Night Fire

The moon was dark, the wind high; heaven and earth were black as ink.

Not far from the river stood a small courtyard, its interior brightly lit and filled with clamor.

This was the Fish-Dragon Gang's hall. Several tables laden with wine and meat stood in the main hall, where the gang members drank in celebration.

"In one month, Hall Master Li will have his great day. Congratulations to Hall Master Li on winning a beauty's hand."

Sister Hua, the matchmaker who had gone to deliver the betrothal gifts yesterday, raised her wine cup in a toast to Li Dadao.

Beaming with joy, Li Dadao drained an entire jug of wine and repeatedly praised the matchmaker for knowing how to handle things.

Learning that the Zhao Clan woman he had longed for had accepted the betrothal gifts and would even choose an auspicious date, Li Dadao was overjoyed. The banquets had not stopped these past two nights.

Sister Hua's eyes shifted as she added,

"Hall Master Li, you don't know this, but that Zhao woman initially refused no matter what. She even wanted to use scissors to ruin her own face.

"My lips were nearly worn thin before I finally made her realize just how wise and mighty you are, Hall Master..."

With all her embellishments, Sister Hua made it sound as though she had fought a great battle.

After Li Dadao heard her out, he immediately took out several taels of broken silver as a reward.

The moment Sister Hua saw the silver, her face blossomed into a smile.

"Many thanks for Hall Master Li's reward. Girls, Hall Master Li is in a good mood today, so hurry up and serve him!"

At the matchmaker's command, the scantily clad girls on either side of Li Dadao pressed their bodies against him. Their smiles were full of fawning charm, and their methods of teasing men were thoroughly professional.

In truth, Sister Hua's identity as a "matchmaker" was merely a side job. Her main profession was as a brothel madam under the Fish-Dragon Gang.

It was also Sister Hua who had suggested that Li Dadao deliver the betrothal gifts directly.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Li Dadao suddenly said,

"Sister Hua, you've done well these past two years. You've earned quite a bit of money for the gang.

"Now that the fish-scale tax has been collected, I'll put in a word with Gang Leader Wang after some time. Maybe I can let you drink the secret medicine too and become a strong fighter like me."

At those words, Sister Hua froze. Having worked under the Fish-Dragon Gang for years, how could she not know of their secret art?

It was something that could allow ordinary people to stand shoulder to shoulder with martial artists!

Li Dadao had initially been nothing more than an ordinary gang member. Only after taking the secret medicine had he become a hall master, with more than a dozen underlings and the power to run rampant through the area.

Yet Sister Hua felt no excitement. Instead, her heart sank.

The Fish-Dragon Gang's secret medicine was like poison. Of ten people who took it, nine could die. Sister Hua had no desire to take that risk and immediately waved her hands in refusal.

"Thank you for your kindness, Hall Master Li, but I'm only a woman... I'd better not."

"Hm? Don't tell me you look down on Gang Leader's secret art?"

Li Dadao immediately frowned, seeming somewhat displeased.

But just as he was about to force Sister Hua into submission, her body suddenly swayed, and then she collapsed onto the table.

"Damn it, you're pretending to be drunk?"

Li Dadao flew into a rage and was just about to spring up when the two women beside him also went limp and fell to the ground.

Turning his head, he saw that the dozen or so gang members were either sprawled across the tables or lying on the floor.

As soon as he rose, a wave of dizziness struck him, and his limbs turned weak.

At this point, no matter how foolish Li Dadao was, he realized something was wrong.

His qi and blood were far stronger than an ordinary person's. There was no way he had simply drunk too much. He had been hit by a dirty trick!

Li Dadao immediately covered his mouth and nose and rushed outside.

If he stayed in the room and inhaled a few more breaths of the drugged smoke, he would be beyond saving.

Outside, the night was dark and deep.

The instant Li Dadao stepped through the door, a fist-shadow shot from the darkness and smashed viciously into the side of his abdomen.

Crack!

A crisp sound came from Li Dadao's side. The punch had clearly broken his ribs, sending him tumbling far away.

Pfft!

Li Dadao spat out a mouthful of bloody foam and struggled to prop himself up.

Looking at the figure in a conical hat standing at the doorway, Li Dadao roared,

"You despicable wretch, using underhanded tricks!"

"Who are you? Which gang are you from? Daring to provoke my Fish-Dragon Gang—you're courting death!"

"You're already at death's door, yet you still have so much nonsense to say."

The man's voice was cold. It was Wei Luo!

