Chapter 5: Desperadoes

Chapter 5 The Desperado

"Paoge Society, Muddy Water Paoge branch, Red Flag Fifth Brother, Li Jun."

Li Jun folded down his popped collar, revealing the Yazi tattoo on his neck.

"I've heard your name. The toughest Red Flag Fifth Brother under Zhao Ding. Among the youngsters in the Jie'e District, your reputation rings loud enough."

Wu Ya Hua tossed that set of blood vessels into a freezer, picked up a scrap of cloth to wipe the blood from his hands, and asked offhandedly, "What ailment couldn't the Paoge Society's doctors cure, that you need to come find me?"

At those words, Li Jun shed his coat, revealing a lean, well-muscled frame.

Flesh was torn open at his waist and abdomen, two bullet holes thick as fingers still oozing fresh blood.

Wu Ya Hua glanced sideways at the girl beside him without changing expression. Seeing her still engrossed in her book, he rolled his eyes at Li Jun in annoyance.

"Just this little scratch? Do you know how much I charge for a single consultation?"

Two through-and-through gunshot wounds were, to a Ghost Street doctor, beneath notice.

The patients they usually took on were missing limbs at the very least.

Li Jun, sharp-witted, saw through Wu Ya Hua's thoughts at a glance and promptly put his clothes back on.

"Seeing a doctor is secondary. I came this time mainly to buy information."

Seeing the other man knew the score, Wu Ya Hua's cold, hard face softened a fraction. "What information do you want?"

Li Jun enunciated each word: "I want to know who in the Paoge Society sold me out."

Medicine isn't the only thing that saves lives; information can too.

In Ghost Street's black clinics, besides treating illness and performing surgery, there was another trade: buying and selling secrets.

Wu Ya Hua was a master of that trade, and that was why Li Jun had sought him out.

"Oh?" Wu Ya Hua's snow-white eyebrows arched, a smile-not-smile on his lips. "Am I that familiar with you?"

Li Jun answered with disarming honesty: "Not familiar. This is our first time doing business."

"Then why do you think I'd sell you information?"

Wu Ya Hua laughed coldly. "Ghost Street's rule: information isn't sold to strangers. Kid, do you understand? Besides, you're buying intel on your own society. That makes it even less likely I'd sell to you."

"I don't want those crazy bastards of the Paoge Society, the ones who swear by righteousness, knocking on my door."

"Once a stranger, twice a friend. Do this deal, and next time we'll be old acquaintances."

Li Jun's tone was flat, but his resolve was iron-hard.

Wu Ya Hua tilted his head, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "And if I refuse?"

Li Jun raised a hand to brush his eyebrow. "From the moment I walked into this clinic, you had no choice but to sell."

*Click-clack...*

A series of mechanical whirs echoed out.

The ceiling panels flipped rapidly, and guns mounted on automated rigs dropped down.

Among them, conspicuously, was the Wei Wu Zu Type-IV pistol Li Jun had used.

In an instant, a dense web of red reticles locked onto Li Jun.

"Even your helmsman Zhao Ding wouldn't dare speak to me like that. Who the hell do you think you are? Daring to strong-arm me on my own turf—have you Muddy Water Paoge gone soft on Nine Dragons Street?"

Wu Ya Hua laughed in fury, hands on hips, the two white whiskers on his lip trembling.

"Old man, light him up!"

The girl buried in her book had risen at some point, a long, narrow straight razor in her hand, her slightly childish face radiating dense killing intent.

Locked on by countless weapons, Li Jun's face remained calm. "Think clearly, Wu Ya Hua. Kill me, and you won't last in Chengdu Prefecture either."

Wu Ya Hua sneered. "I've dissected Sequencers. You think I'm afraid of a mere ordinary man?"

"What if I have another identity?"

Li Jun's composure made Wu Ya Hua's heart sink. He scrutinized the young man top to bottom, hesitation in his voice. "Who exactly are you?"

"Old man, why the chatter? Anyone causing trouble at Wu Ya Clinic gets chopped!"

The girl's temper was explosively violent; even as she spoke she moved to charge, blade raised.

"Duo Duo, wait."

Wu Ya Hua barked a halt. He stared at Li Jun with suspicion, muttering to himself, "Impossible. If he had another identity, Ghost Street couldn't have missed it..."

"Of course you couldn't find it. I am Jinyi..."

Li Jun hadn't finished when Wu Ya Hua's face drastically changed.

With a wave of his hand, countless iron plates rose from the floor, instantly forming an iron wall that sealed the girl outside.

*Thud... thud... thud...*

"Duo Duo, don't be rash! I'm just chatting with this uncle!"

Wu Ya Hua shouted at the top of his lungs. When the banging outside ceased, he frowned and said, "I didn't hear what you just said. You never came to Wu Ya Clinic today. Get lost."

Li Jun looked at the old man, fear etched between his brows, and shook his head slowly but firmly. "If I don't get the information today, even if I leave, you're a dead man."

