In the evening, the fat man actually prepared a table full of food, four dishes and a soup, a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, and even brought out a bottle of wine.
I was a little surprised to see the fat man already sitting at the table, his expression serious. He looked at me and said, "Sit down, I have something to tell you."
I glanced at him, and seeing the fat man's serious expression, I nodded and sat down opposite him.
The fat guy poured me a glass of wine first, then raised his glass and said, "Cheers!"
I didn't say anything, just clinked glasses with him and drank it all in one gulp.
This liquor was clearly bought from a small shop near the village. It's cheap, low-quality liquor; it's very spicy and has a strange taste, but it's strong enough.
The fat man drank without batting an eye, downing three glasses with me in one go before finally putting down his glass. Looking at me, he said, "I'll check the news outside when I go out today."
"Okay." I nodded, responding and waiting for the fat man to speak.
"This matter is settled. Ye Huan did a clean job, finding a male and a female corpse to hand over. His boss had the bodies chopped up and fed to the dogs... Hey! The kill order against you in the underworld has been withdrawn."
"Hmm." I still didn't show any expression.
"In a way, Ye Huan actually benefited from this whole affair. He wasn't in a good position these days, but then the boss's son got into trouble in Nanjing, and it was Zhou Jing who suffered. Now Zhou Jing has fallen from power, and if it weren't for his connections, he probably wouldn't have escaped death. But let's not talk about him; he's already fallen. Now Ye Huan is back in charge... kid..." He looked up at me with a strange expression on his face: "To be honest, by a twist of fate, you actually helped Ye Huan. He regained his lost ground and rose to power again because of this."
"Hmm." I remained silent.
“It looks quiet outside now, but your troubles aren’t over.” The fat man looked at me. “Ye Huan won’t let you go… because he was the one who handed you over. If people find out you’re still alive, he’s finished! There’s no turning back now! So from any perspective, he won’t let you go… at least he’ll find a way to make sure you never show your face again! So…”
"Go ahead and tell me, I'm listening." I sighed. "What...what does Huan-ge want?" Mentioning the name "Huan-ge" sent a sharp pang to my heart...
"So you have to leave!" The fat man's tone was devoid of any emotion as he said calmly, "You can't go home. If you go back, Ye Huan will definitely find a way to get rid of you. Your only advantage right now is that Ye Huan doesn't dare to openly use the power of his organization to deal with you, because he's also afraid of being found out. But after so many years in the organization, I don't know how much he controls himself, kid..." The fat man took a deep breath. His tone was somewhat complicated: "I know you really want to go home... but you can't go back now! You have to leave!! If you go back and Ye Huan finds you, you're dead! Jin He let you go once, but the next time he sees you, he might not be so lenient!"
"Then what should I do?" I smiled bitterly.
"I'll give you two choices." The fat man looked at me calmly: "First, go to the Northwest, or Sichuan, find a small place, a small county or town, find a small job, and live a quiet, unassuming life. As long as you don't get discovered by Ye Huan and stay out of his sight, you'll be safe! But you must be honest and obedient for the rest of your life, and absolutely cannot cause trouble! Even if you encounter any problems in the future, you must be careful and keep a low profile, tolerate everything, and never stand out. Even if you are given the opportunity to become rich, you cannot take it! Be a lowly commoner for the rest of your life!"
My facial muscles twitched slightly, but I said expressionlessly, "What about the second option?"
The fat man remained silent for a while, then suddenly smiled, a smile tinged with helplessness: "Actually, I really don't want you to take the second path..."
He lit a cigarette, took two puffs, and then stared at me: "The second option is for me to send you abroad! I'll let you go and stay with one of my friends... You can work for him, make a name for yourself, and carve out your own path! Once you're rich and powerful... no one can touch you!"
At this point, he slowly pulled a gun from under the table and gently placed it on the table with a snap: "Once you embark on this path, there's no turning back!" He looked at me and sneered, "From now on, you can't trust anyone, and you shouldn't trust anyone at all! The only person you can trust is this guy in your hand!"
He slowly pushed the gun towards me...
That gaze was cold and indifferent...
Part 1: A Man in the Martial World, Forced by His Own Will, Chapter 125: A Mountain of Knives and a Sea of Fire
"You can't trust anyone, and you shouldn't trust anyone..." I carefully pondered the fat man's words, quietly looking at the gun in front of me, then suddenly looked up at him with a smile, slowly reached out, and picked it up.
"I choose option two." I lightly touched the gun handle with my fingertips; it was icy cold to the touch.
The fat man seemed to sigh: "I knew you'd make this choice." He seemed to smile: "Young man, who would be content to live a life of hiding forever?"
