21: Chapter 21 Night Raid and Counterattack

Hearing the concerns voiced by Gang Leader Xu Huanlin, Gang Leader Du Zaishan smiled dismissively: "Brother Xu, let me ask you, in the eyes of the Huang Family, what is the Fierce Tiger Gang?"

"What else could it be? It is obviously just a tool for gathering wealth!" Gang Leader Xu Huanlin replied instinctively.

"Exactly!" Gang Leader Du Zaishan slapped his thigh and said: "Since the Fierce Tiger Gang can serve as a tool for the Huang Family, we can naturally do the same. The Fierce Tiger Gang first lost thirty thousand taels of silver worth of illicit salt. If they also lose their territory, wouldn't the Huang Family become dissatisfied with the Fierce Tiger Gang?"

"Furthermore, I have heard that in the illicit salt trade between the Huang Family and the Fierce Tiger Gang, the Fierce Tiger Gang takes thirty percent. If we indicate to the Huang Family at this time that we only want ten percent, tell me, wouldn't the Huang Family replace the Fierce Tiger Gang?"

"Would taking only ten percent be too little?" Gang Leader Xu Huanlin frowned. After all, helping the Huang Family transport and sell illicit salt requires a significant amount of manpower. If they only took ten percent, there likely would not be much profit.

"If we cannot offer the Huang Family more benefits, why would they replace the Fierce Tiger Gang?" Gang Leader Du Zaishan lowered his voice and said: "Besides, once the route is established, we can totally smuggle our own goods. Moreover, with the Huang Family as our backing, our two Gangs will definitely become stronger and stronger. That trash Leader Gao Zhan. With the Huang Family as a backer, he is still a third-rate Gang after all these years!"

Hearing this, Gang Leader Xu Huanlin's eyes lit up. He looked at Gang Leader Du Zaishan and asked: "Brother Du, how do you think we should proceed?"

Gang Leader Du Zaishan said: "First, let us figure out the distribution of the Fierce Tiger Gang's remaining personnel, then we will move tonight!"

Currently, most of the personnel from the Fierce Tiger Gang's three Battle Halls had only just left. If they launched a surprise attack now, the Fierce Tiger Gang might be able to send reinforcements back. By attacking at night, even if the departed personnel from the three Battle Halls wanted to return, it would be too late.

Evening arrived. Gang Leader Du Zaishan went to the Venomous Snake Gang General Hall again to discuss the attack on the Fierce Tiger Gang with Gang Leader Xu Huanlin. After an afternoon of investigation, they had already figured out the situation of the Fierce Tiger Gang's three Battle Halls.

"Brother Du, do you think we should attack the territory of all three Battle Halls together, or choose one Battle Hall to attack?" Gang Leader Xu Huanlin asked somewhat impatiently.

"We cannot be too greedy!" Gang Leader Du Zaishan said with a solemn expression: "We definitely cannot swallow up all of the Fierce Tiger Gang's territory. Being able to take over the territory of one Battle Hall would be good enough!"

"Then which Battle Hall do you think we should attack, Brother Du?" Gang Leader Xu Huanlin asked.

"The Third Battle Hall!" Gang Leader Du Zaishan said: "The Fierce Tiger Gang controls twenty-eight streets. The Third Battle Hall is the weakest, only controlling eight streets. Currently, the ones left guarding the Third Battle Hall are Vice Hall Master Zhou Jianming and a newly promoted head leader, Chen Hu. Both of these men are relatively easy to deal with. The only thing we need to be wary of is the Elder from the Fierce Tiger Gang's General Hall. As long as we intercept the Elder coming from the General Hall, we can easily take the eight streets of the Third Battle Hall."

According to the unspoken rules between Gangs, if one Gang seizes the territory of another, they only need to hold it for three days for the territory to officially belong to that Gang. If this rule is not followed, the government will intervene.

After listening to Gang Leader Du Zaishan's analysis, Gang Leader Xu Huanlin made up his mind: "Alright, let us do as you say, Brother Du. We will attack the Third Battle Hall!"

On the other side, at the Fierce Tiger Gang stronghold on Yuquan Street, Da Niu rushed back to report: "Boss, the Venomous Snake Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang are both gathering men. I am afraid they will make a move on us tonight!" Da Niu said with some trepidation.

