Facing his sister in law’s stubbornness, Cao Dingkun lowered his head in silence, sighing in his heart, not quite knowing what to say, and more importantly, knowing that whatever he said would not get through.
He supported avenging his eldest brother, and he also supported spreading rumours to harass the Eagle Gang, but he did not approve of rushing back into battle so hastily. The enemy had just made their move and would certainly be on guard now. Rushing to retaliate would easily lead to hitting a brick wall. Moreover, their strength was currently depleted, so relying on sheer luck for revenge was truly irrational.
However, he could also understand his sister in law’s feelings, as the pain of losing a husband was unbearable.
Furthermore, it was not appropriate for him to openly express a different stance from his sister in law right now. Morale was already unstable, and if the two leaders started arguing again, the Scorpion Gang would be completely finished.
While reluctantly cooperating, he could only do his best to offer reminders.
Women were perceptive. Xu Fengji saw his thoughts from his expression and reaction. After a brief hesitation, she said in a low voice, “We are now like stray dogs, without even a place to shelter. It is only because the Tao brothers value old friendships that they are letting us temporarily settle in their territory. We cannot possibly bring a group of people and keep freeloading on their territory forever.
Brother, we lost the fight. Morale has scattered, and we have lost our territory. Those twenty or so veterans have not left yet, but that is only temporary, out of some lingering sense of old friendship. Do you believe that in a few more days, they will all be gone?”
Cao Dingkun frowned and remained silent, knowing that she was stating the reality of the situation.
Suppressing her emotions, Xu Fengji shook her head and whispered, “Brother, the Scorpion Gang is finished. It has already fallen apart.”
Cao Dingkun looked up in astonishment, staring blankly for a moment. “Sister in law, you…” He wanted to deny it, but he knew she was speaking the truth.
Because of this, he suddenly realised the truth, finally understanding why his sister in law was so eager for him to trick a batch of new recruits. Only now could they still use the Scorpion Gang’s banner to deceive some people. If they tried to trick people after the gang had fallen apart, they would easily be exposed.
In other words, they could still trick a group of people now to make the Eagle Gang bleed a little.
Later, even if they tricked more people, those recruits would discover that the Scorpion Gang did not even have any members. Newcomers were not fools. If you told them to charge, they would not charge.
After a moment of silence, his gaze became resolute, and he nodded. “Sister in law, I understand.”
Xu Fengji gazed into the distance and sighed deeply. “The feud is already sealed. If they can exterminate us completely, the Eagle Gang will not spare you or me. After the Scorpion Gang falls apart, whether we can even stay in Tianji Mountain is a question. Our abilities are limited, neither of us is as capable as your brother, and my looks are already fading. No one will take an interest in us. Whether we can avenge your brother in the future is truly uncertain. After tonight, I am afraid we will have to leave Tianji Mountain and live in hiding under assumed names.”
Cao Dingkun’s cheeks tightened. Although these words were unpleasant to hear, they were the truth. Even if his sister in law wanted to use her charms to seek help, her fading beauty would attract no one. The new recruits tricked this time were truly their last chance to take a bite out of the Eagle Gang.
A group of newcomers knew nothing about the Scorpion Gang and did not suspect it was a sham, after all, Cao Dingkun dared to recruit openly in Kulei City.
Seeing a group of people wearing the same clothes here, the newcomers treated this place as the Scorpion Gang’s territory. They just felt that the atmosphere of the Scorpion Gang seemed somewhat oppressive, and the veterans barely paid attention to them, though they did not know if it was because they had not yet adapted.
Furthermore, this Scorpion Gang hideout did not feel very suitable for long term residence.
However, no one cared too much. Everyone had come with the attitude of observing first. If it was suitable, they would stay. If not, they would quit and leave.
Although Yu Qing and Mu Aotie, who occasionally looked around the cave entrance, were also wary of the unfamiliar environment and strangers, their mindset was relatively relaxed compared to the others.
To put it bluntly, they had seen many important figures and grand scenes. Even if they faced Nie Rifu, the city lord of Kulei City, they would not be intimidated. They truly did not take this so called Scorpion Gang very seriously.
Compared to the other newcomers, the two of them were more daring to face the situation.
Before the sky had even grown dark, someone suddenly ran to the various cave entrances where the newcomers were staying, calling for them to assemble.
A group of newcomers dared not hesitate. They quickly jumped out of the cave entrances and assembled beneath the statue to wait.
The second in command, Xu Fengji, arrived with the veterans who had assembled earlier, and called out to Cao Dingkun’s side, “Let us go!”
Cao Dingkun immediately called out to the group of newcomers, “Follow us.”
Thus, the two groups merged into one and quickly left the area.
Yu Qing looked back and found that, apart from a few personnel left behind, the Scorpion Gang seemed to have turned out in full force.
Cao Dingkun, who was leading the newcomers at the front, felt helpless regarding those left behind. Those people could no longer be rallied, unwilling to cooperate any further, and unwilling to get involved in this matter anymore.
Even for the veterans who were willing to cooperate, valuing old friendships was one thing, but it had also taken his sister in law a great deal of persuasion to convince them, and they only cooperated after confirming that there was little danger.
The group of newcomers found that there were not many veterans in the Scorpion Gang, which actually made them feel a bit more at ease.
Travelling swiftly along the way, the sky gradually darkened. Yu Qing did not know if Nan Zhu and the others behind could keep up, so he quickened his pace, caught up to the rear of Cao Dingkun at the front, and asked, “Third in command, where are we going?”
At this moment, with both newcomers and veterans gathered, most of the newcomers were silent. Seeing someone break the silence, Xu Fengji turned her head to look, and a group of veterans also cast a few extra glances at Yu Qing.
