Finding Trouble, Setting a Trap

Several days later, at dawn.

Lu Chen was practicing his fists beneath a plum tree.

Liu Qi led someone stumbling into the courtyard. The newcomer was Baldy, one of Lu Chen's men.

"Brother Lu, your friend is urgently looking for you," Liu Qi said.

Lu Chen drew in the wind of his fists. Seeing Baldy's face drained white, his heart sank. "What happened?"

"Boss, our stall got smashed," Baldy said urgently.

Lu Chen's eyes turned cold in an instant. Without a word, he strode back.

Baldy jogged alongside him and hurriedly explained on the way:

"This morning, Li Dehai came to play the Lottery. He tried a few coins first and didn't win. Then he actually pulled out one tael of silver and wanted to place a huge bet!

Blind Man saw the amount was too large and that we couldn't afford the payout, so he told him to go play at a gambling house. But that old bastard started throwing his weight around and tossed the silver straight into the cash box.

When the draw came out and he still hadn't won, he actually began making trouble on the spot, insisting that he had won. A few hooligans nearby even testified for him, swearing that he had picked the winning Lottery number."

Lu Chen's face darkened at this, and he hurried back to Sheep Pen Street in silence.

The moment he reached the street entrance, he saw Li Dehai clutching Old Sun, the wonton vendor, by the collar, his spittle flying everywhere.

"Listen to me, you old bastard! You were standing right there and saw with your own eyes that I won the Lottery! If you dare go against your conscience and lie, then when my son comes back from the Green River Sect, just see how he deals with you!"

Old Sun's face had turned blue from the chokehold.

The Green River Sect was, at most, a second-rate sect in the vast martial world. But in a tiny place like Wen'an County, even the county magistrate had to give them some face.

Old Sun neither dared offend Li Dehai nor wished to tell lies against his conscience. His face was flushed red from holding it in.

He was only a street vendor. He could not afford to offend either side.

"Enough! Li Dehai, do you really think we're easy to bully?"

Blind Man shouted darkly.

Behind him, Shuan Hu and the others said nothing. They simply produced their knives with practiced ease.

Shuan Hu and the others used Nangzi Knives, the most common murder weapons on the streets.

They were a little over a foot long, crudely forged and made with little material. For a few dozen copper coins, one could get one from a blacksmith's shop. They were easy to conceal and could be drawn at hand from a sleeve or waistband.

These were weapons for street fights to the death, with narrow, keen edges.

Even in the bitter cold of winter, they could easily stab straight through a thick leather coat.

Seeing that Shuan Hu and the others truly dared draw knives, Li Dehai shuddered. He hastily released Old Sun and staggered several steps backward.

The hooligans who had been jeering beside him also fell silent at once, their feet quietly edging back.

But the idle men watching from all around craned their necks one after another, afraid of missing the slightest movement. In their hearts, they wished only for the scene to grow more chaotic, feeling that the blood had not splashed quickly enough.

Li Dehai was getting a little scared now as well.

"D-Don't do anything rash. My son is a disciple of the Green River Sect. Offend me, and you offend the Green River Sect. You'd better think this through..." Li Dehai said, fierce on the outside but weak within.

"Pah! At worst, I'll pay you with my life!" Blind Man spat, then drew a Nangzi Knife with a backhand motion.

He pressed forward. Li Dehai was so terrified by his desperado-like bearing that his soul nearly fled, and his legs gave out beneath him. He collapsed to the ground like a heap of mud.

Just as Blind Man was about to strike a killing blow, a furious roar exploded like thunder.

"Stop!"

Blind Man's movement abruptly froze, and the tip of his Nangzi Knife drooped helplessly.

At that moment, the only person who could stop him with a shout was Lu Chen.

Lu Chen's gaze was cold and sharp as a blade. He walked forward slowly, and the spectators hurriedly scattered, clearing a path for him.

He glanced at Li Dehai, sprawled limply on the ground, then lifted his eyes. His gaze passed over the shifting heads of the crowd and nailed itself on Han Lao Wu, who stood leaning against a wall not far away.

