Chapter 108: The "Black Gun" Crisis

“Still not dead after that? You really are lucky!” Qin Lang exclaimed in astonishment at the sight, while Old Fourth Guo was so frightened that he dropped heavily onto the ground.

At first, he had been desperate to see Zhou Sen dead as soon as possible. Now, he could only pray to every god and ancestor that Zhou Sen had not died.

Otherwise, he would be the one to die.

“All right. Take him away. Help me up and find a hospital so I can get myself checked,” Zhou Sen ordered. Someone had tried to take his life. Whoever it was, he had to find them.

He was afraid of death, of course. But if someone was bent on killing him, could he simply endure it?

He had not killed Old Fourth Guo because every grievance had its cause and every debt its debtor.

For now, he could do nothing to Su Wenqing, so he could only bear it for the time being.

…

“Why is it you again?”

The doctor recognized Zhou Sen at a glance, leaving Zhou Sen rather baffled. Had they met before?

“Have you forgotten? Last time, you brought someone here and insisted on having an X-ray taken.”

At the doctor’s reminder, Zhou Sen remembered that he had once brought Ye San’er to the hospital.

Zhou Sen smiled.

“Was it a gunshot wound?”

The doctor touched the small, swollen red spot on Zhou Sen’s chest, and his eyes sharpened. A gunshot wound was no small matter. If he failed to report it, the entire hospital could be implicated.

“Doctor, it was indeed caused by a gunshot. Just pretend you know nothing, and no one will come after you or cause you any trouble,” Zhou Sen said.

“This…”

“Doctor, he’s a police officer handling a case. His injuries cannot be exposed.” Qin Lang gave a sheepish grin and spoke for Zhou Sen.

“You’re a police officer?” the doctor asked in surprise.

Zhou Sen took out his identification and handed it over. The doctor accepted it, opened it for a look, then returned it.

“My apologies, Officer Zhou. I’ll make the arrangements immediately.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Zhou Sen took back his identification.

“Zhou Sen, how are we going to deal with what happened today? A shot was fired in Little South Garden just now. The Japanese will certainly investigate,” Qin Lang asked after the doctor had left.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make one phone call, and it’ll be settled.”

“You can settle something this serious with one phone call?”

“Don’t believe me?”

Qin Lang shook his head. He knew Zhou Sen well enough. Could Zhou Sen really command that much influence in front of the Japanese?

After getting off the X-ray table, Zhou Sen endured the pain in his chest and asked, “Doctor, how is it? Are my ribs broken?”

“Not broken, but the X-ray shows a tiny crack in your third rib. It appears to be a hairline fracture. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in this much pain,” the doctor explained.

“As long as it isn’t a full fracture.”

“In your condition, you need to have the area immobilized and rest in bed as much as possible. You must lie on your back, not on your side. I can prescribe some painkillers, but traditional Chinese medicine is better suited to treating this kind of injury. I suggest you visit a clinic specializing in sprains, fractures, and other trauma.”

“All right. Thank you, Doctor.”

Zhou Sen thanked him. He naturally knew that traditional Chinese medicine was more suitable for treating such injuries, but he was also worried that his internal organs might have been damaged. An X-ray had given him some peace of mind.

“Let’s go. Su Wenqing has probably received the news by now. We should think about what to do next,” Qin Lang said.

“First, I need to make a phone call.”

“Look at me, forgetting something so important.”

Qin Lang slapped his forehead and hurried over to support him.

“Brother Sen, take it slow. Watch your step.”

“Qin Lang, you son of a—are you a dog? Give you a bone and you wag your tail for whoever throws it?”

Zhou Sen could not help cursing him.

“If there were meat to eat every day, who wouldn’t be willing to be a dog?”

“Have some dignity!”

…

“Hello, Anna. It’s me. Earlier today, at Little South Garden…”

Zhou Sen called Anna at Sen’s establishment and briefly explained what had happened. The rest, naturally, was left to Anna to handle.

“That Zhou Sen is such a bastard…”

“Young people are all like that. I was the same when I was young—refusing to follow the rules and scorning every restriction.” Front gave a sly chuckle from beside her.

“What are we supposed to do now? Clean up his mess for him?” Anna asked through clenched teeth.

“He needs us. Isn’t that a good thing?” Front smiled. “He’s offended someone as powerful as Su Wenqing. Without us, could he still hope to establish himself in Ice City?”

“That’s true. We need to report this to Officer Shibuya immediately,” Anna said.

“There’s a telephone right here. Why not call him directly? Wouldn’t that be more efficient?”

Front reminded her as she headed outside.

“I’m so furious that I’ve lost my head!”

Anna turned around and spotted the telephone on the desk. She snorted angrily.

…

“Take me back to Fragrant Pavilion.”

After finishing his call, Zhou Sen spoke to Qin Lang.

“Weren’t you going to find a traditional doctor who specializes in treating injuries?”

“There’s someone even better at home. Why would I go looking elsewhere?” Zhou Sen rolled his eyes at Qin Lang. Was this fellow an idiot?

“At home? You mean Bai Yulan…”

“Bai Yulan is not a name you can use so casually. Call her Boss Bai,” Zhou Sen corrected him firmly.

“Doesn’t ‘Boss Bai’ sound too distant? I call you Brother Sen. Would it really be inappropriate to call Boss Bai sister-in-law?”

Qin Lang put on a flattering grin.

“No. You’re far too fond of the term ‘sister-in-law.’ I can’t give you any opportunity whatsoever.”

“Which bastard set me up?” Qin Lang cried, humiliated and furious.

“You know perfectly well what you were thinking. Why distort your own intentions? There’s nothing immoral about liking a sister-in-law. Every man likes a good woman, but that doesn’t mean he has to make her his own. Feelings may arise, but propriety must set the limit. As long as there’s nothing improper between you and your sister-in-law, what are you afraid of?”

