Chapter 318: You, Nine, Me, One

In the alley, the clatter of blades and axes echoed amidst shouts of killing. Beside the alley, the songs of birds and the flutter of swallows mingled with the soft glow of red lanterns.

In the narrow Li Sha Mao Hutong, the Ba Gun of He Ji formed a dark, oppressive crowd, surrounding Pao Ge and Er Dao. The Ba Gun from Da Xing were quite principled; they didn't rush into action.

Pao Ge glanced ahead, then behind him.

There were many people.

But the more people there were, the calmer Pao Ge became.

Er Dao asked:"Ge, what should we do?"

Pao Ge said nothing.

Er Dao asked again:"Ge, what are you thinking?"

Pao Ge looked up at the red lantern overhead and grinned:"If I could have a smoke, that would be perfect!"

At that moment, the entertainment houses on both sides of Li Sha Mao Hutong fell silent. The patrons and performers upstairs quietly pushed open half a window to peer into the alley.

In the crowd, Er Dao bent down and pulled out a tobacco pipe from his satchel, calmly stuffing it with tobacco.

He handed the pipe to Pao Ge, then took a match from his satchel and lit it for him.

Pao Ge took a deep inhale. The tobacco in the copper pipe instantly glowed red, curling as it burned with a sizzling sound.

Under the gaze of dozens of people, Pao Ge leaned against the gray-tiled wall and took two leisurely puffs, the blue smoke swirling around him and obscuring his expression.

One of the Ba Gun shouted:"Since you've taken your stand, don't waste time. If you keep delaying, don't blame us for not following the rules!"

Pao Ge replied casually:"What's the rush? With so many of you, are you afraid I'll run away?"

He smoked for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, and He Ji's Ba Gun actually waited that long for him.

Pao Ge knocked the pipe against the wall, sparks flying in the night:"Your Da Xing in the capital is pretty legitimate. Not like us back in the day—we'd strike without a second's hesitation, not even waiting a minute!"

A middle-aged man stepped forward from the Ba Gun, cupped his fists, and said:"The Da Xing has its own rules. Pao Ge, you're a guest from afar, so we'll show you some courtesy. But blades and axes are blind—please don't hold it against us later!"

Pao Ge asked curiously:"So, what other rules does your Da Xing have? Tell me everything. If I come back in my next life, I can keep an eye out and not get ambushed again!"

A young Ba Gun pointed his axe at Pao Ge and snarled:"Are you just stalling for time?"

The middle-aged man pushed the young man's arm down and said calmly:"Pao Ge, your wrestling skills are impressive. We respect that. Even in the midst of blades and axes, you can smoke without your hand shaking—truly a great hero. It's fine to tell you... First, the four 'nots': We don't take jobs involving government assassinations, robbing convoys, seeking revenge, or immoral deeds."

"Then, the four 'lets': Let them pass—if a fellow from our circles is wanted by the authorities, we let them go and don't report them. Let them have space—no opening a second Da Xing on the same street. Let them share the wealth—if we've made a name, we leave some for others. Let them retire—once someone's washed their hands of it, we don't disturb them, and past grievances are wiped clean!"

Pao Ge stroked the stubble on his chin:"Could I still wash my hands of it now?"

The middle-aged man chuckled:"I'm afraid it's too late!"

Pao Ge asked:"So, if I take you all down, does that mean Li Sha Mao Hutong will be mine to collect protection money from?"

The middle-aged man shook his head:"Even if you beat us all today, others will come tomorrow. You'd have to defeat everyone until no one dares show up again!"

Pao Ge said helplessly:"That's just unfair."

The middle-aged man laughed:"Unless you're an unbeatable outsider, it's impossible to establish yourself in the capital! But if you really have what it takes, you wouldn't need to share the protection money from Li Sha Mao Hutong with Zhu Guan—he wouldn't dare take it anyway; it's too hot to handle!"

Pao Ge handed the pipe back to Er Dao, turned to the middle-aged man, and said:"Alright, let's go. Let you all see what I'm really made of!"

Upon hearing this, the Ba Gun retreated like a receding tide, leaving one man in front of Pao Ge:"We said we'd let you have the first three moves, and we will. That's the style of the capital's Da Xing!"

Pao Ge sneered:"What hypocrisy!"

As soon as he spoke, Pao Ge lunged forward, throwing a left punch toward the man's right face.

The Ba Gun tried to dodge by leaning aside, but he didn't expect Pao Ge's stance to shift suddenly, and a right punch like a cannon slammed into his jaw.

The Ba Gun's body went rigid and he fell straight backward.

