Elio’s Notes: 神龙摆尾, literally “the divine dragon swings its tail,” is the sort of grandiose name traditionally given to martial-arts techniques. The title also playfully echoes the description of Zhang Wenxi in the previous chapter as a “divine dragon whose head is seen but whose tail is not,” someone who appears and disappears unpredictably.
Ling He was puzzled. Why was Mr. Yan so quiet? Yan Xiaodao normally saw in all directions and heard everything. Ling He had traveled all this way back, yet Xiaodao had not even shown his face upstairs or acknowledged him.
The bedroom was empty. The bed was a mess and the blankets had not been folded. Sure enough, the moment Liu Huizhen was away, every rough man in the house became possessed by laziness. Nobody made the beds! The pillow and mattress still held the impression of somebody who had recently been lying there…
Ling He frowned, practically producing sparks from the friction of his shoulder bones as he walked. Following a series of faintly suspicious, furtive sounds, he made his way to a study at the far end of the second-floor corridor.
Curling his lip, he suddenly threw open the door, fully prepared to catch someone in the act!
Hah…
Yan Xiaodao was hiding in the study with two younger men, enjoying his vacation enormously. All three had padded headphones covering their ears and blocking out the vulgar noises of the mortal world, while their hands busily clicked and tapped at three computers to perform something even more vulgar.
Ling He strode silently toward them. Given his relative innocence in certain areas, he had expected to catch a group of shameless men secretly doing something unfit for public viewing, perhaps watching porn or taking matters into their own hands.
Yan Xiaodao was staring intently at the screen, signaling to the other two with his eyes while his fingers operated keyboard and mouse with practiced ease. These people were conducting an interplanetary war and grinding monsters online!
Ling He had guessed wrong. Yan Xiaodao was far from an inexperienced youth in sexual matters. He had begun experimenting in his teens and was nearly thirty now. At present, the thing most capable of arousing Yan Xiaodao’s interest was what the two of them had done in that hotel bathroom, when he had taught the completely inexperienced Mr. Ling how a man could enjoy himself…
The other two exchanged glances and sprang out of their chairs before the thundercloud-faced Mr. Ling could bear down on them, surrendering the seat beside Yan Xiaodao to their boss. Ling He naturally sat down, holding the keyboard despite having no idea which keys he was supposed to press. The glance he shot Yan Xiaodao plainly radiated contempt: You’re actually playing this behind my back?
Yan Xiaodao stared right back. “You play childish, boring games like this?”
Ling He countered, “Aren’t you playing it?”
Yan Xiaodao said, “Mr. Ling, your own employees taught me!”
Ling He replied, “Then why can’t I play?”
Mr. Ling’s life had always been simple and colorless, almost entirely devoid of entertainment or enjoyment. He truly did not know how to play video games. Yan Xiaodao was not especially good either, but he enjoyed teaching Ling He, painting colors belonging only to the two of them across that blank sheet of paper.
Watching Ling He half understand the controls, practically wanting to use both hands and feet against the computer and looking so unwilling to accept defeat that he might reach through the screen and tear the monitor open, delighted Yan Xiaodao enough to make him burst out laughing. Ling He had always been domineering. If the opponent before him were human, he would already have sprayed poison or rolled up his sleeves and started fighting. Unfortunately, the opponent was an obstinate computer immune to threats and persuasion alike. When the health bar emptied, it was empty. When he died, he died. The machine beat every trace of temper out of Mr. Ling.
Yan Xiaodao laughed. “Looks like I can only secretly turn on a cheat for you.”
Yan Xiaodao, who had supposedly spent all this time under surveillance and soft house arrest, had become slightly addicted to this vacation lifestyle… Was there such a thing as house arrest this comfortable?
He had never seen Ling He so childish, clumsy, and harmless before either. If only days like these could continue forever, there would never be too many of them.
The two played three rounds against each other and both came away bright-eyed and thoroughly entertained. Only then did Ling He remember the miracle doctor still sitting downstairs. If he neglected him much longer, that foul-tempered latrine stone Zhang Wenxi might pick up his bag and leave.
Ling He put down the keyboard and mouse. Hesitating, he unconsciously clenched both hands inside his trouser pockets and looked at Yan Xiaodao’s profile. “Xiaodao, I brought a doctor here to treat your foot.”
Yan Xiaodao said, “So that’s what you went away to do?”
Still facing the screen, the ease and happiness gradually withdrew from the lines around Yan Xiaodao’s eyes and mouth until his expression turned mature and cold. “What’s left to treat? The doctors already gave me the final diagnosis.”
The final diagnosis was that the foot was ruined. The tendon had been severed and could not be repaired. He would limp for the rest of his life.
