Chapter 55: Chapter 55
The fifth day after Gao Nian of the Golden Dragon Gang fell.
A ticklish sensation prickled at the tip of Shen Xiuhan’s nose. He opened his eyes — only to find Shen Momo leaning over the edge of the couch, a wisp of her hair pinched between her fingers, secretly poking it into his nostril.
At the sight of him waking, the little girl let out a shriek, turned on her heel, and dashed for the door, not forgetting to throw a face back at him on the way:
“Brother’s a big old sloth! The sun is all the way up on his bottom and he still won’t get up!”
On any ordinary day, the little one was the last in the family to wake.
Shen Xiuhan, for once, had risen late — and just so Momo had caught him at it. She was beside herself with delight.
Losing the argument, Shen Xiuhan sat up with a laugh, pulled on his coarse cloth outer robe — then his ear twitched.
From outside the courtyard came the sound of Madam Zheng chatting with some of the neighbors.
“What? Every last one of the Golden Dragon Gang is dead?”
“Absolutely true! Raging Waves have been banging gongs and drums up and down every ward since before daybreak!”
“What about that Chief Gao? I heard he was a formidable fighter — ten or a dozen strong men couldn’t get close.”
“Heh — dead too! Word is, he was surrounded by several of Raging Waves’ chiefs and cut to pulp on the spot. A real mess!”
“Good! The Golden Dragon Gang’s safety money has gone up year after year — it was wringing the last breath out of the poor. I say — they had it coming!”
“Ah, crows are all one color under heaven. The Golden Dragon Gang’s gone, and along comes Raging Waves — collecting tribute will no doubt be all of a kind…”
The excited chatter slowly shaded into long sighs.
On the couch, a strange look came over Shen Xiuhan’s face.
Gao Fu…
dead?
Was that right?
Shen Xiuhan’s mind stirred; he summoned the Intelligence System and scanned.
The pale-gold point of light had gone far and small, and was still moving further away by the moment.
Plainly, Gao Fu was alive.
What was more — he was already a long way from Changyun County, heading by all appearances for Nanxiang Commandery, fleeing for his life.
The rest of the world did not know, but Raging Waves most certainly did.
Yet they had still let the word out all the same…
Likely because they judged Gao Fu was already a dog fleeing its burning home, and would never return to Changyun County.
It conveniently let them ride the wave of wiping out the Golden Dragon Gang to plant themselves firmly as the outer city’s new overlord, and put all the other petty creatures on notice at the same time.
And all of this was a great stroke of fortune for Shen Xiuhan!
Because Raging Waves was carrying his pot for him.
Even if Gao Fu came back in the future, the first target of his revenge would only be Raging Waves.
Still, just to be doubly sure, he opened the Intelligence System and took another look.
【Today’s Intelligence has refreshed!】
【Intelligence ①: Gao Fu was gravely wounded by Zheng Dadao’s ‘Heart-Stopping Palm’ and has now fled Changyun County. In disarray, he is on his way to the Nanxiang Commandery stronghold to recover. He loathes Zheng Dadao to the bone, and has sworn that once healed, he will return to wash Raging Waves clean in blood!】
Just as he’d expected — Gao Fu had laid the whole debt at Raging Waves’ door.
Shen Xiuhan’s heart settled at once — but when he read on, his mood sank straight to the bottom of a well.
The worry that had hung over him all along had, in the end, become reality.
【Intelligence ②: The letter Gao Fu dispatched urgently to the Longxiang Army will reach the hand of Tian Ping’an without mishap. Upon reading it, Tian Ping’an will, in a matter of days, set out and make his way back to Changyun County!】
Tian Ping’an — coming back in a matter of days.
From the day he had learned of this Sinew Tempering master, Shen Xiuhan had felt a blade hanging overhead.
Now, that blade was finally about to fall.
If Tian Ping’an came back to make trouble for Raging Waves, that would be the best outcome.
But if he managed to trace Tian Erhu’s death back to him…
Shen Xiuhan clenched both fists.
He himself wasn’t afraid. He simply didn’t dare to wager Madam Zheng’s and Momo’s safety on it.
Martial artists of military stock, in order to force a man to his knees, would not shy away from the vile trick of holding family as hostages.
