Xu Rang and I returned to the car like lost souls, both our hands covered in blood and filth.
Goatee made a hand gesture. The enforcers standing behind Tumor's men raised their machetes and slashed the victims two more times.
Even Chen Xiang's father wasn't spared.
The group instantly howled in agony, rolling all over the ground in pain.
Before leaving, Goatee said, "Tell Tumor to stop running his mouth about handling this guy or handling that guy. He has never been the only boss in Liuxiang Town."
"If he doesn't accept that, next time it won't be as simple as poisoning some fish and burning a few sheds."
After saying that, he turned around, got into our beat-up Bluebird, and we sped away.
I lay against the window and looked back. Wang Hai was lying stiff on the ground. My eyes were nearsighted, and things got blurry at a distance.
But I was certain that as I looked at Wang Hai, Wang Hai was looking at me.
I slumped into the seat, gasping for air. I felt as if every breath I took now carried the stench of burnt flesh.
Chen Qiang remained silent, sitting quietly in his seat. If it weren't for the slight twitch of his eyelid, I would have suspected he was asleep.
Xu Rang was in a trance just like me, so Goatee was driving.
The car didn't head back toward Liuxiang Town; instead, it turned toward the county seat.
Nearly half an hour passed before I slowly came to my senses. Seeing the road conditions improving outside the window, I asked Chen Qiang beside me with some confusion, "Brother Qiang, are we going to the county seat?"
Chen Qiang slowly opened his eyes, his hand resting on his waist, and shook his head.
"No, we're not going to the county seat."
Because I had just maimed Wang Hai, I felt uneasy and desperate for someone to talk to, to relieve the pressure.
So I continued asking, "Then we should turn left up ahead. Left is the way back to Liuxiang Town."
Further ahead was the main highway; right went to the county seat, left went back to Liuxiang Town.
Chen Qiang chuckled softly. "No rush, Number Two. Tonight's business isn't finished yet!"
My heart started pounding. What did that mean? Tonight's business isn't finished yet?
Chen Qiang had destroyed Tumor's fish farm, and I had crippled Tumor's cousin. We had already taken it this far—what could possibly be left?
A thought suddenly rose in my mind: Chen Qiang hasn't gone crazy, has he? Does he want to go handle Tumor directly right now?!
But I immediately dismissed the idea. Tumor was a boss too. After mixing in society for so many years, he couldn't be handled that easily.
If he could be taken out just like that, he wouldn't be a boss—even if he were the Thousand-Handed Bodhisattva, he wouldn't have enough tendons to be severed.
The car stopped not far from the entrance to the main highway. Chen Qiang looked at the sky; it was almost dawn, probably around four or five in the morning.
"Goatee, Number Two, Xu Rang. Let's go. Step out and burn a stick. Clear your heads."
The three of us got out of the car. People from the three HiAce vans behind us also started getting out to relieve themselves.
I didn't have the slightest urge to pee. I figured all the water in my body had been expelled as cold sweat.
Chen Qiang looked at Xu Rang and me, then suddenly laughed. "Heh, it's going to be you young people's world from now on."
Goatee laughed from the side. "Boss, you just turned thirty yourself. You're all still young."
Chen Qiang shook his head. "Goatee, I can't compare. When I was seventeen or eighteen, I wasn't as ruthless as Number Two, daring to cripple someone on the first go. And at twenty-one, I wasn't as strong as Xu Rang, daring to step up for his own brother."
"Can't compare, can't compare."
Xu Rang and I stood there grinning foolishly, thinking Chen Qiang was praising us, but Goatee's brow furrowed.
"Oh, these two kids... no matter how much of a hotshot they think they are, aren't they still following you, Boss? If we're going by what you said, when I was twenty-one, I was still plastering walls in the village!"
I realized I shouldn't appear too cocky in front of Chen Qiang, so I quickly chimed in.
"That's right, Brother Qiang. We're still your little brothers, following you. You're much more amazing than us."
Chen Qiang continued to shake his head with a smile. "Number Two, you don't understand. In the future, this jianghu, this society, will belong to young people like you."
Chen Qiang was wrong about many things in his life, but he was dead right about that.
A few years later, let alone Liuxiang Town, but in the entire Qianyang City and Qianzhou Province, Xu Rang and I were renowned bosses.
Gangland bosses.
I gave a dry laugh, not knowing what to say, while Xu Rang was still lost in his own thoughts.
"But don't you two get happy too early. Boss Chu was handled by the authorities before Tumor and I could rise up."
"You'll probably have to wait until I get handled before you two can have your day."
Boss Chu was my biological brother, Chu Jianghai. Chen Qiang and Tumor both used to follow him.
Back then, there was only one boss in Liuxiang Town, and that was Boss Chu, Chu Jianghai.
So when the "Strike Hard" campaign of '83 came, he was the first to eat a bullet.
After saying this, Chen Qiang lost interest in talking. He fished out a cigarette pack, put four cigarettes in his mouth at once, lit them one by one, took a deep drag, and then distributed them to the three of us.
The four of us sat on the hood of the Bluebird, smoking puff after puff, no one saying a word.
A strip of white appeared on the horizon; the sky was beginning to brighten. Chen Qiang looked at Goatee doubtfully.
"Are you sure it's today?"
Goatee nodded heavily. "It can't be wrong. Xu Feilin told me himself. They are coming today."
Xu Rang and I looked at each other, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.
Clearly, neither of us knew who Chen Qiang was waiting for.
Hearing Goatee's affirmative answer, Chen Qiang nodded slightly and said no more.
However, his hand remained pressed against the right side of his lower abdomen, never letting go.
That spot was exactly where the pistol was tucked.
My heart suddenly jumped into my throat.
Another half hour passed, and finally, there was movement on the main highway—the roar of engines.
Chen Qiang's eyes changed. I was startled; at that moment, Chen Qiang looked like a tiger ready to eat a man.
The aura of a society boss erupted from him in full force.
He didn't get in the car. He walked quickly to the center of the broad road.
It seemed the person he was waiting for had arrived.
Goatee patted Xu Rang and me, signaling us to follow.
Xu Rang and I didn't know what Chen Qiang and Goatee intended to do, but we could only hurry to keep up.
On the main road leading from the county seat to Liuxiang, three Audi 100s were driving toward us. Chen Qiang and the rest of us—four men—stood straight in the middle of the road, blocking the path of these three cars.
In this era, anyone who could drive a sedan was not someone to be trifled with.
While I was still guessing who might be sitting in the cars, Chen Qiang had already reached his hand to his waist.
My heart rose in my chest, following his movement.
Damn it, Chen Qiang plans to use the gun right now!
Killing happens in many ways, and the tools for killing vary.
Among them, the consequences of killing someone with a knife versus killing someone with a gun are completely different.
As long as you dare to open fire and kill someone, even if you run to the ends of the earth, the authorities won't let you go.
They might even transfer elite officers from the provincial or city level to set up a special task force just for you.
Dedicated solely to handling you.
The people in the cars saw the gun in Chen Qiang's hand and slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt.
Nevertheless, Chen Qiang fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three gunshots rang out, leaving my ears ringing with a buzzing sound.