Just Love People with Guts

Early in the morning, Cheng Mingke, Chief Garrison Commissioner of Heishipo, had just woken up. The Heishipo Garrison Office had one Chief Garrison Commissioner and twenty-eight Vice Garrison Commissioners. Aside from those out on field duty, all Garrison Office personnel lived and ate on the premises, and the commissioners were no exception. Before Cheng Mingke even had time to wash up, his secretary, Tong Lingzhu, arrived to report an emergency. "Commissioner Cheng, we've lost contact with the Jiangxiang Gang." "Lost contact with who?" Cheng Mingke assumed she meant the newly appointed Branch Master, Fu Botai. Fu Botai was supposed to make contact with the Sage on the Peak of the Sages over the past couple of days, so his absence from the branch was perfectly normal. Yet Tong Lingzhu was not referring to Branch Master Fu Botai. "The entire branch has gone silent. Not a single person can be found. The two sub-branches in the city are also out of contact. The only place with anyone left is one sub-branch outside the city." Cheng Mingke was taken aback. "What does the sub-branch outside the city say?" "They don't know anything." On this matter, the sub-branch outside the city was not lying. Their post consisted of only one sub-branch master and a single cudgelman. No inquiry was needed to figure out what status these two held; they were the least favored members in the branch and had been banished beyond the city limits. Though shunned within the gang, fate had smiled upon them. Yesterday, word came down summoning everyone to the depot to contact the Sage alongside the Branch Master. It had been a golden opportunity to earn merit, and with such a prime chance at hand, who would have spared a thought for those two? Precisely because they had been forgotten, the pair had ended up keeping their lives. Garrison Commissioner Cheng Mingke looked grave. He immediately issued an order to sever all transportation between Heishipo and the outside world, launching a citywide search for members of the Black Stone Branch. Once the order was given, trains and ferries halted, and every checkpoint along the border was shut down. Such was the authority of a Garrison Commissioner. Boundaries crisscrossed Puluo Province, and traveling required a travel permit. In ordinary times, very few people ventured far, so reasonably speaking, shutting down transport should not have caused too much disruption. Had this been Yaowanggou, closing off access for a period would truly have been no trouble at all. Heishipo, however, was special. It was a purely industrial city. Manufactured goods from various factories waited to be shipped out, piling up at the station. Certain raw materials were not produced locally and had to be brought in from the outside. Now that transportation was severed, numerous factories ground to a halt. And that was not even the most critical issue. Heishipo's grain reserves were limited. The outlying villages grew just enough grain to sustain themselves; all the food for Heishipo had to be purchased from outside. With transport cut, Heishipo's food supply was cut off as well. Could such a massive city have no stored grain? There was grain, but it was not in the hands of the residents. The residents of Heishipo kept no grain at home. They normally ate in factory cafeterias, and when money was loose, groups would head out to dine at restaurants. Now, with the supply severed, the cafeterias could not light their stoves, restaurants stayed closed, and many people were facing starvation. Garrison Commissioner Cheng Mingke had not been in Heishipo long. Worried that he did not grasp the situation, his secretary Tong Lingzhu reminded him, "Commissioner Cheng, transit in Heishipo cannot remain cut off for too long. This city is different from other places." Cheng Mingke replied calmly, "I know how vital transport is to Heishipo. It is precisely because it is vital that they must learn to cherish it. An entire branch of people has vanished into thin air. I do not believe no one possesses any clues. Yet the notices have been posted for days without a single response. This proves they have no respect for the Garrison Office whatsoever." Tong Lingzhu did not dare urge him further, but where were clues so easily found? The Jiangxiang Gang had barely had any presence in Heishipo to begin with, and their operations were always conducted in utmost secrecy. Gang members mostly posed as quacks, temple keepers, fasting women, physiognomists, or medicine peddlers. How could ordinary folk recognize them? To make matters worse, the Garrison Office did not want to be openly associated with the Jiangxiang Gang, so the notices were written with great ambiguity, merely stating that Fu Botai and others were missing. Looking at the photographs on the notices, the public was utterly baffled—not