Chapter 148: Opening Fire in Public

At 7:30 PM, in the dock gang's main hall meeting room in Longkou District.

Gu Tongshan's wife and children, the dock gang council of elders, and six or seven gang leaders from various districts had all gathered together.

Xu Hu sat beside Gu Tongshan's wife, greeting everyone with a face full of smiles.

"Is anyone else not here yet?" a sixty-something-year-old elder asked with his hands in his sleeves.

"Everyone was notified. Those who didn't come clearly don't want to express opinions, they're avoiding the matter," the hall master who had secret connections with Xu Hu in Longkou District said with a cold smile.

"Then let's not wait, just these people. Let's be clear beforehand - today everything is discussed openly. After leaving this door, no one can hold grudges, no one can gossip behind others' backs," the man in charge, called Zhang Zhengfang, was the dock gang's covenant witness elder.

What was a covenant witness elder? Though it sounded imposing, in reality it was equivalent to the head of a company's ceremonial department, mainly responsible for new disciples' entry cards and some ceremonies during formal joining, teaching them some "house rules." Simply put, he was the joining witness, hence called covenant witness.

This title was very ancient, from the Heaven and Earth Society to the Republican era's Green Gang, and to the modern Hong Men, all had covenant witness elders. Even in overseas organizations before the New Era, certain organizations had such people, though later when organizations became political parties, this title underwent some changes.

The dock gang was an underworld-style social group. They continued using these ancient rules and ceremonies to enhance organizational cohesion.

Even pyramid schemes chanted slogans every day - outsiders thought it looked stupid, but the people chanting at the time all believed in these rules. So sometimes, these forms still had certain value.

Although Zhang Zhengfang had long stopped handling the dock gang's specific matters, he had high prestige in this group and was a member of the council of elders. When he spoke up, his words still carried considerable weight.

"Alright then, say whatever you have to say face to face," Zhang Zhengfang said after taking a sip of tea and began to arrange things.

Xu Hu organized his thoughts and was preparing to start expressing his ideas.

"Bang!"

Just then, the door was pushed open as Wei Xiangzuo walked in with Little Feng.

"When meeting to discuss Zha'nan's matters, shouldn't you call the hall master?" Little Feng, who had been drinking, spoke up as soon as he entered the room.

After everyone turned to look at Wei Xiangzuo, the Longkou District hall master immediately replied: "No one said you couldn't come, didn't we notify you long ago? We waited half a day, and when you didn't show up, we just started."

Wei Xiangzuo found an empty seat and bent down to sit, while Little Feng stood behind him.

"Alright, now that Xiangzuo is here too, let's continue," Xu Hu nodded at Wei Xiangzuo before immediately looking at everyone and saying: "Here's what I think - War Hammer's goods are expensive, limited, and must be exclusive. To be honest, these conditions are somewhat harsh, and the brothers below really can't make much money, so I want to change this rule and look for new channels."

Hearing this, Zhang Zhengfang turned to look at Gu Tongshan's wife.

"We support Tiger," Gu Tongshan's wife immediately replied. "When Old Gu was here, Tiger ran Zha'nan very well. His ideas won't be wrong - he's thinking of everyone's good."

"Yes, I've discussed with Master's Wife..." Xu Hu was about to continue along this line.

"Brother Hu, Old Gu's body isn't even cold yet, we don't even know who killed him, and now we're discussing finding new channels - isn't this a bit too hasty?" Little Feng suddenly interjected.

Wei Xiangzuo turned back somewhat stunned: "What are you doing?!"

"Big Brother, I've had some things to say for a while," Little Feng replied to Wei Xiangzuo before looking up at everyone in the room and continuing: "I definitely have the lowest seniority here, but I've still been in the dock gang for six or seven years - I should have the right to make suggestions, right?!"

Hearing this, Xu Hu fixed his eyes on Wei Xiangzuo.

"I think talking about any new channels now is all bullshit!" Little Feng continued firing. "There's only one matter right in front of our faces - Old Gu is dead, what should the Zha'nan dock gang do?! Shouldn't we catch the killers to pay with their lives before discussing other matters? The body's barely in the ground, and you can't wait to make money?"

