Chapter 584: Only Strong Medicine

Dou Tianfeng, his eyes completely bloodshot, arrived at the main hall of the gambling house. The floor was a wreck, and there were over a dozen men lying there — those went without saying. What truly made Dou Tianfeng's eyelids twitch uncontrollably were the large men gripping blades and axes, their entire bodies radiating killing intent. Hadn't the realm been at peace these past few years? Yet these men looked as if they fought and killed every single day. Even stranger, the one standing at the very front was a young man not yet twenty, somewhat lean even, but his expression was utterly composed.

"Are you Dou Tianfeng?"

The moment the question was asked, Dou Tianfeng felt a twinge of confusion. This man had an accent from the southern Lu region, not Xuzhou. What was going on? But Dou Tianfeng dared not be negligent and hurriedly nodded, saying, "I am indeed Dou Tianfeng. May I ask how to address you, young sir?"

Hearing him confirm his name, two men stepped forward and took positions flanking him. Dou Tianfeng's heart gave a violent lurch. He glanced at his own household guards and bodyguards — not a single one dared to move, and every pair of eyes that met his shrank back and lowered in fear.

"I am Wei Mugen. Dou Tianfeng, you owe Cloud Mountain Carting ten thousand taels of silver. It's time to repay that debt. First, let's fill out the IOU properly!" the young man said, crisp and efficient.

The room fell silent, then erupted into an uproar. Even the cowed gambling house dealers, assistants, and bodyguards all cried out in shock. Dou Tianfeng stood there, utterly stunned. Only after a moment did he sway violently, nearly unable to keep his footing. He stumbled a step back before steadying himself, then simply stared wide-eyed and asked in return, "Ten thousand taels?"

His tone was filled with utter disbelief. The event itself couldn't compare to the shock of that sum. This was ten thousand taels of silver! Working himself to the bone all year, he could earn three or four thousand taels at most. And now, in one stroke, ten thousand taels — it was a figure he had never even dared to imagine.

Wei Mugen smiled and nodded. "Ten thousand taels it is. What? Have you forgotten, Dou Tianfeng?"

"How... how is that possible? How could Dou ever borrow such an amount? Heaven and earth bear witness, how much is this entire gambling house even worth if sold? Dou would have to be utterly insane to borrow..."

"I don't care whether you're insane or not. Lord Jin says you borrowed it, so you borrowed it. The IOU is already prepared. Put your thumbprint on it and sign!" Wei Mugen still wore a smile on his face, but his tone was chillingly cold.

All thoughts of the fearsome brutality of the Zhao Character Camp, the bloody fates of the Carting Gang and Jiang Martial Hall — Dou Tianfeng paid them no more heed. This was ten thousand taels! A sum he might not amass in an entire lifetime. He was no salt merchant, no sea lord — how could he possibly produce it? Even if they killed him, he couldn't pay. Better to die than to carry such a hellish, crushing debt!

"How could I ever repay it? I never borrowed it at all! Let's go to the yamen and settle this in court, let's go right now..." For figures of the jianghu and marketplace, nothing was worse than seeing the officials. Once the officials were involved, every unwritten rule was broken, and one could never hope to remain in the trade. But right now, Dou Tianfeng could no longer care about any of that.

He waved his arms, gesticulating a few times, only to see Wei Mugen flash an impatient look. Two large men immediately seized Dou Tianfeng from both sides and slammed him violently onto a gambling table. One held his body down while the other grabbed one of his hands. Wei Mugen drew a wide-bladed short knife from his waist and hacked straight down.

With a miserable scream, Dou Tianfeng's little finger was separated from his hand. He howled and shrieked in pain, but no longer dared to thrash about. These men from Xuzhou truly dared to use blades in broad daylight.

"What are you yelling for? One more sound, and we'll just chop off your whole hand and press the print ourselves. Don't fail to recognize Lord Jin's mercy. With a debt, your whole family just goes to the stockade to labor for a few years, and it's repaid. Without a debt — you yourself aren't afraid to die, but are the sixteen members of your household, plus the six in your second home, also unafraid to die?" Wei Mugen merely gestured idly with the knife.

Yet Dou Tianfeng's agonized cries stopped instantly. His entire household, old and young, sixteen people — anyone could find that out with a little inquiry. But the six in his second home, which he had always kept so secret — how did they know about that too?

What followed at Six-Ear Gambling House involved no further fighting. Dou Tianfeng signed the IOU and pressed his thumbprint, and then the entire Six-Ear Gambling House changed owners. Cloud Mountain Trading became the new proprietor.

Dou Tianfeng himself was utterly dejected. When the Dou family, old and young, were led out, they still had no idea what had happened. All they were permitted to take were two changes of clothes per person, plus their bedding and luggage. Nothing else was allowed. The carts and escorts were already waiting outside the residence, ready to transport them directly to the new refugee stockade over in Pi County. When the convoy arrived at his second home, Dou Tianfeng felt his heart turn to dead ashes.

Had he known Cloud Mountain Carting and the Zhao Character Camp possessed such methods, how could he ever have entertained the thought of fighting them? By now, Dou Tianfeng had also realized the truth: this was a scheme to draw the snake out of its hole. Ridiculously, he had actually taken the bait.

On this day, many people were just like Dou Tianfeng — all filled with regret, all suffering the same fate. One cart after another threaded through the main streets and back alleys of Qingjiangpu, taking away a crowd of dejected, weeping people. On this day, many jianghu establishments within the city changed owners.

Jianghu establishments were nothing more than dealings in wine, women, wealth, and temper — matters of little relevance to law-abiding commoners. And since the officials dared not interfere, the events stirred up no real public disturbance.

