19

Just like tourists, Yang Chen and Zhou Di spent their days in Tongliao, enjoying the local food and entertainment. However, Zhou Di noticed that Yang Chen often chose venues frequented by military officers. Occasionally, they even dined and had tea near Chen Yufeng's mansion, eavesdropping on conversations among the officers and civilians and observing the comings and goings around the mansion.

One day, Yang Chen asked:

"Dizi, do you want to visit another stone market?"

Zhou Di replied:

"Do your business first. I think it is more important than mine. Don't think about me."

Yang Chen reassured him:

"It's fine. If you want to go, just go ahead and I'll accompany you. We have been here for a week so we will leave in two days."

"Really? But this time I want to buy something on my own, without you paying. Chen Ge, in fact, last time I wanted to pay for that Glassy Species Jadeite we gambled on because I planned to carve a special gift for you but you ended up paying for that stone."

Yang Chen chuckled:

"Okay, give me 1,000 silver yuan."

Zhou Di was delighted and immediately retrieved an envelope from his inner pocket, handing over the neatly stacked 1500 silver yuan to Yang Chen. Yang Chen accepted it and asked:

"Is this the 1,500 silver yuan I gave you? That envelop is for my family's use. "

"Yes, I don't have spent any of it."

"Excellent! I will cover the cost for your stones tomorrow."

Then next day the two of them went to another stone market. While they were browsing, Yang Chen suddenly stopped, grabbing Zhou Di and pointing to a jade stone at a vendor, asking:

"How about this stone?"

However, he glanced backward and saw a person quickly turning around, pretending to inquire about something at a nearby stall. Despite Yang Chen's contemptuous smile, he recognized that person as one of Liu Shun's boys. Not taking it seriously, Yang Chen continued to accompany Zhou Di while keeping an eye on their surroundings. Meanwhile, Zhou Di had already acquired a decent piece of Serpentine jade in his cloth bag. Sensing Yang Chen's reaction, he asked:

"What's wrong?"

"We're being followed."

"What should we do?"

"It's better for us to go back to the hotel. I'm afraid you might get hurt if we fight here."

"I'll follow you lead."

Yang Chen immediately pulled Zhou Di away from the market, hurrying towards the direction of the hotel. Glancing back, he noticed that the follower was nowhere to be seen, but he could feel that they were still being watched. So, he quickly led Zhou Di into a teahouse, choosing a seat by a window facing the street to keep an eye on their surroundings. As expected, someone followed them into the teahouse and sat diagonally across from them, while another person stood across the street. Yang Chen pulled Zhou Di to leave, and the person sitting diagonally across attempted to intercept them. Reacting swiftly, Yang Chen delivered a powerful kick to the groin, incapacitating the person who fell to the ground in excruciating pain. Then, he pulled Zhou Di out of the doorway, only to see a military officer in his forties accompanied by four or five soldiers rushing towards them. Yang Chen instructed Zhou Di:

"Go back and hide under the table, quickly!" After ensuring Zhou Di's safety, he grabbed the person lying on the ground and warned him, "If you dare to move, I will kill you."

That person glanced sideways and saw a pistol aimed at his head, trembling as he pleaded:

"No, sir, please! I... I... I don't...don't dare... to... to move."

Yang Chen immediately discarded his hat and eyepatch, forcefully kicking open the door of the teahouse. He cast a glance at Zhou Di, who was obediently hiding under the table, nervously watching him, and flashed a relaxed smile at Zhou Di. Turning to the person he had incapacitated, Yang Chen inquired:

"What is the name of that officer?"

"Adjutant Fan, Fan Guangquan."

Yang Chen pointedly inquired:

"Is he a relative of that guy surnamed Liu?"

"Yes, Liu Shun's uncle."

"Hey, guy, if they shoot you later, I will avenge you."

After saying that, Yang Chen pushed the person towards the door and shouted:

"Fan Guangquan, don't you care about this guy's life anymore?"

Fan Guangquan was outside, pacing back and forth, observing the teahouse's situation. Unsure of what was happening inside, he hesitated to enter but felt somewhat confident on his own turf. He replied:

"Do you think I care about his life?"

As he spoke, he raised his pistol to shoot at the person. At the same time, another gunshot rang out beside the person's ear, causing him temporary deafness, and he felt a bullet strike his left shoulder. Looking across, he saw Fan Guanquan had been shot in the forehead, falling to the ground lifeless. Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Yang Chen then pushed the person outside and stepped out himself, shouting at the soldiers:

"Why are you still standing here stunned and motionless? Hurry up and inform his family about his death."

A soldier suddenly realized what had happened and raised his gun to shoot Yang Chen. However, before he could have a chance to take aim, Yang Chen's pistol went off again, hitting him squarely in the heart. Yang Chen warned:

"It is better for all of you to drop your guns on the ground. If not, I will kill all of you."

The remaining soldiers were petrified, dropping their guns on the gound and fleeing, not bothering about their officer's body. Yang Chen picked up all of the guns and put them on his back. Then he checked the injured person's shoulder and reassured him:

"It is not serious. Go to the medics."

The injured person cautioned:

"Sir, it is better for you to leave here quickly because you don't know who Fan Guangquan is."

"Isn't he the adjutant of Pang Dehai's?"

That man looked at Yang Chen in surprise and replied:

"What? You know who he is and still dare to kill him? Don't you know General Pang protects his staff a lot? He will never give up if someone harms them so I think he will cause trouble for you."

Yang Chen inquired:

"Aren't you one of his staff?"

The person clarified:

"I'm just a soldier under Adjutant Fan."

Yang Chen agreed, acknowledging the person's warning:

"Okay, thank you! You're right. Dizi, let's go."

