Speaking of this, seemingly afraid Lian Yu might not understand the meaning, she added a special reminder, “The Scorpion Gang before its reorganisation was exactly destroyed by the Flying Eagle Gang.”
After a brief moment of thought, Lian Yu straightened her back. “Do you mean that the destruction of the original Scorpion Gang might be related to this mole?”
Hu Niu said, “I suspect this is possible and am currently confirming whether that mole was a member of the original Scorpion Gang.”
Lian Yu merely ran this matter through her mind a few times. Her thoughts shifted, and she muttered to herself, “Interested in the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs.” She turned back and asked Hu Niu, “The qualification for participating in the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs does not seem to require many people, does it?”
Hu Niu said, “The current Scorpion Gang has only fourteen people, including the person who might be the mole.”
Lian Yu said, “It should not be too difficult to recruit a few more people, right?”
Hu Niu said, “Can a temporarily assembled group of people have the strength to compete in the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs? Doing something knowing it cannot be done but doing it anyway, what is the intention? Furthermore, that person impersonating the mountain porter has also been following closely behind the Scorpion Gang.”
Lian Yu thought for a moment, smiling to reveal her white teeth. “Daring to impersonate a mountain porter and coveting the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs, it seems this Zhang Zhichen is hiding some unspeakable schemes behind his back. We are probably better off not recruiting this person. However, we must still keep a close eye on him and see exactly what he wants to do.”
“Yes.” Hu Niu agreed, then hesitated and said, “Boss, relying on our observation skills to monitor all the movements inside and outside the target is very difficult. This Zhang Zhichen dares to impersonate a mountain porter, so his ambitions are probably not small. Perhaps we should report this to the City Lord to handle.”
Upon hearing the City Lord, Lian Yu immediately changed her expression. She turned her head and body, staring again at the splashing water in the Hundred Zhang Courtyard outside, and said expressionlessly, “He said it himself. He is him, and I am me. Things that should not be forced together should not be forced. If he does not want to stay, he can leave. He has made the relationship perfectly clear. Is it necessary for us to press our warm faces against his cold backside?” Hu Niu gave a bitter smile, shook her head, and said nothing more.
Inside the “Dang Zizai” shop at the foot of the mountain outside the city, while heavy rain poured outside, Nan Zhu was leisurely inside, counting a stack of silver notes in his hand with a sly smile.
He had just completed a large transaction, selling exactly twenty weapons at once.
The major customer was attracted by him shouting at the top of his lungs.
“The cheapest weapons for sale in Tianji Mountain!” After shouting this repeatedly for a while, he actually managed to shout out a team of people from the heavy rain. They came out of the city, specifically came to his place to take a look, checked the quality of the swords and knives, and bought twenty of them in one breath. No one knew where they went. Anyway, they threw down the money and disappeared into the heavy rain outside the city.
While he was happily counting the silver notes, a figure suddenly flashed by outside. He looked up and found it was none other than Baili Xin. He said cheerfully, “You are back.”
Baili Xin nodded. She had not stayed long in the city. After finding Yu Qing, she passed by him as if they did not know each other, and muttered a notification that the Flying Eagle Gang had followed them.
It was not that she thought the Flying Eagle Gang would dare to act recklessly in Kulei City. It was just to remind Yu Qing and Mu Aotie in time, making it convenient for them to make early decisions to avoid any mistakes.
At this moment, she looked at the silver notes in Nan Zhu’s hands, then turned her head to look at the words “The cheapest weapons for sale in Tianji Mountain” hanging on the wall, and roughly understood how these silver notes were obtained.
Without saying much, she looked around and then quickly slipped inside. For internal communication use only.
Nan Zhu just exchanged a few casual pleasantries. He temporarily had no mood to act obsequiously in front of Baili Xin. Those people who bought the things did not even give him time to count the money. They threw down the money and left, acting mysteriously.
A little later, after counting the money repeatedly several times and confirming it was exactly six hundred thousand taels without error, he finally took out the account book. Nodding his head and humming a little tune, he started keeping the accounts, writing down the words “sold twenty weapons, income twenty thousand taels”.
