“Who on the platform just now spoke such filthy words?” The middle-aged, magnificently bearded leader of the boat gang met Mo Zi’s gaze, nodding and smiling before turning toward the high platform with eyes sharp as cold blades.
Mo Zi quietly asked Jin Yin, “Who is he?”
Jin Yin waved his fan—no breeze. “Fu Tian, the Chief Alliance Leader of the Boat League, and also the gang leader of Weiyang Gang among the five great boat gangs. Cold Six has quite some skill to be able to invite him!”
“How does his skill compare to Xu Jiu’s?” Mo Zi felt that the boat gangs were full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Her previous smuggling operations now seemed incredibly fortunate in retrospect. In this era, the four kingdoms’ territories were largely defined by waterways, making the boat gangs and shipyards far more powerful than in any previous dynasty.
“I forgot to mention—he was also the Martial Alliance Leader before, but later found the Boat League too demanding and passed that title to someone else. ‘When Fu Tian rages, the Dragon God makes way.’ Have you heard of that saying?”
Mo Zi’s eyes widened. She hadn’t heard it before, but she had now. Just how formidable must he be for even the Dragon God to make way for Fu Tian?
Just as she wondered, Hu Tao on the platform sneered coldly. “I’ve heard Wu You Pavilion has someone backing them, and there are rumors in the martial world. Now it seems these words aren’t empty. Gang Leader Fu arrives and immediately rushes to defend someone—is he admitting before our Leopard Gang brothers that he’s her lover?”
Mo Zi realized she had finally encountered a brainless ancient person today. Not easy! Surviving too long among clever people, she could breathe easier in front of Hu Tao. To put it in one sentence—I’ll let you have nine fingers and use just one thumb to deal with you. Hu Tao insulting Wu You might not matter much, but insulting Fu Tian? She could only say that Hu Tao lacked brains, though her courage was commendable.
At that moment, Mo Zi noticed Wu You’s expression—an incomparably complex expression. Before she could examine it further, four swift shadows suddenly burst from behind Fu Tian, leaping onto tables and in several bounds landing on the high platform in the blink of an eye.
The four men in blue robes surrounded Hu Tao—one left, one right, one front, one back.
Hu Tao thrust her long sword, sending it flying toward Xiang Shiyi who was rushing forward to help. The girl’s face instantly paled in fright, but fortunately she ducked quickly, avoiding the blade. Then Hu Tao chopped with her short sword, the blade stopping three inches into the wooden wall right against her father’s face. Her father nearly rolled his eyes back, his Adam’s apple bobbing frantically before finally shouting two words.
Though no one heard what Old Gang Leader Hu said, Xu Jiu clasped his fists toward the platform front, clearly having been summoned.
Xu Jiu called out loudly, “My Eighth Sister-in-law lost Eighth Brother and is inevitably emotionally agitated and not thinking clearly, which led to her disrespectful words that offended Gang Leader Fu. I apologize on her behalf here, and hope Gang Leader Fu, in his magnanimity, won’t hold it against her.”
Before Fu Tian could respond, Hu Tao shouted again, “Ptui! Who needs you to falsely plead for me? What do I have to fear? So many people are present here. Does speaking the truth deserve a death sentence? If you’re capable, kill me! Let everyone in the martial world know that this shameless pair of adulterers are murdering to silence witnesses and cover up their affair. Stop pretending here—one acting the saint, one acting the hero. I—”
Slap—one slap.
Slap slap—two slaps.
Slap slap slap—the slapping sounds continued without stopping.
The four men spun circles with their feet, striking Hu Tao’s face with each move. Hu Tao couldn’t even catch their shadows, much less resist, retreating in all directions yet forced back to her original position. In the end, her face swelled red and deformed, a trace of fresh blood trickling from the corner of her lips.
Hu Tao’s people below the platform were scared silly, their weapons nearly slipping from their grips.