a soul had any idea who Fu Botai was. Yet Cheng Mingke remained confident, firmly believing that this matter would eventually be investigated down to the bottom. Tensions mounted inside the city, and the areas outside felt the tremors as well; the businesses of many prominent families were deeply reliant on Heishipo. The Lu family's businesses in Heishipo had all been handed over to Li Banfeng and Ma the Fifth, but Ma the Fifth currently had no mind for business affairs. Inside Xiaoyaowu, he was engrossed in editing film. Editing film was skilled work; one had to know how to cut and how to splice. Ma the Fifth was hardly an expert, but he was the only one who could handle this reel, because Li Banfeng had brought it back. The reel recorded the entire sequence of the peep show operator abducting children in Liutang Village and meeting with the Jiangxiang Gang's Branch Master, Fu Botai. Indeed, that Branch Master was Fu Botai. Ma the Fifth had checked it repeatedly against the photograph on the notice. The reason he had to edit it personally was that he did not want to leak Li Banfeng's whereabouts. Wiping out three Jiangxiang Gang branches in a row—who would have thought Old Seven was behind it all? The whole thing was a bit mad, but since it had been done, Ma the Fifth would naturally stand with Old Seven to the bitter end. Once the film was edited, Ma the Fifth duplicated a copy and handed it to Shen Rongqing. When Shen Rongqing watched the film, the veins on her forehead bulged. The film had no sound, but Shen Rongqing could read Fu Botai's lips. "He claims he doesn't see it? Fine. This time, the whole Puluo Province will see it! Over the coming days, increase the print run!" ... "Increase the print run!" Bai Qiusheng gave orders to the editors of *Night Fragrance*. "Expose Fu Botai's dirty laundry! Expose everything the Jiangxiang Gang has done over all these years!" Yuwen Qi voiced some concern: "Right now, many families can barely afford food, and the price of rice is skyrocketing. How many people can still afford newspapers?" "Free of charge!" Bai Qiusheng slammed a paper onto the table. "We'll hand them out for nothing! We have to make this matter loud and clear!" ... Garrison Commissioner Cheng Mingke slapped the newspaper onto his desk. "So there really are troublemakers. Shut this newspaper down." Tong Lingzhu quickly tried to dissuade him. "Commissioner Cheng, we cannot intervene in this. There is no precedent in Heishipo, nor anywhere in Puluo Province." "They must learn reverence. Let the precedent start with me." Cheng Mingke's expression remained tranquil as he looked out the window in silence. Down below the Garrison Office building, Li Banfeng looked up at the structure, pulled the brim of his hat low, and quietly slipped away. That night, many households across the city received a small bag of rice. It was not much, barely enough for two or three days, and people buzzed with speculation over who had delivered it. A few had actually caught sight of the person who brought the rice. "He said his family name was En and he went by Engong." Where, then, had this rice come from? ... At dawn the next day, before Cheng Mingke was even awake, another knock came at the door. Assuming it was his secretary Tong Lingzhu, he tidied his appearance a little before opening the door, only to find Vice Garrison Commissioner Du Zhaohui, the man in charge of logistics. "Commissioner Cheng, our cafeteria was robbed." The cafeteria was robbed? Cheng Mingke looked at Du Zhaohui in bewilderment. How could that be a big deal? "Did someone steal a bit of food? If it's stolen, so be it. Just tighten security in the future." "It wasn't a bit of food. All the grain in our cafeteria was wiped clean." Cheng Mingke froze, then headed to the cafeteria storehouse. The oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were untouched, but not a single grain had been left behind. An entire warehouse of grain, cleared out completely? Cheng Mingke was exasperated. "How did that much grain get hauled out? What were your men doing?" Du Zhaohui felt deeply aggrieved. "I inspected the storehouse myself last night..." "Enough! Send people to purchase grain immediately." Du Zhaohui personally led men to the rice shops. A shopkeeper sneered with a grin, "Lord Du, you've come to buy grain? Do your people eat food too? Well, isn't that a novelty! I have no rice here. Go look elsewhere." Du Zhaohui was furious, but having stayed in Heishipo for many years, he knew the locals had backbone. He could not force a purchase in a situation like this, or it would trigger a riot. Yet after visiting a dozen rice shops in a row, he failed to procure a single sack. No matter how much he offered, every shop insisted they had no rice. Though no rice was purchased, Cheng Mingke remained unconcerned. "Distribute canned