Ling He carefully watched Xiaodao’s face. “Dr. Zhang says it can still be treated. Let him try?”
“No need!” Yan Xiaodao refused immediately. “I’m not obsessing over it. Why are you still obsessing over it?”
Yan Xiaodao thought, You were the one who cut it, and now you’ve gone to all this trouble to heal me again. Ling He, you really are insane…
Yan Xiaodao genuinely did not want to discuss the matter anymore. He had nothing left to say to Ling He about it either. Apparently fate had decided he was destined to fall into this man’s hands. Every ounce of generosity, tolerance, and broad-mindedness Yan Xiaodao possessed had already been hammered, torn, kneaded into pieces, then reshaped and handed entirely to Ling He. Whatever grievances existed in their past could be left there. He loved the man. That was simply the truth.
Ling He circled around the direct apology he could not bring himself to make. “I know losing the use of your foot must make you unhappy. I still want to heal it.”
“Don’t use my mood as an excuse. I’m doing perfectly well right now. Three meals a day, good food and drink, enjoying all Mr. Ling’s generosity. Why would I be unhappy?” Yan Xiaodao countered.
Ling He immediately fell silent. Once again, the two sank into a brief, awkward pause where one wrong turn in the conversation could send them straight back into another fight.
When it came to relationships, Yan Xiaodao considered himself five years older than Mr. Ling, and those extra years had not been wasted. He understood the situation clearly. Both of them had personalities too strong to bend easily. The layer of vigilance and thorns surrounding each man could stab the other at any time. Neither was naturally inclined to soften, flatter, or humiliate himself for somebody else. On matters involving fundamental principles, neither could casually compromise.
Either the east wind overwhelmed the west, or the west wind overwhelmed the east.
Under circumstances like these, loving someone this stubbornly and painfully inevitably required some objective balance of strength. The two most harmonious periods they had ever shared had both depended on one man being weaker than the other. The first had been when Ling He pretended to be paralyzed and submitted himself to Yan. The second came after Yan Xiaodao’s foot was crippled and he had no choice but to stay in Ling He’s home… Yan Xiaodao had understood the heavy price behind that harmony.
Being lame was not entirely bad. It could remove him from many jianghu conflicts. Nobody feared a lame Yan Xiaodao. Nobody needed him anymore. For the moment, he possessed enough psychological preparation and enough objective reasons not to return to Master Qi’s side. He could remain here with Ling He, wasting away his days with a perfectly clear conscience.
They had met aboard a ship amid demonic winds and towering waves. Yet the moment they truly realized they could no longer live without each other had arrived during this apparently ordinary, steadily flowing life together.
Ling He turned his gaze toward the red roofs and green trees outside the window. “Xiaodao, you still resent me.”
“I wouldn’t call it resentment.” Yan Xiaodao answered decisively. “When you stabbed me back then, that settled the debt between us. We owe each other nothing now, and everything before that is wiped clean. But you insisting on healing me again is unreasonable and completely unnecessary. Even when wounds heal, the scars remain forever. You can’t pretend there was never a scar. As long as you don’t bring it up again and never do something like that again, I won’t mention it either.”
Ling He lowered his thick lashes. His chest rose violently as the darkness in his heart began bleeding outward and expanding. He knew perfectly well Xiaodao did resent him and would always remember this debt. Some things could not be undone once committed.
Ling He bit his lower lip, rose with a rigid spine, and walked out.
Yan Xiaodao assumed he had finally abandoned the unreasonable, stupid idea.
Ling He returned to his own room and opened the coded safe inside the wardrobe. Several guns lay inside, along with medicines that required careful storage, including highly lethal poisons. He took out a disposable syringe and drew up a small amount of clear, colorless, odorless liquid.
When Ling He entered the study again, Yan Xiaodao glanced back at him. Ling He’s face was expressionless, but two icy streaks inside his eyes immediately triggered Yan’s instincts.
Ling He said softly, “Xiaodao, come here.”
Yan Xiaodao rose warily. When Ling He suddenly strode toward him, Yan instinctively lifted one elbow into a defensive position. “What are you doing?”
Ling He’s right hand, concealed behind his body, moved without warning. He did not bother trying to overpower Yan physically. Holding the syringe, he drove the needle directly into the soft place where Yan Xiaodao’s neck met his collarbone and immediately pushed in the liquid.
Surprise flashed in Yan Xiaodao’s eyes. He grunted, “Ling He, you…”
Ling He supported the back of his head, his voice warm and gentle. “Xiaodao, don’t be afraid. It’s only an anesthetic. It won’t hurt you.”
