The fish's transformation into a dragon

"A new gang leader?"

A young man sat on the gang leader's tiger seat, waving a folding fan. He wore brocade robes and had handsome features. Beside him stood a maid in black gauze whose face was concealed, yet whose bearing resembled a secluded orchid in a deep valley. Compared with the destitution throughout the hall, they belonged to an entirely different picture.

"Who is he?"

"Is Gang Leader Jin not coming back?"

"Even so, it should be Gang Leader Fu..."

The thirty-odd gang members below murmured among themselves.

Over five or six years, "Water-Parting Ape" Jin Gaozong, "Burrowing Loach" Wu Lu, and "Pretty Spider" Fu Rong had started from nothing. Like three horses pulling a carriage, they had led the Fish-Dragon Gang in taking Black Sand Wharf.

After their crushing defeat, only Fu Rong remained to hold things together painstakingly. A considerable number had stayed until today out of gratitude for her kindness.

Fu Rong declared loudly, "Today, at the wharf, before everyone's eyes, Young Master Li killed Zhang Biao with a single stroke of his sword!"

At these words, everyone below exchanged glances, both astonished and doubtful.

"He could kill Black-Hearted Tiger Zhang Biao?"

"Zhang Biao's Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique was incredibly fierce. Two months ago, Elder Wu made one careless move, and he was chopped in half at the waist, his guts spilling all over the ground..."

"My older brother too!"

For ordinary martial artists, Zhang Biao, a near-third-rate expert, was almost invincible in single combat. The possession of internal strength formed an iron threshold between them.

"If he really has that kind of martial skill and has rendered that service, making him gang leader wouldn't be out of the question..."

More of them still refused to believe it.

Unwilling to suspect any ill intent, they merely assumed Fu Rong had fabricated a well-meaning lie to boost morale.

Bang!

She took out a weapon and hurled it into the middle of the hall, where it lodged in a crack between the bricks.

Its hilt was wound with gold wire.

Its broad back was pitch-black and roughly an inch thick, while its snowy-white edge was thinner than paper, like a streak of cold moonlight cutting through the dark night. This "moonlight" measured three feet and two inches, invoking the ominous saying of three longs and two shorts.

Moonlight paved the road, sending you to the Yellow Springs!

"The Black Slaughter Great Saber?"

Someone immediately recognized the saber Zhang Biao had paid a renowned Gusu smith a fortune to forge.

"That's the saber!"

"That's right! Two months ago, Elder Wu made one careless move, and this very saber chopped him in half at the waist, his guts spilling all over the ground..."

"My older brother too!"

To those of the jianghu, a weapon was a second life. It could be broken or snapped, but never seized by another. With things having come to this, what doubt could remain?

At last, today, a corner of the black pall that had hung over the Fish-Dragon Gang's remnants for so long had been lifted.

As the gang members below looked at Li Yu again, reverence arose unbidden.

A man had his reputation as a tree had its shadow.

To make a name, first fell a great tree!

"Why haven't you paid your respects to the gang leader yet!"

Fu Rong's eyes widened as she shouted. Turning, she dropped to one knee and cupped her fists toward the tiger-skin throne above.

"Greetings, Gang Leader!"

"Greetings, Gang Leader!"

"Greetings, Gang Leader."

In the jianghu, the strong reigned supreme. In an instant, the gang members in the hall bowed like a surging tide. Their voices of support grew steadily louder, rushing toward the roof, as though they were also using them to scatter the stifled gloom in their chests.

Gang leader...

Seven years had passed since that hero in the north had succeeded to the position of gang leader. The name "Northern Qiao Feng" resounded throughout the jianghu, blazing like oil over a raging fire.

I'm a gang leader too.

From a grade-C secret agent of Western Xia Yipintang to the leader of a small gang beside Lake Tai in Suzhou, Great Song.

Three thousand miles of road beneath clouds and moon.

Life's encounters could hardly be called anything but wondrous.

He recalled the four characters on the great plaque overhead, "The fish's transformation into a dragon," as though they were a message left by the previous gang leader.

Starting everything from scratch-is this a test for me?

Gao Jingzong, oh, Gao Jingzong...

Li Yu gently waved his folding fan, dispelling a little of the gloom of the plum rains, though inwardly he cursed Gao Jingzong another dozen times...

Do I have to kneel too?

Qin Xiu looked at the people kneeling throughout the hall. She alone stood facing them. They were bowing to their gang leader, yet she seemed to be taking a little undeserved advantage. Turning to look at Li Yu sitting comfortably in the seat of honor, she hesitated.

Fortunately, before long, Li Yu stopped everyone and personally helped Fu Rong up, smiling warmly. "Gang Leader Fu has labored hard and rendered great service. She will remain deputy gang leader, with all the Fish-Dragon Gang's affairs, great and small, under her authority."

Everyone chorused, "Greetings, Deputy Gang Leader Fu!"

They wholeheartedly accepted Fu Rong, so naturally they wholeheartedly accepted this first order from their gang leader.

All things were difficult at the beginning.

Though Li Yu was no veteran of political maneuvering, he had at least been steeped in the modern workplace.

"Unworthy though I am, today you have all chosen me as leader of the Fish-Dragon Gang. From now on, we are brothers sharing honor and disgrace. Everything we seek and plan comes down to one sentence: grow bigger and stronger, and forge glory anew!"

