Pristine Darkness - Chapter 112

After Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao had left, silence seemed to fall over the yard. His face indifferent, Zhao Kun stood up and said, “Not playing anymore, I‘m going to have a smoke.” Qin Sheng looked up at the clock and said, “I should go and see to the accounts.”

Zheng Chen had already left with Song Kun. No matter who he met, Zheng Chen would always be very close by to protect him. Gu An chuckled softly, as if laughing at his companions’ sudden evasive behaviour. He also walked out of the yard.

Zhao Kun lived in a black, detached house next to the inn. His nature was such that he liked quiet and simplicity, so there was hardly any decoration, and the walls were plainly painted. He loved gardening, so the entire yard was crawling with green, causing this dark house to be quite eye-catching.

However, his woman was sloppy and crazy. She was 30 years old and had also committed crimes. Due to one opportune incident, she had met and fallen in with Zhao Kun, and had stayed with him till the present. Although Zhao Kun sometimes fooled around outside, this woman did not care. After all, she was the one living in the house. She is the woman of one of Buddha’s Hand’s Five Luohans; how many people in the jianghu would have to address her as ‘elder sister-in-law’?

When Zhao Kun returned home that day, he heard the woman dancing in the room, and he reckoned she was still drinking. He did not greet her but went straight to his own room. The woman was not allowed into this room, which was full of firearms. Several brothers from Buddha’s Hand had visited it to admire the contents and were full of praise.

Zhao Kun lit a cigarette and sat by the window to smoke. In these past few years, his tobacco addiction had worsened, and drugs too had come into the picture. He felt like his lungs were about to rot, leaving behind a huge cavity. But, today, he smoked with some measure of anxiety, one cigarette after another, all the while staring at the building next door – the inn of Buddha’s Hand.

No gunshots were heard, and the figures of those two people did not appear anywhere.

After Zhao Kun had finished smoking, he sat in the boss’s chair behind the table. The taste of nicotine made him feel relaxed, and he smiled faintly as he rested his hands behind his head. What came to mind was the first time he had stood outside Bo Jinyan’s yard. Through the window, he saw the blurred silhouettes of the two people. Then, he threw his cigarette butt into the mud and turned his head to tell his subordinates, “They are most probably the police. Tomorrow, report this to the boss, then get rid of them.”

However, these two people had now become the hot new upstarts of Buddha’s Hand.

Their lives were really long.

Zhao Kun smiled meaningfully.

At the same time, Qin Sheng actually did return to the accounts office on the first floor of the inn, where he observed several of the accountants working under him settling the accounts. From a young age, Qin Sheng had always liked everything to do with numbers, and had even achieved an Accounting Certificate and become a Certified Public Accountant. Later, when he joined Buddha’s Hand, his presence caused Buddha’s Hand to grow more powerful*. After working together for more than two years, Buddha’s Hand felt at ease giving him control over all the financial issues. If one were to ask who among the Five Luohans was most likely to have the trust of Buddha’s Hand, Qin Sheng reckoned it would be himself. Ahh . . . Buddha’s Hand could not do without him. It could even be said that, since he controlled the accounts, he controlled part of the lifeline of Buddha’s Hand.

*T/N 如虎添翼 (ru hu tian yi) – lit. like a tiger that has grown wings; fig. with redoubled power.

Qin Sheng smiled slightly as he thought about this.

Then he looked up at the floor above. The Smiling Snake couple had been inside for a long time and had not come down yet.

He shot his trusted subordinate a meaningful look. His usual smiling demeanour had been replaced with a somewhat gloomy and cold expression. As if this was the man’s true nature.

“Watch them closely,” Qin Sheng said softly. “If there’s any sign of trouble*, report to me as soon as possible. Report to me, understand?”

*T/N 风吹草动 (feng chui cao dong) – lit. the wind blows and the grass moves; fig. a sign of disturbance or trouble.

——

Out of them all, Gu An was probably the most extravagant and wasteful scoundrel. He occupied the tallest building to the east of the inn and had even specially called for 20 younger brothers to overhaul it. Although transportation in this small town was a challenge, he insisted on seeking special permission from Buddha’s Hand and brought in a load of imported furniture.

Of course, he had gifted Buddha’s Hand with a set of top-grade mahogany furniture, which he liked very much, thus, giving others no way to raise a voice of dissent.

