Chen Pi had clearly felt that the hitmen’s leader was the same kind of person as him, since he instinctively knew how to attack and evade. But at the same time, Chen Pi also knew that the leader wasn’t on par with him, because as he said just now, he felt that the hitmen’s leader was old.
The hitmen’s leader was gasping for breath and his face looked gloomy. Huang Kui’s boss had also said something similar to him when he told him he’d done his best by coming to Hankou from Dongting Lake. As a butcher, he hadn’t paid attention to anyone besides the boss and the advisor over the years. He didn’t know why, but a rift had suddenly formed between him and the boss at the beginning of the year. The boss had even said he was old.
“Beat the flower drums” was a Huang Kui custom they carried out on the river at night. When the drums sounded, they would gather as many of the boatmen’s heads as they could. Once the drums stopped, the heads would be counted, and the one who had the most would take the position of the hitmen’s leader. Since he had been in power for so long, no one had dared challenge him. But he had been forced to beat the flower drum very recently. Although he had won, he was very unhappy and his position in the gang was unstable.
But he knew that Huang Kui’s boss was generally infallible, which was the source of his constant fear. Now that Chen Pi had suddenly brought it up again, his heart thumped and he felt very unhappy.
“Little brother, are you here to avenge that kid?” The leader asked. “How many people are in your family? Are you not afraid of Huang Kui seeking revenge?”
The hitmen’s leader was never nervous, and fighting was never a difficult task for him. As a result, he’d often say something that was particularly calm and inconsistent with the scene at hand. That calmness—as if the situation wasn’t happening—was especially creepy.
Chen Pi didn’t respond, but as soon as the leader spoke, he suddenly started running with everything he had. He ran into the woods next to the dam without any hesitation, and disappeared.
The leader was stunned, and it took him several seconds to realize that Chen Pi had run away.
Huang Kui’s guys all looked at each other, picked up the injured, and then looked in the direction Chen Pi had gone. The leader’s eyebrow twitched, and he had a strong feeling that he was being teased.
He felt that the Huang Kui medicine in his body was getting heavier and heavier, and the pain emanating from his face was no longer there. While Huang Kui’s guys went ashore one after another, he looked up at the riverbank where the massacre was occurring. He stopped the Huang Kui guys from chasing after Chen Pi and pointed to the boss’ ship.
In any case, it was necessary to save the boss first. When it came to battles, people were most afraid of losing their momentum in front of ruthless people.
The guys got their weapons sorted out and then rushed towards the riverbank. The hitmen’s leader looked down at the clawed hook’s rope in his hand, threw it into the river, and also moved to follow.
But before they had taken a few steps, Chen Pi came up from behind them, ran past, and jumped into the river.
The hitmen’s leader was really tired by this point, so all he did was watch as Chen Pi swam to where the clawed hook fell into the water and dove down. He wanted to let the guys around him go into the water to intercept him, but he knew none of them could handle Chen Pi. On the other hand, he couldn’t get stuck here fighting with the brat. It didn’t make sense for all of Huang Kui to be held up here by a mere beggar.
As soon as he thought that, he waved everyone to continue rushing to the ship. He didn’t want them to get distracted any further. But before he had even finished waving his hand, the nine-clawed hook flew out from the water, latched onto the neck of a man beside him, and then dragged him directly into the water.
“You fucking bastard!” The leader yelled at the water as he ran. The clawed hook flew out from under the water’s surface again and latched onto the people running beside the leader. Like picking peaches, they were dragged into the water one by one. After six or seven people had been snatched, Huang Kui’s guys lost their composure and ran into the woods. The hitmen’s leader had never encountered such a dilemma and tried to force himself to calm down. He had never felt alarmed before, but now he suddenly found himself shaken to the core. For the first time in his life, he was panicking.
It was in this moment of hesitation that the nine-clawed hook flew out from the water again and aimed its claws at his feet. The leader watched in horror as the claws contracted and he forced his exhausted body to take a step back. The claws hooked the clothes at his crotch and started pulling them into the water.
The leader grabbed the nine-clawed hook and tore it off, causing a big hole to form in the crotch of his pants. This time, he didn’t let go, but made a frantic effort to pull on the clawed hook with everything he had. He yelled as he dragged Chen Pi out of the water and onto the shore. He went up and squeezed his neck, but immediately found that something was wrong. He hadn’t grabbed Chen Pi, but a Huang Kui guy whose ear had been stabbed. There was a sudden movement behind him and he quickly turned his head. He didn’t know when, but Chen Pi had gone ashore and circled around behind him.
The hitmen’s leader was shocked and immediately turned just as Chen Pi leaped through the air. Chen Pi landed on the ground, leaving a wet mark behind as the frightened hitmen’s leader rolled away to safety. When the leader glanced up, his entire face looked incredulous. Not only was he witnessing a hua qian as strong as himself, but there seemed to be something different about this brat.
It wasn’t age. Age wasn’t fatal. It was…it was intelligence. He realized that the brat in front of him was using his brain to fight.
The hitmen’s leader gasped for breath and then turned and ran towards the boss’ ship. His fear made him unable to think. He understood what it meant to be a hua qian with a brain.
*
On the riverbank, Huang Kui’s boss and the three gangs and five factions were fighting a battle to the death. The river was full of blood and all the drum crawlers were covered in injuries. Some surrounded the boss, while some continued to lurk in the water. The three gangs and five factions’ numbers had been reduced by at least half, and some of the injured could barely stand.
The hitmen’s leader was beside himself with fear as he rushed over. All those left in the three gangs and five factions looked behind the hitmen’s leader and saw the beggar taking out the Huang Kui guys one by one. When he would catch up with someone, he would grab their shoulders and stab their ears. Everyone forgot to put up a fight and immediately fled in all directions.
Huang Kui’s boss watched it all silently, and knew in his heart that it was really over this time.
But even so, that little, unpredictable beggar would eventually fall victim to this farce.
“Ok, ok. That’s enough.” He turned to the three gangs and five factions and said, “Let’s stop being so childish and sit down and talk about the conditions. It’s not good for everyone to fight like this.”
MereBear's Translation 
Thank you for the chapter
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