Even though these establishments had backers and patrons, the Zhao Character Camp had already demonstrated its strength and bloody methods, intimidating everyone into staying put. Moreover, those who were taken away and stripped of their property this time had all been secretly plotting against Cloud Mountain Carting. In both reason and righteousness, the Zhao Character Camp stood on perfectly justified ground.

That was what people said, and in hindsight, anyone could figure it out — it was the Zhao Character Camp's tactic of letting loose the reins only to tighten them later. But if the other side set a trap, you didn't have to walk into it. You delivered yourself to their door — who could you blame? People across Qingjiangpu could only mutter a few words in private, saying these Xuzhou men's appetite was simply too ugly to behold, sweeping through like a storm, leaving not a shred of face behind. Surely, great misfortune would befall them in the future.

Besides Six-Ear Gambling House changing owners, Jiang Martial Hall also changed owners. Perhaps because this incident made some see that the martial hall business was a good one to run, in addition to Jiang Martial Hall continuing as a martial hall, the empty yard and freight depot outside the city that had belonged to the Henan Carting Gang was also walled off, and a new martial hall was established there, called "Cloud Mountain Martial Hall." Jiang Martial Hall, meanwhile, got a new signboard and was renamed "Zhao Family Martial Hall."

The day Cloud Mountain Martial Hall opened, its momentum was considerable. Over four hundred young men formally became disciples. Jiang Martial Hall also drew over two hundred. Cloud Mountain Carting likewise hired over three hundred new escorts to accompany its carts. Beyond that, there were also over a hundred mounted escorts.

No one was blind, and no one was a fool. The moment this show of force was put on display, everyone folded their banners and silenced their drums. Every last scheme vanished like smoke.

They had said Cloud Mountain Carting started strong but finished weak. They had said the Xuzhou men were plagued by infighting. They had said their strength was insufficient. Yet with just a stretch of their hand, they had produced over a thousand men, and these men were to be permanently stationed here. Such scale and strength — likely even the Shanyang Garrison Command couldn't match it. Even that Vice General at Wolf Mountain, could he dispatch a thousand men just like that?

And these thousand-odd men were all around the same age, every single one a strapping young fellow. Their gear was also in perfect order — all long spears and greatswords. The horses were all robust, fine steeds. Rumor even had it that armor had been spotted during their drills. Had the Zhao Character Camp brought out their entire foundation?

Regardless of whether Zhao Jin was just putting on a brave front or not, the arrival of these thousand men completely cowed the scene. Over a thousand elite troops, plus the manpower the Carting Gang could mobilize — using that to suppress the demons and monsters of Qingjiangpu's underworld was truly using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken!

"Many thanks for your warning, old brother. Otherwise, I truly would have tried something this time. I couldn't accept it — after running things for so long, to have it all snatched away by a wet-behind-the-ears kid in just over ten days. I never imagined he actually had such methods, such real strength. A close call, a very close call. I was just one step away from making a move. It would have brought disaster down on my head for sure!" Lian Ping'an said, wiping sweat as he spoke, his face full of lingering fear.

Outside, the storm raged noisily, but the Warehouse Commissioner Lian Ping'an's place remained perfectly quiet. Openly or secretly, he had neither stuck his neck out nor lifted a finger, so naturally, no one came looking for trouble with him.

At this moment, Commissioner Lian Ping'an was listening to reports from his trusted confidants while chatting idly with that gang boss from the Canal Transport Administration.

The gang boss was looking rather pleased with himself. After all, he had spoken up to warn him beforehand, and at the time had even received some cold stares and complaints for it. But now, it looked like foresight, having averted a massive calamity.

"Truth be told, none of you would believe it, but that Zhao Jin has built an enormous operation in Xuzhou. Under his command are a Tiger, a Phoenix, a Leopard, a Bear, a Wolf, and a Dog — every one of them a formidable figure. Yangzhou already suffered a huge loss long ago, and you all still didn't know your place."

At that moment, inside Cloud Mountain Martial Hall, someone had temporarily walled off an area with bricks. Straw and firewood blazed inside, and from time to time, people outside would toss things in to burn. Thick smoke billowed upward.

"Don't be stingy about these clothes. Anything stained with blood gets burned. Later, Second Brother will buy you all good ones. The blades must be wiped clean too — remember to do that water by the river. Don't slack off, don't cut corners. Lord Jin's rules, you all know them well." Qi Erkui stood in the middle of the field, hands on his hips, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Most of the several dozen men under his command were wiping down their podao. The clothes and face coverings worn during the raid on Jiang Martial Hall were collected by designated personnel and thrown into the fire pit to be burned.

On the other side, the Zhao Character Camp's archers were oiling their bowstrings and reconditioning their bow staves. The south was humid; without constant care, the bows would easily be damaged.

That day, the archers had set up their positions around Jiang Martial Hall in advance. Some observed from high vantage points on the rooftops. Once the first and second arrows were loosed inside, the rest would not miss their mark. After firing several volleys, they did not linger in the fight but withdrew directly. Meanwhile, Qi Erkui led his men, podao in hand, charging in to kill. On the rooftops of the buildings neighboring Jiang Martial Hall, four archers of outstanding marksmanship were stationed. Their task was to snipe Jiang Dacheng and eliminate any troublesome individuals who resisted during the battle.

After that round of killing, the very next day, Wei Mugen led a group of jianghu men from the Internal Guard, going from place to place to "collect debts." Those local Qingjiangpu strongmen and the like who harbored sinister intentions and had escaped the first wave were, in this round, completely ruined and stripped of their property, left with nothing at all. But with matters taken to this stage, there was no need to kill in broad daylight — merely making a show of intimidation was enough.

For such greedy wretches, killing them was not as good as leaving them penniless. That punishment was far more cruel.

Thanks to the book friends "User Smile Very Pale, 123*, Yuan Heng Li Zhen" for their tips, and thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.