Inside the alley, blades flashed and axes gleamed amidst shouts of battle; outside, sweet voices mingled with the soft glow of red lanterns.

In the narrow Li Shamao Alley, a dense crowd of Heji’s enforcers surrounded Pao Ge and Er Dao. The enforcers, however, seemed to follow a code and were not in a hurry to attack.

Pao Ge looked ahead, then behind him.

There were many people.

But the more people there were, the calmer Pao Ge became.

Er Dao asked, “Brother, what should we do?”

Pao Ge said nothing.

Er Dao asked again, “Brother, what are you thinking about?”

Pao Ge looked at the red lanterns above him, grinned, and said, “I feel like a smoke.”

At that moment, the singing ceased in the pleasure quarters on both sides of Li Shamao Alley. Patrons and courtesans on the upper floors quietly pushed open their windows to peer into the alley.

In the crowd, Er Dao lowered his head and unhurriedly pulled a smoking pipe from his pouch, then packed it with tobacco.

He handed the pipe to Pao Ge, then took out a tinder stick from his pouch and lit it for him. Pao Ge took a deep breath, and the tobacco in the copper pipe instantly glowed red, curled up, and made a sizzling sound.

With dozens of eyes on him, Pao Ge leaned against the grey tiles and blue bricks, taking two leisurely puffs. The pale smoke swirled around him, obscuring his expression.

One of the enforcers called out loudly, “Since the challenge has been issued, don’t waste time. If you drag this out any longer, don’t blame us for not following the rules.”

Pao Ge casually replied, “What’s the rush? With so many of you, are you afraid I’ll run away?”

He smoked for the time of an incense stick, and Heji’s enforcers truly waited that long for him.

Pao Ge tapped his pipe against the wall, sending sparks flying into the dark. “Your fighting guilds in the capital are quite professional. Not like us back in the day; we’d just cut people down without waiting a minute.”

A middle-aged man stepped out from among the enforcers, clasped his hands, and said, “Fighting guilds have their rules. Pao Ge, you are a guest from afar, so we naturally show you proper respect. However, blades have no eyes, so we hope Pao Ge won’t take offense later.”

Pao Ge asked curiously, “What other rules do your fighting guilds have? Tell me all of them. So if I come back in my next life, I can pay attention and not get ambushed again.”

A young enforcer pointed his axe at Pao Ge and said angrily, “You’re just trying to stall for time, aren’t you?”

The middle-aged man pushed down the young man’s arm and calmly said, “Pao Ge, your wrestling skills are exceptional, and we admire you for it. To still smoke a pipe without a trembling hand amidst flashing blades and axes truly makes you a brave man. There’s no harm in telling you… First, the ‘Four Don’ts’: We don’t take on assassinations involving government officials, we don’t engage in escort robbery, we don’t accept personal vendettas, and we don’t partake in immoral acts.

“Then, the ‘Four Concessions’: We allow passage – if a fellow guild member is wanted by the authorities, we grant them safe passage, and those who witness it must not report them. We allow territory – no second fighting guild can open on the same street. We allow prosperity – if you thrive, you must also leave a living for your peers. And we allow life – fellow guild members who have retired must not be disturbed, and their past grievances are wiped clean.”

Pao Ge stroked the stubble on his chin. “Is it too late for me to ‘wash my hands in a basin of gold’ now?”

The middle-aged man smiled. “I’m afraid it is.”

Pao Ge asked, “So if I beat you all down, will this Li Shamao Alley belong to me for collecting protection money from now on?”

The middle-aged man shook his head. “Even if you beat us all down today, others will come tomorrow. Pao Ge, you’d have to beat everyone into submission so they wouldn’t dare come to your door again.”

Pao Ge said helplessly, “Isn’t that just extortion?”

The middle-aged man smiled. “Unless you’re an overwhelmingly powerful figure, it’s impossible to establish yourself in the capital. But if Pao Ge truly has the skill to establish himself, then he wouldn’t need to share the protection money from Li Shamao Alley with Zhu Guan; Zhu Guan wouldn’t dare accept it, it would be too hot to handle.”

Pao Ge handed his pipe to Er Dao, then turned to the middle-aged man and said, “All right, let me show you gentlemen my true prowess.”

Upon hearing this, the enforcers rustled back like a tide, leaving one man standing before Pao Ge. “We said we’d let you have three moves, so you’ll have three moves. This is the magnanimity of our capital’s fighting guilds.”

Pao Ge sneered, “Hypocrisy.”

As he spoke, Pao Ge lunged forward, swinging his left fist towards the man’s right cheek.

The enforcer twisted his body to dodge, but Pao Ge’s footwork suddenly changed, and his right fist slammed into the man’s jaw like a cannonball. The enforcer’s body instantly stiffened, and he fell straight backward.

This feint forced the opponent to dodge, but it was as if he had deliberately offered his head to Pao Ge’s fist. The enforcers had never seen such a refined and novel technique; it was different from wrestling, swift and decisive.

