Chapter 556: Amidst Talk and Laughter

A rowdy commotion stirred in the open ground as this gang of riffraff began sidling toward the Cloud Mountain Carting Agency's compound. Being barred from watching the show had already been a loss of face, and seeing that no one from the agency came out to stop them, these disreputable types grew even bolder, sauntering over with jeers and laughter.

The compound was formed by connecting several former warehouse courtyards, ringed by a low stone wall. The main gate was newly built and looked rather imposing, with four men standing watch in front.

The gang of riffraff, twenty-some in all, exchanged glances and arrived right at the gate. The moment the four gatekeepers of Cloud Mountain Carting Agency saw them, their expressions instantly turned timid and shrinking.

"Yo, if it isn't Old Soft Melon — found yourself another job?" someone jeered, clearly recognizing an acquaintance among the four. The middle-aged man he'd called out hunched his body and didn't even dare lift his head. This middle-aged man dared not look up, and the others were no better off, all standing there cowering with heads lowered.

Such cowering behavior only made the gang crowding the gate more excited. One man taunted, "Second Brother sure has wide connections — who'd have thought he'd even know northern bumpkins from Fengyang in Xuzhou!"

"Who'd know such worthless trash? When Wang Dagang fought our Dragon Head, Old Soft Melon here didn't dare follow along. Afterwards he even tried to send gifts to join our big gang — this trash actually wanted to come over. Protector Zhang sent men to burn his cart and told him to roll back north. This shameless wretch actually dared come back, and even had the gall to beg Wang Dagang to take him in."

"Wang Dagang's got nothing but worthless cowards like this under him, and they've still got the nerve to come back — they've really lost their minds!"

"Maybe it's for that painted woman. A northern bumpkin who's never seen anything decent, fooled by some half-penny local slut."

"If you sent him strolling by the river and he saw the girls on the boats, he'd be so bewitched he'd fall right in!"

The crowd laughed and mocked without restraint. The gatekeepers they were taunting looked up in indignation, but the moment they met the eyes of those unbridled thugs, they hurriedly lowered their heads again — they simply didn't have the courage.

"What are you looking at? What's so interesting on my face — you'd better spell it out for me!" One thug immediately started hollering, relentless and unyielding. They'd come precisely to provoke trouble, and once they found a pretext they seized it and wouldn't let go. Both Dragon Heads wanted Wang Dagang driven out for good — how could they let his opening go so smoothly?

At this shouting, the four men scrambled to their feet in panic and retreated backward. How could they possibly afford to offend these ruffian-like, vicious-looking thugs?

"Don't run!" The other side's retreat was exactly what the thugs wanted. The one who'd started the provocation quickened his pace and reached out to grab, while the gang behind surged inward after him. Going inside and raising a ruckus would be even better — if they could take this chance to directly wreck this so-called Cloud Mountain Carting Agency, that would be a major accomplishment.

The courtyard was quite spacious, but the thugs' steps halted the moment they crossed the threshold, because the one charging at the very front had been jabbed straight to the ground by a pole. The others who'd come to cause trouble might be carrying short knives or daggers on them, but nothing else — seeing the other side wielding a weapon, and a long one at that, they couldn't help but check their steps.

The man holding the long staff was none other than Wang Dagang, staring fixedly at the thugs at the gate. Back when their band of independent carters had suffered badly in that gang fight, and afterwards when people's homes had been set on fire — that blood debt very likely had something to do with these thugs as well.

As he stood there glaring fiercely, the troublemaking thugs were also peering into the compound. The courtyard was very spacious, with three large carts parked not far away. The carts looked a bit odd in design, but no one had the attention to spare for that now — they only noticed that seven or eight men sat atop the carts, looking this way as if watching a show.

Seeing this setup, the thugs no longer dared advance further inside. Any carting agency could muster several dozen stout men at any time, and setting others aside, this Wang Dagang himself had good fighting skills. If it really came to blows, their side wouldn't gain any advantage and might well come out worse.

But street-fighting thugs and ruffians — valor and viciousness was one side of them, reading the wind and steering clear was another, and shameless rolling and wailing was yet another.

The thug knocked down by the pole froze for a moment, then clutched his arm and started howling in pain, rolling all over the ground and yelling nonstop, "My arm's broken, my arm's broken!"

This was a routine everyone knew well. Watching that thug rolling and screaming in pain inside the courtyard, the gang of thugs outside all joined in the clamor: "Broke his arm — that's a grievous injury leaving a man crippled, a major crime! We're reporting this to the authorities!"

The thugs and ruffians filled their mouths with cries of "the man's crippled" and "see the magistrate." The thug on the ground kept rolling and thrashing without pause, wailing like a slaughtered pig.

Wang Dagang, who had been bristling with murderous intent moments before, now showed some hesitation. Cloud Mountain Carting Agency had just opened for business — would bringing the constables here cause trouble? No matter how formidable Master Jin was, he was only a village headman after all, and a Xuzhou headman at that. This Qingjiangpu was a world unto itself even within the Southern Metropolitan Region — what exactly should he do?

This hesitant look of his fell right into the thugs' eyes. Moreover, from start to finish no one had come to help — it had always been Wang Dagang handling things alone. With many against one, the thugs' arrogance instantly swelled. Someone stepped directly over the threshold, seizing on the matter of the injury and going to the authorities.