The corner of Han Lao Wu's mouth held a smile that was not quite a smile. He looked every inch a mere spectator.

Lu Chen was certain that this matter had everything to do with him.

As a village head, Li Dehai was no more than a tiny petty official without rank or grade. Yet he had always carried himself as though he were a real official, lofty and arrogant, the most snobbish of men. With how highly he regarded his own status, why would he lower himself to mingle with street hooligans?

That made the origins of these hooligans before him plainly obvious.

Other than that old dog Han Lao Wu, who else would use such underhanded tricks?

This move was meant to cut off their livelihood outright.

In business, a signboard was everything. Once the signboard fell, the business was finished.

So many people were watching the spectacle right now.

Li Dehai was making such a shameless fuss. Even if he was in the wrong, what did the spectators care about right or wrong? Once gossip began to spread, all they would say was, "Lu Chen lost and refused to pay."

These thirty taels of silver would bring trouble whether they paid or not.

If they paid, thirty taels was no small sum, and it would mean admitting to this unjust debt.

Not only would they suffer a heavy loss, they would also embolden extortionists. From then on, anyone would dare come take a bite out of them.

If they did not pay, it would ruin their credibility, and the business could no longer continue.

Not to mention Li Dehai's son in the Green River Sect. Once he returned, he would surely seize on this matter and insist on venting his father's anger.

Lu Chen knew that Han Lao Wu was trying to force him into a corner and drive him away.

So that he could monopolize the Lottery business on this street.

Lu Chen had already worked out a countermeasure on the way here.

Facing everyone's eyes, he announced loudly:

"We'll pay this money!"

The noisy scene fell silent at once.

"One pays thirty, so that makes thirty taels. But it is no small amount. Please grant us three days to gather the money," Lu Chen said without joy or sorrow.

Li Dehai's eyes rolled around. Afraid something might change, he immediately shouted, "Words alone prove nothing. We need to put it in writing!"

"Fine." Lu Chen answered crisply. "Blind Man, bring paper and brush."

Blind Man borrowed paper and brush from a nearby shop. Lu Chen wrote an IOU and pressed his fingerprint onto it.

"In three days, at this very hour, thirty taels of silver will be delivered in full." Lu Chen handed over the IOU and said steadily, "Let all the neighbors here bear witness."

Li Dehai snatched the document as though he had gained an enormous advantage, then swaggered away in triumph.

Seeing there was no more show to watch, the spectators dispersed in a rush as well.

Shopkeeper Wu of Jiexin Silk Shop shook his head and sighed to his clerk. "Master Lu has really suffered this time. Thirty taels of silver, and he agreed just like that... In the end, he's too young to contend with that old fox Han Lao Wu."

"Big Brother, thirty taels is no small sum. Where are we supposed to scrape it together?" Blind Man asked with a frown.

Lu Chen stared in the direction Han Lao Wu had gone, his eyes gradually turning cold.

"Don't worry. This money has its source."

Blind Man immediately understood. A trace of ruthlessness flashed through his one eye. "Big Brother means..."

"Find out everything about those hooligans who gave false testimony. Tonight, I'll pay them each a visit. Put the stall away for the next few days. Tell the public we're gathering the money," Lu Chen said in a low voice.

"Understood. I'll get right on it." Blind Man nodded and turned to vanish into an alley.

That night.

Deep within Yellow Rice Alley in North City stood a low mud-brick house. Its oil lamp cast a murky glow. The hooligans who had testified during the day were sitting around eating and drinking. Gnawed chicken bones were piled on the table, peanut shells littered the floor, and the room was a filthy mess, thick with grease and the smell of alcohol.

"They all say Lu Chen of South City is somebody, but I think he's just a spineless coward!"

A scabby-headed man tipped back a mouthful of wine and drunkenly hollered.

"Thirty taels, and he paid it without even daring fart a word. What a damn good deal!

In a few days, we'll go do it to him a few more times." He wiped his greasy mouth and chuckled.

The other hooligans joined in the laughter, filthy curses pouring endlessly from their mouths.

They had no idea that someone had already arrived silently in the depths of the night.