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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Hearing this news, my mind went blank.
Huang Lao has actually passed away? When did he die? Why hasn't there been any report on the television news? Huang Lao is a revolutionary elder; if he were to pass away, he would certainly deserve a special feature on the news broadcast.
Moreover, Tang Zian hasn't called me about this matter. Could it be that this bearded man is just making things up?
I quickly dismissed this thought. Huang Lao has an excellent reputation among the people; even those old rivals who were driven to Taiwan by him would say, "Damn it, that old man is a great fighter!" No one would take Huang Lao's death lightly. Furthermore, the bearded man didn't show any disrespect when mentioning Huang Lao.
Most importantly, River Gang only dared to brazenly fight for territory after Huang Lao's death. Jiang Chengguang must have someone backing him; he knew about Huang Lao's passing before the news was made public. It seems this person has some connections.
As I was lost in these chaotic thoughts, a commotion broke out nearby, prompting me to gather my thoughts and look over.
Zeng Xian's Kung Fu is quite impressive, but the bearded man's trio is not to be underestimated either. Zeng Xian was struggling against three opponents, only able to defend himself without any chance to counterattack. The one named 'Sanitary Napkin,' despite his ridiculous name, was quite loyal; although he wasn't skilled in fighting, he repeatedly rushed in to help, only to be knocked back or kicked away. Nevertheless, he showed no fear and kept getting back up to assist.
"Idiot! Call for backup!" Fatty stepped forward and grabbed Sanitary Napkin by the collar, yanking him backward. Sanitary Napkin fell to the ground, looking helplessly at Fatty.
Fatty couldn't be bothered with him. He picked up a bowl of unfinished noodles from the table and smashed it against the bearded man's head. The bearded man quickly raised his hand to block it, and with a loud crash, the bowl shattered into pieces. The bearded man winced in pain while several strands of noodles stuck to his face, making him look particularly comical.
Wiping the soup off his face in anger, the bearded man exclaimed, "Damn!"
"What do you mean 'damn'? Damn your sister!" Fatty cursed as he picked up another bowl and hurled it at the bearded man. This time, the bearded man was prepared; he dodged to the side and lunged forward, throwing a massive punch at Fatty.
Sanitary Napkin watched from the ground as Fatty stepped in to help and finally remembered to take out his phone to call for assistance.
In the midst of it all, Fatty was clearly gaining the upper hand against the bearded man while Zeng Xian was evenly matched with the two large men.
To avoid any prolonged troubles, I stepped forward and helped Fatty take down the bearded man. Together, we managed to knock over the other two big guys. Both Fatty and I were involved in underground fighting, so we were quite ruthless. The three men lay on the ground, wailing in pain.
"Thank you! What are your names?" Zeng Xian gasped as he reached out to pull up ‘Sanitary Napkin’.
"You're welcome, just call me Red Scarf!" Fatty chimed in with his usual odd remarks.
"Don't mind him; we all know Tang Zian," I said with a smile. "I'm Zhong Zhengnan, and you can just call him Fatty."
"Zhong Zhengnan... Fatty... Ah, you are Ghost Brother?" Zeng Xian paused for a moment, then slapped his forehead and quickly extended his hand to shake mine. "I've heard of your reputation; I've known about your exploits in the underground fighting scene for a long time. Thank you, Ghost Brother! Thank you, Fat Brother!"
I laughed heartily, feeling quite pleased; after all, who doesn't have a bit of vanity?
"What should we do with these guys?" After some small talk, Fatty pointed at the three men on the ground. Just then, he noticed the bearded man glaring at us with hatred and couldn't help but get angry. He walked over and started beating the bearded man mercilessly. Even I felt a bit uncomfortable watching it; have you ever seen someone getting slapped in the face with a shoe sole? And it was his own shoe!
"This is Huang Zhiquan, who often boasts about understanding women's hearts and calls himself a friend of women, thus earning the glorious title of Sanitary Napkin!" Zeng Xian pointed at ‘Sanitary Napkin’ and laughed. "He already made a phone call; someone will be coming over soon."
That's right, Sanitary Napkin is indeed a friend of women! I couldn't help but chuckle.
About ten minutes later, more than ten people rushed in from outside, each wielding iron rods and steel pipes, shouting "Brother Zeng".
Zeng Xian instructed three of them to take away the bruised bearded man and the other two big guys. He took out his wallet and counted out more than ten hundred-dollar bills, handing them to the noodle shop owner. "Since we've accepted your management fee, we must take responsibility for what happened here. Here's one thousand one hundred dollars: one thousand for compensating your tables and chairs, and one hundred for our noodle bill."
The owner shook his head vigorously and said repeatedly, "That's too much!"
"Take it!" Zeng Xian glared at him, and the owner hurriedly accepted it.
"Haha, come on now; don't scare the old man!" A hearty laugh came from outside. Turning around, I saw it was none other than Tang Zian.
Tang Zian walked over and patted Zeng Xian on the shoulder. "Not bad, you handled this well. You take the brothers and go ahead, I need to have a word with Zheng Nan."
Zeng Xian cupped his fists in salute to me, expressed his gratitude with an invitation to dinner, and turned to leave, quite straightforwardly.
"Not bad at all, this guy will be a good helper in the future!" I praised sincerely.
"Of course, with the unexpected death of the General Manager of Qinghu District, Zeng Xian is the next in line for that position. In two weeks, this will be announced at the Tang family meeting." When mentioning the General Manager of Qinghu District, Tang Zian's expression became somewhat awkward. He then shifted to Zeng Xian, his face lighting up as if he had discovered a hidden talent.
