Chapter 49: The Mysterious Beggar

  Long Fei did not want to join the Black Ice, this non-governmental organization was too dark, and he didn't trust these people either. However, Zou Zhu threatened him that if Long Fei couldn't do things according to their master's intentions, Dong Zhuo's business would not only be rejected by Hei Bing, but also someone would be sent to clean up the door. The words were clear, cleaning up the door referred to Wang Qian and her brother Wang Wei.

  Long Fei did not sleep all night, whether or not he could meet Dong Zhuo's requirements was of no concern to him, but Wang Qian and Wang Wei were different. Wang Qian could be said to already be his wife, and Wang Wei was also considered his brother. If Hei Bing sent someone over, these two would not only be in danger, they might even implicate others. No one had ever seen Hei Bing's methods of killing people, he couldn't put all his brothers in harm's way for the sake of his own safety.

  Mi Zong smiled slightly: "I can give you a day to consider, if you've thought it through, come find me at Jiafu Teahouse. I hope Lord Long won't make the wrong decision! You only have one day, if by this time tomorrow you still haven't arrived, that means Lord Long has given up on our business, farewell!"

  He had originally wanted to capture Hei Bing, but ended up selling himself out instead, and this deal was a huge loss. However, he couldn't not go, so the next morning, Long Fei set off alone on his horse, Yu Feng, into Luoyang City. When he left, he specifically tucked that red dagger into his waist, in case he needed it for self-defense. In Long Fei's mind, Hei Bing was like the underworld, and he had always been in the military. You could say he had a natural immunity to the underworld, and just thinking about joining made him feel uneasy all over.

  Jiafu Teahouse is not the best or largest teahouse in Luoyang, and its business is also very dull. However, it is located on Zhengping Street, the most prosperous street in Luoyang. This Zhengping Street was the road that Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu walked through when he entered the city. One end of Zhengping Street leads to the south gate of Luoyang, and the other end is the main gate of the imperial palace. The street is 999 steps long and 9 steps wide. On the side close to the imperial palace, various government offices are lined up one after another. On the side close to the city gate, all kinds of shops are lined up one after another, and the most prosperous place is the intersection of government offices and shops. High-ranking officials, wealthy merchants, and people from all walks of life who come and go in Luoyang must pass through here. This Jiafu Teahouse is located at the southeast corner of the intersection.

  As usual, there were only a few people scattered around the main hall, sitting in twos and threes drinking tea and chatting. It's not that the things here are bad, but they're very expensive, with even the most ordinary pot of tea costing 100 coins. In today's chaotic world, how many people can afford to drink such tea? When a customer came in, the waiter hurried over to attend to them.

  Long Fei scanned the area with a glance, not seeing Zou Zhu. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask, someone lightly patted him on the shoulder. Zou Zhu appeared in front of him with a smiling face: "Lord Long has arrived quite early?"

  The little servant heard that he was a big man, and hastily nodded and bowed. Zou Zhu was very familiar with this place, and shouted at the little servant: "Go and get me and Long Gongzi a pot of good Longjing tea, and bring some pastries and fruit!"

  They went straight up to the elegant room on the second floor, and as soon as they sat down, a waiter came in with a teapot, two empty cups, and several small pastries. The teapot and tea cups were exceptionally delicate, no different from those used in the imperial palace. The pastries were also exquisitely made, round and square, with beautiful patterns printed on them, arranged neatly on small plates.

  She poured herself a cup, put it under her nose and took a sniff. What a intoxicating aroma! She closed her eyes and savored it for half a day: "Good tea! Longjing is still the best from our place, Lord Long, try some, this Luoyang city only has authentic Longjing in this house!"

  Long Fei didn't study tea, and when he drank it, it was just slightly bitter in his mouth. He didn't think this tea was any different from others. He looked at Miao Zhu's intoxicated appearance, waiting for her to speak first. But as he waited, Miao Zhu kept talking about the pros and cons of tea leaves, without mentioning their own affairs even once. Long Fei was a very astute person, and when it came to psychological warfare, he was the ancestor of these ancient people.

  Long Fei lay down on the cushion, closed his eyes and started sleeping. Until the sun was high in the sky, Zou Zhu drank all the Longjing tea by himself, ate two pastries, looked at Long Fei and said: "Lord Long, isn't it time to talk business?"

  "No rush, there's still an hour before dawn, let me take a little nap!" Long Fei didn't even open his eyes: "You enjoyed your drink earlier, I've been waiting for you for half a day, now it's your turn to wait for me!"

  "Haha... Lord Long still holds a grudge!" Zou Zhu sat up straight: "In another hour, we'll be on the same side, no need to be so petty, right?"

  "Haven't I agreed yet?" Long Fei said: "Even if I agree, according to what you said, I am the Left Prime Minister, and I'm much older than you, do you speak to your superior like this?"

  "Haha! I apologize for the disrespect! Please forgive me, Lord Long!" Zou Zhu was helpless and hastily made a fist to apologize.

  Long Fei finally sat up properly and let out a sigh: "Alright! From now on, you and I are like family, no need to be so polite."

