Chapter 15: Chapter 15
In mere moments, Zhou Chao’s body was covered in bloody scratches of his own making, a sight that left Sun Xi’s skin crawling.
Was this really the Li Suifeng he thought he knew?
Methods like these — even Elder Qi probably couldn’t match them.
“Sp… spare me!”
Zhou Chao looked at Li Suifeng, his eyes brimming with desperate pleading.
The agony was unbearable. He simply couldn’t endure it any longer.
“Hmph!”
Li Suifeng snorted coldly. He crossed to Zhou Chao’s side and pressed several points on the man’s body.
Only then did the anguish on Zhou Chao’s face begin to fade.
“Thank you, Boss Li! Thank you, Boss Li!”
Zhou Chao stared at Li Suifeng with undisguised terror. This young man was a devil. Whatever this technique was, it was ten times worse than anything they used to torture enemy captives. He never wanted to experience it again.
“Don’t even think about running to someone to complain.”
Li Suifeng settled himself atop the table and placed a small black pill on its surface.
“What I just did was relieve the symptoms. The talisman inside you is still active. If you don’t take this pill, it’ll flare up again in about two hours.”
A struggle flashed across Zhou Chao’s eyes — but only for a moment. He gritted his teeth and swallowed the black pill.
He was already under Li Suifeng’s control. The gap in strength between them was enormous. Poison or not, there was no choice but to take it.
“Smart man.”
Li Suifeng drained a cup of wine and spoke evenly:
“This pill suppresses the symptoms for one year. After that, it flares up again. Come find me for the next dose. Provided, of course, that you do as you’re told.”
“You’re also free to seek out someone else to remove it. But if the treatments conflict and the pill’s effect is nullified — well, that itch will be all yours to bear.”
“Once the talisman activates in earnest, it grows worse with every passing day. The cycle never ends. I hope you can endure it.”
Li Suifeng’s tone was mild, but every word sent ice through Zhou Chao’s veins.
“Whatever you say, Boss Li. You tell me to go east, I won’t take a single step west.”
That kind of suffering — never again.
“Follow me faithfully, and one day the Linshui Docks might not be beyond your reach.” Li Suifeng’s voice remained cool.
“Thank you, Boss Li!” Zhou Chao didn’t put much stock in the promise.
Right now, he didn’t dare so much as think about Li Suifeng’s dock. All he wanted was to never endure that inhuman torment again.
Sun Xi stood to one side, unsure whether to sit or stand.
He could no longer see through Li Suifeng at all. The man had just subjugated Zhou Chao right in front of him — did he really think Sun Xi could simply walk away?
Hah.
With an inward sigh, Sun Xi settled into the seat beside Li Suifeng.
“Boss Li — you’ve been hiding quite a lot.”
A bitter smile crossed his face.
Li Suifeng’s recent feats had been shocking enough — leaping from ninth-rank obscurity to slaughtering the eighth-rank Retainer Jiang — and now a technique that could break a man’s will entirely…
“If Retainer Zhou hadn’t pushed and pushed, things wouldn’t have come to this.” Li Suifeng waved dismissively. “Brother Sun — you’re a smart man.”
“Elder Qi is insatiable, and he’s getting old. He won’t last much longer at the Nanyang Branch.”
“It’s time you started thinking about your own future. When Elder Qi loses his grip, do you really think the Helmsman or Elder Qin will keep you around?”
“Or do you think Qi Hu will take you with him when he leaves?”
Emotions warred across Sun Xi’s face.
He’d invited Li Suifeng tonight partly for this very reason — to begin building a bridge.
He’d intended to ease into a friendship. He hadn’t expected Li Suifeng to force his hand so directly.
“Yesterday at branch headquarters, Elder Qi didn’t speak a single word in your defense.” After a long silence, Sun Xi finally opened his mouth. “The Cuihong Pavilion paid up because the Helmsman willed it — not because of anything the elder did.”
“The elder’s mind isn’t on the branch anymore. He only wants to pocket as much silver as he can.”
“And headquarters has its own problems. The Gang Leader hasn’t shown his face in years. More and more factions are eyeing Jiangnan’s waterway routes with hungry eyes. The Canal Gang hasn’t reached a crisis point yet, but its influence has been shrinking steadily…”
“The Divine Fist Gate was about to move against you, but someone intervened and shut it down…”
Sun Xi didn’t dare hold back. If he stayed silent tonight, walking out of the Cuihong Pavilion in one piece would be the best he could hope for. The worst would be ending up like Zhou Chao.
Still, he could also see that Li Suifeng was no ordinary man.
Perhaps throwing in his lot with Li Suifeng wasn’t such a bad move.
If Li Suifeng ever rose to Nanyang Branch Helmsman, Sun Xi — as one of the earliest to pledge his loyalty — would hold real power. Not just the title of “advisor.”
“Elder Qi really does have some appetite.”
Li Suifeng’s voice turned cold.
The old man had done nothing — pocketed three thousand taels and still had the nerve to be unsatisfied?
In his mind, he’d already sentenced Qi Hu to death. The timing simply wasn’t right. Sun Xi, as Qi Hu’s advisor, could serve as a useful window into Qi Hu’s affairs — and through him, into the movements at headquarters.
KNOCK KNOCK.
Just then, a rapping at the door.
“Master Sun, Boss Li — the ladies are here.”
The madam’s singsong voice carried through the wood.
Sun Xi glanced at Li Suifeng. Seeing him nod, Sun Xi called out:
“Come in!”
CREAK.
The door swung open. A flock of women in flowing silks glided in behind the madam.
“Now girls — take good care of these three gentlemen!”
…
It was well past midnight when Li Suifeng finally left the Cuihong Pavilion.
Sun Xi and Zhou Chao had both stayed the night, but he hadn’t.
Before — when he’d been weak and nobody, just another low-level Canal Gang thug — he’d had no choice in anything.
That was no longer the case.
Twenty-three years old, peak seventh-rank, with the system at his back. Someday, he would stand at the summit of the martial world.
He wasn’t about to lose his edge over a few run-of-the-mill courtesans.
If and when he indulged, it would be with a woman who wasn’t too far below someone like Ye Qingmei.
…
The next two or three days settled into a quiet rhythm.
Li Suifeng shuttled between the docks and Green Stone Alley — a simple, two-point existence.
On days when nothing demanded his attention at the docks, he skipped them entirely and stayed at the courtyard.
After all, a beauty like Ye Qingmei was a rare sight. Even if he couldn’t touch, looking was its own reward.
“Li Suifeng — with your skills, why on earth are you still stuck in the Canal Gang?” Ye Qingmei bit into a pear he’d brought home, her eyes curving into crescent-moon smiles. After a few days in each other’s company, she’d shed much of her initial guardedness.
“Where would I go — wander the jianghu with you?” Li Suifeng laughed.
“With your abilities, even drifting through the jianghu would beat rotting here.” Ye Qingmei took another bite of the pear. “The Canal Gang isn’t a good place to be right now. ‘Eight-Armed Dragon’ Yue Changlong may already be finished.”
“That’s still unconfirmed — it’s exactly because the major factions haven’t been able to verify whether Yue Changlong is truly gone that they haven’t moved against the Canal Gang. But the moment it’s confirmed, even the imperial court will take a bite.”
Eight-Armed Dragon Yue Changlong — the Canal Gang’s leader.
Number eight on the Earth Rankings.
The Canal Gang’s ability to stand tall in the jianghu for so many years rested almost entirely on Yue Changlong’s shoulders.
If Yue Changlong was dead, the Canal Gang would be crippled beyond recovery.