A Prophet - Chapter 22 (Part 2)

Chapter 2 - Telling the Fortune of a Green-Hong Gang Hall Master

Once again, Grandpa had transformed misfortune into auspiciousness, and the brothers were naturally overjoyed. Yet Grandpa's condition was far worse than before; he had suffered internal injuries, and no one could comprehend the fragility and desolation lurking in the depths of his heart. At night, he frequently confined himself to his room, quietly sorting through decades of glory, disgrace, ups, and downs, meticulously plotting the future direction of the River-Merchant Faction.

The River-Merchant Faction, three hundred years of wind and clouds churning through the waves; how much bustling glory, how many heroic figures; as the wheels of history roll forward, everything would eventually transform into fleeting smoke amid the vicissitudes of time. Years later, when the glamour faded and the superficial veneer was washed away, if people spoke of the River-Merchant Faction once more, would there be nothing left but laughingstocks and sighs? Grandpa could not bear the thought.

Grandpa was utterly melancholy, yet the brothers failed to understand his frame of mind. Everyone only knew that Grandpa had returned safely, the War of Resistance was over, the little Japanese devils had fucked off, and Shanghai was once again the domain of the River-Merchant Faction. With all wastes awaiting restoration and traffic bustling like a stream, every single bumpkin on the streets was ripe for swindling, bringing in monthly fortunes of several thousand silver dollars, with a wine pot in the left hand and a brothel in the right—the bitter days were gone and would never return.

During that period, everyone grew lazy and undisciplined. The First Leader drank a pot of wine every single day, the Second Leader frequented a brothel every two days, the Third Leader fished by the river, the Fourth Leader worried for no reason, the Fifth Leader walked the mountains clutching a Luopan compass, and the Sixth Leader constantly practiced his martial arts of flying over roofs and walking on walls. Grandpa saw all of this in his eyes and felt the pain in his heart.

At night, after the storefront was closed, the leaders often gathered together to idle and chat.

The First Leader frequently recalled his valor of slaying devils at Kunlun Pass, bragging until his entire head was covered in sweat: "Back then, with a fierce tiger kick to the groin, I sent that devil's testicles straight up into his belly! Then another devil rushed up, and with a divine dragon's tail whip, I landed a direct front kick right on his stomach, kicking his shit flying right out..."

The Second Leader held a woman's breast-pocket brought out from a brothel, pressed it against his chest, swayed with every three steps, and mimicked the tone of a courtesan: "Master, come quickly, come quickly! Let me properly reward and comfort you."

The two of them sang in harmony, provoking roaring laughter from everyone.

The Third Leader and the Fifth Leader spun compasses and feng shui wheels in their hands, chanting crude, obscene, self-composed poems: "Electric telephone poles, oh, and railway tracks, a whore's backside bubbling with cracks! Wind through the door crack, a fully drawn bow, a courtesan's trouser-string hanging low! Pig-slaughtering saber, pig-slaughtering basin, a big girl's panties looking like a burning sunset cloud..."

Another wave of boisterous laughter erupted among the brothers.

Finally, one day, while everyone was laughing madly, the housekeeper Wu Laoer walked in: "Grandpa has given an order: assemble for a full hall meeting immediately!"

The brothers quickly reined in their smiles and rushed over to Grandpa's residence in a panic.

"May Grandpa enjoy ten thousand blessings!" The leaders paid their respects to Grandpa first in accordance with the rules of the River-Merchant Faction.

"You brothers have worked hard," Grandpa returned the greeting. "Take a seat, all of you."

The gathered brothers took their seats.

Grandpa looked at the various leaders, picked up the tea on the table, took a sip, and then said: "Have you brothers been living in comfort and joy during this period?"

Everyone looked at one another, having no idea what Grandpa was getting at.

After a long silence, the Third Leader mustered the courage to respond: "Grandpa's hall is as flourishing as the noon sun, and our business is thriving day by day. Since Grandpa is living in comfort and joy, the brothers naturally are too."

"Good! What a fine 'flourishing as the noon sun'! What a fine 'thriving day by day'! With wine and meat to consume and servants to wait upon you, your blessing is simply boundless!" Grandpa said coldly.

"Heh heh." The Second Leader laughed, but suddenly noticing that none of the other brothers were laughing, he quickly smacked his lips and stopped laughing as well.

Grandpa glanced sideways at him, stood up, and said word for word: "The bitter days of running east and west and living under someone else's roof are over, is that right? The days of trembling with fear and starving with empty stomachs have been forgotten, is that right? Shanghai belongs exclusively to our family now, is that right? When the Western Faction's Qin Baichuan eyed us like a tiger watching its prey during our time of distress and repeatedly tried to swallow us up, has all of that been forgotten, is that right? While we are living in luxury and debauchery, lounging and slacking off here, do you have any idea what Qin Baichuan is doing right now? Do you have any idea what the Northern Faction's Qian Yuelin is doing? Big Beard Qin's influence has already crossed Hubei! Qian Yuelin has already led his disciples and grand-disciples to slaughter their way into Sister Yan's territory! The various secret societies of Shanghai are experiencing a resurgence, the Kuomintang and Communists are about to go to war, and everyone else is busy picking sides and winning people over to their cause, yet here we are, brimming with smug complacency, living in a drunken stupor! You guys are simply..."

"Grandpa!" With a collective thud, all the leaders dropped to their knees. "We know we were wrong!"

Grandpa glanced down at them, then continued: "Next month, the annual Four Halls Deliberation Meeting is about to commence once again. With you lot in this kind of state, if I lead you there, will it bring me face, or will it make me lose face?"

"Slap! Slap!" Each of the leaders gave themselves two hard smacks across the face: "Grandpa's reprimand is entirely justified!"

Without changing expression, Grandpa took a sip of tea and said: "Qian Yuelin can no longer survive in the North; the Communist Party is cracking down on secret societies, and he broke the rules of the River-Merchant Faction, so he fled to the South to snatch business. More importantly, there is Qin Baichuan. During the War of Resistance, relying on Chongqing's secure base, he blackmailed me and Sister Yan, intending to unify the Four Halls. A situation that has never before appeared in the history of the River-Merchant Faction has now materialized; the ancestral injunction that the Four Halls do not interfere with one another for hundreds of years has been broken. Do you idiots think the Four Halls are nothing but an atmosphere of cozy harmony? Murderous intent is lurking on every side!"