  Meng Zong nodded, took a package from behind him, and slowly opened it to reveal its contents. Inside the package was a small box and a black night-traveling outfit. Opening the box revealed a white jade pendant, identical to the one Wang Qian had previously owned. Long Fei remembered Li Su saying that this object was called the White Dragon Token. Meng Zong held it in both hands and respectfully handed it to Long Fei: "This is our token of trust; whoever sees this pattern or possesses this item is our brother. Remember, Lord Long, we only recognize this object, not people - no matter who it is, as long as they possess this thing, they are one of us, the Black Ice Clan!"

  Long Fei took it over, turned it over and looked at it, and indeed it was the same as Wang Qian's, whether in size or pattern: "They are all the same, how can we distinguish between high and low official positions?"

  Meng Zong nodded: "Dragon Lord is indeed different from others, Dragon Lord please take a look, the material and workmanship are exactly the same, but there is a difference here. Dragon Lord, take a closer look, you should have seen Wang's piece, he is the lowest-ranking officer of Hei Bing, his dragon has only one eye, three claws, and no protrusions on the dragon horn. Now look at yours, four-clawed dragon, three eyes, and three protrusions on the dragon horn, this is the only mark of Zuo Shu Zhang!"

  Long Fei carefully recalled, comparing his own White Dragon Wall repeatedly. As Mei Zhu said, this piece was indeed different from Wang Qian's. Mei Zhu re-packed the package: "The night-traveling clothes inside are considered a gift I gave you! From now on, you are one of our Hei Bing people!" Mei Zhu got up, kneeling on one knee: "Junior officer Mei Zhu pays respects to your lordship!"

  "Alright, alright!" Long Fei waved his hand: "No need to flatter me like that! I don't know more about Hei Bing than you do. Now that we're on the same side, are you going to tell me about Hei Bing?"

  "Sir, rest assured that someone will inform you of what you need to know. The Black Ice organization is vast and everything has its own personnel. From the moment we leave this place, perhaps we'll never meet again. I advise you, sir, once you're in Black Ice, you're in for life. If you learn the secrets of Black Ice, don't even think about leaving - the consequences are clear to you without me saying them! That's all I have to say, farewell!"

  Before Long Fei could react, Mei Zhu had already reached the stairs. Long Fei hastily went to chase after him, but was stopped by the shopkeeper: "Sir, are you satisfied? The total is 300 coins!" After paying for his tea, Long Fei rushed out of the door, only to find that Mei Zhu had vanished into thin air.

  Walking on the streets of Luoyang with a gust of wind, I think about how I ended up joining an assassin organization and my heart still feels a bit awkward. In the army, every moment was about being loyal to the party, loyal to the country, loyal to the people, but now I've somehow ended up on the opposing side of the people, becoming an assassin who kills for money. This transformation has come too suddenly, too quickly.

  "This strong man, be kind! Give me some money, please!" A beggar knelt in front of Long Fei. His dirty clothes, holding a bamboo stick and a broken bowl, blocked Long Fei's path.

  The dragon flew to the left and yielded, but that person hurriedly knelt down two steps and continued to block the way in front of Long Fei. He kept chanting "I want money" in his mouth. Long Fei had no choice but to take out two copper coins from his pocket and throw them at him. However, that person looked at it and showed no signs of getting up, still blocking Long Fei's path. A team of patrolling soldiers happened to pass by and saw the beggar, surrounding him with a "hula" sound.

  The leader shouted with wide eyes: "Hurry up, drive this beggar out of the city! Luoyang City cannot have a beggar!" Several soldiers dragged the man away. The man struggled constantly, revealing his face hidden by his long hair. A smile still hung at the corner of his mouth, as if mocking Long Fei. The man had a clear and elegant appearance, although his face was covered with dirt, he looked very stylish.

  "Let him go!" Long Fei took out the token given by Dong Zhuo. The soldiers saw it and immediately knelt down, the captain led the way in apologizing repeatedly, and had the beggar brought back again.

  "What's your name? Where are you from?"

  "I'm a humble villager from Nanyang, surname Shan, single name Fu! Due to my hometown being affected by disaster and encountering war, I had no choice but to beg for a living. I hope the adults will forgive me! I'll leave Luoyang immediately!" Shan Fu was very scared, his whole body trembling. After saying this, he quickly slipped into the crowd.

  "Halt!" Long Fei roared, and the two soldiers immediately understood, hastily grabbing Duan Fu back. "Duan Fu!" Long Fei searched his mind for this name, seemingly having heard it before. Thinking carefully, wasn't Duan Fu actually Xu Shu? After killing someone, Xu Shu had fled to Nanyang and changed his name to Duan Fu, helping Liu Bei defeat Xiahou Yuan's vanguard, but was discovered by Cao Cao and lured to Xuchang, after which he vanished. He was that person who ranked second only to Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.

  "Is it just Fu? No, right?" Long Fei said: "You are Xu Shu, a man from Yingchuan! Because of killing someone and changing his name to Dan Fu, he escaped to Nanyang! Am I right or not?"

  Xu Shou was shocked, staring at Long Fei with wide eyes. Long Fei had a plan in mind and smiled slightly: "You, this murderous madman, dare to come to Luoyang again? This time, see where you can run! You few, take him to the West Garden for me, I will interrogate him and then hand him over to Dong Xiao Wei for disposal!" Long Fei handed over a few dozen coins to Shi Chang. Shi Chang's face lit up with joy, and he hastily led his men to take Xu Shou away.