Chapter 604: Iron Hooks

A Xuzhou accent can't be hidden, and right now in Qingjiangpu, anyone bold enough to run wild has to be from the Zhao Camp. Although Guan Tao followed Niu Shengjie in his reckless misdeeds, he still kept an eye on Qingjiangpu and knew who the biggest players there were now. But Guan Tao never imagined they'd come knocking. In his mind, well water and river water don't mix — you run your big underworld business, my young master and I enjoy ourselves, what's that got to do with anything? Yet the moment they were burst in on, Guan Tao's heart began to pound, and he hurriedly tried to explain.

"I don't know how much silver you gentlemen were paid — just name the sum, and my household will double it!" Guan Tao was babbling, certain in his mind that these Xuzhou men had been hired for the job.

He was about to go on, but Cheng Dahu had lost patience. He stepped forward and grabbed Guan Tao, who was barely taller than a dwarf. Held in Cheng Dahu's hand, he looked like a sack. Cheng Dahu seized him and flung him — Guan Tao traced an arc through the air and crashed heavily onto the front courtyard's dirt ground, his face scraping across the sandy earth, blood streaming. He lay there howling in agony. At the sight, the rough men of the Inner Guard let out loud cheers and whistles.

Niu Shengjie had grown used to throwing his weight around Qingjiangpu and always thought no one dared cross him. They'd vaguely heard of these Xuzhou men's exploits in Qingjiangpu, but figured it had nothing to do with them. Niu Shengjie believed that with his two uncles and his family's power at sea, no one would dare offend them, and he had no need to care about some bumpkins from Xuzhou.

The moment Guan Tao was tossed out, anyone else would have been terrified. The shouting and racket in the front courtyard quieted a little. But Niu Shengjie struggled frantically, his voice cracking as he screamed curses: "Let your grandpa go right now, kneel and kowtow, and your grandpa will spare your lives! Otherwise your whole families will be slaughtered, not a chicken or dog left alive — and we'll come kill our way to your Xuzhou too!"

Qi Erkui, who was holding him, gave his wrist a flick. Niu Shengjie instantly felt as if every bone in his body had come apart, so wretched he couldn't utter a word. Qi Erkui said with a laugh, "This one's body is hollowed out. Decent height, but no weight at all!"

As he spoke, he paid no mind to Niu Shengjie's furious curses and struggles, simply carrying the man out to the front courtyard. The front courtyard had turned into something like a marketplace — utter chaos and clamor. Guan Tao hitting the ground hadn't quieted them much; everyone was shouting curses, wailing, and some were still struggling.

"Second Brother, that dwarf on the ground muttered a couple of words just now — probably egging this bunch of scum on to make a racket," an Inner Guard household trooper said quietly.

No wonder the noise was so fierce, no wonder they weren't afraid. So far, the only ones injured were those two men who'd drawn blades, plus Guan Tao with his scrapes and bruises. Everyone else was just tied up like that. At first they'd been somewhat frightened, not even daring to raise their voices, but then they realized their captors were silent and unresponsive — some shouted curses and didn't get beaten — and immediately the crowd grew bold. Some clever ones had their own schemes: now that everyone had been seized inside the residence, if they kicked up enough of a ruckus, maybe someone outside would hear.

By the time Niu Shengjie was hauled over too, the uproar grew even wilder. In the minds of these Niu family thugs and enforcers, no one under heaven dared provoke the Nius. Whoever laid a single finger on the Niu young master, the two masters at sea would wipe out their entire clan. These Xuzhou men, to put it plainly, were just local toughs — how could they compare to those lawless desperadoes at sea? Perhaps Niu Shengjie's henchmen truly believed the Niu family's two sea lords commanded a thousand ships and ten thousand men, invincible under heaven…

Niu Shengjie was tossed onto the pile of people too, still spewing foul curses without pause. With their master leading the charge, the others joined in even louder.

That bunch of Xuzhou men seemed at a loss, just standing there chatting quietly. Could it be they were scared? Wary? This only made the captives more aggressive. In the street game, it's all about who shouts louder, who's more vicious and reckless. So what about all those heroes and toughs of Qingjiangpu? When the Niu young master throws a tantrum, who dares cross this Bull Demon King!

"The streets in town aren't wide — three horses abreast and you can't move fast. But marching that way stretches the column out too long."

"Nobody said it had to be a single column. Ten men at a time, ten men at a time. Send two men to watch the city gate, in case some muddle-headed official inside or outside the city gets the bright idea of closing it."

"You think the Master hasn't thought of that? Someone was sent to keep an eye on it long ago. We just do our jobs."

The leaders over there conferred briefly, then Qi Erkui raised his voice: "Ten men to a squad. March a circuit through town, then follow the same route back out of the city. First squad, Old Cheng leads it. Take these pieces of trash out first!"

Cheng Dahu nodded, called out a few names, and this self-absorbed behavior left the bound men in the courtyard bewildered.

They watched as the ten men whose names had been called left the courtyard. When they returned, each carried an iron hook about a foot long. The hook's point was razor-sharp — it looked like a tool used on ships or in lumberyards. Attached to the hook's handle was a thick, heavy rope.

Cheng Dahu took one of the iron hooks and walked up to Niu Shengjie. Niu Shengjie had cursed himself hoarse, his face contorted. Only when he saw the coldly glinting iron hook did he sense something was wrong and instinctively shrank back. His ferocity had been so overwhelming that for a moment, he didn't even know how to beg for mercy.

