The seven of them were forced to kneel in a row by the fish pond.
The sleet was coming down harder and harder. I shivered; my jacket was already mostly soaked through.
Lin Changzai and the others had warmed up by the fire for a while, and their lips, which had been blue from the cold, were now rosy again.
I handed the machete in my hand to him. "Just now, that guy hit you and stripped your clothes. Now you go and hit him back."
Lin Changzai's face went pale. "Second Brother, Second Brother, maybe we should just let it go. I'm fine, really. Let's not make this such a big deal on New Year's Eve!"
I felt a surge of frustration at his weakness and slapped him across the face.
"Motherfucker, now you know it's New Year's Eve? You almost couldn't even celebrate the New Year because of these bastards, and now you're talking about letting it go? What the fuck are you letting go?"
The slap left Lin Changzai's cheek swollen high. He lowered his head, not daring to look at me, and said timidly, "Second Brother, it's really okay. I used to get beaten up all the time."
I finally understood why Chen Qiang used to look at me with that disdainful gaze.
If it were me, I wouldn't be able to accept someone who, even with a knife handed to him, still didn't dare to strike.
"Changzai, the past is the past, and now is now. As long as you call me Second Brother, I'm responsible for you."
"Go. However they beat you, go chop them back. If they try anything funny, I'll handle them until they need someone to feed them for the rest of their lives."
Lin Changzai still shook his head. "Second Brother, forget it, really forget it. I don't dare."
I raised my hand, and Lin Changzai flinched, trying to dodge my slap.
Seeing him like this, my heart softened.
Forget it. At the end of the day, he wasn't a gangster. He was just a pickpocket, different from someone like me who was born to eat from the edge of a blade and walk the jianghu.
Just as I was about to handle it myself, the knife in my hand was snatched away.
"Second Brother, I'll do it."
It was Changlin. He had run to warn me earlier and hadn't been dealt with by Song Jiawen's group.
Not only Changlin, but two other boys around fifteen years old squeezed out from behind Lin Changzai.
"Second Brother, give me a knife. Brother Lin doesn't dare to do it, but we will."
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded to the two young punks following Xu Rang, signaling them to hand their knives to these two.
Together with Changlin, the two of them started hacking away at the six men kneeling on the ground.
Fortunately, we only brought machetes tonight, which didn't have much weight to them. If they had been heavy cleavers, with the way they were swinging, these six would have been chopped into mincemeat.
"Alright, that's enough."
I called out, and only then did the three of them stop, their whole bodies trembling slightly.
I walked over and took their knives, then asked the other two, "What are your names?"
A taller boy with big eyes said, "Second Brother, I'm Chen Can. I want to follow you."
"Second Brother, I'm Chen Han, his brother. We don't have parents. I want to follow you too."
I nodded gently. These two brothers were cut out for this life, though they were still too young, only around fifteen.
"We'll talk about that later. But remember this: you work for me, Chu Lao Er. From now on, no one in Liu Xiang Town will dare to touch you."
The brothers Chen Can and Chen Han nodded excitedly. To them, my recognition carried more weight than anything else.
I was eighteen, but my reputation in Liu Xiang Town had already surpassed many older gangsters.
I wasn't much older than them, but on this path of the underworld, I had walked farther, faster, and higher.
But only I knew the fear and trembling behind it all.
I waved for Changlin to come over. Changlin was even younger than the Chen brothers, but he didn't look excited or scared at all.
After hacking people, the Chen brothers were at least trembling a little, but Changlin was just the same as always.
"Aren't you scared?"
Changlin tilted his head and thought for a moment. "No. Why should I be scared?"
I paused. Why should he be scared?
Right, why should he be scared? I felt like I had never been afraid of taking a knife to handle someone; I was only afraid that the consequences afterward would be something I couldn't bear.
I had never felt fear because of hurting someone else.
I smacked him on the head.
"Alright, go over to your Brother Lin. I'll handle the rest."
Changlin sniffled and gave a soft "Oh."
Xu Rang stood nearby with his arms crossed, smoking. Seeing the sniffling Changlin, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Number Two, if this kid were the same size as you, do you think you'd still be the one in charge?"
I frowned, not knowing why Xu Rang suddenly said that.
Xu Rang stepped closer and whispered in my ear, "This kid is just like you, a total lunatic. Remember back at the university, when you beat up Liu Zi's men?"
"Believe it or not, if you told this Changlin to kill someone right now, he'd actually dare to slit their throats."
My heart skipped a beat. With Xu Rang's reminder, I finally realized where Changlin and I were alike.
Changlin and I shared a natural indifference to life; we didn't care whether others lived or died.
Changlin was still young and didn't know better. When I occasionally felt fear, it was only fear of the responsibility I'd have to bear if I killed someone.
I stopped thinking about it there and didn't dwell on it further, brushing it off casually.
"He's only fourteen right now. I'm four years older than him; I can suppress him for a lifetime."
Xu Rang shook his head gravely. "Number Two, not necessarily. Someone like him is just like you. Either he doesn't step into this life, or if he does, he's bound to rise to the top."
I raised my hand to cut him off. "He's just a little brat, why do you care so much? As long as he doesn't step on us to get ahead, it's fine. If he does, we'll crush him."
Neither Xu Rang nor I could have imagined then that what we said would eventually come true.
Changlin did step on us to get ahead, and I did indeed crush him.
The backs of Song Jiawen's men were hacked up pretty badly, but luckily the cuts weren't deep, so their lives weren't in danger.
I walked over and kicked them one by one into the fish pond.
In the depths of winter, the surface of the pond had a thin layer of ice, and the water beneath was bone-chillingly cold.
Before, when they were being hacked, they hadn't screamed much, but the moment they hit the water, every single one of them started wailing like they were crying for their parents.
They scrambled over one another, trying to crawl toward the bank.
I took the shotgun from Xu Dawei and aimed the muzzle at the mouth of the man closest to the shore.
I shoved the barrel right into his mouth.
"Move. You move. If you move one more inch for me, see if I dare to pull the trigger on you."
Half his body was in the fish pond, and his hand was already gripping the bank. With just a little effort, he could have climbed out of the water.
But he didn't dare.
"With so many of my brothers watching, now that I'm holding a gun, if you're looking to die and refusing to live—if you really try to come up—I won't have the face to stay in this game if I don't shoot."
"In this life, face is more important than anything. Don't force me to shoot."
My voice was soft, so only I and the man with the gun barrel in his mouth could hear.
He didn't know the gun was empty. So, after those two sentences, he obediently retreated back into the water.
Song Jiawen didn't move. The pond water was up to his neck, but he still held his head high, looking at me.
Standing by the edge of the pond with the shotgun, I addressed them in the water.
"However long you stripped my men and tied them to the trees, that's how long you'll stay in this water."
"If you're unlucky and freeze to death in this pond, I'll pay with my life."
...
On the morning of New Year's Eve, just as the sky was turning light, several of them had rolled their eyes back and passed out from the cold in the water.
I had someone row a small boat out to fish the unconscious ones out.
In the end, only Song Jiawen was left standing in the water.
His face was as white as a ghost's; he looked like he wasn't far from death.
Li Dawei wanted to pull him out several times, but I wouldn't let him.
Song Jiawen was a tough nut to crack. Whether he was holding on by sheer will or just refusing to fake unconsciousness, if he didn't bow his head today, I'd wait him out.
At worst, I really would pay with my life.
Finally, the wail of sirens sounded. Officer Niu rushed over with a few constables, fuming with rage, and glared at me fiercely.
It seemed someone in Chen Family Shrine had called the police.
It was hard on Officer Niu, having to come out on a call on New Year's Eve.