Then, he counted out twenty thousand taels from the six hundred thousand taels of silver notes and put them down. He stuffed all the remaining silver notes into his private pocket. Finally, he clipped the twenty thousand taels of silver notes into the account book and put it away, preparing to use it later to report to Old Nine and Old Fifteen.
Who would have known that when he stood up and looked up, he found Baili Xin had been sitting on a shelf in the aisle nearby just now, staring at his every move with a face full of suspicion.
His mood instantly became melancholy. He did not expect that this kind of woman would actually pry into his privacy.
However, in the next moment, a feeling of joy arose in his heart. Was this a manifestation of care and concern?
The two looked at each other for a while. Nan Zhu’s eyes darted around. Just as he was thinking about how to explain, Baili Xin spoke up and broke the silence. “You are cooking the books!”
“Look at what you are saying.” Nan Zhu was embarrassed for a moment, then quickly said in a serious tone, “I am doing this for your own good. Do we not need money to get things done when we go out? Not to mention anything else, just your trip into the city right now cost ten thousand taels. Who paid for it? Do you think those two would give you this money? You will not need to spend money when you go out in the future. If even I have no money here, would you have the nerve to ask those two for it?”
Baili Xin fell silent immediately. Regardless of whether the other party’s reasoning was far fetched, in reality, she was indeed short of money, and indeed only this fatty would give her money to spend. For internal communication use only.
After observing her expression, Nan Zhu struck while the iron was hot. “If it were not for you, I would not do this either. The reason I do this is truly for your own good. I really cannot stand the stinginess of those two guys anymore. Rest assured, in this damn place, it is very difficult to see the buyers again after they buy something. As long as you and I do not say anything, it is impossible for those two to know what price we sold them for.”
Baili Xin sighed softly. She did not know what to say. She just felt that this person was embezzling money by cooking the books a bit too ruthlessly, directly pocketing two thirds of it first. Later, the remaining one third would probably have to be split equally with the other two.
Gongshan Hall, located at the highest point under that strip of stone at the very top of Kulei City, was a central hub for Kulei City to handle external affairs.
Yu Qing, Mu Aotie, and Fan Jiu walked out of it. The latter’s face was quite apprehensive. He found that he was indeed right. The Chief was still thinking about the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs”.
Just now, Yu Qing had inquired about the detailed registration situation for the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs” from the personnel of Kulei City right in front of him.
Actually, there were no complex requirements. As long as it was a gang mingling within Tianji Mountain, they could register. Kulei City did not care if the registering gang was notorious, nor did it care about the strength of each gang. Strength was not something one could just boast about. Kulei City would test it themselves.
There were just some minor requirements. The number of gang members must be at least fifty. Having too few gang members was useless, as they could not manage such a large water area.
Furthermore, the registration fee was ten million taels. Once paid, it would not be refunded regardless of success or failure.
The participating gangs also had to sign an agreement upon registration. Once the competition was won, the gang could not be disbanded within three years, and relevant gang members could not withdraw from the gang. After the three year period expired, they could do whatever they wanted. In other words, one session of the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs” could only manage Bronze Sparrow Lake for three years, and after three years, they would have to compete again.
After winning the competition, they had to supply a certain amount of free lake seafood to Kulei City every day. Also, the price of lake seafood sold externally could not be lower than the standard given by Kulei City, and so on, to prevent reckless fishing just to increase volume.
In short, if there was a breach of contract, Kulei City would impose sanctions, the kind of sanctions that could cost lives.
Facing these requirements, the faces of Yu Qing and Mu Aotie as they walked out the door were not very pleasant.
The other conditions were acceptable. It was just that the registration fee alone was ten million taels, which was a bit too exaggerated. The key point was that it would not be refunded to them regardless of success or failure. To the two of them, this was simply terrifying.
