Chapter 157: Wang Hu Catches the Informant; Dark Moon City Protects the Young and Old

Liudao Yazi in the West City.

An old man walked down the long street with his granddaughter, while a candied hawthorn vendor strolled by, shaking his hand-drum.

"Grandpa, I want to eat candied hawthorns," the little girl said with a smile.

"All right, Grandpa will buy some for Wenwen."

The old man took out a few copper coins, bought a stick of candied hawthorns, and handed it to his granddaughter. The wrinkles on his face relaxed into a happy smile.

The grandfather and granddaughter spoke in the Laiwu dialect, which sounded very out of place in the imperial capital of Jian'an.

They walked leisurely forward, completely unaware of the two figures trailing quietly behind them.

"Are they the ones?" asked a person wearing a bamboo hat.

"Indeed. They are the informants," replied another person in a bamboo hat.

"Let's go back and report to the Vice-Commander."

...

In the northern part of the city, at the abandoned City God Temple.

Wang Hu sat beneath the stone statue of the City God, sipping mare's milk wine cup by cup.

Two bamboo-hatted figures stood respectfully to one side.

"Vice-Commander, it seems they had no intention of leaking any secrets?" one of the bamboo-hatted men asked tentatively.

Wang Hu lowered his wine cup, glanced coldly at the two men, and said, "Trouble. Until it is resolved, it remains trouble."

"Understood!"

Without another word, the bamboo-hatted man turned and led a score of similarly attired men outside.

At Liudao Yazi, Old Man Liu and his granddaughter Wenwen walked quickly ahead.

A dozen dark shadows followed them at an unhurried pace, waiting for a dark alley to finish off the pair.

Old Man Liu pressed forward with Wenwen, only feeling a sense of relief when he saw the Dark Moon City ahead in the distance.

Once inside Dark Moon City, they would receive protection, and the grandfather and granddaughter would be safe.

Suddenly, two figures in bamboo hats stepped out from ahead.

The dozen figures behind them also flashed daggers, slowly closing in on the old man and the child.

"Bullying the old and the young—you beasts truly hold my Dark Moon City in contempt!"

Abruptly, a dense crowd of people poured out from Dark Moon City.

In the northern part of the city, at the abandoned City God Temple.

Wang Hu sat beneath the stone statue of the City God, sipping mare's milk wine cup by cup.

Two bamboo-hatted figures stood respectfully to one side.

"Vice-Commander, it seems they had no intention of leaking any secrets?" one of the bamboo-hatted men asked tentatively.

Wang Hu lowered his wine cup, glanced coldly at the two men, and said, "Trouble. Until it is resolved, it remains trouble."

"Understood!"

Without another word, the bamboo-hatted man turned and led a score of similarly attired men outside.

At Liudao Yazi, Old Man Liu and his granddaughter Wenwen walked quickly ahead.

A dozen dark shadows followed them at an unhurried pace, waiting for a dark alley to finish off the pair.

Old Man Liu pressed forward with Wenwen, only feeling a sense of relief when he saw the Dark Moon City ahead in the distance.

Once inside Dark Moon City, they would receive protection, and the grandfather and granddaughter would be safe.

Suddenly, two figures in bamboo hats stepped out from ahead.

The dozen figures behind them also flashed daggers, slowly closing in on the old man and the child.

"Bullying the old and the young—you beasts truly hold my Dark Moon City in contempt!"

Abruptly, a dense crowd of people poured out from Dark Moon City.

The man in the lead was middle-aged: Yu Mofan, the leader of the Dark Moon City's Ferries Gang.

"Dark Moon City doesn't belong to you alone; we have a stake in it too. Naturally, the Salt Gang will lend a hand against such beasts," said Huang Xinlong, the leader of the Salt Gang, stepping out with a smile.

As luck would have it, today happened to be the day of a turf war between the Salt Gang and the Ferries Gang. Running into the men of the Taiping Army could only be considered their misfortune.

"I advise you not to go looking for trouble," threatened one of the bamboo-hatted men.

