Chen Ye looked at Su Guang and asked, "Brother Su, I need a poison, preferably one triggered by its scent. It has to be strong enough to bring down a Dragon Elephant Martial Master. You spent eight years with the Feng Family. Have you heard of anything like that?"
Su Guang pondered for a moment, his brow furrowing. "When I served the Third Young Master, I dealt with people from the Medicine Gang a few times. I still know some people in the medicinal herb trade.
"I heard them speak of a poison called Mandala Flower Poison. It dissolves on contact with water, but it only takes effect when combined with Black Fat Insect Powder. Once poisoned, an ordinary person is certain to die.
"Even a martial master in the Dragon Elephant Realm, with a body as tough as theirs, would go numb all over. It would take at least an hour for the effects to ease."
Chen Ye clapped his hands and smiled. "That's exactly what I need. Can you get it?"
Su Guang shook his head with a rueful smile. "The Feng Family has thrown me out. The Medicine Gang might not do me that favor now. Even with silver, I might not be able to buy it."
Chen Ye smiled unconcernedly and patted his shoulder. "Not necessarily. Tell me, has the Feng Family announced that the Third Young Master was poisoned to death?"
"No." Su Guang thought back. "I heard from my old brothers that they held his funeral in secret and never made it public. It's a scandal for the Feng Family. Even if outsiders know something happened, they can't know much."
"Good." Chen Ye's eyes gleamed. "Then would they know you've been expelled from the Feng Family?"
Su Guang froze, as though something had clicked. "It seems... they wouldn't know that either."
"There you have it." A sly note entered Chen Ye's voice. "As long as you don't tell them yourself, who knows what's going on inside the Feng Family? Go to your old contacts in the Medicine Gang. They'll recognize your face, and if you don't mention being expelled, they'll assume you're still one of the Feng Family's people."
Su Guang lowered his head and thought it over. The more he considered it, the more sense it made.
After another moment of silence, he said, "But I need something to prove I'm with the Feng Family. A familiar face and a few words about old times won't be enough to make them hand over a poison like that."
Chen Ye smiled.
What a coincidence.
He took a Jade Pendant from inside his robe, set it gently on the table, and pushed it toward Su Guang.
Su Guang picked it up in confusion. The character "Zhou" was carved into it. "This is..."
"The personal Jade Pendant of Third Madam Zhou."
Su Guang and Zuo Dongxi turned to look at Chen Ye at the same time, genuinely taken aback.
Neither had expected Chen Ye to have something like this.
Su Guang held the Jade Pendant and cupped his fists, his expression solemn. "Brother Chen, you've already gone this far. If I can't handle the rest, I'll have no excuse. Give me a few days, and I'll bring you the poison."
"Be quick!"
Chen Ye said, "We can't interfere with the Dragon Elephant Realm martial masters from the Liu Family and Cui Family, so leave them alone for now. Our target is that band of desperate men. Once the poison arrives, I'll have to trouble Brother Zuo to get it into their stomachs."
Zuo Dongxi threw back his head and laughed, thumping his chest. "Don't worry about that, Brother Chen. Rough fellows like us might not be much good at killing people head-on, but sneaking about, slipping poison into food, and clubbing people from behind? That's right up our alley. If it doesn't work, hold me responsible."
"When the time comes, Brother Su and I will make the trip and wait outside to cover you. That way, if anyone tries to tip them off, they won't ruin our plans."
"Good." Chen Ye felt a weight lift from his chest. "With those preparations settled, there are a few more details I need to go over with you."
They talked late into the night. Fengqing Restaurant had already closed by the time the three of them finally rose to leave.
When Chen Ye stepped out of the restaurant, the night breeze was cool.
He stood at the mouth of the alley for a moment.
Faint lights glimmered in the direction of Cui Mansion.
He pulled his robe tighter, turned, and vanished into the night.
Early the next morning.
A member of the Patrol Horse Gang squatted by the door, bouncing his leg in boredom as he looked around.
As soon as Chen Ye came out, he jumped up to greet him, bowing and scraping. "Master Chen, you're awake? The gang leader sent me to take you there."
Chen Ye glanced at him. The young man was barely grown, skinny as a bamboo pole, and looked as though a gust of wind might knock him over.
Yesterday at Fengqing Restaurant, Chen Ye had mentioned that he wanted to visit the Liu Family's ambush site outside the city on his own and make some preparations in advance.
Zuo Dongxi had assigned a reliable gang member to show him the way.
"What's your name?"
"Master Chen, they call me Skinny Monkey. You can just call me Monkey."
"No proper name?"
The young man grinned, showing a pair of yellowed front teeth. "Heh, my family died when I was little. Who was going to give me a proper name? Everyone's always called me Monkey. Come to think of it, I've got the same surname as you, Master Chen. If someone outside the gang really wanted to show me respect, Chen Er would be as grand as it gets. Just call me Monkey."
Chen Ye nodded and asked no more.
"Lead the way. Let's take a look."
"This way, Master Chen."
After all the storms he had weathered, Chen Ye had acquired a trace of the Jianghu's blood-soaked air. It lent him an oppressive presence without his doing a thing.
Walking beside him, Monkey could not say what felt wrong.
Instinct simply told him to rein himself in.
He dropped his usual gang manner, kept his head down, and hurried along without daring to be careless.
Xiangguo Temple stood on a mountain fifty li outside Capital City.
To reach it from Capital City, one had to travel about twenty li along the official road, then another thirty li up a winding mountain path.
According to the intelligence they had gathered, the Liu Family planned to strike along that thirty-li stretch of mountain road.
The two jogged the whole way. After about an hour, they reached the stretch the martial masters had scouted repeatedly.
"Master Chen, this is the place."
Chen Ye looked where Chen Monkey pointed.
Ahead, one stretch of the mountain road ran between dense woods, while another squeezed through a narrow passage beside the rock face.
On the wooded stretch, the tree crowns blotted out the sun. Thick undergrowth filled the forest floor, making visibility poor.
Shallow gullies and earthen slopes formed naturally among the trees, offering plenty of places to hide.
Chen Ye went in.
A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground and rustled underfoot.
With enough care, though, even that faint sound could be masked by the wind and birdsong in the woods.
Past that stretch of forest road lay the narrow passage beside the rock face.
On one side rose a steep wall of stone several yards high, its surface smooth and difficult to climb.
On the other side was a deep ravine and a sheer drop, impossible to cross.
The road narrowed abruptly there, leaving just enough room for one carriage to pass and none to turn around.
A bend between the wooded stretch and the rocky passage also blocked the view ahead.
If the narrow rocky passage were blocked and the desperate men the Liu Family had assembled burst out behind the Cui Family to cut off their retreat, they could catch them completely off guard.
It was a natural ambush site.
Chen Ye spent a long while examining the place. Only once he was sure he had its layout firmly in mind did he leave.
On the way down the mountain, he passed a level stretch of ground between two mountains. The locals called it Wang Family Valley.
Square plots of farmland lined both sides of the road, with a few ponds scattered among them for irrigation.
Chen Ye swept his gaze over it. A thought stirred, and he committed the terrain to memory as well.
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