Hearing this, the First Leader raised his head: "Grandpa, do you think we should do this—according to the rule of taking turns hosting, this session of the Grand Hall Meeting is supposed to be hosted by our Eastern Faction. Why don't we take this opportunity to wipe them all out right on our own turf!"

"I agree with Big Brother's view!" the Third Leader said loudly.

"We all agree with Big Brother's view!" the other leaders chimed in.

Grandpa gave a bitter laugh, shook his head, and said: "It is not that simple. Do you think that once we kill Qin Baichuan and Qian Yuelin, the Western and Northern Factions will all fall under our control? The Western Faction currently has several hundred men, and the Northern Faction also has over a hundred. When they come to your territory for a meeting, they will inevitably leave caretakers behind at home. If we kill their leaders, we will lose the moral high ground first. The Western and Northern Factions will unite to crusade against us, and by then internal chaos will erupt within the River-Merchant Faction. Forget about attracting the attention of the Kuomintang—even the other secret societies surrounding us will take the opportunity to wipe out our entire faction! This method doesn't even count as the worst of the worst policies; it is absolute self-destruction! In the future history of the River-Merchant Faction, we would all be eternal sinners."

After hearing this, the leaders broke out in a sweat.

After a long silence, the Second Leader scratched his head and said: "Since we cannot kill them, could it be that we are just supposed to wait for them to attack us?"

Grandpa shook his head and said: "Get up and speak."

The leaders dared not get up and remained kneeling on the ground.

"Get up," Grandpa repeated.

Only then did the leaders look at one another and stand up.

"Take your seats, all of you."

The leaders did not dare.

"Sit!"

The leaders took their seats in order.

"Serve tea to the brothers," Grandpa shouted toward the door.

Soon, Wu Laoer entered carrying top-grade Biluochun tea and poured a cup for each leader.

"We will start with the Northern Faction," Grandpa suddenly said.

The leaders looked at each other in blank dismay.

"How do we start?" the Third Leader asked.

"I get it!" the Second Leader said, acting clever. "Grandpa means we should break them one by one, and slaughter that old fox Qian Yuelin first!"

Grandpa knitted his brows in helplessness: "Slaughter, slaughter? Don't always be thinking about slaughtering people. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest of all excellence!"

The Second Leader lacked education and completely failed to understand.

"Attack their hearts?" the Third Leader said.

Grandpa nodded: "To put it simply, it means buying people's hearts! Why is Qian Yuelin heading south?"

"Because he's out of business!" the First Leader said.

"And then?"

"And then? Then he can't make any money, so he can't survive anymore."

Grandpa nodded: "Qian Yuelin and his crowd are having the hardest time right now. If we suddenly present them with 3,000 silver dollars at the Grand Hall Meeting, what will happen?"

"3,000 dollars?" A buzzing sound rang in the brothers' ears.

"What will happen?" Grandpa pursued.

"What will happen?" The Second Leader shook his head and said, "They'll be so happy they'll drop dead!"

"And after that?"

"After that comes gratitude," the Third Leader said. "Grandpa's stratagem is truly marvelous! For the Eastern Faction to generously subsidize the Northern Faction with 3,000 silver dollars—Qian Yuelin will surely be moved to tears of gratitude!"

"Wrong!" Grandpa said. "What I want is not for him to be grateful, but for his subordinate brothers to be grateful, which in turn will make the Abao fellows of the Western Faction harbor favorable feelings toward the Eastern Faction as well."

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!" the Third Leader cried out three times. "In that case, Grandpa's grand enterprise of unification will lay a broad fraternal foundation. However, isn't 3,000 dollars too much? Giving a few hundred just to show a gesture should be enough."

Grandpa shook his head repeatedly, then said: "If you're not going to do it, fine; but if you do it, you must do it solidly and genuinely. Otherwise, people will grow suspicious."

"Furthermore..." Grandpa suddenly lowered his voice and said, "The four secret manuals of the River-Merchant Faction—the Abao Chapter, the Yingyao Chapter, the Military Horse Chapter, and the Zhafei Chapter. Back in the day, our founding ancestors entrusted these four manuals respectively to the Qian, Kun, Li, and Kan halls to safeguard, which is why we have today's layout where the Eastern Faction excels at Zhafei fraud, the Western Faction excels at feng shui setups, the Southern Faction excels at Yingyao physiognomy, and the Northern Faction excels at the Double-Gold-Mouth technique. For hundreds of years, the skills of the four halls have gradually merged and blended. The Abao Chapter became popularized as the general textbook for Abao swindlers, the Zhafei Chapter was carried forward by us in the Eastern Faction, the Southern Faction created mental cultivation methods such as 'The Yuehaitang Fengshui Physiognomy Notes' based on absorbing the essence of the Yingyao Chapter, and the Western Faction formed unique feng shui scams based on the Abao Chapter. Only the Military Horse Chapter has remained firmly held in the hands of the Northern Faction! It is not that your Grandpa is being greedy, but the Northern Faction has lost all moral integrity, and their ranks are growing increasingly degenerate. This item will either be ruined in their hands or acquired by other factions in the rivers and lakes. Once that happens, the core incantations of the River-Merchant Faction will leak out into the rivers and lakes, and we will no longer have any advantage to speak of! Moreover, once it falls into the hands of villains, ordinary people will suffer terribly, our creed of 'acting on behalf of heaven to mete out justice' will become empty words, and the River-Merchant Faction will become a cancer poisoning the world!"

The brothers rubbed their heads, finally understanding: Grandpa intended to steal the Northern Faction's manual.

"The crucial thing is how to get our hands on it!" the Second Leader said. "An item like this is bound to be hidden in an ultra-secret place! Either deep in the remote mountains and old forests, or three feet underground!"

