Republic of China era: A hundred-year-old still practicing martial arts? Is that right?

"opium!"

"opium?"

……

The people inside the room spoke up, some in shock and others in surprise, turning their heads to look at Lin Ji.

Do you hate opium?

Lin Ji nodded slightly. Seeing everyone's reaction, he knew that his question had been answered.

"nature!"

Zhao Qiao suddenly stood up, blocking the light from the oil lamp, plunging the room into darkness.

"Our great nation of China suffered from the ravages of opium a century ago."

"The unity of our 400 million compatriots was not shattered by the foreigners' powerful ships and cannons, but by those opium poppies."

"Old man, a hundred years ago there was Lin Zexu who destroyed opium at Humen."

"A century later, foreigners are still bullying this land, using opium to harm our compatriots. How can we not hate them?"

"Yes! Brother Zhao is right! We hate it! We hate opium!"

Looking at Zhao Qiaosheng's not-so-tall back, Lin Ji heard his resounding words filled with hatred for his family and country, and the burly thirty-year-old man almost burst into tears.

"The Si family in the south of the city."

"A batch of two thousand catties of opium has been delivered to the tent."

Lin Ji's voice was devoid of emotion as he casually uttered these two sentences after Zhao Qiaosheng finished speaking.

For a moment, the room was eerily silent.

"Two thousand catties?"

Someone inside the room was shocked and spoke first.

Under the dim yellow oil lamp, Zhao Qiaosheng's eyes widened in anger, and he spoke in surprise and doubt:

"Two thousand catties? Old man, do you even know how much two thousand catties is?"

"Two thousand catties! That's more than enough for all the opium dens in Jiangcheng for two months."

Lin Ji offered no explanation, but instead opened the ledger again and pushed it in front of Zhao Qiaosheng.

The ledger clearly states:

"The Si family in the south of the city possesses two thousand catties of opium."

"This ledger was taken from the middleman, Gao San," Lin Ji explained, revealing where the ledger came from.

Wang Siwei, lying on the bed, struggled to lift his eyes and looked up to confirm, saying, "It's...it's that ledger."

Zhao Qiaosheng snatched it, checked the information on it, and looked up at Lin Ji:

"The Si family of Chengnan?"

"That family, the Si family, who run a herbal medicine business?"

"Yes." Lin Ji nodded calmly.

"Impossible." Another voice spoke from inside the room, stepping out of the shadows and onto the table.

"Even the Si family's herbal medicine business only accounts for a third of Jiangcheng's economy. Even if they sold all their assets, they couldn't acquire two thousand catties of opium. They must have a powerful backer."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure instantly appeared in Lin Ji's mind.

The slender, wealthy young man in the martial arts hall is Zhang Shijie.

The one who fawned over Si Tianhu.

"The Zhang family?"

Thinking of this, Lin Ji casually uttered two words.

Everyone in the room looked up at Lin Ji, their eyes filled with surprise.

This old man has shocked everyone for the third time: rescuing Wang Siwei, seizing the account book, and now he even knows the big boss behind the Si family.

A question arose in the minds of everyone in the room:

"Who exactly is this old man?!"

Zhao Qiaosheng was also full of doubt and asked in a low voice, "Does the old man know the Zhang family?"

Lin Ji didn't explain, but nodded slightly: "You could say we know each other."

Zhao Qiaosheng turned his head to look at the fellow soldier who had just said that the Si family couldn't stomach opium:

What do you think?

The man pondered for a moment, then nodded in confirmation: "Old Man Lin is right. The Si family has only recently tied themselves to the Zhang family, so they're bound to try and curry favor with the Zhang family to make a big deal. This time it's probably it."

"Um."

"Bring me the map."

Zhao Qiaosheng lowered his eyes and nodded. The person behind him then passed over a map of Jiangcheng and spread it on the table.

The map marked the distribution of all forces in Jiangcheng, including even foreigners.

Zhao Qiaosheng quickly tapped on the map:

"These three are the largest warehouses in the Zhang family. Two thousand catties of opium may not seem like a large quantity, but it is valuable enough. These three warehouses are the most heavily guarded, so they should be the best."

"But we don't have enough manpower to investigate all three warehouses, so it's not realistic."

Just as Zhao Qiaosheng frowned, the comrade beside him pointed to one of the three warehouses marked by Zhao Qiaosheng on the map:

"Tsk, when the Godfather was tallying the goods arriving at the dock last night, he seemed to mention that yesterday was the receiving day for this warehouse. It might just be opium!"

"Are you sure?" Zhao Qiaosheng pressed.

"I'm not sure, but it's worth a try."

"Alright! It's decided then." Zhao Qiaosheng closed the map and turned to look at the group behind him: "Get ready, we're going to Zhang's Warehouse No. 2."