The unexpected death of General Manager Liu Jianhao was a joke for a while; both Star City and the Underworld used it as a topic of casual conversation. This guy had peculiar tastes—he neither solicited prostitutes nor kept mistresses but instead engaged in genuine love affairs with several married women. While enjoying himself at one of these women's homes, he was caught red-handed by her husband, who was a teacher and had no idea that the man cheating with his wife was a gang leader. The husband grabbed a kitchen knife and came at him fiercely.
There were many versions of what happened next, but all versions included that the woman had some sort of spasm, preventing Liu from drawing his weapon in time... Alas, poor Liu Jianhao, despite his impressive martial skills, was killed by a scholar.
Fatty and I both knew this story; we just smiled without saying anything. For the Tang family, this was not something to take lightly, and we wouldn't be foolish enough to bring it up.
Once the people around us had moved away, I finally asked, "Huang Lao has passed away?"
Tang Zian was taken aback. "You know?"
I repeated what I had heard from the bearded man earlier. After pondering for a moment, Tang Zian said, "That's right. The news of Huang Lao's passing will be announced in two days. This time is specifically reserved for us monkeys who rely on Huang Lao's big tree to plan our next steps. In short, once the news is made public, all forces dependent on him will dissipate."
I couldn't help but exclaim, "Someone as important as Huang Lao can't just leave us high and dry immediately!"
Tang Zian sighed. "His direct relatives certainly won't feel that way; it's just us monkeys who will be left out in the cold. The Huang family is too thinly spread to have deep roots and lush leaves. Moreover, Huang Lao came from a military background and wasn't very adept at forming factions. Let me tell you secretly: it’s precisely because Huang Lao lacked a faction that he could live so peacefully until now."
I listened to this with mixed understanding, rubbed my nose and cleared my throat before laughing. "Perhaps that's Huang Lao's way of preserving his life."
"Who knows!" Tang Zian echoed my sentiment.
After a moment of silence, Tang Zian invited us to his home, as Tang the Elder was not very happy and hoped we could help comfort him.
"Are you sure we can comfort him instead of provoking him?" Fatty said, fully aware of his own destructive potential.
"My grandfather really admires Zheng Nan... and you, Fatty!" Tang Zian laughed.
"I feel like my name is added in a very forced way, and I'm quite upset about it..." Fatty said, feeling very gloomy.
...
Half an hour later, we arrived at Tang Family Villa. When Tang the Elder saw us, he was quite surprised and greeted us to sit down for tea.
Upon hearing the details of the situation, Tang the Elder sighed, his voice not as loud as before, and he said in a rather negative tone, "It seems that after the old leader's departure, the territory of Star City won't be able to hold on."
"Old man, that doesn't sound like you!" I laughed.
"What do you think Jiang Chengguang is? He's just a pawn planted by the Liu Family in Star City. As soon as Huang Lao passes away, they will immediately move to seize territory," Tang the Elder shook his head.
"You've been in Star City for so long; wouldn't this kind of territorial grab affect your foundation?" I asked curiously.
"The underworld is just a continuation of the struggles within the Underworld. No matter how powerful your underworld is, can it compete with the government? Although I've built up so many connections in Star City, most of them are based on Huang Lao's network. Once Huang Lao is gone, these people won't support me anymore. On the contrary, the family forces on Jiang Chengguang's side are rising rapidly. I can even say that within a month, all the Underworld forces in Star City will turn to Jiang Chengguang. With the support of the Underworld, it will be easy for Jiang Chengguang to deal with us," Tang the Elder said with a flickering gaze and a look of helplessness.
I didn't know what to say and could only silently drink my tea.
"By the way, I give you this Xuan Scroll!" Tang the Elder took out a box from his pocket and pushed it toward me on the table. "Since Huang Lao is gone anyway, keeping it doesn't do me any good. Immortality holds no allure for me; I'd rather go down early to accompany my old leader."
Hearing Tang the Elder's desolation as he entrusted me with the box made my heart feel a bit sour. After thinking for a moment, I said, "Tang the Elder, why not consider aligning with another family?"
"Haha, little brother, you are thinking too simply. With such a clear label attached to my family, who would dare to take us in?" Tang the Elder said with a bitter smile.
"I can help you make some connections!" I put the Xuan Scroll into my pocket, thinking that this Xuan Scroll is just a stepping stone. As long as I can negotiate with Lou Wei, is this kind of family issue even a problem? The thefts by the Ling Family, Yang Family, and Xiao Family in the Fifty-Six District were such big matters and they could be resolved.
Seeing my confidence, Tang the Elder's eyes lit up with excitement, and he seemed at a loss for words. After clearing his throat a few times, as if recalling something important, he took out a key and handed it to Tang Zian beside him. "Zi'an, go get that jade bottle from my bedroom safe."
Tang Zian responded with an "oh" and turned to leave. In a short while, he returned with a bottle and placed it on the table. This was a jade bottle carved from high-quality jade, about the size of a cigarette case, glowing green all over. Although I didn't understand jade, I knew this bottle must be extremely valuable. What surprised me even more was that the mouth of the bottle was surrounded by a swirl of golden mist that did not disperse.
"This bottle contains two pills called 'Hundred Flowers Dissolution Pill.' It has been passed down from our ancestors and is said to have great efficacy, but I have never known what it is used for; I can't even open the bottle. Zheng Nan, you take it first; maybe you can find a use for it," Tang the Elder pushed the jade bottle towards me.
Hundred Flowers Dissolution Pill, where have I heard that name before?
Hundred flowers? Dissolution?
Hundred Flowers Dissolution!
Right, wasn't Kong Xuan's internal energy sealed? Only by taking this thing could it be unsealed?
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