"Threatening me? Don't think climbing up to those people means I won't touch you! Believe it or not, in one second I can broadcast your identity to all of Chengdu Prefecture!" Wu Ya Hua roared, voice suppressed.

"Leak my identity, and the Jinyiwei will naturally clean you up. The contraband in this clinic alone is enough to execute you ten times over."

Wu Ya Hua raged. "Ghost Street's contraband trade is tacitly allowed by the higher-ups. Why would the Jinyiwei break protocol for a petty informant?"

"No reason. Just because I dare gamble, and you don't."

Wu Ya Hua glared at this stubborn piece of work before him. A moment later, his voice lost its strength. "You take such a huge risk just to drag me down? We have no grudge!"

Li Jun's gaze held a trace of apology. "If I don't settle the traitor, I'll eventually be stabbed in the back. Only when I'm safe is your Wu Ya Clinic safe."

Looking at the defeated old man, Li Jun spoke in a low voice. "Once I survive this, life or money—name your price. Paoge men never welsh on a deal."

Wu Ya Hua seemed indifferent to Li Jun's promise. He waved a hand wearily. "Why me? Ghost Street is full of clinics that sell information."

Li Jun pointed toward the iron wall. "Because Zhao Ding said, among Ghost Street doctors, you, Wu Ya Hua, have the most obvious weak point."

Hearing Li Jun's answer, Wu Ya Hua exploded. "Damn your ancestors, Zhao Ding! I'm not done with you!"

Wu Ya Hua cursed Zhao Ding's eighteen generations of ancestors in a thick Sichuan accent, then panted heavily. "Who sold you out? You should've guessed long ago. It's Zhao Dou! Your Muddy Water Paoge's Crown Prince!"

Li Jun's fists clenched tight. "Is the intel solid?"

Wu Ya Hua curled his lip, displeased by the doubt. "I, Wu Ya Hua, never sell fake goods. I have people in the Tianfu Guards. The intel is guaranteed authentic!"

Li Jun let out a long, turbid breath. It really was that silk-pants brat.

He'd long known Zhao Dou disliked him, and that a falling-out was inevitable.

But he hadn't expected Zhao Dou to collude with outsiders against his own while Zhao Ding still lived.

Yet from Zhao Dou's perspective, Li Jun was internal trouble; Liu Chuan Tan was external threat.

A chance to remove both stumbling blocks at once—impossible to pass up.

Zhao Dou's vision might be shortsighted, but his methods were ruthless enough.

“Does Zhao Ding know that Zhao Dou is a traitor?” Li Jun continued to ask.

“Zhao Ding probably doesn't know. Though he screwed me over, I have to admit, Zhao Ding lives up to the name 'Paoge.'”

Crow Hua suddenly sighed. “But let me give you a piece of advice: what difference does it make whether Zhao Ding knows or not? Do you really think he’d kill his only kin to make amends to you?”

“Besides, a silk-pants brat like Zhao Dou couldn't pull off a setup like this on his own. There are definitely others pulling strings behind him.”

Crow Hua looked at the silent Li Jun and probed, “How about I swap your face and smuggle you out of the Jie'e District? Rest assured, with my skill, short of a gene check, no one would uncover your true identity.”

Li Jun didn't even hesitate before flatly rejecting Crow Hua's proposal.

A new face might let him escape the Paoge Society, but it would never shake the pursuit of the Second Division of the Chengdu Brocade Guards.

The moment he thought of Yu Kou’s oppressive presence, vast as an abyssal sea, the killing intent in Li Jun’s heart grew heavier, his face hardening into cold iron.

The situation was already a pack of wolves circling. Since they all wanted to tear a piece of flesh from him, let’s just see whose fangs are sharper!

Before a tiger, there are no ditches; before a coward, every step is a chasm!

I want to see just who laughs last!

With his mind made up, Li Jun straightened his spine. His chiseled features were set with uncommon resolve, radiating a sharp, commanding aura that demanded attention.

Good words cannot persuade a man bent on death. From Li Jun’s eyes, Crow Hua saw he had no intention of fleeing in disguise. With a long sigh, he tossed him a vial of his own concocted healing serum.

Li Jun caught it, and without a shred of hesitation, plunged the needle into his own abdomen. Then, cupping his fist and bowing to Crow Hua, he turned and strode out of the clinic in great strides.

Only after Li Jun’s figure vanished did Crow Hua lift his gaze to scan the accumulated belongings surrounding him, a look of sorrowful desolation crossing his face.

As the saying goes: the young shouldn't enter Sichuan, the old shouldn't leave it. He never thought that with one foot in the grave, he’d still have to move house.

“Old man, why did you let him go?”

Crow Duo had been stopped outside the iron wall; she knew nothing of what had transpired. Seeing her grandfather simply let Li Jun walk away, she fumed.

Crow Hua heaved a sigh. “People like him... we can't afford to cross.”

“What kind of person is he?”

“A desperate man with nothing left to lose.”