Bang!
With a tremendous crash, the gate to the small courtyard was kicked open from outside.
Three men strode straight in.
Chen Yijian, who had been sweeping fallen leaves in the courtyard, was badly startled and demanded angrily, "Who are you?"
In truth, his heart was trembling with unease. He was relying entirely on a surge of hot-blooded courage to keep himself from backing down.
The leader was a young man in brocade robes and silk boots. Yet with his protruding ears and triangular eyes, he looked like no good man.
Behind the young man followed two burly men in fitted martial attire. Sabers hung at their waists, and though expressionless, they still gave off the savage air of fiends.
They were clearly trained fighters!
Chen Yijian's expression changed.
He had just recognized the emblem embroidered on their chests.
It was the mark of the Cangshui Gang!
The Cangshui Gang was a boatmen's guild that had entrenched itself in Qing'an County for decades. Many of its members had once been boatmen and fishermen, so it controlled shipping and fishing along the Clear Water River, including one wharf.
Not only was the Cangshui Gang large and powerful, it also had deep ties with the county magistrate. It was a gang that could eat from both the black and white worlds.
Even ordinary gentry in the county town did not dare provoke it lightly!
Chen Yijian had once drifted through the streets and knew full well how formidable the Cangshui Gang was. He had no idea why they had suddenly come to his door, and anxiety burned in his heart as he wondered how he should respond.
"Get lost!"
The brocade-clad young man was utterly overbearing. With a slap, he sent the conflicted Chen Yijian tumbling to the ground.
His triangular eyes