Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

Chapter 299 Gathering Information

For the next period of time, Chen Mo lived a fairly regular life.

During the day, he mostly stayed at home, guarding the Ghost Banner Taoist priest as he extracted and refined souls.

The technique of drawing silk is quite spectacular when executed.

Ghost Banner Taoist sat cross-legged in the center of the magic array, with vengeful spirits suspended in front of him, his ten fingers constantly plucking the strings like a zither.

Strands of grayish-white vengeful spirits were slowly drawn out from between the patterns and carefully collected into a black pottery jar.

At first, Chen Mo would watch for an hour or two, but later he got bored and simply moved a recliner to the yard to cultivate while sunbathing.

Tangyuan lay on his chest, occasionally tilting her head back to ask for a breath of Yin energy.

After eating its fill, it rolls over and falls fast asleep. When it wakes up, it runs all over the yard. When it gets tired, it comes back and rubs its fingers against his.

Occasionally, he would also go to the East District Inspection Bureau to clock in.

Now that Ma and Wang have been dealt with, going to the inspection bureau is optional.

If anything happens, they will send someone to inform Chen Mo.

This situation left Deputy Director Zhou Peiwen dumbfounded.

He had originally planned to find an opportunity to put in a good word for Chen Mo, but he never expected it to turn out like this.

Unaware of the situation, he thought Chen Mo had gotten involved with some important figure, and his attitude towards him became increasingly amiable when they met.

Chen Mo was somewhat amused and exasperated, but too lazy to explain.

Let them guess for themselves.

Every three to five days, Fatty Li would send someone to invite him to dinner.

The other person seems to have become more carefree lately, and as a result, they've gained weight.

The fat man's chin has become much rounder.

The dinner was held in his own courtyard, with exquisite dishes that were not extravagant.

Tianbaolou's braised pork shank, stir-fried bean sprouts with crab roe oil, steaming hot and sour silver fish soup, plus two pots of freshly brewed Shaoxing rice wine.

The two sat facing each other, eating and drinking, and talking about things happening at the Tianjin port.

"Master Chen, the Green Gang has been much more behaving themselves lately."

Fatty Li picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks, his mouth glistening with oil as he chewed. "The old man recently intercepted several shipments from them and burned down a warehouse. Those bastards didn't dare utter a single word."

"People who encounter us on the street recently should avoid us."

Chen Mo picked up his wine glass and took a sip. The yellow wine was mellow and had a faint sweetness.

"Don't let your guard down," he said, setting down his glass in a calm tone.

Although he didn't take the Green Gang seriously, he still advised, "They can't have been able to entrenched themselves in Tianjin for so many years without someone behind them."

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"They suffered a loss before, so they're either saving a big move or waiting for reinforcements."

"If you let your guard down now, and someone catches you off guard, don't blame me for not warning you."

Fatty Li put away his smile and said seriously, "I have already spoken to the clan and they have increased manpower to keep an eye on the docks and several key intersections."

"If there's any trouble in the Green Gang, I'll be the first to know."

"That's good."

The two drank a few more glasses and chatted about everyday matters.

When Fatty Li asked him what he had been busy with lately, Chen Mo casually replied that he was refining some things, and Fatty Li wisely stopped asking.

It was already dusk when the party ended.

Chen Mo drove the car back to the East Street entrance and walked back to Willow Leaf Alley along the alley.

A lone streetlamp hung on a utility pole at the alley entrance, its bulb covered in dust, casting a dim, yellowish glow on the ground.

After turning the corner, I saw the red moon on the horizon.

The moon is not big tonight, hanging low above the rooftops in the distance.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, one sees Ghost Banner Taoist standing at the entrance of the main hall, his expression somewhat subtle.

"Master Chen is back."

Ghost Banner Taoist bowed and stepped aside to make way. "There's a letter inside, secretly delivered by Hong Gu."

Chen Mo paused, his brows furrowing slightly.

What did the two of them find out?

He entered the main hall, where an unsigned letter lay on the coffee table, sealed with a piece of dark red wax without a stamp.

Tear open the seal and pull out a sheet of Xuan paper folded into a square.

The letter contained only a few lines of text, written in illegible handwriting.

[The Green Gang, having failed to recruit him, are plotting to kill Master Chen within a month. Recently, Zhou Sandao has been actively recruiting top fighters, making significant moves.]

[Gu Ruzhang has a female Onmyoji as his personal bodyguard; her strength is unknown, and her own abilities are strange?]

At this point in her writing, Hong Gu crossed out "strange" and replaced it with another word: "unfathomable."

Chen Mo lowered his eyelids slightly, lingering on the words "unfathomable" for a few breaths.

He had already suspected that, given the historical context, anyone who could become the leader of the largest gang could not possibly be weak.

A weakling won't live more than a few days.

Curses, poisoning, black magic, soul-stealing...

Any method can take the life of an ordinary person.

However, the way Cherie Chung uses words like "strange" and "unfathomable" is worth considering.