That feint had forced the opponent to dodge, only to deliver his head right into Pao Ge's fist.

The Ba Gun had never seen such refined and novel techniques before—different from wrestling, it was straightforward and decisive.

Pao Ge picked up the man's axe from the ground, weighed it in his hand, and said:"On the fighting stage, no one's ever dared to give me three moves! I'm not used to an axe—toss me a dagger instead."

The Ba Gun exchanged glances but stayed silent.

Pao Ge glanced at them sidelong:"What's this? Your Da Xing can't even show that much grace? With all of you surrounding me, you won't let me use a weapon I'm comfortable with?"

One Ba Gun drew a dagger from his waist and threw it to Pao Ge:"You're quite a character. Seeing your real skills today is an honor for us brothers. But the capital's underworld has no place for you anymore!"

Pao Ge first gripped the dagger normally, then switched to a reverse hold:"Remember, my real name is Chen Chong. Friends call me Pao Ge!"

His words rang out with authority.

The Ba Gun dragged their unconscious companion away, and another burly man stepped forward.

Pao Ge advanced with a strange, slight hunch in his posture, holding the dagger in a reverse grip and waving it in front of him, his gaze sharp as an arrow.

He closed in on the man and slashed with the dagger in reverse.

The burly man raised his axe to block, but Pao Ge flipped the dagger effortlessly, slipping past the axe handle and slicing the man's hand tendon.

With a clang, the axe hit the ground.

Pao Ge said calmly:"Next!"

Another Ba Gun charged out, and Pao Ge repeated the move, slashing with the dagger in reverse. The man blinked, and his hand tendon was cut.

The Ba Gun felt a chill in their hearts, exchanging uneasy glances, but no one wanted to step forward.

They had boasted about letting him have three moves, meaning they could only dodge, not counter—but Pao Ge never gave them a chance to see the third move. Cutting hand tendons in the Da Xing meant ruining someone for life.

At that moment, another Ba Gun stepped up, holding a pair of Yuan Yang Dao blades, and bowed:"From the Lan Shou Sect, Liu Yu!"

Pao Ge struck with his dagger, but it was blocked by one of Liu Yu's Yuan Yang Dao. As Pao Ge prepared to switch and cut the tendon, Liu Yu's other blade suddenly slashed back.

Pao Ge dodged backward, barely avoiding the edge—if he hadn't reacted quickly, it would have gutted him.

He looked down at the tear in his clothes and the shallow bloodline on his abdomen, then up at Liu Yu:"Kid, that's not even three moves yet!"

Liu Yu said nothing.

Pao Ge suddenly threw his head back and laughed:"Now that's more like it. This is the underworld I know."

As he spoke, Pao Ge no longer held back, flipping the dagger in his hand and slashing fiercely at Liu Yu's abdomen.

Liu Yu used his left Yuan Yang Dao to block, but instead of a clash of metal, Pao Ge twisted his wrist, and the dagger sliced across Liu Yu's neck, blood spraying onto the brick wall.

Liu Yu slowly knelt before Pao Ge:"You're formidable."

Pao Ge wiped the blood from his face:"Ever since I came to this godforsaken place, I've been keeping my head down, running at the first sign of trouble, afraid of crossing any of you demons. But I still ended up in this mess! This rotten world doesn't let good people live. Come on, I'll take down as many as I can. Maybe after that, I can go home!"

"Next."

One by one, the Ba Gun came at him, and Pao Ge fought his way forward, step by step, until, exhausted, he looked back to see over twenty bodies behind him.

The capital's Da Xing had dropped all pretense and swarmed in.

Er Dao guarded Pao Ge's back, his own body now covered in wounds, blood dripping from his clothes to the ground.

Pao Ge sighed softly:"Er Dao, I've let you down. In the next life, we'll be brothers again."

Er Dao showed no fear, only curiosity:"In the next life, who'll be the brother and who'll be the follower?"

Pao Ge laughed and scolded:"You bastard, you've got ambitions like that?"

He tossed aside his nicked dagger, picked up two axes from the ground, and roared:"Kill them!"

But just then, screams came from behind the Ba Gun. Pao Ge whipped around to see a man in gray clothes and a gray mask, wielding an iron ruler, charging in from outside the alley.

This man was incredibly strong, far beyond what these street Ba Gun could handle. In a sudden assault, he sent over twenty Ba Gun flying, creating an opening.

He was fiercely brutal.

A Ba Gun yelled:"Quick, call for reinforcements—it's the Xing Guan!"

"Go, get the hall master!"

