Underground Powers

These, of course, were what had become of those outsiders!

In fact, if he had not ignited his Heavenly Heart and gained some confidence, things would have been very different.

If the man before him spotted so much as a trace of fear or uncertainty, Tang Changsheng would end up little better off than the people in those photographs!

Keeping a band of men from the underworld under your command was like keeping a vicious ghost.

If you had the ability, you could subdue it and make it obey.

But if you lacked the ability, the vicious ghost would sense your weakness and turn on you without hesitation, devouring every scrap of your flesh and blood!

"Have you found out who these people were?" The bloody scene in the photographs chilled Tang Changsheng to the bone, but his face betrayed nothing. He looked entirely sure of himself as he asked the question in an even voice.

The man replied respectfully, "They were just some outsiders who didn't know the rules. That's why they crossed the General's Temple!"

He was still trembling slightly as he spoke.

An old saying fit the two of them perfectly: a reed stalk striking a wolf, each as afraid as the other!

Tang Changsheng feared the cruelty of these underworld forces. But the man before him had personally seen more than a dozen thugs either foam at the mouth and go mad with fright or die on the spot when terror shattered their hearts and courage.

The bodies strewn across the grounds outside the General's Temple that day were a sight no witness could ever forget!

These men had seen plenty of blood. Killing with knives and guns made them wary, to be sure, but it did not frighten them.

Yet to die as miserably and inexplicably as those thugs had was enough to chill even the most hardened underworld veteran!

"Hmm?" Tang Changsheng saw the man's fear and gave a heavy snort. "Who would have any interest in my patch of wilderness? Or has the General's Temple been away from the world so long that certain people have begun entertaining ideas?"

The man was horrified. He had barely managed to hold himself together before, but now he dropped to his knees with a thud. "Master, please see the truth! No one in the Xingfa Gang would ever dare entertain such thoughts."

Afraid Tang Changsheng might think he was framing a rival, he hurried on. "They claimed they were developing a cemetery, but they were really tomb robbers, men who make their living from underground dealings. One of them had a keen eye and said he'd spotted a great tomb in Dead Man Mountain...

"He also thought it strange that the General's Temple was here and suspected it was built specifically to guard that tomb... So..."

Zuo Xingfa was, after all, one of the leading underworld figures in Lower River. Careful as he was with his words, he was still probing Tang Changsheng.

Tang Changsheng acted as though he had not noticed. "People these days know less and less about the rules. Those who work the disreputable trades don't even know enough to keep their eyes open..."

As Zuo Xingfa listened, cold sweat rose on his forehead again. He could not shake the feeling that those words were aimed at him.

But after a couple of remarks, Tang Changsheng suddenly asked, "Zuo Xingfa, you came. Where is Zhang Dacheng?"

Zhang Dacheng and Zuo Xingfa led the two largest underworld forces in Lower River.

In the past, they could have been called the General's Temple's outer guardians. They ran errands for the temple and were expected to act for it at the first sign of trouble.

Now Zuo Xingfa had come, but Zhang Dacheng had not! What did that mean?

At any other time, Zuo Xingfa would have struggled to contain his delight at Zhang Dacheng's misfortune and might even have kicked him while he was down.

But he dared not do that now. If Tang Changsheng thought he had some ulterior motive, he would be in trouble!

So he answered honestly, "Dacheng Industries has grown bigger and bigger. Zhang Dacheng is hardly ever in Lower River these days!"

Tang Changsheng nodded. "I see."

He said nothing more, merely adding, "We'll leave the matter there. You may go."

Zuo Xingfa did not dare ask another question. He took his leave with repeated words of assent.

But he remembered what the thugs driven mad with fear had said when questioned, and he could not help glancing up at the general's statue on the altar.

The blue-faced, fanged statue stood amid the curling incense smoke. It looked mysterious, almost indistinct, as though it might lift a foot from the altar and step down.

Zuo Xingfa shuddered. All the terrifying tales about the General's Temple, buried deep in his memory, flooded back at once.

His mind wandered, and he caught his foot on the threshold. Had Tang Changsheng not grabbed him, Zuo Xingfa would have gone sprawling.

Tang Changsheng gave him a faint, unreadable smile. "Watch where you're going. You wouldn't want to fall."

Zuo Xingfa managed a smile uglier than a grimace and thanked him over and over.

Only after watching Zuo Xingfa descend the mountain did Tang Changsheng let out a soft breath.

Zuo Xingfa was one of Lower River's two leading underworld figures. Having frightened him into such a state today, Tang Changsheng figured there should be little more to worry about!

Dealing with people from the underworld really was like bargaining with a tiger for its skin!

Then a faint smile appeared on Tang Changsheng's face.

The people who had set their sights on the General's Temple had finally been dealt with.

But... remembering what Zuo Xingfa had said, his expression darkened slightly. Those outsiders really had some ability. They had even discovered the ancient tomb beneath Dead Man Mountain!

The thought left him with a lingering fear. Tomb robbers could be vicious and ruthless.

Some might find tomb robbing mysterious and romantic, but Tang Changsheng knew it was one of the lowest trades in the underworld.

It ranked even below begging and prostitution, and other underworld figures despised it... Just look at the custom among tomb robbers in many places: father and son went together, with the son entering the tomb while the father kept watch!

Do not mistake this for a father and son fighting side by side, or a son taking on the hard work for his father...

Countless bloody incidents lay behind that custom.

Tomb robbers were ruthless, and the money they made could never see the light of day. Since ancient times, they had clung to wealth as if their lives depended on it, greedier even than eunuchs.

So partners plotted against and murdered one another for money more often than anyone could count.

Even blood brothers could not be trusted. It had to be a father and his own son...

There were vicious sons who sealed their fathers inside tombs to keep the riches for themselves. But few fathers were cruel enough to devour their own cubs and murder their own sons.

That was why the custom had taken hold!

From that alone, one could imagine just how savage and ruthless tomb robbers were!

If they thought someone stood in their way, killing a person or two was nothing to them.