Handover

Their clash could not be called lightning-fast, but in only a few breaths, victory and defeat had been decided. The Fierce Tiger Gang members' jaws nearly dropped to the ground. In contrast, the six from Wan Jian Peak looked entirely calm; evidently, this was perfectly normal in their eyes.

Hall Master Xing sat in his chair, pale as dirt, seemingly not yet recovered from the shock. Situ Liang and the others did not step forward to comfort him. Their minds were racing as well. They had originally believed that, since Wan Jian Peak had sent people to take over the Fierce Tiger Gang, they had no choice but to submit. Yet seeing that the arrivals were young people, they had naturally wanted to give them a show of force, so they would not look down on the Fierce Tiger Gang. That way, when authority within the gang was divided afterward, they could gain a favorable position. Thus, when Hall Master Xing raised his objection, no one stopped him; they had chosen to stand by and watch. But the result had been far too unexpected. In merely three moves, Hall Master Xing had been defeated. Thinking carefully over Qu Xiangfeng's three moves, the timing of each had been exquisite. Every strike had forced Hall Master Xing to grit his teeth and receive it head-on. The angles had not been particularly tricky, even broad and open, but the crucial point was the strength behind them. The internal power contained within that greatsword was simply beyond Hall Master Xing's comparison. Great skill appeared clumsy. Had anyone else from the Fierce Tiger Gang stepped forward, the result would have been the same.

No wonder Wan Jian Peak had sent only seven people. These seven alone were worth more than half the Fierce Tiger Gang.

Seeing the Fierce Tiger Gang members' shifting expressions, Qu Xiangfeng did not give them much time to think. He held the greatsword in his hand and called out, "Everyone, if anyone still has objections to us, please step forward and speak."

Situ Liang and the others exchanged glances. Elder Chu rose and said, "Young Hero Qu, please put away your sword. We have no objections."

Seeing Elder Chu speak, Qu Xiangfeng slung the greatsword back over his shoulder. Yet he did not return to his seat. Instead, he looked over the Fierce Tiger Gang members and confirmed again, "You have no objections to Wan Jian Peak temporarily taking over the Fierce Tiger Gang?"

Situ Liang and the others answered in unison, "Yes. We obey the Gang Leader's command and will follow Young Hero Qu of Wan Jian Peak's instructions."

Then Situ Liang invited Qu Xiangfeng to take the seat of honor. "Please take the seat, Gang Leader Qu. We await Gang Leader Qu's commands."

Qu Xiangfeng did not stand on ceremony. He walked to a chair at the front of the hall, sat down, and said to the Fierce Tiger Gang members, "Please take your seats as well."

Thus, everyone sat down again.

Qu Xiangfeng said, "Do not harbor any misgivings. By my Sword Master's orders, I am only temporarily taking charge of the Fierce Tiger Gang. Once Gang Leader Situ returns, all matters will certainly be handed back to her. Moreover, before Gang Leader Situ returns, the gang's affairs will continue to be handled as usual by Elder Chu, Hall Master Situ, and the others. We will not interfere. We merely ask that Hall Master Situ explain any actions to us beforehand."

Situ Liang and the others were deeply puzzled. What was this supposed to mean? He had taken the Gang Leader's position but would not do a Gang Leader's work, occupying the post while ignoring every affair of the gang. Hall Master Xing even looked at the tiger's mouth of his hand, split open from the impact, and regretted his actions. Had he known it would be like this, why had he challenged them? He had lost face for nothing. But soon, everyone came up with their own explanation. The Fierce Tiger Gang was their entire world, something not to be violated, but in the other party's eyes, it was merely a chicken rib—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to throw away. Qu Xiangfeng probably had not wanted to come at all. He had only come because he was constrained by his master's command, so after arriving, he simply chose not to interfere and let them develop as they pleased.

Thinking this, everyone revealed relieved expressions.

Seeing that everyone understood what he meant, Qu Xiangfeng no longer wished to linger in the hall. He said, "Then I will have to ask everyone to put more thought into the Fierce Tiger Gang's affairs from now on. For the time being, we will stay in the place arranged this afternoon. Do not disturb us while we practice unless there is something important." With that, he cupped his hands to bid the Fierce Tiger Gang members farewell. The group returned to their quarters.

After returning to their quarters, Qu Xiangfeng had everyone enter his room, leaving one person outside to stand guard. Looking at the five people inside, Qu Xiangfeng said with satisfaction, "Today's matter with the Fierce Tiger Gang has been settled. From now on, we will guard this place and await the Sword Master's next instructions. Junior Brothers Wang, rest well tonight. At first light tomorrow, go to Lu Town and keep a close watch there. If any martial world figures appear, notify us immediately." Two of them cupped their hands and agreed.

Then Qu Xiangfeng instructed the remaining few, "The rest of you will continue according to our habits at Wan Jian Peak. Practice martial arts as usual. Do not slack off."

Everyone agreed in turn, then dispersed.

Situ Liang and the others remained in the hall in silence for a long while. Elder Chu finally spoke, asking, "Liang, where have Young Hero Qu and the others been arranged to stay?" He did not address Qu Xiangfeng as Gang Leader Qu.

