"Follow them. If they all attack at once, then you make your move. If one of them fights A-Tai one-on-one, then you stand back and watch the show," Gao Lao Cheng said, waving his hand to his brothers behind him, signaling them to stand behind Chen Tai.
The oil tanker was a modified United States truck with a three-ton load capacity, but now it had an added cargo bed. Judging from the size of that cargo bed, if it were fully loaded with refined oil, it would weigh at least eight or nine tons. Therefore, its speed on the road was probably only slightly faster than a bicycle. As soon as Taihe and Gao Lao Cheng appeared on the road, the truck immediately slowed down even further. The twenty-odd men in front of and behind the truck had already pulled up their shirts and drawn various weapons such as watermelon knives, triangular files, and axes. Led by a burly man in his twenties, they quickly walked towards Chen Tai, shouting:
"Brother! I'm Tong Ngau Ping, the Red Pole of Shui Fong. Who are you? This batch of goods belongs to Lord Ting of Shui Fong. If you're ever in trouble, just say the word. A few hundred dollars is nothing to me in this world. Don't hurt the harmony between fellow disciples."
Chen Tai scratched his head. He was not from Jianghu and did not understand the other party's rules of self-reporting. He turned his head and looked at Gao Laocheng, who was sitting on the stone next to him. Seeing that Gao Laocheng had not spoken, he could only follow Gao Laocheng's instructions and said to Niu Ping: "The gas in the car is ours. Either you pay a protection fee of 10,000 yuan, or you can keep the car and the goods, and you turn around and leave, or I will make you all kneel down."
His vest was bulging, and his shiny, dark muscles gave him an imposing presence. Even when he spoke in a simple and honest manner, the group opposite him took it as feigned stupidity and made fun of him.
Tong Ngau Ping's face immediately darkened. The other side was feigning ignorance, refusing to reveal their code, and then demanding 10,000 yuan in protection money—clearly, they had no intention of reconciliation. He turned and walked to the front of the truck, pulling a long-handled Japan sword from the grille and pointing it at Chen Tai and his group. "No talk? Then fight first! I'll fuck your mother! I'll kill these bastards who dare to rob and beat me like lambs!"
Tong Ngau Ping gripped his Japan sword with both hands, his voice fierce, but his steps toward Chen Tai were far less urgent and impetuous than his shouts suggested. His legs moved unhurriedly, and even when the Shui Fong behind him had already overtaken him and rushed toward Chen Tai, he had only taken a few meters with steady, dragging steps.
Chen Tai didn't move his legs, but dodged an axe swinging at him with his left side. Just as the axe grazed his cheekbone, he suddenly reached out with his left hand and swiftly grabbed the wrist of the opponent holding the axe. "You attacked me first. My master said, 'I won't attack unless attacked.' Since you attacked first, it doesn't mean I disobeyed my master!"
As he spoke, his right hand had already slipped under the other person's arm and grabbed their armpit, suddenly lifting them up with a powerful overhead throw! He slammed the other person onto the ground like a sack of grain being hauled at the dock! With a dull thud, the person who had been thrown landed on their back, their mouth wide open, and a mouthful of blood spurted out!
After throwing the other man over his head, Chen Tai let go and left him to his fate. He then punched the second man, who landed a punch squarely on Chen Tai's chest. The second man was almost knocked off the ground and fell backward, flying four or five meters before collapsing and rolling in front of Tong Ngau Ping. He clutched his chest and tried several times to struggle to get up but couldn't manage it.
Originally, Tong Ngau Ping was slowly pressing forward, gathering his strength. Seeing Chen Tai cripple two of his brothers in the blink of an eye, he could no longer pretend to be calm. At this moment, he needed to show his strength. So, he quickly alternated several swastika steps with his legs and rushed in front of Chen Tai. He kept shouting and slashed his Japan sword diagonally down at Chen Tai's upper body, who was dodging a watermelon knife! Both the timing and the move were ruthless and urgent.
Being able to escort these smuggled oil products at the Sheung Shui Pier, Tong Ngau Ping was no ordinary scoundrel. His nickname came from "slaughtering a dead cow," and he was known for his bravery and ruthlessness. Initially, he robbed other people of their smuggled oil in the New Territories. Later, he was chosen by the Big-Time Tycoon Lord Ting of the Shui Fong and kept under his wing. He was considered one of the more ruthless gangsters in the New Territories who escorted smuggled oil.
The moment he drew his blade, Chen Tai, who had previously relied solely on his fists to deal with his skilled subordinates, could no longer maintain his momentum. He awkwardly leaned back, bracing himself with his left hand and legs, while his right hand reached for the axe that Gao Lao Cheng had handed him from his lower back. As Tong Ngau Ping's Japan sword slashed diagonally through the air, Chen Tai struck the blade with his axe, then scrambled to his feet, looking at Tong Ngau Ping with a somewhat panicked expression.
Although Chen Tai knew martial arts, he had never been in a life-or-death situation before. Even when he fought with Wo Two Ping's men at the dock, they didn't immediately aim for his neck or chest with a knife. But if he hadn't dodged Tong Ngau Ping's knife just now, his head, neck, and most of his chest might have been severed by now! His opponent wanted to kill him. Having never experienced such a life-or-death struggle, Chen Tai, despite his strong skills, already felt a sense of fear.
The men behind him, including Gao Lao Cheng, had already met up with the other brothers of Tong Ngau Ping, leaving Tong Ngau Ping alone to confront Chen Tai. Tong Ngau Ping was an old hand in the world, and just by looking at Chen Tai's slightly startled and fearful eyes, he knew that the other party was already a little scared. He flicked his blade, from bottom to top, and used the blade to slash at Chen Tai's lower abdomen!
Chen Tai blocked the blow with his axe, but took two steps back. Tong Ngau Ping, on the other hand, became increasingly aggressive, slashing at Chen Tai's vital points with each blow. Chen Tai frantically tried to parry with his axe, retreating repeatedly.
Gao Lao Cheng stood up from the roadside stone, stretched his limbs, and shouted into the still-fighting street, "If you want to make money to move your parents into a tenement building on Hong Kong Island like Secretary Song, but you don't have Secretary Song's brains, then you can only rely on your fists to kill him. If you can't, you'll be a hopeless laborer for life. Gangsters are Crossing-the-River Pawn; there's no way back. If you take two more steps back, I'll send you back to see Secretary Song and tell him you're a good-for-nothing who can't even do a decent job at the docks."
Chapter Ninety-Eight: Three Tigers and One Leopard
After having breakfast at the teahouse downstairs, Song Tianyao took a rickshaw to Liheng Trading Company on Murray Road Central.