Yan Xiaodao had already realized it was anesthesia. He nearly vomited blood from anger. Who the fuck had just thought this man looked childish, clumsy, and harmless? Three rounds of video games, and the brat’s true nature was back in full.
This was simply how Ling He did things, unreasonable and absolutely determined to have his own way. Once Ling He decided something had to be accomplished, resistance from anyone else was useless. He rarely negotiated and had no objection to unscrupulous methods. Whatever he wanted done would be done.
The fast-acting medical anesthetic took effect within seconds. Yan Xiaodao did not even manage to curse him once. His solid body slowly slid toward the floor, the back of his neck landing precisely in Ling He’s palm. He struggled through the final shred of consciousness, yet could do nothing except allow Ling He to cradle his head.
Ling He lifted Xiaodao horizontally, carried him back to the bedroom, and laid him flat on the bed.
He bent down and kissed Yan Xiaodao’s slightly parted lips, which were still set in stubborn indignation, using his own mouth to coax the two defiant lips closed.
Zhang Wenxi had not stormed out.
When Ling He went downstairs, he found Zhixiu, Su Zhe, and Zhang Wenxi each occupying a spacious section of the corner sofa, all three sitting cross-legged in complete comfort. Each held an enormous fan of playing cards. They were in the middle of a fiercely contested game of Fight the Landlord and absolutely determined to establish a winner.
Immortal Mao cursed Little Brother Su. “You traitorous little slut. You keep deliberately feeding cards to your precious geges!”
Zhang Wenxi laughed heartily. “My medical skills might only be so-so, but I’m excellent at cards. I don’t need anybody giving me easy plays!”
Elio’s Notes: Fight the Landlord, 斗地主, is an extremely popular Chinese climbing card game normally played by three people, with one “landlord” competing against the other two players.
Ling He held his forehead and silently watched the three ridiculous characters concentrate on their card game through three complete rounds. Host and guests were apparently getting along wonderfully. Zhang Wenxi even held one card loosely between his lips. Ling He increasingly suspected that the doctor’s greatest talent was actually looking cool.
Afraid that the anesthetic upstairs would wear off soon, Ling He finally had to destroy the cheerful atmosphere by waving them to a stop. “Enough cards. Fix the foot first. He’s still unconscious.”
Ling He hauled the little miracle doctor upstairs. The moment Zhang Wenxi saw Yan Xiaodao unconscious on the bed, he slapped his forehead. “Why did you anesthetize him? My surgery doesn’t hurt or bleed. I never use anesthesia!”
Ling He said, “Dr. Zhang, without anesthesia he wouldn’t lie there obediently and let you touch him. Hurry.”
Zhang Wenxi put on a white coat, his narrow eyes flashing sharply. Then he mercilessly shut the eager Young Master Ling outside the bedroom. “Family secret. Outsiders aren’t allowed to watch. Mr. Ling, remain calm and wait outside.”
……
When Yan Xiaodao woke again, the first thing he did was release a deep sigh. He knew he had fallen into Ling He’s hands again. He was still hopelessly soft toward this man. Today, however, Ling He had unexpectedly activated a cheat for him.
By then, the miracle doctor Zhang Wenxi had already picked up his little medical bag and left Hanhai House with great, square strides and the wind beneath his feet, appearing and disappearing like a divine dragon.
When Zhang Wenxi treated bones or trauma, he always worked quickly. Twenty minutes had been enough to repair Yan Xiaodao’s foot. He did not waste another second before floating away again, carrying the air of a reclusive immortal and the proud elegance of a wandering gentleman as he hurried to catch his return flight. And somehow, before leaving, he had never even asked Mr. Ling when exactly that fifteen-million debt would be repaid.
Su Zhe was left behind practically drooling. Regretfully, he shook his head. “One handsome guy arrives, then he leaves… So handsome…”
Immortal Mao folded her arms and watched Divine Doctor Zhang’s retreating back. “How could he not be handsome? The brat’s so pleased with himself he’s nearly floating into heaven. Opens and closes his mouth a few times and earns a fortune.”
Yan Xiaodao’s right foot was wrapped in one thin layer of gauze without a single drop of blood soaking through. The moment the anesthesia faded, he could already feel how light and free his ankle seemed. The place that had previously felt loose and disconnected, the tendon severed and the joint useless, suddenly possessed real sensation and support again. The blade in the hands of “Divine Blade Zhang” truly deserved its reputation.