The several men sitting on the large cart not far away could see clearly what was happening here and hear clearly what was being shouted. Seeing Wang Dagang in this state, one man smiled and shook his head, said a couple of words, then jumped off the cart and walked this way.

Seeing someone approach, the thugs all paused for the moment. This man was tall and burly, with a full beard, looking to be in his thirties or forties, bearing a somewhat dejected, frustrated air. The thugs had sharp eyes and could tell this was no person of consequence, so their hearts settled.

"Master Li..." Wang Dagang called out.

The man shook his head and said with a smile, "I don't deserve that 'master' title. I'm a bit older than you — if you're so inclined, just call me Brother Li."

Just these two exchanges, and the thugs started clamoring again. The one on the ground was howling at the top of his lungs, the sound so shrill it even drowned out the noise from the stage outside.

"From that move of yours just now, you couldn't have broken his arm!"

"Master Li has sharp eyes — that strike jabbed his chest." A simple exchange, and Wang Dagang hurriedly explained, thinking to himself, Don't tell me he's blaming me for stirring up trouble.

The man addressed as "Master Li" smiled and said, "I thought so — the arm shouldn't be broken!"

As he spoke, he lifted his foot and stepped on that thug. The moment his foot came down, the thug instantly couldn't move. The thugs making a racket there all froze. This Master Li bent down, grabbed one of the thug's arms directly, lifted it up, and wrenched it back.

A "Crack!" was heard, and that arm bent at a grotesque angle, then dropped limply to the ground beyond control.

The thugs' clamor came to an abrupt halt, and then an even more piercing shriek of agony rang out — the thug lying on the ground was howling like a ghost and wailing like a wolf.

This time the sound was far louder than before, setting the dogs of the surrounding households barking wildly in response. The thug whose arm had been twisted broken struggled desperately on the ground, but that Master Li just kept him pinned with one foot — no matter how the thug struggled, he couldn't break free.

Even Wang Dagang wore a face full of shock, but Master Li's movements didn't stop. He bent down and fished up the thug's other arm, lifted and twisted it with one hand — "Crack!" again, and the second arm was broken too, and broken in an even more painful manner.

The thug on the ground let out another shriek, but his voice had completely changed pitch, his face already deathly pale. Before he could finish screaming, the man passed out directly from the pain.

The thugs blocking the gate were silent as crows. Master Li lifted his eyes and glanced over — those at the gate all scrambled backward in panic. Master Li straightened up and said to Wang Dagang with a smile, "When dealing with people like this, you've got to be ruthless and merciless. I heard others say you went to fight people with a club — at the time I nearly laughed out loud. If there's no blood and no lives lost, who's going to back down?"

Before his words had faded, Master Li lifted his foot and stomped down hard. Another "Crack!" — the thug who'd passed out on the ground screamed, actually jolted awake by the pain. One leg had been stomped broken.

By now, Wang Dagang's face showed no surprise or guilt — instead, he seemed to be lost in thought. The thugs at the gate were white as sheets. Street brawling and viciousness, even drawing iron and seeing blood — none of that would necessarily make them blink or care. But this man before them, breaking limbs amidst casual talk and laughter — this cold-blooded, vicious ruthlessness had thoroughly terrified them all. Watching their companion writhe in agony between life and death, not one of these thugs dared make a move, each afraid of following in their companion's footsteps.

"Crack!" — the other leg was broken too. The thug on the ground was screaming so hoarsely his voice had gone raspy, his features twisted beyond recognition.

"If you're going to do something, finish it." Master Li clapped his hands and said cheerfully, showing not the slightest sign that he had just broken a thug's four limbs.

By this point, the thugs who had just been shouting about broken arms and going to the authorities, who had been blocking the gate with such bluster, were all struck dumb, their feet ceaselessly shuffling backward. If just one person took the lead, they'd probably all turn tail and scatter.

"Take him away. Otherwise, a few more will be staying behind today," Master Li said coldly.

Having witnessed his vicious methods just now, and glancing at the several men on the cart on the other side — all looking on with predatory intent — the thugs who'd wanted to flee found themselves unable to move their legs. In the end, after jostling and shoving, a few were pushed forward, and they directly carried the man out. That thug couldn't withstand such jostling and passed out from the pain again.

That thug had indeed lived up to his companions' earlier shouts — the man was truly crippled now.

"It's getting late. Tonight certainly won't be peaceful — no time to idle. I'll be off to my duties first." Master Li nodded and went off on his own.

The thugs had long since scattered clean away, but with Wang Dagang showing his face like this, everyone knew things wouldn't stay quiet from here on — there was still work to be done.

Wang Dagang hurriedly nodded, but before he could even voice his thanks, he saw that the four gatekeepers were all pale-faced and trembling all over. The one called Old Soft Melon said in a quavering voice, "Dagang, that man is way too vicious — looks like he'd eat people alive..."

"You think the one with the broken limbs is pitiful?" Wang Dagang sighed and said. He knew this man's name was Li He, and he could even guess that Li He had likely served in the military. But the scene just now had been far too terrifying — breaking all four limbs was worse than killing the man. It had gone too far.

Thanks to the three old friends "Kong Se Liang Nan," "Yuan Heng Li Zhen," and "Bu Dong Ru Shan" for their tips, and thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.