Chapter Thirty-Seven: Framing (Part Two)

Yang Ze did not act rashly. His gaze swept across the second-floor warehouse, and he quickly found his target.

Atop one of the shelves sat an exquisite wooden box, its exterior adorned with intricate carvings. Though he had no idea what lay within, Yang Ze’s instincts told him the contents must be valuable—otherwise, why would it be stored in such a fine container?

Gripping his grappling hook in his right hand, Yang Ze summoned his inner force, the muscles of his arm tensing. With a powerful motion, he hurled the hook. With a swish, it locked onto the wooden box.

Yang Ze’s expression remained calm. He drew a deep breath, grabbed the rope with his left hand, and, coordinating both hands, began to slowly pull the box from the top of the shelf.

The wooden box shook violently as it left the shelf, but Yang Ze quickly steadied the rope and continued lifting it upward. He had just reached the halfway point when, suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from outside and the warehouse door was flung open.

A man in close-fitting garb, a torch in hand, strode in. The torchlight revealed a hole in the roof, and just behind it, Yang Ze, masked and clad in black, manipulating the grappling hook to retrieve the wooden box.

“Not good!” Yang Ze muttered inwardly. With a swift yank, he seized the box, which had been moving slowly, and caught it in his hand.

Seeing this, the man shouted, “Thief! On the second floor! Catch him, quickly!”

He had heard faint sounds and come to investigate, only to stumble upon a masked intruder in the act of theft.

Yang Ze grabbed a roof tile from nearby and hurled it forcefully; the man failed to dodge, was struck, and collapsed with a scream.

Without checking whether the man was dead, Yang Ze glanced around and saw over thirty people surrounding the warehouse, forming a tight encirclement.

With a cold snort, Yang Ze vaulted out, somersaulting in the air, nearly clearing the ring of pursuers. But at that moment, four martial artists at the initial stage of Qi Conduction emerged from the crowd, attacking him mid-leap.

Yang Ze had no choice but to defend himself. He lashed out with a kick, clashing with the four. The strength of his leg shocked them; with just one exchange, they were all knocked back. Yet the impact forced Yang Ze back into the encirclement.

As he landed, over thirty guards charged at him, weapons in hand, fierce and menacing.

Yang Ze snorted again, shot forward, and with a flurry of punches felled seven or eight men blocking his path. As the next wave surged in, he swept his leg out, sending six more flying.

Still, more than a dozen closed in, and the four Qi Conduction martial artists, having caught their breath, rejoined the fray, completely surrounding him.

With a murderous gleam in his eye, Yang Ze reached behind him, gripping his long saber. Channeling his inner force into his right arm, his strength multiplied, and he unleashed a fierce, horizontal slash—the second form of the Black Tiger Saber Technique: “Tiger’s Roar.”

In the darkness, the air seemed to reverberate with the growl of a wild tiger. The charging men felt a wave of dread.

“That’s the Tiger’s Roar of the Black Tiger Saber Technique! He’s from the Black Tiger Hall! We’re no match for him—retreat!” one of the martial artists shouted. Several heeded the warning and fell back.

But many were too slow. In a flash of blade and a spray of blood, Yang Ze’s saber claimed more than a dozen lives.

The rest were cowed, unwilling to advance. At that moment, a new group appeared outside the warehouse—the Chamber of Commerce reinforcements, including four more Qi Conduction experts and over thirty men, sealing the exit.

“This man is a Black Tiger Hall expert! He’s killed over twenty of our people and wields the Black Tiger Saber Technique—be careful!” shouted the martial artist who had first recognized Yang Ze’s style.

Yang Ze fixed his gaze on the man, snorted coldly, and lunged forward, startling them into retreat.

Just as he was about to clash with them, Yang Ze abruptly changed direction, vaulted over the wall, and escaped.

This left his pursuers red with anger—they had been so easily deceived. With so many dead and their treasure lost, they dared not cover up the incident. They left a team to guard the warehouse, sent another to report back, and the rest chased after Yang Ze’s trail.

After leaving the warehouse, Yang Ze ducked into a maze of alleys, weaving and dodging. Glancing back, the torchlight of his pursuers grew ever more distant.

Once he was clear, he doubted they could catch him in such a vast area. In truth, had he not wanted to avoid unnecessary complications, he could have killed them all.

By the time he returned to Tongyang Bank, an hour and a half had passed. No sooner had he arrived than Old Xie returned as well.

The two exchanged glances, noticing the dust covering them both, and shared a laugh.

“How did it go, Second Young Master?” Old Xie asked, removing his mask.

“Not bad. Things got complicated midway and I had to adjust the plan, but it should make the show even livelier. And you?”

“All went smoothly. The Iron Hammer Gang are all brawn and little wit. After I killed a few, I set a fire—heaven knows what I burned—and then slipped away. As I was leaving, I saw most of the Iron Hammer Gang mobilizing, so the alarm’s surely been raised.”

He chuckled.

“That’s good—chaos is exactly what we need. By the way, did you set up the Poison Gate?”

“It’s done. The Poison Gate won’t escape blame this time. I lured one of their men over, and he’s probably already been captured by the Iron Hammer Gang. They’re unreasonable sorts—no matter how he protests, it’ll be for nothing.”