Fu Tian’s gaze hadn’t lingered on Wu You since entering, but his expression was coldly sunken, his demeanor extremely indifferent, as if he saw nothing of what his subordinates were doing on the platform.
“Senior Fu, I, Xu Jiu, am willing to receive my Eighth Sister-in-law’s punishment in her stead. As long as I haven’t become gang leader for even one day, I must follow gang regulations. Though Eighth Sister-in-law was wrong, she is after all a woman, and newly widowed. As her husband’s younger brother, I’m willing to suffer for her.” Xu Jiu swept his robe aside and knelt down straight. “Senior Fu, please punish me—I absolutely won’t resist!”
“Fu Tian, an upright man hitting a woman—aren’t you afraid of everyone’s ridicule if word spreads?” Xiang Shiyi finally recovered from the crackling slaps.
“Gang Leader Fu hasn’t hit any woman—it’s his subordinates who couldn’t stand it. Did anyone below the platform hear Gang Leader Fu say even one word? Sister-in-law Huo Ba always targets people instead of issues, which is truly disappointing. If she really became gang leader, the Leopard Gang’s dissolution would only be a matter of time.” In Mo Zi’s view, Hu Tao’s venomous mouth deserved this lesson to quell public anger. Honestly, if she were Wu You or Fu Tian, even if there really were something between them, she would never allow Hu Tao to speak that way.
She faced the high platform and didn’t see Wu You’s grateful glance cast her way. But her words made Chen San and the elders who had been bought off by Hu Tao change their expressions.
By rights, as Hu Tao was a woman, the elders had no intention of supporting her rise to power. But she was the old gang leader’s daughter and Huo Ba’s widow—daughters inheriting from fathers, wives from husbands wasn’t unprecedented in other gangs. Compared to the mediocre Chen San and the willful Xiang Shiyi, Hu Tao had always helped Huo Ba handle hall affairs and had some capability. She naturally couldn’t compare to Xu Jiu, but they knew that once Xu Jiu became gang leader, their days would be difficult. So under enticement, and with the thought that a woman would be easier to control, they stole the seal and gave it to Xiang Shiyi, waiting for Hu Tao to stage this scene.
But they never imagined Fu Tian would come in person.
Hu Tao truly had long hair but short sight, behaving completely like a shrew cursing in the streets, even putting the entire Leopard Gang in the awkward position of offending the five great boat gangs. In contrast, Xu Jiu handled himself properly with righteous integrity, with formidable people helping him, winning over the brothers from other halls below the platform.
The tide had turned.
One elder picked up the seal before the Dragon God statue, raised it high above his head, and led the other elders to kneel on one knee before Xu Jiu. “Please accept the gang leader’s seal, Xu Hang.”
Mo Zi found this simply laughable. These uncle-level figures either just watched without speaking or acted rashly. Xu Jiu was still kneeling, and they knelt too—a whole platform acting as filial sons?
“Come back, don’t interfere with Leopard Gang’s succession ceremony.” Fu Tian strode to the front of the platform and sat in the guest seat, which happened to be right in front of Mo Zi’s table.
On one side was Cold Nine, on the other a short-legged man with a full beard on his jaw. They shouted toward the platform, “Young Xu, you should take the gang leader position, but the matter of insulting our Alliance Leader isn’t finished. If Leopard Gang doesn’t provide an explanation, the five great boat gangs will from this day be enemies with them. So what if she’s a woman? So what if she’s a widow? Once you enter a boat gang, women and men are the same—if you’re capable you shoulder the beam, if you do wrong you bear responsibility.”
Jin Yin automatically provided narration for Mo Zi: “This person is Vice Alliance Leader Wang Kun, gang leader of Huolin Gang.”
“Why do boat gang names have nothing to do with water?” Leopard, Weiyang, Huolin—”Even fire appears.”
Jin Yin was first bewildered, then laughed. “True, how come there’s no connection?”
