"Dead monkey" refers to a despicable gang member.

"Someone's come from outside..." The dark-faced youth was only halfway through his sentence when the sleazy gang members, hearing their leader's voice, scrambled into the door, spitting out grass roots and dirt, and pointing outside while shouting.

"Boss, a little brat has come over. He not only wants to fight you, but he also wants to beat you down and stomp on your face!"

"How dare you!" Xu Ruohai almost laughed when he heard this. He shoved aside the sleazy gangsters blocking his way with his large hand: "I want to see who dares to fight me, and who can fight me!"

First, there was a young man from Qinghe Village who sold himself into servitude and beat the 21st leader of his gang to a pulp. Then, a little brat came to cause trouble... and so on!

Looking at the young man in front of him, Xu Ruohai thought to himself, "What a coincidence! You're the kid who beat up Lao Mu from my gang, and you still haven't given up. You've got the audacity to come and attack my Qinghe Gang?"

Yun Shou stopped spinning his knife; the faint light between his fingers was unremarkable, and no one noticed when it went out.

This burly man, Xu Ruohai, is seen as a powerful figure by the dozen or so villages along the shores of Qinghu Lake. Now forty-four years old, he has been a first-rate expert for six or seven years.

In the past six or seven years, he has made his move more than once, and each time his invincible demeanor has been etched into everyone's mind.

Three years ago, when Yun Shou's parents were still alive, he went with his friends to the neighboring Honglin Village to watch the spectacle: the punishment of a fisherman.

The fisherman moved from the other side of the lake with his own fishing boat, but he sold his catch in the city on Qinghe Gang's territory and was reported to the gang.

Selling fish secretly is a trivial matter that wouldn't normally warrant the attention of the gang leader. The fact that a lowly member ranked in the teens could come over means he must have sold a lot.

But this person was selling an entire litter, nine "little black dragons" in total: two large and seven small!

The Little Black Dragon is a rare and precious fish with jet-black blood. (It was mentioned in Chapter Two.)

They possess the wondrous ability to invigorate blood and qi, and accelerate the progress of third-rate martial artists. The Qinghe Gang classifies them as "Fish Kings," but they are not protected by a school of fish, nor do they appear larger or more ferocious; they are simply rare.

Nine precious fish species from the Qinghe Gang's territory (Tingshui) were sold privately in Qingcheng. If the restaurant that received the fish hadn't reminded the gang, the loss would have been painful for Xu Ruohai; it felt like he was being ripped out of his own flesh!

So the fisherman who broke the rules was tied to the boat and rowed into Qinghu Lake, more than a hundred meters from the shore.

The villagers from Honglin Village and nearby areas who had rushed over to watch the spectacle crowded the shore and the dock. They speculated about how the Qinghe Gang would punish the fisherman: would they let him drift in the lake for several days and starve to death, or would they capsize his boat and drown him?

But the events unfolded in a way that exceeded their expectations and left an indelible mark on their minds that they must never disobey the Green Harvest Gang.

They saw Xu Ruohai stepping on the lake water, the ripples becoming his foothold, and in just a few steps he reached the boat.

He raised his sword and slashed down.

The concentrated energy lengthened the blade, and with a single slash, wood chips flew everywhere, blood gushed out, and waves of water surged forth.

A wooden boat that would take several adult men to lift was cleaved in two by Xu Ruohai with a single stroke!

Yun Shou arrived a step too late and only saw two sections of the boat floating on the lake, already pushed hundreds of meters away from the shore by the waves.

I've only heard legends about Xu Ruohai, but I've never actually seen him take action.

Now, the first time we've seen them make a move, we're already adversaries.

To be honest, he's quite excited right now.