Volume Two: Second Scroll
Slander
Song Yuhang feels guilty for the fleeting moment of soft-heartedness she felt in the Huange Nightclub.
Under the cover of night, Song Yuhang arrived at the small alley behind the Huange Nightclub. She stepped onto a water pipe on the wall and nimbly climbed up to the second floor. Gently pushing open the window of the innermost room, she leaped inside.
The lights in the room were off, and it was pitch-black. The bed was covered with a quilt. Song Yuhang, clutching a mechanical baton in her hand, tiptoed over and suddenly ripped the covers off.
“You really…”
Before she could finish her sentence, her pupils had already contracted. No one!
Lin Yan, of course, was not there.
Not long after she had left, Tiger had returned. The two groups of men were in a cold, armed standoff in a factory in the suburbs.
On Lin Yan’s side, led by Liu Zhi, men were holding guns, protecting her in the center as they gazed like a tiger watching its prey1 at the opposing side.
A cigarette held between her fingers, Lin Yan leaned back on a shabby sofa, yet she sat with an air that made it seem like a luxurious armchair in a five-star hotel.
She flicked the ash intermittently, calm and composed, waiting until Tiger lost his patience. He finally spoke, suppressing his anger.
“That batch of goods, where the hell did you hide them?”
The corners of Lin Yan’s lips curled into a sarcastic smile. “I haven’t even asked Tiger-ge, why was the delivery time suddenly changed, and why did the cops arrive right after you all left.”
Tiger spoke savagely, “Who the fuck knows, it could just be a coincidence for all we know. Besides, the pickup time was set by the buyer and Ding Ye. I don’t have the final say.”
“It is very coincidental.” Lin Yan tapped her cigarette ash into the ashtray and looked at the man standing before her, lightly smiling.
“So, you’re saying, Ding Ye wants us dead?”
The moment she finished speaking, the crowd opposite erupted in anger. Someone cocked a pistol with a click, aimed it at her, and began to curse.
“You bitch, don’t you fucking slander Ding Ye! Today’s incident has nothing to do with Ding Ye. Maybe you staged this whole thing yourselves, and there’s a mole among your own people!”
“Who the fuck are you talking about?! Try saying that again!” Led by Liu Zhi, the people from the Joyful Song Nightclub also became agitated, and unwilling to show weakness, one after another they greeted the other party’s eighteen generations of ancestors2.
Liu Zhi shoved the man who had spoken, and the two groups of men tore and pulled at each other.
With a click, Lin Yan lit her lighter. The rising smoke smudged her features, making her expression seem even more profound.
“Alright, everyone stop,” she said. “Anyway, we’re all just small fry3. Haven’t we suffered enough grievances?”
She raised her eyes mournfully toward Tiger, a hint of resentment in them. “Tiger-ge, please be the judge. If there really were a mole inside the Huange Nightclub, then this mole would probably want all of us to go to prison and face a firing squad, wouldn’t they?”
“To kill one thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own4. Why bother?”
For a moment, Tiger didn’t know how to respond. Today’s events were indeed strange. However, seeing Lin Yan sitting in the seat Wang Qiang usually occupied, with her men being so obedient, he suddenly had a flash of insight.
“Wasn’t Wang Qiang supposed to be in charge of arrangements today? Why is it you?”
As soon as he said this, Lin Yan also sensed something was wrong. Tiger didn’t know Wang Qiang had been arrested. So, was it possible that Ding Ye wasn’t the one behind this?
Lin Yan let out a cold laugh. “I was wondering about that myself. Fifteen minutes before the delivery, the police station suddenly called me, saying Wang-ge was arrested for soliciting a prostitute5.”
The words “soliciting a prostitute,” spoken so lightly, immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.
“Really arrested?”
“No way.”
“Wang-ge wouldn’t be so careless, would he?”
“With who?”
“Who else could it be, isn’t it that one… hehehe.”
“He’s been cheating on Saozi with her for a long time.”
