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Beggars and Gangsters

The streets of Fènghuáng chéng were busy though the clouds were overcast and gloomy. This was the city that refused to die and was rightfully named as the ‘City of the Phoenix.’ Countless wars, plagues, corrupt officials, floods, and famines had taken their turn to hit the death knell for this dreary little port but it just kept rising from one devastation to the next. Many people avoided this place as they were certain that the city was cursed and no family that dwelt in it would be able to stay free of its jinx. Yet, others moved there because it was close to the waters making it vital for those with business interests.

None of the businesses were clean. It was hard to stay so in such a city which was run by many gangs. They had a finger in every pie that could profit them. Even the street vendors were not free of harassment. They needed to pay protection money to the collectors of the gang in whose territory they set up their stalls. No one batted an eyelid, this was the way of life – a foregone conclusion that to thrive, one had to cooperate with the masters and the overlords that kept the city alive.

Gang rivalries were common as they fought for rights over the turf and businesses. The victims knew it was pointless seeking help from the authorities for they were in cahoots with whichever gang held the greatest power at a given time. Hence the magistrate’s office kept a check and balance on the gang activity in its region lest it had to account before the Anhui empire for its corruption.

The city was no longer the beautiful and prosperous port of Dan Bolin’s territory. The glory of the Dan kingdom was dead and in ruins for the past nine hundred and sixty years. Fènghuáng chéng was nothing more than a thriving place of beggars and gangsters.

The worst of these gangs was the Huān gang which had great influence over the affluent parts of the city. Some saw them as saviours because they brought order to the relentless gang wars albeit through cruel and violent means. Others saw them as the ghosts of their nightmares especially if they had run foul of them and their codes.

Their members were marked by the dragon seal on the upper right arms and lower backs. Their territories and supporters likewise carried the same emblem in some obscure manner or form either on the periphery of their walls or their sign boards.

There were beggars’ gangs caught in this melee of a city. They were not part of the formal gangs that ran the place. It did not matter which gang they worked for or in whose territory they operated, the beggars always became victims, scapegoats, and forced villains. They were the most disadvantaged to the point that they made a ditty:

‘Better to be born a dog than a beggar,

Dogs gets bones, beggars get stones!’

The ditty almost always ended with a terrible and poignant laugh as the older ones knew what kind of fate awaited them. If they were not stoned on the streets, they would rest under unmarked graves their comrades would make for them with nothing more than a perfectly round, grey stone the size of a palm placed on the heap.

The round stone was a privilege only those with comrades could hope to receive as a gift for the afterlife. It represented hope. The beggars said that it was the foundation stone of a new family and home the dead would possess in the next birth. The children who died hardly received such a gift for they were either too young to have comrades or they died far away from the city when they were trafficked. The few of them who had parents who were also beggars, could hope to receive at least one such stone.

Yǐngzi had managed to get some swill from one of the cooks who worked in the pleasure house. The cook was gracious enough to have added some meat and vegetables in it for the boys who sought him out. It had started drizzling but Yǐngzi skipped happily on the cobblestones of the side streets, humming a tune to himself.

Seeing him, anyone would think he was just another jobless beggar but Yǐngzi was a young boy with a purpose. He hated the Huān gang with all that was within him. It was his life goal to cause them as much damage as possible without getting caught or at least die trying. It was only five months since that dark, and stormy day since such a vendetta was birthed in his heart.

‘Jùn-er, let us trouble them again!’ Yǐngzi thought to himself. He was headed to the docks where the ships had just arrived. He knew the Huān gang was expecting to unload a large delivery of grain. This was top quality gain from the capital, many bags of it. It was enough to feed the entire city for three months.

The officials had complained about the recent flooding that destroyed the harvest. While there was enough trouble in the capital, Fènghuáng chéng was a can of worms no one wanted to touch. Even those in power thought that as long as they kept the city on a leash and threw it morsels when it barked, it would not be a danger to the throne. So, the aid had come though late by a month but none of it would reach those actually affected by the floods.

‘The bags of good grain will go to the rich who do not know hunger and the rest will be sold in other cities in their black markets!’ Yǐngzi continued to ponder over the situation. He reached the docks and made sure to stay out of sight. It was not difficult for a little beggar to be lost in the mayhem of rushing men, goods, and a rain that had grown from a mere drizzle to a steady shower.

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He made his way to the place where the Huān gang had illegally built a place for temporary storage of their goods. No one else had such a privilege to protect their items from the elements at the docks.

‘That wily magistrate must have lined his pockets with gold by now!’ Yǐngzi thought, ‘what an old crocodile!’ No doubt the magistrate had turned a blind eye to this illegal structure in exchange for hush money.

The gang had already stocked their grain and were in the process of making some final checks. When it was done, the man in-charge padlocked the place and left with most of the others. two guards remained at the entrance, seated on bamboo chairs. Once their superiors left, the guards decided to amuse themselves with some gambling.

They assumed that no one would bother stealing the official grain. It was too much of a hassle. The area belonged to their gang which had instilled fear in the whole city. Also, in this heavy rain, there was no danger of fire. The goods were already safe within and there was no way a single raindrop could touch them. It was a mistake to assume.

