Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

News of Zheng Yumin's assassination attempt spread throughout Shanghai the following morning.

That very night, the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station issued an arrest warrant, which was kept secret from the public and only circulated within the internal system. All district stations were placed on high alert.

Following suit, the Tsing Yi Society launched a simultaneous cleanup operation in four districts: Nanshi, Zhabei, Hongkou, and Yangshupu.

The criteria for arresting someone is simple: suspicious.

What constitutes "suspicious"? Anyone whose origins are unclear, who has a gang background, who has recently shown unusual activity, or who has had conflicts with the Military Intelligence Bureau—take them all away.

Three small gangs in the Nanshi City God Temple area were busted overnight, and the dockworkers' union along the Suzhou River in Zhabei was raided twice. Even cigarette vendors were summoned for questioning.

There were more plainclothes officers than pedestrians on the streets, people squatting at the entrances of alleys, people sitting in teahouses, and people wandering around the docks, all looking in the same direction.

The crackdown was so intense that even rickshaw drivers knew to avoid taking unfamiliar passengers these days.

Chen Li didn't pay much attention and took action the following afternoon.

The master's wife said ten days, but after the assassination attempt on Zheng Yumin came out, the timeline had to be moved up. If we don't leave today, we might not be able to leave tomorrow.

The address Ye Ningzhen left was deep in an alley on Fahua Town Road, number 17, a small room on the second floor.

When Chen Li arrived, he didn't go through the main gate. He climbed over the alleyway and knocked three times, once long and twice short.

The woman who opened the door was in her thirties. She had a pale face, faint dark circles under her eyes, her hair was wrapped in a black cloth, and she was wearing a gray cloth jacket.

Upon seeing Chen Li, her eyes first showed alertness, then she recognized Ye Ningzhen's keepsake and stepped aside to let him in.

"Pack your things and come with me. We're leaving today."

The woman didn't ask any further questions. She turned around and picked up a small cloth bag from the table. The bag wasn't big, and it looked like it had been prepared long ago.

Chen Li led her out of the back alley and along a small path to an inconspicuous cargo wharf on the Suzhou River.

The three brothers are already here.

Old Liu, thirty-five or thirty-six, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, was a veteran who fought alongside Chen Li at the docks back in the day; he was a tough guy.

Zhou Hu, twenty-eight or twenty-nine, is tall and thin with long arms and legs, and is particularly good with his legs.

Xiao Meng, the youngest, is twenty-three or twenty-four years old and has good swordsmanship.

The three men were all dressed in short jackets and carrying bundles of luggage, pretending to be laborers returning home to visit relatives.

The boat was a small steamer that ran a short-distance passenger and cargo route from the Suzhou River to the mouth of the Yangtze River. The Sanshui Gang had traveled this route many times, and the boat captain knew the boat.

"Did you bring everything?"

"I brought it." Old Liu patted the roll of luggage, which contained his gear.

Chen Li glanced at the woman, then at his three brothers.

"Be careful on the road. When you get to Zhenjiang, change boats. Someone will pick you up. If anything happens, don't linger. Protect her."

Old Liu nodded.

Chen Li stood on the dock watching the four of them board the ship. The captain untied the mooring rope, and the small steamer, chugging and belching black smoke, slowly sailed away from the dock and headed downstream on the Suzhou River.

He stood there for a while, then turned and left.

There are still more than a dozen brothers to arrange. Three will leave today, and three more will leave tomorrow. We can't let them all leave at once.

He didn't notice that in a tea shop across from the dock, a middle-aged man in a gray cotton-padded jacket put down his teacup and winked at someone behind him.

Lü Desheng has been very patient these past two days.

He was in his early forties, short, with a kind face, and his smile made him look like a fabric shop owner, not someone who worked under Mr. Du.

He felt something was wrong when he went to Sanshui Gang to "get a feel for them" the day before yesterday.

Chen Li had been in Zhabei for seven or eight years, leading a gang of dozens of people. He never clashed with the Green Gang, nor did he steal their business. He quietly lived his life guarding a small section of the dock.

