Quickly conquer the martial arts world, and let your fists dominate the heavens!

Britain and France are two powerful nations.

The British and French troops stationed outside Tianjin had already begun mobilization after the failed encirclement attempt that afternoon.

In the afternoon, Chen Zhan ran away from the Black and White Pawnshop. Levi immediately smashed his teacup. Less than half an hour after the order was given, the two camps outside the city began to assemble.

The British troops moved quickly, while the French troops moved slower, but as soon as the gunfire started, the detachment closest to the Municipal Council was already on its way back to reinforce, with torches and lanterns forming a line that meandered from the depths of the streets and alleys.

Levi stood by the second-floor window, listening to the commotion outside. Although he wanted to restore the light, he didn't let anyone rush down.

Rushing down in the dark could easily throw our own men into disarray.

Once the garrison arrives, they will surround the building and block several streets in the vicinity. Even if Chen Zhan were to grow wings, he would be a caged bird, unable to fly away.

Downstairs, it was dark and eerily quiet.

Chen Zhan stood in the shadows of the first-floor corridor, his back against the wall.

There was a flurry of footsteps upstairs; some people were whispering messages, others were cocking guns, and still others were pushing furniture behind the door.

The sound of boots outside grew louder and louder, converging from afar and encircling the area along the street, soon turning it into an impenetrable fortress.

He stood there for a moment, then went upstairs.

Killing them wouldn't make much difference; the situation wouldn't change.

But since we're already here, there's no reason for us to leave empty-handed.

The older generation says that thieves never leave empty-handed; he's a traditional person and doesn't want to break the rules.

The stairs were made of wood and creaked when you stepped on them. Chen Zhan didn't bother with that and walked up steadily. When he reached the corner on the second floor, he bumped into a French detective carrying a revolver.

The man clearly hadn't expected someone to swagger up like that. He had only half-raised his gun, and before he could even steady his hand, Chen Zhan was already in front of him, sweeping out his right elbow and smashing it into the side of his neck.

As the man slumped down, Chen Zhan caught the gun, turned around, and saw a figure at the other end of the corridor. He held the gun horizontally like a lump of iron and smashed it out.

The man didn't have time to dodge; the blow landed squarely on his nose, breaking his bone. He tried to scream, but the sound was trapped in his throat, and he fell backward.

Gunshots rang out in the corridor, flashes of light appeared, and bullets hit the wall, sending up white dust. Chen Zhan leaned to the side against the left wall, and the bullets grazed his right sleeve.

He slid forward with the momentum, his palm striking the man's chest with a dull thud, like crushing a piece of dry mud.

The other person flew out, their body arched, and crashed into the end of the corridor, where they remained motionless.

The people on the second floor realized what was happening. Two people were guarding the stairwell, one holding a baton and the other a pistol.

Chen Zhan didn't stop. When he rushed up, the man with the gun fired first, but the shot missed in the rush.

The bullet struck the wooden railing on the side of the stairs, breaking a crack in the railing. Chen Zhan ducked forward, and the officer with the baton came crashing down on his head. He didn't dodge; he caught it with his left forearm above his head.

At the same time, he grabbed the other person's wrist with his right hand and pulled him outward. The person was pulled out and lost his balance, crashing into the person holding the gun. The two of them became entangled.

Chen Zhan stood up, grabbed the person closest to him with his left hand, held the back of their neck, and then thrust his knee into their abdomen, causing them to fold down. He then pushed the person away and slammed his right fist into the other person's temple.

The punch felt solid as it hit bone; the opponent's eyes rolled back, and he fell to the ground, motionless.

The door to the inner room was ajar, and Levi was inside. When Chen Zhan entered, Levi had already retreated to the window, with the curtains blowing in the night wind behind him. He was holding a small-caliber pistol in his hand, and his expression was grim, but he didn't panic.

He was accompanied by two bodyguards, both muscular Europeans, one tall and one short, with much more composed eyes than those of the men downstairs.

The shorter one moved first, lunging at Chen Zhan in a takedown stance, his arms outstretched to lock him around the waist.

Chen Zhan sidestepped, grabbed the man's shoulder as he charged, and with a quick pull, threw him away. The tall man seized the opportunity to cut in from the side and threw a punch straight at Chen Zhan's left cheek. The punch was powerful enough to knock someone unconscious if it landed.

Chen Zhan shrank his neck and tilted his head to the side. The fist grazed his cheek, and he tilted his head back and bumped it into the other man's chin. The tall man's eyes darted away for a moment, and Chen Zhan had already raised his elbow.

It slammed into his side, sending him sprawling and crashing into a bookshelf, scattering books all over the floor.

Levi fired the shot.

The shot was more accurate than Chen Zhan had anticipated, but it was impossible for it to hit. With only one gun, it posed almost no threat to him. The moment Levis exerted his muscle power, he had already dodged to the side.

