Memories of Black Alley

Black Alley was a place where people were devoured without leaving a trace of bone—and that held true in the most literal, physical sense. Inside Di'an City, songs and dances celebrated peace and prosperity. Every few blocks, constables in White Tiger uniforms walked the streets in groups of two or three, carrying their sabers, chatting and laughing on patrol. But Black Alley was different. Crowds poured into it every day, and just as many vanished mysteriously without a trace. Everything that occurred within was tacitly permitted by the higher-ups. Di'an City was far too prosperous. That grandeur drew in countless ambitious figures, but it also attracted a fair share of "garbage." To keep that "garbage" from running loose, Di'an City needed a repository to concentrate and hold it all. Chaos and lawlessness were simply the everyday norm in Black Alley. Gang fights broke out daily, people died in skirmishes every day, and forcing respectable girls into prostitution or butchering people in the street were commonplace sights. It was into this very den of chaos that nine-year-old Little Lou Ji arrived. Xu Yuan had asked her why she went to such a place instead of continuing to hook wealthy marks in Di'an City. Lou Ji's reply was both comical and bittersweet. She said that she had been terrified back then, assuming that every important figure in Di'an City was just like Xu Yinhe. Thus, she wanted to go to places like this to build up experience and strength before testing her mettle against the capital's grandees. It was an ambitious idea, but also exceptionally naive. Still, for once, it genuinely matched the mind of a nine-year-old girl. Evidently, both judgments Little Lou Ji made after entering the capital were dead wrong. During her first month in Black Alley, having burned through all the travel money she brought to the capital, Little Lou Ji naturally ended up on the streets. Just like the parentless beggar orphans, she lived a miserable existence, subsisting on the occasional handout and scavenging for edible scraps discarded in garbage and swill. The reason was as simple as it was hopeless. It was true that Black Alley was chaotic, but without rules, nothing could stand. For it to endure in Di'an City for centuries, it inevitably possessed a code of its own. The avenues for upward mobility in Black Alley were indeed far easier than in the outside world; seniority mattered not, and anyone with exceptional fists or sharp wits could rise. The problem was that Lou Ji was a girl. The upper crust of Great Yan never discriminated against women, and even the middle tier treated them equally on the surface, but the lowest rungs were entirely patriarchal. A preference for sons over daughters was ingrained deep in the bones of the common folk of Great Yan. No one was willing to give her a chance to prove herself. Fortunately, just as Little Lou Ji was on the brink of starvation, a kindhearted old woman took her in. The old woman kept Little Lou Ji by her side, doting on her like a granddaughter. She washed and mended Little Lou Ji's clothes, gave up her only share of meat to her, and quietly spread an extra felt blanket over Little Lou Ji in the bleak chill of winter nights. In this land of turmoil, she gave her a warmth she had not felt in a long time. A month passed like this. Her originally emaciated little frame gradually regained its vigor. Just when Little Lou Ji began to think she would spend a long time living this way, she was nearly sold off by this kindly, benevolent-looking old woman. On that day, Little Lou Ji was in the courtyard washing clothes with a wooden paddle when she suddenly heard noises outside the gate. The old woman had returned. But through the open courtyard gate, along with the returning old woman, Little Lou Ji saw several burly men dressed in martial attire. Their clothes were not uniform, but every one of them had a green pit viper embroidered on his chest. In an instant, Little Lou Ji realized what was about to happen. After two months in Black Alley, she recognized the emblem of the Green Snake Gang, a moderately sized gang within the alley. Yet as she took in the sight, the only expression that surfaced on Little Lou Ji's face was a perfectly measured touch of bewilderment. Like an instinct, whenever crisis struck, she knew precisely what she needed to do. Once the woman walked up to her, Little Lou Ji asked the old woman what the uncles outside were there for. Just as Little Lou Ji anticipated, the old woman charitably voiced what she had guessed in her heart. The burly men outside had come to take her away. There was no panic, no rage, and no fear—only a faint sliver of sorrow. And this time, she did not conceal the emotion. Blinking her eyes, she asked the woman pitifully, "Granny, are you throwing me away?" Still wearing her benevolent smile, the old woman patted her head and softly recited her woven lies. The old woman and young girl spoke in low murmurs for a brief while. Suddenly, Lou Ji stood up, threw down the washing paddle, and ran back into the inner room with tears on her face, slamming the wooden door shut behind her. Just like an aggrieved little girl throwing a tantrum. As expected, the old woman followed inside. Lou Ji knew she was truly beautiful—beautiful enough to raise these people's threshold of tolerance for her. They had no way of knowing whether she might end up becoming the gang master's lady once she entered the Green Snake Gang. Because of Little Lou Ji's slamming of the door, the old woman had also subconsciously pulled it half-shut