Chapter 174: Exterminating the Yellow Dragon Gang (II)
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Receive punishment?
Raising an eyebrow, Junior Leopard turned around and saw the Garrison Camp soldiers surrounding them. He seemed unconcerned as he turned his gaze in the other direction. The smile on his face widened. The Magistrate was panting as he rode the donkey, rus.h.i.+ng over without getting properly dressed. He was shouting, “Stop! Everyone, stop!”
In such an urgent moment, the Magistrate who was usually docile was shouting in such a booming voice. He waved as he sat atop the donkey, his shouts m.u.f.fling all other voices. It was still quiet until he came rus.h.i.+ng here on his donkey.
Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze…
Having wrestled in the bedroom with his seventh wife the entire night, later receiving such a big shock this morning, the Magistrate was panting like a tired bull when he approached them. His wheezing was akin to sounds that came out of a windbox. That frail-looking body seemed like it would topple over at any moment.
“Halt! Halt, all of you!” The stuttering Magistrate scrambled off the donkey’s back and rushed to insert himself in between both sides. “W-Weapons away! P-Put the weapons away! W-We’re all officials of Jin! How can you all be so ridiculous to cause this chaos?”
The three opposing factions did not make a single move.
The Yellow Dragon Gang now stood in the middle, surrounded by the Navy. On their periphery were the Garrison Camp soldiers. It seemed as if the Navy was in a dire situation, but n.o.body would really think that they would not put up even an ounce of resistance. Their commander and the wolf alone were enough to frighten others. With their Level Four fighting power, they were definitely the strongest present.
That was precisely why no one from the gang and Garrison Camp dared to move.
“Put your weapons away! Since the Magistrate had already spoken, what are you all doing standing there? Put your d.a.m.ned weapons away!”
The Magistrate had been shouting for a good while, but no one listened to him. Everyone was still holding onto the weapons in their hands. Junior Leopard could not bear watching any longer and he gave an irritated wave, motioning his subordinates to put down their weapons. “You think there’s any use raising your swords and sabers? All of you, put it away!”
Clanking sounds followed as the Navy, including the archers, put away their swords and sabers.
“Confiscate their weapons!”
Seeing the Water Army Camp soldiers put their weapons away, Guard Ding thought that Junior Leopard was going to surrender. He became more and more arrogant and actually ordered the Garrison Camp soldiers to take over the Water Army Camp soldiers’ weapons.
“Yes!”
Shouting in unison, the soldiers from Garrison Camp started to move forward. Just then, they heard Junior Leopard growled, “Do you want to die?!”
His sound was not loud as if it was brought through a cold laughter. However, in the ear of the soldiers of the Garrison Camp and Guard Ding, it was like an explosion of lightning and thunder. Those soldiers about to confiscate the weapons from the Navy stopped in their tracks.
Even Guard Ding trembled when he heard Junior Leopard’s threat. His limbs went numb and his face paled.
“Misunderstanding! It’s all a misunderstanding!” The Magistrate was a cunning person. Grabbing the opportunity, he waved and stopped the soldiers from moving forward. “Everyone, calm down. Just a misunderstanding!”
Standing by the gate, Qian Mufan shouted, “Bulls.h.i.+t! Zhou Bao besieged my headquarter early morning without making sense of right and wrong! He even accused me of collusion with the water bandits. He wanted to exterminate my gang. Everyone here heard him! Your Excellency, how could this be a misunderstanding?”
“Of course not. I have witnesses and material evidence. Guard Ding, if you order any of your men to move forward, I don’t mind allowing my wolf a meal!”
In between words, Little Du turned its head over. Its green eyes stared at Guard Ding till his scalp went tingling. He dared not have any more actions and indicated for his subordinates to stood still.
“Witness? Material evidence? Prove it!” Qian Mufan had ample confidence because he knew this had nothing to do with him. Hence, he was extremely angry.
With a wave of Junior Leopard’s hand, Zhu Ba brought a skinny man in tattered clothes into the square. He pushed the man in front of Little Du. That man squealed and wanted to escape, but immediately stopped when his gaze met Little Du’s fierce eyes. Face twisting with fear, he curled on the spot and trembled. This man was a water bandit at Broken Dragon Beach. On the day Junior Leopard and his men attacked the island, he captured over 100 bandits. This man was one of them. He was scared to death by Little Du’s fierceness. Ever since he was caught, he had recurring dreams about Little Du’s savageness. He would wake up in cold sweat at night. Now that he was in front of Little Du, he dared not have any weird movements. He could only curl up and tremble.
