Republic of China

Chapter 347 The Old Man with the Hatchet
There was chaos and blood in the streets.

There were shouts of killing and cursing everywhere, blood was splattered everywhere, and every move was bloody.

Zhao Sanyuan thought he had seen some big scenes and was accustomed to life-and-death fights, and thought he was immune to the conflicts in the martial arts world.

But only when I saw it with my own eyes did I realize how intense the discomfort was.

Is there some deep blood feud?
It doesn't seem so.

Is it because you like living on the edge of a knife?
There shouldn't be many people like this.

To get ahead?

The cost seems too high.

Maybe many of them just want to make a living.

Um.
To earn a living, you have to put your head on your belt to make a living. What a fucked up world.
Or just live in a daze, forced to move forward by this fucked up world, and go on with gritted teeth.
What is the difference between me and them?
In the past, when I was fighting with others, I believed that I had to stick to my own persistence and beliefs.

What was the belief that supported these people? Every strike was aimed at the throat, organs, waist and other vital parts, and they were merciless. In a short period of time, more than 20 people were knocked down.

The blood mixed with the dirty water on the ground and was trampled by one pair of feet after another.

At this time, several people wrestled in the wooden shed, and while rolling, the boy, who was no more than fifteen or sixteen, had his neck chopped off. He covered the wound and twitched violently.

"You still have two hidden? Come on, brothers! If you catch one, I'll give you ten dollars! Your fortune depends on today!"

The four knifemen with the "Shan" character on their names were all blood-thirsty. When they saw Zhang Xiaogou in the shed with a white cloth tied around his arm, they surrounded him with a grim smile.

Even though Zhao Sanyuan was not tied with white cloth, he still could not escape being used as a head.

Who cares if you are a dock worker or not? Now on this street, as long as you are not from the dock, you are a fortune waiting to be picked up.

Wealth and wealth are found in danger.

The prerequisite is that you have the ability to overcome this risk.

But the reality is cruel.

The four of them spoke harshly, but they were quickly disgraced.

Zhang Xiaogou dodged and rushed forward, knocking down two of them at the first sight, killing them all with one slash of his sword. His sword skills were extremely sharp.

The two remaining knifemen saw the situation was not good but did not run away. Street knife fights all require ruthlessness. You are ruthless, and I am more ruthless. Many famous figures in Tianjin lost because of ruthlessness after they gained power. There are countless examples of the weak defeating the strong.

It’s a pity that Zhang Xiaogou is the most ruthless person on this street, with a knife in his hand.

He pinned the last knifeman under him and cut his throat while smiling at Zhao Sanyuan.

"You're really good at chopping. You almost scratched my new leather jacket. Hey, sorry for making fun of you, brother. You can't leave now. Just stay here for now. We can talk again after I finish the things at hand."

After saying this, he stepped out of the wooden shed with a dagger in hand, and wherever he passed, there was blood and gore.

There was also a fierce man in the Shanzi head opposite, who was good at using two swords. In his eyes, people were no different from minced meat on a chopping board, and he could chop them up one by one.

“It’s hard to survive in a big city”

Zhao Sanyuan kept a low profile and continued to remain an unknown figure, knowing that this fight would not be over until one side was completely defeated.

"Hit him, hit him! Oops, move to the left! He didn't dodge the knife. Oops, are you blind? Why are you walking towards someone's knife? You're nothing!" Huang Xiaoliu watched with great interest. He didn't care how many people would die on the streets. He just wanted to have fun.

Mang Qingyan's attention was more on the surrounding terrain. He had seen powerful guys before and was thinking about where to set up a machine gun to cover a larger area.

However, this was not a mindless street fight. Both sides had backup plans. When the battle was most intense, new forces poured in from both ends of the long street, pushing the fight to a bloodier climax.

This was quite a sight for the brave spectators who stayed on the nearby rooftops to watch the fun. Although there are always gang fights in lawless areas, such scenes are rare.

"When was the last time you were beaten so hard?"

"It must be the fight between the Feng family and the Dong family. It's just that it wasn't even the Republic of China at that time, so we haven't seen it in detail. But the scale is definitely not as large as this one. Tsk tsk~ What on earth is going on? Master Hai and Master Qi are going to fight to the death. There are many rumors spreading outside."

"Yes, yes, what's the reason?" Zhao Sanyuan came to the side of a few people eating melons without knowing when, and picked up the melon seeds on the vines and started to eat them.

No matter where you are, as long as there is a place for chatting and talking, if there are people who are curious, there will definitely be people who like to teach others.

Zhao Sanyuan gave the best introduction, and several brothers began to speak out their own opinions.

