Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 58 Did they surrender to the government?

"Don't move." Jiang Xun wiped his face a couple of times, then led Li Tang out of the shop, winding through the streets until they reached a secluded alley.

Seven or eight thugs were squatting in the alley, gambling together, shouting and making a lot of noise.

"You wait here," Jiang Xun said to Li Tang, then swaggered over.

Before Li Tang could react, he saw him step into the crowd.

"Ouch!" He stepped on a rolled copper coin, and instead of moving it, he deliberately rolled it over, causing half of the coin to sink into the mud.

The thug, engrossed in his gambling, glanced down and saw his money trampled like this. He jumped up and yelled, "Are you blind?!"

Jiang Xun glanced at him sideways, then stomped his foot on the ground again, and said slowly, "So what if I stepped on you?"

"you!"

The thug suddenly stood up, and the others also stopped gambling and swarmed around him.

The leader, a scarred-faced man, sized Jiang Xun up and down. Seeing that he was just an ordinary young man in plain clothes, he sneered, "Where did this greenhorn come from, daring to mess with me?"

Jiang Xun didn't waste any words and threw a punch at him.

Scarface didn't expect him to hit him so suddenly. Caught off guard, he was hit in the nose and bled profusely.

The other thugs were stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage and swarmed forward.

The result can be imagined.

After an incense stick had burned, seven or eight thugs lay sprawled on the ground, groaning and groaning.

Jiang Xun clapped his hands and said to Li Tang, "Let's go."

Li Tang, unaware of what was going on, obediently followed him deeper into the alley.

After turning through several alleys, I bumped into someone.

This man was in his thirties, broad-shouldered and burly, with a face full of fierce features; he was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

He was followed by four or five men, all burly and carrying sticks.

"You hit my man and think you can just walk away?" The burly man squinted, his tone unfriendly.

Jiang Xun inwardly thought, "They've finally arrived," and subtly shielded Li Tang behind him, a smile appearing on his face instead: "What, you hit the little one, so the big one's coming out to settle scores?"

"Hey!" The burly man raised an eyebrow. "You're pretty arrogant, kid. Fine, today I'll show you who's in charge in Qiantang."

He waved his hand, and several men behind him, carrying sticks, were about to step forward.

"Wait." Jiang Xun suddenly raised his hand.

The burly man sneered, "What? Scared?"

Jiang Xun ignored him, staring only into those eyes, and suddenly asked out of the blue, "Have you ever tried Jiangzhou Shaodaozi?"

The burly man was taken aback, and the fat on his face twitched slightly.

Jiang Xun then said, "Black Tiger Steals the Heart, has Master Liu's skill ever heard of it?"

Upon hearing this, the burly man's expression changed drastically.

He abruptly raised his hand to stop his men, stared at Jiang Xun for a long while, and then lowered his voice to ask, "Who are you?"

"I'm from Jiangzhou." Jiang Xun smiled.

The burly man's eyes flickered, and he suddenly waved his hand: "All of you, step back."

The henchmen looked at each other, but dared not disobey, and obediently retreated to the alley entrance.

The burly man glanced at Li Tang behind Jiang Xun, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Let's talk in private."

The two reached the corner of the alley. The burly man stared at Jiang Xun, his eyes darting back and forth: "Are you from the Black Tiger Gang?"

Jiang Xun didn't answer. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a scar on his forearm—it was from when he was a child fighting with someone for food, and it came in handy now.

"It's the Black Tiger Gang's rule to leave a scar upon entry," Jiang Xun lied without batting an eye. "Want to have it checked?"

The burly man stared at the scar for a few moments; it was indeed quite old. Only then did his expression soften.

"Who taught you those two sentences you just said?"

"Black Tiger Hall, Liu Wei." When Jiang Xun said this name, a hint of respect was subtly revealed in his eyes.

"What's your relationship with him?"

"He is my grandfather." Jiang Xun clasped his hands together and bowed to the air, his movements solemn.

"Back then, the Black Tiger Gang was completely wiped out by the government, how come you were unharmed?"

"On the day of the incident, Grandpa told us to run for our lives, saying he would cover our retreat. I escaped by climbing over the wall in the back alley." Jiang Xun's voice deepened, and his eye twitched, as if he was suppressing something.

The burly man remained silent for a moment, then sighed, "Brother Liu is truly righteous."

He raised his head, his expression becoming more serious. "My name is Hu Dajiang, the second-in-command of the Green Wolf Gang. Back when I was struggling to make a living in Jiangzhou, I was fortunate enough to receive some help from Brother Liu."

He paused, then asked, "What should I call you, brother?"

Jiang Xun breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression remained unchanged: "His surname is Bai, Bai Fu."

He had long known that Liu Wei had a sworn brother who was involved in a gang in Qiantang and held a high position, so he tried every means to lure out the local gang leader and then use Liu Wei's name to get close to him.

Unexpectedly, the person in front of him was Liu Wei's sworn brother.

"Brother Bai," Hu Dajiang gestured, his tone much warmer than before, "this isn't the place to talk, please."

Li Tang watched in stunned silence.

Is that all?

In just a few words, they went from shouting for war to calling each other brothers?

Jiang Xun turned around, gave her a quick wink, and followed Hu Dajiang deeper into the alley.

Hu Dajiang led the two through the alley, winding and turning, until they arrived at a dilapidated temple.

The temple was small and clearly dilapidated, with one side of the gate crooked.

The temple was fairly clean, and a few thugs were coming and going. When they saw Hu Dajiang, they all respectfully called him "Second Boss".

"Please." Hu Dajiang ushered the two into the temple, then instructed his men, "Go and get some tea, the best tea!"

Li Tang frowned, enduring the unpleasant smell, and sat down next to Jiang Xun.

She really couldn't understand what good tea could come from such a run-down place.

Hu Dajiang sat down opposite Jiang Xun, his gaze sweeping over Jiang Xun's face. Suddenly, he asked, "It's rumored in the underworld that the Black Tiger Gang was wiped out by the government because they stood up for the common people and offended powerful figures. But the specifics of what happened have never been clear."

Jiang Xun chuckled inwardly—standing up for the common people?

He knew all about the despicable things the Black Tiger Gang had done. He never expected that, as the stories spread, they would turn out this way.

He touched the token in his pocket, feigning righteous indignation, and fabricated a story: "That's right. Back then, that powerful figure, because he lost something, took his anger out on the Black Tiger Gang and even mobilized the city's defense forces to launch a sneak attack. The gang leader led us in a desperate resistance, but in the end... we were outnumbered."

He spoke vaguely, but the grief and indignation in his tone were perfectly captured.

Hu Dajiang nodded repeatedly, with an "I understand" expression on his face, and then sighed: "These corrupt officials have power, they can do whatever they want to anyone."

The two sighed a few times and cursed each other.

Hu Dajiang suddenly asked, "Brother Bai, what kind of business are you doing now?"

Jiang Xun looked troubled and hesitated for a moment before speaking: "To be honest, I work at the Prince Qi's residence."

Hu Dajiang's expression changed slightly, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes: "You've sided with the government?"