Chapter 25: Upgrading the System Again

As soon as He Daqing stepped through the door, Shen Guizhi rushed over in a panic, tugging at him and pouring out all of He Yuzhu's worries in one breath.

After listening, He Daqing shook his head like a rattle-drum, "That little bastard, just letting his imagination run wild! I think he's ruined his brain from listening to *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* every day."

No matter how much He Yuzhu wore out his tongue, He Daqing remained completely unmoved, stiffening his neck and refusing to let him get involved no matter what.

"You little brat, stay put! Grown-up business is none of your concern!" His attitude was harder than an old elm wood knot.

Seeing his father's stance, He Yuzhu knew that pushing back hard was useless, so he had to think of another way.

Spotting a gap while his parents were talking, He Yuzhu slipped into their small storage shed, held his breath, focused his mind, and entered the space.

The space was silent.

He Yuzhu couldn't care about anything else and rushed impatiently toward the small wooden box.

He lifted the lid, and that golden light instantly dazzled his eyes!

In the small wooden box, twenty-four Small Yellow Fish were neatly stacked! Beside them, it was stuffed with two hundred and forty-six Big Ocean coins.

He then forcefully pried open the larger suitcase next to it.

The items inside broke him out in a cold sweat; they were twenty brand-new German-made Mauser C96s, pitch-black and oily, with anti-rust grease still smeared on the barrels.

At the bottom of the box were golden bullets, at least two thousand rounds!

He rummaged through the parcel again and actually found over three hundred more Big Ocean coins and some odds and ends of gold and silver jewelry.

He Yuzhu licked his somewhat dry lips and calculated rapidly in his mind: should he go all out and feed this pile of "hard currency" to the system? If he could trade it for a triple boost in strength and speed, he could truly walk sideways!

This thought flared up like a spark, only to be forcibly suppressed by him.

No! He shook his head vigorously.

If he hadn't run into that greedy Old Second at the Dengzhao house yesterday, who knows who those treasures would have gone to! He had to keep a backup! He gritted his teeth and decided to keep ten gold bars as a reserve.

No sooner said than done! He Yuzhu focused his mind, and the ten golden Small Yellow Fish in the box vanished in an instant!

"Boom—!"

An indescribable, scalding hot current of air exploded from deep within his limbs and bones! That surging, overwhelming sense of power roared through his veins like a burst levee! Suddenly, his whole body felt like it had endless energy.

He Yuzhu let out a long breath, feeling as if his entire being had been reborn.

He steadied himself, exited the space, pushed open the shed door, and peeked toward the main room; his parents were still bickering there.

He crouched down, hugged the wall, and slipped silently into the overgrown, dilapidated East Cross Courtyard.

Standing in the desolate courtyard, He Yuzhu relied on his memories from his past life, suddenly struck a pose, and performed a set of Tongbei Boxing!

The wind of his fists whistled, and as his muscles and bones opened and closed, there was even a faint sound of wind and thunder breaking through the air!

At this moment, he felt that with one punch, he could knock down a fierce tiger coming down from the mountain!

After practicing a few rounds, he felt his muscles and bones were much more relaxed.

He glanced at the high wall nearby that was still relatively intact—it was originally a wall of a house, but since the roof was gone, it had become a wall.

With a few short, quick steps, his body soared into the air, his hands gripped the brick seams, and with a few "whooshes," he climbed onto the wall as easily as a nimble civet cat! This feeling was simply exhilarating!

At the same time, in Nancheng, at the Dengzhao residence.

The mourning hall was filled with sorrow.

Pale mourning banners hung low, and the candlelight flickered in the draft, stretching shadows long and short, looking ghostly.

Dengzhao's wife, originally a girl from the red-light district, went by the stage name Xiaotaohong, and her real name was Su Qingqing.

At this moment, she was dressed in heavy mourning clothes, kneeling on a cold cushion, weeping softly before the spirit tablet, her shoulders heaving, looking utterly desolate.

With Dengzhao dead and Old Second having run off with the money, the only person left in the gang capable of taking charge was Old Third, Zhao Datou, who managed the opium den business.

He stood in the center of the mourning hall, his square face so gloomy it could drip water, his gaze sweeping over the thirty-some brothers kneeling below.

"Big Brother... is gone! Second Brother... that motherfucker is no good either! Right now, we have to pick a leader! And then, we'll avenge Big Brother!"

Lao Si immediately chimed in: "San Ge is right! Datou Ge, you tell us, how should we pick this leader?"

"Pick my ass!" A man like a black iron tower suddenly stood up from the crowd; it was Black Bear, known for his ferocity. He widened his eyes, patted his chest, and roared with a righteous tone: "Whoever the hell can twist off the enemy's head and place it before Big Brother's spirit tablet! That person is qualified to be the boss."

"Right! Whoever kills the enemy becomes the boss!" Several voices immediately echoed, and the mourning hall was instantly filled with righteous indignation.

The silent accountant, Sun Qiang, adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and spoke up: "Who is the enemy? And where are they now?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly making everyone's heart sink.

Black Bear immediately glared at Sun Qiang: "Didn't Lao Xing say it clearly? That person is a little devil from the Military Police!"

Zhao Datou nodded, his eyes fierce: "If the little devil dares to touch Big Brother on our turf, that's a slap in the face to all of us brothers! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we'll get that little devil's head to pay tribute to Big Brother!"

"San Ge is right! That's exactly what we should do!" A dozen brothers immediately raised their arms in support.

