TATSD Chapter 111

Ji Wei had already planned, waiting for the second letter from the bandits to arrive. Then, he would follow the clues to the designated location and catch the two men by following the trail.

He had thought of it this way, but to his surprise, before the second letter could arrive, someone from Sun Hong’s team came with the news and reported it to him.

While Sun Hong helped search for people, Ji Wei stayed with him so they could communicate information more easily.

Later that evening, one of Sun Hong’s men arrived in a hurry with a young subordinate.

“He recognizes those two. You need to hurry and ask him!” The leader of the group urged.

The younger one, having never met Sun Hong before, swallowed nervously and said, “You said one of them has a black mole on his left cheek and is tall? It has to be Zheng Fei. He’s always hanging around with the fifth son of the Li family. The Li family’s fifth son is devious and always pushes Zheng Fei to do his dirty work. I think those are the two you’re looking for.”

“Where does this Zheng Fei live?” Ji Wei pressed with intense focus. The young man glanced at him and then at Sun Hong.

He hadn’t met Sun Hong before, but he had heard that Sun Hong was there, so he couldn’t figure out which man was which. However, he knew better than to offend either of them.

“He’s the only one in his family, living on Luo Alley. The Li family’s fifth son has five sons of his own, and they’re all cramped together at home. He doesn’t live there!” The young man grew more confident as he spoke, and Ji Wei suddenly stood up, startling him.

“Lead the way!” Ji Wei ordered.

The young man looked again at Sun Hong, who gave him a stern look, and then he reluctantly complied.

It was pitch dark outside, and Yong’an Street remained lively as usual. Lanterns hung on both sides of the street, with people passing by, unaware of any trouble.

Without Liu Yimian by his side, Ji Wei felt as though all the hustle and bustle around him had turned monochrome. They passed Yong’an Street and turned into a dark alley. There were no lanterns along the way, and they had to rely on the moonlight to find their direction.

If the young man hadn’t lived nearby and known Zheng Fei, navigating through the dark without lanterns would have made finding the right house nearly impossible.

Before long, the group of six arrived in front of a tightly shut wooden door. There was a faint light leaking through the cracks, indicating someone was inside.

Sun Hong moved to kick the door open, but Ji Wei stopped him. “Don’t make a sound. We don’t want to alert them.”

“What should we do, then?” Sun Hong asked.

Ji Wei thought for a moment and turned to one of the men in the group. This man was the one who had rushed to meet Sun Hong earlier, and he was one of Sun Hong’s capable subordinates. He was tall and strong, easily among the best in the group.

“Brother, can you do me a favor?” Ji Wei asked.

“Of course! Just tell me what to do!” The man replied, eager to help, knowing that helping Sun Hong’s friends meant a job well done.

A few moments later, the man spread his legs, rooted his stance in the ground, and with his hands supporting Ji Wei’s legs, Ji Wei stood on his shoulders and easily flipped over the wall.

But in the pitch blackness, Ji Wei accidentally stepped on something, making a noise that seemed to echo in the still night.

“Who’s there?” A low voice came from inside the house, and Sun Hong immediately signaled for the others to hide at the alley’s mouth.

Moments later, a figure peeked out of the door to check. Ji Wei quickly hid in the shadow of the wall, waiting for the person to close the door and walk away. Only then did he cautiously follow and arrive at the lit house.

“It’s probably just some animals,” the young man with the black mole on his face said, shaking his head. “There’s no one there. Stop being paranoid.”

“That bastard didn’t tell me his man was one of Sun Hong’s people,” another man muttered irritably, pacing around inside the house. “This afternoon, while I was out delivering a letter, I overheard that they’re looking for us. We’ll move him tomorrow and hide him somewhere else.”

“Is it that serious?” Zheng Fei asked. He wasn’t from the Green Dragon Gang, but the fifth son of the Li family was. He often hung around with Zheng Fei, and when he showed an interest in joining, the Li family always brought him along. Over time, Zheng Fei had slipped into their circle, though he hadn’t officially joined.

Without connections or insider knowledge, he had no idea how powerful Sun Hong was.

“It is that serious! If Sun Hong finds out, we won’t be able to stay here anymore!” The fifth son of the Li family stepped up to Zheng Fei, his voice heavy with urgency. “We should move him tonight, I feel uneasy about this.”

Zheng Fei laughed it off. “Fifth Brother, you’re usually cautious, but why are you so jumpy now? It’s just one night. Nothing will happen. That guy is small and weak. He’s tied up and gagged in the woodshed, even if he tries to shout, he can’t. There’s no way anything could go wrong.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll go check on him,” Li Jiaowu said, heading for the small, dark woodshed next door.

He stood at the door for a moment, peeking inside. Seeing that there was still someone in there, he relaxed and returned.

As soon as he entered the house, Ji Wei opened the woodshed door. His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark, and he found Liu Yimian, removing the cloth from his mouth.

Liu Yimian’s throat was dry, and his mouth tasted bitter. His vision was nearly gone, but he instinctively said, “Ji Ge? Is that you?”

“It’s me. Don’t speak. Let me get you out of here,” Ji Wei said as he quickly untied the ropes and took Liu Yimian’s hand, leading him to the front door. Sun Hong, who had been waiting at the door, kicked it open and stormed inside.

The noise was loud, and Zheng Fei and Li Jiaowu, still awake, heard it. Both realized something was wrong. Zheng Fei was panicked, while Li Jiaowu, with more experience, immediately thought about fleeing.

He turned to scale the wall, quickly and efficiently. But to his surprise, Zheng Fei, seeing his ally trying to run, grabbed him and pulled him down.