Levi pulled the trigger twice more, but the third shot jammed. He backed up to the windowsill, where the night sky and the street below lay before him. He had nowhere to go.

Chen Zhan flashed forward, pinned him against the windowsill, and without bothering with words, snapped his neck.

"Snapped!"

"crash"

A gust of wind blew in through the window, causing the curtains to flutter.

The glass shattered, and the person was thrown directly from the building.

The rest of the people panicked and fled in different directions.

Chen Zhan killed them one by one. Several compradors with long braids, presumably Qing officials, were killed without a word of questioning.

By the time the second floor was tidied up, the commotion outside had become too loud to contain.

Chen Zhan came out of the inner room, walked to the courtyard, and looked up.

Above the courtyard was a night sky, the moon was already setting in the west. There was a beam between the third and fourth floors. He used the wall bricks for leverage, took two steps to climb up, grabbed the beam, flipped over, and went up to the rooftop.

The night wind was blowing, and the rooftop was deserted.

He walked to the edge and peered down.

The streets surrounding the Municipal Council were already filled with troops, with British and French uniforms mixed together. Torches, lanterns, and flashlights illuminated the area below, and the crowd was bustling with people, all pointing their guns at the building, creating quite an imposing scene.

Someone with sharp eyes looked up and saw him, shouted, and then gunshots rang out. A series of shots rang out, bullets hitting the rooftop and scattering stone dust. Several bullets flew over the edge and into the night sky, missing their mark.

The distance was too far for shotguns to hit, and the rifled gun was difficult to aim at from this angle. Chen Zhan wasn't in a hurry. He took a few steps back and stepped into the shadows at the top of the stairs, where the bullets couldn't reach him.

He stood there, slowly catching his breath. He had been shot several times in the back from downstairs, and with both new and old wounds, he was exhausted.

He shook his hand, remained silent for a moment, and then his mind cleared.

There was a lot of noise downstairs, and someone was shouting in Chinese, telling the people upstairs to surrender, saying something like "surrender and you won't be killed," and they were shouting very loudly.

Chen Zhan didn't listen; he was looking at the roof of the building across the street.

There's a road between the two buildings, probably about forty meters wide. The roof heights are about the same. The building opposite is a residential building with a sloping tile roof. It's hard to find a landing spot, but it's enough.

He took ten steps back, his feet firmly planted on the stone bricks, and took a deep breath.

When I came out again, I was running at full speed. My steps were heavy and fast on the rooftop. I rushed to the edge in seven or eight steps and stepped onto the edge of the parapet with my right foot.

The moment his body was airborne, gunfire erupted below like popping beans. Some screamed, some shouted something, but Chen Zhan was already in the air.

The night wind brushed against my face. At the highest point of my body, I was standing on a dark, narrow alley, with brick walls of two buildings on either side. Then the curve began to drop, and the outline of the rooftops opposite me grew closer and closer.

He pulled his legs back just before landing, his feet landing first. Several tiles shattered with a crash, and he rolled forward with the momentum of his fall, using the force to dissipate the impact. He rolled seven or eight feet, bracing himself against the roof ridge, and regained his balance.

My gunshot wound to my back hurts a bit. I just got shot a few more times, but none of them hit any vital organs, so it's not a big problem.

Gunfire erupted below, creating chaos. Some people were shouting to change direction, while others were running.

Chen Zhan didn't stop. He got up and ran along the roof ridge. When he reached the edge of the building, there was another alley below. Across the street was a row of low houses. Without stopping, he jumped down and stepped onto the opposite roof. The tiles made a slight sound as he crossed over.

Then they fell again, into the deeper alleyways, their feet touching the ground, merging into the darkness of the old town.

The shouts from behind couldn't catch up.

As dawn broke, Chen Zhan had already returned to the old town.

Blood had soaked through the strip of cloth on his back. He found a sheltered doorway to sit down, untied the cloth, and re-wrapped it, making sure it was tight. He then used his teeth to bite the end of the cloth and tied a knot that was impossible to untie.

The wound wasn't deep, but it bled a lot. Even after it was bandaged, it still throbbed slightly. I leaned against the door and rested for a while.

Judging from the scattered sounds in the distance, the Municipal Council is probably still searching, but they haven't found anything in the old town area yet.

Ordinary people wouldn't come out at this time; they'd all hide.

He leaned against it and closed his eyes for a while.

I didn't fall asleep; I just wanted to catch my breath.

He had no attachment to the old town anymore. People were either dead or scattered. He knew those alleys by heart; he could find them even with his eyes closed.

The only thing left is the canal gang and the Grand Duke of the canal.

Yesterday, foreigners surrounded and arrested him; the canal gang played a significant role, thanks to the powerful and influential figures associated with the canal.
Quite a few members of the Grand Canal Gang died at his hands, but before that, several of Chen Zhan's men had already perished, all thanks to the Grand Canal Gang.

Chen Zhan didn't care which side the fence-sitter sided with, but he couldn't let go of the fact that people had used his men as a pledge of allegiance.

