While Lian Yu, troubled by unsolvable worries, was suffering a headache over Liang Ban’s matter, Hu Niu brought new news.
Lian Yu listened in utter astonishment, “The Scorpion Gang recruited fifty people, and all of them are from the Flying Eagle Gang?”
Hu Niu wagged her tail, a look of amusement on her face, “Proprietress, you heard correctly. They only recruited fifty people, and all of them are from the Flying Eagle Gang. It is certain without a doubt that that person is a mole for the Flying Eagle Gang. On the surface, they are recruiting openly in Kuilei City, but in reality, everyone recruited is someone prepared by the Flying Eagle Gang.”
Lian Yu sighed, “In other words, out of a gang of only about sixty people, around fifty are moles.”
Hu Niu was highly amused, “Exactly. That Leader Zhu really trusts that mole. He could have given the task to anyone, yet he actually let the mole arrange such matters. Now it is not just one mole, but being surrounded by a group of moles. I would like to see how he plans to play this later.”
“Is this the Scorpion Gang or the Flying Eagle Gang?” Lian Yu sighed as she walked towards the terrace of the Baizhang Courtyard, muttering to herself, “What is the Flying Eagle Gang scheming after taking so much trouble? It seems there are still unknown tricks at play here.”
Hu Niu followed behind, “That Leader Zhu is rather foolish and has already taken his men to register at the Gongshan Hall. Proprietress, should we remind him?”
Looking down at the familiar scenery from the railing, Lian Yu shook her head, “We have always only done our own business. We cannot represent that great city lord, and we will not get involved in the grudges and grievances of those gangs in Tianji Mountain.”
This was her attitude, but not necessarily a consistent principle. In the end, it was still because she did not truly like Mu Aotie.
Hu Niu reported some minor situations she had learned, “That shop impersonating the mountain porter has been moved to the location just below their terrace, probably to facilitate coordination from above and below.”
Leaning on the railing, Lian Yu sighed softly, “I just hope there is some substance behind them, so they can serve as a qualified shield!”
It was precisely because Yu Qing was so audacious as to dare to impersonate a mountain porter, suggesting some colossal entity hidden behind him, that she conceived the idea of pushing Mu Aotie forward as a shield. She hoped that when Liang Ban became jealous, he would kick a stone and retreat in the face of difficulties.
Of course, she hoped even more that the situation could remain peaceful, hoping Liang Ban would tactfully give up upon seeing that she had a man she liked.
At present, it was obvious she had overthought it. How could Liang Ban not know she was Nie Rifu’s mistress, yet he still pursued her just the same? How would he care whether she had a man she liked? Now she could only hope that the force daring enough to orchestrate the impersonation of the mountain porter could rein in Liang Ban.
In the end, she still did not want to make things difficult for Nie Rifu, especially by causing trouble for him because of herself.
At the Gongshan Hall, the place managing Kuilei City’s affairs, Yu Qing took a group of new and old members of the Scorpion Gang to register for the event.
First, they paid the money. Once the money was sufficient, they counted the number of participants, verified each person one by one, and besides recording names and palm prints, they also stamped a mark made of a special drug on their arms, which would be washed off after the competition.
If they won the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Event” competition, a copper sparrow pattern tattoo made of a special drug would also be left on their bodies, representing their status as the controllers of Copper Sparrow Lake, and also to prevent unauthorised departure.
There was a rule that personnel representing Kuilei City in controlling Copper Sparrow Lake could not easily withdraw from the gang.
The reason was simple. Just like other gangs, if you could come and go as you pleased, and the gang could disband whenever it wanted, how could the normal management of Copper Sparrow Lake be maintained?
Just like that, a total of fifty-six people from the Scorpion Gang completed their registration.
There were originally fourteen people, and they recruited another fifty, so why were there only fifty-six left?
They left. Among the original veterans, many felt that participating in the “Bronze Sparrow Martial Event” was unreliable. They felt it was unnecessary to take such an unreliable risk and did not believe they had the opportunity to make such a fortune, so eight people withdrew.
Those who did not withdraw also had doubts in their hearts, but Fan Jiu and the others had just thought one layer deeper. After all, Yu Qing had truly paid out ten million taels. Would he waste it so unconfidently? They decided to participate and see. Anyway, Yu Qing had also said that if they really could not win the competition, they could withdraw from the contest.
Regarding this, Tong Zaitian repeatedly reminded Yu Qing that the eight people who withdrew must not be allowed to leave, because these eight knew the secret of the Qilin Ginseng. Once the news leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable.
However, Yu Qing was very generous, and showed this generosity to everyone in the Scorpion Gang. He let everyone know that if they felt they could make a fortune in the Scorpion Gang, they should stay. If they could not, they should leave. Coming and going was entirely up to them, with absolute freedom and no coercion, so everyone could rest assured.
In fact, however, he knew very well that the eight people who abandoned the Scorpion Gang and left would probably not live to leave Tianji Mountain.
From the moment Tong Zaitian spoke up to dissuade him, he knew those eight could not survive. The Flying Eagle Gang would definitely silence them.
