Chapter Ninety-One: Advancing into the Service Industry

Li Tianjun clasped his hands and accepted the order. “I will complete the task and build an even stronger guard force for the Young Master.” Then, after a brief hesitation, he added, “But I have one matter I do not understand. I wonder whether I should speak of it.”

Yang Cheng laughed and scolded him lightly. “When did you start being so polite? Say it. What is there between us that cannot be said?”

Li Tianjun said, “Since the Young Master has bought them and trained them, they should belong to the Yang family, to the Young Master’s own property. They are blades meant to protect the household and spill blood on the battlefield. Your kindness toward them is already a great grace. But if, in the end, you let them go after only a year or two, would that not be a loss greater than the gain?”

Yang Cheng said, “In my view, no one can truly belong to another as property. Even if they do so in name, it is not by willing consent. And if the situation turns unfavorable, they will still scatter like birds and beasts in the end. First, the guard force is only a transitional stage for screening capable martial artists. What I need are brothers like you, men who can advance and retreat with me, all of us working together to survive in this chaotic age. Second, as a businessman, it is a very worthwhile cost to exchange freedom for one or two years of united effort to keep the Yang family safe. Third, in the future my business will aim at farther and wider city-states. Making more friends and building goodwill may also prove a long-term investment.”

Li Tianjun frowned in thought. “I understand a little. Perhaps in this world, only the Young Master could possess such breadth of heart.”

Yang Cheng smiled. “There are too many people in this world worthy of pity, but we cannot be indiscriminate do-gooders. We cannot take everyone, nor can we care for so many. Only when the Yang family becomes strong can we do more and protect more people. So this selection must be left to you, to choose from the best of the best.”

“Yes. Please rest assured, Young Master. I will spare no effort.”

“Good. Of all the things you do, I trust most. Bring me Saber Bai Liu. I have another matter to discuss with him.”

“Yes, Young Master.” Li Tianjun saluted with clasped fists and withdrew.

Before long, with Li Tianjun leading the way, Saber Bai Liu came to the main hall to meet Yang Cheng. After ordering wine and dishes to be served, Yang Cheng chatted casually with him. Seeing that Yang Cheng treated him with courtesy, Saber Bai Liu grew quite fond of this young master as well, and so he held nothing back, relating everything in detail.

It turned out that the Bai Liu family had produced several generations of wandering cultivators with some measure of accomplishment. By his generation, his parents had died young, leaving only him, an elder brother, and the inherited palm technique and flying dagger arts of their ancestors. His elder brother’s cultivation was mediocre; driven by hardship, he had joined the streets at an early age. Later he encountered Song Qinghuo and joined the Flaming Fire Gang. During a gang clash he was badly wounded, and after several months at home he died without recovery. Believing he had devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Flaming Fire Gang, he had also urged Bai Liu to join it so that he might receive some protection. Song Qinghuo had agreed on the surface, but in truth cared nothing for such past loyalties.

Since its founding by Song Qinghuo, the Flaming Fire Gang had extorted merchants and vendors for trifles. In order to grow stronger, it stole, trafficked, and forced the innocent into vice by every means imaginable. For a time it had become notorious throughout the city’s underworld.

Bai Liu had been a chivalrous youth in his younger days, a man with great ambitions. After entering the Flaming Fire Gang in accordance with his brother’s dying wish, however, he found himself unable to stomach many of Song Qinghuo’s filthy deeds. His spirit cooled. Yet leaving the gang was far harder than entering it, so in many matters within the gang he simply did not take orders earnestly. At first Song Qinghuo saw that he had high cultivation and thought he had gained a capable aide, and so prized him greatly. But later, angered by Bai Liu’s constant perfunctory behavior and unreliable conduct, he came to despise him deeply and often shouted and cursed at him.

Helplessly, Bai Liu had many friends and wide connections both inside and outside the gang, and Song Qinghuo could do little to him. Gradually, he simply stopped bothering with him, no longer entrusting him with gang affairs of any size, and used him only as a tool for charging into battle. The two had accumulated resentment for a long time, and today’s clash before the lines was not merely the result of drunkenness.

The two talked through the night until deep into the darkness.

After learning all this, Yang Cheng saw that Bai Liu, though young, possessed exceptional cultivation and was clearly a promising youth of no poor talent. What was even rarer was that, after years in the world, his nature remained fundamentally kind, and he still kept his limits in conduct.

So he asked again, “Brother Dao, matters have come to this. What do you intend to do in the future?”