Grandpa shook his head: "Not necessarily. Based on my understanding of Qian Yuelin, he will most likely carry it on his person."

"Does Grandpa mean to knock him out with soul-dispersing powder, and then..." the Third Leader said.

"It's not that easy."

"Then what does Grandpa mean?"

Grandpa blinked and said, "You guys go back and rest for now. When the time comes, listen to my arrangements."

"Oh." The leaders disappointedly patted their backsides and left.

At night, Grandpa plunged into deep thought once more. He had spoken half-truths to the leaders; his true intentions would remain hidden forever in the bottom of his heart.

The next day at the third division of the Chen hour, the Third Leader requested an audience.

"Grandpa, while we were hanging out the bait for suckers at the hall earlier, a female visitor walked in and specifically demanded that Grandpa personally tell her fortune."

"What kind of person?" Grandpa asked, puzzled.

"Her background is unknown. But she is dressed extremely luxuriously, and her looks... her looks are second to none in all of Shanghai, I dare say."

"Didn't you ask about her origins?"

"Couldn't pry it out of her. She acts like the wife of a wealthy family, tight-lipped, and wouldn't say which aspect of her fortune she wanted checked, only stating that she came seeking Grandpa's divination out of admiration. I have a feeling this is a fat suckling pig, and only you, Elder, coming out of retirement can handle her."

"Go back and tell her that I am meeting with government dignitaries these days and it is inconvenient to receive her. Tell her to come back in three days."

"Understood!"

Three days later, that woman arrived under the guidance of the Third Leader.

"Greetings, Master," the woman performed a traditional respect-bow.

Upon looking, Grandpa saw that this woman was indeed breathtakingly beautiful: a pair of bright, delicate mandarin-duck eyes, two slender willow-leaf eyebrows parted gracefully across her temples, a vermilion cherry mouth of wealth and nobility, soft and delicate cotton-pouch hands, skin as fine and white as snow, and a smile that could steal a person's soul. From the perspective of physiognomy, this was a countenance of wealth, nobility, and elegance. The only flaw was that her cheekbones were slightly high—a sign of bringing misfortune to her husband.

Grandpa had seen beauties before, but never one quite this stunning. He was momentarily dazed, then suddenly realizing he had lost his composure, he quickly said: "No need for formalities, please be seated. May I ask the young lady's honorable name, and what brings you here?"

"This humble woman's surname is Yun, given name Caiwei."

"Yun Caiwei." Hearing this, Grandpa nodded repeatedly and said: "The Classic of Poetry says: 'Gathering the artemisia, gathering the artemisia, the artemisia shoots are tender.' What a fine name."

Yun Caiwei smiled faintly: "Gathering the artemisia, gathering the artemisia, the heart is also sorrowful. A bitter fate of a name, how can one speak of it as fine."

"Heh heh. You jest, young lady."

"This young woman has come this time to privately consult the Master about a few matters..."

Hearing this, Grandpa raised his eyes and looked at the Third Leader, his look conveying: "Why are you still standing here?"

The Third Leader had been completely intoxicated by Yun Caiwei's beauty and hadn't noticed Grandpa's gaze at all.

Grandpa gave a cough: "Disciple!"

The Third Leader started, returning to reality: "Oh, oh, Master, you two chat... chat away, I'll take my leave first."

"Please speak, young lady."

Yun Caiwei suddenly wore a face full of sorrow: "Sigh. For some reason, my husband recently offended people from the Shanghai Police Department and was hauled in the day before yesterday. They claim that during the War of Resistance he collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, but my husband has never done a single thing that violated a Chinese person's conscience... I've come here this time simply to ask the Master to see whether my husband's fortune brings good or ill, and whether he can return safely."

Hearing this, Grandpa nodded: "May I ask what business your husband is engaged in?"

"My husband runs a medicinal herb business; the 'Yunai Pharmacy' on Avenue Jésuite is our family storefront."

"Yunai Pharmacy? Is your husband Fang Jingyu?"

"Precisely! How does the Master know my husband's name and title?"

"Heh heh. Who doesn't know Master Fang's great name? Back during the War of Resistance, Master Fang joined forces with the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce to donate money, goods, and airplanes to the National Army—such lofty integrity! However... however... Master Fang should be approaching sixty years of age. To my knowledge, Master Fang's wife is named Chen Wenmei; both husband and wife's names even made the newspapers..."

"The Master need not harbor doubts; I am his seventh concubine."

Before her voice had even faded, Little Liu's shout echoed from outside the courtyard: "Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Followed by the voice of the housekeeper Wu Laoer: "Sixth Brother, don't go in, Grandpa is meeting with a guest."

"Aiya, it's an emergency!" Little Liu rushed right in.

As soon as he entered the door, Little Liu froze: "Caiwei Elder Sister?"

Yun Caiwei froze as well: "You are... you are Little Liu?"

"It's me! I'm Little Liu! I'm Little Liu!"

The two of them embraced in excitement, leaving Grandpa completely bewildered in a fog, failing to make sense of what was happening.

Little Liu hurriedly pointed at Yun Caiwei and said to Grandpa: "Grandpa, this is the Ninth Master's adopted daughter!"

"The Ninth Master's adopted daughter?" Grandpa was deeply astonished.

Little Liu quickly recounted a piece of history from back in the day.

When Ninth Master Wang Yazhi dominated the Shanghai beach, there happened to be a year when the "Central China Martial Arts Circus" from the Hebei region came to Shanghai on tour. Chinese acrobatics were absolute world-class during the Republican era. At that time, China possessed the largest circuses in the world; high-difficulty performance acts such as "flying trapeze," "rotating wheels," and "flying fire-clubs in the saddle" were all invented by Chinese people. That year, this circus was scheduled to perform the grand spectacle of the "flying trapeze" in Shanghai, and Wang Yazhi attended the scene in person to watch.

Doers numbering in the dozens, tethered to steel wires, leaped, tumbled, and flew back and forth in the air, making the audience's hearts leap into their throats. Unexpectedly, during the performance, a mishap occurred: when a male actor reached out to catch a female acrobat performing a somersault, he failed to catch her, and the female actor plummeted straight to the ground, instantly knocked unconscious.

