Sudden Disaster, Riding a Tiger

Among the Three Gangs and Four Associations in Changning Prefecture, the Green Bamboo Gang and the Flying Eagle Gang are the two weakest, and the two factions are evenly matched.

Although the Green Bamboo Gang lost the battle for Happy Forest, they didn't actually lose many men; it could be said that they voluntarily gave up Happy Forest.

After all, the old Happy Forest didn't really have much profit to be made; receiving four or five hundred taels of monthly protection money at most was considered decent. Why risk life and limb against the Flying Eagle Gang for such a place?

Therefore, after only one battle, the Green Bamboo Gang ceded Happy Forest and retreated directly to Yongle District, which borders Joyful District.

But now, seeing that Happy Forest is thriving under the control of Su Xin, and having heard that the monthly dividends from Happy Forest are approaching one hundred thousand taels, the Green Bamboo Gang is even more envious.

In particular, Zhang Hong, the minor leader who was previously responsible for managing Happy Forest, nearly vomited blood from anger on the spot.

When he was in Happy Forest, he lived a miserable life; after paying tribute to those above and distributing wages to those below, he didn't have much money left for himself.

But as soon as these Flying Eagle Gang fellows arrived, Happy Forest turned into a gold mine, which led many in the Green Bamboo Gang to secretly mock Zhang Hong, saying he was a beggar holding a golden rice bowl.

Moreover, after retreating from Happy Forest, the major leader Dai Chong only gave him a short street bordering Happy Forest to oversee, which had only a few dozen shops and was not even as good as Happy Forest.

On this night, after eating and drinking his fill, Zhang Hong was patrolling the street with a few underlings when he looked up and saw the brightly lit scene of Happy Forest across the way, which made him feel even more resentful.

"Damn it! Why didn't those merchants give me dividends when I was in charge of Happy Forest? Are they bullying me because the Green Bamboo Gang has no one?"

An underling behind Zhang Hong chimed in, "Don't be angry, Brother Hong, those merchants are just cheap! I heard that when that kid from the Flying Eagle Gang took over, he immediately crippled Old Huang who ran the gambling house, and the whole group obediently handed over their dividends."

Zhang Hong picked his nose and snorted, "Damn it, if I had known, I should have been more ruthless back then. I could have made a killing before leaving, instead of being as down-and-out as I am now."

"Eh? Brother Hong, look, isn't that a kid from the Flying Eagle Gang?" one of the gang members pointed toward the corner of the tavern.

That tavern is located right between Yongle District and Happy Forest, and they could see it at a glance. At this moment, a man wearing Flying Eagle Gang attire was drunkenly relieving himself there.

Today was the day they received their monthly wages, and it was ten taels at once, which made those gang members very excited.

Few who join gangs live honest lives; most live for the moment. Once they got their wages, they naturally went out to have fun immediately.

So, several gang members who were usually on good terms went to the tavern to eat and drink their fill, but this time they didn't dare to eat or drink for free, instead honestly paying the bill.

After all, the events of the day were still fresh in their minds; this Boss Su is not a man who is easy to talk to.

The gang member shook his body and pulled up his pants, and a silver ingot fell from his bosom.

Seeing the fist-sized ten-tael silver ingot, the eyes of the gang members behind Zhang Hong turned red.

Sometimes they didn't even make ten taels in a year of wages, yet now, any random member of the Flying Eagle Gang could pull out ten taels of silver.

The gang member turned around after finishing his business and saw Zhang Hong and his group.

The Flying Eagle Gang and the Green Bamboo Gang have fought several times, so he naturally recognized the people from the Green Bamboo Gang, but he immediately smiled contemptuously, weighed the silver in his hand, and turned to leave.

So what if you're a minor leader? You were still beaten away by our Flying Eagle Gang, and since I follow Boss Su, I live much better than you minor leaders!

Seeing that contemptuous smile, Zhang Hong exploded instantly.

"Damn it, a little punk dares to laugh at me? Drag him over and beat him!"

The gang member realized something was wrong and wanted to run, but he was a bit too drunk and his walking was unsteady. Before he could run two steps, he was pinned to the ground by Zhang Hong and his men, who began to punch and kick him.

"I'm from the Flying Eagle Gang! This is the territory of the Flying Eagle Gang, if you dare to mess around, my boss won't spare you!"

Zhang Hong sneered, "Your boss? That wet-behind-the-ears kid? I'll beat you to death today and see what he can do to me!"

Fists fell like raindrops. The gang member cried out in pain at first, but in the end, he made no sound at all.

"Stop!"

Zhang Hong shouted. An underling went over to take a look, swallowed hard, and said, "Brother Hong, this guy has been beaten to death!"

The group looked at each other, feeling that things had gotten serious.

They had originally only intended to teach this kid a lesson, but they had also been drinking before they came out, so their blows were heavy and reckless, and they had actually beaten him to death.

Fighting between gangs is nothing, and killing people during gang wars is even normal.

But those are decisions made by high-level gang members, who are responsible for dealing with the authorities and handling the aftermath when people die.

But for them, the underlings, to beat someone to death at will is not so easy, and this action of theirs might even lead to another war between the two gangs.

