Pine-Wind Sword Lin Shi had been startled awake as soon as the gongs and drums rang out inside the stronghold.
He hurriedly threw on his clothes and left his room, then stood at the steps outside the Clear Sea Gang's headquarters, gazing down.
By then, Long Heng had already arrived ahead of him.
The Long Household's young master wore a grave expression, with a trace of surprise flickering in his eyes.
"That fellow actually came."
Having said this, Long Heng gave Pine-Wind Sword Lin Shi a pleased, meaningful glance. "It seems that wretch Chu Xisheng truly hates you to the bone, Gang Chief."
Long Heng was now the Clear Sea Gang's deputy chief.
During the battle at Mi Family Manor, Jia Dali had exposed Pine-Wind Sword Lin Shi as a mole, destroying the reputation Lin Shi had built over many years in the Iron Banner Gang in a single stroke.
Chu Xisheng had raised troops in West Mountain Town to seek revenge and routed the Commandery Army, cutting off any possibility of Sikong Chan dividing and dismantling the Iron Banner Gang.
Prefect Sikong Chan worried that Lin Shi, with his shallow foundations, ruined reputation, and scattered former followers, might be unable to hold the Clear Sea Gang together. He had specially invited the Long Clan to join the Clear Sea Gang and bolster its standing.
A year ago, Long Heng would certainly have regarded this as an insult.
Decades earlier, the Long Clan had already begun drawing closer to the landed gentry and hereditary official families. How could they associate with underworld gangs again?
But now, the Long Household had suffered repeated heavy blows, and less than thirty percent of its strength remained.
Joining the Clear Sea Gang, which enjoyed Sikong Chan's full support, might well offer a way forward.