What was even more tragic was that because the young girl broke her leg, she could never perform that act again, and was ultimately abandoned by the circus at the hospital, causing an uproar in public opinion.

Hearing this, Wang Yazhi felt a profound pang of heartache. Having risen from humble origins himself, he knew very well that everyone in the acrobatics trade consisted of children from impoverished families; only families on the verge of starvation would send their own children into a circus, and anyone who could manage to scrape by with a subsistence would never let their children walk this path. In those days, acrobatics was not yet an art form, but merely a means of putting food on the table.

Filled with pity, Wang Yazhi paid for all the subsequent medical expenses until the girl completely recovered. Afterward, Wang Yazhi gave her some travel funds so she could return to her hometown to search for her parents.

The girl wept as she said: "They have already abandoned me; I will never go back." It turned out that in order for the whole family to survive, the girl's parents had kept their 3-year-old son while selling their 5-year-old daughter to the circus. The young girl could never forget the heart-rending agony she felt back then, nor could she forget her mother's ruthless retreating back.

"Master, let me follow you. I'll serve you as an ox or a horse, anything is fine."

Wang Yazhi's heart softened, and he ultimately took her in as an adopted daughter. Later on, when Wang Yazhi offended the Kuomintang and was hunted down by the Military Statistics Bureau, to prevent the young girl from becoming implicated in Axe Gang entanglements, he left behind a sum of money and placed her in the care of a friend's family.

In the blink of an eye, over a decade had passed, and that naive, struggling little girl had blossomed into one of the top graceful, wealthy matrons of the Shanghai beach.

Hearing this, Grandpa's eyes grew moist. Remembering all manner of kindness from the Ninth Master, he could not stop a long sigh: "Sigh!"

"Grandpa, my informant tells me that the police brigade men seem to be heading right toward our hall!" Little Liu remembered his urgent business.

"Heading toward us?"

"Yes, led by Cai Xuezhong."

"Cai Xuezhong?" Yun Caiwei was terribly shocked. "He's the one who arrested my husband!"

"Don't panic." After a moment of thought, Grandpa said, "That bastard has committed every evil under the sun!"

"The Master knows him?"

"More than just know him!" Grandpa said. "This person used to be with the Military Statistics Bureau. Later, after the War of Resistance ended, he was assigned to the Shanghai Police Department as the captain of the First Brigade."

"Then my husband can be saved! Master, please put in a good word for me," Yun Caiwei said.

Little Liu hurriedly blinked and said: "Elder Sister, you misunderstand. Cai Xuezhong isn't Grandpa's old acquaintance—he's an enemy!"

"An enemy?"

As they were speaking, a commotion of footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

"Is Grandpa at home?"

Grandpa immediately recognized Cai Xuezhong's duck-quack voice.

Grandpa walked out: "Oh—Captain Cai honors my humble home with his presence. I failed to welcome you from afar, I failed to welcome you from afar!"

"We're old friends, don't be so polite," Cai Xuezhong said with a sinister, sarcastic tone.

"What brings the Captain here?"

"To arrest Red bandits."

"Red bandits? Heh heh." Grandpa looked up and laughed to the heavens. "Last time Captain cultivator Cai was also arresting Red bandits, and this time he's arresting Red bandits again. Have I turned this place into a bandit lair?"

"Heh heh. Whether it's a bandit lair is not up to me to decide. Is Yun Caiwei here?"

Grandpa put on a thoughtful expression: "A female bodhisattva did indeed come to me just now to seek a divination, but whether she is Yun Caiwei, I do not know."

"Search!" Cai Xuezhong gave the order, and a dozen or so men swarmed into the room.

"Captain! We found her!" The police officers surrounded Yun Caiwei and Little Liu.

Little Liu shielded Yun Caiwei behind him, raised his fists, and glared with furious eyes.

Cai Xuezhong sneered: "What are you doing? Playing the hero saving the beauty? Kung fu? Come on, throw a punch and let me see. Can you move faster than a bullet?" He raised his pistol and waved it.

"Liu Zi! Do not interfere with Captain Cai executing his official duties. Step aside!" Grandpa said in a loud voice.

"You can't let them take Sister Caiwei away!"

"Oh? Sister Caiwei, is it? Could it be that you're an accomplice as well?" Cai Xuezhong said.

"Liu Zi!" Grandpa let out an angry bark.

Little Liu retreated resentfully to the side.

Yun Caiwei showed not a shred of fear: "I'll go with you." She silently looked at Grandpa, then walked straight out.

"Grandpa, this time my lead didn't fall through, I'm off." Cai Xuezhong walked out with a sinister grin, then suddenly stopped his steps, turned his head back and said, "Right, let me inform you: Boss Dai has ridden a crane to the Western Paradise, and now Director Liu is in charge. Things are different now, and you can no longer use Boss Dai to pressure me, ha ha ha ha."

Grandpa coldly watched him depart.

"Grandpa, what do we do?" Little Liu was deeply distressed.

"Let me think."

A figure suddenly flashed past the doorway. Seeing that it was the Second Leader, Grandpa called out: "Old Er!"

The Second Leader had no choice but to walk out obediently.

"What are you here for?" Grandpa asked.

"I... I... I-I..." The Second Leader stammered and hummed.

"What?"

"I heard Third Brother say a great beauty came by, so I wanted to sneak a peek. I was hiding outside just now, afraid you'd discover me, so I didn't dare come in... How come the beauty got dragged away by the cops?"

Grandpa said nothing, turned around, and walked back into the room.

"What's wrong?" The Second Leader looked at Little Liu.

Little Liu turned around and walked into the room as well.

"What's wrong?" The Second Leader scratched the back of his head and foolishly walked away.

"Grandpa?" Inside the room, Little Liu gazed anxiously at Grandpa.

Grandpa knitted his brows tightly, then picked up a brush, spread out a piece of letter paper, wrote just two characters, put the brush down again, and turned to tell Little Liu: "Follow me!"

"Where to?"

"The Green Gang. Tongzi Hall."

