Chapter 18: Unable To Let Go
The Yangquan County Wharf was originally located outside the city walls, but later with the prosperous and far-reaching water transport, business flourished, and the county town expanded its city walls multiple times, finally enveloping the wharf area as well.
Meng Yue was highly skilled and thus bold, specifically choosing quiet alleys to pass through. He quickened his pace; the closer he got to the wharf, the more intense and pungent the air became, mixed with the stench of fish, sweat, and some indescribable rotten smell.
Meng Yue frowned and looked up.
It was not long after nightfall, and the wharf was still very lively, with noisy and chaotic sounds assaulting him.
On the Jade Belt River, a few small grain transport boats were still docked, with lights brightly lit on them and shadows of people moving about. Some coolies, with hoarse voices, were “huffing and puffing” as they carried burlap sacks or wooden crates down the gangplanks nonstop.
“Hurry up, hurry up! Want to eat whip?”
The steward on the grain transport boat stuck out his belly, still dissatisfied with these coolies for moving too slowly and delaying his rest time. The whip in his hand, wet with water, whistled “crack crack” as he swung it.
Meng Yue noticed that on the wharf, several men dressed in short outfits and holding clubs had their collars open, exposing their chests, patrolling back and forth through the crowd. They would swing their clubs from time to time to intimidate the laborers.
These fierce men were all under Yan Tieshan, sent to the wharf as foremen. Whenever any laborers dared to slack off, they would immediately be dragged away for a beating to establish authority.
Next to the wharf was Fish Market Street, where the rotten fishy stench was even stronger. At this moment, there were naturally no fish vendors hawking, and Meng Yue covered his mouth and nose as he proceeded.
In the most conspicuous spot of the wharf area, a large area was fenced off with wooden boards, forming a spacious venue.
Around the venue, sixteen two-zhang-high tree stumps were driven into the ground in a circle, with lanterns hung high on them, illuminating this area.
Meanwhile, sturdy men patrolled intermittently around the venue, holding not only clubs but also steel sabers at their waists.
All this was because in the center of the venue stood a two-story gambling den, which was Yan Tieshan’s lair.
Meng Yue had just approached, still some distance from the venue, when he was shouted at, “Stop, who are you?”
Several fierce men drew their long sabers and clubs, surrounding Meng Yue in an encirclement, and sternly questioned him.
“I’m here to see Third Master Yan…”
Before he could finish speaking, one man interrupted him with his blade tip almost touching his nose: “You think you can see Third Master just because you want to? Kid, take off your conical hat.”
Meng Yue spread open his palm and showed the small wooden token, saying indifferently, “Give this to Third Master, and he will naturally understand when he sees it.”
“F*ck your…”
That man was about to curse more, even raising his hand to chop down at Meng Yue’s palm with his blade, but he was suddenly pulled back hard by another scar-faced man.
The scar-faced man scrutinized Meng Yue a few times, took the small wooden token, and said, “Wait a moment.”
He turned and hurriedly ran into the building.
Not long after, the scar-faced man came out again, clasped his fists toward Meng Yue, “Third Master has set up a private room on the second floor, please!”
Meng Yue immediately followed the scar-faced man into the building.
Even from outside, it was already extremely noisy; upon entering the first-floor hall, all sorts of sounds and strange smells came rushing at him, a scene of utter chaos and debauchery.
More than a dozen tables were crammed tightly into the not-so-large hall, packed with people inside. Some were drinking, some gambling on cards, and others were dragging crying young ladies straight into the side hall.
Meng Yue remained expressionless, as if he hadn’t seen it, and followed the guiding scar-faced man straight up to the second floor, stopping outside a closed private room.
“Third Master, I’ve brought the man!” The scar-faced man said, bowing his body.
“Come in!” A low, deep voice came from inside.
Only then did Meng Yue remove his conical hat, push open the door, and enter. Inside, only a single candle was lit, making it quite dim.
Meng Yue narrowed his eyes to adjust to the light. In the center of the room sat a burly man boldly and confidently, his face hidden in the darkness, indistinct.
Besides him, there were four other men in the room: two leaning against the door on either side, and two guarding close to the burly man.
“Are you Yan Tieshan, Third Master Yan?”
Meng Yue glanced back, then turned to look at the man in the center.