The two men were soon surrounded by Sun Hong and his men. Before Li Jiaowu could speak, Sun Hong kicked him hard in the knee, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Li Jiaowu cried out in pain and immediately tried to grab onto Sun Hong’s leg, begging for mercy.

“Mercy? We’ll see if these two are willing!” Sun Hong sneered as he stepped aside.

“If you two are willing to confess everything, I will go easy on you,” Ji Wei said, glancing at Liu Yimian. In the face of such a situation, he remained calm, though his face was pale, his lips dry and cracked, and his hands stiff for a moment before he firmly grasped them, gently squeezing.

“Fine, fine! I’ll confess! Please spare me, Boss Sun!” Li Lao Wu nodded eagerly, his face flushed and his eyes full of fear and panic.

“Was anyone behind this?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“A woman.”

“What did she say?”

Li Lao Wu told everything, no longer daring to hide anything.

Although the Qing Long Gang was a criminal organization, not everyone in it was evil. For example, Sun Hong’s faction was considered neutral, and he had strict rules against causing trouble. This town, Da Xi, was under Sun Hong’s control, which meant that Li Lao Wu worked for him. Known for his ruthless actions, Li Lao Wu was involved in frequent fights, extortion, theft, and sometimes even as a hired thug, building a reputation for himself.

A few days ago, a woman approached him, asking him to kidnap a scholar from the county school. Li Lao Wu initially thought it was just a simple job, but the woman told him that the scholar’s husband was wealthy and owned several shops. Since Li Lao Wu was short on money, he agreed to take on the job. If successful, he would take half of the ten taels of silver, but if it failed, he would still demand a fee for his trouble. With no other options, the woman gave him a bracelet as a down payment.

“Where’s the bracelet? Let me see it,” Ji Wei said. Without hesitation, Li Lao Wu reached into his collar and pulled out the jade bracelet wrapped in cloth, handing it over.

The quality wasn’t great—it was just white jade—and would barely fetch half a tael of silver if sold.

“Yimian, do you know…” Ji Wei examined the bracelet in his hand, but when he turned around, he noticed that Liu Yimian’s face had turned as white as a ghost, with a faint blue tinge. His lips were tightly pressed together, almost bleeding. Before Ji Wei could react, Liu Yimian swiftly grabbed the jade bracelet from him and clenched it tightly in his hand.

“It’s her…” Liu Yimian spoke in a daze, “It’s her! I recognize it! This is something she took with her when she married, never leaving it.”

“Are you saying it’s You Guizhi?” Ji Wei narrowed his eyes.

“Yes.” Liu Yimian spoke, then forcefully threw the white jade bracelet to the ground. The bracelet shattered into eight pieces, and he stomped on them a few times.

“What do you want to do with them?” Ji Wei turned to Zheng Fei and Li Lao Wu, who both shrank back slightly, then looked at Liu Yimian with hopeful eyes, expecting the frail young man to show mercy.

But Liu Yimian only glanced at them coldly before calmly saying, “Do as Ji Ge says.”

“Alright,” Ji Wei said, stepping back a few paces with Liu Yimian and giving the two men some space. “Since you two didn’t harm Yimian, I’ll let you settle things with each other.”

But Li Lao Wu and Zheng Fei were still confused.

“You two fight, and the one who can’t stand up anymore loses. The winner will have other things to do,” Ji Wei continued. Almost immediately after Ji Wei spoke, Zheng Fei lunged at Li Lao Wu.

Though Zheng Fei was not as skilled as Li Lao Wu in fighting, he knew that if he didn’t act first, Li Lao Wu wouldn’t hold back. He was determined to be the one left standing.

Li Lao Wu was slower to react, and Zheng Fei managed to pin him to the ground. The two men wrestled and rolled around, creating a mess. After about fifteen minutes, Zheng Fei, bruised and battered, managed to get to his feet. Limping, he hobbled over to Ji Wei and said in a hoarse voice, “Ji Ge, I’m ready to follow your orders.”

Ji Wei hadn’t expected this outcome. He raised an eyebrow and said gently, “Do you know who did this to you?”

Zheng Fei froze for a moment before glancing at Li Lao Wu, who was gasping for breath and unable to get up.

“Was it Li Lao Wu?” Ji Wei asked. “No,” he continued calmly. “Think again.”

Zheng Fei lowered his head and thought hard. When he saw the broken pieces of the jade bracelet on the ground, an idea suddenly struck him. He shouted, “I know now! It was that woman! She ruined everything for me and Five!”

Ji Wei clapped his hands in approval. “Good, you’re learning.”

“So, what are you going to do about it?” Ji Wei asked.

Zheng Fei bared his teeth, flexing his sore arm, and growled, “I won’t spare her!”

With his mind made up, Zheng Fei immediately turned and helped Li Lao Wu to his feet. He bowed deeply to Ji Wei in gratitude for his mercy.

“I haven’t done anything. You can only help yourselves,” Ji Wei said. “At noon tomorrow, I will go to the Liu family. By then, I hope everything will be settled.”

As Ji Wei and Liu Yimian left Zheng Fei’s house, Sun Hong still seemed puzzled. “Won’t this be letting them off too easily? If it were me, I’d break their legs—”

“Yimian doesn’t care about those two. Even if we killed them, it wouldn’t change anything. If they were smart, they’d know what to do.”

Li Lao Wu’s wounds ached all night.

Zheng Fei was in torment, unable to sleep at all.

The two of them sat there, eyes wide open through the night. When dawn finally broke, Zheng Fei sprang to his feet.