103: Chapter 103 Ghost Hand Li San

"Get up."

Chen Mo walked up to the two of them and kicked Zhao Tiezhu's buttocks.

Zhao Tiezhu was in the middle of a lively conversation and was about to get angry when he saw it was Chen Mo. He immediately put on a fawning smile: "Boss, you're here? Which street are we going to for collections today?"

"No collections."

Chen Mo tightened his belt, his hand resting on his saber hilt. "To kill people."

Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Xiaoer were stunned.

The melon seeds in their hands scattered all over the ground.

"Kill... kill who?" Wang Xiaoer asked stutteringly.

"The Dao Gang."

As soon as those two words came out, the faces of these two fellows instantly turned pale.

The Dao Gang was a hegemon of the Outer City. Although not a behemoth like the Iron Bone Martial Arts Hall, they were notoriously difficult to deal with. Their leader, "Ghost Hand" Li San, was said to have practiced Bone Shrinking Art and was extremely slippery, with over a hundred desperate criminals under him.

"Boss... this... this isn't according to the rules, is it?" Zhao Tiezhu swallowed hard. "We and the Dao Gang have always minded our own business. They haven't missed their monthly tributes either..."

"Stop the nonsense."

Chen Mo gave him a cold look. "If you don't want to go, take off your clothes and get lost. Don't say you're one of Chen Mo's men from now on."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Xiaoer looked at each other.

Not go? That would be losing their jobs. In these times, without the protection of being a Runner, people like them wouldn't survive three days.

Go? That would be risking their lives.

"Damn it, let's do it!" Zhao Tiezhu gritted his teeth and picked up the water-fire cudgel from the ground. "The boss has been acting very eerie lately. Following him might lead to a fortune!"

Wang Xiaoer also followed with a bitter face: "Wait for me! Boss, are there only three of us? Should we call some more brothers?"

"No need."

Chen Mo, ahead of them, didn't even turn his head. "The more people there are, the more people there are to split the money with."

Hearing this, their eyes instantly lit up.

...

Outer City West District, Muddy Lane.

This was the dirtiest and most chaotic place in Pingyang City.

The ground was always damp, emitting a rotten stench. The shacks on both sides were like poisonous mushrooms growing in the mud, crowded together, letting in not a single ray of light.

This was also the Dao Gang's lair.

Chen Mo, with his two followers, stood at the entrance of the lane.

Several men in tattered clothes with sinister eyes were squatting at the lane entrance gambling. Seeing the three in official uniforms, they didn't run but instead whistled.

"Yo, aren't these Lord Zhao and Lord Wang?"

A man with a scar on his face stood up, playing with a dagger in his hand. He blocked the way with a smirk. "What wind blew you officers into this mud pit today? Wasn't the protection money for this month just sent over yesterday?"

Zhao Tiezhu looked at Chen Mo and didn't dare to speak.

Chen Mo took a step forward.

"Tell Li San to get his ass out here."

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried far in the noisy lane.

Scarface was stunned for a moment, then his expression darkened. "This gentleman looks unfamiliar. A newcomer? Do you know the rules? Is our leader's name something you can just shout?"

Several men around them also closed in, revealing their weapons. There were daggers, iron rulers, and spiked brass knuckles.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense.

Wang Xiaoer's legs felt a bit weak, and he shrank behind Chen Mo.

Chen Mo looked at Scarface and suddenly smiled.

"Rules?"

He raised his hand and pointed at his saber. "My saber is the rule."

Before his voice had even faded.

A cold light flashed.

No one saw clearly how Chen Mo drew his saber.

Only a "shua" sound was heard.

The dagger Scarface was playing with broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.

Immediately after, he felt a chill on his scalp.

His topknot, which had been tied up, was sliced in half, leaving his hair disheveled like a madman's.

If the blade had pressed down just one more inch, it would have sliced off his skull.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Scarface touched the top of his head and felt a hand full of cold sweat. His legs gave way, and he fell to his knees in the mud with a "putong" sound.

"Get inside and report."

Chen Mo sheathed his saber, his tone as casual as if he were ordering food. "Tell Li San, he has the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. If he doesn't come out, I'll go in and break his bones."

The one leading the way was a thin, small man with eyes darting around and a two-pronged rat-like mustache that twitched with his breath, nicknamed "Rat." Just now at the lane entrance, this guy was the slowest to run and was grabbed by the collar and hauled back by Zhao Tiezhu.

"Sirs, it's just ahead, just ahead."

Rat bowed and scraped, walking close to the wall, for fear of being hit by the water-fire cudgel in Zhao Tiezhu's hand.

After many twists and turns, a pitch-black wooden door appeared before them. The door panels were thick, studded with several rows of copper nails, looking much sturdier than an average residence.

Rat knocked on the door knocker rhythmically. Three long, two short.

"Zhiya—"

The door opened a crack, revealing a cloudy eye.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Rat! I've... I've brought distinguished guests to see the leader." Rat's voice trembled slightly.

The person inside took a look at the murderous-looking trio of Chen Mo and didn't dare to say more, opening the door wide.

The courtyard wasn't large but was quite deep. The side rooms on both sides were filled with sacks and boxes. Several shirtless men were squatting on the ground sorting through items—women's jewelry, children's Longevity Locks, and even blood-stained clothes.

Seeing Chen Mo enter, these people stopped what they were doing and stared with unfriendly eyes.

Chen Mo didn't look sideways, his fast boots clicking crisply on the bluestone slabs.

At the entrance of the main hall stood a middle-aged man wearing a long gown.

This man looked refined, even rolling two walnuts in his hand. If not for those hands full of calluses, he would have looked like a schoolteacher.

This was the leader of the Dao Gang, "Ghost Hand" Li San.

"Oh, what a rare guest, a rare guest indeed!"

Li San's face was covered in smiles as he quickly came down to greet them, the two walnuts in his hand spinning rapidly. "Isn't this Head Constable Chen? What wind has blown you here? Your presence brings light to my humble dwelling!"

He hadn't seen Chen Mo in person, but news of Chen Mo's wild goose feather saber and his feat of slicing a topknot at the lane entrance had already reached him.

News in the Outer City traveled faster than a dog.

Chen Mo didn't smile.

He walked straight into the main hall and sat down on the main seat in a domineering manner.

Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Xiaoer stood like two door gods on either side of the entrance, hands on their saber hilts, eyes wide like copper bells.

The muscles on Li San's face twitched, but he quickly returned to normal, waving his hand for his subordinates to serve tea.

"Head Constable Chen's presence is an honor. Are you here on official business?" Li San sat in the lower seat, accompanying him with a cautious smile.

"Looking for someone."

Chen Mo spat out two words.

Li San's heart skipped a beat. Searching for someone at the Dao Gang—how could that be anything good?

"I wonder who Head Constable Chen is looking for? As long as they were lost in this Outer City West District, even if it's a cat, I can find out their whereabouts for you." Li San patted his chest in assurance.

"Little Sister Zhang."

Chen Mo stared into Li San's eyes. "And a girl named Little Grass. Both went missing yesterday."

Li San's smile froze.