Showing their hand
"Master Dong, I've confirmed it. Warm Breeze Hall really is opening a gambling house, right here in our Baile Ward."
Li Si quickly relayed the news to Dong Wenhan.
"Fuck!
"Bang!"
"Warm Breeze Hall has gone too far!"
Enraged, Dong Wenhan smashed the teapot in his hand to pieces.
He had already swallowed the matter of their lending business out of respect for Wu Yun. If he let Warm Breeze Hall open a gambling house in Baile Ward, the Baile Gang would be left living on the northwest wind.
"Master Dong, what should we do now?"
Li Si asked.
"Tonight, first find out whether Lord Huang approved Warm Breeze Hall's gambling house."
Dong Wenhan said.
"What if he did?"
Li Si asked.
"Then we'll fight them to the death."
Dong Wenhan said angrily.
"They have Wu Yun, don't they?"
Li Si reminded him.
Dong Wenhan froze, then thought for a moment and said, "Wu Yun is preparing for the martial examination. If he really pushes me into a corner, I can risk my life and still seriously sap his vitality. Besides, he's greedy for money and women. Prepare five hundred taels of silver for him, and we should be able to persuade him to stay out of this."
"You're right, Master Dong."
Li Si felt considerably reassured.
Three days later.
Dong Wenhan finally learned from Huang Jiefu that Warm Breeze Hall's gambling house had official approval, and that they were willing to hand over an additional ten percent of their proceeds.
Left with no choice, he also agreed to increase the share he paid the authorities by ten percent, asking only that the county office forbid Warm Breeze Hall from opening a gambling house in Baile Ward.
Huang Jiefu refused, but the increase in his payments was unavoidable.
In the end, not only had Dong Wenhan failed to stop Warm Breeze Hall from opening a gambling house in Baile Ward, but Huang Jiefu had also extracted another ten percent of his proceeds.
Once Warm Breeze Hall's gambling house opened, the loss of gamblers, coupled with that extra ten percent payment, would leave every member of the Baile Gang living on the northwest wind.
Dong Wenhan's fury soared to the heavens.
He finally could not hold back any longer and began planning how to deal with Warm Breeze Hall.
Five days later.
Wu Yun stared at the extra five hundred taels in banknotes in his hand, lost in thought.
He had earned two hundred taels of silver for introducing Zhang Lingfeng to Huang Jiefu. Now Dong Wenhan had given him another five hundred taels to stay out of the matter between the Baile Gang and Warm Breeze Hall.
Between the two, he had earned seven hundred taels of silver for practically nothing.
The Zhang Clan's original income from its fields, even counting everything, had only come to around two hundred taels a year. As a Dark Force martial artist, Wu Yun's individual income was no less than the yield from the Li Clan's several thousand mu of land.
"I can promise not to interfere, but I'll also tell Gang Leader Chen about this."
Wu Yun said.
"Thank you, Master Wu."
Dong Wenhan was overjoyed.
Those were exactly the words he wanted from Wu Yun.
If Chen Sanshi learned that he no longer had Wu Yun's help, perhaps he would abandon the gambling house and stick to earning money through lending. That would also avert a bloody clash, making the five hundred taels well spent.
Inside the martial arts school.
Wu Yun told Zhang Lingfeng rather than Chen Sanshi. He knew perfectly well that Zhang Lingfeng was the master of Warm Breeze Hall, while Chen Sanshi was merely a puppet.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Wu."
Zhang Lingfeng said gratefully.
"Dong Wenhan is a peak Ming Jin martial artist. His Flowing Cloud Saber Technique has reached the realm of divine mastery, and he frequently spills blood in the underworld. Even if you, Senior Brother Liu, and Chen Sanshi joined forces, you'd have trouble gaining the upper hand. Besides, the Baile Gang's members are no ordinary street thugs."
Wu Yun reminded him.
He did not think Warm Breeze Hall could defeat the Baile Gang.
After all, Baile Ward had only one Baile Gang, which was proof enough of Dong Wenhan's capabilities.
"I understand. I'll have my younger cousin give this some serious thought."
Zhang Lingfeng said with a nod.
"You... All right, I'll go train."
Wu Yun stopped short of saying more. He could clearly tell that Zhang Lingfeng did not intend to leave it at that. Since that was the case, there was little else he could say.
Inwardly, he felt that Zhang Lingfeng had never learned a hard lesson and still did not know how high the heavens were or how deep the earth ran. If Dong Wenhan were cornered, even he would have to be wary of his Flowing Cloud Saber Technique.
There was no way he would risk helping Zhang Lingfeng eliminate Dong Wenhan for a few hundred taels of silver. Besides, he had already accepted Dong Wenhan's money. If he went back on his word, even the Yan Lineage would look down on him.
