Chapter 8: Chapter 8
“Li Suifeng — the dues going forward, we’ll pay on time!”
“This ends here.”
“The silver from those years — you should know exactly whose pockets it went into.”
“Blow this up any bigger and nobody wins.”
Retainer Jiang locked eyes with Li Suifeng, his voice heavy.
Though resentment churned inside him, the situation left no room for pride. He couldn’t be certain he could take Li Suifeng, so backing down was the only play for now.
As for the two years of back payments — that silver had long since vanished into Elder Qin’s coffers. There was no getting it back.
Li Suifeng shook his head.
“I already gave you your choices.”
“Pay up, or die.”
“My patience has limits. Make your decision. Now.”
“I’ll give you three breaths… one… two…”
Finally, the owner of the Xianwei House buckled under the pressure and cried out:
“Boss Li — here’s seven hundred taels. I’ll send someone for the rest.”
The other two shopkeepers instinctively shuffled closer to Retainer Jiang.
The amount wasn’t small. They didn’t want to pay.
“Three.”
As the word left Li Suifeng’s lips—
“Hah.”
A sigh escaped his mouth. His figure blurred like a phantom — one step, and he materialized within arm’s reach of Retainer Jiang.
“You dare lay a hand on me?”
Retainer Jiang’s face twisted with shock, a furious roar tearing from his throat.
He was an eighth-rank retainer. His standing in the Canal Gang outranked Li Suifeng’s. How dare the man?
But as an eighth-rank martial artist, Retainer Jiang’s reflexes were sharp.
His eyes turned to frost.
Two dark fingers pressed together, striking like a gale as he drove them toward the pressure points across Li Suifeng’s body.
BOOM!
Li Suifeng made no attempt to dodge. He stomped the floor hard, Iron Shirt surging to full power. His frame seemed to grow a fraction taller.
The Great Tombstone-Crushing Palm fired at maximum force. Veins bulged across his right hand like coiling dragons, knotted thick over the muscles of his arm.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Retainer Jiang’s fingers struck Li Suifeng’s body — and were met with the ring of metal on metal. Pain lanced through his fingertips.
“When did you learn this kind of external hardening—”
Before the words could fully form, Li Suifeng’s devastating palm strike was already in motion.
WHAM!
Retainer Jiang’s body launched sideways through the air.
PFFT!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips as he crashed through the fourth-floor railing, his body tumbling down the staircase toward the third floor.
Everyone leaned over to look. Retainer Jiang lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide and glassy, not moving a muscle. A smear of blood trailed down the steps behind him.
From the look of things — if he wasn’t dead, he’d at least lost every shred of fighting ability.
“Boss Li — I’ll pay! I’ll pay the silver!”
“Yes, yes, absolutely!”
The two remaining shopkeepers fell over themselves to speak.
“Too late.” Li Suifeng shook his head. One hand seized each man by the throat. A casual twist.
CRACK!
Two heads lolled at unnatural angles. Blood trickled from the corners of their mouths. Dead beyond any question.
“Liu Yuan — stay here and wait for the silver deliveries. I’m paying a visit to the Cuihong Pavilion.” Li Suifeng descended the staircase, scooping up Retainer Jiang’s body — chest caved in, no longer breathing — and called up to the fourth floor.
“Yes, sir!”
Liu Yuan had gone numb. Even his shins were trembling.
Whether following Boss Li was a blessing or a curse, he honestly couldn’t say anymore. They’d now offended not just the Divine Fist Gate, but Elder Qin as well — mortally so. With an eighth-rank retainer dead, the entire branch was going to be in total chaos.
But at this point, doing his job well was the only option left.
“Hurry — go get the money!”
“Right, right — quickly!”
The moment Li Suifeng disappeared down the stairs, the remaining shopkeepers were gripped by genuine terror. They frantically urged their stunned guards to rush home and fetch the silver.
Li Suifeng wasn’t bluffing. He really would kill them.