"What else could it be? A woman. I heard that Tong Weishan, the second in command of the Hai gang, was seduced by the sister-in-law of the Shan gang. Who in Tianjin doesn't know that the two most vicious gangs in the Anqing Gang are the Hai and Shan gangs? There's no room for two tigers in one mountain. With this excuse, shouldn't they take the opportunity to see who's the better of them?"

"Take a break. No matter how hard you try, you can only think about the things in your crotch. Don't you see what kind of people Liu Guanghai and Yuan Wenqiao are? They have people and money. Do you think you are going to risk your life and property just for a woman?"

"Then tell me why."

Zhao Sanyuan nodded repeatedly and spat out a mouthful of melon seed shells. "Yes, yes, why?"

"Does the Japanese Concession know about this? At the end of last year, several thousand expatriates came. The concession couldn't accommodate them, so they had to open shops in the Chinese area. So they needed a powerful local tyrant to help them. What a great opportunity! Who wouldn't want to get in touch with the Japanese? Not only will they make a lot of money in the future, but even Director Li of the General Police Department will have to give him some face. This is what Master Hai and Master Qu are fighting for."

"Go away! I don't know where you heard this from, but the truth is that for the opium business, Tianjin's opium supply basically comes from the Shanghai dock. Whoever controls this will have a fortune. Shanghai's opium dealer Du Ye knows this for sure, so he's happy to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. He definitely doesn't want to see Tianjin's power grow bigger and suppress Shanghai. I think the death of Tong Erdangtou is related to Shanghai's Du Ye."

"Look at you, you're talking nonsense. Why don't you say that the Japanese emperor's third aunt was killed by Tong Erdangtou? To be honest, everyone, I was working at the tobacco kiln at the corner in front, and I really saw Tong Erdangtou's death that night. It was so weird."

Zhao Sanyuan keenly noticed the key information and immediately asked how Tong Erdangtou died. Later he learned that Tong Erdangtou's skin was missing, but the subcutaneous muscle tissue was intact.

Is it a knife skill that can rival that of Pao Ding?
That's too exaggerated.

In short, the apparent cause of this fight was Liu Guanghai's challenge to avenge his brother, and Yuan Wenqiu readily accepted it.

"Who among you brothers has heard of Oracle?"

"Who? Who?"

"I've eaten crispy bones before, but I don't know what they are made of."

Zhao Sanyuan pondered for a moment.

I thought to myself that the message Yi Sheng gave before his death was definitely not made up, he must have obtained the key clue after his death.

No matter what, the Anqing Gang is the most suspicious. It is normal for ordinary people to have never heard of oracle bone inscriptions. Then he retreated and asked, "Which of the Anqing Gang is engaged in antique business? Porcelain, calligraphy and paintings, old objects, etc. I have a friend who wants to sell some rare goods."

"Isn't it right down there? People with the character Hai in their names like to deal in old stuff. I heard they have some people who are looking for money. When the previous dynasty fell, they collected a lot of good stuff that came out of the palace."

Zhao Sanyuan looked at the battle situation and found Zhang Xiaogou who was still fighting.

From this perspective, we really have to follow his path.

Suddenly, a burst of rapid whistles sounded from all directions, and then several police trucks drove into the street. They were armed with live ammunition and were ready to suppress the situation with force.

"The sun is rising from the west. How can we see so many police officers in this no-man's land? Let's go, don't let them be thrown into the cell together with us."

The spectators immediately fled when they saw that the situation was not good, while the two parties in the fight had already been so blood-thirsty that few of them noticed that there were any officials present.

Zhang Xiaogou knocked down the axeman who was leaping towards him with his sword. Just as he was about to kill him with one blow, he was suddenly pulled into a dark alley nearby.

He swung his knife reflexively.

There was a crisp sound.

The sword was knocked back by the head of the other sword's handle with great force.

"Calm down, it's me."

As they were talking, warning shots and shouts were heard from the street, which dampened Zhang Xiaogou's bloodthirsty aura.

When I looked out, I saw the police lined up and approaching step by step. Anyone who didn't raise his hands in surrender would be shot in the leg.

"Good boy, brother, you helped me, otherwise I would have been in jail. I have never been to jail since I came here, so I can't let this ruin my life."

"Stop talking nonsense. This is not a place to stay for long. By the way, I heard that your second-in-command died in a strange way. To be honest, I know a little bit about the mysterious arts. If it's possible, why not -"

"oops!"

"What's wrong?"

"I almost forgot something important!"

Zhang Xiaogou is always startled. When he suddenly remembers something, he walks very fast. Zhao Sanyuan behind him doesn't understand the situation and can only follow him temporarily. After all, Tianjin is too big. If he misses Zhang Xiaogou, it will be very difficult to meet him again.

Just entering the Xu hour.

The two young men came together to a large building complex, which was much quieter than the lawless area.

Zhao Sanyuan has encountered a similar situation before, and it felt exactly the same as the one outside Northeastern University. He could smell the scholarly atmosphere from a long distance away.