He leaned against the wall to stand up and walked forward.

His stomach growled, and he realized that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything since last night.

At this time of day, there would have been stalls in the old town already, selling soy milk and fried dough sticks, tofu pudding, and mutton soup from carts along the street. They would have set up their stoves before dawn, and the aroma would have wafted across half the street.

But today, the streets were unusually deserted as I walked along. All the doors were closed. Occasionally, I would see a figure, but they would only peek at me from behind a doorway and then immediately retreat when I walked this way.

The commotion last night was too great. These people in the old city are very shrewd; they know when to stay put.

Chen Zhan walked a long way, all the way to the edge of Nanshi, a no-man's-land, before he saw a sesame seed cake shop.

The shop was tiny, just a shed set up by the roadside with a stove burning. Inside sat an old man wearing an old cotton hat, dozing off against the stove, completely unaware that anyone would come at this hour.

Next to it was a small pot, covered with a lid, with charcoal burning underneath. Steam escaped from the edge of the lid, carrying the aroma of mutton soup.

Chen Zhan sat down on the small stool opposite the old man.

The old man was startled awake by the noise. He opened his eyes and was stunned for a moment, probably not expecting such a person to appear. He looked at Chen Zhan's face, his eyes darting around, but he didn't ask any more questions.

"Mutton soup, four sesame seed cakes."

The old man responded, lifted the pot lid to ladle out the soup, and casually took out four sesame seed cakes from the bamboo basket beside him.

When the soup was served, Chen Zhan held the bowl and drank it. It was very hot, but he didn't let it cool down. He just drank it down, and his stomach warmed up, and his fatigue dissipated a little.

The sesame seed cake was baked until crispy, and sesame seeds would fall off when you bit into it. He ate it with the soup, put the bowl back, took out a copper coin, placed it on the table, and got up to leave.

The old man didn't look up, but simply said, "Be careful on the road."

Chen Zhan didn't reply, and turned to walk towards the direction of the canal gang.

It was no secret that the members of the grain transport gang were in a state of panic.

When news of the deaths of Lian Shanyue and Ji Qian arrived, it was clear that these two men held extremely high positions in the canal gang and were considered prominent figures in Tianjin.

It's all broken.

When the news reached the Canal Gang, the seasoned veterans within the gang all wore unpleasant expressions.

Everyone knows who did it.

Cao Taisui retreated into the inner courtyard of the Cao Gang, and changed his men three times around the perimeter, all of whom were his trusted confidants who had followed him for many years.

No outsiders are allowed, even the messenger who used to relay messages has been replaced, the account books are brought to the inner courtyard to be viewed, meals are eaten there, and even the outhouse is the same one in the inner courtyard.

Business at the docks couldn't stop, or it would cut off their source of income. But the Grand Canal Commissioner didn't dare show his face, so he had a few of his managers keep things under control and report back. He sat inside listening, his brow never unfurrowing.

Chen Zhan walked around the area near the Caobang Wharf, then stood behind a warehouse and began to look around.

There were quite a few people at the dock, including members of the canal gang and casual laborers hired from outside, helping to unload the goods. Sacks and boxes were carried back and forth, and the foreman walked around, shouting and urging people on.

The members of the canal gang stood by and watched, checking the numbers, but didn't really pay attention to the casual laborers.

Chen Zhan stared at it all morning.

He didn't know where Cao Taisui was. His original address was long gone. Cao Taisui wasn't stupid; a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and as the leader of the largest gang in Tianjin, he could easily have ten.

So he could only wait.

Just after noon, he finally noticed something amiss.

A middle-aged man emerged from the canal gang's boat. He was dressed much better than the ordinary gang members, and his clothes were very clean. He was at least a middle-ranking member and didn't have to do any manual labor.

He selected a few people.

They left the dock with their men, wandering through several alleys, behaving furtively, constantly looking back to check if anyone was following them, being extremely cautious.

The more this happened, the more Chen Zhan knew he had made the right choice.

Walk for another 15 minutes.

Finally, they arrived at the edge of a courtyard. Everyone around him had already left, following different routes to avoid being followed.

The middle-aged man walked to the gate of the courtyard, handed over a waist tag, and then went into the courtyard.

After the other party entered the courtyard, Chen Zhan did not rush to move.

Observe from a distance, then change your position and look around the yard from all sides.

"They're really heavily guarded. Now they know they're scared to death."

There were three lines of guards on the outer perimeter, while there were fewer guards on the inner courtyard. Cao Taisui had piled all his best men on the outside, leaving only two gatekeepers inside. He thought that if the outer entrance was secured, the inside would be impenetrable.

His eyesight was exceptional, at least twice that of an average person. From a great height, he looked down into the main house of the inner courtyard, where a large group of people could be seen moving through the paper windows.

Chen Zhan thought for a moment, then decided he didn't want to wait until evening and wanted to finish early. (End of Chapter)