“If he’s arrested, will he rat us out?”
Finally, someone had asked the important question.
Tiger’s face turned iron-blue. “So the news was leaked from your side?”
Lin Yan quickly raised a hand to stop him. “Hey, I don’t like the sound of that, Tiger-ge. He is him, and I am me. Don’t you fucking lump him together with this old lady.”
“Isn’t that right, brothers?”
A slight smile touched Lin Yan’s lips as she listened with satisfaction. After a three-second pause, the men behind her quickly began to distance themselves, their voices filled with indignation.
“Right, right, Hong-jie is Hong-jie, and Wang-ge is Wang-ge.”
“We all work for Hong-jie. It has nothing to do with Wang-ge.”
“Whatever happened to Wang-ge is his own business, don’t you fucking put a shit pot on our heads6.”
…
This was the time to choose a side, or it would be too late.
It was Lin Yan who put out her cigarette in the ashtray.
“Tiger-ge, don’t be in such a hurry to label someone a mole,” she said. “Over the years, even if Wang-ge hasn’t made great contributions to Ding Ye, he has certainly put in the hard work7. I think we should find him first before making any further plans.”
Lin Yan’s words had force where needed and a touch of gentleness, but most importantly, they were logical and convincing. Even a few of Tiger’s men exchanged glances, and one of them stepped forward to whisper in Tiger’s ear.
“Tiger-ge… the woman has a point. Our goods are still in her hands. If we lose them, it’ll be difficult to answer to Ding Ye.”
A faint smile touched Lin Yan’s lips. She had already spread the word that Wang Qiang was most likely not coming back, and as for the goods, she had other plans.
However, she didn’t get to feel smug for long before a strange noise came from outside.
Everyone’s nerves tensed. Liu Zhi was the first to chamber a round. “Who is it?!”
“It’s me.” A man’s deep, resonant voice came from outside the door, accompanied by the sound of uniform footsteps. A team of tall and sturdy foreign soldiers carrying AKs, with ammunition belts slung over their shoulders, walked in. The man in the lead was none other than Kuba.
Everyone in the room lowered their guns and bowed slightly.
“Er Ye8.”
In terms of rank, he was Ding Ye’s left arm and right arm9, deserving of such a reception and title.
Only Lin Yan remained casually leaning against the sofa. She leisurely blew out a smoke ring, her gaze coquettish10.
“Er Ye is here.”
Kuba, long accustomed to her lukewarm attitude, gave a slight nod and got straight to the point.
“I’ve brought the person you wanted.”
The hand Lin Yan was holding her cigarette with paused for a moment, then she smiled again, her expression unreadable.
“Oh, how wonderful.”
Wang Qiang was dragged in with his hands tied behind his back and thrown to the ground like a dead dog.
He wore only a thin, blood-soaked shirt and his underwear. His legs were covered in bruises, and his face was nose blue and face swollen, unrecognizable.
“Tiger-ge, Tiger-ge, Er Ye, Er Ye, it wasn’t me, it wasn’t me! Nobody knew I went out!”
He crawled on his knees toward Kuba, trying to lick his feet, then rubbed his face against Tiger’s pant leg. Finally, his gaze shifted and fell on her.
“Jinhong, Jinhong, please say something for me!”
The information Lin Yan had sent out a few days ago was for the police to use the opportunity of this deal to obtain a sample of ‘Drunken Dream’ and, while they were at it, arrest key figures like Tiger. The plan was not to wipe everyone out at the transaction site.
She had grown suspicious when she heard the transaction time had been moved up. Seeing Song Yuhang arrive instead of the anti-drug squad only made it clearer that she had been set up.
The police are probably just as confused, right?
Lin Yan calculated that no matter who was setting her up, the right move right now was to completely distance herself from Wang Qiang.
Having decided on her course of action, her face filled with a look of resentment.
“What are you talking about, Wang-ge? You went to get a room with someone else, truly breaking my heart. A day as a couple means a hundred days of grace11. It’s one thing for you to disregard that bond, but do you also want to take my life so you can run off and live happily ever after with that bitch?”
