No Incident

After the bodies had been dealt with, everyone returned to the mine. Wang Hu and Liu Gang immediately went to report to Hall Master Li Dalong.

Inside the tent, the two saw only a slightly fair-skinned corpse lying on the ground, blood pouring from his anus. Clearly, this was another of Li Dalong's masterpieces.

The same had happened to Li Er before, and to Zhang San as well.

The two knew Li Dalong's temperament and didn't pay it any mind. They hurried to deliver their report.

"First they attacked our mine from within and without. Now they've assassinated our elite gang members. The Black Wolf Gang has gone too far!"

"Our Poison Dragon Hall is in a dangerous position. Liu Gang, I order you to take some men to the County Town and request reinforcements from the Main Sect." Li Dalong stood, his face dark, and spoke.

The Black Wolf Gang had gone too far.

There had been plenty of minor clashes between the two gangs, but only ordinary members had died. It had never reached the point of deliberately targeting their elite members.

Clearly, the Black Wolf Gang had grand plans.

"Yes!" Liu Gang accepted the order with a dark expression. Under Wang Hu's cold, mocking gaze, he left the tent.

"Phew... This is bad. The mine is a full twenty li from the County Town, and who knows how dangerous the road will be."

Liu Gang knew full well that Li Dalong was using him as a pathfinder.

He was supposedly going to the County Town to ask for reinforcements, but in reality, he was being sent to test the Black Wolf Gang. Put another way, he was being sent to his death. But there was nothing he could do.

"No, I need to find a few more people."

With no other choice, Liu Gang went to the ramshackle huts where the mine slaves lived and woke them all.

"Everyone, I'm heading back to the County Town. I need some people with courage. Will any of you follow me? If we make it back safely and return to the mine, you'll become members of my Poisonous Snake Gang."

The mine slaves looked at one another, and quite a few immediately stepped forward.

When there was a chance to climb the ladder, everyone put their name forward.

Liu Gang brightened and quickly began selecting his men.

He picked twenty of the taller mine slaves. The others looked disappointed.

"Zhao Han, Zhao Da... You few, come with me to the County Town to ask the Main Sect for reinforcements."

Zhao Han had just returned to his bed and closed his eyes when Liu Gang woke him.

With no choice, the men could only follow.

Besides them, Liu Gang also picked three elite gang members. In all, thirty men set off for the County Town together.

On the way back, they carried only a single torch. They avoided the main road and instead crept through the woods in the dark, moving forward cautiously.

The mine slaves didn't understand why, but Liu Gang had ordered it, so they did as he said.

They had expected the twenty li journey to be fraught with danger, but by five in the morning, when the sky began to lighten, nothing had happened.

Liu Gang looked baffled. "This is strange. Could the Black Wolf Gang really have no one lying in ambush? That makes no sense!"

Even when they reached the County Town's southern gate, Liu Gang still felt dazed.

Could the Black Wolf Gang have been bluffing?

Or perhaps Zhang Long and Zhao Hu hadn't been killed by the Black Wolf Gang after all.

Unable to make sense of it, Liu Gang still followed the original plan.

"All of you, stand properly! What are you here for? If you're entering the city, it's three coins per person!" The county soldiers stood tall as they extorted money and took bribes. Even gang members had to pay before they were let through.

"Officer, I'm Liu Gang, an officer of the Poisonous Snake Gang. Here's one mace of silver. Keep the extra as a little tea money." Liu Gang smiled broadly and handed over the silver.

"Mm, you know how to behave. Go on in."

The thirty men successfully entered the city and immediately ran along the main street toward the Poisonous Snake Gang's Main Sect.

It was Zhao Han's first time in the County Town, and he couldn't help looking around curiously.

The others were much the same, gazing around like country bumpkins who had just arrived in the city.

Blackwater County in Liang Prefecture was only a remote little county town, with a population of thirty thousand, twenty thousand of whom lived in the countryside.

The streets were fairly wide, but there weren't many people about.

It was also a time of chaos, and prices were soaring.

A tael of silver, which could once have been worth two thousand yuan on Blue Star, was probably worth only fifteen hundred now. Give it a little longer and it might be worth only a thousand.