Zhou Sen spoke with righteous conviction.

“You have no idea how jealous my elder brother is. If those words reached his ears, he’d hate me even more…” Qin Lang said without thinking.

“A man who has food in his bowl yet keeps coveting what’s in the pot has no class!”

“Aren’t you the same? Tell me, what exactly is your relationship with Su Yun, Su Wenqing’s daughter? I remember you went to her engagement party that night too,” Qin Lang challenged.

“What my relationship with Su Yun is has nothing to do with you.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell Boss Bai that you sneaked out to meet Su Yun in secret.”

Qin Lang spoke through gritted teeth.

“Have you lost your mind? This steel mail vest and the breastplate over my heart were both ancestral treasures from Yulan’s family. Do you think she wouldn’t know what I was doing today?”

Zhou Sen gave Qin Lang a fierce glare.

The fellow was good in every other respect, but his mind never seemed able to turn a corner. Who had he taken after?

“I—I—I…”

Qin Lang’s lips began to tremble. He was evidently so angry that he no longer knew how to argue back.

“When we get to Fragrant Pavilion, you can get out and disappear,” Zhou Sen said.

“But what if Su Wenqing comes after me?”

“If he really does, just say you knew nothing about it. After all, Old Fourth Guo set the trap to kill me. Now that I’m still alive, what reason would Su Wenqing have to come after you?”

“What if he goes directly to my old man?”

“Then you can kiss your fifty percent share goodbye.”

Zhou Sen gave a sly laugh.

Qin Lang’s face immediately fell. He had gone to all this trouble to scheme with Zhou Sen precisely so they could humiliate Su Wenqing and make a handsome profit.

“What I’m most worried about is that he’ll go straight to your elder brother. That’s when you’ll really be in trouble,” Zhou Sen said. “Can you guarantee that every man under your command will keep his mouth shut?”

“They’ve all been loyal brothers for years. They shouldn’t betray me.”

“They won’t betray you because the reward isn’t large enough. Given a sufficient reward, anyone will make a deal with the devil. Go back and pay them enough to keep quiet.”

Zhou Sen gave the order. Seeing the pain on Qin Lang’s face, he scolded him, “Don’t begrudge such a small expense. You’ll recover it—with interest—from Su Wenqing later.”

“Fine.”

The corner of Qin Lang’s mouth twitched. He had boarded this pirate ship, and there was no getting off now.

…

Wu En helped Zhou Sen down from the carriage. A-Xiang and Bai Yulan also hurried out of the house. When they saw Zhou Sen clutching his chest, his face looking terrible, they were startled.

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. Someone took a shot at me from ambush,” Zhou Sen explained. “Luckily, you gave me that breastplate last night. Otherwise, I’d probably be lying in the hospital right now.”

Bai Yulan exclaimed in surprise. “That breastplate couldn’t stop a bullet. How badly are you hurt?”

“I went to the hospital and had an X-ray. They said there’s a crack in the third rib on the left side of my chest. Nothing serious.”

Zhou Sen gave a sheepish laugh.

“You can still laugh, so you’re clearly a long way from dying…”

Bai Yulan called for Wu En and A-Xiang to help Zhou Sen inside and lay him down.

“The doctor told me to find a traditional physician who specializes in treating injuries. I remember our ancestors came from a military family, so injuries must have been common. The medicine kept at home is probably much better than what ordinary doctors have…”

Zhou Sen lay down and let out a sigh of relief.

“Is it here?”

Bai Yulan reached toward the spot on Zhou Sen’s left chest where the bullet had struck.

“You can just undo my clothes and look. It isn’t as though you haven’t seen me before,” Zhou Sen said. “There’s no one else here.”

Bai Yulan knew exactly what sort of man Zhou Sen was. She reached out and undid his shirt. At the hospital, the doctor had wrapped his chest with a bandage to immobilize the rib, preventing the crack from widening under strain and turning into a full fracture.

“That feels good…”

Her soft, warm hand moved across his chest.

“Ow, ow, Yulan, be gentle. Are you trying to murder your husband?”

“Your expression just now was too shameless.”

Bai Yulan gave a cold snort, administering a small lesson.

“What expression should a man wear when he’s facing the woman he loves? Should I look like a wooden statue?”

“Is it here?”

Seeing the righteous expression on his face, Bai Yulan could not remain angry. She asked in a gentler voice.

“Mm.”

“I’ll fetch the medicine. Don’t move around.”

Bai Yulan rose and left. A-Xiang was already standing at the doorway with the medicine, but she tactfully refrained from entering.

Bai Yulan turned around and carried the medicine inside.

“What is this, a dog-skin plaster?”

Beside her was a small alcohol lamp and a medicinal plaster. When she peeled it open, a black, pungent herbal smell filled the room.

“This is Black Jade Bone-Joining Salve. It is specially used to treat bone injuries and is remarkably effective for fractures and hairline cracks,” Bai Yulan said. “It is an ancestral remedy of my family. Countless soldiers who broke their arms or legs on the battlefield were cured with this salve. Your injury will be completely healed after two applications at most.”

“Black Jade Bone-Joining Salve? Such a thing really exists?”

“Don’t you believe me?” Bai Yulan demanded angrily. This was her family’s secret formula, and she would never have brought it out for anyone else.

“The name alone sounds valuable. The formula must be worth a fortune, so whatever you do, don’t sell it,” Zhou Sen said. “Compared with that steel mail vest, this is the true treasure to pass down through the generations. It could benefit our descendants for years to come.”

“All right, here I go. Bear with it.”

“Go on. Awooo!”

A howl like a ghost and a wolf rang out.

Meow?