Searching for the Fish-Dragon Gang

Several days later, in Black Earth Town on the eastern shore of Lake Tai.

Gulls gathered in flocks, and fragrant grass grew lush.

Some twenty li from where the Cao River emptied into the lake, quite a few boats still lay moored at the wharf outside town.

"This place is more prosperous than a small city in Western Xia."

The two sat at a stall by the wharf, facing the white sails on the lake. The proprietor brought over two steaming bowls of wontons and glanced at the guest in a veiled hat. At this hub of water and land routes, people of the martial world were plentiful; he had long since ceased to find them strange.

"Enjoy your meal, honored guests."

"Thank you, sir."

Li Yu took a bowl and ate in hearty mouthfuls. Suzhou was wealthy-even the wontons had more filling than elsewhere.

"Honored guest..."

Seeing one devour his food while the other left her chopsticks untouched, the old man grew curious and could not help coming over to ask.

"Is it not to your taste?"

Qin Xiu's gaze fell on the large white porcelain bowl. It was very plain and clean, but a repaired crack ran along its rim.

Seeing this, the old man hurriedly said, "I'll get you a better bowl."

"No need. She's a bodhisattva in a temple. Usually, a whiff of incense is enough to fill her up."

Li Yu finished his bowl and pulled the other one in front of him. Seeing the astonishment in the old man's eyes, he realized it would be troublesome if he truly believed him, so he explained with a smile, "She caught a chill and can't take off her veil."

"The weather keeps turning hot and cold this time of year, and it's damp indoors. She ought to get out and walk more."

Old Yuan returned to the stove with a smile, finally reassured that his wontons were not the problem.

After several days of medicinal baths, Qin Xiu's injuries had healed by forty or fifty percent, leaving her refreshed in body and spirit. Besides their chill, her eyes now held a little more life. She looked at the two empty bowls. "Aren't you stuffed after eating so much?"

"Who told you not to eat? Wasting food is shameful."

"You know perfectly well... Anyway, you're the monk in the temple."

"All right, all right. You can be Bodhisattva Guanyin, and I'll be the novice ringing the bell at Hanshan Temple, burning incense for you every day."

At this, Qin Xiu smiled. Even through her black veil, it felt as though spring sunshine had brightened the scene.

Li Yu looked at the wharf and sighed. "We can't stay at an inn. We have to find somewhere for you to recover."

Qin Xiu looked around, her fine brows drawing together slightly. "It seems... I've never heard of any Fish-Dragon Gang."

"A mountain needn't be high; an immortal makes it divine."

Li Yu was uncertain himself. He fingered the gang leader's token in his sleeve. Gao Jingzong had said the Fish-Dragon Gang was rooted in Black Earth Town. They had been here a while... where was it? There was no trace of it, not the slightest stir.

Could its roots have gone too deep?

Qin Xiu looked south. "Could that be them?"

"Run!"

The white-haired old man's expression changed as though he had spotted ravenous wolves. Abandoning his wonton stall, he dragged his lame leg away to hide.

"Out of the way! All of you, out of the way..."

More than twenty bare-chested men rushed out from the south, black dragon patterns tattooed on their left arms. Carrying steel sabers and long poles, they charged onto the wharf and drove the vendors away, striking viciously without mercy, throwing everything into a chicken-fluttering, dog-leaping uproar.

"If you don't leave, we'll smash everything..."

Within moments, all bystanders had been cleared away. The men formed two lines, looking imposing, seemingly waiting to receive someone.

"They're here."

The lake rippled as a great sail drew closer from the distance, stopping half a li from the wharf. A triangular flag fluttered atop the ship's deckhouse. The design on its front resembled a morning glory with a spiny ball hidden within it, while the back bore a comparatively smaller character for "Wang."

"Mantuo Manor!"

Qin Xiu's expression shifted slightly.

Li Yu glanced at her, then turned back toward the lake. Red and green garments fluttered on deck; it seemed some women were out on an excursion.

"No wonder..."

Four small boats cut through the water and stopped at the wharf, carrying away over a hundred sacks that had been prepared in advance.

