"Want extra toppings?"
The old woman expertly ladled out a bowl of soup, scooped up a small spoonful of pig blood and offal, then shook it and shook it.
The scent of spices wafted over, mingled with the distinctive aroma of offal.
"Stop shaking that spoon, Granny. Once I make it big, I'll come here every day and pay an extra dollar for toppings to support your business."
Li Xiuwen couldn't help speaking up. This old woman's hand shook even more than a cafeteria lady's. She wouldn't spare him even a few pieces of pig blood.
"By the time you make it big, I'll be in the ground."
"No way. I've already consulted Buddha. You're such a kind woman, Granny. You'll definitely live to a hundred."
"I'm Christian."
"Same difference."
"Where's your son, Granny? Isn't he helping you anymore?"
"My A-Hua's grown sensible. He found some manual labor these past few days. He's earning money to support me in my old age."
At that, the old woman smiled with relief.
"That's good. If A-Hua can support himself, you'll be able to rest easy when you go."
A-Hua had been born with an intellectual disability. He was in his thirties, unmarried, and still depended on his mother to support him.
Before long,
Li Xiuwen had finished his bowl of pig blood soup, draining every last drop.
"More soup!"
"Were you a starving ghost in your last life? This fine soup is a family recipe, and you've drunk half my pot all by yourself."
The old woman took his bowl and reluctantly filled it to the brim again.
"Look on the bright side... I'm going to buy some flatbread. Don't clear away my bowl, Granny. I'll want another refill when I'm done."
"Refill my foot. I'm closing up."
Li Xiuwen ran over to the bakery across the street and waited for fresh flatbread to come off the griddle.
He had just bought his bread and hadn't even left when a crash rang out from across the street. A bowl must have fallen to the ground.
He looked out through the window.
Over at the Pig Blood Soup Shop, a tall, sloppily dressed figure in flip-flops had planted one foot on the table where he'd been eating.
It was Brother Ji.
With the Thirteen Guardians there to cause trouble, the few customers in the shop left with their heads lowered, not daring to look straight at them.
"Granny, did you know your son owes me money?" Brother Ji grabbed a handful of offal from the basin and stuffed it into his mouth as though he were in his own home.
"How could he? My A-Hua never borrows money." The old woman's expression turned grim. She knew Brother Ji was here to make trouble again.
Brother Ji clapped his hands. Two punks emerged from a dark alley, dragging a figure whose face was battered and swollen, his mouth full of bloody foam.
"Ask your precious son."
The old woman hurried forward to help A-Hua up. "What happened? Do you owe someone money? How much?"
A-Hua lowered his head and sobbed, trembling. "Ma, I... I don't know. Brother Ji said he'd give me Sugar Pills. After I ate them, he said I owed him money."
"What Sugar Pills?" Suddenly, her expression changed. Her son's eyes looked a little like those of the Dragon-Chasing Duke on Guangwang Street.
Empty, numb, without a trace of light.
She pointed a trembling finger at Brother Ji. "You tricked A-Hua into taking that stuff? Are you even human? You knew full well he was a fool!"
Brother Ji spread his hands and smiled. "I didn't trick him. He wanted to take them himself... Right, boys?" He looked at the other punks.
"Exactly. The idiot wanted them himself. What's that got to do with us?"
"You old hag, pay up! Or we'll smash your shop!"
The old woman wiped away her tears in silence. Under the punks' urging, she went inside and rummaged through her belongings, bringing out a scattered pile of crumpled bills and coins.
"How much does he owe you?"
"Three hundred. With interest, let's make it four hundred. I've always respected the elderly and cared for the young." Brother Ji stood with his hands in his pockets, his mouth twisted in a grin.
The old woman counted the money carefully, going over it several times for fear of giving him too much.
"Count your fucking mother! Four hundred is me being merciful." Losing patience, Brother Ji snatched all the money from her hands, then turned and left with his men.