Far from the busy docks and maddening downpour, Lǎo xuě looked out of the window of his hut in a worried manner.

‘Do you think he will come today? He should be practicing his sword attack moves today, that boy!’ he spoke aloud.

‘He will come regardless of rain or shine. As for you, it is your turn to get dinner ready,’ Lǎo yù replied.

‘He better come! Else this place will be boring and a haunt of wolves by nightfall,’ Lǎo xuě commented as he chuckled to himself and prepared to cut some carrots he had harvested from their little garden.

Meanwhile, Yǐngzi waited for the rain to grow heavy with lightening and thunder.

‘Jùn-er, look even the gods are on our side!’ he whispered towards heaven as he got to work. He quickly scaled the back walls of the store and got onto the roof unnoticed. The gang did not tile the roof as it would be troublesome to quickly tear the structure down in case an official check was initiated by the capital. It was simply thatched. They had put layers of coverings on the grain bags which were placed at a slightly higher elevation than the ground on a bamboo base.

Yǐngzi had come prepared with a sharp dagger and shears which he had robbed from a soldier and a tailor respectively. He carefully but quickly made his way through the layers of the thatched roof, knowing the that once the rain stopped, his cover of sound would be lost. He carefully placed the cut layers to the side, ensuring they would not slip and fall. He continued to work his way through a quarter of the back roof, away from the guards’ sight.

This part of the store had a very narrow passage between it and the wall. Just outside the wall was the steep embankment of the river. It was a place no one paid much attention to, and neither was there any movement around that area especially due to the rains that made it slippery. He continued to work his way as the rain showed no sign of letting up and most shops closed their shutters. By now, the belligerent guards were snoring outside. Once Yǐngzi was satisfied with the number of holes he had made on the back half of the roof, he lowered himself into the store with some rope that he had found in the dock.

He quietly and swiftly removed the coverings on the grain bags that were directly under the holes. Then he took his dagger and scratched his own symbol onto one of the bamboo poles. He had thought of an appropriate mark that would not take him much time to make anywhere with anything he had. It was a fox with a stroke like the letter ‘M’ that formed the ears and a stroke like the letter ‘V’ that formed the face and snout of the fox. He quickly made his way up using the rope that he had fixed to the thatched roof’s base rafters. Once he was back on the roof, he quickly used the dagger to cut the rope and he threw it into the river. Then he made his way down carefully and used the narrow path behind the shops to leave the territory of the gang.

‘The rain falls on people’s heads and the cheap grain alike,’ he thought to himself as he passed by the area where substandard grain was kept for the general populace. He did not mind the rain. He scrubbed himself as he made his way out of the city and towards the bamboo hut. Lǎo yù saw him coming and opened the door. The smell of fresh soup and congee wafted through the warm home.

‘We have a hungry guest,’ he told Lǎo xuě who was only too pleased to have someone other than Lǎo yù for company.

‘It is a good thing the rain has not yet built into a storm. Have your meal and let us start practicing,’ Lǎo xuě fussed and nagged.

Yǐngzi obediently finished his meal to the last drop and tried licking whatever delicious broth remained. Once he was done, he followed his master out into the rain where they practiced ferocious attacks with nothing more than two bamboo sticks shaped like swords and spears. After about two hours of vigorous training, the rain began to get worse, and they had to stop. Yǐngzi bid goodbye to his old friends and began his journey back into the treacherous and gloomy city.

‘The wretched rain is building into a storm! Do you think he can get away from it?’ Lǎo xuě asked.

‘Whether he will stay out of it or be the one to cause it, depends on the choices he will make,’ Lǎo yù replied pensively as he stood at the door of the hut watching the rain. He stretched his hand out as if to catch the raindrops falling from the roof. Then suddenly, he flicked a single raindrop towards the bamboo spear that Yǐngzi had left at the far end of their garden. It fell with much force and took down the pile of stacked wood that was below it in a domino-like effect.

‘Show-off!’ Lǎo xuě commented with an annoyed look as Lǎo yù smiled to himself, well-pleased.

Yǐngzi took a bend in the bamboo forest that was halfway between the hut and the city. He made his way through it for awhile before coming to a little mound of dirt which was obviously a grave. He knelt down before it for awhile before reaching into his shirt and taking out something that seemed precious. It was a perfectly round, grey stone which had taken weeks for him to smoothen and shape. He had hurt his fingers and palms on numerous occasions but that did not deter him from completing this stone. It was larger than the five stones he had already placed on the burial mound.

‘Jùn-er, today we took down some of their profits. Not enough but it makes me happy to see them lose no matter how little it may be. See, I made another stone for you. I do not believe in the next life, but no one who sees your grave should think that you had no comrade!’ Yǐngzi said as he got up and placed the stone along with the rest.

In truth, each stone was Yǐngzi’s way of reminding himself that Jùn-er mattered, his life mattered, their friendship mattered, and he would not rest till he had avenged his comrade.

Yǐngzi looked up at the tempest that was breaking overhead as he fought back the fierce tears that were rolling down his face.