“Jinhong, Jinhong, you…” Wang Qiang felt a mouthful of congealed blood stick in his throat, unable to swallow or spit it out.
He gritted his teeth. Looking at her face, he felt a chill spread through his entire body.
If he was going to die, he would take someone else with him!
“Don’t think I don’t know, ever since you came back last time you…”
Before he could finish, Lin Yan had grabbed the ashtray and smashed it viciously against his head. It struck his temple, and fresh blood began to flow.
Wang Qiang let out a miserable scream, falling to the ground. He scrambled to hug Kuba’s leg, crying and wailing.
“Murder! Murder! Er Ye, Er Ye, save me, save me! She’s the mole! She’s trying to… to silence me!”
Lin Yan leisurely admired her manicure, blowing on it gently.
“If I wanted to silence you, I would have just used a gun. Why throw an ashtray? I hit you because you were shameless enough to fool around with another woman behind my back. This old lady couldn’t stomach the insult.”
Kuba clapped his hands and laughed heartily. “As expected of Auntie Hong, clear about her grievances and affections.”
“Since Wang Qiang says you’re the mole, and you say he’s the one who leaked the news, let’s play a game.”
He gestured to a man behind him, who handed him a revolver.
“There’s only one bullet in this gun. Whoever it hits is the mole. Of course, the one who is unwilling to gamble with their life could also be the mole.”
Kuba paused, then slowly placed the gun on the table.
“You two… who goes first?”
Lin Yan’s gaze fell on the gun, and she scoffed. “Er Ye must be joking. If I die, no one will know where the goods are.”
“Doesn’t matter. Ding Ye said we can take our time finding them.”
The smile on Lin Yan’s lips slowly froze. She looked at Wang Qiang, then back at the gun, her expression growing colder.
Wang Qiang swallowed hard. He looked at her, then at Kuba, and lunged forward to seize the advantage.
Lin Yan kicked the table over, sending the pistol flying into the air. She caught it steadily.
Wang Qiang lunged at nothing and fell to his knees at her feet.
With a crisp click, the gun was cocked. But Lin Yan didn’t point the barrel at herself. Instead, she grabbed Wang Qiang by the hair and pressed the muzzle to his chest.
“A mole has no right to play games here. Wang-ge, my apologies. Jinhong will burn paper money for you next year.”
She spoke quickly and ruthlessly, the sudden turn of events catching everyone off guard.
Before Kuba’s men could react, Lin Yan had already pulled the trigger.
After a suffocating silence, Wang Qiang’s eyes widened. He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t dead! He gasped for breath, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. But he didn’t have long to feel relieved.
Puchi— A sharp blade pierced through his chest, and blood stained his shirt red.
Kuba withdrew his hand and licked the blood from the blade.
Wang Qiang collapsed at her feet with a thud, dying with his eyes wide open.
Unless it was a last resort, Feng Jianguo had warned her not to kill. Even criminals should be sent to the trial court to have the law decide their fate.
If I had been the one to act, he might have had a chance to live.
Lin Yan slowly lowered the gun, an appropriately sorrowful look filling her eyes.
Kuba inserted the dagger into his combat boot, took the gun from her hand, and tossed it to one of his subordinates. He patted her on the shoulder and laughed heartily.
“There were no bullets in the gun. It was a test of who was more loyal. You did well. Ding Ye will have a reward for you.”
It wasn’t a test of who was more loyal, but rather who was more ruthless.
After a brief moment of grief, Lin Yan regained her usual composure.
“Ten percent of the transaction value.”
Kuba agreed readily. “No problem.”
“From now on, my people will arrange the transactions.” The words were an insinuation that Tiger was also a suspect.
He stepped forward. “You—”
Lin Yan’s men drew their guns in unison, blocking her.
Kuba waved a hand, signaling everyone to stand down.
“No problem. From now on, Auntie Hong will be in direct contact only with me.”
