Chapter Twenty-Two: Capture

Seeing the skinny monkey slap himself and then stand there dazed, Yuan Ye gave him a pat on the head and said, “Alright, don’t just stand there looking foolish. Hurry up and go bring someone else back for me.”

The skinny monkey jolted back to his senses after Yuan Ye’s slap.

“Yes… yes, young hero, I’ll go bring Big Bear at once,” the monkey replied quickly. At this moment, he finally had some confidence in Yuan Ye; as long as he obeyed, he might just survive.

The skinny monkey darted out again. Yuan Ye bent down, grabbed the mad wolf by the scruff of his clothes, and dragged the corpse over to throw it onto a pile of dry hay in a shadowy corner.

Truth be told, this was Yuan Ye’s first time killing someone with his own hands. Yet after witnessing the tragic deaths of the Xia siblings, he felt no discomfort at all. More than that, Yuan Ye believed that mad wolf, a notorious robber and murderer, deserved his fate. Killing him was ridding the world of evil, so with a clear conscience, he felt no unease.

This time, Yuan Ye didn’t underestimate his foe. He moved to the corridor entrance and concealed himself along the wall. From mad wolf’s words earlier, Yuan Ye could tell that the bear brothers were even more formidable and often bullied mad wolf.

Although he had dispatched mad wolf with ease, it was only by taking him by surprise and exploiting his lack of skill. Judging by Big Bear’s physique, he was certainly incredibly strong. If Big Bear possessed any external martial arts, his defenses would be formidable, and Yuan Ye’s advantage in strength would be gone.

With his inner strength depleted, Yuan Ye couldn’t inflict internal injuries. If the fight dragged on, things would go badly for him.

He quietly hid by the exit, ready to strike Big Bear from behind the moment the man stepped out, hoping to deal a crippling blow at once.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, footsteps echoed from the tunnel once more. As they drew near, Yuan Ye’s expression gradually changed—he heard three sets of footsteps.

“Could the skinny monkey have betrayed me?” Yuan Ye wondered. “No, that doesn’t make sense. A coward like him wouldn’t dare.”

Just then, the monkey’s voice came from the corridor: “Big Bear, Little Bear, as soon as that kid started acting strange, I came running to report to you. I didn’t tell mad wolf, either. If he found out, I’d be dead for sure. You two bosses, please look out for me.”

“So that’s it—he just happened to run into the two brothers together,” Yuan Ye thought.

At that moment, a simple, thick voice rang out: “Don’t worry. With me watching your back, if that mangy dog dares mess with you, I’ll beat the crap out of him.”

Realizing two people were coming, Yuan Ye instantly held his breath and steadied himself, channeling all his strength into his hands to strike both men at once.

Meanwhile, in the tunnel, the skinny monkey was walking at the rear. Unlike his earlier exuberance, he now trembled with fear, sweat streaming down his face. Thankfully, the dim light masked his distress from the bear brothers.

The moment the brothers stepped out into the cave hall, the skinny monkey quickly retreated from their path. The two strode out, looming like twin mountains, their shadows stretching long and dark across the cavern.

“Hey, monkey, where’s that kid?” Big Bear’s gaze swept the room, but found only the wrecked cell—no sign of the youth.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of wind behind him. “Damn, someone’s attacking!” His heart skipped a beat.

Almost instantly, pain shot through his right knee; someone had dislocated the joint in a single strike.

“Argh—who dares attack your grandpa?” Unsteady on his feet, Big Bear crashed to the ground, even as his brother’s scream rang out. He realized at once—his brother, too, had been ambushed.

Indeed, glancing to his left, Big Bear saw his brother collapsed, clutching his left leg and howling in pain.

Straining to look back, Big Bear finally saw their assailant—it was the very youth they’d captured hours earlier.

When Yuan Ye saw the bear brothers’ muscular forms from behind, he realized an attack to the neck wouldn’t work as it had on mad wolf. In a flash of inspiration, he struck both their knees from the side instead. Instantly, Big Bear’s right leg and Little Bear’s left leg were dislocated, and both men fell almost simultaneously.

Seeing his attacker, Big Bear pressed his hands to the ground and propelled himself forward in a powerful burst, sliding nearly thirty feet in the blink of an eye as the flagstones shattered beneath him.