"I am a man plagued by trouble, simply because I love looking for trouble. What of it? Gang Leader Huang, shall we deal with these beasts first?" Yu Mofan asked with a smile.

"Need you ask? Shall we?" Huang Xinlong said as he took a short saber from one of his subordinates.

"Let's go!" Yu Mofan made no further idle talk and accepted a long sword from his own subordinate.

It was rare for the two of them to fight side by side as they attacked the bamboo-hatted men from left and right.

Their subordinates from the Ferries Gang and Salt Gang numbered two to three hundred, and together they brandished their weapons and pressed down upon the group of bamboo-hatted men.

Seeing this, the bamboo-hatted men temporarily ignored Old Man Liu and his granddaughter, gripping their daggers and charging straight at Yu Mofan and the others.

"Kill!" Yu Mofan roared, taking the lead and swinging his short sword into the enemy.

Yu Mofan stood eight feet tall. His short sword was noticeably thicker than a normal arm, and coupled with his robust physique, he wielded the weapon with a whistling gale, gaining the upper hand for a moment.

"Kill!" On the other side, Huang Xinlong executed a fatal strike, aiming directly for a bamboo-hatted man's throat.

The bamboo-hatted man hurriedly raised his short sword to parry.

Huang Xinlong's short saber pierced the man's neck, blood sprayed, and the bamboo-hatted man let out a muffled groan before collapsing to the ground.

Seeing this, the surrounding Ferries Gang brothers brandished their weapons and lunged at the bamboo-hatted men.

After a bout of fierce slaughter, casualties among the Ferries Gang and Salt Gang were already heavy.

Yu Mofan kicked away a member of the Ferries Gang, shouted loudly, and charged forward, his short sword slashing down like a descending dragon.

Splat~!

Splat~!

The short sword cut through the air with whistling sounds, aiming straight for the heads of the bamboo-hatted men.

"Charge!" A crowd of men rushed frantically toward the bamboo-hatted men.

Seizing the right moment, a bamboo-hatted man violently cast aside his bamboo hat and grabbed Yu Mofan's short sword bare-handed.

"Ah!" Yu Mofan was greatly startled; he never expected the bamboo-hatted man to possess such martial arts.

While he was momentarily stunned, the bamboo-hatted man suddenly released his grip, and the short sword drove straight into Yu Mofan's chest.

Yu Mofan's eyes bulged as he stared in terror at the bamboo-hatted man.

Thud!

Yu Mofan crashed to the ground.

The bamboo-hatted man pulled the short sword free and drove it straight through Old Man Liu's abdomen.

"Old Man Liu!"

"Old Man Liu~!"

Several of Yu Mofan's subordinates roared in fury at the sight.

The bamboo-hatted man turned and fled.

Yu Mofan's subordinates immediately gave chase.

At that moment, over fifty bamboo-hatted men emerged from within Dark Moon City.

"Don't mind me, kill!" Old Man Liu gritted his teeth, pulled the dagger from his chest, and stabbed it into the back of a passing bamboo-hatted man.

Splat~!

Though stabbed, the bamboo-hatted man did not fall, but instead sprinted away rapidly.

The crowd continued their pursuit, but the bamboo-hatted men had already vanished into the night.

With a force of one hundred and fifty men coming from Dark Moon City today, failing to handle even a few bamboo-hatted men would turn Dark Moon City into the laughingstock of the entire martial world if word got out.

Clutching his chest, Yu Mofan pulled himself up from the ground, glaring with bitter hatred in the direction the bamboo-hatted men had fled, his fists clenched tightly.

"Kill!" Yu Mofan roared, thrusting his short sword fiercely into the ground and using the rebound to hurl himself rapidly toward the band of bamboo-hatted men.

Seeing Yu Mofan charge at them, the bamboo-hatted men scrambled in all directions to dodge.

"Ha ha~! I'm going to slaughter every last one of you beasts!" Yu Mofan shouted aloud, his short sword thrusting out with blinding speed.

The bamboo-hatted men tried desperately to evade, but their speed was no match for Yu Mofan's.

