Chapter 21: Chapter 21

The Linshui Docks.

The dock was ablaze with torchlight.

Li Suifeng arrived to find Chen Shan and Liu Yuan closing in immediately.

The rest of the Canal Gang brothers watched him with undisguised admiration.

The jianghu was eat or be eaten.

Who didn’t want to follow a strong leader?

Back when Chen Qi had been their boss, they’d been assigned a prime location — but Chen Qi skimmed from the monthly stipends the branch paid them just to plug holes in his own budget. Bonuses? Forget about it.

Now everything was different.

Boss Li had only been in charge for half a month, and the benefits were already flowing.

Tonight alone, he’d killed dozens of Red Lotus Sect cultists. Even though they hadn’t lifted a finger themselves, as dock crew, the branch would surely throw them a bone.

And knowing Boss Li’s generosity — a few taels each and a good meal were practically guaranteed.

“Status?”

Li Suifeng asked.

Liu Yuan kept his voice low:

“I’ve set aside a selection of the easier-to-sell herbs. Everything else is in the warehouse.”

“The branch has been notified. Their people should be here soon.”

Chen Shan nodded as well:

“The men who moved the herbs are brothers who’ve been with us for years. Trustworthy.”

“Good.” Li Suifeng nodded.

At his current level of strength, exposure was no longer a real concern.

What he was actually weighing was whether to simply kill Liu Zhenhe and be done with it. But even if the Helmsman died, the Helmsman’s seat wouldn’t necessarily fall to him.

He still needed to build his reputation first.

Then find someone with influence at headquarters to put in a good word.

More importantly — the reward for becoming Helmsman was the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art.

The thought of maxed-out Dragon-Elephant Prajna — thirteen dragons, thirteen elephants of raw power — set his blood pumping. This had to be planned carefully.

“Boss Li!”

Just then, Sun Xi and Zhou Chao arrived.

“You two, go wait over there.”

Li Suifeng waved Liu Yuan and Chen Shan off.

Neither hesitated. In their minds, Li Suifeng belonged to Elder Qi’s faction, and both Sun Xi and Zhou Chao were Elder Qi’s people. Boss Li was probably receiving separate instructions.

“What’s Qi Hu’s reaction?” Li Suifeng stood at the river’s edge, his voice low.

Sun Xi’s face was pinched.

“The elder wants us to haul the herbs away — but keep half for him.”

“If the Red Lotus Sect retaliates, the elder… probably won’t intervene.”

Sun Xi leaned close and repeated Qi Hu’s exact words in a whisper.

“That dog and I had the same idea. Interesting.”

Sun Xi had expected fury. Instead, Li Suifeng tossed the news off like it was nothing.

“Boss Li, you should still be careful.” Zhou Chao spoke up quickly. “If we divert half and the elder takes another half, there’ll be nothing left for the Helmsman. You won’t be able to explain that.”

Right now, the last thing Zhou Chao wanted was for Li Suifeng to go down. If he did — who’d manage the poison in Zhou Chao’s body?

That agony was not something he ever wanted to experience again.

“Boss Li, your rise has been too fast.” Sun Xi added: “The elder’s only interested in money at this point. What you’re doing has already soured his mood.”

“If anything else goes wrong, he’ll kick you while you’re down.”

“Hah.” Li Suifeng stared out at the black expanse of the river and scoffed.

“Qi Hu is nothing.”

“Besides — tonight, you won’t be hauling anything.”

Hm?

Sun Xi and Zhou Chao exchanged a glance.

Surprise was written on both faces.

Was Boss Li about to break with Elder Qi entirely?

Qi Hu might only be late seventh-rank — and age had dulled what was left — but he still had connections at headquarters. Burning that bridge now seemed unwise.

TAP TAP TAP!

At that moment, the drum of hoofbeats approached.

Qin Wuyang arrived at the dock with over a dozen Canal Gang disciples in tow.

He dismounted and surveyed the field — dozens of corpses scattered across the dock. His face was dark as stormwater.

But when he noticed that Pu Yuan’s body was nowhere among the dead, he allowed himself a small breath of relief.

Pu Yuan had never seen Qin Wuyang’s face, but Qin Wuyang had observed Pu Yuan once from behind a screen.

He also knew from Song Xian that Pu Yuan had been in charge of tonight’s shipment.

“Are all the bodies here?”

“No survivors?”

Qin Wuyang fixed Li Suifeng with a stare. A flash of killing intent flickered behind his eyes.

This bastard. Because of him, the herb shipment had been intercepted. When Elder Yun handed down punishment, Qin Wuyang would bear the brunt.

The mere thought of the sect’s methods of discipline made his blood run cold.

“All here. Except… one who didn’t make it.”

Li Suifeng shook his head, his tone mild.

“Boss Li has certainly been busy lately.” Qin Wuyang drew close, his voice cold. “A word of advice — sometimes, a young man who shows too much edge finds that edge turned against him.”

Li Suifeng laughed.

“Elder Qin jests. If a man isn’t hard in his youth, he probably won’t be able to get it up in his old age.”

Muffled snorts erupted from the surrounding disciples.

They all knew exactly what Li Suifeng meant. Rumor had it that seven years ago, during a skirmish with the water bandits of the Moon Lake Eighteen Strongholds, Elder Qin had taken an injury to his… most vital area.

Qin Wuyang’s face went black.

As an Elder of the Nanyang Branch, in this backwater of a prefecture, no one had ever dared rip that particular wound open.

“Besides, today was a great victory for our Canal Gang — dozens of Red Lotus Sect vermin, dead,” Li Suifeng continued, meeting Qin Wuyang’s glare with an easy smile. “Shouldn’t we be celebrating?”

“What’s the matter, Elder Qin? You don’t look happy.”

Qin Wuyang held Li Suifeng’s gaze. He had no idea why this man showed such backbone in his presence.

But tonight, with dozens of eyes watching, he truly couldn’t afford to make a move against Li Suifeng.

“Every last herb — pulled from storage. I’m taking them back to the branch.” Qin Wuyang’s voice was ice.

“Elder Qin, Elder Qi also sent us to transport the herbs to the branch.” Sun Xi saw his cue and jumped in.

“Oh?”

Qin Wuyang snorted coldly and turned on Sun Xi.

“Goddamn — since when does an advisor get to flap his mouth in front of Elder Qin?” Lei Yun stepped forward, one hand already swinging toward Sun Xi’s face.

“You—!”

Sun Xi squeezed his eyes shut.

He hadn’t even crossed the threshold into ranked cultivation. He couldn’t possibly block a slap from an eighth-rank retainer.

THUD!

The expected blow never landed.

Sun Xi opened his eyes — and saw Lei Yun lying several meters away, his face twisted in pain.

The one who’d sent him flying was Li Suifeng.

“This dock is still my turf. If Retainer Lei wants to hit people here, he should at least give me a heads-up first.”

Li Suifeng stood where he was, his voice unhurried.

“Good, good, good!”

Qin Wuyang spat the word three times.

Two fingers pressed together, he launched a vicious strike at Li Suifeng’s chest.

For a man of his slight build, the attack was earthshaking. The wind off his fingers alone was enough to make every ranked fighter on the dock flinch.

Worthy of a seventh-rank master indeed. Under a strike like that, even a peak eighth-rank fighter was as good as dead.