“Skip the unnecessary nonsense. I, Yan Laosan, am a straightforward man who hates beating around the bush.” Yan Tieshan waved his hand bluntly and said, “Back then, I owed Mr. Cui a favor. You come with his token, so what do you want me, Yan Laosan, to do?”
“Want to hire Third Master to kill someone?”
“Who?”
Meng Yue did not answer immediately and hesitated as he glanced at the four guards in the room.
Yan Tieshan snorted, “My credibility in this business, which great family in the county doesn’t know? If you don’t trust me, just leave directly.”
“Third Master is joking; I’ve heard of your credibility.” A flash of killing intent passed through Meng Yue’s eyes as he said indifferently, “A disciple of Yang Family Martial Arts School, Hong Yuan.”
“Yang Family Martial Arts School?” Yan Tieshan was slightly surprised, “Yang Erhu is not someone to be trifled with.”
“What? Is Third Master afraid?” Meng Yue smiled lightly.
“Me, afraid of his Yang Erhu? Haha!” Yan Tieshan laughed heartily a few times, then suddenly slammed his palm on the desk in front of him, making a dull thud.
“Just right, Yang Erhu and I have some old scores unsettled. This time, we’ll settle new and old grudges together… Go back. Within half a month, you’ll hear good news!”
“Half a month?” Meng Yue frowned, feeling the time was a bit long. He was about to say something when a shrill scream suddenly came from outside.
Bang bang bang!
Immediately after, there were continuous crashing sounds, as if multiple people were flung flying at the same time, smashing heavily onto the ground, followed by bursts of clanging metal collisions.
Downstairs was in total chaos, with disordered footsteps and occasional piercing screams mixed in.
Meng Yue could imagine the gamblers panicking and fleeing in disarray. He couldn’t help glancing at Yan Tieshan opposite him: “Third Master, it seems you’ve run into trouble here.”
“Trouble? A mere small disturbance like this counts as trouble? The matter will be resolved soon.”
Yan Tieshan sneered, remaining seated, and even his four guards did not leave.
Meng Yue, on the other hand, was getting a bit restless and wanted to stand up to check, when suddenly a few piercing whistles came from downstairs, followed by another burst of noisy sounds.
Shortly after.
Five men in tight-fitting clothes, lean and wiry, with dark skin and light, silent steps, arrived outside the room.
Meng Yue took one look and saw that although these five appeared thin, their aura was sharp and fierce, with extremely keen eyes. They carried hard bows and quivers on their backs, and their right hands had thick calluses, with obvious pressure marks on their thumbs and index fingers. His heart stirred.
‘Hunters? Yan Laosan actually recruited five hunters?’
Yan Tieshan had already begun speaking, “Did you catch the man? Which blind fool dares to come seeking trouble with me, Yan Tieshan? Torture him harshly for me.”
The five hunters were all silent.
Yan Tieshan glanced at them, then abruptly stood up and flipped over the desk in front of him: “Didn’t catch him? What the hell are you doing? Am I keeping a bunch of useless trash?”
Outside the gambling den venue, a pitch-black figure swiftly darted through the shadows, moving at extreme speed, vanishing from the wharf area in the blink of an eye and slipping into a dark alley.
The pitch-black figure leaned against the wall, tore off the black cloth covering his face, gasped for breath, and looked at his arm. His sleeve had been pierced by an arrow, but fortunately, he had dodged in time, resulting in only a graze.
“Still hard to accept in the end.”
The face revealed under the black cloth was Yang Erhu’s, who now sighed deeply.
Back then, when he was investigating Qin Ziyue’s whereabouts, he had found that Qin Ziyue’s few scoundrel friends were under Yan Tieshan. He had clashed secretly with Yan Tieshan several times, beating and killing some of his thugs, but ultimately limited by being just one man, he was unable to deal with Yan Tieshan further.
And today, when Qin Fuzi came to bid farewell to him with that zombie-like appearance, it reignited Yang Erhu’s fury, so he came at night to assassinate the gambling den.
He lurked in the darkness, originally planning to quietly infiltrate the gambling den to see if there was a chance to kill Yan Tieshan, but unexpectedly exposed himself and had to strike early.
He erupted suddenly, killing seven or eight people and injuring over a dozen in a short moment. Just as he was about to head upstairs, cold arrows suddenly shot out in succession from the shadows, forcing him to flee rapidly.
“Today I’ve startled the snake by hitting the grass; from now on, Yan Laosan will only guard against it more heavily. Assassinating him again will be even harder.”