Pao Ge picked up the opponent’s axe from the ground, weighing it in his hand. “On the boxing stage, no one has ever dared to offer me three moves. I’m not used to axes; throw me a dagger!”

The enforcers exchanged glances and remained silent.

Pao Ge glared sideways. “What, your capital’s fighting guilds don’t even have that much magnanimity? So many of you blocking me, and you won’t even let me use a weapon I’m good with?”

One enforcer drew a dagger from his waist and threw it to Pao Ge. “Brother, you’re an impressive man. It’s an honor for us to witness your true skills today. But the jianghu of this capital cannot tolerate you.”

Pao Ge first held the dagger in a standard grip, then switched to a reverse grip. “Remember, my real name is Chen Chong, but my friends like to call me Pao Ge.”

His words resonated with authority.

The enforcers dragged away their unconscious comrade, and another burly man stepped forward.

Pao Ge shuffled forward, his body strangely slightly hunched. The hand holding the dagger in a reverse grip swayed in front of him, yet his gaze was like an unwavering arrow.

He closed in on the man, slashing with the dagger in a reverse grip. The man opposite raised his axe to block, but with a casual flick of Pao Ge’s wrist, the dagger bypassed the axe handle and sliced across the man’s wrist tendons.

With a clanging sound, the axe fell to the ground.

Pao Ge said calmly, “Next.”

Another enforcer charged out. Pao Ge repeated the same technique, slashing with the dagger in a reverse grip. The man’s vision blurred for a moment, and his wrist tendons were severed.

A chill went down the enforcers’ spines. They exchanged glances; no one was willing to step forward.

The boast of allowing three moves had already been made, meaning they could only dodge, not retaliate. But Pao Ge didn’t even give them a chance to see the third move. If a fighting guild member had their wrist tendons severed, they would be crippled for life.

At this point, another enforcer came forward, holding two axes inverted. He crossed them and clasped his hands, saying, “Blocking Hand Gate, Liu Yu.”

Pao Ge lunged forward with a strike, but it was blocked by an axe. Just as he was about to change his move to sever the tendons, Liu Yu’s other axe suddenly slashed at him.

Pao Ge flashed backward, barely dodging the axe blade. If his reaction hadn’t been quicker than others, that axe would surely have disemboweled him.

He looked down at his clothes, which had been slashed open across his abdomen, revealing a shallow line of blood beneath. Then he looked up at Liu Yu. “Lad, it hasn’t even been three moves, and you’re already fighting back.”

Liu Yu remained silent.

Pao Ge suddenly threw his head back and laughed heartily. “Now that’s more like it! This is the jianghu I know! You almost bluffed me!”

As he finished speaking, Pao Ge no longer held back. The dagger flipped in his hand, then suddenly slashed towards Liu Yu’s abdomen. Liu Yu tried to block with the axe in his left hand, but the expected clang of metal never came. With just a flick of Pao Ge’s wrist, the dagger sliced across Liu Yu’s neck, and blood splattered onto the blue brick wall.

Liu Yu slowly knelt before Pao Ge. “Impressive!”

Pao Ge wiped the blood from his face. “Ever since I came to this wretched place, I’ve been living with my tail between my legs, running at the slightest sign of danger, afraid of offending any of your demons and monsters. Yet, I still ended up offending someone. This rotten world truly doesn’t let good people live. Come on, I’ll kill as many as I can. Maybe after that, I can go home.”

“Come on!”

The enforcers attacked one after another, and Pao Ge killed his way forward step by step. When he finally looked back, exhausted, more than twenty bodies lay behind him.

The capital’s fighting guilds completely dropped their pretense and swarmed forward.

Er Dao protected Pao Ge from behind, now with several more wounds. Blood flowed down his clothes to his trousers, then dripped from his trouser legs onto the ground.

Pao Ge sighed softly. “Er Dao, I’ve let you down. Let’s be brothers again in our next life.”

Er Dao, however, showed no fear, only asking curiously, “In our next life, who’ll be the elder brother and who’ll be the younger?”

Pao Ge chuckled, cursing, “You still have such ambition, you rascal?”

He threw away his chipped dagger, picked up two axes from the ground, and roared, “Kill!”

Just then, screams erupted from behind the enforcers. Pao Ge suddenly turned to look back the way they came, seeing a person dressed in grey cloth, their face obscured by a grey mask, wielding an iron cudgel and fighting their way in from outside the alley.

This person was immensely strong, far beyond what these street enforcers could withstand. Caught off guard, more than twenty enforcers were sent sprawling, creating an opening.

They were incredibly fierce.

An enforcer roared, “Call for backup! It’s a Guild Master!”

“Quick, call the Hall Master!”

Amidst the shouts and fighting, the masked person reached the interior of Li Shamao Alley, quickly sizing up Pao Ge’s and Er Dao’s injuries. “Can you walk?”

Pao Ge raised an eyebrow. “Yes.”

The masked person turned and fought their way out again. “Go!”

Pao Ge watched the masked person’s back, feeling a sense of familiarity, yet he couldn’t recall where he had seen them before.

