The Dead Man's Ledger

1,101 words

Chapter 104: Information

"The organization I founded, the Soaring Serpent Society, has sixty-four thousand ordinary members and over seven thousand core members. It is one of the three major powers of Lan Province. Its main headquarters is in Jiayuan City, with branches at..."

"In my life, I have married five wives, fathered two daughters, and taken apprentices..."

"First Wife, née Jin. Gentle nature. Only daughter of Jin Can, chief escort of the Gold Lion Escort Agency. Murdered. Left behind one daughter, Mo Yuzhu."

"Second Wife, née Li. Well-read and reasonable. Daughter of a wealthy family. No children."

"Third Wife, née Liu. Fiery temper, fairly ambitious. Younger sister of Liu Feng, head of the Long Wind Sect in Quling City. No children. Must be watched carefully."

"Fourth Wife, née Yan. My cousin. Steady, calculating, and refined in bearing. Gave birth to one daughter, Mo Caihuan. When I left, most of the authority over the Soaring Serpent Society was transferred to her. She can be trusted."

"Fifth Wife, née Wang. Quiet and taciturn. Deeply devoted to me. Originally First Wife Jin's personal maidservant. No children. Secretly holds a hidden power base. Can be trusted absolutely."

"Adopted Daughter, Mo Fengwu. Daughter of a former trusted subordinate. Her parents died, so I adopted her. Seven years old when I left. Exceptionally bright."

"Yan Ge, eldest apprentice. Mediocre aptitude. Taught the ultimate technique, Magic Silver Hand. Twelve years old when I left. Character not yet settled."

"Zhao Kun, second apprentice. Excellent aptitude. Taught the ultimate technique, Dragon Binding Art. Ten years old when I left. Character not yet settled."

"Ma Kongtian, sworn brother. Serves as Chief Protector of the Soaring Serpent Society. Temperament..."

...

Han Li held the letter, now covered in dense handwriting, as he paced back and forth in the upper room of an inn called the Huìyuán Inn. He was lost in thought.

The letter was extremely thorough. It detailed not only the foundation Mo Juren had built—the Soaring Serpent Society—but also briefly described the temperaments of all his wives and children, giving Han Li a baseline to work from.

But everything in the letter was from nearly ten years ago. The situation now would have changed drastically.

What exactly should he do? Should he try to contact Mo Juren's family, or simply steal the Warm Yang Jade and flee? All of this would have to be decided only after Han Li had gathered detailed, current information.

That was why yesterday's acquisition, the local underworld figure Sun Ergou, would prove so useful. From him, Han Li could likely extract a great deal of valuable intelligence.

After reviewing the letter once more, Han Li tucked it into his robe. He looked up, thought for a moment, then walked to the bedside and sat down.

He spread his legs apart, placed his hands palms-up on his knees, and closed his eyes to begin an internal examination of his own body.

The strand of yin-type poison in his dantian had shown signs of spreading outward for the past month. What had started as a faint, barely-there shadow had now condensed into a black lump the size of a pea, and it was still growing.

By Han Li's own estimation, this yin poison would fully erupt in at most another two months. When that day came, he was afraid he truly would have no escape from death.

Just as Han Li, clouded with worry, secretly resolved to obtain the Warm Yang Jade no matter the cost, someone knocked on the door.

"Enter!" Han Li said coldly, opening his eyes.

The door was pushed open gently, and Sun Ergou entered, his head bowed. As soon as he saw Han Li, he gave a deep bow and spoke with the utmost deference:

"Greetings, Young Master! Sun Ergou is here to receive your orders!"

"Not bad. You found your way here quickly enough. You do have some skill after all," Han Li said with satisfaction. He rose from the bed, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked up to Sun Ergou.

"You flatter me, Young Master. If I couldn't even manage this small task, what use would I be to you?" Sun Ergou replied, forcing a fawning smile as he pledged his loyalty.

Sun Ergou hadn't considered, when he returned that day, reporting the matter to his superiors and bringing back experts to take revenge. But every time he thought of the Corroding Heart Pill he had taken, his courage evaporated completely.

After a sleepless night of agonizing thought, he still had no solution. Left with no choice, he had obediently come to see Han Li, hoping that if he provided enough help, the man would keep his word and give him the antidote to this deadly pill.

"First, tell me about yourself. From the way you acted the other day, you seemed to be some kind of minor leader," Han Li said casually, unconcerned.

"I am the dock manager for the Four Harmonies Gang in the West City. I have about forty or fifty men under me, so I suppose I count as a headman," Sun Ergou said respectfully.

"The Four Harmonies Gang?" Han Li inquired calmly.

"Yes. The Four Harmonies Gang is one of the thirty-three small gangs in the West City of Jiayuan. We have nearly a thousand members, mostly porters and laborers at the docks. The chief is Shen Zhongshan, known as 'Ape Arm,' who has three protectors under him." Sun Ergou immediately and obligingly revealed everything. Even though he was disclosing his own gang's intelligence to an outsider, his face showed not a trace of shame.

"Was that big, dark-skinned fellow who attacked me yesterday also from the Four Harmonies Gang?"

