Chapter 66: Going Underground

On the open ground on the southeast side of Tiantan, the autumn wind whipped up withered leaves, swirling them in the grim atmosphere.

By the time He Yuzhu arrived, the two groups led by Chen Qingshan and Xiao Erduo had already been in a standoff for quite some time.

Xiao Erduo had brought over thirty men, all dressed in identical short-sleeved martial arts attire, with wide leather belts cinched at their waists and jujube-wood staves gripped in their hands; their temples were all bulging, clearly showing they were trained fighters. They fanned out in a semi-circle, their gazes fierce, like a pack of wolves.

Xiao Erduo spat out the grass stalk in his mouth, and seeing He Yuzhu arrive, he led a few burly lieutenants to meet him, saying with a mocking grin, "The main man has finally arrived! Lay out the terms today; how are we going to fight?"

He Yuzhu scanned the opposing formation, his voice calm: "You set the rules. But I'll say this first: if any iron weapons are drawn and blood is shed, or if someone even dies, then don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Fair enough!" Xiao Erduo waved a hand. "No blades, no blood; we'll let the staves do the talking. Falling to the ground counts as a loss!"

"Fine, it's a deal." He Yuzhu tilted his head and whispered to Chen Qingshan beside him, "Siqiang, help me hold the line and keep an eye on those who might fight dirty."

"Don't worry," Chen Qingshan replied briefly, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's as he slowly scanned the crowd opposite.

"Brothers! Together now!" Xiao Erduo waved his hand violently and shouted sharply.

In an instant, the thirty-some burly men roared and lunged forward like tigers released from their cages, brandishing their staves.

He Yuzhu moved first! His figure was like lightning; instead of retreating, he advanced, darting into the crowd in a single bound, his legs kicking out in a rapid-fire sequence so fast only blurs could be seen.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" He precisely kicked the sides of the knee joints of the four men in the front.

Those men didn't even have time to scream before they crashed heavily to the ground, clutching their legs and wailing.

He Yuzhu retreated rapidly, causing several staves to strike empty air.

He seized the opportunity to grab one of the staves, his right palm striking out like lightning.

A muffled "thud" sounded.

The man's body was actually sent flying seven or eight meters backward, knocking over several of his accomplices.

He Yuzhu snatched the jujube-wood stave; in his hands, it seemed to come alive.

His figure wove and dodged through the crowd, agile as a swimming fish; every strike targeted vital points like wrists, ankles, shoulder blades, and the backs of knees, swift and precise, with force penetrating bone and sinew.

The sounds of "crack" and "ouch" from bone fractures and cries of pain were incessant.

Anyone struck by the stave in his hand instantly lost the ability to fight and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

On the other side, Chen Qingshan also began to fight in earnest.

Though his physical strength was not equal to He Yuzhu's, his experience was seasoned, his footwork steady, and his strikes were heavy.

A common stave in his hands was like an iron whip, sweeping or smashing, focusing on the enemies' lower stances, and in the blink of an eye, he had also floored five or six men attempting to flank He Yuzhu.

In just a short minute, half of the men Xiao Erduo had brought were already down!

Those with broken arms and legs lay on the ground rolling and wailing, their voices shrill.

The thugs who hadn't fallen looked at the wounded covering the ground and dared not step forward; the scene fell silent for a moment, leaving only groans and heavy panting.

Xiao Erduo's face was deathly pale; his arm had long since been dislocated by He Yuzhu.

His forehead was covered in sweat, and he shouted, "Stop! Everyone stop!... My apologies, you two gentlemen! Today, I, Xiao Erduo, admit defeat, I am convinced! From now on... from now on, my men will never set foot in your shop again!"

He Yuzhu stopped and stood firm, stepped forward to reset Xiao Erduo's arm, and sneered: "I'll say it again: if you don't provoke me, I won't provoke you, and we can all live in peace. If one day your men smash or burn my shop, I will hang your head on the utility pole on Qianmen Street."

Xiao Erduo's Adam's apple bobbed as he nodded with difficulty: "Your enemies are not me!"

"As long as you and your men don't get involved, I won't trouble you!"

"Understood! I will strictly restrain my brothers!" Xiao Erduo cupped his hands, his voice dry.

Returning to the shop, He Yuzhu immediately brought out medicinal wine.

This time, relying on his reaction speed and agility far exceeding that of an ordinary person, he had come through the fight unscathed; in his eyes, the punches, kicks, and staves coming at him had all been laughably slow.

But his Siqiang, Chen Qingshan, had taken several solid blows while blocking sneak attacks from behind and the side for him, and his arms and back were already covered in bruises.

