Infinite Professions-Chapter 139 - 59: Fishing Elder

The late autumn night is dense, and the fog is thick.

In the fish market, under the gate tower, a young man, bloodied all over and covered in wounds, is hanging.

Not far away, a small table is set, and two burly men are sitting around drinking.

"Damn it, why do those guys get to go with Master Hu to the Drunken Spring Pavilion, while the two of us have to stay here and guard this stinking kid and drink in solitude?"

"Who told you to be stingy in paying respects to Master Hu? Naturally, this kind of dirty and tiring work can only be done by poor bastards like us."

"Damn it, these stinking fishermen, they’ve been squeezed dry and still don’t have much money. I got up early today, searched Old Zhou’s boat, and what did I find? Just a few broken things, barely found two or three strings of coins, all taken by Master Hu, and I didn’t get a single penny."

"Be content, luckily this kid found just an ordinary fist manual. If he had really found some secret manual of divine skill and trained in it, we all would be dead, just like that old man named Zhong, ten years ago. Wow, you don’t know..."

The two drank and complained as they talked.

Regarding Immortal Fate, each gang had its own process long established.

First was surveillance, monitoring abnormalities through various behavioral traces.

Then came denunciation, the subjects under the rule supervising one another and immediately reporting at the slightest problem.

Finally came the interrogation, capturing someone as soon as clues were found, torturing them severely, regardless of the means needed to extract their secrets, and simultaneously raiding their homes and silencing them, leaving no potential threats.

If secrets couldn’t be forced out, half-dead people would be thrown out as bait to see if they could catch any fish.

Now came the "fishing" stage, with this Zhou family kid hanging here to see if they could get any unexpected rewards.

It would be great if there were. If not, it didn’t matter; in any case, it wasn’t much effort. Who wouldn’t love a business with no cost but lots of profit?

It was tough for these gang members, though, having to guard here in the chilly night.

Also...

"Let me tell you, doing our line of work isn’t exactly safe. You know the Iron Palm Gang? Back in the day, they did what we do now, and they ended up provoking a big shot who wiped out the Iron Palm Gang overnight, leading to our Golden Fish Gang rising to power."

"Really? That dangerous? Then why would the gang leader still do it? Isn’t he afraid of ending up like the Iron Palm Gang?"

"What do you know? Do you think our gang leader can make the decisions alone? Who knows how many big figures are behind this."

"This..."

"Bang!"

In the midst of their discussion, fingers breaking through the air abruptly shattered their conversation, and the two fell instantly.

Soon in the thick fog of the night, a figure flew in, shooting a Gang Yuan with a flick of the finger, breaking the rope hanging the young man, catching the falling youth, securing him under the arm, and turned to leave.

...

Moments later, on the Dongting Lake, aboard a black-roofed boat.

"Mm~!"

Zhou Yi’s eyelids twitched as he awoke gradually, immediately feeling excruciating pain throughout his body, only slight warmth at his back flowed into his body, alleviating the pain.

"Where am I...?"

"Don’t move, I’m healing your wounds!"

Zhou Yi was startled, wanting to rise but hearing these words with an indescribable power that compelled him to halt his movements.

Though forbidding action, Zhou Yi could observe his surroundings. He moved his eyes from side to side, realizing he was sitting on a black-roofed boat in the familiar Dongting Lake waters.

Was he safe?

The familiar environment eased Zhou Yi’s heart momentarily, yet he was soon filled again with sorrow and anger.

He had been merely a typical fisherman’s son, making a hard living with his father on the Dongting Lake, enduring bullying, and suffering significantly.

One day, by sheer coincidence, he picked up a martial arts manual—not really a manual, just an ordinary fist technique book.

Even so, an ordinary fist technique represented hope for a fishing boy, a cross-class leap, a chance to change his fate.

Hence, he secretly trained in the fist technique from the manual away from his father’s knowledge, following the diagrams, risking his life to practice martial arts.

But he hadn’t yet mastered martial arts when the Golden Fish Gang arrived first.

Turns out, Zhang San, a fellow fisherman, noticed him secretly practicing martial arts and reported it to the gang’s steward.

The gang couldn’t sit idly upon hearing someone secretly practiced martial arts, raiding his family’s boat in large numbers.

The gang members raided his home, the fishing boat his father and he relied on for survival, turning it upside down, seizing the fist manual and more, smashing belongings, stealing money, even beating his father to death.

Despite this, they remained unsatisfied, torturing him to hand over any other valuables he might have found.

But he had nothing else; he had only found a fist technique book.

Yet the gang cared not, relentlessly torturing him nearly to death, then dragging him to hang at the fish market’s entrance, showing no intention to release him.

Either it wasn’t done or done thoroughly; this was the gang’s philosophy.

Only then did Zhou Yi realize his actions were naïve and foolish, not only leading to his own demise but also his father’s.

Those people wouldn’t reason with you; you were merely a lowly commoner, insignificant as grass.

As long as you were suspected, as long as they thought you were suspicious, they’d take action against you.

First they’d squeeze out, then eliminate you thoroughly, leaving no trace.

Argue?

Show evidence?

What are you, worthy of reasoning with me?

He finally saw reality clearly.

Unfortunately... too late.

He had lost everything.