Situ Liang said, "They have been arranged in rooms East One through East Seven."

Elder Chu said, "They should stay in the guest rooms instead."

Situ Liang replied, "All right. I will immediately have the servants handle it. At the time, I saw the letter and my mind was [***], so the arrangements were improper."

Elder Chu said again, "How about this? Everyone is tired today, so return and rest first. We can discuss anything tomorrow morning. What do you think?"

Everyone dispersed as well.

Situ Liang returned to his small room at an unhurried pace. No oil lamp had been lit inside, and it was pitch-black. Familiar with the darkness, he entered and casually shut the door tightly behind him. He walked to his desk and simply stood there, staring for a long time at the moon outside, obscured by dark clouds. After a while, as though he had sorted out his thoughts, he lit the oil lamp. Its bean-sized flame quickly scattered light throughout the small room. Situ Ping picked up brush and paper and carefully wrote a letter in tiny characters. Then she carefully rolled it into a small paper tube and placed it inside a metal ring. Next, she took out two empty metal rings, placed two rolls of blank paper tubes inside them, and tucked all three metal rings into her clothes. Only then did she blow out the oil lamp and leave the small room.

After Situ Liang left the small room, he did not go far. Instead, he entered a slightly larger room right beside his own. The moment he opened its door, he heard the "coo-roo, coo-roo" calls of pigeons within. This turned out to be where carrier pigeons were kept.

He made his way familiarly to the innermost corner, found three slightly smaller cages among a pile of pigeon cages, and opened them one by one. Taking the metal rings from his clothes, he skillfully fastened one around each pigeon's ankle. Finally, he carried the three cages to the window and opened it. He opened the first cage and released one pigeon. The bird flew into the air, circled slightly, then landed again on the windowsill, seemingly unwilling to leave. But Situ Liang grabbed it and tossed it into the air once more. This time, after circling briefly, it flapped away in one direction.

Situ Liang did not release the second pigeon immediately. He waited quietly for the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Hearing no movement whatsoever, he released the second. After the second one flew away, he released the third as well.

All three carrier pigeons flew toward the same place, bearing some mysterious mission through the pitch-black night.

The rooms where Qu Xiangfeng and the others stayed were a long distance from Situ Liang's room, on opposite sides of the main hall. Thus, they did not notice the activity here. The Fierce Tiger Gang members were already accustomed to pigeons flying out, so the sounds of these three birds departing drew no one's attention.

Only after finishing all this did Situ Liang return to his small room. This time, he did not light the lamp again. He went straight to the edge of the kang bed and lay down fully clothed.

Everything in the Fierce Tiger Gang fell silent beneath the moonlit night. Only the occasional night-watch gang member, eyes hazy with sleep, shuffled past on unsteady steps.

Everyone slept, each harboring their own thoughts.

In the Zhang family courtyard of Guo Village, everyone was sleeping peacefully as well. Only from Grandmother's small room came waves of suppressed coughing.

Grandmother lay on the kang bed, tightly covering her mouth with the quilt. Her ear was tilted to the side as she listened now and then toward Zhang Xiaohua's side. Though the moonlight outside the window was bright and pure, the room remained dark. There was no movement from Zhang Xiaohua's side, yet Grandmother was truly worried that she might wake her beloved grandson and disturb his sweet dreams. But her disappointing body felt terribly stifled in the chest, and she could not suppress her coughing. She could not leave the small room, nor did she wish to disturb her grandson. What could she do?

What comforted her was that Zhang Xiaohua slept soundly. She thought that perhaps tomorrow, she should speak with the child's mother and ask to stay in a relative's woodshed, so that she could finally be at ease. At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua seemed to turn over. Grandmother hurriedly closed her mouth and forced down the cough that had already risen to her throat. But how could a cough be held back? Grandmother's throat itched, and her face felt as though it were turning red from holding it in. Only after hearing that Zhang Xiaohua had stopped moving did she carefully let out the cough. Yet because she had suppressed it for so long, the coughing became far more violent. Grandmother even felt liquid being coughed onto the quilt.

Grandmother did not sleep for most of the night. When the roosters outside had crowed several times and it seemed dawn had arrived, she hurriedly rose and felt her way outside. The small courtyard was still quiet. Hearing no other sounds, she assumed Guo Sufi and Liu Qian had not risen either. She did not walk into the center of the courtyard, but leaned diagonally against the wall outside the room, covering her persistent cough with a towel.

After another meal's worth of time had passed, Grandmother heard the main room's door open with a creak. Someone came out, followed by Guo Sufi's voice. "Mother, why are you up so early? It's cold outside."

Guo Sufi walked over to support Grandmother back into the room, but Grandmother refused no matter what. "I keep coughing. I'm afraid I'll wake Xiaohua."

Guo Sufi's eyes immediately reddened. "Then, Mother, come into the main room first."

She supported Grandmother toward the main room. At this time, Liu Qian had gotten up as well. Seeing Guo Sufi supporting Grandmother, she was greatly surprised and hurriedly opened the main room's door wide to let them in.

Listening to Grandmother's unceasing coughs, she could not help thinking, I wonder whether that spring water is truly useful. Grandmother's condition is only getting worse.