Chapter 3: Chapter 3
The next morning, at dawn.
Canal Gang Elder Qin Wuyang stormed out of Nanyang Prefecture with over twenty men at his back, his face dark as a thundercloud.
“Urgh—”
The moment they reached the site where Li Suifeng had cut down Chen Qi the night before, several Canal Gang disciples nearly emptied their stomachs.
They were all seasoned veterans who’d witnessed their share of bloodshed, but a scene this gruesome was a first even for them.
Every last body on the ground had been cleaved perfectly in half. Intestines and organs lay strewn across the dirt.
A veteran eighth-rank retainer crouched beside the remains and began his examination.
“One strike.”
“Every single one of them died to a single slash.”
After a moment, a visible tremor ran through his body. He couldn’t help but speak:
“I’ve never seen bladework this terrifying in my entire life.”
“The person who did this was at least sixth-rank, and had cultivated some profound blade art to a level beyond anything I’ve encountered.”
“I’ve walked the jianghu for forty years, and I’ve never come across anything like this. There is absolutely no one of this caliber anywhere near Nanyang Prefecture. It was an outsider.”
Qin Wuyang nodded, his expression grave beyond measure.
“A sixth-rank master — why would someone like that move against a ninth-rank nobody like Chen Qi?”
“Chen Qi shouldn’t have been stupid enough to provoke a sixth-rank expert.”
“And what was Chen Qi doing outside the city in the middle of the night?”
A Canal Gang disciple standing beside Qin Wuyang quickly spoke up:
“I already asked around. Before Chen Qi left the city, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He just gathered his men and headed out — and then… this.”
Qin Wuyang frowned. After a long silence, he finally said:
“Bring the bodies back.”
“Let’s hope this person isn’t targeting our Nanyang Branch.”
…
“You want Chen Qi’s territory?”
A startled exclamation echoed through the residence of Canal Gang Elder Qi Hu.
Li Suifeng looked at the old man before him, his face arranged into a fawning smile.
“Elder, Chen Qi is dead and his territory is sitting there unclaimed. You know the little patch I’m managing now barely turns a profit. Now that this territory has opened up, you’ve got to work your connections for me.”
Qi Hu was well past fifty. He was a Canal Gang veteran — one of the old guard who’d helped a senior leader build the gang from the ground up. It was that backer in the upper ranks that allowed Elder Qi to rival Helmsman Liu Zhenhe for influence within the Nanyang Branch.
Qi Hu studied the young man he’d personally elevated through the ranks, his voice mild:
“Suifeng, Chen Qi may be dead, but the Helmsman will never give up that territory willingly. The Linshui Market and Linshui Docks are too lucrative.”
“If Chen Qi hadn’t come over from headquarters with the Helmsman, he never would’ve gotten that posting in the first place.”
Just as I thought…
Li Suifeng glanced at Qi Hu and sighed inwardly.
The old man had grown cautious with age. All he wanted was to guard his own little patch and not make waves. As long as the Helmsman didn’t threaten his interests, he wasn’t about to pick a fight.
Li Suifeng had followed Qi Hu for ten years, but that wasn’t enough for the elder to antagonize Liu Zhenhe on his behalf.
Fortunately, after all these years, Li Suifeng also knew that Qi Hu was the kind of man who worshipped money above all else. If Qi Hu was willing to push for it, securing the Linshui Docks would be no problem.
Before the System had activated, Li Suifeng would have played it safe — bided his time, slowly built his standing in the Canal Gang.
But now, with a System task on the clock, there was no choice but to fight for it.
“Elder, I happened to buy this sword from a Hu merchant yesterday, but I don’t know much about blades. Would you take a look and make sure I didn’t get swindled?”
With that, Li Suifeng produced an ornate wooden case and placed it before Qi Hu.
Qi Hu accepted the case and opened it.
Inside lay a short sword with three gemstones of different colors embedded in the hilt. The blade had been snapped partway down. Resting atop the scabbard were two banknotes — one thousand taels each.
SNAP.
Elder Qi lifted the short sword out without batting an eye and closed the case, setting it on the table beside him.
SHING!
The short sword cleared its broken scabbard.
“Not bad. A fine blade.”
Qi Hu sheathed it again and placed it back in the case — showing no intention of returning it. From his waist, he unclipped a black command token and tossed it to Li Suifeng.
“Take my token and go claim the Linshui Docks.”
“Yes, sir.”
Li Suifeng caught the token and respectfully withdrew from the room.
Once Li Suifeng’s figure had disappeared from view, a middle-aged man with a sycophantic grin emerged from the inner chamber. He sidled up to Qi Hu and said:
“Master Hu, that Li Suifeng is hiding something.”
“A peak ninth-rank — carrying two thousand taels of silver on his person?”
Qi Hu ran one hand over the case containing the short sword and banknotes, his voice unhurried:
“Sun Xi, I’m fifty-seven years old. How many more years do you think I’ve got left?”
“I don’t care what secrets that boy is hiding. What I care about right now is putting away as much silver as I can for my grandson. As long as the boy can break through to sixth-rank, he’ll be able to preserve our Qi family’s legacy.”
“The Canal Gang isn’t what it used to be. I don’t know how much longer my connections at headquarters will hold. Right now, every coin I can pocket counts.”
Sun Xi’s heart clenched. He’d heard plenty of whispers recently. The Canal Gang still held the title of one of the Seven Great Gangs, that much was true.
But four years ago, the Gang Leader had announced he was entering seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to third-rank — and hadn’t been seen since.
Rumors that the Gang Leader was already dead had started circulating. On top of that, Qi Hu hadn’t sent his most talented grandson to headquarters for training, but to the Bashan Sword Sect instead.
The more Sun Xi thought about it, the less simple any of this seemed.
“But will the Helmsman agree to this?” Sun Xi asked.
“He will.” Qi Hu’s voice was calm. “Liu Zhenhe’s own backer isn’t doing well right now either. He won’t pick a fight with me over a single dock.”
Sun Xi pressed further:
“But if you don’t personally step in, the people at Linshui Street and the docks won’t respect Li Suifeng. If he can’t collect the dues, it’s your face that gets lost.”
Qi Hu waved a dismissive hand.
“In another year, I’ll be leaving Nanyang Prefecture anyway. My job was just to hand him the seat. Whether he can hold it — that’s on him.”
“Besides… Chen Qi’s death might well be one of those local factions testing our waters. Before the Gang Leader went into seclusion, they wouldn’t have dared. But now with rumors flying and our Canal Gang controlling half the river transport across Jiangnan — profits that big, you think they’re not tempted?”
“Li Suifeng can be my canary. Let’s see if someone’s got their eye on the Linshui Docks.”
Sun Xi’s heart lurched.
“You think Chen Qi’s death was someone probing our defenses?”
And he still took Li Suifeng’s silver and pushed the position through? That was shoving the man straight into a fire pit.
Li Suifeng had done plenty of dirty work for Qi Hu over the years.
If even Li Suifeng got treated like this, would Sun Xi himself be the next expendable piece?
“Come.” Qi Hu stroked his beard and rose to his feet. “Walk with me to see Liu Zhenhe.”
“Since I’ve given the Linshui Docks to Li Suifeng, I should at least give the Helmsman a heads-up.”