"Oh." Little Liu followed closely behind.

About an hour later, the two of them arrived at the Green Gang's "Tongzi Hall."

The guards at the entrance stopped Grandpa: "Who is the Master looking for?"

"Trouble little brother to announce my presence. Just say that Iron-Plate Master requests an audience with Elder Zhong."

"Wait here."

After a short while, the guard ran back out: "Please enter!"

"Fifth Uncle Zhong, little brother pays his respects to you!" As soon as he entered the door, Grandpa clasped his fists and bowed.

Zhong Datong, a core figure of the Green Gang and the head of Tongzi Hall, walked out to welcome him with a full face of smiles: "Yixing, come quickly, come here!"

Listening from behind, Little Liu heard it crystal clear: Grandpa had never told these people his real name; they had always addressed him as "Wang Yixing."

"You rascal," the heavily built Zhong Datong said, hooking his arm around Grandpa's, "when you left Shanghai back then you didn't even say a word, and now that you've returned to Shanghai you still keep your mouth shut. Have you struck it rich and forgotten about your old elder brother?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Fifth Uncle Zhong exaggerates; whatever little brother has today is entirely thanks to Fifth Uncle's patronage."

"Sigh! That's not right! Your Daoist arts are profound, you dare to charge ahead and take risks, and now you're a patriotic master. Across the entire Shanghai beach, who doesn't know you, who hasn't heard of you?"

The two of them chatted cordially, recalling times past while Little Liu listened quietly.

Zhong Datong was a heavyweight figure in Shanghai's Green-Hong Gang, and his power and status ranked at least in the top ten. A dozen years or so prior, Zhong Datong's influence hadn't been quite this massive. The docks he controlled were frequently provoked by other factions, and bloody gang wars erupted from time to time, posing severe threats to Zhong Datong's personal safety as well.

Later on, it just so happened to coincide with Zhong Datong's mother turning seventy. Zhong Datong wanted to throw his mother a magnificent birthday banquet, yet he didn't want his family and friends to run into danger. After turning it over in his mind, he thought of inviting Grandpa—a fortune-teller rapidly rising in fame in Shanghai at that time—to cast a divination and see whether this birthday banquet could be held, and if so, which date would be the most auspicious.

Grandpa originally did not want to take on this job; it was a hot potato that could spell absolute disaster if mishandled. However, Zhong Datong had set his mind on Grandpa and repeatedly implored him to take a look.

If Grandpa stubbornly refused, he would reject this underworld boss's face and further cause the other party to suspect he lacked genuine skill. In the end, Grandpa shook his iron abacus, clacked out a calculation, employed a trick from the Military Horse Chapter, and spouted a hazy, obscure prophetic poem:

Flowers welcome the bright sun, blooming high and low;

The atmosphere chases the fragrant wind as guests fill the hall.

Suddenly a sound of thunder is heard,

Retreating disaster and calamity, or remaining safe and sound.

After hearing this, Zhong Datong asked: "What does that mean?"

Grandpa replied: "This hexagram is of unknown fortune and misfortune. Half auspicious, half ominous."

"Then what if I cast another divination?" Zhong Datong pursued.

Grandpa replied: "The Book of Changes says, 'The first divination informs, a second and third desecrate, and to desecrate is not to inform.'" This meant divination could only be done once; repeating it over and over again was a desecration of the divine spirits, and the divine spirits would be angry and refuse to reveal any further information to you.

This was the sophistry art of the Military Horse Chapter. When encountering major events where no conclusion could be reached, one must never casually speak of fortune or misfortune—otherwise, one was setting a trap for oneself—but should instead use a literary prophetic poem to brush it off, sounding unfathomably profound while actually saying nothing at all.

The first two lines of Grandpa's divinatory judgment were clearly flattering words, meaning nothing more than that on the day of the birthday banquet the hall would be packed with guests and full of joyous cheer, while the latter two lines were heavily pregnant with mystery. "Suddenly a sound of thunder is heard, retreating disaster and calamity, or remaining safe and sound." These two lines could be interpreted as: an accident happened on the day, but everyone was fine; or they could be interpreted as: an accident happened on the day, and everyone suffered disaster. The brilliance lay entirely in the phrase "retreating disaster and calamity, or remaining safe and sound"—whether the disaster could be "retreated" depended entirely on human actions on that day, while "or remaining safe and sound" meant there might be trouble, or there might be no trouble.

Because of this, no matter whether trouble occurred on the day or not, Grandpa had predicted it correctly.

Despite this, Grandpa still felt a lingering reluctance in his heart. No matter how dark the underworld was, misfortune does not reach the wives and children; regardless of whether Zhong Datong was righteous or evil, his parents, wife, and children were innocent and should not be harmed. Grandpa wanted to do his utmost to avoid accidents, so he carefully selected an auspicious date and time for Zhong Datong and decided to personally attend on that day to guard against emergencies. Before setting out, he even personally asked Zeng Jingwu for knowledge related to preventing assassinations.

Thus, the Old Madam's birthday celebration unfolded at the Luwan Grand Hotel.

On that day, almost all the prominent figures of both the underworld and legitimate society were present. Grandpa also participated alongside the Second Leader.

After the celebration commenced, Zhong Datong knelt down to present a longevity peach to his mother.

It was a massive longevity peach, prepared from non-sticky and glutinous rice, white with a rosy blush, and inscribed with two lines of characters written in buttercream: "May your blessings be as vast as the Eastern Sea and flow endlessly, may your longevity match the un-withering pines of the Southern Mountain."

Grandpa sat to one side, watching this large longevity peach, and the longer he looked, the more wrong it felt. He was a veteran of Zhafei scams; things like longevity peaches were frequently crafted for suckers. Sometimes, to create a sense of surprise and wonder, or to manufacture panic and frighten suckers, one would tamper with the inside of the longevity peach. This required a specific procedural step: first steam the dough until cooked, slice it open, stuff the rigged mechanism inside (at this point the longevity peach is cracked), wrap another layer of dough around it, coat it with a layer of butter, slowly bake it, and once the surface skin glistens with oil, immediately withdraw the fire. At that moment, a lifelike longevity peach containing an internal mechanism would appear.

