Chapter 24: The Generous Gift-Giving Chu Ning
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Daning County on the river, pleasure boats are moored.
Big red lanterns hang high.
The delicate laughter of the women on those boats makes the river ripple and spread to the shore.
The men on the shore are all the more itching with anticipation, eager to board the small boats and head to the pleasure boats.
Aboard one of the pleasure boats.
Zhang Tao lay in a woman's embrace, enjoying the pastries she fed him, her hands occasionally stroking his chest. In the past, he would have rolled over by now.
But now his arms are disabled and haven't recovered yet, making it difficult for him to move freely, so he could only let the woman wait on him for the time being.
With this thought, an image flashed through his mind, and hatred filled his eyes.
Chu Ning!
If it wasn't for him, how could he be in this state right now.
Even if he recovers from his injuries, it's doubtful he'll ever reach the Martial Master Realm in his lifetime.
"Little brother, calm down. Today, I took a small revenge for you. That Old Liao won't be able to get out of bed for ten days to half a month. As for that Chu Ning, he's in the limelight right now and it's not a good time to move against him. After some time, I'll take the brothers to Gan Qiao and plant our flag there to avenge you," said the man sitting opposite Zhang Tao with a knife scar running from his temple down to his chin, which looked particularly frightening. As the man spoke, he was handsy with the woman in his embrace, prompting her to make continuous noises that rippled through the water around the pleasure boat.
Outsiders did not know that Zhang Tao and Zheng Yangjie had known each other since childhood.
Zhang Tao's father was a Martial Artist, who had not broken through to the Martial Master Realm. He ran a martial arts school in the town, and Zheng Yangjie had learned martial arts from Zhang Tao's father when he was young, being five years older. They had addressed each other as martial brothers back then.
Afterwards, when Zhang Tao's father passed away, Zhang Tao chose to join the local arrest office as a constable, while Zheng Yangjie joined the Flying Tiger Gate.
The two took a secret oath of brotherhood, one mingling in the white (officialdom), the other in the black (underworld), helping each other out, which was also the reason Zheng Yangjie became Vice Sect Leader of the Flying Tiger Gate so quickly.
"Thanks, big brother. You can rest easy about Old Liao. I've already spoken with Arrest Officer Gan. The local arrest office won't have anyone sticking their necks out for Old Liao, and even if they did, Gan would suppress it," Zhang Tao said.
A single, unsupported old constable was nothing to the arrest officers, especially with Arrest Officer Gan stepping in.
Zhang Tao harbored resentment towards Old Liao because he felt that Old Liao must have known about Chu Ning's true strength and summoned him to the teahouse just to lull him into complacency and make him underestimate his opponent.
As the brothers talked, a shadow on the shore threw a bamboo stick into the water. Then, with a leap, he stepped onto the bamboo and with a few light taps, jumped onto the pleasure boat.
"Don't be angry anymore, Master Zhang. Just recently my girls acquired a few new ones. One of them is quite delicate. After a few days of training, let Master Zhang try her out first," the woman in Zhang Tao's arms giggled. Zhang Tao laughed heartily as well, and none of them noticed the flames that had appeared outside the pleasure boat.
Moments passed, and the blaze began to rise, only then did the four people inside the boat become aware of it.
"Fire!"
Zheng Yangjie frowned, but he didn't leave. Instead, he walked over to Zhang Tao, helped him up and said to the two women, "Could you two go and check it out?"
"Big brother, aren't you being a little too cautious?" Zhang Tao laughed.
With the boat in the middle of the river, any approaching boats would clearly be heard. It was probably just the wind that tipped over a lantern and caused the fire.
"Recently, a mysterious and powerful individual in Daning County has been targeting gang members. It's better to be cautious," Zheng Yangjie said in a low voice.
Under Zheng Yangjie's intense gaze, the two women walked out, but they never came back.
The pleasure boat suddenly fell silent, save for the crackling sound of the fire consuming the wood.
"It really is arson, aimed at me," Zheng Yangjie said, his expression turning ugly. "Little brother, since you're a constable, they won't target you. Big brother will go first. If I stay, it'll only involve you."
With that said, Zheng Yangjie leapt towards the left side of the wooden framed paper wall, broke through, and quickly disappeared, leaving Zhang Tao moved but standing in place.
Just a few moments later, Zhang Tao heard his big brother's voice.
"You... glug glug... if you have... a grudge against... Zhang Tao... glug glug... he's on the boat..."
The voice was brief, and the next moment, Zhang Tao felt the boat tip forward, clearly someone had boarded.
His big brother had been attacked?
A masked man in black emerged from the front door amidst the flames, holding a body - none other than his sworn big brother, Zheng Yangjie.
"You... are... I don't care who you are, I am a Daning County constable."
Zhang Tao's face showed a mix of fierceness and frailty. Seeing that the other party ignored him, he suddenly shouted, "Chu Ning!"
However, the masked man did not respond, just punched towards him. Zhang Tao's face showed disappointment; he had only attempted a bluff, and if the other man were really Chu Ning, there would have been some reaction.
"I have money, don't kill me..."
"If you kill me, the local arrest office won't let you go."
Zhang Tao could only utter these words before he had no more chance. Chu Ning, who had broken through to the Martial Master Realm, was so fast that even if Zhang Tao hadn't been injured, it would still be hard for him to evade, let alone in his injured state.