He lacks ambition.
What man making a living at the docks is without ambition? If you don't rob, you'll be robbed; if you don't fight, you'll be beaten. Anyone who can stand firm in such a place without causing trouble either has a powerful backer or is hiding something.

After returning, Lü Desheng set up hidden sentries. Several strongholds of the Sanshui Gang and several stalls at the docks were all under surveillance.

Over the past two days, the news has been quite interesting: the Sanshui Gang has dispersed.

It wasn't a high-profile withdrawal; they sent people out one by one. Two left today, three left tomorrow, and the excuses given to outsiders were varied: some were going home to visit relatives, some were going out to work, and some were going to stay with relatives.

Holding a list compiled by his subordinates, Lü Desheng sat in his office in Nanshi and finished a cigarette.

"Keep an eye on him and see where he sends people today."

In the afternoon, Lü Desheng witnessed Chen Li sending the woman on the wanted poster issued by the Military Intelligence Bureau onto the ship.

That's it, beyond doubt.

Are there any of our people on board?

"Yes, it was arranged this morning, in the lower deck."

Lu Desheng stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and stood up.

"Let's go too, and tell them to take him alive. I want him alive."

After about forty minutes, it got dark, and the banks changed from houses to the outlines of factories and warehouses, with sparse lights and no one in sight on the shore.

Old Liu sat in the cabin, leaning against the deck, with one leg propped up and his hand resting on the luggage roll, near the handle of his knife.

He felt something was off.

The captain's expression had been somewhat unnatural since he boarded the ship; his eyes kept glancing towards the lower deck, and his lips were tightly pursed.

Old Liu didn't make a sound, but nudged Zhou Hu, who was sitting opposite him, with his foot.

Zhou Hu slightly raised his eyelids.

Old Liu's fingers twitched twice, a gesture from the Sanshui Gang: Someone's down below.

Zhou Hu straightened his back and slowly reached his right hand into his sleeve.

Xiao Meng, sitting next to the woman, noticed their movements and subtly moved half a step forward in front of her. The hatch to the lower deck was then kicked open.

A dozen or so people surged out from below at great speed, each armed with weapons—short knives and iron bars—and charged without a word.

Old Liu kicked over the wooden crate in front of him, pulled out a broadsword from the bundle in his right hand, and slashed out with a flash of light. The first person was hit in the shoulder and cried out as he staggered back two steps. The people behind him stepped on him and surged forward.

Zhou Hu had already kicked out. The cabin was narrow, which allowed him to take full advantage of his long legs. He kicked a man in the chest, sending him flying and crashing into the deck.

Xiao Meng drew his sword and shielded the woman, pushing her towards the stern of the boat: "Go! Go to the back!"

The three men leaned against the railing at the stern of the boat, shielding the woman behind them, and faced the surging crowd.

The ship was making a great commotion, with footsteps, the sound of weapons clashing, and screams all mixed together, and the ship was rocking.

Old Liu's broadsword was ruthless; every strike was aimed at vital points. He cleaved three people in a row, splattering blood on the deck.

Zhou Hu's leg techniques were tricky; he would kick at close range. One burly man was kicked in the temple and fell directly into the river.

The person on the other side was initially forced to retreat a few steps after being hit.

But there were too many people, and they weren't firing their guns.

Not firing means they want him alive.

So these people don't use guns, they just surround and entangle, they'll keep them surrounded even if it means paying with their own lives.

Because the boat was stuck in the water, although the three men were brave and managed to kill three and wound four, Lü Desheng's boat had caught up, and about ten more men boarded the boat. These men were even more skilled in martial arts, and the three men were immediately unable to hold out.
Later in the fight, Lao Liu was stabbed three or four times and was exhausted.

Zhou Hu's left arm was hit by an iron rod; although the bone wasn't broken, he couldn't lift his arm anymore.

Xiao Meng is the youngest and is still holding on, but fighting while protecting the people behind him is a completely different matter from fighting freely on his own. He is constrained at every turn.

