The Southwall Tavern was the most famous tavern in the South City of Daiyu. Manager Lyu Qiying had been overseeing the place for many years. He used the profits earned from selling liquor to launch a money lending business. And after earning even more, he started to save money for others, and established his own underground bank.
People who save money only believe in people who have more money. Shopkeeper Lyu was impeccable in this respect. The rare and precious wines in his taven were the best guarantee of this.
Wealth begets power. Shopkeeper Lyu obtained the favor of both Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family. He kept scores of first-rate machetemen, many of whom were carefully selected by Cripple Tie before his death. Each of these men was excellent value for money.
So, for many years, this was the first time, someone had brought a sword into the tavern.
At the entrance, two fatsos, one tall and short, sought to disarm the intruder's weapons. However, with just a shake of the young man's blade, the two gave up, and immediately ran to find the manager upstairs.
To the watchmen, kung fu skills were not as important as the keenness of the eyes. The two fat men saw the killing intent and resolve in the young man's eyes. "This person needs to be taken seriously," they told Shopkeeper Lyu.
Hence, for the moment, Shopkeeper Lyu put up with the young man's offensive behavior. He invited him to a table at the corner. Where there were no special guests, this was Shopkeeper Lyu's old seat, which was not far from where Tie Hanfeng usually sat.
Shopkeeper Lyu looked up and saw Xu Xiaoyi standing behind Slave Huan. "What are you doing here?"
Xu Xiaoyi wished that he was invisible, or that he could dive into the seams in the bricks. "Hey hey, I... err..."
"He's my servant. I think Tie Hanfeng should have told you." Gu Shenwei spoke. His hand still didn't leave the hilt of his sword, and this made him look a little nervous.
Shopkeeper Lyu laughed coldly. So this lackey came to wrest the brothel away. "Or let's say, I didn't have any impression at all. In the past, it used to be the cripple who put his money here. Now that he is dead, I will take it over from him."
"From now on, I'll collect the money myself. The money handed down by the sister and brother of the Xu family must also be taken away."
Shopkeeper Lyu sized up the youngsters. After a while, he said: "It's a total of 7,900 taels. You can take them away. We'll call it even after this."
"There's still the money Tie Hanfeng had saved here over the years, and the ten cartload of goods."
Shopkeeper Lyu blinked, finger rapping on the table's surface. "You killed Cripple Tie?"
The young man did not speak.
"So you're an official killer?"
Gu Shenwei flashed his killer waist token.
Shopkeeper Lyu's eyes widened. This young man had actually become a killer in just a few days. He still remembered Slave Huan staring at the red wine, Tie Hanfeng's cold expression when he introduced him, and could not however, link these memories with this aggressive teen standing before him.
"Under which master?"
"The Tenth Young Master."
"Ha." Shopkeeper Lyu laughed uncontrollably. His heart calmed down. He thought that this kid was putting on a fake show. He probably killed his master while the master was drunk. Alternatively, it would not be a surprise if the cripple had died from an overdose of liquor.
"I still haven't seen the silver." Gu Shenwei did not think it was funny, and pressed for the money.
Shopkeeper Lyu inched his body forwards and tried to persuade the teen in a tone of earnestness. "You can't start with such a big appetite. Hasn't Tie Hanfeng taught you this? You killed him in Stone Castle. This could mean that you could inherit all of the cripple's possessions. However, here, in South City, in the entire Western Region, the rules are different. You cannot simply take away the possessions of the person that you've killed. The brothel is yours, but the rest aren't. Listen to my advice, kid. Killers aren't as powerful in Stone Castle as you think. You still have a long way to go."
An unsheathed sword. A swift downward stroke. A sheathing of the blade.
Shopkeeper Lyu knew a little kung fu. He wasn't skilled, but was not a simpleton either. Even so, he looked at the severed finger on the table and for a long while, he did not understand what had just happened.
A terrible blood-curdling scream. Seven or eight machetemen jumped out at the same time, drawing their swords to attack the two teens.
Xu Xiaoyi immediately kneeled on the ground, cradling his head. He did not see anything. He only heard the sounds of people falling down. There was no clash of weapons nor any screaming and shouting.
Very soon, the surroundings resumed their peacefulness. Xu Xiaoyi relaxed his hands and raised his head. Three machetemen lay dead with wounds on their neck. The flowing blood was not even enough to feed ants, but they were dead for sure. Their dim eyes proved everything.
Xu Xiaoyi was so shocked dumb that he forgot to stand up.
The remaining machetemen stayed put. They worked for money, but they did not want to lose their lives.
Shopkeeper Lyu clutched his missing stump, a face full of disbelief. Who did this kid actually have as a backer. He had actually dared to kill so brazenly and unscrupulously.
"Let's go find the Supreme King at Golden Roc Fort to judge the situation!" Shopkeeper Lyu was furious.
"I'm doing things according to the rules of Stone Castle." Gu Shenwei reminded the other that according to the tradition of Golden Roc Fort, he had the right to inherit everything from Master Shifu.