He picked up his glass again and looked at me: "Come on, have another drink! Tonight is our farewell dinner. After this meal, I'll take you away from here."
A sense of bewilderment suddenly welled up inside me, and I said with a wry smile, "So fast?"
"So fast?" The fat man sneered. "Haven't you had enough of this doghouse? I'm so bored here... If I could find someone else to take care of you, do you think I'd be willing to stay in this godforsaken place with you for more than twenty days?"
I looked at the fat man, and suddenly felt a lump in my throat. I picked up my glass and drank it all in one gulp, staring at him: "Brother Fang..."
This was the first time I'd called him that, but I meant it very well! I slowly smashed the small wine glass with my fingers, then took out a shard and used it to cut my thumb, letting a little blood flow out. Then I took the empty bowl in front of me, poured out a little bit of wine, squeezed out a few drops of blood from my thumb, and let them drip into the wine…
Then I stared straight at the fat man, gritted my teeth, and slowly said, word by word, "I will never forget your kindness in my lifetime! If I, Chen Yang, survive in the future, I will repay you tenfold or a hundredfold!"
Then I picked up the bowl and gulped down the blood and wine inside.
The fat man didn't speak, but just chuckled softly, picked up his glass, and took a sip with me. Then he said gently, "I didn't expect you to be so young, yet you'd learn to play this old trick of blood oaths like us old fogies."
I shook my head: "Everything I said tonight was from the bottom of my heart!"
"I believe you." The fat man nodded. "You should live well. I'll be waiting for the day you repay me."
We spent the whole night having this farewell dinner, sharing a bottle of baijiu between the two of us. Not a drop was wasted. We also ate every last bite of the food on the table.
The next morning, Fatty took me away. As dawn broke, we got into the car, and Fatty drove me away from the village where I had been hiding for more than twenty days.
I've been here for over twenty days, and I haven't even stepped outside the gate. I have no idea what my surroundings are like.
The car drove for about an hour. Then they arrived at a warehouse area, far from the city, which seemed to be a building materials market. The fat man's minivan drove into the city and stopped in front of the warehouse at the back.
"This is it." The fat man jumped out of the car and then pulled me through a small door in the warehouse.
In front of a container truck inside, two men were squatting there smoking. When they saw the fat man come in, they immediately stood up and called out with a smile, "Brother Fatty."
The fat man nodded, then pulled me over, pointing at me and saying, "This is one of my brothers; I'm taking him there this time. Who's driving today?"
One of the two, a tall, thin man, immediately laughed and said, "It's me, boss." He spoke in a very typical Cantonese-accented Mandarin, with a cigarette tucked behind his ear. He then glanced at me and said, "This handsome young man has sharp eyes. He must have done something big in the past. Don't forget your little brother when you make it big in the future."
The fat man laughed and kicked him, saying, "Have you prepared your pass?"
"Don't worry, boss!" The skinny guy smiled, took out his keys, walked to the back of the container, opened the door, and said to me with a smile, "I'm sorry to trouble you, come inside and sit for a while. When I park, don't make a sound or move around, okay?"
I nodded and stepped into the container.
I sat down at the very back, there was a bottle of water on the floor, and nothing else. Then the fat guy and the skinny guy worked together to move a lot of boxes in and piled them up outside me. After a while, I was no longer visible from the outside.
Ten minutes later, I felt the car start and drive off...
I don't know where the car is going, but I trust Fatty's arrangements. Since he didn't say, I didn't ask any further.
The car ride was very smooth, seemingly on a flat highway. The boxes piled up in front of me appeared to be made of electronic plastic parts.
The car stopped twice along the way. Each time it stopped, I carefully huddled inside, not saying a word or making a sound. On one occasion, I even heard someone outside open the container door, and then I could vaguely hear the skinny man's grinning voice.
I could almost hear him chuckling and saying, "Sir, it's no problem. They're all legitimate goods entering the port, with customs clearance documents."
Then they spoke in Cantonese, which I couldn't understand, but then the container was closed again, and the car started moving again...
I don't know how much time passed; I almost fell asleep halfway through...
The worst part was that I couldn't go to the toilet; I held my pee for a very, very long time...
Finally, after the car stopped, someone outside moved a pile of boxes aside, and the fat man laughed from outside, "Kid, come out!"
I watched as several workers in some kind of uniform came in and unloaded the boxes of goods. The fat man stood outside the truck, smiling at me with a cigarette between his fingers.
The workers were very efficient, but they didn't even glance at me, seemingly unsurprised that someone was hiding in the car!