Hearing this, Xu Hu didn't respond, but one of his brothers standing behind him became unhappy and directly retorted: "Who said we're not looking for the killers?! Can you solve this quickly? But the dock gang needs to work, needs to make money - otherwise what will the brothers below eat?"

"Can't find them, is it?" Little Feng demanded.

"You can find them?!" the other glared back. "On the surface, this was done by the Yu family, but to move against them, don't we need to be sure? Need confirmation? Need to find the gunmen? Can't just act blindly, right?! And is your brain single-tracked? Can't we discuss new sources while catching gunmen - do these two things conflict? Must we do one at a time? Can't be flexible?"

"Is it that you can't find them, or don't want to find them?" Little Feng asked with a smile. "You say the Yu family did it, but I really don't think that's certain."

"What do you mean?!" Zhang Zhengfang asked with furrowed brows.

"I don't mean anything! What you couldn't find, we found," Little Feng said raising his eyebrows. "The cars the gunmen used appeared at Tianhong Port six days before Old Gu's incident. Brother Wei felt something was strange, so he had us ask around the port. We found that six people had entered the port a week before Old Gu's incident, first going to Xishui Ting Foot Massage City, then renting a house on Third Street in the port. The day Old Gu died, or the next day, this group ran away - they even cleaned up all the garbage in the room. We dare not say these people must be the gunmen who killed Old Gu, but from various signs, we can be sixty to seventy percent sure it was them, right? Because the details are too similar, right?!"

Xu Hu was completely stunned hearing this.

"If this group really was Old Gu's killers, then they arrived at Tianhong Port more than a week in advance, which indirectly proves they might not be Yu family people," Little Feng stared at Xu Hu, pounding the table with his right hand as he shouted. "A week before! Did Yu Jinrong need to plan to kill Old Gu a week before? Even if necessary, why didn't they act earlier? Why specifically wait for the critical moment of catching Nick and rescuing Zhou Yaoxiang's son to act? And why open fire at two locations - does this make sense?"

"What the fuck do you mean?!!" Xu Hu's brother shouted. "What are you trying to say?!"

"I want to say there might be a ghost among our own people," Little Feng pounded the table and shouted. "Whoever's most anxious might fucking be the ghost!"

"Talking fucking nonsense!" Xu Hu's brother stepped forward and grabbed Little Feng's collar. "Dog fucker, have you been racking your brains all along to throw dirt on us? I'll kill you!"

Wei Xiangzuo slowly stood up and said expressionlessly to the other: "Let go."

"Why should I let go?!" Xu Hu's brother directly confronted him.

"Slap!"

Wei Xiangzuo gripped the other's wrist with his right hand and twisted down hard, making the lackey release his grip.

"Crack!"

Following that, Wei Xiangzuo gripped the other's chin with his left hand and used inch force to twist left, dislocating the other's jaw hook on the spot.

"Bang!"

Wei Xiangzuo raised his leg and kicked him directly behind Xu Hu: "What's this, I can't even speak in Zha'nan now, is that it?!"

......

In a high-end restaurant in Longkou District, Su Tianyu said softly to Director Dong, the friend introduced by Wang Daolin: "Brother Dong, after eating, let's not rush to leave - there are relaxing activities later. Please don't decline, otherwise I won't be able to give an account when I go back."

Brother Dong rubbed his bald head and looked at Su Tianyu with drunk eyes: "Where are we going to relax?"

"On a boat, with enthusiastic young ladies, all arranged," Su Tianyu replied with a smile.

"...Hehe!" Brother Dong smiled ambiguously and casually placed his left hand on Su Tianyu's inner thigh, saying softly: "Brother Little Su, there are too many enthusiastic young ladies... not very interesting!"

Su Tianyu suddenly shuddered and glanced at the other's hand with his peripheral vision, asking somewhat stutteringly: "Then... what's interesting?"

"What are brothers? You know my preferences, I know your length - that's what brothers are," Brother Dong leaned closer, his body emanating a subtle fragrance.

Su Tianyu looked stunned, breaking out in goosebumps: "Ah, this... this... I'm not prepared!"