In such times, the streets were even emptier.

"Candied hawthorns! Not sweet? No charge!"

"Fine rice wine! Brewed for two and a half years!"

"Big, white steamed buns! So big you can't even get your hand around one!"

"Eh, they even sell animals here—and snakes, too." As they went down the street, Zhao Han's eyes lit up when he spotted a snake vendor's stall.

There were snakes of every color inside. You could buy a little one for just fifty coins, and Zhao Han felt his hands itch to get one.

Following Liu Gang, the group wound through several streets and alleys until they reached the Poisonous Snake Gang's headquarters, tucked away in a deep lane.

The headquarters was a grand compound with tall walls. Two stone snake statues, each a meter high, coiled on either side of the gate. Four elite members at the Skin Refining Realm stood guard outside, giving the place quite an imposing air.

"I'm Liu Gang. I have something important to report to the Gang Leader!"

Liu Gang took out his identity token and handed it over.

"Officer Liu, please wait." The guard took the token and quickly ran into the compound.

Before long, he came back out and said, "Officer Liu, come with me. Lao Liu, take the other brothers across the way to rest."

"Yes! Brothers, follow me."

While Liu Gang went to seek an audience with the Gang Leader, Zhao Han and the others followed Lao Liu to the courtyard across the way, whose gates were shut tight.

This was where the Poisonous Snake Gang's elite members usually trained and rested. It was quite spacious, with one room after another, each one a single-person room.

At a shelter by the side, Lao Liu smiled. "Brothers, rest here. I'll have the servants bring you water and something to eat."

Zhao Han, Zhao Da, the others, and the mine slaves were all surprised. They hadn't expected servants to wait on people here. The treatment was pretty good.

Soon, several servants came over with buns and tea. Their faces were bruised and swollen, and they limped as they walked.

Clearly, being a servant wasn't easy either. They were made to act as punching bags for the elite members every now and then.

The three elite members from Poison Dragon Hall had clearly enjoyed this sort of life before, and they ate and drank without hesitation.

The ordinary gang members and mine slaves didn't dare be so bold. They could only watch the three of them eat.

Zhao Han didn't mind. He grabbed a bun and started eating. Seeing how hard Zhao Da was swallowing, Zhao Han broke off a third of his own bun and gave it to him.

Looking outside, Zhao Han saw that this was the Training Ground. It was full of weapons and training equipment, such as stone blocks, stone locks, millstones, wooden dummies, and so on.

His eyes shifted, and Zhao Han suddenly got an idea. He said to an elite member who was drinking tea:

"Brother, I've recently gained some insights into Snake-Style Deft Hand. I'm not sure whether I've made a breakthrough. Could I spar with you and find out?"

The member looked at Zhao Han. He knew Zhao Han was someone Liu Gang had been deliberately cultivating, so he didn't put on airs.

He smiled. "Why not?"

He immediately stood and went to the Training Ground, facing Zhao Han.

The others watched with keen interest as well.

"Brother, I'll make the first move!" Zhao Han cupped his fists.

"Get on with it!"

"Hyah!"

Zhao Han used only three-tenths of his strength and struck with his still-unfamiliar Snake-Style Deft Hand.

The member frowned. The kid had clearly only just reached the beginner level in Snake-Style Deft Hand and was still far from the Skin Refining Realm. Yet he dared to boast so brazenly.

He needed to teach him a good lesson and show him how powerful someone at the Skin Refining Realm could be.

The two immediately exchanged blows.

Thud!

A snake-bite strike landed. The member, underestimating him, casually struck back to end the match, only to find the blow carried tremendous force and sent him stumbling back two steps.

"You..." The member looked surprised.

Zhao Han's Snake-Style Deft Hand was clearly still clumsy. How could he have such strength?

"Brother, don't let your guard down!" Zhao Han said with an easy smile. Three-tenths of his strength was just right.

"I didn't expect you to have barely learned the simplest moves, yet still managed to build up your strength. That's unusual. Interesting." The member grinned, then took him seriously.

After that, Zhao Han and the member went back and forth, neither able to get the upper hand.