Nankai University.

A top university that has witnessed countless legends in the present and in the future, or it can be said that it is a legend itself.

It’s just that the current Nankai University campus is not located in a bustling area. There are many businesses outside the school gate. Vigorous students return to the campus laughing and talking about what they experienced during the weekend holidays.

"Is this the urgent matter you mentioned? Is it more urgent than going to a doctor to treat your knife wound?"

"What else? I can only see Xiaoya on weekends, so I can't miss the opportunity." Zhang Xiaogou said with a matter-of-fact expression. He walked to a sugarcane stand and threw down a few big coins. "Old man, give me some sugarcane."

There was a skinny old man at the stall, lying on a rocking chair with his head covered by a hat, so his face couldn't be seen clearly, but his hands were particularly big, thick and large.

Zhang Xiaogou was used to this and just kept chopping sugarcane with a knife.

"You definitely don't know how it feels. I'm talking about how it feels to have concerns and ties in your heart."

"Well, it seems not." Zhao Sanyuan chewed on the sugarcane and thought carefully. Somehow, the back of the rabbit appeared in his mind. After realizing it, he quickly shook his head.

"That year, my master's entire family was killed by his enemies. I narrowly escaped death and boarded a ship to Tianjin. When the boatman found me, he just threw me into the shallows like a dead fish. It was Xiaoya who fished me out. Tell me, she dared to go into the water to save people even though she couldn't swim. Isn't that incredible?"

"Well, apart from her extreme temper, there's nothing wrong with that girl."

"There is nothing wrong with her in my eyes. When I opened my eyes and saw her, I was determined to marry her in this life. Even if I can only see her from a distance, my heart will be warm. Whoever dares to bully her will be killed by me."

Zhao Sanyuan agreed.

As a man, you must have your own beliefs and persistence.

At the same time, I got some answers to my previous doubts. Perhaps everyone who lives on the edge of a knife has their own dreams and the life they want to achieve. It has nothing to do with right or wrong, it's just about living, and everyone has their own way of living.

"Although a forced melon is not sweet, you still have to twist it and soak it, right? I support you emotionally, and you are not bad."

"Alas, she doesn't like people who hang out at the docks, and she doesn't like fighting and killing, but what can I do? For ordinary people in Tianjin, hanging out at the docks is the easiest way to get ahead and make money the fastest, you know? I have saved more than 500 yuan. She likes ancient books and antiques, so I am waiting to buy them for her birthday. If I don't hang out at the docks and just do odd jobs, I will never be able to save 500 yuan in my lifetime."

When the topic came to ancient books and antiques, Zhao Sanyuan immediately took over the conversation, "Are you a person with the character Hai in your name who deals in old things? You are close to them, but I heard that your second-in-command was tricked a while ago. It's quite weird, isn't it?"

"Not really, it's really weird. I think my knife skills are OK, but I really can't cut someone to that extent. Later, Master Hai invited some martial arts masters to come to the rescue. They gave all kinds of reasons, but they all said it wasn't done by a human, but by some powerful and dirty creature."

"Has the body been dealt with? If you don't mind, I'd be willing to go - Hey! Where are you going? Why the hell are you running away when the conversation gets to the critical moment?"

Zhang Xiaogou suddenly rushed out and ran straight to an old tree outside the university wall. At this time, a girl named Xiaoya and two classmates were stopped by several hooligans, who said dirty words and seemed to want to make physical advances on them.

"Ugh"

Zhao Sanyuan shook his head and sighed, then continued to squat and chew the sugarcane. He was not sighing at the gangsters who were not aware of their own lives, but was worried about Zhang Xiaogou. Since he knew that Xiaoya didn't like fighting, if you rush forward like this, it might have the opposite effect.

Just as he was sighing, Zhao Sanyuan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

This was a murderous intent that penetrated the bones, and it was the first time in my life that I had ever felt such an intense and icy intensity.

Zhao Sanyuan didn't have time to spit out the sugarcane in his mouth, and immediately turned around with the knife in hand.

I saw that on the rocking chair, under the bamboo hat, the sharp eyes like a hawk passed by Zhao Sanyuan and fell on the gangsters. I didn't know when the axe for chopping sugarcane was already in his thick and thick hands.
Although the murderous intent was not directed at him, Zhao Sanyuan was still tense. He was sure that the old man had killed countless people, otherwise he would not have such a strong murderous intent.

However, when he saw Zhang Xiaogou being beaten up by a few thugs and dragged to a fork in the road, the old man returned to normal and covered his face with the hat again.

Zhao Sanyuan wanted to cry but had no tears.

I wonder why there are always powerful old men at the university gate?
Qi Sihai almost got himself into trouble with his brothers before. You won’t target me too, right?
College is too dangerous
(End of this chapter)