The four men who had been slapping Hu Tao jumped down from the platform and silently returned to Fu Tian’s side, hands clasped behind their backs, feet apart, faces expressionless. As soon as they left, Hu Tao toppled sideways onto the red carpet. Her face was very swollen but had stopped bleeding. Clearly, the other party had shown mercy.
Xiang Shiyi rushed up, tears brimming as she helped Hu Tao sit up. After they said something between themselves, she suddenly glared viciously twice in Mo Zi’s direction.
At that moment, Mo Zi didn’t yet know she had brought trouble upon herself.
With Cold Six’s internal support and Fu Tian’s external reinforcement, Mo Zi had pierced through one of Hu Tao’s two accusations. If Xu Jiu didn’t become gang leader, it wouldn’t just be a matter of his own face, but the face of everyone standing on his side.
“My husband died under unclear circumstances—I just want an explanation.” Hu Tao seemed to have been slapped awake.
“I’ll give Leopard Gang an explanation.” Someone stood up beside Yuan Cheng, wearing fourth-rank official robes, holding an official seal and documents. Opening them, he read aloud.
It was a proclamation of charges against Huo Ba from the Capital Protectorate, stating that he had forcibly seized innocent women, committed numerous evils—over ten charges, each with concrete evidence. In short, Huo Ba’s death was deserved, died as he should.
Hu Tao hadn’t expected that Xu Jiu was prepared for her first accusation.
“Eighth Sister-in-law, Eighth Brother is already dead. The dead are gone—I originally wanted to at least let him depart peacefully, so I asked the official to withhold this judgment for me and have our Leopard Gang handle it internally. But you insisted on pressing this. Now Eighth Brother’s crimes are exposed to the world—are you satisfied now that it’s reached this point?”
“I don’t—” Hu Tao stood up with Xiang Shiyi’s support. “Xu Jiu, you should know best how I treated Huo Ba. Back then, I liked you, but you didn’t want me, so in a fit of anger I chose Huo Ba. Today’s matter—rather than saying I want to be gang leader, it’s better to say I don’t want you to become gang leader. Because I hate you! People say ‘marry a rooster, follow the rooster; marry a dog, follow the dog.’ But I just refuse to be a chicken or dog—I must make you regret not wanting me! Unfortunately, I still can’t outwit you in the end. This gang leader position, you take it—I don’t even care for it anymore. However, my Huo family’s two halls and Sister Xiang’s one hall will from this day sever relations with Leopard Gang and establish independence.”
“Shut your mouth—” The sickly old gang leader’s eyes rolled back and he fainted.
Hu Tao actually ignored her father completely and told Xiang Shiyi to leave.
The two had just walked below the platform when they heard deafening cheers, everyone shouting “Gang Leader” in unison, and a large crowd knelt before their eyes, even including people from Huo Ba’s two halls and most of Xiang Shiyi’s forces.
Xu Jiu received the seal.
The split was merely a ridiculous wishful act by two women. The three halls were mostly men, and setting aside how illustrious Xu Jiu’s reputation was, just asking them to follow two unreliable women from now on was impossible.
In the end, only one squad of Xiang Shiyi’s women warriors, about twenty people, still followed them closely.
Hu Tao suddenly made an eye signal, and Xiang Shiyi actually lashed out with her whip.
The whip tip wrapped around Mo Zi’s waist. Because Mo Zi’s table was not far from the two women’s line of sight, when Xiang Shiyi and her subordinates yanked hard, they pulled Mo Zi over.
At precisely this moment, Zan Jin was entangled in conversation by Bai Liang and Qian Liang. Despite his quick reactions, faced with this sudden change, he only managed to grab one of Mo Zi’s sleeves, which immediately tore off halfway.
Thinking them defeated generals with nothing brave to say, who knew that at this moment of celebration, Mo Zi’s neck would be seized by Hu Tao.
Even Mo Zi hadn’t expected that Hu Tao would use her blood to gain one last shred of satisfied pleasure from this defeat.