Got It Wrong?

Lin Mang's face flushed scarlet in an instant. The pearls in the box had already crumbled to powder.

"Thirty percent, just thirty percent..."

He forcibly suppressed his anger. If he agreed to take only thirty percent, the hopes of the hundreds of women, children, and elderly on White Sand Island for a full belly would crumble to powder too. But if he refused, what else could he do?

Just as the two sides reached an impasse, a commotion rose from the southern end of the wharf.

"They caught them!"

"Caught again? Look at the state of them..."

"The Fish-Dragon Gang really is... ah..."

"Quiet, don't go looking for trouble. We only sell fish. Even the authorities stay out of grudges in the jianghu..."

A dozen or so bare-chested men escorted two people over, both already beaten black and blue. They shoved them in front of the tavern and kicked hard at the backs of their knees, forcing them to kneel.

One was dressed as a fisherman, thin and wiry. He glanced at Lin Mang standing inside the tavern, then immediately lowered his head.

The other was a woman whose face was so covered in blood that her original features were unrecognizable. Judging by her figure alone, she had considerable allure. Her torn collar exposed a broad expanse of snowy skin, and some unscrupulous onlookers craned to peer inside.

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but she held her neck stiff, still defiant.

"Third Master, look!"

Seventeen or eighteen silver fish tumbled noisily out of two fish baskets, flopping all over the ground with extraordinary vigor. They were like thoroughbreds among horses: even within the same breed, there were always exceptionally magnificent specimens whose distinction was clear at a glance.

"My fish, my fish..."

Seeing the fish she had exhausted her savings to acquire with such difficulty treated this way, the previously stubborn woman clenched her fists and struggled violently. Tears fell like strings of pearls, mingling with the blood.

"Goddammit, trying to smash our brothers' rice bowls, are you!"

Furious beyond measure, Zhang Biao kicked over a wooden table and stood with his saber in his arms, looking down below the steps.

"Lake Tai Silver Knifefish. One tael of fish flesh, one tael of silver. Fish this big are worth at least three hundred taels! Under the wharf's rules, what's the punishment for selling fish privately?"

A subordinate immediately answered, "Third Master, three hundred heavy strokes of the cudgel. Whether they live or die is up to fate."

Zhang Biao roared, "Are you all dead? Get on with it!"

"Wait!"

Zhang Biao lowered the saber in his arms and rested his right palm on its hilt, staring at the middle-aged man right beside him.

"What does Island Lord Lin have to say?"

Lin Mang looked at the two captives and said quietly, "Thirty percent... thirty percent it is."

At those words, every fisherman from White Sand Island hung his head in dejection. Some even secretly wiped away tears.

"No regrets?"

"No... regrets."

"I didn't force you, did I?"

"I... agree of my own free will."

"And you'll follow this rule from now on?"

"Whatever you say, Third Master!"

"Hahaha! Good, good, good. A wise man knows which way the wind blows. The Water Salamander of White Sand Island certainly lives up to his name. Go settle the bill."

In excellent spirits, Zhang Biao waved a hand and had the fisherman released.

"She..."

Before leaving the tavern, Lin Mang looked at the woman, intending to plead for her as well.

"Just look after your own people."

Zhang Biao spoke coldly.

"One more word of advice! You're called the Water Salamander, not the Water Dragon King. Even a dragon has to coil up once it comes ashore."

"I accept your advice, Third Master."

"I'm sorry."

Lin Mang left the tavern, cupped his fists toward the distraught woman in plain clothes, and hurried away.

"Putting on an act!"

Zhang Biao sneered. Looking at the merchants gradually dispersing outside the tavern, he ordered darkly, "Strip her naked and hang her from a pole. Make the rules clear. Hang up all these dead fish too. Let them stink together!"

Such unheard-of cruelty chilled everyone who saw it.

Several subordinates dared not delay and immediately moved to strip her. Just then, a voice suddenly came from the crowd.

"Wait."

Another one!

Standing before the tavern with his saber in his arms, Zhang Biao shot a cold, sidelong glance over and laughed.

"I knew there was something off about you two. Where did you two cloves of garlic spring from? What have you got that makes you dare meddle?"

Li Yu walked out, waving a fan in one hand and carrying a yellow-skinned gourd in the other. "Even killing a man only takes his head touching the ground. Aren't you violating the rules of the jianghu by doing this?"

"Hahaha!"

