Two people living under the same roof—as Half Thompson gradually grew up, gossip started to spread. And indeed, in that kind of house, with just a curtain drawn, it was inevitable to see things one shouldn’t see. His sister-in-law wasn’t much older than him, and the atmosphere between them gradually became strange. The way he looked at his sister-in-law also began to change.

His sister-in-law, having experienced relations between men and women, understood what was happening. She sent Half Thompson away to apprentice elsewhere, but Half Thompson always came back. The tension only grew stronger, and after years of widowhood, she was terrified by the strange reactions of her own body.

At the time, Half Thompson was well aware of the problem between him and his sister-in-law, but his thoughts were naive. His sister-in-law’s life was hopeless, so he believed he had to work hard to keep her from suffering any longer. Afterward, he could marry her and take care of her in his brother’s stead. That was, in his mind, the best possible outcome.

So he secretly followed grave robbers to learn their trade, dreaming, like many young men of that era, of getting rich overnight. But in the end, his legs were broken, and he nearly died in a tomb.

His sister-in-law was heartbroken. This was a man who was somewhere between her husband and her son, and now he was left disabled. The pain was doubled, and just when she thought she was about to see the light at the end of the tunnel, her life plunged back into darkness. She also felt she had failed her husband’s trust.

At the same time, this intense emotional turmoil broke down some psychological barriers, catching Half Thompson completely off guard.

After that, she had to take even more meticulous care of Half Thompson—wiping his body, helping him urinate. Physical contact between them became more frequent, more ordinary, and increasingly uncontrollable. Even Half Thompson himself noticed that the look in his sister-in-law’s eyes had changed.

Then, on New Year’s Eve, the final straw broke the camel’s back. Outside, snow was falling heavily; inside, there were only the sounds of two people gasping. Years of pent-up passion erupted all at once, and everything went wild.

A year later, after Half Thompson recovered, he returned to the ancient tomb where he had been trapped and went back down to retrieve the burial goods he had hidden. By then, he was a changed man. Betrayed by others and wracked with guilt toward his sister-in-law, he became ruthless and left no room for mercy. He found the accomplices who had harmed him, broke their legs, and dragged them one by one into the tomb where he had stayed, leaving them to starve to death inside.

Even ghosts and gods fear the wicked. Half Thompson gradually prospered, bought a house, and opened a gambling den. Life became more stable. Most of his associates were disabled, and among them was a mute, who later formed his own faction. But that’s another story.

After becoming successful, Half Thompson once thought about marrying his sister-in-law, but she wanted him to marry a proper wife. She felt she was already tainted and had promised her husband to take good care of his younger brother—she couldn’t let things turn out this way.

His sister-in-law was adamant, and Half Thompson had no choice. In the end, nothing came of it, but Half Thompson also refused to marry anyone else.

To put an end to his hopes, his sister-in-law tried to remarry an honest man. But at that time, Half Thompson was the most ruthless figure in all of Changsha, and no one dared to seek such fortune. Later, rumors spread that his sister-in-law eventually bore him a son.

I wanted to write a tragic story, where his sister-in-law was driven to death or died in childbirth, but in reality, things are rarely so absolute. There is so much misfortune in the world. No matter how ruthless Half Thompson was, I still hope he lives a long life, because his sister-in-law must have been a good person—maintaining a sliver of happiness with extreme cruelty. Though it’s lamentable, it’s also not unworthy of being called a true man.

Women might hope this twisted love could have a happy ending; men might wish for more details of that night. But in the end, that’s all there is to it. The only thing I know for sure is that my grandfather said he had seen Half Thompson’s sister-in-law—on her fortieth birthday. She was a very beautiful woman, with a glint in her eyes that left a deep impression on him. If he had such a sister-in-law, he would never let another man marry her.

I asked him, “Does grandma know what you think?” In return, I got 100 yuan in pocket money.

Well, that’s the gossip. But at least it teaches us one thing: if a man wants to protect what he loves, he must be strong enough. No matter the outcome, don’t let women sacrifice for you—or at least, make sure their sacrifice is rewarded.

Ping San Men

Of the three people in Ping San Men, we’re already familiar with the first two; only the sixth-ranked, Blackback Old Miller, is relatively unknown. I’ll just give a brief introduction to the first two here, and tell Blackback Old Miller’s story in detail.

Arthur Brooks

Arthur Brooks—Fourth Grandpa Chenpi—was the top figure in Ping San Men, and probably the most skilled among the Old Nine Gates. His iron pellets were more accurate than a gun, and with his nine-claw hook, he could retrieve a raw egg from over ten meters away. Arthur Brooks was a disciple of Robert Thompson, and because of his exceptional talent, was accepted as an exception. By tradition, the grave-robbing skills of Changsha were never passed on to outsiders, just as Zhejiang people couldn’t perform Hunan opera. So this was truly a unique case. Outsiders speculated that there might have been some unknown connection between Robert Thompson and Arthur Brooks. But the truth has long since faded into history.