Chapter 144: The Century-Old Incense Gang

Xu Nuo's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.

In five minutes, take care of these dozen or so professional combatants who are clearly tougher than the four female guards just now and fully armed, and then successfully escape?

In front of the screen, cold sweat also seeped out from Xu Yunzhou's forehead. Rapidly calculating various possibilities, the conclusion he reached made his heart run cold.

It's too close a call.

Almost... impossible.

Wasn't Xu Nuo supposed to escape safely and embark on a new life?

Could history change? Is she really going to fall here today?

All efforts, all schemes, all struggles, are ultimately going to fall short of success in this snowy night in Hokkaido?

That's not right!

The omnipotent me in the future couldn't possibly not have any layout for this!

Right at this moment.

Crow suddenly raised her hands and clapped gently.

She sized up Xu Nuo up and down. In those eyes that were always icy cold and stern, a trace of appreciation flashed by.

"Little Nuo..."

Crow spoke. Her voice was somewhat low, yet no longer the emotionless icy coldness on the training ground, but carrying a kind of... strange gentleness and emotion?

"Very good... you really, time and time again, far exceeded our imagination."

Xu Nuo wasn't listening at all.

Or rather, she heard it, but didn't dare to believe it, nor had the time to believe it.

All her mind was tightly locked onto these dozen or so elite combatants before her eyes.

Their positioning, the outlines of the holsters bulging at their waists, their hand postures ready to draw guns or fight at any time, the tacit understanding between them sealing off all angles...

Her brain was running crazily, simulating various possible routes of desperate counterattack, snatching weapons, creating chaos, and then carving out a bloody path.

But every deduction pointed to a tragic ending!

Because the opponents were over a dozen fully armed, tacitly cooperating professional warriors, and she... only had the last five minutes left!

Crow seemed to see through her vigilance. She raised her hand and slowly took off the black mask on her face.

Under the mask was the face of an Asian woman, carrying marks of wind and frost yet unable to conceal a heroic spirit.

About thirty-five or thirty-six years old, her eyes as sharp as ever, but the corners of her mouth seemed to carry a smile?

She looked at Xu Nuo, her tone becoming clearer, and also carrying a formal meaning:

"Little Nuo, today, here, perhaps I should... reintroduce myself."

She paused, speaking word by word:

"My real name is Chen Xiaobai. Chinese American."

Chen Xiaobai?

A name completely incongruous with the cold codename "Crow" and her hellish instructor image!

However, this was merely the beginning.

Immediately following, Chen Xiaobai made an action even more puzzling, yet inexplicably revealing a certain ancient, solemn sense of ritual.

She raised her right hand, five fingers together, palm facing down, arm extended straight, and then slowly moved it so the tip of her thumb precisely pointed toward the position of her heart on her left chest.

A bizarre gesture that seemed to only be seen in ancient picture scrolls or legends of the jianghu!

Her next sentence was even more like thunder, exploding in the snowy night:

"I am the Incense Holder of the Incense Gang (Xiang Gang). Favored by Aunt Lan and the family members, I temporarily hold the position of Double Flower Red Pole."

(TL: "Double Flower Red Pole" is a high-ranking enforcer title in traditional Chinese triads/secret societies.)

Incense Gang!

That name seemed to bring its own echoes of history, the neon reflections of the ten-mile foreign concessions in Shanghai, as well as lone sails crossing the ocean and unyielding iron bones!

At the beginning of the last century, in that turbulent era of great changes unseen in five millennia, an organization that left a thick and heavy mark on the mudflats of Shanghai!

Originating in Shanghai between the late Ming and early Republic of China periods, the first-generation founder was Du Qinglan, daughter of the famous Shanghai godfather Du Zhusheng.

Initially, it was only to protect those female textile mill workers and silk-reeling women who suffered oppression and persecution like duckweed in troubled times.

Later, it gradually evolved into a special group with tight organization, strict discipline, and strong feelings for family and country as well as jianghu loyalty.

In a certain special historical period, its prestige even once paralleled that of the Hongmen and Green Gang.

(TL: Hongmen and Green Gang were massive real-life Chinese secret societies.)

Later, due to the changes in the tides of the era, its core parts crossed the ocean, ultimately taking root in places like San Francisco, becoming an intricately intertwined force with profound foundations in overseas Chinese society, possessing complex connections and influence in political and business circles.

They protected compatriots, safeguarded rights and interests, and also wandered in gray areas, experiencing a century of wind and rain, mysterious and powerful.

This Crow, this terrifying Chief Instructor within the Crescent Group... her true identity is actually Chen Xiaobai, the Double Flower Red Pole representing the highest martial force in the Incense Gang?

A core expert of a secret society naturally opposed to a yakuza organization like the Crescent Group?

She was actually able to infiltrate so deeply into the core layer of the Crescent Group, sit in the high position of Chief Instructor, and remain unexposed all along. What astonishing courage, ability, and disguise skills is this?

Once her identity was leaked, within the Crescent Group, it would absolutely be an ending of dying without a burial place!

Why would she take such a huge risk?

Never heard of the Crescent Group having any direct, fierce conflicts with the Incense Gang far overseas...

Chen Xiaobai looked at the surging shock, vigilance, and incomprehension in Xu Nuo's eyes, the smile on her face deepening a bit:

"Forgot to tell you, Little Nuo. I infiltrated the Crescent Group to serve as this Chief Instructor, and the most important, and also the longest-term mission target among them... is exactly you."

"In order to observe you up close, evaluate your mindset, potential, and essence. And also... according to the dying instructions left by Aunt Lan, to train you as much as possible, polish you, and at the same time... secretly protect you, not letting you be completely ruined by those truly dirty methods of the Crescent Group."

"For example, that incident with Nakamura Sumire was also a test for you. If you had really killed that innocent child... then, you wouldn't be seeing me tonight, standing here, saying these words to you."

"As for tonight..."

Her gaze swept over the messy hot spring villa, her tone carrying a rare, almost teasing amazement:

"To tell the truth, everything tonight was originally under our contingency plans and monitoring. When Tsukuyomi showed up, we were already preparing to make a move... It's just that, everyone including myself, greatly underestimated you..."

She looked at Xu Nuo, her eyes full of appreciation:

"You could actually, while under the influence of a knockout drug and with your strength severely weakened, relying on your own tenacious will, independently kill Tsukuyomi, and forcefully relying on yourself, almost fought your way through this dead end!"

"This completely exceeded the expectations of the plan, but also... was so brilliant it leaves people speechless."

Xu Nuo was completely dumbfounded.

Her body still maintained a vigilant posture, but her brain experienced a brief "overload" due to the excessive amount of information.

Incense Gang?

Aunt Lan's dying instructions?

Close-up observation and evaluation lasting over a year? Secret protection during training? Tonight was originally a rescue operation?

All this sounded like an Arabian Nights tale, yet inexplicably... fit together perfectly.

Many details in training, certain training methods that seemed harsh but always allowed her to break through at her limits without leaving irreversible damage... at this moment seemed to have another explanation.