Men of the jianghu had little learning. Flowery language was useless.

The words were straightforward, affirming the past and looking toward the future. Simple and plain though they were, they carried a tremor that struck straight at the soul.

"Grow bigger and stronger, and forge glory anew!"

"Grow bigger and stronger, and forge glory anew!"

After the clamor died down, the gang members withdrew, their soaring morale utterly different from when they had arrived.

Inside Fish-Dragon Hall.

The Black Slaughter Great Saber lodged between the gray bricks seemed like the first ray of moonlight breaking through the night.

"Your quarters and Miss Qin's have been arranged, Gang Leader."

"Sorry for the trouble. Sit."

"Thank you, Gang Leader."

Fu Rong had also attended to her injuries before returning to pay her respects in the hall. She had changed into a coarse-cloth dress and pinned up her black hair. Her skin was fair and smooth, and a few traces of a mature woman's charm lingered at the corners of her eyes. She slowly sat in the first folding chair on the right and looked into the hall.

Years of hard-built foundations, lost in a single day.

Though this gang leader was young, his martial skills were formidable and his methods seasoned. He was no ordinary person.

Had the Fish-Dragon Gang not fallen this low, almost at the end of its road, with truly nothing left worth scheming for, she would have suspected he was a spy sent by their enemies.

Could it be...

Just as Fu Rong wondered why the new gang leader had summoned her alone, a possibility suddenly occurred to her. She lowered her gaze imperceptibly.

Though "Pretty Spider" was past thirty and had long been married, she still possessed some modest, willow-like beauty.

Could he...

She hesitated, finding it more plausible the more she thought about it.

Though he was nearly ten years younger than her, if he truly wanted that, it... was not out of the question!

A resolute look flashed in Fu Rong's eyes, and she gritted her teeth.

Then let's do it. What else is there!

It's not as if I'm some untouched maiden anymore.

"I've been pondering a question."

Li Yu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the plaque bearing "The fish's transformation into a dragon." Slowly withdrawing his gaze, he turned, only to find Fu Rong flushed crimson, her fists clenched and her legs pressed tightly together, unable to sit still.

Somewhat surprised, he quickly asked, "Gang Leader Fu, are you still feeling unwell?"

"I..."

Seeing his clear gaze, Fu Rong recalled Miss Qin, who had come with him. Though her face remained unseen, her figure and bearing alone made it clear she must be a beauty picked from a thousand. Fu Rong realized she had truly been overthinking things.

"I sustained a slight injury. It's nothing serious... If you have questions, Gang Leader, this subordinate will tell you everything she knows."

Seeing her expression return to normal, Li Yu inwardly wondered just what injury could come and go so readily.

"The Fish-Dragon Gang has fallen this low, yet you have never abandoned it, Gang Leader Fu. Was it for righteousness, or for affection?"

Fu Rong fell briefly silent, then chuckled. "If I said it was for loyalty and affection, you would surely laugh, Gang Leader."

Li Yu smiled faintly. "Loyalty and affection are precious beyond measure. One may disbelieve them, but one must never mock them."

Fu Rong nodded gently and said coldly, "Loyalty and affection are precious beyond measure, but hatred only grows firmer!"

"Who is it?"

"Deng Baichuan."

The master of Azure Cloud Manor, and foremost of the Murong Clan of Swallow Bastion's four household retainers.

"Heaven-Shocking Palm" Deng Baichuan had no illustrious reputation throughout the martial world, even falling short of the Feng and Bao duo who often accompanied Murong Fu through the jianghu. But around Lake Tai, even without considering the Murong Clan behind him, he was a figure of considerable weight.

Li Yu sighed softly. "That really will be difficult."

Fu Rong looked at the Black Slaughter Saber still planted upright in the hall. A cold gleam of hatred flashed in her eyes, outshining its blade. "As long as I'm still alive, still in the jianghu, and still holding a saber or sword, there is still a chance."

How much helplessness lay within that single word, "still."

Even small fry like the Black Flood Dragon Gang could put her to death.

Taking on Deng Baichuan... was sheer madness!

Fu Rong was not unaware of the gulf between them. Lowering her head, she said, "The Gusu Murong Clan's name resounds throughout the jianghu. If this gives you cause for concern, Gang Leader, I can leave the Fish-Dragon Gang."

Li Yu said, "Do you understand those four characters?"

Fu Rong raised her head at his words. The golden plaque hung high, its four large characters wrought in iron strokes and silver hooks. "Those were written by the previous gang leader, Jin Gaozong."

"Those who can write them may not necessarily understand them."

Li Yu chuckled, turning to look at the woman whose martial skills were meager, but whose tenacity was rare, and spoke appreciatively.

"Without great ambitions as you travel rivers and lakes, without the tempering of lightning strikes and burning flames, how can you shed mortal bones and grow golden scales? How could you ever witness... a fish's transformation into a dragon?"

He hooked the saber's hilt with his left foot and flicked it lightly upward. Its tip scraped sizzling sparks from the stone floor, and in an instant it was before Fu Rong. Instinctively, she reached out and caught its hilt, meeting a pair of eyes more brilliant than the sparks.

"One day, I will have you carry this saber yourself, tread the waves of Lake Tai, break Azure Cloud Manor, and take Deng Baichuan's head!"

Fu Rong looked briefly stunned. Her voice choked as she bowed low in obeisance.

"Gang Leader..."