However, this set of procedures had extremely strict requirements for technique. If the heat control was imprecise, problems were easily noticeable, resulting in either a cracked longevity peach or a pitted, uneven surface.

Grandpa carefully observed this longevity peach and suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a seam in the lower half of the peach, though it was masked by the character "Water" written in purple buttercream.

A shock went through Grandpa's heart, and he suddenly recalled how Wang Yazhi had blown up Shirakawa Yoshinori at a Japanese banquet using a bomb placed inside a kettle a short time ago. Guided once more by his intuition, just as Zhong Datong was about to lift the longevity peach and present it before the old madam's eyes, Grandpa lunged forward fiercely, snatched the tray away, and hurled it forcefully outward.

"Hit the deck, quickly!" Grandpa shouted at the top of his lungs.

The tray, along with the longevity peach, tumbled through the air and landed near the entrance of the banquet hall. The terrified people all threw themselves flat onto the ground, waiting for that deafening explosion.

After a long while, absolutely no sound occurred.

Zhong Datong climbed back up, pulled the trembling old madam out from under a table, and pointed at Grandpa: "Yixing, you... sigh..."

Grandpa felt he had lost all possible face, his face burning red with shame. Everyone in the banquet hall stared at Grandpa with strange looks, and Grandpa wished he could find a mouse hole to crawl into.

The Second Leader was still foolishly shouting from the side: "Nothing happened, it didn't go off."

"Shut your trap!" Grandpa muttered under his breath.

Zhong Datong waved a hand, and a little brother hurried over.

"Quickly clean this up and go order another longevity peach at Fushou Workshop! Hurry!" Zhong Datong instructed.

The little brother hurriedly picked up the longevity peach and tray from the ground and sprinted out.

Zhong Datong turned back to face the crowd: "Everyone has been startled, please be seated, please be seated..."

"Boom"—with a earth-shattering roar, the little brother's severed arm flew into the room.

"Ah! Ah!" Several female guests at the entrance shrieked, and the crowd instantly descended into chaos!

Grandpa's judgment had been correct; it was simply that the bomb's explosion time had been delayed longer than Grandpa anticipated. This was precisely what was meant by: Suddenly a sound of thunder is heard, retreating disaster and calamity, or remaining safe and sound!

In the aftermath, Zhong Datong felt profoundly that Grandpa's Daoist cultivation was unfathomable, and furthermore that he owed him a life-saving debt of gratitude. He prepared three hundred gold bars of "Laoxiangxiang" 99.9% pure gold and went to Grandpa's residence to offer his thanks.

At that moment Grandpa's hands truly itched for the gold, but he understood the principle of "acquiring wealth through proper channels" even better. Moreover, he knew deeply that if he accepted these gold bars, this favor would be wiped clean; if he refused them, Zhong Datong would forever owe him a debt.

Grandpa resolutely declined, insisting repeatedly: "Fifth Uncle Zhong and the Old Madam are blessed people protected by heaven!"

Zhong Datong understood: this young man was extraordinary; he was seeking a long-term relationship.

"Very well," Zhong Datong finally said. "I recognize you as my brother. From now on in the Shanghai beach, whenever you have a life-or-death matter, come find me!"

Yet Grandpa had never once sought him out, because Grandpa deeply knew that a life-saving opportunity had to be reserved for the most desperate of moments.

This time, for Yun Caiwei's sake, Grandpa was prepared to cash in this debt of human favor. What was rivers-and-lakes righteousness? Grandpa was using up his one and only chance, leaving himself with none left, yet he still chose to do it.

After some pleasantries, Grandpa stated the purpose of his visit.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Datong said: "Although the Shanghai Police Department is nominally under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Civil Affairs Department, it is actually operated behind the scenes by the Military Statistics Bureau. The Chief of Police is just a figurehead, while several of the deputy chiefs are men from the Military Statistics Bureau. Maintaining public security is just a facade; hunting down Communists is the real objective. Therefore, this is not dealing with the police department—it is dealing with the Military Statistics Bureau."

"I understand. That is why... I am troubling Fifth Uncle Zhong to step in."

"It looks like this matter will require troubling Big Steward Du (Du Yuesheng)," Zhong Datong said.

"Then I leave it in your capable hands, Fifth Uncle Zhong."

"However... Yixing, you haven't been in Shanghai these past few years, so you don't understand many of the circumstances. Nowadays, the relationship between the Green-Hong Gang and the Military Statistics Bureau is not what it used to be. Just as Big Steward Du put it, the underworld is the government's nightstool: you can't do without it because you have nowhere else to pee, but once you've used it for too long you can't keep it either—it's stinking and foul, and you have to throw it out quickly. Yun Caiwei has not dabbled too deeply in politics, so getting her out shouldn't be a problem; however, her husband Fang Jingyu is hard to say. Boss Fang reportedly has connections with the Communist Party. What are businessmen messing around with politics for? Even we steer clear of them by a wide margin... You understand my meaning, right?"

Grandpa nodded repeatedly.

Returning to the headquarters, Grandpa anxiously awaited news.

"Grandpa, it's time to send out the letters," the Third Leader walked in and said.

"Send out letters?"

"The invitation letters for the Four Halls Deliberation Meeting."

"Oh, right, right," Grandpa said. "I speak, you write."

"Yes!"

Grandpa sat in his chair, looking up in thought, and then leisurely chanted:

To the supreme-loyal, righteous Hong Sect Grand Master:

仰天父地母日兄月嫂并五祖洪恩，江相血脉代代永传，天道不灭，相爷永存！兹定甲午月庚辰日为今岁四堂口议事日，议事地点：江边園子没围墙，花儿头上不插秧，甲午旬里犯亡神。

Thousand blessings!