He had long since infiltrated the Fish-Dragon Gang's hall, scouted the perimeter, and confirmed that everyone was celebrating in the main hall before making his move and releasing the drugged smoke.

It had to be said, the smoke worked well. In just a few breaths, it had brought down more than a dozen people.

But against Li Dadao, the drugged smoke alone was clearly not enough.

What puzzled him even more was that the punch he had used just now was called Raging Waves Strike the Shore, the most powerful move of the Wavebreaker Fist.

After breaking through the first threshold of qi and blood, Wei Luo's arms could exert more than five hundred jin of force, while the explosive power of his punches could exceed a thousand jin.

Against an ordinary person, punching clean through them would not have been surprising.

Yet that punch had failed to kill Li Dadao, merely gravely wounding him.

He looked at the faintly flickering scale-light across Li Dadao's body and surmised that this was why Li Dadao had been able to take the blow.

But his opponent was now at the end of his rope. Wei Luo did not waste any more words and directly rushed forward.

Li Dadao felt as though half his body had gone numb.

Seeing Wei Luo attack, he raised his fist to strike.

But a cloud of lime instantly burst from Wei Luo's palm.

Pfft!

The lime hit him full in the face.

Caught off guard, Li Dadao's eyes were immediately seared.

His fists flailed wildly, yet they could not even brush the corner of Wei Luo's clothes.

Li Dadao simply began spinning rapidly, swinging his arms in wide circles and striking out in a frenzy.

Until he was panting from exhaustion,

he finally stopped.

He waited for a full half minute, but his opponent seemed to have vanished and never made a move.

But in the instant Li Dadao hesitated,

a flash of snow-white light pierced through his neck.

Pshk!

Dark red blood sprayed out.

Wei Luo twisted and pulled with the dagger in his hand, and a fine head went rolling away.

Even after his head had been severed from his body, Li Dadao's eyes remained open.

He could not understand how there could be someone so underhanded.

First came the drugged smoke, then the sneak attack. When they had finally started exchanging fists, there was lime first, then a dagger.

From beginning to end, he had not touched this man even once. In a muddle, he had lost his life.

Yet not a ripple rose in Wei Luo's heart. He merely carried his dagger into the room.

Soon, waves of pained, muffled groans sounded from within.

When Wei Luo emerged, no one inside was left breathing.

More than a dozen money pouches had appeared in his hand. He did not count them closely, but together they should amount to over ten taels of silver.

"As expected, murder and arson make a golden belt. This way of making money is no ordinary kind of fast."

There should have been hidden compartments for storing money in this courtyard, but killing people and destroying the corpses was the real business. Wei Luo did not deliberately search for them.

He retrieved tung oil from beneath a tree outside the courtyard. He had prepared everything before coming.

Wei Luo was just about to splash the tung oil around,

when the cries of children suddenly came from the woodshed behind him.

His gaze sharpened as he turned his head. Light from within the woodshed flickered through the gaps in its wooden boards.

Bang!

The woodshed door was kicked open.

Under the dim light, more than a dozen young faces were filled with terror.

These children all looked very young, likely no older than ten.

They stared fixedly at Wei Luo, covered in blood. This was the very person who had just cut off Li Dadao's head and slaughtered everyone inside.

They had seen it all through the cracks and did not even dare breathe loudly.

Wei Luo swept his gaze around and spotted Uncle Cao's eight-year-old granddaughter, Yuanyuan.

Yuanyuan was curled up at that moment, her hands and feet chained just like those of the other children.

Looking at these abducted children, a question suddenly rose in Wei Luo's heart.

Why was the Fish-Dragon Gang suddenly abducting children?

This was only one hall. The entire Fish-Dragon Gang had several halls—just how many children had they captured?

If they meant to sell them, they should have transported them away long ago.

All sorts of thoughts rose in his mind, but Wei Luo had no time to think further. He simply asked the children,

"Can you find your way home?"

"Yes... I know where this is."

A little boy gathered his courage and replied. His voice still trembled. He did not know whether Wei Luo was truly a good person or a ruthless killer like Li Dadao, someone who killed without blinking.

"Then you'll lead them home in a moment."

Leaving behind those words, Wei Luo turned and walked away.

A short while later, a raging fire rose from the Fish-Dragon Gang's hall. Under the glow of the flames, the dozen or so children ran toward home.

Wei Luo waited for a while. Only after seeing that no one escaped from the burning courtyard did he vanish into the night.