“Sir, Boss Li’s actions… this could bring serious trouble.” The middle-aged guard who had been standing silently behind Qian Kuan finally spoke up, his voice low.
Qian Kuan nodded. “There’ll be trouble, yes. But perhaps not as much as you’d think.”
“For two years, these factions have been playing the Canal Gang for fools. Liu Zhenhe has been seething about it for a long time. As long as Liu Zhenhe can absorb the pressure from the Divine Fist Gate, the kid will be fine.”
…
“Boss!”
Li Suifeng emerged from the Riverside Pavilion.
Several dozen Canal Gang enforcers were already massed at the entrance. The moment they saw him, they surged forward.
“Chen Shan — take some men and collect the overdue protection fees from the Lotus Garden and Fireworks Alley. Anyone who resists, kill them.”
Li Suifeng turned to Chen Shan and issued his orders directly.
“Bring back the two years’ worth of dues. That’s all. We’re people who play by the rules.”
“Yes, sir!”
Chen Shan didn’t hesitate. He gathered twenty-odd enforcers and set off for the two locations.
Both were smaller pleasure houses in the area — no real fighters guarding them. And with Retainer Jiang now dead, the thugs there wouldn’t have the guts to stand against the Canal Gang.
“The rest of you — with me.”
Li Suifeng led his remaining men toward the Yichun House.
Everything was on the Linshui Docks, so the Yichun House and the Riverside Pavilion weren’t far apart.
One was a restaurant. The other, a brothel.
It was still only midday, and the Yichun House hadn’t yet hit its busy hours.
A handful of bleary-eyed servants were sweeping floors and standing watch.
Seeing a mob bearing down on them with murder in their eyes, a young attendant scrambled to intercept them.
“Sirs, our girls are still asleep at this hour.”
“Perhaps you could come back a bit lat—”
SLAP!
Before Li Suifeng even needed to lift a finger, one of the Canal Gang brothers backhanded the boy off his feet.
“We’re not here for the girls — we’re here to collect!”
“Out of the way!”
The Canal Gang brother puffed out his chest with pride.
They were bottom-rung Canal Gang men. The pittance they earned each month wouldn’t come close to covering a visit to a high-end brothel like the Yichun House. A trip to one of the cheap dives down the alley was the best they could manage — the Yichun House’s front door was beyond their station.
But today was different. Today, they were here to collect.
“Gentlemen, this establishment belongs to the Divine Fist Gate.”
A steward-like middle-aged man stepped out, his expression unfriendly. The Yichun House had been open for years. It wasn’t as though no one had ever tried causing trouble here — but the troublemakers generally came to regret it.
“I know this is the Divine Fist Gate’s place. But your Yichun House owes two years’ worth of dues to our Canal Gang, and the bill comes due today.” Li Suifeng stepped forward, the Canal Gang men parting to make way.
THUD.
Song Tianhai’s corpse was dumped on the ground by a Canal Gang brother.
“Boss…”
The steward’s heart seized. He forced a stiff smile onto his face.
“This matter is above my station. Let me fetch Madam Liu.”
Li Suifeng waved him off. “Don’t bother.”
“I’ll find her myself.”
With that, Li Suifeng led the swarm of Canal Gang disciples through the entrance and into the depths of the Yichun House.
The steward watched the murderous procession file past and didn’t dare block them.
Inside, nearly twenty guards and several Divine Fist Gate disciples had already assembled.
The Yichun House’s madam, Madam Liu, was a woman nearing forty who still carried traces of her former beauty. She watched Li Suifeng’s aggressive entrance with a poised smile.
“Boss Li, the Canal Gang and our Divine Fist Gate have always been on good terms.”
“What’s the occasion?”
Li Suifeng had visited the Yichun House a few times before — he and Madam Liu had crossed paths.
Before he could answer, the steward who’d tried to stop him came rolling and crawling to Madam Liu’s side, his face a mask of grief.
“It’s bad! The Canal Gang people killed Boss Song!”
“The body is right outside!”