Fangs

"Greetings, Tiger Lord. What brings you to this filthy place so late at night?" Xu Yang curled in on himself and lowered his head, doing his best to keep Li Hu from noticing how he had changed.

Because it was dark, Li Hu really couldn't see the difference.

He strode over and stopped three paces away from Xu Yang. "The old madam's birthday is coming up, and He Shicai's family still hasn't paid the birthday tribute. I'm going to see what kind of nerve they have, daring not to pay their respects to the old madam."

His tone was mild, as if they were chatting about everyday matters.

But his words made Xu Yang's heart sink.

He Shicai's family lived not far from Xu Yang's. There were five of them, and they had been able to make ends meet. But two months ago, while He Shicai was out, he ran into some thugs. They robbed him of his money and beat him half to death. He had been lying in bed ever since, unable to get up.

With the family's breadwinner down, they could barely afford to eat. How could they have any money to spare?

"Perhaps they forgot!"

"Let's not talk about these bothersome things. These peasants are always a pain in the neck. They all deserve a beating." Li Hu changed the subject. "I heard you've made it big, lad. You found connections and went into the city to work."

So squeezing the hard-earned money from other people was what he called a bother.

While cursing the women in Li Hu's immediate family in his heart, Xu Yang put on a smile. "You're joking, Tiger Lord. I'm just a beast of burden, working for my keep. I'm nothing in your presence."

"Don't be modest. Your uncle is a bookkeeper for the Huang Family, a man of standing and influence. How could the job he arranged for you be anything less than good?"

Li Hu smiled broadly and slapped Xu Yang on the shoulder. "Your Tiger Lord's been having rotten luck lately and has lost quite a bit. Since you've made it big, lend me a few taels of silver to tide me over. I'll pay you back once I've got the money."

He had originally arranged for someone to kill Xu Yang at the Mine. But only after getting his men there did he learn that Xu Yang no longer worked at the Mine. After asking around, he found out Xu Yang had gone into the city for work.

His main purpose in coming here today was to find an excuse to make trouble for Xu Yang. He also wanted to use what had happened to He Shicai's family to scare him.

Of course, if Xu Yang could come up with a few taels of silver, he'd let him live a few more days.

"Tiger Lord, you're joking. If you were borrowing a few copper coins, I could manage that. A few taels of silver? I've never even seen that much money."

Xu Yang knew trouble was probably here. Li Hu was starting to pressure him.

It was a standard Tri-Union Gang tactic: threaten you first, and if that didn't work, use underhanded, vicious methods in secret until your family was ruined.

"So... you're saying you won't give me, Li Hu, any face? You won't lend me money?" Li Hu's smile vanished, and his voice turned cold. "A-Yang, you should know no one's ever refused your Tiger Lord. I'm giving you face by asking to borrow money."

The two lackeys behind him stepped forward in unison, loosening their limbs as if they were ready to beat someone.

"Yes, yes... Of course I know that your asking to borrow money is giving me face, Tiger Lord, but I really don't have any."

Xu Yang took a deep breath. "How about this, Tiger Lord? Give me a few days. I'll ask my uncle to lend me some. I should be able to borrow a few taels of silver."

Li Hu's smile returned. "I knew you were a decent fellow, A-Yang. You'll help your Tiger Lord out. I'll come back for the money in a few days."

"There's no need for you to come in person, Tiger Lord. Once I have the money, I'll bring it to your home."

Li Hu was even happier. "Good, good. If everyone were as loyal as you, A-Yang, there wouldn't be so many bothersome things."

With that, he left in a big stride, his two lackeys following.

"Tiger Lord, can that lad really borrow a few taels of silver?" one of the lackeys asked.

They might throw their weight around, but a few taels of silver was still a lot of money to them.

Most of the money the Tri-Union Gang extorted went into the gang leader's pockets. The rest of them only got enough to scrape by.

"His uncle works for the Huang Family. His monthly salary's two taels. A few taels of silver is nothing to him. Leave the lad alone for now. We'll squeeze some money out of him, then make our move. And don't tell anyone about this.

"If the gang finds out, we won't get so much as a hair." Li Hu warned them.

Xu Yang had a timid nature. Unless Hu Qing was involved, he'd usually back down.

"Don't worry, Tiger Lord. We're not stupid enough to tell anyone about a good thing like this."

"A few taels of silver? He's eaten so much—doesn't he worry he'll burst?"

Xu Yang didn't even have enough money to practice martial arts. There was no way he could hand over a few taels of silver.

He watched Li Hu and the others walk away, then headed home.

He called him Tiger Lord because of the Tri-Union Gang's influence. Li Hu was just a low-level gang member who went out to collect protection money, an ordinary man.

His family came from one of the villages near White Stone Ward. He had been poor in his youth, and when the Tri-Union Gang came to establish itself there, he joined with nothing but a streak of ruthlessness. He wasn't anyone important, much less a martial artist.

If Xu Yang had wanted to make a move, he could have killed all three of them just then. But this wasn't the place.

He had barely been home a short while when cries and the sound of smashing came from nearby.

Li Hu and his two men had trashed He Shicai's home. After spewing a string of filthy curses, they finally left.

As he passed Xu Yang's door, Li Hu reminded him not to forget what he had promised, clearly using what had happened to He Shicai's family to put him in his place.

"Brother, what did you promise him?" Hu Qing's little face had gone pale.

The cries of the children in He Shicai's family had frightened her. They were her playmates.

"I promised him I'd pay the household fee early next month."

Xu Yang answered offhandedly, told Xu Qing to stay quietly at home, and headed for He Shicai's place.

The door had been torn off its hinges, and the bed they slept on had been smashed. He Shicai lay unconscious on the ground. His wife's hair was disheveled, blood ran from her nose and mouth, and her cheeks were swollen red. Who knew how many times she'd been slapped?

Three children, all under ten, were huddled in a corner, trembling and crying in fright.

The neighbors who came over helped in different ways. Some tried to comfort the children, while others put the bed back together and picked up the broken pots and bowls from the floor.

The door was beyond repair.

After helping clean up, Xu Yang went home and went straight to bed. He'd been tired all day and was already completely worn out.

In the middle of the night, a burst of crying woke him. He opened the door and heard a chorus of wails from He Shicai's home.

He Shicai, who had been bedridden for two months, was dead!

They said he had woken after being rescued, seen his home smashed to pieces, and spat up a mouthful of blood before fainting again. He had held on until midnight, then passed away.

Xu Yang didn't go back to help the family. Instead, he had Xu Qing take two bowls of brown rice from the rice jar to them, then went back to sleep and rest up.

He didn't know whether He Shicai had been caught up in trouble because of him, but Li Hu had already bared his fangs. Xu Yang wasn't about to sit around waiting for death.

The next day, He Shicai was buried without a single ceremony.

Forget a thin wooden coffin—even a straw mat had been hard to come by. Someone couldn't bear to see it and gave them one, so He Shicai had something to wrap his body in.

Xu Yang went to Wei Yuan Hall as usual, but stopped practicing in the afternoon. He found a shady corner and went straight to sleep.

Everyone thought he had started giving up. They couldn't help shaking their heads; they hadn't expected him to be the second one to quit.

By dinnertime, Zhang Hong woke Xu Yang, and the two of them went to the dining hall together.

After eating, Xu Yang returned to White Stone Ward and went back to sleep.

At the second watch of the night, a figure darted out of Xu Yang's home and vanished into the darkness.