Zhang Biao laughed wildly, his voice vicious. The newcomer looked imposing, but he was a mere embroidered pillow. He did not even know that the rules of the jianghu had always been made by the strong for the weak to obey. Judging by his clothes, he was probably some family's young master who had watched too many plays and started dreaming of the jianghu.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Someone actually dares talk rules to me at Black Sand Wharf. Isn't that worth a laugh?"

"Oh? Is Mantuo Manor no exception either?"

Zhang Biao hesitated. He had mentioned Mandala Manor. With those looks and that manner, could he have some connection to it?

"Who exactly are you?"

Li Yu pulled out the wooden stopper and drank the last tael of Bow-Shaped Moon, then tossed the gourd behind him. It instantly burned like raging fire. Fine wine of the northwest, frontier vistas, yellow desert sands, a man's fiery spirit-when it was time to act, act!

"Your daddy!"

He roared and stepped forward.

His blue-steel sword flashed from its sheath. Its cold gleam soared like a wild goose, thrusting straight toward Zhang Biao's face.

"This is bad..."

Startled, Zhang Biao hurriedly drew his saber to block. Saber and sword clashed... his opponent's strength did not seem as great as he had imagined.

"Damn it, that pretty boy almost scared me."

Just then, Li Yu struck with his left palm.

Utterly unafraid, Zhang Biao met it with his own. With a bang, force spilled out in all directions, shaking the door curtain into a rustle. An instant later, they separated simultaneously. With the advantage of higher ground, he retreated only two steps.

"What a powerful palm."

Li Yu leaned backward, taking four or five steps to dissipate his opponent's palm force. His left hand tingled with numbness. From the corner of his eye, he saw that Qin Xiu had already shot down two men with sleeve arrows, rescued the woman, and rushed over. The three stood back-to-back against their enemies.

"Thank you both for saving me. I..."

Qin Xiu said gravely, "Save your breath and your strength. Think of a way to fight our way out."

What vicious palm force. It must be a superior martial art... luckily, it lacks staying power. I could capture him and force him to hand over the manual!

Zhang Biao glanced at his left palm. It burned as though scalded by boiling water. Rather than anger, he felt delight. He strode out of the tavern and ordered his men to block their retreat. If these three escaped, the rules he had painstakingly established over the past two months would be broken.

"Stop them! Nobody leaves today!"

Li Yu steadied somewhat. Resolving to stall and wait for the Ten Fragrances Tendon-Softening Powder to take effect, he laughed loudly. "Who wants to leave? Everyone has seen the Fish-Dragon Gang bully merchants and monopolize the market. Today, this great hero will uphold justice!"

"Benefactor..."

"You don't need to be afraid."

Zhang Biao looked at the two of them strangely, as though looking at fools.

The onlookers whispered among themselves as well.

Li Yu did not know what he had said wrong. Fortunately, he had achieved his aim. The internal force roused by that one tael of wine was only enough for him to exchange one palm strike with Zhang Biao. Qin Xiu's injuries had not healed either; she too was strong on the outside but hollow within.

He felt the black iron token hidden in his sleeve and settled on a plan.

This round, he would stake little to win much, counter speed with slowness, and overcome strength with weakness!

"But benefactor, I'm the one from the Fish-Dragon Gang..."

"What did you say?"

"Fu Rong of the Fish-Dragon Gang greets her two benefactors."

"Ah-"

Li Yu cried out in dismay. Looking the woman in tattered clothes up and down, he suddenly felt an icy chill in his heart.

The woman's gaze was plaintive. Had her two benefactors rescued the wrong person?

Qin Xiu was dumbfounded too. She lifted her hat's veil, her moonlike eyes round as she scrutinized the "black dragons" tattooed on the bare-chested men around them.

"Then who are they?"

Fu Rong smiled bitterly. "They're the Black Flood Dragon Gang. They've always been our Fish-Dragon Gang's mortal enemies. Two months ago, our gang leader suddenly... disappeared, and the Black Flood Dragon Gang took our territory."

Li Yu stood rooted to the spot, as though struck by heavenly lightning.

Compared with a Fish-Dragon Gang that committed every evil, wasn't a Fish-Dragon Gang reduced to something like the Beggars' Sect even more cause for despair?

He had still been thinking about how to establish his authority before everyone, reveal the token, command the entire gang, clear the muddy waters at their source, and set things right...

He understood. He understood everything.

Such a grand enterprise?

Gao Jingzong, fuck your granny!