Chen Mo flipped through the paper again, and only after confirming that there were no other messages left behind did he hand it to Gui Fan Dao Ren.

What do you think?

Ghost Banner Taoist took the letter, brought it close to the candlelight and read it carefully twice, his brows furrowing more and more.

After handing the letter back to Chen Mo, he pondered for a moment, stroked his beard, and said, "Master Chen, I have heard a bit about the profession of Yin-Yang Master when I was traveling in my early years."

"In the East, they call this shikigami, which is basically making a contract with demons and monsters to have those things do things for you."

"It has similarities to our line of work, but the approaches are quite different."

"When we refine and bind souls, we are using the soul as raw material."

"They take a more nurturing approach over there, raising demons like living beings, developing feelings for them, and making them easier to control."

"But it's also more dangerous; backlash from shikigami is quite common there."

Chen Mo brought the letter closer to the candlelight, watching the flames lick up from the edge and slowly swallow the messy handwriting.

The ashes curled and fell, quickly breaking into several black butterfly pieces on the coffee table.

"That Green Gang leader, Hong Gu says he's unfathomable. Have you heard any rumors about him?"

Ghost Banner Taoist remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the pile of ashes on the coffee table, lost in thought.

After a long pause, he slowly spoke: "I had heard some rumors about Gu Ruzhang before I came to Tianjin."

Chen Mo did not urge him, but simply pushed the teacup aside and placed his hands on his knees, folded together.

"He started his career in the south, not through fighting and killing."

"At that time, there was a strange case in the Guangdong and Guangxi region. A big merchant who was opposing him kept more than a dozen guards at home and locked the iron gate at night."

"As a result, all seven members of the family died in the bedroom overnight. The doors and windows were intact, and there were no external injuries on their bodies. The coroner examined them and concluded that they died of shock."

"And then?"

"Later, Gu Ruzhang swallowed up all the merchant's property, went north to Tianjin, and within a few years became the head of the Green Gang."

Ghost Banner Taoist stroked his beard. "People say he can use evil magic, but no one can provide any evidence, and no one has ever seen him use it."

"The old Taoist priest just thought it was a rumor and didn't take it to heart."

"Now that I've heard what Hong Gu has to say, I'm afraid there really is something to it."

Chen Mo nodded thoughtfully, then got up and paced around the hall.

As for the Zhou Sandao knife in the envelope, the two tacitly ignored it.

He's just a gang leader, someone you could crush with a flick of your finger. He's not worth mentioning.

"They want to deal with me, and they've given me a month. So let's use this month to pull out the teeth that are gnawing at Gu Ruzhang, one by one."

Chen Mo took out a copper coin from his pocket and twirled it between his fingers.

This copper coin was the Tianxi Tongbao that Fatty's maternal grandmother gave him.

"The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities."

"The Green Gang was such a large operation, with docks, opium dens, casinos, and brothels, it was riddled with problems."

"I don't need to storm into Gu Ruzhang's house. I just need to make his business fail, prevent his subordinates from getting paid, and make other gangs think that the Green Gang is about to be finished."

Ghost Banner Taoist seemed to be deep in thought: "Does Master Chen intend to cut off their supplies first?"

"Um."

Chen Mo walked to the window and looked at the red moon in the courtyard. "If it were just Gu Ruzhang alone, I wouldn't be afraid."

"The Green Gang members are from all walks of life, including dockworkers, opium den servants, street patrollers, and those who are just nominal thugs. There are at least tens of thousands of them."

"If this really escalates, the impact will be enormous."

Ghost Banner Taoist was slightly taken aback, then understood his meaning: "Master Chen is worried about... the Suppression Bureau?"

"That's right."

"Although the Qi and Blood Martial Arts is a short-lived technique, its combat power is truly top-notch."

Chen Mo walked back to his chair and sat down, tapping the armrest with his fingertips. "Even if we really face those experts in the Furnace Realm, I'm not confident."

"They don't officially concern themselves with gangster affairs, but if things escalate, it will definitely alert the other side."

He picked up the now-cold tea and took a sip, his brow furrowing slightly: "You can't do your weapon-forging work here anymore."

Ghost Banner Taoist was taken aback, then realized: "Master Chen means..."

"The fact that the Green Gang isn't making a move now doesn't mean they're not watching me."

Chen Mo leaned back in his chair, his tone leaving no room for negotiation, "If they come knocking on our door one day, things could get messy."

"Find a suitable house nearby tomorrow, you can buy or rent it, it's fine."

"Move the magic array and materials over there. From now on, all banner-making will be done there."

"And you, be careful when you go out, don't let anyone follow you."

Ghost Banner Taoist stood up, solemnly cupped his hands in a salute, and said, "I understand, Master Chen. Rest assured, with these skills, I can still save my life."

"That's good. Take care of yourself. I'm going out for a bit."

"Keep the doors and windows closed, and keep an eye on Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) to prevent them from running around."