Zhang Wenxi had left a simple note behind, the handwriting extravagantly flamboyant: 【Several traditional medicines for inflammation and strengthening the bones. Simmer them over water and drink the decoction, one bowl morning and evening for seven days. Hero, continue diligently with ordinary cultivation and exercise. Before long you shall recover fully and once again fly over rooftops and run along walls.】
By coincidence, Liu Huizhen returned just then. Without even stopping to rest after coming inside, she efficiently and virtuously began gathering Mr. Yan’s dirty clothing and shaking out his blankets. Then she presented the evening menu. “Mr. Yan, my boss asked you to choose dinner. What would you like tonight? American?”
Yan Xiaodao’s feelings toward Ling He would apparently remain complicated and helpless forever. He snorted in exasperation. “Tell your boss to come here himself! I want to eat him!”
Liu Huizhen’s almond-shaped eyes widened. She immediately understood “eat him” in her own romantic and suggestive way. Her low heels tapped a light, cheerful da-da-da all the way downstairs as she ran to summon her boss.
Ling He came upstairs apparently prepared to feed himself to the tiger, only to find Yan Xiaodao already hopping all the way to the staircase. Yan immediately slapped out one hand, caught Ling He’s chin hard between two fingers, and pinched that sharp tongue of his shut before he could speak.
Ling He’s mouth was squeezed into the shape of a fish, so from the side it looked as though he were actually pouting at Yan Xiaodao.
When had this man ever pouted or acted spoiled toward anyone in his life? Never.
Even with his mouth pinched shut, those sharp, arrogant teeth could not be hidden. Ling He rolled his eyes and said indistinctly, “Mr. Yan, now that your foot is healed, you’re mighty again. If you’ve got the ability, go ahead and beat me.”
Yan Xiaodao looked furious. “Did I agree to this? You dared drug me unconscious?!”
Ling He raised one eyebrow insolently. “Mr. Yan, is today the first day you’ve known me?”
Yan Xiaodao could not be bothered trading insults. He leaned down and bit hard into the fish-shaped mouth Ling He was making!
The angry bite ultimately retained a measure of mercy. The instant teeth touched soft flesh, the attack became shallow little pecks, then long suction. Their mouths caught against one another without much tenderness left in the movement. They had passed the stage of tentative flirting long ago. What they wanted was to chew the person in front of them to pieces, swallow them, and fill the emptiness inside.
That evening, while Chef Ling was in the kitchen preparing seared pork cheek and pumpkin soup for Mr. Yan, another visitor arrived.
This particular visitor clearly knew the door to the Ling residence by now. He arrived without warning and walked in with long-legged familiarity, treating the place almost like his own home. Su Zhe immediately provided the complete, enthusiastic reception service. Little Brother Su was only one red carpet away from paving the entrance to Hanhai House so the guest could simply drive all four wheels straight across it.
The visitor was none other than Captain Xue Qian. By now he treated Ling He and Xiaodao’s territory almost like the backyard of familiar friends, coming and going as he pleased.
Xue Qian wore a fitted undershirt and jeans that displayed his physique beautifully. His hair and skin carried the dust and sweat of travel. Ling He held a plastic spatula and tilted his head at him. “Captain Xue, are you here to question us again? We’ve been hiding in this remote corner of nowhere lately and haven’t done anything. Surely we haven’t caused you trouble?”
Xue Qian removed his sunglasses, charming crow’s-feet appearing beside his eyes as he laughed and shrugged with complete shamelessness. “Hah. I’m not here about a case today. No need to guard against me like that. I just came back from another business trip to the south and happened to pass through. Thought I’d stop and rest my feet and beg Mr. Ling for dinner. Surely you’re not going to glare me out the door?”
Captain Xue claimed he had not come to discuss a case, yet once conversation began, that was still all he talked about. His head seemed permanently stuffed with cases being dissected layer after layer toward their centers.
Once You Jinglian had exposed himself in the old case, drawing a circle outward from him and following the vines quickly produced another trail.
Xue Qian said, “Lord You was originally just some sesame-seed-sized official in the Three Rivers local government. Didn’t have much ability, but he loved money. He embezzled more than two million yuan in public funds. Guess what he did with it?”
Yan Xiaodao sat at the table with Captain Xue and drank a little liquor.
Xue Qian proactively clinked glasses with Mr. Yan. “You Jinglian was genuinely greedy. Most people who embezzle public money simply pocket it and spend it on luxury, mistresses, whatever. This man stole public funds and still wanted his hen laying eggs, using money to make more money. His greed had no bottom. He used the embezzled funds for loan-sharking.”
Yan Xiaodao frowned slightly. “He was a government official. He dared operate a loan-sharking business?”