Looking at Zhang Tao, who had also become a corpse, Chu Ning searched him and found a silver note worth two hundred taels, which he put into his own pocket. He then set the cabin on fire as well.
After doing all this, he used the same bamboo stick to leap back to the shore.
By the time Chu Ning reached the shore, the whole boat was completely engulfed in flames.
Without lingering, Chu Ning walked around a few streets before taking off his mask and setting it on fire to turn it to ashes. Only after this did he return to Old Liao's house.
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By the riverside.
At this moment, two distinct groups of people stood there, clearly divided.
One side was the arrest officers, the other side was the gang members.
Between the two groups lay two charred corpses, as for the other two female bodies that had been fished out, they were simply thrown to the side.
"Sect Leader Wu, what do you say?"
Gan Qiao looked at the leader of the Flying Tiger Gate opposite him and asked in a deep voice.
"You lost a constable, I lost a vice sect leader, let's each conduct our own investigation. Whoever dared to kill my vice sect leader, no matter who it is, I will find him."
"The same goes for this arrest officer, Daning County's constables won't die in vain."
Wu Qiang and Gan Qiao exchanged glances, one took away the body of Zhang Tao, and the other took away the body of Zheng Yangjie.
"Sect Leader, do we really need to avenge the vice sect leader? I've looked at the vice sect leader's wounds, I'm afraid the murderer is a martial master."
"Avenge my ass, we already warned Zheng Yangjie. With a mysterious powerful figure targeting our gang members, we told him to avoid going out at night as much as possible. If he couldn't control his own 'third leg,' he deserved to die."
Wu Qiang muttered a curse under his breath to his confidant. In the gang, there isn't so much brotherly loyalty; when someone is dead, they are dead.
On the other side, Gan Qiao also said gravely, "Allocate five taels of silver from the arrest office as my personal condolence gift, and send Zhang Tao's body to his family along with it."
"Sir, we haven't examined Zhang Tao's body yet. Sending it back to his family now might make it very difficult to find the killer."
"Blockhead, when did I ever say I wanted to find the killer? Whoever was able to kill Zhang Tao and Zheng Yangjie, even if not a martial master, wouldn't be far off. It's very likely that the murderer is the same mysterious figure who has been targeting the gangs recently."
Gan Qiao sneered, "That useless Zhang Tao got me scolded by Master He. Now that he's dead, he's dead. Do you think I would seek a martial master murderer for such a waste?"
"What you say is very true, sir. Let the people from Flying Tiger Gate handle this matter."
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The next day.
Old Liao woke up. Chu Ning prepared medicine for Old Liao, and Little Fragrance also visited.
"Uncle Liao, I've got some good news for you," said Little Fragrance as soon as she entered, unable to contain her excitement, "That Zheng Yangjie got killed on the painted boat last night."
"What?"
"I heard it first thing in the morning. Someone killed Zheng Yangjie on the painted boat last night, which was burned down and sank to the bottom of the river. Aside from Zheng Yangjie, it seems that a constable was also burned to death."
Old Liao, with a look of skepticism, turned to Chu Ning, who clapped in delight, "Old Liao, this is divine retribution, someone avenged you."
Old Liao had a question in his mind as he glanced at Little Fragrance, but he didn't ask.
"Miss Little Fragrance, who was the constable that died?"
"I don't know that," Little Fragrance shook her head. She was just a singer, how could she know such details?
Chu Ning's gaze shifted to Old Liao, "Old Liao, one of our colleagues from the arrest office has died. Isn't it customary to give a condolence gift?"
"Hmm."
"How much is usually given?"
"If it's the arrest officer, five taels; for a constable, about one tael should suffice."
"They're all our own brothers. One tael seems too little. I'm heading back to Xiazhen Town, so you give ten taels on my behalf."
Chu Ning took out a broken silver note from his pocket and placed it on the table. Old Liao's lips quivered, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.
Zheng Yangjie was dead, and the only constable who could be associated with him was Zhang Tao.
Others might not know of the relationship between Zhang Tao and Zheng Yangjie, but Old Liao had once worked with Zhang Tao and had seen Zheng Yangjie come to find him several times. Back then, Zheng Yangjie was just a lackey of Flying Tiger Gate, and the two did not bother to hide their connection.
When Zheng Yangjie suddenly provoked a fight yesterday, Old Liao guessed it must have been instigated by Zhang Tao. After losing to Chu Ning, Zhang Tao harbored a grudge and took it out on him.
But he didn't tell Chu Ning because he didn't want Chu Ning to make an enemy of Zheng Yangjie. After all, Zheng Yangjie was the vice sect leader of Flying Tiger Gate, with the entire gang backing him.
Now both Zheng Yangjie and Zhang Tao were dead?
Did Chu Ning do it?
If he did, giving ten taels in condolence surely had a purpose for Chu Ning.
If not, then when people die, they are like extinguished lamps. If Chu Ning wanted to give ten taels, let him be. The lad alone ran Xiazhen Town and wasn't short on money now.
"Little Fragrance, were there many people who knew you returned to the theater last night?"
"Not... not many. Aside from the doorman who opened the door for me, no one else knows."
"Give some money to that doorman, tell him not to talk about you coming back last night. If anyone asks, you say you were with Officer Chu keeping a vigil over me."
"Alright."
Although Little Fragrance did not understand why Uncle Liao made such arrangements, she knew of the affair between Uncle Liao and her mother, and how Uncle Liao had always looked after her. All she needed to know was that Uncle Liao wouldn't harm her.
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