I jumped out of the car. The fat man noticed the confusion on my face and said calmly, "The goods in this truck are all genuine, all legal commercial goods, there's nothing wrong with them. These workers are just movers from the logistics company... Actually, most of the logistics companies at these Hong Kong cargo terminals are controlled by triads. Many of the workers are nominal members of these triads. They've seen people crossing the border in trucks all the time, no one will say anything, and no one will be surprised. I've been using this route for a long time, and their boss has connections with me, so he won't tell anyone."
This is a warehouse, right next to the dock. A sea breeze is blowing. I suddenly felt like I'd been born twice.
"Is this Hong Kong?" I asked.
“Strictly speaking…” The fat man stood on the beach, pointing to the countless twinkling lights on the opposite shore: “That’s Hong Kong Island.”
I nodded, then suddenly jumped down the steps and ran to the beach below.
The fat man shouted, "What are you doing?"
"I need to pee!" I laughed and cursed. "I almost burst!"
As I zipped up my jacket and came up, I asked the fat man, "Are you taking me to Hong Kong?"
“No.” The fat man shook his head: “Hong Kong is still too close to the mainland. And the triads and the Hongmen in Hong Kong are of the same lineage, so you are still within Ye Huan’s sphere of influence.”
I looked at the fat man: "So where do you plan to take me?"
"The farther the better," the fat man said, and then offered no further explanation.
He then led me to the dock, where many containers were piled up, but most of them were empty. It seemed to be a container yard.
He led me to a storeroom without a number and opened the door. Inside, it was furnished like a room, with a bed, a wardrobe, a table, and chairs. I even saw a lamp.
"Take a nap, a boat will pick you up tonight." Before leaving, the fat man glanced at me and suddenly smiled: "By the way... just a quick question. You don't get seasick, do you? If you do, don't eat anything from now on."
This is a classic example of illegal immigration...
I slept in the container and was woken up in the evening. While I was resting, Fatty didn't come looking for me again. But when he woke me up in the evening, he had a relaxed expression on his face. After dragging me out of bed, he sighed, "You're really lucky... Ah, at least you found a boat."
I gave a wry smile: "You didn't just find a boat to take me here today, did you?"
The fat man curled his lip: "You think I run an airline? With flights flying to all over the world every day at fixed times? Damn it. This kind of work is all about luck. I'm not with those smugglers. If I happen to run into a smuggling company, I'll hitch a ride and get you there."
He led me back to the dock, and after waiting for a while, a small motorboat drove up. It was very small, with a canvas cover over the back.
My eyes widened immediately: "How can such a small boat go out to sea?"
The fat man kicked me onto the boat and cursed, "Do you think the police are just for show? It's really hard to smuggle people from the mainland these days, they all go through Southeast Asia! There's a boat passing by now, out to sea. We'll take this boat out to sea, and then you can get on that boat out to sea! It's only because of my connections that they reluctantly agreed to stop out to sea for an hour to wait for you to board!"
The man driving the speedboat was a dark-skinned, burly fellow with a fierce look on his face. He was focused on driving the boat and didn't even glance at me.
The fat man just pulled me to sit at the back of the boat.
It was my first time at sea. Although there wasn't much wind, the boat was still rocking quite a bit. The man was steering very aggressively and at a high speed. The fat man rummaged under the canvas for a while, pulled out a bag, handed it to me, looked at me quietly for a moment, and then said, "There are clothes and some money in this bag."
The fat man took a breath and said slowly, "I don't have much money. Leave all the RMB and other cash you have with me. You won't need it after we get out, and it might attract attention if you accidentally show it."
I nodded. Actually, I didn't have much cash on me. The money Jinhe left behind that day was all taken by Fatty.
“Change into the clothes inside as soon as you get ashore. Change and tidy yourself up immediately after you get out of the water. Don’t let the police see you; if you look like a beggar, you might get arrested.” The fat man then slowly gave me an address: “When you get there, find this person at this address…”
He gave me a name, then had me repeat the address and name. Finally, he said, "When you see him, don't say much. Just say I sent you there. You and he will face a mountain of knives and a sea of fire! He'll understand when he hears that!"
A mountain of knives and a sea of fire.
I nodded to indicate that I understood.
Part 1: In the Jianghu, Not in Control of One's Own Fate, Chapter 126: First-Class Treatment
I've never been to sea before, especially at night. I have absolutely no sense of direction at sea.
The speedboat traveled for a long time, then stopped halfway through, and the black man driving the boat rolled up the sail... underneath were cans of gasoline!
I broke out in a cold sweat just watching! The fat guy and I were even leaning against the canvas smoking just now!! The thought alone sends chills down my spine!
Fat Hands, however, looked completely unconcerned.
They refueled once along the way, and several hours later, the black man steering the boat used an instrument to determine their position, then glanced at the fat man and said something strange in a foreign language.