After all, he held a nominal post with the Yan Lineage.
If Zhang Lingfeng could buy him off so easily, how would the Yan Lineage trust him in the future?
"Boom!"
Zhang Lingfeng silently walked to the side and began practicing the Twelve-Routine Iron Mountain Fist.
[Twelve-Form Iron Mountain Fist Middle Section: (600/600)] [Realm: dark force]
The news has already reached the Baile Gang. Now I just have to wait for Dong Wenhan to come make trouble on the day the gambling house opens!
Baile Ward cannot have two gambling houses.
Zhang Lingfeng knew that Warm Breeze Hall needed a legitimate pretext to replace the Baile Gang. Getting Dong Wenhan to come looking for trouble himself was the best approach.
Three days later.
Chen Sanshi handed a letter to Zhang Lingfeng and Zhang Pingping to examine.
Dong Wenhan had sent someone to deliver it.
The letter bore a bloody handprint, and a thumb bone made into a pendant had been tucked inside.
There were only a few short sentences in the letter.
Dong Wenhan was telling them that someone named Li Fu had once wanted to open a gambling house in Baile Ward too. He had refused to listen to the Baile Gang's warnings, and from then on, there had never been a Li Fu again.
"This is a final notice."
Zhang Lingfeng said with a smile.
"Should we add a little lucky money and send it back?"
Chen Sanshi asked.
Adding lucky money was an underworld expression: putting a few copper coins inside the envelope and returning it to the sender was like giving children who came asking for lucky money a little pocket change and telling them not to make trouble here.
"No."
Zhang Lingfeng shook his head.
If they humiliated Dong Wenhan like that and he lost his reason, bringing his entire gang to attack, even Zhang Lingfeng's attainment of Dark Force would not spare him from paying a price.
Warm Breeze Hall needed to replace the Baile Gang at the smallest possible cost, while leaving everyone with nothing to say.
"Write him a letter. Say we didn't give the gambling house enough thought, and Warm Breeze Hall has decided to abandon it. In seven days, we'll give Gang Leader Dong a satisfactory account."
Zhang Lingfeng added.
"Huh?"
Chen Sanshi froze.
"Just do as my younger brother says."
Zhang Pingping saw no problem with it.
She immediately wrote down Zhang Lingfeng's words exactly as he had said them, then had Sun Yan deliver the letter to Dong Wenhan at the Baile Gang.
"Master Dong, is Warm Breeze Hall backing down?"
Li Si was overjoyed.
"Perhaps they learned that Wu Yun won't help them. Of course, this could also be a delaying tactic. We have to guard against that."
Dong Wenhan knew well how treacherous the martial world was.
"I told you to investigate the connections behind Chen Sanshi. Have you gotten to the bottom of it yet?"
Dong Wenhan asked.
Chen Sanshi seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, which had always struck him as odd.
"I've got something. Give me a few more days, and I'll get to the bottom of it."
Li Si said with a smile.
"Useless bastard! What if Warm Breeze Hall comes to kill us in a few days? Go investigate it right now! Don't let me see you until you've gotten to the bottom of it. Get out!"
Enraged, Dong Wenhan kicked Li Si to the ground.
"Please calm down, Master Dong. I'll get on it right away."
Li Si howled, then limped out.
Dong Wenhan kept people watching Warm Breeze Hall's movements and discovered that work on the gambling house they were renovating seemed to have stopped completely over the past few days.
Warm Breeze Hall really did seem to have abandoned its plans to open a gambling house.
"Master Dong, I found it! Wonderful news!"
Less than two days later, Li Si came running back, his face wild with delight.
"You dog, spit it out."
Dong Wenhan had not seen Li Si for some time.
"I found out that Chen Sanshi's master is actually the Zhang Clan from Zhang Family Gully. Warm Breeze Hall's true owner is named Zhang Lingfeng, and he trains at Master Guo's martial arts school.
"This Zhang Lingfeng was full of ambition and wanted to break through to Dark Force, but his attempt failed and badly damaged his vitality. That's why Warm Breeze Hall decided to abandon the gambling house.
"I also learned that Zhang Lingfeng once coerced Elder Zheng's disciple Wei He into helping the Zhang Clan seize a water source.
"Wei He has never been able to swallow that insult and has been looking for a chance to take revenge on Zhang Lingfeng!"
Li Si gesticulated excitedly as he poured it all out.
"Well, well! So he's just a petty landlord, yet he dared come swaggering around Baile Ward. Fuck!"
Dong Wenhan was so angry that smoke seemed to pour from his nostrils. He had never expected Warm Breeze Hall to have so little up its sleeve. Apart from having Wu Yun to lean on, it was nothing.