The 23rd Year of Jiajing, Shuntian Prefecture, night.
Torrential rain.
There were no pedestrians on the street, only a few beams of moonlight flickering, outlining dim shadows on the ground.
At the mouth of a dark alley, two people, with a lift of their hands, threw a man soaked in blood next to a pile of sundries.
Occasionally, lightning flashed, revealing his already dilated pupils and a disfigured face.
He was obviously beaten like this, his limbs unnaturally bent, and his chest no longer rising and falling; he was already dead.
The two who threw the man down patted their hands, spat at him, and cursed, "You're looking for death without considering the weather, making us get soaked!"
After the two finished cursing, the younger-looking one was about to walk back directly, but was stopped by the other, older one.
"What!?" he said angrily.
"You're going back now?" the older one said.
"Otherwise? This whole body of water!" The young hoodlum shook his hair.
"You're an idiot! Big De said to throw them further away. We were lazy and threw them in such a broken alley, and now we're going back so soon." The older hoodlum frowned and said, "Afraid Big De won't find out we're being lazy?"
The young hoodlum came to his senses, thought about Big De smashing his fists on the man, breaking his tendons and bones, and blood and flesh flying everywhere, and couldn't help but shiver.
"Then what do we do?"
"What else can we do? Wait a while and then leave." The older hoodlum glanced around, found a corner to shelter from the rain and wind, and squatted down.
The young hoodlum cursed a few times, also helplessly covered his head with his outer clothes, and squatted down beside the older hoodlum.
In fact, that "Big De" might not care much about the corpse. In this Yanjing City, more than a dozen beggars die every day, and even if they were thrown on the road, it wouldn't be much trouble.
It's just that they really didn't want to walk far in the rain. In this era, catching a cold would take half their life. But they also didn't dare to disobey Big De's orders, so they could only dawdle here for a while before going back, thinking he wouldn't ask much.
After more than ten minutes, the two stood up, patted the rainwater off their bodies, and prepared to go back and report.
At this time, a faint sound came from the end of the silent street. After a while, the sound of horse hooves came, obviously not just one or two horses, but a team of people.
The young hoodlum hadn't reacted yet, but the old hoodlum's pupils shrank.
The curfew had long since begun. If it were only one or two horses, it might be that the wealthy didn't care about the rules. But if it was a whole team of people, it must be figures from "government officials".
It would be bad if the corpse was discovered.
In this era, the number of people who died under the table was countless every day, but they couldn't die in front of the big shots.
The old hoodlum retreated, threw the corpse into the pile of sundries, pulled over a pile of things to cover it, and confirmed that no limbs were exposed.
Only then did he pull the young hoodlum into the alley to avoid the road.
Although the light was dim and it was raining heavily, the probability of passersby noticing them was extremely small. But the old hoodlum was an old Jianghu who had been living in this Yanjing for more than ten years, and he had long understood the principle of being careful and not making big mistakes.
In front of the corpse in the pile of sundries, they were the masters. In front of the real masters, they were also insects.
Being careful not to appear in the eyes of anyone they shouldn't provoke was their survival rule.
It's a pity that he understood this principle, but the young hoodlum didn't.
Most of those who do this line of work are brave and fierce, and only after being slashed a few times can they know the preciousness of life.
The young hoodlum was dissatisfied with his cautious appearance, but he didn't dare to speak, so he symbolically shook off the older hoodlum's arm that was pulling him.
A slight pushing sound was made, revealing half an arm.
In a sedan chair in the middle of the horse team, a man who looked to be in his thirties, with a tired expression, glanced outside and knocked on the beam of the sedan chair.
In an instant, the entire team stopped.
Several young men in black outfits dismounted and came to the side of the sedan chair. The man pointed at the alley where the two hoodlums were hiding, and the few nodded, turned around, and walked over with a brisk pace.
"It's over." The old hoodlum's face turned pale as he watched the few people walking towards him.
Because the distance between these people remained the same as they walked, they formed a formation, obviously trained government officials or masters. In addition, the target was clear, and they were coming towards the place where the two of them were hiding.
Knowing that he couldn't escape, the old hoodlum no longer hesitated, took a step forward, and bowed to the few people walking towards him in the rain.
"Several officers, we are..."
Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, an elbow strike hit the back of his head, directly smashing him to the ground.
Then a boot stepped on his back, squeezing the air out of his lungs, and suffocating all his unfinished excuses in his mouth.
The old hoodlum struggled to open his eyes, which were filled with gold stars, and heard the young hoodlum's shout being choked in his throat, and then he was pushed down in front of him with a thud.
A young man looked around the alley for a while, and his gaze stopped on the pile of sundries.