A son of the Eastern Faction

Dated today

This sort of nearly heavenly-script-like correspondence was the mandatory format and writing style that River-Merchant Faction written communications had to follow. One important reason the River-Merchant Faction had survived for so long was its emphasis on a strict confidentiality system. Especially when transmitting letters, they lived in constant fear that missives would fall into others' hands and leak secrets; if letters were written in plain, everyday language, it was too easy for enemies to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

To decipher a River-Merchant Faction letter, one needed extremely high character-splitting intelligence and foundational knowledge of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, as well as an understanding of the faction's slang. For ordinary people, this was simply harder than ascending to heaven. Take, for instance, the meeting location for this Grand Hall Meeting: "Riverside garden with no courtyard wall, flowers without seedlings planted upon their heads, encountering the death-spirit in the Jiashu decade."

"Riverside," slang meaning Shanghai.

"Garden with no courtyard wall," character-splitting method: remove the outer square border of the character "Yuan" (园), leaving only the character "Yuan" (袁).

"Flowers without seedlings planted upon their heads," character-splitting method: remove the grass radical from the top of the character "Flower" (花), leaving only the character "Hua" (化).

"Encountering the death-spirit in the Jiashu decade," a specialized fortune-telling term. In eight-characters divination, there is talk of the "death-spirit" (亡神), which specifically refers to dividing the sixty stem-branch pairs into six decades, as follows:

Jiazi decade: Jiazi, Yichou, Bingyin, Dingmao, Wuchen, Jisi, Gengwu, Xinwei, Renshen, Guiyou (Xu-Hai empty)

Jiayin decade: Jiayin, Yimao, Bingchen, Dingsi, Wuwu, Jiwei, Gengshen, Xinyou, Renxu, Guihai (Zi-Chou empty)

Jiachen decade: Jiachen, Yisi, Bingwu, Dingwei, Wushen, Jiyou, Gengxu, Xinhai, Renzi, Guichou (Yin-Mao empty)

Jiawu decade: Jiawu, Yiwei, Bingshen, Dingyou, Wuxu, Jihai, Gengzi, Xinchou, Renyin, Guimao (Chen-Si empty)

Jiashen decade: Jiashen, Yiyou, Bingxu, Dinghai, Wuzi, Jichou, Gengyin, Xinmao, Renchen, Guisi (Wu-Wei-empty)

Jiaxu decade: Jiaxu, Yihai, Bingzi, Dingchou, Wuyin, Jimao, Gengchen, Xinsi, Renwu, Guiwei (Shen-You empty)

Every decade uses ten Heavenly Stems to match twelve Earthly Branches, meaning every decade has two Earthly Branches left unmatched—that is, once the Heavenly Stems are exhausted, two Earthly Branches remain unpaired. For example, in the first decade, going from Jiazi to Guiyou, the Heavenly Stems are exhausted, while the Earthly Branches leave behind Xu and Hai. These two Earthly Branches without corresponding Heavenly Stems are the death-spirits. Superstitious theory holds that if a mortal's eight-characters contain the "death-spirit," they will experience many failures and few successes in life, drifting and floating without support.

Once this principle was understood, the meaning of the phrase "encountering the death-spirit in the Jiashu decade" became clear: in the Jiawu decade, the death-spirits are the two Earthly Branches "Chen" and "Si." Among the twelve months, Chen represents the third month, and Si represents the fourth month. Three times four equals twelve. At this point, the location could be deciphered: 12 Yuanhua Road, Shanghai.

After finalizing the letter, Grandpa summoned the Sixth Leader.

"Sixth Brother, you go deliver the letter to the Northern Faction. In addition, dispatch two skilled, reliable brothers to the Western and Northern factions to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Grandpa, I..."

"Rest assured, I have my own measure of Yun Caiwei's situation. You must not get distracted. Safely delivering the letter into Qian Yuelin's hands is your primary task! After crossing the Yangtze River, there is still a long stretch of road to travel; send the secret signal only after passing Henan. Qian Yuelin's lair is currently in Handan, so you must pay attention to safety!"

"Yes, Grandpa!" Little Liu turned as if to leave.

"Wait." Grandpa called out. "If the journey proves too difficult, burn the letter and return safely!"

"Yes!"

The day after Little Liu left, Zhong Datong sent someone over requesting Grandpa to make a trip to Tongzi Hall.

Grandpa quickly tidied himself up and hurried over quietly.

"Yixing, things are more complicated than anticipated," Zhong Datong said upon meeting Grandpa.

"Thank you for your trouble, Fifth Uncle Zhong."

"The police department says there is conclusive evidence proving Fang Jingyu is a Communist underground operative. With both human witnesses and material evidence present, I'm afraid he won't be getting out this time. As for Yun Caiwei, someone has also reported her for assisting Fang Jingyu in colluding with Communist bandits, and furthermore, the folks over at the police department seem to want to shift the disaster onto you..."

Grandpa nodded and said: "Who is it that wants to drive the Fang family to their deaths?"

"Fang's sixth concubine."

"Fang Jingyu's sixth concubine?" Grandpa was extremely astonished.

"Mn. Calamity arising from within the household... Fang Jingyu was good at everything else, except that he was far too fond of women, taking seven concubines in one breath. Little did he know that this sixth concubine was an informant for the Military Statistics Bureau, who had figured out everything inside and outside the Fang household down to the smallest detail."

"The Military Statistics Bureau had their eyes on Fang Jingyu all along?" Grandpa asked.

"Who knows about that! The tentacles of the Military Statistics Bureau are spread everywhere; for all I know, there might be one right inside my hall. This sixth concubine used to be an instructor at a women's vocational school, and her true identity is a special agent of the Military Statistics Bureau's confidentiality department. I hear that this time several other teachers from the women's vocational school were also arrested."

"Then... Fifth Uncle said just now that they want to shift the disaster onto me?"

"Captain Cai's idea. By the way, how did you offend him?"

Grandpa smiled and recounted his several run-ins with Cai Xuezhong.

Hearing this, Zhong Datong laughed as well: "King Yama is easy to deal with, but minor imps are hard to handle. Fortunately, younger brother, your reputation is so massive that they haven't yet found a suitable excuse to trouble you."

"Then can Yun Caiwei..."