"Brother Hong, what should we do now?" The gang members were at a loss.

Zhang Hong looked around; there were no Flying Eagle Gang members nearby, and those who came with the victim were probably still dead drunk inside the tavern.

"No one saw us. Let's retreat first. After all, this is the Flying Eagle Gang's territory. We'll go and report this to the major leader."

Zhang Hong cursed himself for being reckless. Now that he had beaten a Flying Eagle Gang member to death, he certainly couldn't resolve it himself.

And going to report to the major leader Dai Chong, with his greedy personality, he would surely have to spend a fortune.

Dai Chong, the major leader of the Green Bamboo Gang, is a gambling addict; he loves money because he loves to gamble.

Zhang Hong went straight to Jinsheng Gambling House, the largest gambling house in Yongle District, and found Dai Chong very smoothly.

Dai Chong is over fifty years old, large and tall, with a half-man-high Drum-Beating Gold Hammer placed beside him.

It is because of this exotic weapon that he has a resounding nickname in Changning Prefecture: Heaven-Shattering Hammer.

"Boss, I've caused some trouble." Zhang Hong reported cautiously.

Dai Chong seemed to have won money and was in a very good mood, asking lazily, "What kind of trouble did you cause this time?"

"I accidentally beat a member of the Flying Eagle Gang to death."

"Oh, it's just a small matter. I'll go tell the Flying Eagle Gang in a while and pay them ten taels of silver as burial expenses. That should settle it." Dai Chong still spoke in an indifferent tone.

Zhang Hong was dumbfounded. That was it? Why did he feel like something was off?

"Boss, won't the Flying Eagle Gang start another turf war with us over this?" Zhang Hong couldn't help but ask.

Dai Chong waved his hand dismissively: "Don't worry, there won't be a fight. Even if we wanted to, the Flying Eagle Gang wouldn't. You don't understand the matters at the top.

Right, we're one short, and you just happened to arrive. Come play a few rounds with me first."

Zhang Hong was pulled to the mahjong table, completely bewildered. He only knew one thing: he probably wouldn't have to take the blame for this.

Early the next morning, inside the Happy Forest hall, Su Xin sat in the main seat with a gloomy expression, staring at the corpse on the floor without saying a word. The other gang members stood below in silence.

"What exactly happened here?" Su Xin asked slowly.

Huang Bingcheng said with a face full of grief and indignation: "It was the Green Bamboo Gang. Last night, these brothers went out for a drink, and when they came out, they found him beaten to death and dumped on the street."

The gang members below were all filled with rage. The ones who had gone drinking with the deceased that night had red eyes; they believed that it was their own carelessness that led to their brother being beaten to death by the Green Bamboo Gang.

"Has the gang been notified?" Su Xin asked.

"The gang knew even before we did. Today, Third Master Hu sent someone over with ten taels of silver, saying it was the burial money sent by Dai Chong, a high-ranking leader of the Green Bamboo Gang." Huang Bingcheng looked utterly stifled.

"Bang!"

Su Xin smashed the teacup in his hand onto the floor.

The gang members below were also filled with fury.

Their monthly salary was only ten taels of silver. Now that someone had been beaten to death, they were offering ten taels as burial money—this was clearly an insult!

"What is the gang's stance? Are they just going to swallow this?"

Su Xin was puzzled. The feud between the Green Bamboo Gang and the Flying Eagle Gang had existed for a long time. For the Green Bamboo Gang to beat a Flying Eagle Gang member to death and for the higher-ups to just swallow it—something was wrong.

Huang Bingcheng said helplessly: "Although they didn't say it directly, that is indeed what they mean."

The gang members below looked at Su Xin with hopeful eyes, wondering how Boss Su intended to resolve this.

Aside from a few dozen veterans of the Flying Eagle Gang, the rest of Su Xin's subordinates were newly recruited youths.

These young men still had hot blood in their veins.

Even if they knew that a bloody battle with the Green Bamboo Gang might cost them their lives, they were unwilling to just swallow this humiliation and watch the Green Bamboo Gang walk away after tossing ten taels of silver for killing their brother.

Conversely, the veterans who had been in the underworld for years were much calmer.

The struggle between two gangs was not that simple. Even if they were to fight, they needed orders from above.

Now that the higher-ups had made it clear they didn't want to move, relying only on the men under Su Xin would be nothing more than a suicide mission.

"Boss, what should we do now?" Huang Bingcheng asked in a low voice.

Su Xin rubbed his chin; he was in a difficult position now.

In this situation, if he didn't fight, the prestige he had worked so hard to build would likely be completely exhausted.

And if he did fight, with the Flying Eagle Gang not sending reinforcements, what would he fight with? Just these newly recruited youths?

After pondering for a moment, Su Xin said decisively: "I, Su Xin, will not let my brother die in vain! I am going to beg my foster father to send men so we can go to the Green Bamboo Gang and demand justice!"

The gang members present were instantly invigorated. Boss Su had not disappointed them!

After having the deceased member carried out for burial, Su Xin signaled for Huang Bingcheng to take out five thousand taels in silver notes and accompany him to see Third Master Hu.