Chapter 49: The Fragrant Pavilion

  Hou Bu Yin had long known that Gu Long Fei was the vice leader, and seeing that he not only didn't blame him for stealing, but also took out silver dollars to give to him, his heart was deeply moved. He kowtowed on the ground with a series of "thuds", and without waiting for Gu Long Fei to help him up, he jumped to his feet and ran off in just a few steps, disappearing from sight.

  Gu Long saw Hou Bu Yin's distant figure, and his heart was not pleasant. The Japanese iron hooves were trampling on Chinese soil at will, and the people lived in a state of panic all the time! Although he also knew that in a few years, the Japanese would surrender, but before they surrendered, how many more people like Hou Bu Yin and his mother would suffer? So, despite being reborn from a later generation, he knew that this history was destined to be unchangeable. However, watching his compatriots suffering deeply, he would rather believe that the 'Missouri' plan could change the course of history, end the war early, and let his compatriots escape their suffering earlier!

  Where is the address of Xiaodao Hui? After waiting for a while, Gu Longfei suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to ask for the address! However, he did remember where Huamanlou's home was. He could go to his house and ask someone, then he would know! Just as he thought of this, a rickshaw came along, so he hailed it and got on.

  The weather was cold, and the rickshaw driver, dressed in thin clothes, had to run quickly to warm himself up. After Gu Longfei got on the rickshaw, the driver ran as fast as he could, fortunately the road was flat and there were no big bumps, but it still made Gu Longfei's heart jump with fright, and he repeatedly yelled at the driver to slow down a bit. However, running quickly also had its advantages, they soon arrived at their destination!

  Two people came to greet him from afar as Gu Longfei arrived at the gate of Huaman Building. The man on the left bowed to Gu Longfei and said, "Master Gu, you're here! Master Hua asked us to wait for you here, he wants you to go to the meeting room to meet with him!"

  The two men were wearing red headscarves and had a row of small knives inserted at their waists, which he recognized. Last time they came to Huamanlou's house, it was these two who stood by the door and opened the door for him and Murong. He nodded and smiled, saying: "Two brothers are hardworking! Dare to ask, where is the meeting place?"

  The man on the right bowed and said, "Master Gu is too polite! Please follow us!" After speaking, he and the man on the left led the way, turning their bodies to walk towards the side of the main gate. They walked about ten or so steps before stopping in front of a small door. He knocked on the door several times, and someone poked his head out to take a look. Seeing Gu Longfei and the others, he smiled and stepped aside, letting them enter!

  The ancient dragon flew to see the Taoist temple, which was connected to the place where Huamanlou lived. It is estimated that it was originally a courtyard, but later separated and used for other purposes. After entering the gate, there was a large open space, with twenty or thirty people standing or sitting on it. When they saw Gu Longfei coming, they all hurriedly stood up and stood upright with respect.

  The two of them led the way, with Gu Longfei walking along, until they arrived in front of a large house. Gu Longfei looked up and saw that above the doorway were written the words "Ancestral Temple". In his heart he thought: It turned out this was originally the ancestral temple of the Hua family, but now it had become the residence of the Small Knife Society.

  Hua Manlou heard the footsteps and knew that Gu Longfei had arrived, so he brought Hua Wushuang and Hua Wudui, the two brothers, to welcome him. He warmly grasped Gu Longfei's hand and walked with him into the house. The Hua brothers saw Gu Longfei and smiled, all coming forward to call him "Big Brother Gu".

  Jade Dragonfly smiled and sat down in the chair, saying: "Flower Master, your environment here is not bad, with high walls and spacious houses. Living here can give you a sense of security and also bring you a kind of leisurely pleasure that is isolated from the world!"

  Hua Man Lou laughed: "I'm glad you like it, I was worried that you wouldn't be used to it here earlier."

  Jade Dragon was taken aback and asked: "Flower Master, what did you say?"

  Hua Manlou shook his head and said, "Let's talk about this later, first you have to fulfill your promise to me, then I'll tell you the details!"

  "What's the matter?"

  The flowers in the building did not respond, but turned around and said to the flower family brothers: "You go get the portrait of the predecessor, set up a good incense case, and welcome the ancient master into the meeting!" The two brothers responded and went towards the inner room.

  Jiulong Fei suddenly remembered that he had agreed to join the Small Knife Society, and now Huamanlou was calling him over to prepare for a grand opening of the Fragrant Hall, where his initiation ceremony would be held. He asked: "Master Hua, what is the origin of this Small Knife Society?"

  The origin of the Small Knife Society dates back to the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, when it was founded by Chen Qingzhen in Xiamen as a secret organization. It later spread to Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian and Taiwan. Initially, it was formed by ordinary people who prepared small knives for self-protection, unrelated to the anti-Qing restoration movement. Later, after joining forces with the Tiandihui, it gained scale and became an anti-Qing resistance force.

  Jade Dragon had been in Hankou for many years and had long heard of the Small Knife Society, but he didn't know its origins. Now that Hua Manlou mentioned it, he realized that it had a long history, over 200 years since the Qianlong era! A gang being able to survive for over 200 years was indeed a miracle!

  Hua Manlou continued: "Later, the Small Sword Society spread to Shanghai, which was the heyday of the Small Sword Society! The leaders of the Small Sword Society, Zhou Lichun, Xu Yiao, Liu Lichuan, Chen Alin and others, staged an armed uprising in Shanghai, occupying the entire city. Later, they made contact with the leader of the Taiping Army and joined the Taiping Army! Ah, what a pity! The Qing government colluded with foreigners to suppress this grand uprising, and from then on, the Small Sword Society was unable to recover its former glory!"