Sun Qiang frowned and said: "San Ge, brothers, wait. I've been mulling this over all night, and I feel this whole thing... is fishy! How could Ma Wu and Xiaoliuzi happen to appear in the courtyard so coincidentally? And why were the Japanese able to find the place so quickly? I suspect that 'devil' is a fake! Furthermore, this person is likely the 'hostage' that Ma Wu went to kidnap! He escaped and turned the tables to set a trap to take revenge on Big Brother!"

"Cut the crap! Do you have any idea how old that 'hostage' was? Only ten years old! If Ma Wu hadn't mentioned it to me when he took the job, I would have almost believed your nonsense! A ten-year-old kid could kill Big Brother? And pretend to be a devil? You aren't even afraid of biting your tongue while spinning such lies!" Black Bear cursed.

"Sun Qiang, your analysis is a bit outrageous!" Lao Si frowned and shook his head.

At this time, the person involved, Lao Xing, stepped out: "San Ge, brothers, I think this matter is most likely the work of that bastard Lou Feng! He colluded with the devils and used them to do his dirty work!"

Zhao Datou looked at him: "Lao Xing, you were there, explain it carefully."

Lao Xing cleared his throat and said: "I have three reasons. First, I saw his Military Police credentials, and they were real; second, the Japanese he spoke was quite fluent; third, he was able to get the letter Ouyang Feng wrote to Lou Feng! Doesn't that prove Lou Feng is behind this? As for Xiaoliuzi and Ma Wu..." He paused, "I reckon they were just unlucky; they ran back and happened to run into Lao Er running away with the money. Lao Er is cold-blooded and ruthless, so he silenced them!"

"Lao Xing is right!"

The dozen or so brothers were all brainless; as long as someone pointed the way, they would follow.

"Then let's chop up that old dog Lou Feng first! To vent Big Brother's anger! Once Big Brother has a grand funeral, we'll go settle the score with the little devils!" Lao Si shouted, waving his fist.

"No!" Sun Qiang was anxious and wanted to argue.

But Zhao Datou waved his hand abruptly, "Enough, Sun Qiang! Say no more! Your analysis is full of holes; a ten-year-old kid could do this? The ghosts would believe that! For now, we do as Lao Xing says!"

Sun Qiang looked at the indignant crowd and helplessly shut his mouth.

The next day, at the Siheyuan.

He Yuzhu was stared at all morning by his mother, Shen Guizhi, as if he were a thief; he couldn't sit or stand in the room, fidgeting as if there were nails under his seat.

Shen Guizhi was stitching a shoe sole, her peripheral vision never leaving him.

It was hard enough to wait until nearly noon, when Shen Guizhi stood up to go to the kitchen and prepare lunch.

He Yuzhu seized this opportunity, ran straight out of the house, and headed for Qianmen Street to pick up the new clothes he had ordered.

Today, Qianmen Street appeared even more crowded and noisy than yesterday.

After He Yuzhu picked up his new clothes, he still wanted to get some arsenic, but he didn't expect to be chased out by every shop he visited.

He Yuzhu sighed and shook his head; it seemed that in this era, getting some arsenic was as difficult as ascending to the blue sky.

At the main gate of the Rolling Mill.

Several "farmers" wearing tattered, patched clothes and broken straw hats pushed a few creaking, dilapidated Handcarts, piled high with wilted Chinese cabbage, slowly toward the gate of the Rolling Mill.

"Stop! What are you doing? Who are you looking for?" The few security guards on duty immediately became alert and shouted their questions.

The tall, thin "farmer" in the lead hurriedly bowed and scraped, speaking in a thick, heavy accent: "We... we're looking for Lou Feng, the head steward Lou. We used to deliver vegetables to the Lou Mansion, but when we went there this time, they said the head steward wasn't at the Lou Mansion anymore and told us to come here to the Rolling Mill to find him."

"Looking for Steward Lou? Wait here! I'll go inside and call him." A security guard looked them over, didn't see any major flaws, and turned to run into the factory.

At this moment, Lou Feng was sitting in his office, which was still reasonably clean, with his legs crossed, slowly sipping tea.

Although he had been "exiled" to watch the gate this time, no one in the factory, from top to bottom, dared to give him a hard time. This Rolling Mill used to be under his management!

Just as Lou Feng was pondering where to go for a couple of drinks at noon, he heard a security guard outside shout: "Steward Lou! Someone at the gate is looking for you! They say they're the ones who used to deliver vegetables!"

Lou Feng frowned. The vegetable delivery people? Suspicious, he stood up and walked slowly toward the gate.

Just as he reached a spot a few dozen meters from the gate, he looked up at the few people in front of it and realized he didn't recognize a single one of them, and furthermore, every one of them looked fierce and menacing.

"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in Lou Feng's heart! He turned abruptly and took off running back the way he came.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Those "farmers" moved as fast as lightning! They unleashed a volley of gunfire at Lou Feng's back as he fled in a panic!

"Damn! It's an ambush!" The security guards at the gate finally reacted; they pulled out their guns, and while looking for cover, they fired back at the fierce gunmen!

"Pop-pop-pop-pop!"

Bullets flew everywhere, striking the iron gate and the walls, sending sparks flying!

The gate instantly descended into total chaos!

At this moment, He Yuzhu was just getting off a rickshaw, preparing to eat at Kaorouji and bring back some food for Shen Guizhi along the way.

He reached out and just lifted the greasy cotton door curtain.

"Slap!"

A filthy, foul-smelling rag covered in oil stains struck him squarely across the face!