The force dragged the old woman to the ground, splitting the skin on her head. She struggled up, crying, "That's my coffin money! You can't take it all!"
Only after Brother Ji and his men had disappeared did Li Xiuwen leave the bakery. He helped the old woman up, then went to the clinic next door to buy her an adhesive bandage.
"Granny, don't let A-Hua go out anymore. Keep him locked inside. The Enclave's getting more and more lawless..."
After helping the old woman tidy up the wrecked shop,
Li Xiuwen gazed in the direction Brother Ji and his men had gone.
He took a deep breath and clenched his fist, his knuckles creaking.
Then he turned and headed toward the martial arts school.
The walled city was small, a mere speck of land.
Yet it was also vast. The people here had taken the use of space to its absolute limit.
People often said the walled city consisted of five districts: east, west, south, north, and central.
In reality, there were two more districts that people overlooked: the rooftop district and the sewer district.
These two districts connected in every direction and were ideal for harboring filth and crime. They were prime territory fought over by the walled city's gangs of lowlife punks.
The Thirteen Guardians of Longjin Road hid in a secluded dead end in the Sewers.
"Third Master..."
Brother Ji, normally so swaggering and imposing, knelt on the ground.
Ahead of him, a shirtless old man with a pencil mustache sat on a "throne" fashioned from scrap metal.
Lean and muscular, with a ruddy face and piercing eyes, the old man smoked a pipe in his left hand while holding a chain in his right.
At the other end of the chain was a carefully groomed young woman in a figure-hugging qipao.
She lay on the ground, trimming Third Master's gray nails.
This old man was none other than Third Master, notorious throughout Longjin Road and leader of the Thirteen Guardians.
"Rotten-Life Ji, why is this month's protection money short again?" Third Master asked, narrowing his eyes as he exhaled a ring of smoke.
"Third Master, the annual Cross-River Gathering was held recently. Changle's been cracking down hard, so we haven't dared make any rash moves," Brother Ji said with his head lowered.
"Don't slack off. Tianyi and Changle are about to go to war. They'll clear the field before they clash. Make one last haul as soon as you can, then we're leaving," Third Master said.
"Third Master, why are the higher-ups in such a hurry to leave? As the saying goes, when the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits. With our [Child Heavenly King]'s strength, we might even be able to swallow up The Enclave." After saying that, Brother Ji lowered his voice. "Besides, I heard Mr. Ming suffered cultivation deviation a few years ago. Nobody even knows whether he's still at his peak."
"Mr. Ming has held sway over The Enclave for thirty years. Even the governor of Xianghai has to show him some respect. Even if those rumors are true, he isn't someone we can easily stand against."
"True... A starved camel is still bigger than a horse."
"The Child
Gang is nothing but a loose collection of men. They'll never amount to much. I'm old now. I only want to make one more haul with the brothers, get some capital, and start a legitimate business so I can enjoy my remaining years in peace. Rotten-Life Ji, if next month's protection money doesn't meet the target, you ought to give up that third seat of yours." Third Master rubbed his brass knuckles as he spoke.
After a moment of silence, Brother Ji said quietly, "Understood."
In a dark alley, Brother Ji emerged from the Sewers with his two underlings.
One of them said, "Brother Ji, isn't Third Master deliberately making things hard for us?
How are we supposed to squeeze five thousand a month out of this tiny patch of Longjin Road?"
The other underling spoke up indignantly:
"Brother Ji, don't put up with this shit anymore! I remember you mentioning that you've got a cousin in the Thunder God Shed, don't you? What future do we have following Third Master?"
"Heh. That cousin of mine is the reason I ended up like this. I'd sooner die than go to him!" Brother Ji narrowed his eyes, a dangerous air radiating from him.
His underlings fell silent.
After a pause, he said, "Don't talk out of turn about Third Master behind his back. We just do our jobs."
Brother Ji's expression remained calm, but inwardly he cursed the old bastard for his disloyalty.
Before you continue