Frame-up and Slander

On the main street of Chengde District, Su Xin walked toward the headquarters of the Green Bamboo Gang, dressed in the attire of a gang member.

He touched the human-skin mask on his face, marveling at how ingenious the item was; looking at his reflection, even he could not recognize himself.

He had obtained this mask from that flower-picking thief, and he had not expected it to come in handy so soon.

His purpose in disguising himself to infiltrate the territory of the Green Bamboo Gang was, naturally, to stir up some trouble.

Since the Green Bamboo Gang and the Flying Eagle Gang were not fighting, he would simply add fuel to the fire.

The Three Gangs and Four Associations of Changning Prefecture comprised seven major powers, among which the three gangs were the weakest.

However, while the Flying Eagle Gang and the Jiangyang Gang had only risen to prominence in the last few decades, the Green Bamboo Gang had been passed down through the Wei Family for three generations; when it was first established, it had been the largest gang in Changning Prefecture.

Unfortunately, each generation had proven worse than the last, and by the time it reached Wei Feng's generation, he could not even contend with his two subordinate vice-leaders—he was a complete waste of space.

As the former top gang, the Green Bamboo Gang still retained some of its old prestige despite its decline; at the very least, their headquarters was quite imposing, occupying an entire street.

Arriving at the entrance, Su Xin carried a box filled with stones and cupped his hands toward the guard, saying, "Brother, I am one of Old Chen's men. The boss asked me to deliver some things to the Gang Leader; would you mind passing the word along?"

Old Chen was one of the three major leaders who supported Wei Feng, and after Dai Chong died, he had taken over the responsibility of guarding Yongle District.

However, Old Chen's strength was far inferior to Dai Chong's, and he was heavily suppressed by the other major leader, who belonged to Vice-Leader Ma Qingyuan; of the Yongle District that should have been split equally between the two, two-thirds now belonged to the other side.

But Old Chen had one advantage: he was a master of flattery. He often brought strange and curious items to present to Wei Feng, which made Wei Feng happy and led him to rely on him more.

Old Chen sent men over frequently, so the guard did not pay attention to whether the messenger had changed; with over seven thousand members in the Green Bamboo Gang, it was normal not to recognize everyone.

"The Gang Leader is drinking at the Spring Fragrance Pavilion. Why don't you leave the items here, and I'll pass them on when he returns?"

Not here? Su Xin chuckled inwardly. It was better that he wasn't; it would be dangerous to make a move inside the headquarters, but in a noisy, chaotic place like a brothel, it would be much easier to escape.

"That won't do. These items are quite private. Old Chen said I must hand them to the Gang Leader personally, so I'd better make a trip to the Spring Fragrance Pavilion."

The guard immediately gave him a knowing look.

Everyone in the Green Bamboo Gang knew that Wei Feng was fond of women, and because of this, Old Chen often brought him all sorts of exotic and lewd novelties—things that, naturally, were not meant for others to see.

Su Xin turned and walked into a small alley, casually tossing the box away. He stripped off the Green Bamboo Gang uniform to reveal the fine silk robes underneath, then produced a folding fan, instantly transforming into a dashing young master.

Stepping out of the alley, Su Xin reached a street corner where a group of sedan chair bearers waited for customers.

Su Xin tossed out a piece of silver, and a bearer's eyes lit up; he picked it up immediately and asked respectfully, "Where to, young master?"

"Spring Fragrance Pavilion."

Brothels were an essential part of every district, but the Spring Fragrance Pavilion in Chengde District was far inferior to the Drunken Moon Pavilion in his Happy Forest; the decor was poor, and the service was even worse.

Upon entering, the garish, bright red decor made Su Xin feel that the place was incredibly tacky.

Then, a fifty-year-old, stout madam came over, batting her eyelashes and giggling coquettishly, "Young master, please, come inside!" This scene left Su Xin speechless.

In a place like Boss Liu's Drunken Moon Pavilion, both the decor and the service were designed to be as elegant as possible.

Yet, this Spring Fragrance Pavilion still relied on the same old, tiresome routines of madams giggling to solicit customers and girls standing with their legs spread to welcome guests; it was hard to believe that Wei Feng, a dignified gang leader, still enjoyed such low-class antics.

"Move aside, I'll look around myself." Su Xin tossed a silver ingot directly into the madam's arms.

The madam caught the silver, took one look, and immediately turned to leave; she understood the principle that the customer was the Jade Emperor.

As long as there was silver, she would be happy to let him do whatever he wanted, let alone just shoo her away.

On the second floor of the Spring Fragrance Pavilion, Su Xin channeled his internal energy into his ears, his hearing instantly sharpening several times over. In the poorly soundproofed private rooms, various sounds became as clear as if they were right beside him.

Filtering out the background noise, Su Xin gripped the dagger hidden within his folding fan and walked toward the innermost room.

Inside the room, a man of about thirty was holding a girl, drinking sullenly, while several Green Bamboo Gang members poured wine and whispered words of comfort.

This man was the current leader of the Green Bamboo Gang, Wei Feng—though he certainly didn't look very majestic at the moment.

Wei Feng felt deeply depressed; although he had become the leader, his life was not as good as it had been when he was just the leader's son.

Back then, Wei Feng had been truly imposing; with his father backing him, who in the Green Bamboo Gang dared to provoke him?

The previous great battle between the Green Bamboo Gang and the Flying Eagle Gang had been caused by him and Sha Feiying's son, Sha Yuandong, fighting over a woman in a brothel.

At that time, he hadn't even feared Sha Yuandong; he didn't care if he was Sha Feiying's son, he would beat him regardless!