He always had three women at home. If any of them became displeasing to his eyes, he would exchange them for someone new. His home was full of red wine. He liked fur, and often went hunting by himself in the mountains nearby. He would skin foxes and rabbits while they were still alive to make furs for himself to wear and to give to those women. It goes without saying that his craftsmanship was commendable, and the furs he made were exceptionally glossy and sleek.

Like the others, he was addicted to smoking and drugs. Everyone in Buddha’s Hand knew, if Gu An laoda’s* drug addiction flared up, that would be the scariest thing; he might even cut someone down when he captured them. Thus, everyone hid far, far away from him. Unlike Zhao Kun’s spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice and assertive manner, or Qin Sheng’s preference for trying diplomacy before violence, his style of managing the younger brothers was exceedingly strict and unreasonable. If he felt a connection with someone, he was even willing to give that person one of his women, as well as distribute money in huge amounts. Whoever irritated him, no matter how capable he had proven himself to be, he would still beat up* that person roundly. However, these past few years, he had been the subordinate who had made the greatest contributions to Buddha’s Hand, and was also the most influential. Buddha’s Hand also seemed to be extremely tolerant of this subordinate who lived larger than life. Thus, even though Zhao Kun and Qin Sheng were not happy with Gu An’s emergence, they gradually realised that they could only treat him as an equal.

*T/N 老大 (lao da) – refers to the eldest child in a family, or the leader of a gang.

*T/N 体无完肤 (ti wu wan fu) – lit. cuts and bruises all over; fig. totally refuted.

Now, Gu An entered the building. The first thing he did was to pick up a bottle of wine and drink until his senses were fuzzy. At this point, a woman wound herself around him and slipped a hand into his crotch. Gu An pushed her to one side with one swift move and said, sneeringly, “Get lost! Why don’t you look in a mirror and see what you look like?” The woman was so terrified that she hurriedly ran into the room. The other two ladies also did not dare to come out; they knew that he was in a foul mood today, even if they did not know what had gotten his goat.

Gu An stumbled his way upstairs by himself, closed the door, slumped into the chair and discarded the wine. He gazed at the hazy sky outside the window and sighed slowly.

He also stared at the inn. However, that place remained silent and devoid of movement.

Ahhh . . . Smiling Snake.

The Smiling Snake who was about to enter Buddha’s Hand and be on equal footing with him. Gu An laughed loudly. All of a sudden, Gu An grabbed a rifle from the table. With quick and violent movements, like a cheetah, he rushed to the window in a flash and aimed in the direction of the inn.

He maintained his aim, motionless.

Gangsters walked past, but he paid them no heed.

Some town residents walked past, but he also paid them no heed.

Until . . . a familiar figure came into sight.

Tall and thin, short black hair, wearing a white lab coat, with a medical bag in his hand. That person walked calmly in front of the inn, probably there to treat someone.

What Gu An most disliked was the doctor’s constantly dignified and refined appearance. He smiled slyly and lowered his head to take aim.

A silencer was affixed to the muzzle.

However, when the bullet shot out of the window, passed through the branches, flew with the wind and zoomed along the street to finally land on the ground beneath Wen Rong’s feet, he was still very surprised. Wen Rong reflexively placed the medical bag on his head and crouched beneath the eaves of a nearby building.

Wen Rong’s pale face turned even paler. He drew in a steadying breath and looked around. The windows of the surrounding buildings were all empty; there was no one there. His face turned cold, and he walked away with quick steps.

Zheng Chen leaned against the wall in the corridor. He was holding a gun, and his expression was calm.

Some gangsters passed by one end of the corridor. Taking in his appearance, they knew that Buddha’s Hand was discussing something with someone, and did not dare to come over and bother him.

Zheng Chen was an expert in keeping still. Once, in order to kill someone at the behest of Buddha’s Hand, he had crouched in the rainforest at the border for three days and nights continuously. Even though he was bleeding from insect and snake bites all over his body, he behaved as if nothing had happened. When he finally killed his target, he cut off the person’s head and brought it back to Buddha’s Hand.

Everyone said he was Buddha’s Hand’s shadow. He was also willing to be a shadow, because being a shadow was not something everyone could do. That is to say, Buddha’s Hand willingly and confidently had you cover his back, you and you alone. You learned all his secrets, and although you looked like a shadow, you saw the most darkness and trickery.