In the midst of the chaos, the masked man reached the heart of Li Sha Mao Hutong, sized up Pao Ge and Er Dao's injuries, and asked:"Can you walk?"

Pao Ge raised an eyebrow:"I can walk!"

The masked man turned and fought his way out:"Let's go."

Pao Ge stared at the masked man's back, feeling it was familiar but unable to place it.

The masked man led Pao Ge and Er Dao out of Li Sha Mao Hutong and into another alley. The three dashed under rows of red lanterns, drawing curious glances from people opening windows on the second floor.

He Ji's Ba Gun, in their black jackets, converged from all directions like flowing water in the narrow alleys.

One Ba Gun charged at the masked man, swinging his iron ruler down, but before it landed, the masked man rammed into him with an elbow strike to the chest, sending him flying two zhang away and knocking down three more Ba Gun.

From the second floor, a patron shouted:"Great move! Here's a reward."

With that, the patron tossed down a handful of copper coins.

Seizing the moment of confusion, the masked man ducked into a teahouse.

Inside, a young performer in green opera attire was singing in a patron's lap.

Seeing the masked man burst in, the young performer jumped up in fright:"Ahh, who are you? Get out!"

The masked man ignored him, charging straight through and smashing through the paper window at the back. Pao Ge and Er Dao followed close behind.

Before the performer and patron could react, He Ji's several dozen Ba Gun stormed through, weapons in hand, startling the young performer into shrieking repeatedly.

The masked man kept running, leading Pao Ge and Er Dao into a clean, quiet alley.

This alley had brick-paved roads, no red lanterns, only blue ones hanging.

The sounds of songbirds and swallows were gone, replaced by faint strains of string music.

He looked back to see a middle-aged man standing at the alley entrance, blocking the Ba Gun:"Don't go into Bai Shun Hutong and disturb the esteemed guests. Let them go."

The middle-aged man then bowed remotely to Pao Ge and the others:"Pao Ge, you're a true hero—fate spared you today! But now that you've escaped, don't come back. We'll go our separate ways in the underworld."

He bowed to the masked man as well:"Good sir, may I know your name? He Ji will repay you."

Pao Ge was about to respond, but the masked man pulled him back, step by step, into Bai Shun Hutong:"Quick, go. If they circle around and block the other end, we're trapped!"

Pao Ge turned and left, following the masked man until they vanished at the end of Bai Shun Hutong.

The middle-aged man stood outside the alley, slowly clasping his hands behind his back, and said to the Ba Gun beside him:"Go, contact the Cao Bang. If anyone tries to smuggle Pao Ge out, let He Ji know. Search all inns, theater troupes, brothels, gambling dens, and clinics. He Ji offers a hundred taels of silver for his capture alive! Pao Ge's a formidable man—if he makes a comeback, He Ji is finished."

The masked man led Pao Ge and Er Dao silently through the dark alleys, crossing Zhang Jia Bridge, passing through Chun Shu Hutong, and going by Guan Yin Tang.

Along the way, the masked man glanced around, seeming lost in the maze of the capital's alleys.

Pao Ge was puzzled—this man didn't seem very familiar with the capital either. He asked:"Good sir, where are you taking us?"

The masked man replied:"The outer city is full of Da Xing's eyes and ears—it's not safe. We need to enter the inner city through Guan Wu Gate; they can't follow us there."

Pao Ge paused:"We were just one alley away from Xuan Wu Gate earlier, and now we're heading farther away!"

The masked man said awkwardly:"Sorry, this is my first time in the outer city."

Pao Ge suddenly asked:"I haven't asked yet—who are you, good sir? Why did you help us?"

The masked man thought for a moment and answered:"I saw injustice and drew my blade to help."

Pao Ge stopped and stood his ground, no longer following:"If you're just passing by and pitied us, we're deeply grateful. But we can't keep following you. Those Da Xing pretend to uphold codes, but they're dirty underneath. We killed so many of them today—they won't let it go. You haven't revealed yourself yet, so slip away while you can!"

The masked man pondered for a long time, then said casually:"What if I could help you take back the business in Li Sha Mao Hutong?"

Pao Ge narrowed his eyes:"You're joking, sir. The capital's Da Xing must have thousands of men, with over three hundred just in the eight great hutongs. Even if you're from the Xing Guan, you couldn't handle that many."

"You don't need to worry about that—I have my own forces."

The masked man said offhandedly:"I'll just ask you this: If we take Li Sha Mao Hutong, I get ninety percent, you get ten. Deal?"

Pao Ge replied firmly:"Deal."