‘Matters have come this far — all I can do is take one step and see.’
‘If Ma and Momo really do come under threat, I’ll just have to set my face aside and beg Master to step in and shield them.’
Shen Xiuhan pressed down the sense of crisis in his heart and read on.
【Intelligence ③: The mysterious Jade Mirror you took from the hidden compartment in the ceiling beam appears to be a key that opens a ‘Blessed Land.’ Countdown to the opening of the Blessed Land: 349 days…】
Blessed Land?
What kind of place was that?
Shen Xiuhan’s brows knit; a flicker of bewilderment crossed his eyes.
The longer he walked the martial road, the more hidden things he brushed against.
From the martial way of qi and blood, to secret arts and divine powers, to the airy, shadowy “Divine Presence” and “Blessed Land.”
These things, beyond the bounds of his knowledge, were like so many sealed doors, slowly swinging open before him.
But his heart, far from filling with dread, surged instead with a hunger such as he had never felt.
Only by standing high enough, with fists hard enough, did one have the standing to lay a hand on these kinds of opportunities.
Shen Xiuhan let out a breath of thick air, glanced over the other few items of daily intelligence — much of a kind — and rose to his feet.
A great foe was coming; time waited for no one.
In the days to come, beyond stockpiling Intelligence and Deducing new methods, he had to temper his qi-blood at the fastest pace he could manage.
Without fail, before Tian Ping’an made it back to Changyun County, he had to push his cultivation up to Bone Tempering.
By then, bearing several arts at once, he would not be without the means to hold his own ground.
Before that, though, he had to go into the inner city and nail down the house-buying. The sooner he had his family settled in the city, the better — no use giving trouble room to grow.
Stepping out of the thatched hut, he found several neighbors gathered outside.
In their hands were coarse sacks of flour, or a pair of palm-sized grass carp, or a handful of farm eggs wrapped in rags.
“Dalang’s awake!”
At the sight of Shen Xiuhan, Madam Zheng’s back straightened by quite a bit. Face aglow, she said:
“Your Uncle Dashuan, your Auntie Cui, and Auntie Hu from next door — they heard we’re moving into the inner city, and specially brought over some move-in gifts first thing this morning.”
Shen Xiuhan understood at once.
Just so — poor in a busy market, nobody asks; rich in deep mountains, far cousins come calling.
Ever since word had gone around that he’d entered Mei Hall’s inner court and was setting up home in the inner city, these neighbors — who on any ordinary day would squabble over half a flatcake — had turned warm toward the family at once.
“Dalang, we haven’t seen you in a spell, and look at you now, lad — you’ve really made something of yourself! Your father, if he knew down below, seeing you take your mother and sister into the inner city to live soft — he’d be able to close his eyes at peace too.”
“That’s right! I heard Dalang’s taken a posting, he’s to be taking to the lake? There’s plenty on the water you’d do well to know. Anything you’re unclear on going forward, you can always come ask your Uncle Dashuan.”
Everyone vied to flatter in turn; the atmosphere in the courtyard was warm indeed.
Suddenly, Auntie Hu latched onto Madam Zheng’s hand, intimately, and loudly set about arrangements:
“Guiping, I’m thinking Dalang’s of age now — it’s about time to find him a good match. Over at the northern hamlet there’s a girl of the Huang family, just come into her girlhood years, broad-shouldered and sturdy-waisted — she can work the fields and bear a son. Matched with our Dalang, that’s a face made to bring fortune to her husband.”
The polite smile on Shen Xiuhan’s face went stiff; his color changed.
“Ahem — the kindness of you uncles, aunties, and elders, this junior thanks you all for!”
Fearing Madam Zheng would be caught up in the glow and agree to the whole business out of good cheer, he hurried on:
“The hour’s getting late; I’ve a broker in the inner city waiting to show me a house. I have to go. Once the inner-city place is settled, I’ll surely invite every one of you elders over to the city to visit.”
With that, he washed up in a rush, stuffed two coarse flatcakes into his robe, and pushed the courtyard gate open as if fleeing — off at a run for the inner city.
Behind him, a warm burst of good-natured laughter rose from the courtyard; the air was full of a happy, easy mood.