Lin Yan made an even bolder request.
“I want to see Ding Ye.”
According to Pei Jinhong, despite traveling between China and Myanmar several times, the highest-ranking person she had ever met was only the second-in-command, Kuba.
The mysterious “Ding Ye” remained as elusive as a divine dragon that shows its head but not its tail12.
Uncovering Ding Ye’s identity and background and wiping out this entire criminal organization would mean the mission was complete.
Probably none of these underlings didn’t want to see Ding Ye. Kuba smiled and signaled for his men to withdraw.
“Not yet. You’ll see Ding Ye one day. Alright, I’ll leave this person for you to handle.”
He said this, then left with his men.
Lin Yan: “What about the goods? Don’t you want them?”
Kuba waved his hand. “Ding Ye said it’s a first-meeting gift for Auntie Hong.”
After searching everywhere to no avail, Song Yuhang could only restore the room to its original state and leave the way she had come.
It was now the middle of the night, but she felt no desire to sleep. Instead, she drove straight to the cemetery.
She came here often. The tombstone was wiped spotlessly clean.
Song Yuhang sat down on the steps, took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one for herself, and placed the rest in front of the tombstone.
The cool night wind carried the smoke far away. Song Yuhang caressed the photograph on the stone, her eyes turning red as she murmured to herself.
“Lin Yan, are you… doing okay?…”
No one answered her. There was only the empty wind, which swirled the joss paper in the copper basin13 up into the sky.
With the cigarette between her lips, Song Yuhang’s hands trembled as she lit a piece of paper, placed it in the copper basin, and just as it was about to burn out, she added another.
She came here to sit every few days, her visits becoming more frequent when she was in a bad mood.
Only when sitting beside her did Song Yuhang feel a sense of returning home, like a falling leaf returning to its roots14. As she burned the joss paper, she would chatter on, telling her things from her heart and catching her up on recent events.
She sat like this for most of the night. It wasn’t until the sky in the east began to show the white of a fish’s belly15 that she finally stood up to leave, as it was time for her to go to work.
Song Yuhang’s fingers brushed across the photograph, feeling that this was the truly beautiful face.
Although she rarely smiled, her eyes were always filled with confidence, determination, an indomitable light, and an open-hearted honesty.
She was nothing like that other woman, who, despite having a nearly identical face, exuded a dangerous aura from having frequented places of vice and pleasure16—an aura as treacherous, sinister, and fickle as a venomous snake.
Song Yuhang felt guilty for the fleeting moment of soft-heartedness she had felt in the Huange Nightclub.
She bent down and kissed the tombstone. “I’m leaving. I’ll come see you again tonight.”
“Ding Ye, since we can’t be sure who the mole is, why not just kill them all?”
Kuba asked upon returning to their base. Ding Ye was still awake. Kuba helped the old man, who was trembling, to get up and sit by the window to play chess.
“That would be no fun,” the old man said, picking up the defeated black stones and placing them in the stone container.
“Did you clean everything up?”
“Don’t worry.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, after Wang Qiang was arrested by the police, he would have certainly confessed something under interrogation to save his own life.
That was why he had sent people to intercept the vehicle on its way to the detention center.
As for that anonymous tip to the police, it was a genuine coincidence, but it had given Lin Yan the perfect opportunity to establish her authority.
Handle it poorly, and she dies. Handle it well, and her prestige rises to a new level.
This Auntie Hong was truly ruthless and had two brushes17.
The old man slammed all the stones onto the chessboard.
“Good. You may leave now. As for that batch of goods, tell Lin Ge to hurry it up.”
Kuba nodded slightly and withdrew. “Yes, Ding Ye.”
LP: Re-translated on August 08, 2025
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Huhh?? (cant get over with the middle schooler’s edgy name)
Huhh?? (cant get over with the middle schooler’s edgy name)
I have a feeling it’s marginally less tacky in mandarin. Sort of like the Supreme Leader of the DPRK