"Siqiang, bear with it." He Yuzhu poured some medicinal wine into his palm to warm it, then carefully pressed it onto Chen Qingshan's injuries, rubbing out the blood stasis with even pressure.

Chen Wenjun also heard the news and rushed over; seeing the injuries on her father's back, her eyes reddened, but she said nothing, simply fetching hot water in silence, wringing out a towel to hand to He Yuzhu, and then going to find clean cloth strips.

The three worked in tacit cooperation, and the injuries were soon treated.

Lou Mansion, inside the study.

Lou Gang was standing before the mahogany desk, reporting to Lou Zhenhua on the progress of resuming operations at several factories.

Lou Zhenhua held a cigar between his fingers, pondered for a moment, and said: "Recently, Commissioner Shen came to talk to me again specifically, wanting to sell us that Rolling Mill left behind by the Japan forces at a set price. The public price isn't high, but if you add up all the kickbacks, it's not cheap. If we take it, the family's liquid capital might be stretched thin. Find someone to evaluate it carefully again and see if it's actually worth it."

"I'll handle it immediately. By the way, the Rolling Mill has recruited 500 new employees; do you think we should continue hiring?"

"Forget it, if we take over that factory from the devils, that's already plenty of employees. Also, that share the guerrillas promised us—will they still honor that account?"

Lou Gang bowed slightly: "Father, I was just about to tell you about that; Lao Zhou is back, and the money should be delivered soon."

Lou Zhenhua nodded, his gaze cast toward the heavy night outside the window, his voice lowering: "What do you... think of the current situation?"

Lou Gang stepped forward, his voice even lower: "Father, I think we still need to hedge our bets; we can't put all our eggs in one basket. Recently, the high-ranking officials of the Bald Party in charge of taking over have been too excessive; they just slap a trumped-up charge on someone and confiscate their family property. If our family hadn't been squeezed so hard by the little devils previously, causing our assets to shrink by more than half, we probably would have been skinned alive this time too..."

Lou Zhenhua sighed deeply, a trace of exhaustion and sorrow crossing his face: "Several of my old friends have already been executed. Their family properties were all confiscated."

A nondescript grocery store opened on Di'anmen Wai Dajie.

He Yuzhu was looking inside curiously when he happened to see Shen Wenqing inside.

He Yuzhu walked in and said excitedly: "Uncle, now that you're back, why didn't you come to find us at home?"

Shen Wenqing looked around vigilantly before lowering his voice: "Now that the two sides have completely broken ties, our activities in the city have gone back underground. I was afraid of causing you trouble."

"What are your plans now that you're back?" He Yuzhu asked.

"Lao Zhou and I will continue to run this shop as a contact point. By the way, we also bought the Hao Yuan near your house and are looking for people to renovate it; it will serve as a foothold in the future."

"You dare to buy a haunted house?"

"What haunted house? Those who died there were our comrades!"

"So that's it. Actually, I had my eye on that house too, and was trying to figure out how to get my hands on it..."

"A step too slow, were you?" Shen Wenqing said.

"When you win, can you reward it to me?" He Yuzhu giggled foolishly.

"If that day really comes, that's not impossible!" Shen Wenqing said.

"Do you know someone named Feng Qingbo? He should be one of your people, and I feel like there is something wrong with him."

Shen Wenqing furrowed his brows tightly and slowly shook his head: "Comrades on the secret front mostly do not know each other's true identities. This name... I have never heard of it."

"Uncle, please remember my words. From now on, whenever there is an operation involving this person, you must tell me."

Shen Wenqing nodded heavily: "I have noted it down."

"My family opened a restaurant in Qianmen called 'He Ji'; you can sponge off the rich from now on!"

"Did you open it, or did your father open it?"

"I opened it, but I didn't tell your sister and brother-in-law. I'm afraid that if my father has money, he will turn bad!"

"You little brat, why do you distrust your father so much?"

He Yuzhu couldn't exactly say he knew from watching television! "My father is the type who can't have money; he is too spendthrift and can't resist temptation!"

"Go see your sister tomorrow!"

Shen Wenqing shook his head, "The people from the Military Statistics Bureau have been acting rampant lately, and several of our small groups have been captured. From now on, unless we have urgent matters, we had better not associate with each other."

"Are you all particularly afraid of those radio detection vehicles?" He Yuzhu asked.

Shen Wenqing nodded, "The Military Statistics Bureau received two detection vehicles from the Japanese devils, which have caused us quite a lot of trouble!"

"Give me a radio, and in three days, I will blow them both up!"

"For real!" Shen Wenqing asked excitedly.