Lin Ji was somewhat surprised, but remained outwardly calm, inwardly thinking:

"Is the matter of saving the country and its people decided so hastily?"

"Good! For the sake of our fellow citizens in Wuhan."

"Yes! We must bring down these parasites who poison the nation!"

……

A burst of bold and ambitious words erupted inside the room.

A glint of light flashed in Lin Ji's eyes.

The azure light that had been gathering above everyone's heads intensified under the surge of their passionate blood, growing even stronger.

Lin Ji's mind raced, and he began to speculate: "Could tonight's operation succeed?"

"Young Master Zhao, it's rare to see someone do something so important for the country and its people. This old man will go too!"

Upon seeing this, Lin Ji felt a surge of excitement welling up inside him.

The Book of Reversing Fate, Chapter Three: Warfare, The General Trend of the World.

What is needed is to go against fate, not only against his own fate, but also against the fate of the entire Chinese nation.

If you don't step forward now, when will you?

Everyone turned to look at Lin Ji, their eyes scanning the mottled wrinkles on his face.

Zhao Qiaosheng hesitated at first, then glanced at Wang Siwei on the bed out of the corner of his eye, and nodded in agreement:

"it is good."

Upon hearing this, a clear thought immediately flashed through Lin Ji's mind.

In an instant, Lin Ji became several times more clear-headed than before, and old scenes flashed through his mind, landing on the scene of the shop being robbed decades ago.

In the courtroom.

The magistrate, with a stern face, slammed his gavel down.

"Lin Ji, you have occupied the Zhang family's shop for thirty-one years without paying any rent. Now you want to take the shop for yourself with a fake contract."

"I have governed Jiangcheng for more than ten years and have never encountered such a shameless person as you, who dares to engage in such bullying and market manipulation right under my nose."

"Lin Ji, you commoner, do you know your crime!"

……

Lin Ji knelt on the ground, glancing to the side out of the corner of his eye. There, the Zhang family patriarch, holding a fan, grinned.

Lin Ji was suddenly taken aback.

That face... it actually overlapped with Zhang Shijie's face.

Eighty years!

It's been a full eighty years!

Zhang family! I've finally found you!

A wave of emotion surged within Lin Ji.

What a perfect saying, "It's not that retribution won't come, it's just that the time hasn't arrived yet!"

"Father-in-law...father-in-law..."

Zhao Qiaosheng gently patted Lin Ji's shoulder, pulling Lin Ji back from the depths of his thoughts.

"Old man, let's go. Remember to stay far away when we arrive. If there's any disturbance, don't worry about us. You can use this opportunity to do your own thing."

Lin Ji nodded slightly and slowly stood up: "Okay."

The night rain in Jiangcheng has completely stopped.

The thick, dark clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed, making the sky even darker.

The group arrived at the warehouse door, where a searchlight swayed back and forth, inspecting the surrounding area.

The warehouse entrance was half-open, and trucks would occasionally arrive from a distance and drive into the warehouse.

"The warehouse is heavily guarded; if we go up now, we'll only alert them."

Zhao Qiaosheng and his companions lay prone in the corner of the wall at a distance, watching the figures moving around at the warehouse entrance.

"So what do we do now?" someone asked.

"Over there!" Zhao Qiaosheng pointed in a direction.

"It's about three kilometers away, at a bend in the road. We can't see anything from the warehouse side. We hijacked the truck from there and followed it directly into the warehouse."

Without further ado, the group lay in wait on both sides of the road under the cover of night.

From time to time.

A dark green truck swayed along.

Lin Ji had excellent eyesight and could see through the car window that the driver in the driver's seat was yawning.

Just as he was about to remind Zhao Qiaosheng, Zhao Qiaosheng exclaimed softly, "Do it!"

Lin Ji then remembered that Zhao Qiaosheng was a true master of internal strength.

"Splash!"

A pebble pierced the night sky, shattered the car window, and knocked the driver unconscious.

Lin Ji saw the driver tilt his head to the side, and a figure darted out, pounced beside the truck, pulled the door handle, climbed into the truck, and slammed on the brakes to stop the truck.

The others moved with lightning speed, leaping from the shadows into the back of the truck. With a "whoosh," they ripped open the tarpaulin, and someone gasped softly:

"It's opium!"

"Great! Hahaha. It came to me without any effort."

Zhao Qiaosheng chuckled softly and then lightly slipped into the carriage.

"Let's go to the west of the city; there's lime water at the dock."

Just as everyone was about to start the car, Lin Ji had a hunch that the cargo in the truck bed was clearly less than two thousand jin:

"Young Master Zhao, this doesn't look like it weighs even two thousand jin, does it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qiaosheng lowered his eyes and looked at Lin Ji below the carriage, pondering for a moment:

Would you like to see inside the warehouse?