Yu Mofan's short sword flashed repeatedly, easily piercing the throat of a bamboo-hatted man with every strike. Moreover, his speed was so immense that he struck straight through the windpipe every time, leaving no wasted motion.

Of the hundred-odd men, seven or eight out of ten fell by Yu Mofan's hand.

Realizing the situation was turning desperate, the remaining dozen men scattered in frantic flight.

Yu Mofan had no intention of letting them go. He dashed after them in hot pursuit, his short sword relentlessly hunting down the fleeing bamboo-hatted men.

Though the bamboo-hatted man's martial arts were decent and his speed high, his internal energy was severely depleted and he could not keep it up for long. He could only endure Yu Mofan's pursuit as those around him were continuously cut down. Before long, Yu Mofan caught up to him and sent him flying with a single slash, sending him crashing to the earth.

Splat~!

With another stroke, Yu Mofan lopped off the bamboo-hatted man's head.

"You lot, slaughter them!"

"Kill!"

Huang Xinlong, refusing to be outdone, swung his short saber like a shower of shooting stars, reaping the lives of the bamboo-hatted men.

Hearing the command, Yu Mofan's subordinates lunged forward.

The bamboo-hatted men had no choice but to evade, sheltering behind a tree and counterattacking Yu Mofan and the others with waving short swords.

In an instant, the melee devolved into utter chaos.

The martial arts of Yu Mofan and Huang Xinlong were formidable; each slew three or four bamboo-hatted men, temporarily beating back the enemy.

Yet the bamboo-hatted men were no slouches either, and they soon rallied to counter-attack.

"Dammit, these bastards actually dared to ambush me!" Yu Mofan cursed angrily, kicking over a bamboo-hatted man and crushing his skull with a single palm strike.

Possessing exceptional skill, Yu Mofan and Huang Xinlong continued their relentless pursuit of the remaining foes after wiping out that batch of bamboo-hatted men.

Knowing they were no match for the two gang leaders, the bamboo-hatted men fled for their lives all the way.

Soon enough, Yu Mofan caught sight of the fleeing figures ahead.

"Ha ha~~" Yu Mofan laughed heartily, hurling his short sword with lightning speed.

Failing to dodge in time, a bamboo-hatted man was pierced by the blade and immediately collapsed. Blood oozed slowly from his wound, dripping drop by drop onto the bluestone pavement.

"Kill!" Yu Mofan bellowed, charging forward once more.

Huang Xinlong quickly followed suit.

"Ha ha~ Exhilarating!" Yu Mofan laughed, casting a glance at Huang Xinlong.

Huang Xinlong let out a cold snort, whipped his short sword through the air, and lopped off a bamboo-hatted man's head.

Realizing his comrade had been slain, another bamboo-hatted man charged straight at Huang Xinlong.

"Die!" Huang Xinlong roared, thrusting his short sword forward with blinding speed to pierce the man's throat.

All of this transpired in the flash of a spark.

In the blink of an eye, the two gang leaders of Dark Moon City had slain thirty or forty bamboo-hatted men.

"Run! Run! These fellows' martial arts are too terrifying, run!"

Terrified out of their wits, one of the bamboo-hatted men shrieked in panic and bolted into the distance.

Witnessing the terrifying prowess of the two men, the remaining bamboo-hatted men were completely paralyzed with fear.

Before long, all of them had vanished without a trace.

Watching the fleeing bamboo-hatted men, Huang Xinlong felt a surge of gratification in his heart.

...

When Yu Mofan and Huang Xinlong returned, Wenwen's weeping echoed far into the distance.

Old Man Liu was dead.

Yu Mofan gently patted Wenwen's shoulder and asked, "Who on earth are you two? Why did that group of bamboo-hatted men want to kill you?"

Sobbing, Wenwen replied, "My... my grandfather and I were informants..."

Upon hearing Wenwen's account, the expressions of the two Dark Moon City overlords turned grim.

For a massive storm was about to sweep over Dark Moon City.

"How about we cooperate for once?"

In the end, Ferries Gang leader Yu Mofan said in a deep voice.

"Agreed," Salt Gang leader Huang Xinlong nodded.