With a finger bleeding still, Shopkeeper Lyu's body trembled uncontrollably. But he quickly calmed down and sat down on his chair. An agile counterjumper came over to bandage his wound.
"Let's talk calmly about it." Shopkeeper Lyu said, with his usual placid expression, as though he had everything under control. However, his face was still slightly pale. He had underestimated this teen. It was a major mistake and he had to make up for it as soon as possible.
Hence, the two "talked". Counterjumpers delivered Tie Hanfeng's preserved receipt. Cripple Tie had no precious jewelry but only silver taels, and there was a total of 316,000 taels.
"Want to change it to your name?"
"No need for that. As long as you know that Tie Hanfeng's things are mine."
Shopkeeper Lyu's heart ached. With this 316,000 taels, he could make so much profit. Then the young boy surprised him again.
"The silver will be kept here."
In the blink of an eye, this teen was no longer a "robber", but had become a big patron. Shopkeeper Lyu immediately stood upright, nodded his head slightly and told him customarily, as he did to all of his customers. "You can keep the silver here. You may be rest assured. However, I have to inform you in advance that I don't accept people collecting on behalf of customers or memos of consent. I only recognise this face before me. So if you happen to ruin your face accidentally, it's best to come let me see immediately."
And like that the matter was settled. Gu Shenwei took half of the near eight thousand taels collected by the siblings from the Xu family. The other half was given to the injured Shopkeeper Lyu and the three machetemen, that is, if these three had relatives to collect the money.
In return, Shopkeeper Lyu provided a message free of charge: Tie Hanfeng had purchased a house in the North City.
The teens left. Among the scores of customers in the tavern, their heads buried in alcohol, this story would soon be spread throughout the South City. This proved to be the biggest headache for Shopkeeper Lyu. He only had to look at his missing finger, and the corpse on the ground, and the anger in his heart became difficult to contain.
This matter won't rest so easily. If the youth had thought that money could erase the shame he had suffered, that would be a huge mistake.
Gu Shenwei did not have such illusions. He needed to act quickly. The search for the target documents in the Document Library had ended in failure. This caused a setback to the plan of revenge he had crafted in the Fort. He needed to take the initiative to do something to satisfy the agitation in his heart.
Hatred is a messy woodpile and with enough accumulated, there could be a blaze engulfing the entire of South City and spreading to Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei hoped that this fire could be as big as possible. It didn't matter if it burnt himself. After all, he would cling on tightly to Shangguan Ru, making the Supreme King's most favored daughter burn with him.
The two teens returned to Pleasure Alley. Counterjumpers from the South City's tavern delivered the 4,000 pieces of silver.
Along the way, Xu Xiaoyi kept looking up at Brother Huan. Standing in front of a pile of money, his mouth hung open. Even though this money was earned by his sister, it was taken away again and again and he had not the chance to see it stocked together in a pile. After a long while did he manage to call his sister in a hoarse voice.
Xu Yanwei was upstairs busy with the business and hearing shouting from below, put on some clothes and walked out of the room. She looked unhappy. But then, she was stunned.
A customer shouted harshly from inside: "Who is it? Make him go away."
"Someone sent money." Xu Yanwei did not turn her head. Her voice shook slightly.
The guest walked out half-naked, his whitish body fluttering out with pomp. "Do you leave things half-done? How much is it? I'll add..."
The fat guest looked down the pile of silver downstairs. He creased his eyebrows. Just several thousand taels. Not too much, but it's too much to spend on a prostitute.
The guest turned back into the house. He dressed quickly, walked down the stairs and left without a word.
The siblings stood side by side, staring at the silver. They did not speak for a long time. The guest's departure went completely unnoticed.
Xu Xiaoyi raised his head. He understood that no matter how good the silver looked, it still belonged to Mr. Huan.
This is the money for you both. In the end, Mr. Huan actually said something like this. The siblings raised their heads, bewildered and shocked. They look like two kids who, upon seeing a distant and kind relative, did not know whether to be thankful or vigilant.
Xu Yanwei's mind turned faster than her brothers. In a quivering voice, she said: "Let's go upstairs to talk?" Probably because she saw that the expressions in both younger brother and Mr. Huan's eyes were not quite right. She quickly added: "You're the real master. This is your prerogative."
Xu Yanwei walked slowly up the stairs. After thinking for a while, Gu Shenwei followed. The Pot-bellied Buddha did this, Tie Hanfeng too. This was probably a time-tested rule.
Xu Xiaoyi watched the two go upstairs. A smile appeared on his face. He then looked intently at the neatly packed piles of silver. He spread his arms, and jumped onto the silver. There could not be any woman in the world who would feel more comfortable to the touch than these cold hard silvers.
Gu Shenwei trailed a few steps behind Xu Yanwei. When he reached the bed chamber, Xu Yanwei had stripped completely on the bed, an elbow propping herself up, and the other arm stretching out in front of her. Her cheeks blushed coyly. It was as if the teen could devour her with his eyes.
This was a performance that Xu Yanwei was best at, Gu Shenwei thought. He unbuckled his weapons and threw them onto the ground.
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