“Alas, killing Song Qinghuo was truly something I had no choice but to do. Once the news spreads, I will no longer be able to make a living in South City. I can only flee elsewhere and start over,” Bai Liu said with a sigh.

Yang Cheng thought for a moment and said, “Brother Dao, although you and I have never met before, we are as if old friends at first sight, and our conversation has been most agreeable. I have some ideas. I wonder if you would care to hear them?”

Bai Liu hesitated. “Young Master Yang, please speak. I would be glad to listen.”

He feared that this young master of the Yang family would try to recruit him. Although working for a clan was, for a wandering cultivator, a fairly good destination, and although Young Master Yang was polite and refined, which made him rather favorably inclined, he had always felt he possessed some ambition and wanted to make a name for himself. He did not wish to enter another family’s service and lose his freedom.

Yang Cheng said, “Since Song Qinghuo is dead, the Flaming Fire Gang will naturally collapse. If you go elsewhere, it will be another round of hard struggle. If you are willing, how about I help you take the position of gang leader and use the Flaming Fire Gang to rebuild a new gang?”

Bai Liu was somewhat stunned. This was, after all, not necessarily a bad thing. In the old gang, he could not make decisions and could not realize his ambitions. If he had a gang of his own, with several hundred brothers, he could make many changes. But this was easier said than done. He had killed the gang leader; let alone winning everyone’s support, it would already be fortunate if they did not unite to hunt him down.

He looked at Yang Cheng in confusion. “May I ask what the Young Master means?”

These past few days, Yang Cheng had also been vexed. First the Little Saber Gang, then the Flaming Fire Gang. Without sufficient strength, any business would inevitably be harassed by such street gangs. Even if the Flaming Fire Gang were destroyed today, tomorrow there would only be some Black Fire Gang or White Fire Gang, still impossible to deal with one after another. In his previous life, he had studied various historical periods and countries, and knew that in any gray area, gangs would never be in short supply.

Crush one, and another would emerge in its place, endlessly. Moreover, when small gangs fought over territory, there would be endless violence and bloodshed, and small merchants and vendors would suffer even more, with the business environment growing even more chaotic. In a sense, a large gang, so long as it did not run amok too recklessly, could even make public order somewhat better and reduce the extortion and bullying from all manner of people.

So Yang Cheng thought: since other forces would appear anyway, it would be better to, whenever possible, let such gangs fall within a range he could control. This underground world at the bottom of society, overlooked by the upper class, might in the future become a useful force for him.

The reason he spoke at such length with Bai Liu was precisely to understand the man.

Bai Liu had limits. Though he lived among rabble, he could still distinguish good from evil. He was chivalrous and valued righteousness. More importantly, Bai Liu was young and hot-blooded, and seemed easier to persuade than others. There was no better candidate; such an opportunity naturally had to be seized.

Yang Cheng continued, “We can cooperate. I will help you erase the consequences of killing Song Qinghuo, gather the gang members, and reestablish the gang.”

Bai Liu’s eyes lit up. “If that can be done, Bai will forever remember the Young Master Yang’s kindness.” After a pause, he added, “If this matter succeeds, may I ask what instructions the Young Master has for me?”

Yang Cheng said, “Protecting merchants and vendors from harassment by thugs and deadbeats, and collecting a certain protection fee, has always been common practice. It cannot be completely eliminated. So long as it is not excessive, a gang can survive by this means. But bullying the weak and forcing honest women into prostitution—those things must not be done. Can you manage that?”

Bai Liu nodded. “Naturally. These are things I loathe as well. If I became gang leader, I would certainly never do them. However, I have also considered this: although Song Qinghuo’s methods were despicable, if he did not do these things, the gang members’ income would decrease, and it would become easier for the underlings to rebel. In the end, once the food and supplies were exhausted, the birds would scatter, and it would be easy for another gang to swallow us up. After all, such a gang depends on having numbers and strength.”

Yang Cheng waved a hand. “Those are not problems. Once you become gang leader, the first thing you must do is annex other gangs. The more brothers, the better. Aren’t you worried about lacking money?”

Yang Cheng chuckled. “The more manpower you have, the better. Then you can do service work. I will invest in you. Leisure and entertainment, logistics, courier services, food delivery—there will not only be money to make, but I can also help clean up your reputation. There is no need to fear having too many brothers; only too few.”

“Th-this... service work? Courier? Company?” Bai Liu looked utterly bewildered. “Young Master Yang, you, you should speak more slowly. I have not read much, and my mind is having trouble keeping up.”