Little Bear, however, only lay on the ground, wailing in confusion—clearly, one was clever, the other a fool.

Yuan Ye ignored the escaping Big Bear and pounced on Little Bear, landing two hard palms on his shoulders. Little Bear’s skin was thick, his bones surprisingly dense. Even after Yuan Ye struck with all his might, the only result was that Little Bear’s arms, like his knees, were dislocated—the bones and tendons held, but the joints gave way.

“Argh! Brother, my arms! That bastard broke my arms!” Little Bear screamed in agony.

By now, Big Bear had reset his knee. Hearing his brother’s cries, he was enraged.

With a tiger’s roar, Big Bear raised his massive fists and swung at Yuan Ye’s head, the air whistling with the force of the blow.

Knowing Big Bear’s strength far surpassed his own—those fists likely packed five hundred pounds of force—Yuan Ye dared not meet him head-on. Taking advantage of Big Bear’s distraction, he sidestepped left, swung his right palm from left to right, and struck Big Bear hard on the temple.

Big Bear’s mind buzzed, and he staggered, but Yuan Ye knew it wasn’t enough to incapacitate him. Even so, he marveled at the brothers’ innate gifts. They’d never trained in martial arts, yet fought instinctively with brute strength and powerful bodies. Even third-rate fighters would struggle to defeat them unless they specialized in external skills.

Yuan Ye silently congratulated himself for not charging out recklessly in the name of justice—if he’d faced both brothers at once, even he might not have survived. And there was still the mysterious bandit chief to contend with.

He was now certain that the chief must also be a martial artist, likely a formidable one; otherwise, how could he keep the bear brothers in line? In fact, perhaps it was the chief’s doing that the two brothers hadn’t learned any martial arts—if they had, together they could challenge even second-rate experts.

“If these two entered Shaolin, in a few years, the monastery would have two more first-rate masters,” Yuan Ye mused.

In the blink of an eye, a flood of thoughts ran through his mind, but his hands never slowed.

While Big Bear reeled, Yuan Ye leapt behind him and struck both shoulders with fierce palms, then spun left and kicked his knee. Big Bear toppled like his brother, crashing to the ground.

At last, Yuan Ye let out a long breath. Though the battle had seemed effortless, it had been a rapid-fire calculation of risks and tactics.

His mastery of advanced martial arts, the element of surprise, and Big Bear’s protective instinct for his brother had allowed Yuan Ye to cripple both men in swift succession.

Catching his breath, Yuan Ye strode over, intending to finish off Little Bear first.

“Stop! Young hero, please let my brother go. Kill me, but spare him!” Big Bear cried, struggling desperately. But with all his joints dislocated, he couldn’t get up.

“No, kill me and let my brother live!” Little Bear shouted, eyes wide with rage as Yuan Ye approached.

“Do you really think any of you are getting out of here alive today?” Yuan Ye said coolly, narrowing his eyes.

“No, young hero, if you spare my brother, I swear to serve you as a slave for life!” Big Bear pleaded, seeing Yuan Ye’s hand poised to strike his brother's throat. He pressed his chin to the stone floor, trying to drag himself forward, but his weight was too much; after two scrapes, his chin was already bleeding, and he’d barely moved an inch.

“Brother, spare my brother! I’ll do anything, I’ll even give you all the lamb legs…” Little Bear begged, crying like a child.

Hearing this, Yuan Ye’s hand paused. As he hesitated, the skinny monkey’s head popped out from the tunnel entrance.

The monkey, believing the youth was doomed, had run away the moment the bear brothers entered the cave, hoping to escape while the brothers were distracted. But outside, the cold wind made him realize the fortress was tightly guarded—there was no way out. With mad wolf dead, and the bears likely to kill the youth and then him, his fate seemed sealed.

After a moment’s daze, he mustered his courage and crept back down the corridor, pinning his last hope on the youth’s victory—after all, who wants to die if there’s a chance at life?

Sneaking through the tunnel, the monkey peeked inside and was delighted by what he saw: the young hero standing tall, the bear brothers sprawled across the floor.

Clearly, the youth had won, and he himself might yet live.

Sensing movement behind him, Yuan Ye glanced over to see the skinny monkey cringing at the entrance.

“Come here, I have something to ask you,” Yuan Ye called, beckoning.

Startled, the monkey quickly scrambled out and ran to his side.