Chapter 63: Sparring

After a moment, Jiang Xiong set down his wine cup and asked, "What about you all? Have you thought of any plan?"

"Brother Jiang, I think we could, after the Iron Fist Gang arrives, make good relations with them, just like now—split any loot fifty-fifty," a man said with a grin.

"That's true, but the problem is they might look down on us," Fan Hua shook his head.

"Yeah, we're doing work for the Wild Wolf Gang; a quick inquiry shows that if the Iron Fist Gang really shows up, it would be good for them to act against us and give us such a nice job," another person agreed.

"That won't work, that won't work—what do we do? Should we also run away with the Wild Wolf Gang?"

The last man muttered.

A life on the run isn't easy; not to mention, we might not even have a stable place to sleep.

Moreover, we're not members of the Wild Wolf Gang, so if something good comes up, we'd know it by instinct—there's no room for us.

The few of them discussed, but they couldn't reach any conclusion.

"Staying does carry risk, but fleeing is even more dangerous."

Jiang Xiong spoke up.

"What do you mean, Brother Jiang?"

"We should prepare for both outcomes."

Jiang Xiong sighed.

"When the Iron Fist Gang shows up, we'll see how they treat us. We'll have to give them some concessions, but as long as we can keep living here—even without cooperating—we can accept that."

"That's true."

Hearing that, the others all nodded in unison.

Even without the Iron Fist Gang as backing, the few of us are still far stronger than ordinary thugs; grabbing some cash to get by is still easy.

Things like brazenly hijacking vehicles can't be done anymore; after all, this area already has a new master.

"If they keep cooperating with us, that'd be ideal, but the chance is slim, so don't get your hopes up."

The group fell silent.

Yes, when the Three Union Gang was around, there were also roles like theirs.

When the Wild Wolf Gang arrived, those few people vanished without a trace.

And now it's their turn.

"Brother Jiang, what if the Iron Fist Gang takes our money but won't let us stay here peacefully?"

Jiang Xiong inhaled deeply, "If it comes to that, we have no choice but to leave."

As the saying goes, circumstances are stronger than people.

The few of us can bully ordinary folk, but go up against a gang? Not even ten of us would dare.

A pang of sorrow rose in their hearts.

Think of how glorious they were just two or three years ago.

Yet in a blink, everything vanished like a wisp of cloud, and in the end they can't even hold onto a place to live.

"Alright."

Seeing the others looking like frost‑bitten eggplants, Jiang Xiong comforted, "That's the worst‑case plan. We're just doing work for the Wild Wolf Gang, at most we rob ordinary people. We're not helping the Wild Wolf Gang fight the Iron Fist Gang, and if the money's paid, they have no reason to turn against us."

"Indeed."

"I heard those Iron Fist Gang guys are actually quite reasonable."

"To satisfy them, we'll probably have to give a lot of money, right?"

"I have my own ideas on this. By the way, whatever we just said must not be spread, especially to the Wild Wolf Gang," Jiang Xiong glanced around, lowered his voice.

"Don't worry, Brother Jiang, we're not fools. How could we not know that?"

"Yeah, Brother Jiang, even if I die, I won't blab it."

"Heh heh heh, it's not that we don't trust you, just a safety precaution, so I'm reminding you," Jiang Xiong smiled.

If this got to Brother Bao's ears, the few of us would certainly be unable to make a clean getaway.

"By the way, has the kid surnamed Liu gotten his thousand bucks to you yet?"

Jiang Xiong suddenly thought of this and looked at the two men on his left.

"The Liu kid? Oh, Liu Yang?" The speaker was momentarily stunned, then clenched his teeth and said, "We've waited three days and haven't seen him turn up to pay. 'What?'"

Jiang Xiong was a bit surprised.

One thousand yuan isn't a huge sum, but it isn't trivial either; to keep good terms with the Iron Fist Gang later, we must find ways to get more cash.

The nearby petty thugs make perfect targets.

What he didn't expect was that Liu Yang had the guts of a leopard; when the time came, he actually dared not pay? Is he sabotaging himself? "Brother Jiang, we were just about to tell you this. This morning, A Bing and I went to find them, and when we got there, those guys had already fled."

"What! They fled?"

"Fled?"

The other two showed shocked expressions.

Even Jiang Xiong hadn't anticipated it.

"Exactly!"

The first responder clenched his fist, "When I was on the road I already thought of giving them a taste of color, but when I reached the door it was open, and inside it looked like a robbery—everything of any value was gone, not a single person or even a ghost was left."

"We later wandered nearby, trying to inquire, but everyone around said they didn't know what happened; some even shut the door and hid inside, silent as hell."

He kept cursing.

The others exchanged glances.

"Brother Jiang, they probably left last night or in the early hours; after learning yesterday afternoon that the Wild Wolf Gang would double the management fee, they thought it over and just took the money and ran."

"Very likely. Counting the thousand they owe us, they should have three thousand in a few days—so even if we chase them, we can't catch them that fast."

"Hmm."

Jiang Xiong nodded, "What a pity; had we known it would turn out like this, we should have gone over last night."

"Brother Xiong, blame me; if it weren't for me…"

Jiang Xiong waved his hand, cutting off his words, "I'm not blaming you. No one could have foreseen this. Never mind, if they ran, they ran. Let's eat; the dishes are cold."

"Alright."

"Eat, eat."

The others echoed.

Yet it was clear that none of them were very enthusiastic.

Liu Yang and the other two ran away; it was just a small interlude.

How the road ahead would be, they could not see.

……

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.

Jiang Cheng got up early, washed up, and sat at the table eating breakfast.

Today was the day to pay the Stall Fee to the Wild Wolf Gang.

If nothing unexpected occurs, the street vendors today will also be far fewer.

He holds a Senior Member status at the Martial Arts Hall, so he need not worry about that.

On the contrary, his mood was somewhat excited.

Not because he relished others' misfortune, but because today was also the day Senior Brother Zeng would guide these Senior Members.

In two days, the proficiency of the Pole Technique and Double Staff had both increased a lot.

The former, with another two or three days of practice, would reach a Proficient level.

The Double Staff lags far behind; at three hours a day, it will still need at least a week.

And today is the day Senior Brother Zeng guides everyone; he hopes to seize this chance to spar with Senior Brother Zeng.

The Experience Value gained from Real Combat with those thugs was roughly more than double that of solo practice.

How would the Experience Value increase when sparring with Martial Arts Hall experts?

(End of chapter)