He went forward and lifted the pile of sundries, pulled out the corpse inside, looked it up and down, and placed the corpse on the ground.
Turning around and stepping over the two hoodlums who were pinned to the ground, he walked to the car window and said, "Commander, a dead man, beaten to death. These two are underlings of Yan Xiaosheng, with a criminal record."
"Take them." The man with a tired expression in the sedan chair replied.
"Yes."
The young man responded and turned to wave his hand.
Crack! Crack!
With a few crisp sounds, the people pressing on the two hoodlums directly broke their arms. The two hoodlums opened their mouths to cry out in pain, but were kicked in the mouth, and fainted.
The few people lifted the unconscious hoodlums and followed the slowly moving horse team, leaving the alley.
A tavern a few hundred meters away from this alley was brightly lit at this time.
It stands to reason that it was already early morning, and the curfew had long since begun, and it was not allowed to gather and have fun.
But if someone came in at this time and saw everyone sitting in this tavern, they wouldn't think that the curfew was something to be mentioned.
Standing at the door with a face full of flesh was "Big De", who had made a name for himself in Yanjing City recently. He dared to fight and fight, and his martial arts could be considered decent.
Looking at the bloodstains on the floor inside the house that hadn't dried yet, it was he who had punched a person into a pile of soft flesh, a person who didn't blink an eye when killing.
Those sitting inside included the Caobang's Hall Master "One-Armed Sword" Hu Shuang, the Huashan Sect's Deacon "Clear Wind Sword" Gu Jiao, the great thief "Snow on Frost", the solitary oddity "Tie Qiuyi", and so on, all of whom were figures who had made a name for themselves in the Jianghu.
And the one sitting in the main seat in this house was Yan Xiaosheng, the leader of the Yanjing Underworld for more than ten years, "Iron Palm Maitreya".
Tonight was his fortieth birthday. After holding a banquet at home, he was entertaining his "unsavory" friends here.
The Jianghu is not about fighting and killing. Even the Famous and Righteous Sects need to eat and drink. To make a living in this Yanjing, people of the Jianghu cannot avoid him, the leader.
It's just that the Famous and Righteous Sects want to save face and don't want to be involved with him on the surface. Criminals like the great thief "Snow on Frost" and "Tie Qiuyi" who are wanted are also not good at swaggering in. So they were entertained here. Anyway, it was a tavern that was open for business. Even if the government officials checked, they could just give some silver and say they didn't know the origins of these guests.
At this time, after Three Rounds of Drinks, except for a young man who came to Seek Revenge and caused some unpleasantness, everyone was happy.
Yan Xiaosheng had a kind face, a big belly, and looked like a gentle rich man. At this time, he smiled and raised his Wine Cup, about to say a few words of greeting.
At this moment, a loud noise was heard, "Bang!"
The door was blasted open, and two people were thrown in sideways, rolling a few times on the ground and lying in the middle of the room.
One of them was covered in blood, and he barely raised his head and looked at Yan Xiaosheng, whose face was ashen, and said, "The Dragon Head is Eagle Catching Sun, government officials..."
Yan Xiaosheng looked closely and recognized that the two were the underlings who had just gone out to dispose of the corpse, and his face became even more ugly.
He saw more than a dozen men in black outfits rushing in, their steps were neat, and in just a few breaths, they blocked the entire door. The sound of footsteps also kept coming from outside the door, obviously surrounding the entire tavern.
The wanted criminals such as "Snow on Frost" and "Tie Qiuyi" in the hall saw that the newcomers were like government officials and were about to start fighting.
And the people from the Caobang and the Huashan Sect also stood up, wanting to say a few words of greeting.
At this moment, a person slowly walked in from outside the door.
This person looked to be in his thirties, with a handsome appearance, wearing a black Great Cloak, ape arms and wasp waist, and could be considered imposing. It's a pity that he had a tired expression and a lazy posture, looking like he hadn't rested well recently.
He entered the door, and someone behind him closed the door and took off his wet Great Cloak.
He indifferently lowered his head and patted the rainwater off his body, raised his head and glanced at the various people in the tavern, and casually cupped his hands: "Everyone, please."
He reached out and took off the waist token hanging on his waist, held it in his hand, and drew a half-hearted circle in front of him. Everyone in the room only vaguely saw the shape of the waist token, and immediately their faces changed.
Several guests from the Green Forest Way and the Underworld, their legs couldn't help but start to tremble. A disciple of the Huashan Sect opened his mouth to speak, but was glared at by "Clear Wind Sword" Gu Jiao, and he was Yes, sir and didn't dare to speak.
"I am Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Miao."
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is handling affairs. Those who don't want to die can kneel down now."