"Rest assured, younger brother. For all these years you've never asked me to handle any matters for you, yet today you suddenly visited specifically for this, which shows that this Yun Caiwei is extremely important to you. However... however, your elder brother wants a truthful answer from you: what is your exact relationship with Yun Caiwei? Last time younger brother said she was the elder sister of that subordinate of yours named Little Liu, but as far as I know, Yun Caiwei only has a single younger brother, far away in Yan-Zhao, who is a farmer..."

Grandpa's brain spun at high speed, wondering whether or not he should tell the truth. After pondering for a long time, Grandpa hardened his heart and said: "Fifth Uncle, between open people I won't speak hidden words. Yun Caiwei is the adopted daughter of the Ninth Master. The Ninth Master once showed me a life-saving grace, and now that his adopted daughter has fallen into adversity, I cannot stand idly by."

"Ninth Master? Which Ninth Master?" Zhong Datong asked.

"None other than that Ninth Master who shook the Jianghuai region a dozen years ago."

"Wang Yazhi!" Zhong Datong shouted.

"But Fifth Uncle can rest assured, this young lady has nothing to do with the Axe Gang. Years ago, fearing that she would be implicated in rivers-and-lakes vendettas, Wang Yazhi fostered her in someone else's home..."

"I remember now." Zhong Datong slapped his forehead and said, "Wang Yazhi indeed took in an adopted daughter back then—an actress from a circus, who later vanished without a trace. So it turns out she is the present Yun Caiwei."

"Precisely."

"Who else knows about this matter?" Zhong Datong asked.

"No one knows."

"Mn." Zhong Datong nodded and said, "I told the police department that Yun Caiwei is my private mistress. To repay you, younger brother, for this favor, I've thrown away my old face and splashed a basin of dirty water all over myself, heh heh."

"Fifth Uncle's great kindness, this little brother will never forget in this lifetime!"

"Heh heh, you exaggerate! However... if Yun Caiwei is able to come out, younger brother must promise me three things."

"What three things?"

"She cannot run away, she cannot die, and she cannot go mad."

Grandpa was puzzled: "Please enlighten me, Fifth Uncle!"

"To rescue Yun Caiwei, I must personally act as her guarantor. Therefore, once Yun Caiwei comes out, absolutely no accidents can happen. If she leaves Shanghai, the police department will claim it was fleeing to avoid punishment; if she dies, it will be called committing suicide to avoid punishment; if she goes mad, it will be called faking madness and playing the fool. Therefore, she cannot run away, she cannot die, and she cannot go mad. Otherwise, I, as her guarantor, will also find it hard to shirk the blame."

Grandpa nodded repeatedly: "Fifth Uncle, rest assured, those situations will not arise."

"Furthermore, if conclusive evidence really does emerge later proving Yun Caiwei is indeed a Communist, then not only will I be unable to protect her, but I myself will probably have to tuck tail and clear out of the Shanghai beach. When that time comes, younger brother, you must not blame me."

"Not at all, not at all. That Fifth Uncle is able to achieve this much is already a kindness as heavy as a mountain."

"Rivers-and-lakes people, rivers-and-lakes affairs—our way of doing things places supreme value on the word 'righteousness.' If Yun Caiwei can truly come out, you must look after her well and ensure absolutely no accidents happen! In addition, I advise my younger brother not to walk too close to any parties or factions either. Kuomintang or Communist, we are all people of the wild and untamed brush; they are not people we can afford to provoke."

"Little brother understands!" Grandpa broke out in a cold sweat all over his body.

A week later, Yun Caiwei was released. Zhong Datong deliberately instructed people to drive a car to pick her up and hosted a banquet to wash away the dust of prison, proving to everyone that she was his mistress.

People all around gossiped and murmured: "That vixen never gets enough of hooking men. Boss Fang has barely gone inside, and now she's hooked up with Zhong Datong. Whoever marries her is doomed—a husband-killing vixen!"

That night, Grandpa quietly brought Yun Caiwei back to the headquarters.

"Miss Yun has suffered a fright." Grandpa laid out the ins and outs of the entire affair one by one.

Upon hearing this, Yun Caiwei expressed her gratitude repeatedly: "Many thanks to the Master for saving my life. So the Master is my adoptive father's sworn brother."

"Shh—" Grandpa motioned for her to lower her voice. "This matter is known to you, known to me, and known to Little Liu. Never speak of it to anyone else ever again."

"Then I should address the Master as uncle," Yun Caiwei said.

"You must never address me like that; it will expose our flaws. In addition, Miss Yun must listen to my arrangements. Otherwise, if any trouble arises, Fifth Uncle Zhong will also be implicated."

"Master, rest assured, I am definitely not an underground Communist. I knew the sixth concubine was trying to frame me."

"Why?"

"After she sent my husband to prison, she had to send the rest of us concubines along with the Old Madam inside as well so she could make a clean sweep of it."

"That makes sense."

"In addition, I discovered her illicit affair with police captain Cai Xuezhong, and I had warned my husband about it, which is why the person the sixth concubine wants to eliminate most of all is me."

Grandpa said: "It wasn't an illicit affair. They were in cahoots to begin with. This was an inside-and-outside job to bring Boss Fang down."

"Master, this time I truly must beg you to properly calculate for us—calculate whether my husband, the Old Madam, and the other concubines can safely come out? I know all their birth characters, I will tell you..."

A bitter laugh arose in the depths of Grandpa's heart: people only turn to divination when driven to their wit's end, and when they seek divination they pray for a good outcome, yet how many good outcomes are there truly in worldly affairs?

Looking at Yun Caiwei, Grandpa did not know what to say. This woman before him still remained entirely ignorant of the heavy inner secrets of the River-Merchant Faction; just like countless ordinary folk, they revered fortune-tellers as divine beings, hoping the deities could point out a path or two. If he used the "Yingyao" method on Yun Caiwei, spouting grandiose platitudes, it might temporarily pacify her; yet once she ignited the hope of living, the eventual blow would be even greater. If he spoke the unvarnished truth, Yun Caiwei would likely collapse right then and there, and if she carelessly sought a quick end out of despair, he would have no way of explaining it to Fifth Uncle Zhong.