"When do we make our move, Brother Xuan?" Water Monkey, One Line Sky, and the others were all rubbing their fists and palms together, already impatient to act.
Only Chen Jingming frowned, looking as if he wanted to say something but held it back.
"People say a gentleman can wait ten years for revenge. But who are we? We're street toughs. Of course, we settle our grudges before the night is over," Fang Xuan said with a laugh.
"Brother Xuan, isn't this a little too hasty?" Chen Jingming finally could not hold back any longer.
There were roughly five or six hundred street toughs formally registered under South Hall, and East Hall had about the same number.
But South of the City was prosperous, with plenty of fat to skim. Most of South Hall's street toughs were broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, and built like hulking brutes.
East Hall's street toughs, meanwhile, mostly came from fishing families in the Bamboo Raft Houses. In an age when rice cost more than fish, every one of them was thin and small, having gone hungry for far too long.
Their combat strength was worlds apart.
"Big Eyes, I know what you're worried about."
Fang Xuan patted his shoulder and smiled. "You've read more than Water Monkey and the others, and your head is sharper too. You like weighing gains and losses. But you've forgotten one thing: aside from those genuine martial artists, when the lowest-ranking street toughs fight, what they rely on is guts!"
"Whoever is bolder, fiercer, and more ruthless wins!"
"And as long as I stand at the front, I am their courage!"
Chen Jingming nodded thoughtfully. "I understand."
"Good. Go gather the men by raising the flag. In one shichen, we head for South Hall! One Line Sky, come with me to the ferry!"
With that, Fang Xuan rose to his feet and strode toward the ferry.
After exchanging glances, Chen Jingming and the others swiftly sprang into action.
For a time, throughout East City, shrouded in thick night and a curtain of rain, lamps lit up one after another!
At the ferry.
Dozens of fishing folk whose boats and skiffs had been destroyed gathered together, their faces blank with despair.
Among them, some women could not stop themselves from sobbing.
"My man is bedridden. I only keep him alive by taking the boat out fishing every day and buying him medicine. Now the boat is gone, and so is my man's life..."
"Sigh, I've got three mouths to feed too. Without a boat, how are we supposed to survive the New Year?"
"The boats have been burned. How are we meant to go on living in times like these?"
Old Man Hu squatted on the ground with a troubled expression, puffing again and again on his chipped tobacco pipe. Unable to bear it any longer, he snapped irritably:
"Cry, cry, cry! All you know how to do is cry! What good does crying do? Hasn't this old man's boat been burned too? Am I carrying on like you lot?"
A middle-aged woman, her eyes red, could not help saying, "Old Man Hu, it's easy for you to talk standing up! Everyone knows you stepped in dog shit and got lucky—Fang Xuan gave you fifteen taels of silver! That's enough to buy a new boat. You could live until next year without fishing at all!"
"Bullshit! Even if Fang Xuan hadn't given me that silver, I still wouldn't be blubbering like you!"
Old Man Hu flew into a rage, then got to his feet and wiped his nose.
"Enough, what are you all panicking for? Even if the sky falls, doesn't Fang Xuan have it propped up? Don't you know what kind of man Fang Xuan is? You think he'll swallow this insult?"
The fishing folk looked at one another. One of them gave a bitter laugh.
"Forget it. What kind of people are street toughs? Would they care whether we live or die? They'll probably be just like the street toughs who managed the ferry before. Even when something happened, they'd play deaf and dumb, then casually say our losses would be deducted from the monthly cut. Heh. The boats are gone—what are they going to deduct from?"
"Bullshit! Can those crooked melons and split dates compare to Fang Xuan? Let me tell you, one year, the Water Bandits on the river stole our catch. Wasn't it Fang Xuan who risked his life to get it back for us?"
As they argued.
"Old Man Hu, I heard you were nearly held underwater and drowned. But seeing you now, your voice is still loud enough."
A laugh rang out from the distance.
"Master Fang?!"
Old Man Hu froze for a moment, then turned toward the tall figure approaching from afar. He immediately burst into wails and ran over in a streak.
"Master Fang, it hasn't been easy for us! Those beasts from the south burned our boats and forced us onto a dead-end road!"
"Not easy, not easy! Every time I see you, the first thing out of your mouth is that it hasn't been easy! Can't you bloody well change your lines?" Fang Xuan cursed, extending a hand toward Old Man Hu.
Old Man Hu instinctively shrank his head back. He had been slapped by Fang Xuan so many times that his body reacted on its own.
Smack.
This time, Fang Xuan's large hand landed on Old Man Hu's shoulder.
He turned his head, grinned at Old Man Hu, and said, "Don't worry. I'll deal with those little bastards from South Hall."
Under Old Man Hu's somewhat unaccustomed gaze, Fang Xuan's eyes swept over the anxious faces of the fishing folk as he said:
"Count how many boats you've lost and report it to me later. I'll compensate you double!"
"Don't worry. I, Fang Xuan, have never been the sort who takes money without doing the job, who only knows how to act tough at home!"
The moment those words fell.
The crowd erupted.
The fishing folk, whose faces had been ashen moments before, now looked utterly disbelieving. They thanked Fang Xuan profusely, and some even wanted to kneel and kowtow to him.
Fang Xuan could not help shaking his head lightly to himself.
The common folk of the Da Yang Dynasty had never asked for much. So long as they could muddle through life, so long as they still had a mouthful of food to eat, so long as they had not been driven to a life without hope—
Then they would be the most honest and obedient people in the world.
"You all heard him, right? Master Fang said he'll compensate every bit of your losses twofold! Who still doubts this old man now?"
Old Man Hu planted his hands on his hips, full of vigor and looking utterly smug.
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Man Hu hurriedly turned around and smiled at Fang Xuan. "Master Fang, are you going to make a move against those beasts in the south? How about taking this old man along? Don't let my age fool you—I've still got plenty of strength! This time, I'll at least chop someone down for you to see!"
"Forget it. Save that strength for Auntie and stop getting involved where you don't belong."
Fang Xuan laughed and cursed, then turned to leave.
He had come to the ferry solely to say those words.
A man could not stand without trust!
If he had not stepped forward to say this today, then in the future, no one in East City would willingly submit to him again!
"Master Fang!"
Old Man Hu suddenly called out from behind him.
"What?" Fang Xuan turned back, raising a brow.
Old Man Hu gritted his teeth and shouted, "Help this old man give those beasts a proper beating! Fuck their mothers, what the hell are they? How dare they hit me! I, Old Man Hu, only let you, Master Fang, hit me. They don't get to!"
Fang Xuan smiled, turned back around, and strode away, spitting out two words:
"Got it!"
After leaving the ferry, Fang Xuan and One Line Sky hurried toward Tong'an Alley.
"Brother Xuan, if we compensate them double, the fishermen alone will cost over a hundred taels. And then there are the losses from our taverns and inns everywhere else. Where are we going to get that much silver?" One Line Sky asked in confusion.
Without slowing his steps, Fang Xuan smiled faintly. "We don't have it, but South Hall does, don't they?"
One Line Sky paused at that, then smiled in understanding. "That's true."
The sky gradually turned the pale white of a fish belly.
As night gave way to day, hundreds of figures in blue stood silently beneath umbrellas outside Tong'an Alley, occupying the entire street amid the rain.
As the tall, black-haired figure in red approached through the rain, the hundreds of blue-clad street toughs turned at once, bowed, and shouted in unison:
"Master Fang!"
Thank you all, big bosses, for the rewards and monthly votes! Old Drunk salutes you all!
Before you continue