goods and biscuits tonight. First thing tomorrow morning, a boxcar of grain will arrive at the station. I'll dispatch designated personnel to bring the grain back. Have your men guard the storehouse properly." At eight in the morning, a train rolled into the station, which had been shut down for days. The train carried grain, coal, and medicine, all prepared specifically for the Garrison Office. Disguised as a stevedore and relying on the Dwelling Cultivator's talent for blending into the background, Li Banfeng lurked in a corner of the platform, biding his time to strike. This information had come from Luo Zhengnan, who had just discovered yesterday that a shipment of supplies was heading to Heishipo. Li Banfeng had been waiting at the station since last night, not expecting the train to arrive only now. Stealing grain from the cafeteria earlier had taken place at night; Li Banfeng had slipped into the warehouse, had his glove pick the lock, stowed the grain inside the Portable Abode, and walked away with ease. Now, broad daylight had set in, and the perimeter around the station was heavily guarded. A light train waited right by the station entrance; as soon as the cargo was unloaded onto the platform, stevedores would load it directly onto the light train to haul it to the Garrison Office. If the grain was delivered inside the Garrison Office, stealing it out again would be exceedingly difficult. Having been burned once, they would surely take every precaution this time. Whether to strike at the platform or during transport was a decision Li Banfeng had to make quickly. As he observed the situation, he noticed something was off with the train. Steam engines were not easy to brake; the train should have slowed down well before entering the station. Yet this train was barreling forward with full power, chuffing and puffing relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping. Where was it heading? Li Banfeng was not the only one baffled; the station workers were equally bewildered. The signalman waved his flag incessantly, signaling the engineer to stop. The engineer was scared out of his wits, waving frantically at the platform from inside the cab. The train was out of control! A few cultivators dispatched by the Garrison Office stood near the platform. One burly man leaped onto the tracks in two strides, let out a roar, and ballooned to twice his normal size. Bracing both hands against the front of the locomotive, he tried to force the train to a halt. "He's got some strength," someone beside Li Banfeng remarked. "That's a bear." Who was that? Li Banfeng startled. How had this person appeared beside him so suddenly? Judging by his face, the man was around forty, and judging by his attire, he looked like a mechanic. He twitched his eyebrows at Li Banfeng, signaling that he had nothing to worry about. His judgment was spot on—the burly man charging the tracks was indeed a body cultivator, and a bear at that. The burly man skidded back dozens of meters, but the train did not stop; it did not even slow down. The burly man leaped off the tracks. He couldn't hold on any longer. The bones in both his arms were broken. If he held on any longer, he would be crushed under the wheels. The train barreled straight out of the station, and the middle-aged man and Li Banfeng slipped away as well. Once outside the station, the middle-aged man ran alongside Li Banfeng in pursuit of the train. With a leap, they hopped aboard one after the other. Sitting in the freight car, the middle-aged man said to Li Banfeng, "Little brother, you must be the Benefactor." Li Banfeng did not answer. He did not know who this man was, but he could tell this senior harbored no malice. If he had meant harm, Li Banfeng would already be dead. The middle-aged man chuckled. "I know 'Benefactor' isn't your real name. I should call you Boss Ye." He knew that identity too? Li Banfeng grew even more surprised, only to hear the middle-aged man continue, "My surname is Tang, given name Shijiang. I like folks with guts. If you think well of me, just call me Big Brother Tang." As they spoke, the train had already traveled seven or eight li—hardly the speed of an ordinary steam train. Tang Shijiang pulled a large handful of screws from his bosom. Every single screw was moving on its own. Each drove itself into a burlap sack filled with grain, carrying the sack as it flew out of the freight car and landed far along the tracks. He was distributing the grain. Li Banfeng said, "Big Brother Tang, this grain belongs to the Garrison Office. They're bound to track down every last sack. If you just toss it out like this without even swapping the sacks, will anyone dare pick it up?" "Of course they dare!" Tang Shijiang laughed. "The folks on my turf all have guts! Anyone who doesn't dare pick it up doesn't deserve to live in Heishipo!"