"Boy, you're first!" Cheng Dahu gave a savage grin and grabbed Niu Shengjie like snatching up a chicken. Niu Shengjie felt as if a mountain were pressing down on his shoulder — he couldn't move at all. He could only watch helplessly as that iron hook pierced straight through his shoulder, blood spurting. He'd been screaming before it even touched him, and once it stabbed through, he shrieked in agony. But Niu Shengjie's upper body was bound tight — there was no way to pull free or dodge. His screams held no words at all, just screaming.

"This one barely counts as human anymore — just like a beast," someone nearby remarked with a laugh.

Cheng Dahu gave the rope a shake, toppling Niu Shengjie straight to the ground. Ignoring his howls of pain and struggles, Cheng Dahu simply hauled the rope and walked out.

At this sight, everyone else froze. They really dared to strike — and against the Niu young master at that… Guan Tao, however, came to his senses. He struggled to flip over, heedless of the blood streaming down his face, and just kowtowed there, begging for mercy. In a distorted voice he cried, "Grandpas, grandpas, this lowly one had no choice — it was all that filthy beast forcing me! Spare this lowly one — I know everything, I can go testify at the yamen…"

Before he could finish, an iron hook stabbed straight through his shoulder, pinning him fast. The sudden searing pain made Guan Tao scream aloud, his whole body reflexively twisting. But the more he moved, the more it wrenched the wound, and he trembled rigidly in place, not daring to budge.

Cheng Dahu paused as he walked past him, lifted a foot, and kicked Guan Tao over onto his back. The hook tore, making Guan Tao shriek. Cheng Dahu sneered, "Your grandpa here used to stay around Haizhou, and I sure never heard of any big boss in our Southern Zhili with over a hundred ships and ten thousand followers. Hearing you talk about it today, I'd really like to see for myself."

The Zhao Camp men in the courtyard all burst out laughing. But the Niu family's thugs and enforcers were stunned. So these vicious men truly didn't give a damn about the Nius at sea. The reason they hadn't acted sooner was that they were waiting to string everyone up with iron hooks. As more and more people had iron hooks driven through their shoulders, each one wailed and begged desperately for mercy, and some screamed at the top of their lungs for help.

The Niu residence wasn't large. When people inside screamed at the top of their lungs, it was clearly audible outside. These Niu family men still hoped someone outside might hear the cries for help and report it to the authorities. In broad daylight, hearing such a commotion, surely someone would alert the officials.

But there was no reaction whatsoever from outside. What these Niu family thugs hadn't considered was that among the local natives living in Shanyang, the Huai'an prefectural seat, who would dare go anywhere near the residence where Niu Shengjie lived? Everyone would rather take a long detour than walk past it, terrified of provoking that lawless scum, terrified of catching that demonic taint. And with Niu Shengjie and Guan Tao having tormented the area for so long, who would step forward to report to the authorities on his behalf?

Watching the men hooked through the shoulders rolling on the ground and screaming in pain, watching rope after rope being dragged out the gate, these Niu household men still had no idea what their captors intended. Some clung to wishful thinking: as long as no one died this time, everything would be fine. Getting an iron hook through the shoulder was just pain and bleeding — endure it and it'd pass. Afterwards, the two Niu masters would surely reclaim this lost face. Even if they couldn't, they'd never dare hang around this Niu young master again. Sharing in the perks and pleasures was nice, but this was far too dangerous.

Amid the tangle of wailing and wild thoughts, chaos reigned — then they heard someone outside give a shout. Horses whinnied, hooves clattered — clearly the horses had started moving. At that same moment, they saw the rope attached to the iron hook in Niu Shengjie's shoulder snap taut. Niu Shengjie let out an earth-shattering shriek of agony as his whole body was dragged uncontrollably outward. He stumbled and crashed across the ground, banging against the threshold on the way out, blood spraying from his shoulder. His whole body twisted and writhed, but he was no match for the horses' pull. Just like that, he was hauled out the door, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

The second was Guan Tao. His short, stubby frame was very light, so he suffered a little less — but scraping and crashing against the gravel road surface, the wound in his shoulder wrenching, it was still torture.

He wanted to beg for mercy, wanted to explain himself, but he couldn't get a single word out. All he could do was howl in agony — and soon he couldn't even howl.

The courtyard had descended into utter chaos. The crowd that had been cursing and clamoring moments before was now all weeping and begging for mercy. Yet those Xuzhou visitors from Zhao Camp continued chatting and laughing as if nothing were happening, hooking iron hooks through one person's shoulder after another, then using horses to drag them out the gate.

A couple of wails, blood pooling across the ground, dust rising as bodies were dragged over the earth — it truly looked like hell on earth.

This town — Shanyang, the seat of Huai'an Prefecture — usually livened up a bit by afternoon, as people who worked in Qingjiangpu trickled back into the city and headed home. Nowadays everyone was talking about the Qingjiang Great Market, discussing what prospects it might bring, debating what those Xuzhou men might bring to Qingjiangpu. No one felt quite at ease. They figured these Xuzhou bumpkins had barged in by force — for now they followed the rules, but sooner or later they'd run lawlessly wild.

Thanks to "Kong Se Liang Nan, Book Friend 75106260, User Lang Ji Tian Ya, Zai Jian Mou Ren, User Wang Shang, Yuan Heng Li Zhen" and several other old and new friends for their tips. Thank you, everyone. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets.