20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 535: Tiger
Zhabei Railway Station, at the west end of the platform, about three or two hundred meters away.

Not far from the railway, a strong wind blew, causing the low bushes to rustle. As they swayed left and right, a frightened face emerged.

Chuanghu immediately squatted down, hiding himself in the shadow of the bushes, gently parted the branches, and stretched his neck to look in the direction of the platform.

He was the smallest and ran the fastest, and he was wearing a nightgown. When the gunshot rang out, he slipped away so quickly that even the assassin didn't notice him.

On the platform in the distance, the gunfight continued, but soon the station was plunged into darkness.

Chuang Hu couldn't see the situation on the opposite side clearly. He only knew that someone was shouting desperately, and then there was the sound of a rifle, and it seemed that Lao Chai was rushing over.

Then, in the night, gunfire was seen crossing the railway, gradually moving southward and heading towards the International Settlement.

Only at this moment did Chuang Hu collapse on the ground and finally heaved a sigh of relief.

But only half a second later, he suddenly stood up again, looked around as if waking up from a dream, his face pale, and muttered to himself in confusion: "Hiss, that's not right, I... why did I run away?"

The situation just now happened too suddenly, and he had no time to think about it. He fled for his life completely out of instinct and subconsciously.

Moreover, he took it for granted that everyone should run for their lives.

But now he suddenly realized that if Jiang Lianheng and others had not fought back, he would have no chance of escaping.

"Oh no, this... this makes me a traitor!!"

Shock, astonishment, disbelief, acceptance of reality...

Chuang Hu was extremely anxious. He quickly took out a palm-sized booklet from his arms, spat on his fingertips twice, and tremblingly opened the title page. It turned out to be a copy of "Jiang Family Laws" that he had copied himself.

"What kind of punishment is this?" he muttered to himself as he turned the pages.

Although there were street lights on both sides of the railway near the station, the light was too dim after all. Chuanghu rubbed his eyes, his nose almost touching the paper, before he finally found the corresponding fifth house rule.

"He who deserts the battlefield and abandons his brothers...will be stabbed six times and pierced by ten thousand arrows..."

Chuanghu burped and almost died on the spot. He quickly closed the booklet and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"It's over, it's over, I'm really screwed this time!" He was so excited that he slapped himself in the face and said guiltily, "You damned thing, why are you running away!"

Although he never claimed to be a hero, he knew what shabby meant and did not want to be a coward. Now that his body and mind were at odds, he felt a little embarrassed and could not raise his head. He always wanted to find a way to make up for it.

However, even if he had not experienced or seen the Jiang family's methods of punishing people, he had definitely heard of them.

Chuanghu was a little scared, but if he just left now, he would never be able to return to Fengtian, and he would have to live in hiding in the future.

Moreover, given the current situation, it is still unclear whether he can escape from Shanghai by himself.

The assassin has obviously figured out their background, and Chuanghu is the most distinctive one among them. Whether going to the train station or the dock, it is actually not safe - if he is alone, he will die. Only by uniting with the rest of the group can he hope to leave Shanghai safely.

As I was thinking about it, there was suddenly thunder and lightning in the night sky and heavy rain began to fall.

Chuanghu gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and while there was chaos on the platform, he quickly stood up and ran out in the rain.

He originally wanted to follow the direction of the gunshots and chase after them directly, but suddenly he remembered that Lao Chai had just passed by there, so he did not dare to take the risk. Instead, he took a long detour and sneaked into the International Settlement step by step.

……

……

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and there was almost no one to be seen in the streets, but Chuanghu was still extremely cautious, mobilizing all his senses, including his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. Every three or five steps he would look back, for fear of being spotted by spies.

It turned out that his concerns were well-founded.

Chuanghu had just been wandering around the International Settlement for more than ten minutes when he clearly felt that the number of "pedestrians" at the intersections of the city streets was gradually increasing.

Those people seemed to have received some kind of transfer orders, and were scattered at crossroads, bridgeheads and other important places.

They stood by the wall, holding an umbrella, smoking quietly in the rainy night. The orange-red light flickered and was almost unnoticeable. If you were not careful, one of them would appear from nowhere. Especially near the Suzhou River, the number of spies gradually increased.

Chuanghu dodged and moved swiftly, avoiding the eyes and ears, and headed towards the American Concession in the general direction.

The Suzhou River is getting closer.

Just as he passed through an alley and was about to turn into the main street, he suddenly withdrew his steps, leaned against the wall to catch his breath for a moment, then quietly turned around, revealing half of his face, and glanced at the situation diagonally opposite.

But I saw three or five Qing Gang disciples holding black umbrellas standing on the roadside, looking around at what was happening on the street.

Seeing this, Chuanghu couldn't help but look up at the residential buildings on both sides of the alley.

When I was hesitating whether to climb up to the roof in the rain to overlook the surrounding situation, two dazzling beams of light suddenly appeared across the street.

At the same time, the roar of the engine slowly approached.

Chuanghu hurriedly squatted down and looked around, only to see a black Mercedes-Benz car passing through the rain curtain and stopping on the side of the road without turning off the engine.

The car window rolled down, and several "black umbrellas" hurried over, bent down, nodded and said a few words to the passenger seat, then waved and watched them go.

Immediately afterwards, the black Mercedes started again, pushed aside the rain curtain, and slowly patrolled the American Concession like a ghost.

The car lights flashed by, and Chuanghu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But at this moment, a big hand suddenly reached out from behind, covered Chuanghu's mouth and nose tightly, almost lifted him up on the spot, made a circle in the air, and finally slammed him hard against the wall.

"Uh-uh-"

The rain was so heavy that Chuanghu's muffled voice did not attract the attention of "Black Umbrella".

"Shh-"

The man made a gesture to him to keep quiet.

Chuang Hu looked against the light and gradually saw the other person's face clearly, so he blinked twice. As soon as the other person let go, he asked in a trembling voice:
"Boss, are you the only one left?"

Jiang Lianheng dragged him into the shadows and said coldly: "Yan Sheng is dead, and Wen Tingge is seriously injured."

"Who died?"

Chuanghu's face froze, and he stood still, his eyes half-doubting, as if he was holding out for a glimmer of hope.

Jiang Lianheng did not repeat himself, but looked Chuanghu up and down, and asked coldly: "You are fine, right?"

Chuang Hu was stunned and immediately stammered: "Boss...please listen to my explanation. I actually wanted to lead them away. Although I'm not here, my heart..."

"Don't explain. I don't have time to listen." Jiang Lianheng asked in a deep voice, "Did you see Xifeng?"

"No, no, didn't you all run over here? I heard the noise." Jiang Lianheng shook his head.

He was lurking on the shore just now, and before the Green Gang spies showed up, he saw the boat of Wang Laojiu and others, but Xifeng was not on it.

Hearing this, Chuanghu became even more confused and asked hurriedly, "Boss, there are only a few of us, why are you running away separately?"

Jiang Lianheng looked gloomy, but said: "I don't believe them now."

"Hiss..." Chuanghu frowned, "Could it be that Wang Laojiu sold us out? No way? If that's the case, why did they come to the station? Wouldn't it be more convenient to take action halfway?"

"He is him, and the Axe Gang is the Axe Gang." Jiang Lianheng said, "Who are the people in the Axe Gang? Dock workers, rickshaw drivers. Wang Laojiu himself doesn't have much money. How much temptation can these people under him resist? As long as the benefits are big enough, the prince dares to kill his own father, and fellow villagers are nothing!"

"That makes sense! Boss, how about I sneak into the Anhui Province Hometown Association Hall to see what's going on? Just give me a chance to redeem myself for my crimes!"

In the darkness, Jiang Lianheng did not speak.

Chuang Hu was so anxious that he asked: "Boss, please don't be silent. Trust me again and we'll see what happens."

Jiang Lianheng tilted his head, glanced at him sideways, and suddenly patted his shoulder and said, "Hu, actually, the one I suspect the most now is you."

"What?" Chuanghu was dumbfounded and said in a low voice, "Boss, how can you doubt me? You know me. In my heart, literature comes first and you come second. You can't be compared with tangible things. Only abstract things can highlight your position in my heart——"

"You were the last one to arrive at the station, and the first one to run away from it. Before the leader left, you were sneaking around, and after we met, the killer shot me immediately. Coincidentally, I asked you to go to the Old Town last night, and I didn't see you the whole night. Don't you think this is too coincidental?"

Chuanghu was stunned.

Not to mention, after going over these things from the beginning, even he began to doubt himself.

In fact, only by coming back could he barely dispel Jiang Lianheng's doubts.

Chuang Hu shook his head desperately and said, "Boss, I've already told you that I really did go to Rong for that pearl necklace. I was afraid that you would disagree, so I didn't dare to tell the truth."

Unexpectedly, Jiang Lianheng suddenly changed the subject and asked, "When you went to Rong to buy the necklace, did you see Mr. Mei?"

"No, no, why are you asking this?" Chuanghu's eyes suddenly widened, "Could it be him?"

Jiang Lianheng did not comment: "It's possible. It could be both, or it could be neither. Don't rush to draw conclusions."

"It's definitely not me." Chuanghu was eager to prove his innocence, "Boss, you can say I'm a coward, but you can't say I'm a traitor."

Jiang Lianheng looked at him.

This kid has made great contributions to the Jiang family, and this is something that everyone in the family knows.

It's not like Jiang Lianheng hadn't rewarded him before. Money and status, whatever he wanted, he was given, but Chuanghu didn't care about those at all. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly become greedy for money after coming to Shanghai and be bought by the "three tycoons" of the Green Gang.

The current situation is not suitable for discussing family rules.

But Chuanghu was still frightened and asked tremblingly: "Boss, you don't really doubt me, do you?"

"Like you said, let's see about it!" Jiang Lianheng returned to the topic and asked again and again to confirm, "Did you really not see Xifeng when you came?"

“No!” Chuang Hu shook his head, his face somewhat bleak. “I just heard the sound of a rifle. You must have run into Lao Chai. Will he…”

Chuanghu didn't dare to continue talking, and Jiang Lianheng didn't want to listen anymore. He would rather Xifeng be caught by Lao Chai than see that kid do something stupid in a fit of anger.

"Let's look for it first."

"Where can we find him?" Chuanghu said hurriedly, "The station is full of old people now. If you show your head, you will be caught!"

"We have to look for it!" Jiang Lianheng looked around and said in a firm tone.

"So... after we find Xifeng, should we stay or leave?"

"Leave? Leaving now is called running away!"

"I know, but..." Chuang Hu asked hesitantly, "You don't believe Wang Laojiu now. If we don't join forces with the Axe Gang, what can we three do to fight against the 'three tycoons'?"

What Chuanghu said made sense. Once they lost the protection of the Shanghai gangs, they would have nowhere to stay in the foreign concessions.

Most of the people in the business of carriages, ships, inns, and the underworld are connected to each other.

Jiang Lianheng was able to conceal his true identity before because Sanjin Company was in the open and they were in the dark.

Now that the Green Gang's "Three Big Bosses" have already targeted Jiang Lianheng, as long as they know he is still alive, they will definitely mobilize all their detectives to search for him.

In other words, all the hotels, bathhouses, apartments, clubs, entertainment venues, opium dens, etc. in the foreign concessions were no longer safe to stay in, and even entering and leaving was unsafe.

If you check into a hotel today, you might be shot that night, or even kidnapped and thrown into the river.

Jiang Lianheng was unwilling to take risks, so he waved his hand and said, "I can think of a place, but I still have to rely on you."

Chuanghu nodded repeatedly, breathed a sigh of relief, and thought to himself: That’s great, there is still a place where I can be of use.

However, Jiang Lianheng did not elaborate, but instead asked: "Now the city is full of the eyes and ears of the 'Three Tycoons'. Where do you think there are the most people?"

"That must be the station, the dock, and all the major intersections in the Chinese and Western worlds!"

"Do you think they'd go dancing after someone got shot?"

Chuanghu blinked his eyes and said, "Boss, your addiction is too strong, isn't it?"

"It's not me who goes, it's you who goes."

"I'll go? No, no, no, my dance tickets are actually good as souvenirs. I don't have to spend them." Halfway through his words, Chuang Hu suddenly realized, "Boss, do you want me to go find that Korean bastard?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded.

A single thread cannot make a thread, and a single tree cannot make a forest.

Now there are only two of them left in Shanghai, and they have to deal with the Green Gang's spies, so they need three or two helpers.

Jiang Lianheng tends to believe Li Zaichun. The oath of breaking the finger is secondary. The main reason is that he controls the life and death of the members of the Righteous Corps who fled to Fengtian. This kind of balance is the basis of trust.

"Tiger, from now on, we have to hide for a while. We have to make sure they can't find me. It would be best if they think I've run away or even died. During this time, I can find a chance to send a telegram home."

"Then...what about Li Zhengxi?"

"After tonight, if he is still alive, he should go to the mouth of Suzhou River tomorrow morning, but I can't go. I have to let Li Zaichun go to pick him up."

(End of this chapter)