Three to One

WangFan lunged forward, and his fist whistled through the air towards Qingqing's jawbone, while SuanRong's club swung upwards. There was a scramble as the other customers hurried to get out of the way, taking their food and drink with them.

Qingqing's eyes gleamed over the trotter in her mouth. It had been a while since she had a fight with anyone, and for an instant she felt that a good fight would help her clear her spirits.

With a sharp flick of her wrist, she hurled the pig's trotter into the air like a throwing axe, much the way Yuanzheng had once taught her to. It struck Wangfan squarely on the head and the knobbly end of it left a nasty bruise on his broad forehead.

Grabbing one armrest of her chair she leaped out of it, balancing on one hand, as SuanRong's cudgel crashed down on the chair seat where she had been. The cudgel smashed through the wood and got stuck. Qingqing landed on her feet on the other side of the chair and flung one leg up in a vertical split. With a dull crack, she brought her heel down heavily on SuanRong's skull as he bent forward trying to free his cudgel, and he let go of the stick instantly with a howl of pain, backing away.

There was a murmur of admiration from the crowd as they gaped, watching the fight from a safe distance. Those in front whispered excitedly to the latecomers at the back who were asking what had happened, that the strange young gentleman in green had turned down the Three Gambling Ghosts' advances, and was now taking them on coolly, three to one.

She might have made an impression on the crowd with her bravery, but Qingqing's ability might not have been able to match up to her recklessness. By now, all three Gambling Ghosts were on guard and surrounding her. It would not be easy to run away even if she wanted to. And with all the eyes on her, she could only use her power if she artfully disguised it--something she wished she had bothered to learn from Bai Suzhen.

Flicking a loose strand of hair back over her ear, she bounced lightly on her feet like a boxer and stared challengingly back at them, a crooked smile on her lips that would have been frightening if they had been less angry. "What a waste of a good trotter. There was a bit of cartilage on it that I hadn't finished eating yet. Ah, you'll have to pay for disrupting my meal, gentlemen. This young gentlemen takes food and drink very seriously."

Qingqing had barely finished speaking when she attacked, taking them by surprise. Snatching the cudgel, her foot kicked out and flipped the ruined chair, sending it flying through the air, knocking SuanRong backwards several paces. He staggered against a pillar, the breath knocked temporarily out of him, while the broken pieces of the chair fell about his feet.

Whirling around, Qingqing brandished the cudgel she had pulled from the chair, and whacked Lao Lu across the face as he lunged forward. He fell back with a cry of pain, clutching his ringing jaw as a tooth fell out onto his palm. Sensing WangFan charging at her from behind, Qingqing hefted the cudgel in her hands and turned, swinging it like a bat. In the spur of the moment she rashly decided to counter his punch head-on with the cudgel, but she never expected that the cudgel would be knocked out of her hands instead due to the power of his blow. As it went flying over her shoulder, Qingqing felt WangFan's fist graze her face as she hastily flung herself to one side, barely avoiding it. His rough knuckles scraped stingingly against her cheek and she staggered as she tried to leap up again quickly.

The next moment SuanRong had caught her around the neck in a chokehold and Qingqing bucked wildly as she felt his arm crush her windpipe. Kicking and struggling, she was hoisted off her feet, dangling helplessly in the air as the taller SuanRong laughed grimly. "Not so arrogant when you can't breath, eh, my fine young lord?"

In reply Qingqing sank her teeth into his arm, biting so deep she felt the salty blood rise to the surface instantly.

SuanRong let go of her with an oath and she landed on all fours, gasping.

Stumbling to her feet, she wiped her mouth and spat in disgust. "I wasn't expecting an arm like yours to taste good in the first place, but yours is really the worst imaginable. All hair and sweat and dirt. Do you even take a bath? Right after that delicious pork too. It makes me want to vomit."

She retched and spat again, shaking her head to try and get the taste out of her mouth.

The Three Gambling Ghosts advanced again without answering her, and charged. Lao Lu, who always played cautious, let his friends go first, while he hung at the back, keenly assessing the situation with bright, beady eyes. SuanRong let go of his bleeding arm, enraged, and let loose a volley of blows that kept Qingqing busy dodging. She did a backflip and managed to land a few blows on him, but they were passing ones which did not do much damage except keep him angry.

Qingqing was starting to wonder uneasily if she should just break away and run, though it broke her heart to think of the wasted second plate of trotters, and the half-drunk jar of wine, and of course her wounded ego.

WangFan snatched up the cudgel that had fallen on the floor and attacked her from behind.

A shower of pain darted through her body as the hard wood smacked into her back, and Qingqing fell against the table, panting. She reached out and grabbed a wine bowl with a wince, hurling it wildly in their direction to ward them off so she could catch her breath for a moment.

The wine bowl shattered against the pillar and WangFan and SuanRong fell back, dodging the splinters. But Lao Lu, standing on the other side, had been waiting for a chance like this. With a spring, his hand leaped swiftly to his belt, snatching the knife in it.

Some sound or instinct warned Qingqing, though she had her back to him. She twisted round, feeling her skin prickle with sudden apprehension, and saw the short blade gleam briefly in the air as he stabbed.