The next afternoon.
Mr. Qi scrambled and crawled his way into the Wild Wolf Gang's headquarters.
“Lord Wolf! Lord Wolf! That Yan Pingsheng really does have a special background! He... He... He and Chief Disciple Bai Yujing of the Wanxing Martial Academy... are from the same hometown!”
“What?!” Lord Wolf gasped in shock, but then relaxed.
Fortunately, he had been cautious enough to warn his gang members last night not to lay a hand on Yan Pingsheng.
As a mere Ninth Rank martial artist, the only reason he had been able to lead the Wild Wolf Gang and survive to this day was because of two words—
caution, caution, and more caution!
Today, his caution had saved his life once again.
Lord Wolf felt smug. He calmly waved his hand and said, “Who would have thought he had such a background? But there's no need to panic. We haven't made a move on him yet, have we?”
He glared at his subordinates. “Everyone, remember this: we have never investigated Yan Pingsheng, nor have we ever thought about moving against him. Keep this buried deep in your hearts!”
“But... but...” Mr. Qi cautiously watched Lord Wolf's expression. “Lord Wolf, Little Four... seems to have already gone to make a move.”
Crack!
The wooden carving on the armrest cracked in Lord Wolf's hand.
He said in a low, dark voice, “Didn't I say last night that no one is allowed to act against Yan Pingsheng on their own? Go! Tie that bastard Little Four up and drag him back!”
“I'm afraid it's already too late,” Mr. Qi said rapidly. “This morning, I noticed that the information I gathered had been tampered with. It was likely Little Four's doing. Yan Pingsheng has a habit of going out every week to buy storybooks. Calculating the time, today is his day to go out.”
“Right now, the two of them... have probably... already... run into each other...”
Mr. Qi's voice grew softer and softer, and Lord Wolf felt a chill running down his spine as he listened.
In the end, only one thought remained in his mind: Oh no, my head!
“Lord Wolf, Little Four was only...”
“He is not Little Four! He is an enemy of our Wild Wolf Gang!” Lord Wolf roared. “Quick! Everyone, come with me to rescue Young Master Yan!”
Before he even finished speaking, Lord Wolf took the lead, grabbing Mr. Qi as he dashed outside.
...
“Kid, if you don't want a few extra holes in your body, stand right there and keep quiet.”
In the deserted, dark alley, Zhuang Xun, holding his pastries and storybooks, raised his head in surprise. He looked at the monkey-faced man who had first been leaning against the wall but was now walking toward him while playing with a small knife.
He made no reaction, standing there dazed as if scared out of his wits.
“Very good.” With a sinister grin, Little Four was just about to hold the knife to the kid's neck when he heard a sudden, furious roar.
“Stop, you thief! How dare you attempt a life in broad daylight! Give me your life!”
“Lord... Lord Wolf?! I...”
Little Four's hand trembled, and his knife clattered to the ground. Seeing his gang leader charging toward him in a rage with Mr. Qi slung over his shoulder, he had barely cried out before he was cut off.
“Stop! You're calling me 'Lord' just to save your skin? Die!”
Lord Wolf delivered a flying kick, knocking Little Four to the ground.
Then, he mounted him, pressing one hand over his mouth while squeezing his neck tightly with the other.
Watching the man's face gradually flush red and his eyes bulge out of their sockets, Lord Wolf's mind remained completely cold, devoid of any pity.
Little Four, I've given you plenty of chances.
Lord Wolf had wanted to kill Little Four for a long time, given how he constantly disobeyed orders and acted on his own.
He had only tolerated him because Little Four was among the first group of brothers to follow him, and he feared that killing him would alienate the other gang members.
Even without this opportunity, he would have found another chance to kill him to make an example out of him and keep the increasingly insolent gang members in check.
After strangling Little Four to death, Lord Wolf released his grip.
He pretended to search the corpse first, then quickly pulled out a purse from his own clothes. Standing up, he turned to look at the plain-looking, stout youth behind him, a smile plastering his face.
“Little brother, don't be afraid. The villain has been subdued by me. This is your purse, right?”
Zhuang Xun took the heavy purse handed to him and opened it to count—there was only a hundred taels.
He shook his head and handed it back. “This isn't my purse.”
Lord Wolf froze for a moment. Looking at the clear-eyed, honest-faced youth, he thought to himself, Is this kid some kind of naive fool?
This purse was the compensation he was offering, pretending it had been stolen by the thief. He just didn't want to spell it out so that both sides could save face.
Well, that's fine too. Since this kid is so dense, he probably hasn't figured out that Little Four is connected to me. This saves me the compensation... Just as he was thinking this and reaching out to take the purse back with a chuckle, he suddenly heard the youth say with an innocent expression:
“My purse had two hundred taels in it.”
Lord Wolf's movements froze. He stared intently at the honest-looking youth, and finally forced out a smile.
“Hehehe, is that so? Then... let me look for it again.”
Turning his back to Yan Pingsheng, he squatted down, took a few deep breaths, and fumbled in his robes, while shooting a meaningful look at Mr. Qi standing nearby.
Mr. Qi nodded, flashed a friendly smile at Yan Pingsheng, and also squatted down stealthily with his back turned to him, fumbling in his own robes.
“Lord Wolf, I only have twelve taels on me.”
“Tsk, I only have six taels of silver pieces left.”
“How about we search Little Four... no, the enemy of our Wild Wolf Gang?”
“I already searched him. That piece of trash only has a few copper coins on him.”
“Should we try to negotiate with him then?”
After whispering to each other, Lord Wolf braced himself and stood up. “Little brother, I only found another eighteen taels on this villain. Look...”
“Ah? The remaining one hundred and eighteen taels are gone? I worked so hard for so long to earn that.” Zhuang Xun looked utterly disappointed.
He mumbled in a low voice, just loud enough for Lord Wolf and Mr. Qi to hear: “I guess when I go back, I'll have to ask Senior Brother Bai to have someone find it for me...”
“Wait, wait, wait! It's here, it's here! Little brother, don't worry!”
“Yes, don't worry, don't worry! We'll search again, we'll search again.”
Lord Wolf and Mr. Qi quickly smiled obsequiously. After calming him down, they squatted back down with their backs to Yan Pingsheng, whispering once more.
“Look at your terrible idea! Now it's gone up by another eighteen taels! What do we do now? If we can't cough up the money, he's going to get Bai Yujing to destroy us!”
“Lord Wolf, don't panic. The other gang members are on their way. When they arrive, we can pool everyone's money together, and we should be able to make up the one hundred and eighteen taels.”
“Can he wait that long?”
“So the most important thing right now is to keep him pleased.”
With that, Mr. Qi stood up, dragged an abandoned wooden chair from a corner, and smiled at Yan Pingsheng. “Little brother, have a seat first. We'll find the money in a bit.”
Zhuang Xun said, “It's too dirty.”
Mr. Qi immediately took off his outer coat and draped it over the wooden chair, smiling flatteringly. “Please, sit, sit.”
“Oh, it's a bit hot.”
“I'll fan you.”
“Hmm, suddenly I'm a bit thirsty.”
“I'll go buy some refreshing beverages for you right away.”
Rate on N.U.