“He was a minor official with a public face, so naturally he couldn’t stand on a street corner personally lending money at usurious rates,” Xue Qian explained leisurely. “But he could do business with loan companies. The money filtered downward through layer after layer, each one exploiting the next for profit. That’s how he became connected with the largest loan-sharking gang in the Three Rivers region at the time. The leader was a man named Zhang Tingqiang. Those two were fundamentally working together.”
Yan Xiaodao had never heard the name Zhang Tingqiang. They moved through different circles, so the man was unfamiliar to him.
When he later searched through old news reports, he discovered that Zhang really had been an infamous jianghu thug throughout five southern provinces in those days. His history was crowded with violent debt collection, extortion, kidnapping, unlawful detention, and intentional assault, and he had been in and out of custody often enough to become a familiar face. Public security had been chaotic and legal awareness weak in those years, allowing people like this to exploit the cracks in lower society and run wild. In the present day, a man like that would have been removed from the game long ago.
Captain Xue had not mentioned the name casually.
He took a sip of baijiu. “Based on these clues and the creditor list Student Chen gave us, we’ve basically determined that the principal offender was probably Zhang Tingqiang. The problem is, the trail goes dead again when it reaches him.”
Yan Xiaodao frowned. “Where’s Zhang Tingqiang?”
Xue Qian said, “Sometime after the case, Zhang Tingqiang suddenly vanished. Nobody knows where he went. The man simply disappeared.”
Yan Xiaodao reacted instantly. “When a person with a real name and an established identity suddenly disappears, there are generally two possibilities. First, he met an end like Chen Jiu and was quietly disposed of somewhere nobody could see. Second, he changed his name, took the money, fled far away, and adopted an identity nobody would ever expect while living comfortably outside the law… I think it was the second.”
Once again, the two arrived at the same conclusion. Xue Qian’s eyes gleamed as he raised his small liquor cup toward Yan. “Exactly.”
Ling He had been busy in the kitchen for some time, dressed entirely in white. His hands moved with elegant efficiency, and dinner soon arrived.
Ling He’s face looked perfectly normal. Just as he always did when serving Mr. Yan, he brought dishes to the table without looking sideways, apparently failing to notice that another guest was sitting there. Admittedly, the guest himself was thick-skinned enough to order people around inside Mr. Ling’s house and behaved entirely as though he were family.
The host’s skin was even thicker.
For the first course, Mr. Yan received a delicate plate of lime turkey and vegetable salad. Captain Xue received five boiled dumplings.
For the second course, Mr. Yan received pan-seared halibut with smoked beef marrow and a green-apple walnut salad. Captain Xue received another five boiled dumplings.
When the third plate of five boiled dumplings arrived, Captain Xue’s face turned black and he finally reached the limit of his endurance, because Mr. Yan had just been presented with a fragrant plate of pan-seared pork cheek served with nightshade greens and multicolored carrots. The sight and smell were so tempting that Captain Xue’s eyes nearly locked onto it. He wanted to throw himself across the table and steal Yan Xiaodao’s plate.
One could reasonably deduce that Mr. Ling had boiled an entire bag of twenty-five frozen dumplings, divided them among five plates, and thereby created Captain Xue’s five-course dinner.
Xue Qian was beginning to regret coming here begging for food. He stared at the pork cheek on Yan Xiaodao’s plate, then at his own frozen dumplings. Was this really Mr. Ling’s idea of hospitality? The bastard had to be doing it deliberately.
Xue Qian snorted. “Mr. Ling, I have to say… this is a little unfair, isn’t it?”
Ling He asked, “How is it unfair?”
Xue Qian widened his eyes and pointed at the dishes. “Mr. Ling, he gets braised pork cheek, and you give me frozen dumplings?”
Ling He immediately deployed perfectly serious sophistry. “Dumplings are good enough for a New Year’s Eve feast. Captain Xue, your standards are extraordinarily extravagant.”
Even though Xue Qian already knew perfectly well that these two male lovebirds had a suspiciously intimate relationship beneath the blankets, he still did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I’m extravagant? You’re outrageously biased. This is downright dishonorable!”
Ling He considered his favoritism completely justified. With a cold smile, he silently mouthed at Captain Xue: He’s my wife. Are you my wife too?
Xue Qian was speechless. What the hell was wrong with this man?
Yan Xiaodao vaguely caught the words and immediately choked on a mouthful of food, coughing several times as he stared at Ling He’s back. Yet under the household rule of “turn all weapons outward when facing outsiders,” he forcibly swallowed the table-slapping rebuttal he would normally have made.
And somehow, being called “wife” gave him an unexpectedly fresh taste of sweetness and intimacy…
“Role-playing now? You two have way too much drama.” Xue Qian chewed his frozen dumplings in enormous bites and muttered indistinctly, kindly giving Mr. Yan a way out.