Daomu Biji: The Mystic Nine

Unlike those wild stories from the old days, there were obviously fewer people using whips after the Qing Dynasty, with the exception of some horsemen from the north and southwest. It took a lot of training to utilize a whip as a weapon, and it was far less effective than a gun. Zhang Qishan’s mind was already preoccupied with something, and he wasn’t familiar with flying whips, so although he had dodged, his face still got scratched.

This whip actually had a bit of weight to it, so when Zhang Qishan dodged to the side, it ended up hitting a nearby seat and shattering it to pieces. The manager jumped up in shock and hurriedly shouted, "Sir, you broke it! You broke it!"

Golden leopard’s men kicked over their seats and surrounded him as their leader seized his collar, "I could smash this stage I donated if I wanted to. I’m tired of listening to an annoying pig like you, you damn fool.”

One of the nearby men immediately yelled at the manager, "Go and tell Er Yuehong to come out and sing a Flower Drum Opera song." But the manager immediately waved his hand: "Er Ye just got off the stage. He can't go on stage again."

The leopard had obviously drunk too much and the wine had gone to his head, for he pushed the manager to the ground. The manager stumbled and fell hard. Upon seeing Zhang Qishan glaring at him, the leopard swung his whip again, but Lieutenant appeared behind him in the blink of an eye and aimed his gun at his temple.

The leopard was a fighter, after all, so he immediately reacted by raising the whip up, but he didn't dare lash out. All of his men were frozen stiff. They had drunk too much just now and hadn’t paid any attention to the gun at Lieutenant's waist.

Zhang Qishan touched his face and gave the leopard a cold look. He was annoyed, but not at himself. The Japanese were at the gates, yet the city was still full of these kinds of characters. It was a chilling thought. The leopard’s lips were trembling and he was clenching his teeth; it was obvious his inner rage hadn’t disappeared, but the pistol had certainly sobered him up a little. It was only at this point that he noticed Zhang Qishan's uniform, which looked exactly like the ones those people in the barracks wore.

Zhang Qishan might have reprimanded him if he hadn’t had so much on his mind, but he wasn’t in the mood at the moment. He gave Lieutenant a look and started heading backstage. Lieutenant immediately understood and said to the leopard, "You’re lucky. Get lost."

The leopard was mostly sober by this point and lowered the whip in his hand, but when Lieutenant also lowered his gun, the leopard didn’t leave. Instead, he stepped on the seat, spit on the silk cushion, and then said, "So it turns out you’re a military man. Hold up."

When Zhang Qishan ignored him, the leopard shouted at him, "I said I was here first, military man! Zhang Da Fo Ye of Changsha’s Nine Gates is my sworn brother. Give me your name and rank. We may not settle this now, but the future is long. I don’t start something I can’t finish."

Zhang Qishan stopped and turned around, finding that the leopard was looking at him hungrily. He suddenly smiled: "I heard that Zhang Da Fo Ye's men only beat up the Japanese. This brother shows such high praise for Fo Ye. Do you want me to skin you for him and send you to the frontlines?"

The leopard's face suddenly changed. One of his men still hadn’t sobered up yet and scolded Zhang Qishan, "Just you wait and see. Our boss donated a lot of money to the army, so Zhang Da Fo Ye owes him a favor. He’ll put you in your place.” Just as Lieutenant raised the gun again, the leopard grunted out with a sullen look on his face, "You’ll see." With that said, he finally turned to go.

Seeing that Zhang Qishan didn't go backstage and stopped in the front row, the manager knew that Zhang Qishan understood the proper etiquette. He bowed to Lieutenant: "Sir, if you’ll wait on your master, I’m sure my boss will be out soon. There was so much noise outside, I’m sure he must have heard it. He’ll be out once he’s done taking his makeup and costume off. I’ll see those unlucky guests out. We can't afford to offend the landlord, so please don't take offense.” With that said, he went to see the group of guests off.

They swore and spit as they left the stage area, and one said, "Boss, this fucking Er Yuehong… you gave him a stage, but he didn't even come see us. And he found a soldier to run us off. This fucker isn’t taking us seriously at all. He's treating us like losers."

The leopard's face was black and livid, but he didn't know what to say. At this moment, he saw a long-haired beggar sitting at the entrance to the opera house, completely covered in dirt and grime. The manager— who had followed them out—turned around and gave the beggar the same fruit plate the leopard had used just now. The beggar hardly spared it a glance before he picked it up and started eating.

The manager came over and nodded at them, "I'm sorry, forgive me, but this…this…this isn’t a good place to talk. Please go quickly, you’re blocking him from viewing the lanterns." He said, pointing to the beggar.

The leopard looked back and saw a flower house behind them. He didn’t know if it was open for business, but there were many colorful lanterns hanging on it, which the beggar was looking at as he ate.

"This beggar is being treated better than us." One of his men said.

"You fucking bastard!" The more the leopard thought about it, the angrier he got. He felt as if he was purposefully being humiliated and turned his whip towards the beggar. His heart full of hatred as he lashed out with the intent to kill. If this whip hit someone, it would open a wound so deep it wouldn’t heal for half a year.

The bowing manager on the side reached out as quick as lightning and seized the whip in mid-air. The leopard immediately yanked it back, but found that he couldn’t move it at all.

When his men saw that their boss was at a disadvantage, they were just about to go up when the manager said with a smile, "Esteemed sirs, you'd better go quickly. If you don't, you’ll offend the one member of the Nine Gates you shouldn’t. It would be like serving yourself up to the King of Hell on a silver platter. You thirteen gentlemen really have bad luck. I urge you to go all the way to Dongcheng District’s gate and don’t look back. This leniency can be regarded as Er Ye’s thanks for the opera house."

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Tiffany's extra:

• Wu Xie’s Private Notes: Chapter 34 Other Related Information