But look at him now? He had been slapped hard by the Flying Eagle Gang, and in the end, he could only sit here and drink his sorrows away.

"Damn it! Don't let me find an opportunity. Once I truly control the Green Bamboo Gang, the first thing I'll do is finish off those two old bastards!"

The gang members beside him hurriedly refilled his cup, smiling obsequiously, "Exactly! Sooner or later, we'll let those two old turtles see how powerful you are, Gang Leader!"

With a creak, the door to the room was pushed open, and Su Xin walked in.

Wei Feng frowned immediately, "Who let you in? Get out! Have you forgotten your manners?"

"Are you Wei Feng?" Su Xin asked softly, his eyes scanning everything in the room.

Aside from Wei Feng and the brothel girl in his arms, there were only five gang members in the room, all of them useless trash without any significant strength.

Perhaps Wei Feng thought that in the stronghold of his Green Bamboo Gang, no one would dare to make a move against him, so he had brought only a few lackeys to play.

"Audacious! Is our Gang Leader's name something you can just shout out?" A gang member immediately stepped forward to scold him.

Su Xin ignored him, walking forward as he said, "I came here today just to tell you one thing: those who offend my Flying Eagle Gang deserve to die!"

As the last word fell, the folding fan in Su Xin's hand shattered, revealing the dagger inside as he lunged toward Wei Feng!

"Assassins!"

The five gang members shrieked, but not a single one stepped forward to intercept Su Xin; instead, they all wailed and scrambled backward in a panic.

A look of terror flashed in Wei Feng's eyes. He was, in fact, a martial artist himself, and his internal energy cultivation was no weaker than Su Xin's; he had opened thirty-six acupoints, reaching the early stage of the Houtian Realm.

Unfortunately, he had never once experienced a true life-or-death struggle since he was a child. With such a sudden event, Wei Feng had long since forgotten that he even knew martial arts.

Su Xin frowned. He hadn't expected Wei Feng to be such a waste, so terrified that he didn't even know how to dodge.

He had no intention of actually killing Wei Feng, but if he held back too obviously, it would be far too easy for others to see through his ruse.

Fortunately, Wei Feng wasn't entirely brainless.

Just as the dagger was about to strike, Wei Feng suddenly yanked the courtesan beside him in front of himself, intending to use her to block the blow.

Su Xin intentionally shifted his aim, the dagger piercing through the courtesan's shoulder before embedding itself into Wei Feng's arm.

Having missed the killing blow, Su Xin retreated in an instant. Before Wei Feng could even react, he leaped directly out of the second-story window.

"Gang Leader, are you alright?" Seeing Su Xin flee, the few lackeys finally gathered around to offer their concerned inquiries.

"Get lost! All of you wastes, get out of my sight! What were you doing just now?"

Wei Feng shoved the weeping courtesan, who had taken the blade for him, to the side and began to berate the gang members at the top of his lungs.

The men could only offer awkward, sheepish smiles, none daring to talk back, letting Wei Feng vent his rage.

Su Xin had caused such a massive commotion that the members of the Green Bamboo Gang were quickly alerted. Ma Qingyuan and Chen Hong arrived at the Spring Fragrance Pavilion in less than half a quarter of an hour.

"Gang Leader, what happened here?" Ma Qingyuan asked, feigning concern.

"What happened? I was nearly killed by an assassin from the Flying Eagle Gang! Assassinating me right here in the territory of the Green Bamboo Gang—the Flying Eagle Gang is practically slapping my face swollen. Are you still going to endure this?" Wei Feng roared.

"Could there be some misunderstanding in all this?" Chen Hong asked.

He was thin and small, with a scholarly appearance; he looked less like a martial artist and more like a private advisor.

In reality, he had indeed been the one to devise strategies for the former leader of the Green Bamboo Gang, while all the fighting and killing had always been left to Ma Qingyuan.

Therefore, upon hearing of this incident, his first reaction was that someone was framing them. After all, the Flying Eagle Gang had always been very restrained; he did not believe they would suddenly lose their minds and send someone to assassinate Wei Feng.

"A misunderstanding? The assassin said with his own mouth that he was from the Flying Eagle Gang. What kind of misunderstanding could there be?"

Wei Feng glared at the two of them with bloodshot eyes. "If you won't fight the Flying Eagle Gang, then I will! I'll hand this position of Gang Leader over to you! I'm done!"

Chen Hong hurriedly grabbed Wei Feng's arm. "Gang Leader, calm your anger. I didn't say we wouldn't fight. I will go issue the orders right now to launch an all-out war against the Flying Eagle Gang. We must make them give us an explanation!"

"Hmph!"

Having received a satisfactory reply, Wei Feng clutched his arm and led his men away.

Once Wei Feng's people had left, Ma Qingyuan's expression turned grim. "Chen Hong, what are you doing? Starting a war now won't benefit us in the slightest!"

Chen Hong sighed. "With a situation like this, what else can we do but fight? Our own Gang Leader has been assassinated; if we still endure it, even if the high-ranking leaders listen to us, the rank-and-file members won't.

This doesn't look like the work of the Flying Eagle Gang. I feel like someone is sowing discord here—it's even possible that the brat Wei Feng hired someone himself! He wants to incite a gang war so he can seize our power while we're distracted."

"That kid has that kind of cunning?" Ma Qingyuan didn't believe it. He had watched Wei Feng grow up; this playboy was nothing more than a decorative pillow.

Chen Hong gave a cryptic smile. "When a person is pushed to the edge, what won't they do? But he's still too green if he thinks he can take our power. Doesn't he want to fight? Then I'll let him fight to his heart's content this time. Once his men are wiped out, he can go back to being a docile puppet leader!"