“Let’s get some rest. The rest is up to them. Remember, no one must know I’ve left seclusion!” Yang Ze instructed sternly.

Old Xie nodded. Their actions had been risky; a single misstep could spell disaster. Were it not for Yang Ze’s insistence, Old Xie himself would never have agreed to such madness.

...

The next morning, all of Xiangyun Street was thrown into uproar—a commotion that quickly spread throughout Sitong Ward, becoming common knowledge.

Yang Ze had been waiting for news, and Old Xie did not disappoint. Soon, he brought a report.

That morning, the Chamber of Commerce had led a force to the Black Tiger Hall. In response, all of Black Tiger Hall’s experts—save their leader—came forth. A fierce clash ensued; with their chief absent, Black Tiger Hall nearly suffered defeat but managed to repel the Chamber’s forces thanks to their home advantage.

Meanwhile, the Iron Hammer Gang had been attacked the previous night—their armory set ablaze and several Qi Conduction members injured, shocking the gang.

Afterward, the Iron Hammer Gang caught a Poison Gate disciple nearby and sent men to demand an explanation from the Poison Gate.

As Old Xie reported, Yang Ze’s expression remained calm, as if none of this had anything to do with them.

“Any other news?” Yang Ze asked.

“The Chamber couldn’t take Black Tiger Hall and retreated. Over ten died in the conflict, deepening the enmity between the two. The Iron Hammer Gang has made no moves, but word is their chief, Tie Qi, has emerged from seclusion—his intentions are unknown. Otherwise, nothing new.”

Yang Ze said nothing, replaying the aftermath in his mind. All this chaos had been orchestrated by him and Old Xie.

The previous night, he and Old Xie had split up—one to the Chamber’s warehouse, the other to the Iron Hammer Gang.

Yang Ze had targeted the warehouse because he knew the Black Tiger Saber Technique, and the Black Tiger Hall’s men did as well. With recent friction between the two sides, a display of the technique would naturally lead the Chamber to suspect the Black Tiger Hall, provoking conflict.

An unexpected incident had occurred on the way—he had stumbled across a tryst and had to kill someone on the spot. As for the subsequent exposure, that had been intentional; otherwise, how would he have had the chance to display the Black Tiger Saber Technique?

Old Xie, meanwhile, had gone to the Iron Hammer Gang. Their recent arrogance had won them many enemies, and his attack left them bewildered.

Crucially, Old Xie had lured a Poison Gate disciple to the area. When the disciple was captured, suspicion naturally fell on the Poison Gate.

Rumor had it the Iron Hammer Gang’s leader was about to break through to the next level. If that happened, the Poison Gate’s standing would be threatened. It wasn’t unreasonable, then, for the Poison Gate to be keeping an eye on the gang.

Xiangyun Street had six major forces. If four were thrown into turmoil, chaos would soon reign—and chaos was Yang Ze’s opportunity.

He was unafraid of suspicion falling on him; as far as the world knew, he was still in seclusion. Nothing unusual had happened in his own ranks, nor in the Woodcutters’ Guild. As long as he kept a low profile, no one would suspect him.

After a brief exchange, Old Xie went out again. Only the two of them knew the truth; a third must never find out. With Yang Ze unable to act openly, everything had to be handled by Old Xie.

But Old Xie had barely been gone a quarter of an hour before he returned, his face grim, startling Yang Ze.

“Second Young Master, was there anything else last night? I just saw a squad of constables on Xiangyun Street—the authorities have gotten involved!”

Old Xie looked deeply troubled. If only the underworld forces were involved, they could handle it—but with the authorities in play, things became complicated.

“Tell me everything. Why would the authorities get involved? Do they really think they can contend with the martial clans of Yuyang City?” Yang Ze was puzzled; usually, the authorities ignored such strife, being powerless to contain it. What had changed?

“This morning, a man’s body was found in an alley near the Chamber’s warehouse. Someone called the authorities. When they investigated, they discovered the victim wasn’t an ordinary citizen—he was a constable.

“This is a disaster. With one of their own killed, the authorities will take this seriously. Now, they have no choice but to intervene.”

As Old Xie spoke, he glanced at Yang Ze, not mentioning that the constable had been slain with a blade—the authorities’ prime suspect was the warehouse assailant. Because of this, the Black Tiger Hall was now surrounded by constables.

Though the authorities couldn’t dominate the martial world, the government remained the city’s supreme power. They could not ignore one of their own being murdered.

Yang Ze, hearing this, did not conceal the previous night’s accident—he recounted everything. He had not expected the man he killed to be a constable, but there had been no alternative, and no time to dispose of the body.

“Old Xie, keep watch on the Black Tiger Hall—they’re finished. Here’s what you must do…” Yang Ze issued further instructions, and Old Xie departed again.

The next day, another upheaval swept Xiangyun Street. The authorities ordered the arrest of all Black Tiger Hall members. The Hall resisted, resulting in a fierce battle. But the Hall was only one faction among many; compared with the authorities, their strength was lacking. The Hall’s headquarters was overrun, their members suffered heavy casualties and many were arrested. In the end, only fewer than thirty escaped in a desperate breakout, their whereabouts unknown.

The authorities soon issued a citywide warrant for the Black Tiger Hall. The other factions of Xiangyun Street fell silent.