bottom of an arch bridge with a railway pa.s.sing on top where they swiftly disappeared! Watching Yang Baoshan mounting his escape, Lin Fengquan panicked and swiftly depressed a hidden mechanism in his fan, and a blade sprang from within the folds of the paper fan. The woman's right fist was upon him now but Lin Fengquan counterattacked by grabbing at her wrist and tugged hard, pulling her towards him and coldly held his blade at the flesh of her neck.

　　In the year of 1982 when the film "the Shaolin Temple" began screening, there was a national euphoria towards Chinese martial arts. Films depicting martial arts were playing on virtually every television screen in the city, especially action flicks from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Viewers were exposed to various forms of weaponry used in Chinese wushu. Traders and merchants began riding on the waves of pa.s.sion for Chinese martial arts and tried selling diverse arrays of tools for self-defense. Eventually, the government, to maintain public order, released a public order, decreeing that no bladed weapons for wushu practices were allowed to have razor-sharp edges and chain whips were not allowed to have sharp, pointed darts fixed to their ends. The darts had to be changed into a blunt, round mace. Lin Fengquan subsequently purchased a steel-framed folding fan. Knowing that his fan would not be allowed to have a blade, lest the police would confiscate it. He commissioned for a metalsmith to removed one of the fan's slats and installed a hidden blade in its place. A circular ring was then attached to the end of the fan so that it could be hung in his coat and outer garments. The size of the fan made it convenient for him to use and carry around. This concealed weapon was entirely Lin Fengquan's very own concoction that no one but a trained eye would be able to notice the secret of his fan.

　　With the young lady now at knifepoint, Lin Fengquan snarled at her, "Take me to him!" The young woman screamed defiantly, "No..." But she had barely finished when she felt a searing p.r.i.c.k on her neck. Blood began trickling slowly down the edge of the blade. She shot a glance at Lin Fengquan and found him churning with intense fury and trembling with jitters. Knowing that her captor was on the brink of raging insanity, she knew better than to provoke him further. Hence, she led him on their way to locate the escaped Yang Baoshan

　　They walked for some time until they reached a slope downhill. Lush vegetation and trees capped the top of the hill where they were standing, and down they went, trying their best to keep themselves from slipping. Suddenly, the young woman took hold of a branch and hurled herself in a 180-degrees motion upwards in an attempt to break free from Lin Fengquan's hold. She clambered up the incline frantically, only to find Lin Fengquan already there, waiting for her. Lin Fengquan delivered another kick to her calf and sent the young girl tumbling down the slope. With her calf severely bruised now, the girl lost all hopes of escaping. Limping hard, she led Lin Fengquan to a village where the two ambled towards a freshly-built house where they found Yang Baoshan. Lin Fengquan shoved the young woman aside and dragged Yang Baoshan off with him.

　　Finally, Lin Fengquan had Yang Baoshan handed into the custody of the police and had his statement taken. When all was said and done, it was already late into the evening; therefore Lin Fengquan decided to return to his employees' hostel.

　　Still, when he had returned to his dorm, Lin Fengquan could not shake off the frustration and anger that remained draped over him like a cloak despite having served justice to his enemy of almost two decades. Moreover, there was also the impertinent young woman who had almost thwarted his endeavor! His rage continued sizzling past his boiling point! He must do something to teach the woman a lesson! Unable to control his fury any longer, he leaped onto the saddle of his bicycle and went for dinner outside before he pedaled his way towards the village in search of the newly-built house. It was already dark when he reached his destination. Peering over the walls outside, he studied the house. It was not yet fully furnished: the windows and doors were not yet fixed and the house did not had its own power supply - the occupants of the dwelling were borrowing electricity of its neighbor. He could hear the song Disco Queen booming from a stereo on the floor, and the young woman was swaying to the beat of the song whereas the man was sitting at a side. He was about to climb over the wall and attack them when he saw something that made him froze: as the young woman danced, a jade pendant was jingling and wobbling at her neck; a jade pendant which was utterly identical to the one he was wearing!