"No. That man is called Black Bear. He's a headman from the Iron Fist Society, one of the thirty-three gangs. We've never gotten along," Sun Ergou answered with a flattering laugh.

"If there are that many small gangs in just the West City, then Jiayuan as a whole must have far more," Han Li said slowly, clasping his hands behind his back as he turned back toward the bed.

"That's right. In all of Jiayuan City, there are over forty small gangs with less than a thousand men, seven or eight medium-sized gangs of two to three thousand, and even three major gangs with over ten thousand members each," Sun Ergou said honestly, standing still.

"Then tell me about the major and medium-sized gangs. Skip the small ones," Han Li ordered, lifting the hem of his robe to sit on the edge of the bed. He waited quietly for Sun Ergou to begin.

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Reading Guide Decoding

Decoding the Mortal Underworld

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

This chapter is a perfect example of a core trope in Chinese web novels: the Deathbed Letter or the Posthumous Testament. In Western fiction, a dying man's letter is usually an emotional apology or a confession of love. In the Mortal Stream, it's a strategic asset. Doctor Mo's letter is a brutal, clinical list of assets, liabilities, and threat assessments. He names his wives not by how much he loved them, but by their political connections (Third Wife's brother leads a sect), their administrative competence (Fourth Wife holds the power), and their hidden potential (Fifth Wife has a "secret power base"). This transforms the concept of a dying wish into a final, coldly logical data transfer from a master to his inheritor.

This chapter also firmly grounds the story in the Wuxia and Xianxia underworld hierarchy. Sun Ergou's explanation of the "thirty-three small gangs," "eight medium ones," and "three major ones" is a textbook description of the Jianghu's social structure. In this world, mortal power is not about armies or kings; it's about intricate, nested webs of influence and violence at the street level. For a cultivator like Han Li, entering this world is like an adult entering a sandbox: the power dynamic is so skewed that these mortal conflicts become a logistical puzzle to be solved rather than a genuine threat. Understanding the hierarchy is the first step to exploiting it.

Jianghu (江湖)

The martial world; the underground society of gangs, sects, and wanderers that exists parallel to official law.

Chapter Overview

Welcome back, fellow explorers of the mortal gutter! This chapter is a full-on information warfare installment. There's no blazing swordplay or desperate escape. Instead, we get the coldest, most practical currency in the cultivation world: intel. Han Li, now a mortal man with a ticking clock of poison in his gut, is doing what he does best—sitting still, reading the board, and letting the pawns come to him. The chapter is a masterclass in how a cultivator's mind works when it's not throwing fireballs: treat everyone as a variable, every piece of information as a resource, and every plan as provisional until the map is filled in. Get ready for a deep dive into gang politics, dead men's family trees, and the slow, patient art of gaining leverage.

Key Plot Points

This chapter is structured as a two-act intelligence dump. First, we get the full contents of Doctor Mo's letter. This is not a tearful farewell; it's a corporate succession document. It lists the Soaring Serpent Society's manpower (64,000 foot soldiers, 7,000 elite core members), its status as one of Lan Province's "three hegemons," and the complete psych profile of Mo's family. The letter is a toolkit, not a confession. It details his five wives—from the trustworthy and steady Fourth Wife Yan to the "ambitious" and "must be watched" Third Wife Liu—and his two apprentices, noting their ages and the specific ultimate techniques they were taught. The letter ends with his sworn brother Ma Kongtian, the Chief Protector. It's a complete data set for a hostile takeover or a cold reading.

The second act is the arrival of Sun Ergou, the local dock boss Han Li press-ganged with a Corroding Heart Pill last chapter. Sun Ergou's report paints a clear picture of Jiayuan City's underworld: over forty small gangs, eight medium-sized ones (two-three thousand men), and three major ones with tens of thousands. He also provides the background of the man who attacked Han Li (Black Bear of the Iron Fist Society) and admits his own gang, the Four Harmonies, is a "small" operation (under a thousand men). Han Li absorbs this data silently before ordering the report to continue. The chapter ends with the setup for a full geopolitical brief on the city's power structure.

Reading Guide

Note the "Pysch Profiles": Doctor Mo's descriptions of his wives are not sentimental. They are threat assessments. Pay close attention to who he labels as "trustworthy" (Fourth Wife, Fifth Wife) and who he flags as requiring caution (Third Wife). Han Li is reading this as a guide to who to approach and who to avoid.
Han Li's Internal Clock: The entire chapter is framed by Han Li's internal medical examination. He has two months. This gives every subsequent action a stark, ticking deadline. The detective work is not idle curiosity; it's a desperate race against his own body.
The Sun Ergou Dynamic: Sun Ergou is a perfect example of the "hierarchical tool." He is terrified, obedient, and pragmatic. He betrays his entire organization without a second thought because his survival is at stake. He is not a friend or an ally; he is a piece of software that Han Li has installed to mine city data.
De-Moralization of Betrayal: Notice how Sun Ergou feels no shame in revealing his gang's secrets. In the Mortal Stream, under duress, loyalty is just a transaction that hasn't found its final price. This is not villainy; it's realism.