After that, Yang Chen took out 100 silver yuan and placed it on the table counter, addressing the trembling teahouse owner hiding behind the counters:

"Sorry, boss. This is for you to repair the door."

The owner thought to himself: It only costs 10 silver yuan to repair the door but he gives me 100 silver yuan. This guy is a good person.

Feeling a rush of excitement and completely shedding his previous nervousness, Zhou Di exclaimed:

"Ge, you're truly amazing."

Yang Chen replied confidently:

"Admire me! You have to learn the shooting from me after we go back."

Zhou Di asked curiously:

"Yeah, but why are you carrying these gun?"

Yang Chen replied cryptically:

"You think it is over now? No, it is just the beginning."

Upon returning to the hotel, Zhou Di started packing his luggage. He wrapped his stone in his own clothes and handed it to Yang Chen, saying:

"Ge, it is better that you hold onto this piece for me because it is too valuable."

Yang Chen took it and casually put it in his own luggage, remarking:

"What a promising little fellow you are!"

At that moment, there was a commotion on the street. Yang Chen peered down from the window and spotted a 50-year-old military officer directing soldiers to disembark from a vehicle. The officer shouted:

"You guys guard the gate for me and don't allow everyone to enter and leave. The rest of you follow me inside."

Yang Chen sighed and turned to Zhou Di, saying:

"I think they have found us."

"Who? Your enemies?"

"I've had conflicts with them on the battlefield."

"Is there anyone who you haven't fought with?"

Yang Chen chuckled and kissed Zhou Di on the lips, saying:

"It seems that I have fought with everyone. Okay, don't be scared! I'm here and you just sit behind me."

As Zhou Di followed Yang Chen's instructions, Yang Chen sat on the chair, dismantling the gun he had brought back. Shortly after, the sound of many footsteps could be heard outside the door. Yang Chen called out:

"Don't shoot. The door is unlocked. Come in."

The door was cautiously opened and several soldiers entered, holding their guns in hand. The 50-year-old officer followed behind them. Upon seeing Yang Chen, he harshly said:

"It is fuck you! Of course it is only you who would dare to do something like this. Aren't you afraid that we will kill you?"

Yang Chen continued to dismantle his gun an said:

"Pang Dehai, your gun is outdated, worse than ours. Come, let me show you my pistol, oh, the one that killed your adjutant."

After speaking, Yang Chen retrieved his pistol from his waist and showed it to Pang Dehai. Pang Dehai reached out to take it but Yang Chen withdrew it, saying:

"Let your soldiers go out. Don't scare him!"

He pointed to Zhou Di. Pang Dehai glanced at Zhou Di and asked:

"Who is he?" He waved his hand and all of the soldiers retreated out of the room, saying, "Close the door."

Yang Chen responded:

"My baby."

Zhou Di felt nervous hearing this, his gaze fixed on Yang Chen but darting occasionally towards Pang Dehai. Pang Dehai retorted:

"Your baby? You don't even have any friends. How could you have someone be your baby?"

Yang Chen explained:

"Everyone knows I like antiques. This guy is good at carving jade articles. I came here to buy a good piece of high-quality jade for him to carve a special item for my father's birthday next year. So don't you think he is my baby? Actually I planned to come here secretly but I didn't expect that someone try to rob my stone under your name."

Pang Dehai scoffed:

"Adjutant Fan robbed your stone? Boasting. He knows nothing about stones."

Yang Chen clarified:

"It seems that it is his relative."

"His relative? Come in." Pang Dehai ordered. An adjutant entered and Pang Dehai continued to ask, "Is there anyone in Fan's family, who knows more about stones?"

The Adjutant replied:

"I heard that a nephew of his concubine's is often wandering around the stone market."

"Robbing stones?"

"Well, not exactly robbing stones, it is more like ..."

Yang Chen interjected:

"Coercion. Doing business by force under your name."

Pang Dehai grew furious and cursed:

"Asshole! So you killed him?"

Yang Chen replied

"Don't fuss about trifles. I'm afraid of getting my hands dirty because of killing him. He is just scared out of his mind."

Pang Dehai demanded:

"So you killed Adjutant Fan to embarrass me?"

"Is there any benefit to me in embarrassing me? Actually I don't care whether it embarrasses you or not because I'm not afraid of you if you want to avenge me." Pang Dehai retorted with a hateful look towards Yang Chen. But Yang Chen persisted, "No, it isn't my fault. It was your adjutant who wanted to stand by his nephew and fire at me. You know, not only did he not draw his gun as fast as I did, but he also didn't shoot as well as me. So he died like this."

Pang Dehai shouted to his adjutant:

"Go and arrest that nephew. Give him a severe beating for daring to plot against me."

As his adjutant hurried off, Pang Dehai turned to Yang Chen and said:

"Young Marshal, please let me look at your pistol. Please!"

Yang Chen handed his pistol to Pang Dehai, who examined it closely, raising it to aim. Yang Chen explained:

"This pistol is the latest model from Ferceland. You know my younger brother, Yang Jing, who studied there before and bought one with its blueprint. After he came back, we replicated some for our officers."

"How many?"

"Well, We've replace all the pistols for major generals and above."

"Young Marshal, could you give me one?"

Yang Chen retorted:

"Give you one? Do you think I am stupid? I give you one and then you fight against us with it. Of course, I'm not scared."

Pang Dehai cursed:

"You are fucking asshole. The casualties of our 50,000 soldiers were 30,000 and there were only 10,000 soldiers in your troop. My Great General not only vomited blood but also got scolded by my Grand Marshal."

"So I am here now and you can kill me."

"Kill you? Damn it! If you died here, your father would skin us alive."

"At least you're self-aware."

At this moment, the sound of the military boots outside caught Pang Dehai off guard. He exclaimed::

"Who do you have got here?"