behind her upon stepping inside. Walking slowly behind the little girl whose back was turned in a pout, the old woman gently stroked her head, helped her slowly to her feet, and spoke with earnest gravity: "Child, Granny isn't abandoning you. Granny is doing this for your own good! That's a great master, and it's your good fortune that he took a liking to you! Even if you don't want to go, you must consider Granny's plight. If you don't go, those ruffians outside will throw Granny into the Zhongshui River. Be a good girl and go over there; Granny will visit you often..." Those were the words the old woman said to Little Lou Ji back then, and they were also her dying words. Before she could finish speaking, Little Lou Ji drove a sharpened wooden stake she had retrieved earlier straight into the old woman's unguarded throat. Even if the door were thrown wide open, her position was shielded from sight beyond the courtyard gate. The instant the wooden stake pierced her windpipe, a clear shock froze the old woman's kindly features. Yet in that brief moment of stupor, Little Lou Ji had already pulled out the stake and thrust it in once more. Little Lou Ji understood well that a person on the verge of death could unleash an unusual burst of strength. Although the old woman was elderly, she was still more than a child could physically overpower. Once the woman reacted, she might shove Lou Ji down or knock over furniture in the dilapidated room to make a noise. With the door merely pulled half-shut and the thugs waiting outside, Lou Ji could not afford the slightest sound; she had to end her life as quickly as possible. As for the spot where she drove the stake, it was an angle derived from her own careful deductions. Piercing it here would cause blood to choke the windpipe, reducing the victim to faint, bubbling gurgles. This time, there was no accident. "Gurgle... gurgle..." The warm blood pouring from her neck soaked Little Lou Ji's slender hands, dripping through her fingers and pattering onto the floor. Paralyzed by terror, the old woman felt no pain at all, but that did not stop her from desperately trying to grab the stake thrust at her. It was simply too late. She could only watch helplessly as those small hands repeatedly stabbed into her throat and pulled back out. A second time. A third time. A fourth time. A fifth time. Gazing at the old woman going limp and drowning in despair, Little Lou Ji felt a tinge of sorrow. She had been truly happy during her time here; in truth, she had almost wanted to give up. Revenge was simply too exhausting. With those thoughts in mind, she used her frail little body to support the collapsing old woman, gently laid her down onto the ground, and spoke in a tearful voice: "Th-then, Granny, will you help me change into fresh clothes and comb my hair one last time?" Her voice trailed from loud to soft, ensuring that the thugs outside could hear the opening words. The old woman gave no answer. Only faint, mosquito-like gurgles rose from her throat, pleading for help. Alas, it was entirely in vain. Beneath the old woman's terrified gaze, Little Lou Ji calmly stepped over her body and shut the ajar door completely. In her dying moments, the old woman could only watch in utter helplessness as Lou Ji methodically searched her body for the deposit money, changed out of her bloodstained cloth garments into rough hemp sackcloth, and smeared herself dirty with soot and ash from the earthen kang. Everything was carried out in an orderly manner. While doing all this, Lou Ji was also pondering her path forward. In the beginning, she had indeed planned to rely on her pretty face to enter the Music Bureau, but that notion had long been abandoned because the road was sealed off. When catastrophe struck her family, she was relegated to base status, and the beast attack on the prison cart had rendered her an unregistered fugitive without identity papers. Great Yan's household registration system was meticulous. Without official credentials, even if she offered herself to the Music Bureau, they would almost certainly refuse to take her. With her looks, she could have entered a brothel backed by powerful figures to be groomed as a top courtesan, but brothels were fundamentally different from the Music Bureau. The Music Bureau catered to refined romance and sentiment; its head courtesans held immense autonomy. If they refused to bed a patron, they generally didn't have to. When Xu Yuan previously visited the Music Bureau in the Imperial City, even after nearly wrecking the establishment and openly declaring he wanted to become Li Zhaoyuan's adoptive father, he still failed to get his way. Brothels dabbled in romance as well, but their main business was carnal indulgence. So long as a patron had sufficient power and threw enough money around, even if a pure courtesan refused, they could force their way upon her. Little Lou Ji was unwilling to enter an ordinary brothel, let alone fall into the clutches of some oversized piece of trash in the dumpster that was Black Alley. She knew perfectly well that if dragged down by someone like that, she would likely spend her entire life struggling in the muck at the bottom of Black Alley. Yet because of this, at nine years old, Little Lou Ji successfully unlocked the first fugitive chapter of her life. It was not until two years later, when the timing was ripe and she orchestrated the destruction of the Green Snake Gang with her own hands, that Little Lou Ji's life finally returned to peace. At the same time, however, she caught the attention of certain eyes.