  Jade Dragon thought to himself, "You're an imposter, Flowerful Tower. How did you know about the Small Knife Society's past? Is it possible that the society still preserves its history or development notes?"

  Hua Manlou sighed and said, "After the failure of the Small Knife uprising, many leaders died in battle, and the brothers under their command were also slaughtered. The remaining scattered troops retreated from Shanghai, with one group dispersing to Hankou, where they preserved some of their strength and became a purely Jianghu sect that didn't get involved in politics! Later, when the Japanese came, they openly 'obeyed the law' and didn't provoke the Japanese, but secretly killed many Japanese soldiers. However, this was done extremely secretly, without letting the Japanese have any inkling, so everything remained peaceful!"

  At this time, the Hua brothers brought two scrolls, and Hua Manlou respectfully received them in his hands, unfolded them and hung them on the wall of the central hall. After paying their respects, they said to Gu Longfei: "These two paintings, one is Chen Qingzhen, the founder of the Small Knife Society, and the other is Zhou Lichun, the leader of the Great Shanghai Uprising! You come over and pay your respects first!"

  "Yes!" Gu Longfei knew these predecessors, for the establishment and development of Xiao Dao Hui, all were meritorious, so he walked to the front of the portrait, knelt down, and knocked three loud heads.

  Flowers filled the building, and he knelt on the ground, saying: "After you kowtowed, you became a member of my Xiaodao Association. Now I'll first tell you the slogan of our association: Earthquake Gaohang, one faction Xishan thousand years old; Door facing the sea, three rivers merge water flowing for ten thousand years!"

  Suddenly, Qinglong remembered that he had read a book in the future called "The Deer and the Cauldron", which mentioned a group called the Tiandi Society, whose slogan seemed to be this. He asked: "Isn't this the slogan of the Tiandi Society?"

  "Hua Man Lou was shocked and asked, 'How did you know? I told you before that we were originally a branch of the Tiandihui!' The slogan within the society is unknown to outsiders. How did this future leader find out?"

  Gu Long thought to himself, "Oh no, why did I bring this up? Hua Man Lou will definitely suspect that I knew about the slogan from somewhere else." He hesitated for a moment before lying, "The day I agreed to join the Xiao Dao Society, although I didn't have time to attend the initiation ceremony, my mind was still on the society. The slogan of the society was something I asked the person who came to call me earlier about!"

  "Are you saying it's Hou Bu Xin?" Hua Man Lou heard him say this and felt that it was reasonable, so his expression eased up.

  Jiulong nodded slightly and stopped talking, afraid that if he opened his mouth again, he would say something that people in the future would know about, making it hard for him to come up with an excuse.

  Hua Manlou continued, "The original purpose of our society was to drive out the Qing dynasty and restore the Ming dynasty! However, times have changed and the Qing dynasty has long since perished. Now, the Japanese devils are occupying our land, so our society's purpose has been revised to expel the Japanese invaders and recover our rivers and mountains! As for the rules and regulations of our society, you can read them yourself when you have time!"

  Huā Mǎn Lóu helped Gu Long Fei up, and said to Huā Wú Shuāng: "Wú Shuāng, go call all the brothers outside in, let them meet the new leader!"

  The men standing in the empty space outside the door, having received the summons, entered one after another, first paying their respects to the portrait in the hall before coming to pay their respects to Huamanlou.

  The whole family of Huamanlou had arrived, and he pointed at Gu Longfei and said: "Come on, everyone, let me introduce someone to you. He is the vice leader of Xiaodao Hui, Gu Longfei, the leader of the ancient dragon, everyone come and pay your respects!"

  Everyone had heard that there was a new deputy leader in the gang, and earlier they received an order from Huamanlou to gather at the gang's headquarters. They were all thinking about what kind of person this new deputy leader would be. Later, when they saw one of Huabangzhu's trusted subordinates bring someone into the hall, they guessed that this must be the new deputy leader! Sure enough, after entering, Huabangzhu had everyone pay their respects to this young man!

  Everyone stood up straight, facing Gu Long and bowed their heads, shouting in unison: "Pay respects to the deputy leader!" It was a custom of the Small Knife Society that when meeting their own seniors, they would always bow their heads as a sign of respect, never kneeling. Especially after the Republic era, the old customs were abandoned, so there was no need to kneel at all.

  Jiulong Fei hastily returned the courtesy, saying: "I'm new here and don't understand anything, so I'll have to rely on all of you brothers to remind me and correct me often!" After finishing speaking, he also bowed slightly to everyone. He saw that these twenty or so men were not young, with the youngest likely over thirty years old, and the older ones were even comparable in age to Huamanlou. Knowing they were all senior brothers in the gang, Jiulong Fei showed respect and courtesy.

  Everyone saw that Gu Longfei was polite and courteous, treating others with kindness, and they were all delighted. They thought to themselves that this new deputy leader, although young in age, was actually quite good with people!

  Hua Manlou said: "Everyone has met the new leader, first go to my home, I have already set up several tables to entertain the old leader! You and Wuduan, Wudui go ahead, I will talk to Gu Bangzhu for a bit, and come soon!"

  After everyone had left, Huamanlou suddenly said: "Xiaofei, I was in such a hurry to recruit you into the gang, there is something important that needs your help!"