The masked person led Pao Ge and Er Dao out of Li Shamao Alley and plunged into another. The three sprinted beneath rows of red lanterns, causing guests on the second floor of the alley to open their windows and peer out.

Heji’s enforcers, dressed in black short jackets, converged from all directions. In the narrow alley, they flowed like water, gathering towards the center.

An enforcer charged towards the masked person, swinging his iron cudgel down at their head. But before the cudgel could land, the masked person twisted their body and slammed into him with a powerful elbow strike to the chest, sending him flying six meters back and knocking down three other arriving enforcers!

A guest from a second-floor window shouted, “What a show! Well deserved!”

Saying this, the guest even pulled out more than ten copper coins from his sleeve and scattered them down!

The masked person seized the opportunity while the opponents were in disarray, turned, and darted into a male courtesan house. Inside, male courtesans with heavy makeup, dressed in blue opera costumes, were singing opera while sitting on patrons’ laps.

Seeing the masked person burst in, a young courtesan instantly sprang up from a patron’s lap. “Ah! Who are you? Get out!”

But the masked person paid no attention, walking straight through the hall, then bursting through a white paper window at the back and slipping out. Pao Ge and Er Dao followed closely behind.

Before the courtesans and patrons could recover their senses, dozens of Heji’s enforcers, weapons in hand, stormed through the hall, making the young courtesans shriek repeatedly.

The masked person ran wildly, leading Pao Ge and Er Dao into a clean alley.

This alley was paved with blue bricks, and instead of red lanterns, it had rows of green ones. There were no sweet voices along the sides of the road, only the faint sounds of string and wind instruments drifting through the air.

He looked back and saw the middle-aged man from earlier standing at the alley’s entrance, blocking the enforcers. “Don’t go into Baishun Alley and disturb the esteemed guests. Let them go.”

After speaking, the middle-aged man stood outside the alley and clasped his hands towards Pao Ge and his two companions from a distance. “Pao Ge, you are a brave man; today, your life was not destined to end. However, since you’ve left today, don’t ever come back. The mountains are high and the rivers are long; let us never meet again in the jianghu!”

The middle-aged man then clasped his hands towards the masked person. “May I ask your esteemed name, brave sir? Heji will certainly repay you for this.”

Pao Ge was about to retort, but the masked person pulled him back step by step, retreating further into Baishun Alley. “Quick, let’s go! What if they circle around to the other end of Baishun Alley? If our path is blocked, we’ll truly be trapped.”

Pao Ge turned and left, following the masked person until they disappeared at the end of Baishun Alley.

The long-gowned middle-aged man remained standing outside the alley, slowly clasping his hands behind his back. He said to the enforcers beside him, “Go find the River Transport Guild. If anyone tries to secretly transport Pao Ge out, inform Heji. Search all inns, opera troupes, brothels, gambling dens, and clinics. Tell them Heji is offering one hundred taels of silver for his capture. Pao Ge is an impressive figure; if he’s allowed to make a comeback, Heji will have no way out.”

The masked person led Pao Ge and Er Dao silently through the dark alleyways, passing through Zhangjia Bridge, Chunshu Alley, and Guanyin Hall.

During this time, the masked person also looked around, seemingly lost in the capital’s deep, winding alleys.

Pao Ge felt a bit confused. This person… didn’t seem very familiar with the capital? He opened his mouth and asked, “Brave sir, where are you leading us?”

The masked person replied, “The outer city is crawling with the fighting guilds’ eyes and ears; it’s not safe. We need to enter the inner city through Xuanwu Gate; they can’t get in there.”

Pao Ge froze for a moment. “Just now, Xuanwu Gate Street was only one alley away. Now we’re getting farther and farther.”

The masked person looked a bit embarrassed, turned, and started walking in another direction. “My apologies, it’s my first time in the outer city.”

Pao Ge suddenly asked, “I haven’t asked about your background yet, brave sir. Why did you extend a helping hand?”

The masked person thought for a moment, then replied, “To right a wrong, one draws a sword and lends a hand.”

Pao Ge stopped walking, no longer following the masked person.

He clasped his hands in the narrow alley and said, “If you were merely passing by and helped us out of pity, we are immensely grateful. However, we cannot continue to follow you. Those fighting guilds, while outwardly adhering to codes of jianghu ethics, are secretly involved in dirty business. We killed so many of their men today; they will certainly not let this go. You haven’t revealed your identity yet, so it’s best for you to disengage soon.”

The masked person pondered for a long time, then said calmly, “What if I could help you take back the business in Li Shamao Alley?”

Pao Ge narrowed his eyes. “Benefactor, you must be joking. There must be thousands of fighting guild members in the capital, with over three hundred scattered just within the Eight Great Alleys. Even if you were a Guild Master, you couldn’t defeat so many people, could you?”

“You don’t need to worry about that; I have my own men,” the masked person said casually. “I only ask you this: if we take Li Shamao Alley, I get ninety percent, you get ten percent. Is that acceptable?”

Pao Ge said decisively, “Acceptable!”