Finally, Lao Liu fell to the ground, and four people pounced on him from both sides and pinned him to the deck. He struggled twice but couldn't move, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The other two were also quickly captured.

The woman at the stern reacted quickly and jumped overboard, but was pulled ashore by Lü Desheng, who tied her up with ropes and gagged her, preventing her from committing suicide.

The four men were tied up tightly with thick hemp rope and thrown onto the deck.

When Lü Desheng boarded the ship from a small sampan following behind, the bloodstains on the deck were still wet.

He walked over, looked at the four people who were tied up, and squatted down in front of Lao Liu.

"Where did Chen Li tell you to go?"

Old Liu tilted his head and spat a mouthful of bloody phlegm onto Lü Desheng's shoes.

Lu Desheng wasn't angry. He stood up and rubbed the deck with the sole of his shoe.

"No rush, let's talk about it slowly when we get back."

He turned to the boat captain and said, "Turn around and go back to the dock."

The boatman responded, turned the rudder, and the small steamer drew an arc on the river before turning back.

It was completely dark, and the lights on both banks were even more sparse. Only the engine of the small steamboat could be heard sputtering on the river.

Lu Desheng stood at the bow of the boat, lit a cigarette, and the firelight illuminated his face, revealing a calm expression.

After the trial tonight, I'll report back to my superiors. Although the case of assassinating Deputy Director Zheng may not necessarily be related to the Sanshui Gang, handing over a lead at this time will please my superiors and make things easier for me as well.

He definitely needs to cling to the Kuomintang's military intelligence network tightly. If the Green Gang is elected as the next leader, he might also have a chance to climb the ranks.

It's unlikely to be the top-ranked leader, but among the top eight, there's still hope for the bottom-ranked leader.

He smoked a cigarette, looked at the river, and walked back to the dock, already planning his path to advancement in the Green Gang.

"Boss, we're almost at the dock."

Amidst the vast expanse of misty waters, Lü Desheng, halfway through his cigarette, suddenly squinted.

Something is moving on the river.

It's not a boat, it's not that big; it's not an object, it's not that tall.
It was a human figure.

"What's that???" he suddenly asked, and his brother looked in the direction he was pointing.

The shadows on the water were indistinct and not very clear at night, but as the boat moved closer and closer, they became clearer and clearer.

"Holy crap, it looks like there really are people here," the underling shouted.

At his shout, several more people emerged from the cabin, stood at the bow, and stared intently at the river ahead.

The figure was moving on the river surface at a great speed; it wasn't swimming, but walking upright!

The water level barely reached the man's calves. With each step, it felt as if he was stepping on something solid, and he didn't sink at all, but there was nothing on the river.

I floated over, skimming the surface of the water, splashing water around my feet before settling back down.

Lu Desheng's cigarette fell from his fingers into the river and went out with a hiss.

He had seen masters before, and Mr. Du had no shortage of people around him, but what was this?
Walking on water? Crossing the river on a single reed?
The legend of crossing the river on a reed also involves throwing a reed into the river to create a boat and cross.
This guy is literally walking in the water?!
The figure drew closer and closer, and its general outline became visible. It was of medium build, dressed in dark clothes, and moved so fast that it didn't seem like a person walking, but rather like someone being pushed by the wind and gliding across the water.

The sound of the water was very soft, not from paddling, but from the faint sound of the instep pressing against the water's surface for a moment, step by step, with great rhythm.

"Fire!" One of Lu Desheng's men finally reacted, shouting as he reached for his waist.

late.

The man had already reached the side of the boat. He placed one hand on the gunwale, and with a light leap, he flipped onto the deck.

It landed silently.

Lu Desheng took two steps back, staring at the person in front of him, a chill running down his spine.

The ship's lights shone through, revealing the man's face: an ordinary face, around forty years old, of medium build, neither tall nor strong, like any middle-aged person you'd see on the street.

He glanced around, took in the cabin, and smiled, "Seems like you've come at just the right time?" (End of Chapter)