The great tower ship raised its sails and headed west.

The burly men did not all withdraw. Six or seven stayed behind in a tavern, clashing swords and pounding tables as they drank wine and ate meat, fierce as savage tigers. The people here were already used to it. Fear flickered in their eyes, and they dared not utter another word.

"No wonder all the bowls are cracked."

The two stood beneath a tree, watching the white-haired old man return dejectedly to his overturned wonton stall. Slowly bending down, he picked up the bowls and plates one by one, selected those that were still barely usable, and swept away the shattered porcelain littering the ground.

Sword in hand, Qin Xiu turned to Li Yu.

"This Fish-Dragon Gang you're looking for is a jackal from the same hill as Mantuo Manor!"

Li Yu said nothing. Gently waving his folding fan, he gazed toward the lake, where the water churned noisily into streaks of white waves.

Within moments, some twenty small boats pulled up to Black Sand Wharf.

"The fishermen from the Seventy-Two Peaks have landed..."

At the shout, the merchants rose one after another.

Li Yu folded his fan. "Come on. Let's take a look."

After a moment's hesitation, Qin Xiu followed, secretly swearing to herself that even if she died of her wounds, she would never seek shelter under the Fish-Dragon Gang!

Lake Tai stretched hundreds of li in every direction, vast and boundless. Scattered across its waters were numerous mountains, islets, shoals, and small islands. Of these, seventy-odd inhabited ones were collectively known as the Seventy-Two Peaks. Most of their inhabitants made their living fishing and gathering pearls.

The wharf visibly began to bustle.

Fresh, live fish and shrimp were carried ashore, filling more than two hundred baskets.

Everyone knew that the fish and shrimp from the heart of the lake were plump and delicious. Transporting them to Gusu City took only half a day and could bring several times the profit. Yet none of the merchants dared approach just then. They waited outside the tavern, watching the bare-chested men.

Inside the tavern.

"Third Master, this is a token of respect from White Sand Island."

The middle-aged man wore a short working outfit, his trouser legs rolled up and straw sandals on his feet. His skin was dark, his muscles sturdy. He stood respectfully before the table, waiting for the other man to finish a leisurely cup of wine before presenting the gift he had prepared.

"Well, well. It's only the size of a thumb?"

"Lin Mang, aren't you called the Water Salamander? Aren't you supposed to be impressive underwater? You're trying to fob our Third Master off with this thing?"

"Bring a bigger one. At least the size of an egg..."

The bare-chested men waved their blades, pounded tables, kicked stools, and shouted.

"The water's risen lately, and all the mussels have been washed away. Besides, what sort of Water Salamander am I..."

The middle-aged man explained with a bitter smile, bowing low and pointing his little finger at himself.

"In front of Third Master, I'm just a little loach. A very little one."

Lin Mang looked pleadingly at the man who had remained silent.

The burly man wore a brocade robe. His black beard curled like a dragon's, and his face was fierce. Cradling a saber in his arms, he looked at the open little box and chuckled. "A goose feather sent a thousand li-a trifling gift, but weighty with feeling. Accept it."

"Thank you, Third Master. Thank you, Third Master..."

Lin Mang breathed a sigh of relief and asked tentatively, "Then how will this catch be divided?"

The burly man said, "Thirty-seventy!"

"Thirty-seventy?"

"Those are the rules!"

Lin Mang's expression stiffened. He was a man of spirit too, yet bowing and scraping had earned him only a thirty-seventy split.

The two young men standing behind him could no longer hold back. They tightened their grips on their fishing spears, their furious eyes blazing.

"We finally get a good fishing season, and thirty percent won't even buy enough rice!"

"Can't those rules be changed?"

"I can't break the rules."

The man in brocade gave a cold smile and glared at Lin Mang, then swept his gaze over the ring of people standing outside the tavern. His gaze tightened slightly. Turning back, he pressed his right hand firmly onto the wooden box, secretly channeled strength into his palm, and slowly pushed it back.

"And neither can any of you!"