“This person is one of the water bandits at Broken Dragon Beach. This is his confession. We also have the official seal you used to communicate with Li Sanbao. Witness and evidence are both present. Are you still trying to deny it?” Junior Leopard said. With a sweep of his hand, stationery flew out from his sleeves and slowly floated before Qian Mufan.
Qian Mufan subconsciously extended his arms to receive it. Just when the stationary landed on his palms, an unexpected wave of force came surged from one of them. His expression changed, thinking Junior Leopard was trying to ambush him. He turned his hands and circulated his Internal Qi, wanting to resist the force contained in the letter. Unexpectedly, once he exerted strength, it landed onto empty s.p.a.ce. All that remained were a m.u.f.fled sound and a wave of shocked gasps.
When he realized what was going on, the two items in his hands were completely shredded by his Internal Qi.
He was not a fool. He instantly understood what was going on and he paled. He pointed at Junior Leopard and said, “You!”
“You have the audacity to destroy the evidence in front of so many people! But so what if you destroy the seal and confession? I have more than just one set of evidence!” Junior Leopard waved again and Zhu Ba brought in another person, fis.h.i.+ng out a set of confession to be pa.s.sed onto Junior Leopard. This time around, Junior Leopard did not hand Qian Mufan the confession. Instead, he climbed down his horse, walked to the Magistrate, and handed him the confession. “Your Excellency, this is the confessions of the water bandits. Please read it carefully!”
This Magistrate did not believe Junior Leopard at first. That was because he understood the Yellow Dragon Gang well and had some idea about Gao Gong’s ambush. However, he did not know martial arts. Even if he did, it was impossible for him to see through the tiny movements Junior Leopard made on the official seal. Seeing Qian Mufan shred the official seal into pieces, he could not help doubting him. The confession was written very well, even detailing the discussion between Qian Mufan and Li Sanbao. He began to believe in Junior Leopard’s words.
Qian Mufan could see the s.h.i.+ft in his expression. This Gang Master of Yellow Dragon Gang had networked with the Magistrate for many years, so he knew what it meant. “Your Excellency, he’s slandering me! The official seal is fake, so is the confession! He did something to it!”
“I did something?” Junior Leopard sneered. “Gang Master Qian, you used your Internal Strength to destroy the evidence in front of so many people. And you dare say I did something? Who’s the one doing the slandering? Do you think everyone here is blind and stupid?”
“You!”
Qian Mufan pointed at Junior Leopard, anger rus.h.i.+ng straight to his head and rendering him speechless.
“Look, Your Excellency. There’s undeniable proof of Qian Mufan’s collusion with the bandits. It’s my fault that he destroyed the most important evidence. I ask that you order me to capture this person and redeem myself!”
“This…”
The turn of events was beyond the Magistrate’s expectations and he did not know to handle such a situation.
“Your Excellency, don’t listen to his nonsense. He isn’t here to avenge Commander Gao, but for the port of River Heart Island. It’s because you allowed the Yellow Dragon Gang to manage the port and the Navy didn’t get any benefits from it. That’s why they came up with such an excuse and slandered me. Please be wise about this!”
These words dispelled the doubts clouding the Magistrate’s mind. Earlier, he was indeed puzzled. How could he forget this? Qian Mufan and Gao Gong were sworn brothers who once even shared the same pair of pants! How could he cause Gao Gong’s death?
Even so, the present situation was dire for the Yellow Dragon Gang!
The Magistrate raised his head and slowly kept the confession within his sleeves. “Commander Zhou, this issue has some complications to it. It’s better not to make a conclusion so soon. Gang Master Qian has always abided by the rules and is one of the biggest gentries in the city. We’ll look further into this issue later. Send your brothers from the Navy back first. How about that?”
“Your Excellency, then this will be your fault. Is there anything wrong with the brothers from the navy wanting to avenge Commander Gao? There’s no such thing as complications. We have both a witness and material evidence. This guy even destroyed the evidence on the spot. Everyone here can testify to that. Under such circ.u.mstances, I’m afraid others won’t agree even if I agree we should look into this case further!”
Zhu Ba shouted at the top of his voice, “We don’t agree!”
The Navy began shouting, “We don’t agree! We don’t agree! We don’t agree…!”
Their voices reverberated everywhere, drowning the entire city in those words!