Chapter 113: The War Begins
Chapter 113: The War Begins
Long Feiyang did not panic. He knew this was just the opponent’s way of showing their power. He slowly said, “Tai Tai, is this your meaning too?”
“Good friend, you Qi people have your rules, and we Hante People have our rules,” Tai Tai glanced at Long Feiyang and said casually, “Anyway, this territory is ours. You must hand it over.”
If it were half a year ago, he naturally would not dare to speak like this to the leader of the Sea Dragon Gang, who dominated the Xinlu Port. But now, the Sea Dragon Gang was seen by everyone as a thing of the past. He felt no pressure at all.
The only thing that made him a little uneasy was Zuo Zhicheng, who sat to the side and had not said a word, lowering his head to eat. But then he thought about the hundreds of the fiercest and most reckless blade fighters from his clan he brought today, and his heart settled down again.
Just as the negotiation reached a deadlock, Zuo Zhicheng finally looked up. “If you want to talk, put the knives down first.”
As he spoke, he reached out a hand and directly grabbed the big man’s palm. Then with a slight exertion, the big man let out a scream and knelt down on the ground.
His fist was tightly gripped by Zuo Zhicheng. The other’s fingers were like a pair of steel claws. Not only could he not break free at all, but the grip kept tightening, forcing the fragments in his hand deeper into the flesh of his palm. Blood immediately gushed out between his fingers.
“Let him go!”
“Do you want to die?”
For a moment, shouts and curses filled the air. People from all around stepped forward, looking unfriendly at Zuo Zhicheng.
Zuo Zhicheng sneered and released his hand. The man’s forehead was covered in sweat. He retreated a few steps, looking at Zuo Zhicheng with hatred. The fragments in his palm were almost entirely pressed into his hand by the force. His hand was crippled.
Tai Tai and Xing Feng both stood up. The latter narrowed his eyes, revealing a dangerous aura. “Zuo Zhicheng, today in this building we have over five hundred of our strongest blade fighters. Do you think you can walk out of here like you did at the Chaoyang Martial Hall?”
“Then is it your rule to attack during negotiations?” Zuo Zhicheng naturally showed no fear and glared back.
Tai Tai stopped Xing Feng, who wanted to say more, and said calmly, “Young man, you make a good point. So, I will say it again. You must spit out all the territory you’ve swallowed in the port over the past half month. Also, you need to pay one hundred thousand coins as compensation. Then I can pretend nothing happened today.”
One hundred thousand coins as compensation—even at the peak of the Sea Dragon Gang’s power, it would have been hard to come up with such a sum all at once. Now, with Tai Tai setting such terms, it was clearly a case of asking for the moon. He was sure the other side would not dare to go to war with them.
In fact, any sane person would not choose to go to war with the Hundred Families Association, which now almost monopolized sixty percent of the operations in all of Xinlu. Moreover, in this very Qingfeng Building, there were five hundred of the best Hante People blade fighters. Faced with such a blatant show of force, no sane person would not yield.
Tai Tai thought the same way. The fall of the Sea Dragon Gang was an unstoppable trend. Squeezing some benefits out of them before they were completely wiped out was what he aimed to do now.
Long Feiyang’s face looked somewhat ugly. Naturally, he could not agree to such terms. Even if he could come up with one hundred thousand coins, the Sea Dragon Gang would have to shut down immediately.
But looking at the sneers of the Hante People around them and the knives slowly being drawn, his breathing became heavier.
Just as he was at a loss, Zuo Zhicheng spoke again. “Asking for the sky like that, it seems you have no sincerity in negotiating at all. Then let’s go to war.” He turned to look at Long Feiyang and Old Man Song and said, “It seems there’s nothing more to talk about. Let’s go.”
Long Feiyang and Old Man Song were both momentarily stunned, completely unprepared for Zuo Zhicheng to say this. Especially Long Feiyang—even with Ghost Fist supporting Song Hao behind the scenes, he probably never thought of directly going to war with these Hante People. The losses would be too great.
Across from them, Xing Feng laughed heartily, looking at Zuo Zhicheng with disdain. “Since when do you get to decide these things? If you want to die alone, don’t drag the Sea Dragon Gang down with you.”
Tai Tai completely ignored Zuo Zhicheng. He treated Zuo Zhicheng as nothing but a troublemaker and asked Long Feiyang, “Well, I’ve stated my terms. Do you agree or not?”
Old Man Song was still somewhat timid, hardly daring to look Tai Tai in the eye. But remembering Ghost Fist’s instructions, he still said in a low voice, “The Sea Dragon Gang will not spit out the territory we’ve taken. Moreover, from now on, seventy percent of the operations at the entire dock must return to the Sea Dragon Gang.”
Tai Tai nodded and shrugged. “So there’s nothing to talk about then?”
Xing Feng closed his eyes and waved his hand, as if swatting away a fly. “Get out. After you leave this door, I’ll cut you down every time I see you.”
Long Feiyang was not one to cling desperately to a lost cause either. Seeing that the situation had come to this, he sighed and left. Song Hao’s face was also unpleasant. He began to worry about the upcoming battle, but thinking that this was Ghost Fist’s order, he felt some confidence in his heart.
As for Tai Tai and Xing Feng, if Zuo Zhicheng had not been present, they might have immediately ordered their men to cut down Long Feiyang and Song Hao. But precisely because of Zuo Zhicheng and their wariness of his Martial Arts skills, and with Zuo Zhicheng being too close to them, they did not start the fight right away.
What they thought was that after the war began, they would hide and only come out after the other side was eliminated.
Watching the Sea Dragon Gang’s group disappear from view, one of the Hante People leaders hesitated and said, “This Zuo Zhicheng is outrageously arrogant. Xing Feng, do you think he might have been the reason you got caught last time?”
“How could that be? I checked this guy out. He just has some connection with that Huang Youde from the city defense and happens to be quite skilled. That’s why he’s so fearless. But what good is being able to fight?” A cruel smile appeared at the corner of Xing Feng’s mouth. “Surround him with hundreds or thousands of men, and let’s see how well he can fight then.”
Tai Tai said calmly, “A centipede dies but never falls down. We still need to make complete preparations. Come to my house tonight, and we’ll discuss it together. We must not fail at the last moment or let those Newman People and Western Indians take advantage.”
On the other side, Long Feiyang felt uneasy, somewhat looking forward to Ghost Fist’s arrangements yet worried that the Hundred Families Association would attack directly. With an anxious expression, he arranged defenses and asked other gangs for help.
That night, just as Zuo Zhicheng’s foot stepped onto the roof of Tai Tai’s house, dozens of well-trained black shadows had already launched their attack into Tai Tai’s home first.