Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Village Traitor

The salt trader stayed at the Guo household for three days, and on nearly every night he and the Guo family’s Third Young Master talked until very late.

During those three days, the two men exchanged information, forged a strategic alliance, and quietly reached an agreement: the Third Young Master of the Guo family would help the salt trader plead his case, and the salt trader would persuade the leader of the Salt Gang to strike at the Xu family.

Both the salt trader and Guo Decai believed this was a perfect union.

Though the Guo family had people, it had neither land nor fighting strength. The Salt Gang had fighting strength, but it needed outlets for its goods. Once the cancerous growth rooted in Deer-Crane Gorge, the Xu family, was cut away, the Guo family’s territory would expand at once, making it the greatest house in Deer-Crane Gorge. And if they also maintained good relations with the Salt Gang, then when the gang raised its prices in Deer-Crane Gorge at will, so long as the Guo family kept silent, the common people below would never dare complain.

Though, compared with the Salt Gang, his own Guo family, second among the great houses of Deer-Crane Gorge, amounted to little enough, he still believed he possessed considerable value. For he knew all the details of Xu Wenshan.

When he spoke with the salt trader, he had deliberately held something back. He had said only that the Xu family’s young master was arrogant and overbearing, but not that he was highly skilled in martial arts and especially gifted with the bow, nor had he mentioned the recent rumor that Xu Wenshan was recruiting men and buying weapons.

He meant to save those details for when he met the leader of the Salt Gang in person. He believed they would win him some standing before that man.

On the evening of the fourth day, Guo Decai and the salt trader set out.

At that very time, Xu Wenshan was training his new troops. Through his little spiders, he had long since grasped the movements of every faction in Deer-Crane Gorge, so naturally he knew of Guo Decai’s betrayal of the village.

But he did not care.

Or rather, he was hoping that the Guo family would expose a few more handles for him to seize.

The two men traveled by night because they did not wish to be discovered by the Xu family. Though the dark carried the risk of meeting monsters, the salt trader always kept with him talismans obtained from a Daoist temple. They had roamed north and south for years, relying on those temple talismans for protection.

Traveling through the night, they reached Windstone Village by dusk the next day.

A narrow path wound up from the woods onto a bare yellow earthen hill. The two men followed it to the rise, and below the slope, with curling smoke from cooking fires and the sounds of chickens and dogs answering one another, lay Windstone Village.

Guo Decai strode down from the hill with great excitement, while the salt trader at his side said, “Third Young Master, if the leader flies into a rage later, you must be sure to testify for me. I never spent a single coin on my own. It was all that Xu Wenshan from your village.”

Guo Decai asked, “Why would the leader be angry?”

The salt trader said awkwardly, “I lost the salt. A whole cartload of salt is gone. Of course the leader will be furious.”

Guo Decai thumped his chest and said, “Don’t worry about that. The matter is plain as day. It’s entirely that Xu Wenshan’s fault. I guarantee the leader won’t blame you.”

“Then that’s good, that’s good,” the salt trader said at once.

The two men entered the village, but were stopped by the outer fence.

Only after the sentry behind the gate confirmed the salt trader’s identity were they let in. Guo Decai said, “Your defenses are like a wall of bronze and iron. I don’t see how anyone could ever break in.”

The salt trader lowered his voice. “Yes.”

After entering the village, the salt trader suddenly became solemn and no longer dared speak aloud.

The two men walked to the largest building in the village center. This was the leader’s residence. A plaque bearing the words White Dragon Hall hung at its center, and deeper inside, above the doorway, were four characters: Benevolence Brings Wealth.

When the two of them entered together, the leader of the Salt Gang was reclining on a broad chair upholstered in tiger skin, drinking wine.

He was a man with disheveled hair and beard, a dark and sinister face, a hawk’s beak of a nose, deep-set eyes, and a pair of pupils that flickered as they studied Guo Decai. He looked like a cunning old wolf. An air of dominance naturally radiated from him, compelling Guo Decai to feel reverence against his own will.

The leader pointed at the salt trader and said, “You’re back rather early this time.”

Guo Decai heard only the sound of the man beside him breathing hard. He stole a glance and saw that the salt trader was drenched in sweat, his whole body soaked through, his breath in complete disorder.

“Leader, I...”

“You failed the mission?”

“My salt...”

“And the money?”

The salt trader stood awkwardly in place. The leader said, “Ah, I understand. You lost the goods on this trip.”

Guo Decai knew it was time for him to step forward, and he immediately said, “Leader, there was a reason for this matter.” Then he explained the whole affair from beginning to end.

The leader toyed with an empty wine cup in his hand and said slowly, “So you are a guest from Deer-Crane Gorge. My place is crude and humble, and I cannot give you proper hospitality. Forgive me.”

Guo Decai made a few modest replies, and the leader at once said, “Now I must deal with my subordinate. Please wait a moment, honored guest.” Then he turned to the salt trader and asked, “Do you want to fight for a chance, or do you want a proper burial?”

The salt trader was trembling all over on the ground. Guo Decai finally understood and said, “Are you saying he’s to be executed?”

The leader said, “The rule of my White Dragon Salt Gang is simple: whoever fails the mission dies.”

Guo Decai said, “But this wasn’t his fault! With Xu Wenshan stirring the pot, no one could have done it!”

The leader said without expression, “Then do you mean that for the sake of this Xu Wenshan, I should revise the order I already issued?”

Guo Decai hurriedly said, “That isn’t what I meant...”

The leader said, “Once my orders go out, there is no taking them back. As for this Xu Wenshan or whatever he is called, I do not concern myself with him, nor is there any need to.”

“But...” Guo Decai was about to argue again when the salt trader caught his arm.

“Third Young Master, forget it. The leader’s word has always been final. It cannot be changed.”

Having said that, he stood up again and said, “Leader, I choose to fight for a chance.”

The leader said, “Very well. Then I will personally watch the result, and in passing let the guest you brought see how our Salt Gang conducts its affairs.”

A few Salt Gang enforcers escorted the three of them out of the main hall and walked east for some distance until they reached a training ground.

Guo Decai was still wondering what this was all for when the leader explained, “If a brother of my Salt Gang commits a capital offense, it is not entirely hopeless. So long as he can fight to the death against other condemned men on the training ground and win three bouts, he may be pardoned.”

Guo Decai gave a faint nod. Along the way here, every Salt Gang enforcer he had seen looked highly skilled, each one saturated with killing intent. With a method like this, the underlings would be driven to train with all their might, for weakness meant they could not survive here.

The salt trader drew a curved blade and stepped into the arena. Before long, a crowd gathered around the training ground, and his opponent was dragged out, tightly bound hand and foot: a bald man. The atmosphere immediately turned feverish. Some people whistled; others began to shout encouragement.

The leader called loudly, “Everyone, quiet down. Before the fighting starts, I have something to say.”

“This man came back today to report to me that all his goods were lost in Deer-Crane Gorge, hijacked by the Xu family.”

As soon as those words were spoken, the crowd erupted at once. Some began to howl, “Kill him!” and “Attack them! Wipe out that village!”

The leader waved a hand and said, “Of course. My Salt Gang has never bullied the weak by force. Yet today someone has dared to bully us. This fight is a contest to raise our military prestige! Once it is over, we will slaughter Deer-Crane Gorge and establish our might!”

Hearing this, Guo Decai dropped heavily to the ground and murmured, “It’s over. It’s all over.”