Chen Mo waved for him to sit down and glanced at the little guy who was dozing off on the sofa.

Tangyuan seemed to sense something and raised her head to look at him.

Its dark eyes lit up briefly in the light, then it lazily lay back down.

As night deepened, the red moon in the courtyard cast a dark red glow on the ground.

Chen Mo pushed open the courtyard gate, turned around and closed it.

The alley was quiet, the streetlights were dim, and a few barks could be heard in the distance.

He walked a few steps close to the wall, and after confirming that no one was around, he blurred into a wisp of black smoke and flew westward.

The headquarters of the Green Gang was located on a main street at the intersection of the Japanese concession and the old city. There were guards at the entrance year-round, and a plaque hung high, exuding an air of authority.

Extraordinary.

Gu Ruzhang's private residence was located two alleys behind the headquarters, which made it easy to control the gang's affairs while avoiding the noise of the street.

As a retainer of the Green Gang, Hong Gu was assigned to live on the second floor of a small Western-style building on the east side of the headquarters. It was a separate house, only two hundred steps away from Gu Ruzhang's residence.

This is both an identity verification and surveillance.

Based on the senses of his soul, Chen Mo silently made his way to the foot of the small Western-style building.

There was a gas street lamp in front of the building, its dim yellow light illuminating the gray brick exterior wall in a half-light, half-dark manner.

The iron gate downstairs was ajar and unlocked.

It was gang territory after all, and ordinary thugs dared not approach.

Chen Mo emerged from the shadows of the doorway, extending a wisp of magical power and gently tapping on the glass of a second-floor window.

A moment later, the window opened silently a crack.

A gaunt woman's face peeked out from behind the curtains.

The other person's eyes darted around in the darkness, and when they saw the figure downstairs, their pupils suddenly contracted.

Hong Gu didn't say anything, but quickly pushed the window open and gestured for Chen Mo to come up.

Chen Mo leaped up, his body rising silently as he vaulted over the windowsill and landed inside the room.

This is a single room that is not spacious but is exquisitely furnished.

Rosewood furniture, a bed frame, and a celadon incense burner on the bedside table, with wisps of sandalwood incense burning.

A black lacquered wardrobe stood in the corner, its door half-open, revealing several neatly folded silk garments inside.

The only thing that made this room different from ordinary people's was the row of bottles and jars on the dressing table.

At first glance, it looked like rouge and face powder, but Chen Mo smelled a faint, fishy odor.

Hong Gu closed the window, drew the curtains, and turned around to bow deeply to Chen Mo.

"Mr. Chen, why did you come in person? What if someone sees you..."

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"I received the letter."

Chen Mo interrupted her and sat down on the round stool in front of the dressing table. "You did a good job."

Hong Gu straightened up, but dared not sit down, and simply stood to the side with her hands hanging down.

Ten long, jet-black fingernails gleamed coldly in the candlelight.

"Sit down, I have a few questions." Chen Mo gestured with his chin towards them.

Hong Gu then sat down on the embroidered stool opposite her, only half of it covered, her back taut and straight.

"Have you seen that female Yin-Yang Master beside Gu Ruzhang make a move?" Chen Mo asked bluntly.

Hong Gu shook her head: "No, that person follows Gu Ruzhang around all day, wherever he goes, but I've never seen her lay a hand on him."

"And what about Gu Ruzhang himself? Is he also very capable?"

Upon hearing this, Hong Gu's fingers involuntarily curled slightly.

Her long, jet-black fingernails trembled slightly in the candlelight.

"I've secretly inquired, and no one in the gang has ever seen him make a move."

Her voice lowered even further, "However, just three days ago, a man from outside the Great Wall broke into Master Gu's house."

Chen Mo did not urge her, but simply leaned forward slightly, indicating that she should continue.

"The man climbed over the wall into the backyard, alerting the guards."

"Several of the gang's guards surrounded him, but he knocked them down with just a few punches and kicks, and three of them died on the spot."

Hong Gu raised her eyelids to glance at Chen Mo, then quickly lowered them again.

"It made quite a commotion. By the time Master Zhou led us over, Master Gu had already come out of the house."

"Master Gu was standing in the courtyard, and the man from outside the Great Wall was standing opposite him, about seven or eight steps apart."

"Zhou Sandao wanted us to go up and get that man from outside the pass, but Master Gu stopped us."

"He told us all to leave, close the courtyard gate, and not to go in."

"After the courtyard gate closed, it was quiet for a few moments. Then the man from outside the pass called out once, and then there was no more sound."

"I didn't hear any fighting sounds from beginning to end."

Hong Gu paused for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts.

"After seven or eight breaths, the courtyard gate opened from the inside."

"Master Gu stood at the door, his clothes were clean and neat, not even the hem of his clothes was wrinkled."

"He was carrying something in his hand and threw it at us."

"After I looked closely, I realized it was just that person's skin."

"From scalp to toe, a complete human skin, even the hair is there."

The inside of the skin was clean, as if it had been licked by something...

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