However, what the people of Kulei City said also made sense. As long as there was a situation of large crowds gathering, there had to be rules. Not just any messy people could come to try their luck. The process was too complex to supervise. If a gang could not even afford to spend ten million taels, did they dare to say they had the strength to control Bronze Sparrow Lake?
Therefore, it was obvious that, whether in terms of the minimum required number of gang members or the amount of the registration fee, it showed that this registration, which seemed to have no complex requirements, was already conducting an elimination and selection process from the very beginning.
After the three walked to a secluded place, Fan Jiu stopped them and asked, “Chief, do we really have to register for the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs?”
Yu Qing said calmly, “What is there to be afraid of? If it really does not work out, we can withdraw during the competition.”
Hearing this, Fan Jiu was stunned for a moment. Thinking about it, it seemed there was no problem. If it was dangerous, they could just withdraw. However, he still said with difficulty, “If the Chief insists on participating, I do not object. But there is one point. My name cannot be used to register as the Chief.”
Previously, when asked to impersonate the Chief, he could accept it when nothing was happening, as it was irrelevant. But how could he participate in the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs” under the name of the Chief? If something happened and the Scorpion Gang was held accountable, the Chief would be the first to bear the brunt. He would not take this responsibility.
Yu Qing thought for a moment and nodded. “Mr. Fan, do not worry too much. If we really participate, we will write that I am the Chief during registration, but when making it known to the outside, we will say you are the Chief. Is that acceptable?”
The reason for such a strange requirement was still to prevent Nan Zhu from knowing that he and Old Nine had embezzled the money.
Fan Jiu was speechless. He just did not understand. During registration, it was already clearly written to Kulei City that he was the Chief. It was already exposed. Was it still necessary to cover it up?
He could not figure it out, but it was still acceptable. He could only nod and agree with a bitter smile.
The two martial brothers still had things to discuss in private. After comforting Fan Jiu with a few words, they sent him away.
With no one else around, the two martial brothers huddled in a corner and muttered.
“Ten million taels! Our chances of winning were not large to begin with. If we do not win, it is gone. Previously, we only managed to get a little over ten million at the temple. We cannot possibly throw it all into this in the blink of an eye,” Mu Aotie expressed strong concern.
“Damn it.” Yu Qing also stroked his small moustache and cursed. “It is so hard for us to earn some money. How is it so easy for these guys to make money? They do nothing, and just from the registration fee alone, who knows how much they will earn.”
Asking him to throw ten million into doing something with absolutely no certainty made his heart ache terribly. He realised that no matter how beautiful the previously imagined plan was, it could not overcome the hurdle of money. Without money, one did not even have the qualification to play. It felt too absurd.
Mu Aotie added, “And there is the matter of manpower. We need at least fifty people. Even the dozen or so people here are unwilling to participate. Where can we find fifty people willing to take the risk with us in the Bronze Sparrow Martial Affairs?”
Yu Qing let go of the small moustache at the corner of his mouth and waved his hand. “Do not worry about the manpower. We can have it whenever we want.”
Mu Aotie said, “Like Cao Dingkun tricking us, just gathering some rabble. Taking a group of rabble to compete with those top gangs, is that helping or dragging us down?”
Yu Qing scoffed. “No need to trick new people into joining. The Flying Eagle Gang has so much well integrated, ready made manpower.”
Mu Aotie felt completely dumbfounded on the spot. Gather a group of Flying Eagle Gang members to act as subordinates? It took him a good while before he asked in surprise and doubt, “Are you sure this will work?”
“Why would it not work? Later, we will just hand over the matter of recruiting manpower to Tong Zaitian. Threaten him. If he cannot recruit people, tell him to get lost. As long as we show that participating will definitely lead to finding the Qilin Ginseng, how could Duan Yunyou bear to miss such a good opportunity to plant a large number of people by our side?
They are all people he arranged and took care of. They cannot come and drag us down. They might even be more useful than our own Scorpion Gang members. If there is any dangerous task, we will just arrange for them to rush to the front. It does not matter if they all die. Anyway, if we are short of people in the future, we will just borrow from the Flying Eagle Gang.”