"I did not expect them to be so well-informed!" Chen Hu frowned. Although the men from the three Battle Halls had left the city secretly, the number of people was too large, so keeping it a secret was certainly difficult. Furthermore, the Wild Wolf Gang and the Venomous Snake Gang had always paid close attention to the Fierce Tiger Gang, making it even harder to keep it confidential.

"You run another errand. Go and seek an audience with Vice Hall Master Zhou Jianming and tell him about the Venomous Snake Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang gathering their men!" "Yes!"

After Da Niu left, Chen Hu immediately called for Da Niu to have him secretly gather all the underlings back to the stronghold. With only this many men left in the Third Battle Hall, the Venomous Snake Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang would definitely focus their attack on them. As long as they took them down, it would mean the Third Battle Hall had completely fallen.

Time flew by, and over two hours passed. It was now the Hour of the Rat. Nearly a hundred Gang members carrying knives and swords flooded into Yuquan Street and headed straight for the Fierce Tiger Gang stronghold.

This group had two leaders: one was Hall Master Chen Xiao of the Venomous Snake Gang, and the other was the Hall Master of the Wild Wolf Gang, Jin Hui. They had each brought two teams of men, totaling nearly a hundred people. This was more than enough to deal with the team left guarding the Third Battle Hall.

Very quickly, they arrived before the stronghold. Looking at the tightly closed gates, Hall Master Chen Xiao directly ordered: "Go, break the door down!"

Immediately, two brawny men in the Skin Refining Realm stepped out from behind and were about to rush forward to ram the stronghold gate open. But just then, dozens of dark, murky objects suddenly flew out from inside the stronghold.

Seeing these objects, the men from the Venomous Snake Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang instinctively drew their knives and swords to hack at the things about to land on their heads. With the sound of shattering, all those objects were smashed. Only then did everyone realize that those objects were pottery jars.

Moreover, the jars were filled with a black liquid that emitted a pungent odor. Many people were drenched from head to toe, and the rest were, to varying degrees, stained with the black liquid.

"No good, it is lamp oil!" "Retreat quickly!"

Just then, two men holding fire arrows appeared on the rooftop opposite the stronghold. "Whoosh! Whoosh!" Two fire arrows shot down to the ground, instantly igniting the lamp oil on the ground.

At this moment, a second round of pottery jars descended from the sky. This time, the people from the two Gangs were prepared; they did not try to hack at them but quickly dodged away.

"Crash! Crash!" The jars landed on the ground and exploded, spraying lamp oil onto many people.

Then, dozens of torches fell from the sky, igniting even more lamp oil. Many of the Gang members had flames erupting on their bodies. For a moment, these people threw away their weapons and fled toward the outside of the lamp oil zone. As they fled, they tore at their clothes.

Of course, for those who were drenched in lamp oil, tearing off their clothes was useless. Very quickly, they were surrounded by raging flames, screaming for help.

"Kill!" At this moment, the Fierce Tiger Gang's gates opened. Chen Hu and Vice Hall Master Zhou Jianming led the charge out. Hearing the battle cries, most of the men from the Venomous Snake Gang and the Wild Wolf Gang chose to flee.

Hall Master Chen Xiao, with a dark face, said to the two head leaders beside him: "You two, work together and kill Chen Hu!" "Yes!"

The two head leaders brandished their long knives, their faces fierce and ferocious as they charged at Chen Hu.

"Get lost!" The long knife in Chen Hu's hand turned into two blade shadows as he slashed out.

"Puff! Puff!" Blood splattered, and two heads immediately soared into the sky. It was Chen Hu, who had beheaded the two head leaders of the Venomous Snake Gang with just two strikes.

After killing the two head leaders of the Venomous Snake Gang, Chen Hu did not stop his pace but charged straight toward Hall Master Chen Xiao. Seeing Chen Hu kill the two head leaders, Hall Master Chen Xiao felt quite shocked. But seeing Chen Hu charging toward him, a surge of anger rose in his heart: "You are courting death!"

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He drew the long sword from his waist and flicked his wrist. Three sword beams shot straight toward Chen Hu's face, heart, and lower abdomen.