"I broke the liquidator's 'No Eyewitness' rule - I did not silence Li Suet-foong."

Chapter 2 - Yesterday When I Was Young (1)

The next morning, I mounted my trusty white stallion Flash and went to see an old timer named Lau Beng. He lived alone with his dog in a nursery about ten miles away from the city center. Once upon a time he was an expert marksman and a member of the Eighty-Eight Dragons, a secret society initially formed in Beijing to throw off foreign oppression. With the failure of the Boxer Rising in 1900, it diverted its objective to organized crimes, becoming the largest arms trafficking outfit in China in no time at all. The new status of his organization enabled him to rub shoulders with the other underworld figures. But late one night, as soon as he came out dead drunk from a bar, he was ambushed by his enemies; he managed to escape but he lost his right arm. That was eight years ago. After that, he decided to call it quits. Having celebrated in sixty-seventh birthday last month, he spent his time tending to his flowers and plants. He might be a sexagenarian, wizened and wrinkled, yet the ex-gunrunner was still as fit as a fiddle, his mind just as keen as thirty years before. He was also my sifu.

Upon reaching his log cottage with a thatched roof, I saw him sitting on his rocking chair at the verandah, puffing away a cigarette, his eyes on the field before him. Resplendent fell the golden beams of the sun, fragrant exuded the gentle breeze gliding across the green meadows. Little birds were singing in the trees, their voices so distinct from all other musical notes; and the earth was filled with a mass of blooming flowers of red, yellow, and blue. It was indeed a deliciously lovely day.

Keng, the German shepherd, welcomed me with a bark as I left Flash to roam freely in the field. The thick brownish-coated canine had been the old man's faithful companion for as long as I can remember. I gave him a hug; he wagged his bushy tail, woofing in delight. Following that he ran back to the field to play catch with the birds and read the latest smells with his sensitive nose. He was one energetic, cheerful dog.

"Good morning, Sifu!" I greeted Lau Beng at the porch. "How are you today?"

"Same old, same old," he replied, smiling, his nicotine-stained teeth visible behind his cracked lips. Thin and snowy-haired, he was a sweet-natured guy with an unsurpassable sense of humor. Age must have mellowed him; he claimed he was, in his own words, a ruthless bastard during his young days. 

I pulled a chair and sat beside him, and over a pot of Chinese tea, we wore out the morning talking, our conversation filled mostly with his past. He loved to tell me stories of the old China when it was under imperial rule, so much so that I think he got amnesia about his present.

"So how did your assignment go?" he asked, finally changing the topic. He knew about my hit as he was my business agent as well. "Any problem?"

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. I then poured him another cup of tea. "It went like a dream." Actually it did not. I left out one teeny-weeny detail: I broke the liquidator's No Eyewitness rule - I did not silence Li Suet-foong. But I took exception to her case; my gut feeling told me that her lips were sealed. Also, I took an immediate liking for her - I wonder whether it was love at first sight?


To be continued tomorrow ...