Cao Dingkun looked back, saw it was him, and frowned. “Brother Zhu, this is a matter of confidentiality. You have just arrived, so do not ask too many questions. You will naturally be told when we reach the destination.”
Yu Qing laughed, nodded to indicate he understood, and did not ask any further questions. He only turned back and gave Mu Aotie a hint to leave more trail markers for Nan Zhu and the others behind.
This run truly covered a long distance and lasted a long time, starting just after dark and not stopping until nearly the second half of the night.
Even with his Chuxuan realm cultivation, carrying hundreds of jin of goods without rest and sprinting at full speed, Nan Zhu was already panting heavily and sweating profusely, truly exhausted to the limit.
Miraculously, the moment he saw Baili Xin, who had stopped to wait for him, his dog like panting immediately steadied, and his slightly hunched back instantly straightened. Although his face was covered in sweat, he looked radiant and full of energy.
This was the appearance of a true hero, albeit a rather fat one.
Putting herself in his shoes, Baili Xin felt that running such a long distance while carrying a heavy load was exhausting enough, so she said, “Carrying it alone is too tiring. Later, let me carry it for a while. Anyway, we are not interacting with anyone temporarily, so there is no need to worry about arousing suspicion or anything.”
Nan Zhu, who had already settled the stall, poked his head out and laughed calmly and composedly, “Baili, your words underestimate me a bit. Do not let my fat appearance fool you. In terms of physical condition and mastery of cultivation, Old Nine and Old Fifteen are no match for me. If it were not for this physique that convinces them, why would I be Old Seven while they have to rank behind me? I could run back and forth two more times without any issue.”
Although he said this, in his heart he was cursing those two junior brothers for making him carry this, silently pleading that they not run around randomly anymore. Another trip and he truly would not be able to run, inevitably making a fool of himself.
Baili Xin looked him up and down with some surprise. “I thought you ranked higher because you were older.”
Nan Zhu hurriedly said, “Not at all. It is just because I am a bit fat, making me look more mature and steady. In fact, in terms of age, I am a few years younger than Old Nine, only in my early thirties, not much older than you.”
In reality, he was a few years older than Mu Aotie and already in his forties. At this moment, he was practically lying with his eyes wide open.
He was not afraid of telling lies. He planned to find an opportunity later to remind his two junior brothers that he would bear the responsibility for the lies himself, and they did not need to speak out of turn.
This was not his first time deceiving a woman. Back in the day, he had deceived the daughter of a certain prefect, and they had almost gotten married.
The key point was that he believed in such matters, Old Nine and Old Fifteen would not ruin his setup.
As for what to do if Baili Xin discovered it in the future? He felt that by then, the rice would already be cooked, so it would not matter. She would just have to accept the situation as it was.
Since they were already so familiar, Baili Xin never expected this grown man to lie about his age. Hearing this, she was quite surprised, not expecting him to be so young. She truly had not seen it, and had indeed misjudged him.
Of course, she did not dwell on this matter and instead looked towards the shadowy desert ahead.
That was right. Before them was a small desert area within the territory of Tianji Mountain. The Yu Qing and Mu Aotie they were tracking had already followed the Scorpion Gang members into this desert.
Raising his hand to wipe away some sweat, Nan Zhu also cast his eyes over this desert and asked suspiciously, “Why run out to this desert in the middle of the night?”
Baili Xin said, “I do not know. They have gone into hiding in an area up ahead, so they should have reached their destination.”
Having said this, she jumped to the front of the stall, opened the door and went inside, took out a bow and arrows to carry on her back, and pulled the hood of her cloak down a bit.
Nan Zhu was slightly startled. “What do you want to do?”
Baili Xin said, “I am going to keep watch nearby. Do not worry, I will not make a move unless necessary. You just wait here, and do not get too close.”
Saying this, regardless of whether Nan Zhu agreed or not, she directly flashed away.
“Hey, there is no need for you to get close. If anything happens, Datou will come to report. Hey…” Nan Zhu pressed his voice and shouted a few times to no avail. He wished he could follow her, but looking back at the stall, he could not just abandon it. He could only kick the sand a few times to vent his frustration, then placed his hands on his hips, slumped his back, and continued to pant heavily, wiping away sweat from time to time.
The moon emerged from the clouds, making the desert brightly illuminated, yet hazy enough that one could not see very far.
Inside a massive, dilapidated temple that was tilted and half buried in the sand, blazing firelight flickered, and moonlight shone in through the breaches. A group of people was digging out the accumulated sand inside the temple day and night without stopping.
The excavated sand was continuously transported outside the temple. The scale of the project was obviously not small, because this dilapidated temple was indeed quite large.
This place was originally the Scorpion Gang’s hideout, but it had now been occupied by the Eagle Gang.
A slender man draped in a black cloak, with a tall figure, fair skin, and a clean shaven face, looked quite scholarly and handsome. He just seemed a bit sickly, occasionally clenching his fist to cough into his mouth.
He was Duan Yunyou, the leader of the Eagle Gang. At this moment, he had climbed alone onto the high, tilted temple wall. Seeming to find the glow of the luminous stones insufficiently bright, he held a torch in his hand, carefully examining the carved patterns and text inside the temple.
Below, the chests of a group of busy people coming and going were all embroidered with an eagle with its wings spread, making the gang’s emblem equally obvious.
From the crowd of people moving about, a man stepped forward. It was Gong Ziting, the left guardian of the Eagle Gang.
He looked up at the leader above, leaped up, and landed beside him. Standing on the tilted wall as well, he glanced at the people coming and going below and said in a low voice, “Leader, we have been digging for two full days, and there is no sign of any moisture. This place is extremely dry and does not look like a place where Qilin Ginseng could grow. Are you sure the intelligence is accurate?”