To the Flying Eagle Gang, everything the Scorpion Gang did was labouring on their behalf. They were hiding behind the scenes, ready to reap the benefits at any time. How could they allow other competitors to arise? They had probably been monitoring every gang member for a long time.
Therefore, he had no need to play the villain. In the future, the Flying Eagle Gang would naturally do such miscellaneous chores for free.
Of course, he did not warn those eight about the danger. They had chosen their own path, especially in a chaotic place like Tianji Mountain. All he could do was watch those eight leave in the end. After all, they had worked together, helped dig sand for such a long time, and their efforts contributed partly to obtaining the clues about the Qilin Ginseng.
Obviously, the eight left with considerable peace of mind, knowing the strength of the Scorpion Gang. As long as they scattered, this temporary makeshift team of the Scorpion Gang would have no ability to track their whereabouts in Kuilei City.
This was also the reason they dared to decide to leave now. If they did not leave now, it might not be possible in the future.
None of them were fools. They all knew that although gangs in Tianji Mountain allowed people to leave if they wanted to, it depended on the circumstances. How could those who knew the gang’s secrets escape so easily?
What surprised them was that the gang leader did not show the slightest intention of retaining them, which was truly extraordinarily broad-minded.
After completing the registration and leaving the Gongshan Hall, Yu Qing turned around and looked at the six old members, including himself. He could not help but sigh, roughly understanding why these people had chosen to stay.
Among the six, himself and Mu Aotie went without saying. Tong Zaitian, the mole, would certainly not leave easily. Fan Jiu communicated with him a lot, so it was understandable that he wanted to stay and see how things developed. Mo Li and Gao Changtai were the ones who unearthed the secret of the Qilin Ginseng, so it was normal that they did not want to give up easily.
Looking again at the fifty newly joined gang members, he could not help but sigh inwardly once more. These must all be personnel selected by the Flying Eagle Gang. For all he knew, they might all be people willing to go through a mountain of swords and a sea of fire for him. Spies were indeed useful!
While he was lost in these random thoughts, Tong Zaitian had to lean in and remind him, “Gang Leader, with fifty new members, we need to have new uniforms custom-made for our Scorpion Gang.”
When saying this, he was actually quite worried.
As it turned out, what he feared came to pass. Yu Qing was not polite at all and immediately nodded at him, “I will leave this matter to you. You have also seen that I just threw out ten million here, and my pockets are empty. One should not trouble two masters for one matter, so you can continue to advance the money for the clothes, and we can settle it all together later.”
It was the same old story. If he were not afraid of going too far and arousing Duan Yunyou’s suspicion, and could not find a suitable reason, he would have asked Tong Zaitian to advance the ten million registration fee as well.
“…” Tong Zaitian was rendered speechless, cursing the ancestors of the person in front of him in his heart. Custom-made clothes were not cheap, and this was for fifty people.
However, under Yu Qing’s gradually questioning gaze of “do you not trust me”, he quickly compromised and forced a smile, “Alright. Since the gang leader is willing to spend such a large sum on the registration fee, what does it matter if I advance this small amount first?”
He had also come to terms with it. Getting the job done well was the most important thing first. With so many people from the Flying Eagle Gang watching, Duan Yunyou would naturally find out later. How could he let him pay out of his own pocket? It would naturally be counted as gang expenses and reimbursed to him, so it did not count as spending his own money.
Yu Qing was instantly pleased. Disregarding the fact that he was younger than the other man, he raised his hand and patted Tong Zaitian on the shoulder, “Mr. Tong being able to share the gang’s worries is truly a blessing for the Scorpion Gang. From now on, Mr. Tong is the third-in-command of the Scorpion Gang!”
The second-in-command was naturally Mu Aotie, which all the old members knew.
Mu Aotie glanced at Tong Zaitian, really wanting to ask Yu Qing if this third-in-command position was bought with money.
Tong Zaitian did not know if he was genuinely surprised, but he at least looked the part, repeatedly bowing with his hands clasped in thanks, “Thank you for your trust, Gang Leader. I, Tong, will definitely not let down your high expectations.”
“Good, good, good.” Yu Qing smiled until his eyes narrowed, showing a mouthful of white teeth, unable to close his mouth. He patted the man’s arm a few more times, looking as if he was waiting to see his performance. However, turning his eyes to see the eager looks of Fan Jiu and the others, he did not show any favouritism.
He raised his hand and pointed at Fan Jiu, “Mr. Fan, from now on, you are the fourth-in-command.”
Not finished, he then pointed at Mo Li and Gao Changtai, “Mo Li, you are the fifth-in-command. Gao Changtai, you are the sixth-in-command.”
The smile on Tong Zaitian’s face had not yet faded before it froze. He slowly turned his head to look at the other commanders. He had just thought his efforts had finally earned him trust, but it turned out he had overthought it. This grandson was too capricious. Could the positions of commander really be casually bestowed as one, two, three, four, five, six?
The scene was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard, and the other few veterans were also stunned.
The fifty newly joined members looked at each other. Some had just wanted to bow and greet the third-in-command, but then the fourth, fifth, and sixth-in-commands suddenly appeared in succession, catching people off guard and somewhat dazzling them.
Mu Aotie silently looked up at the sky, feeling that only someone like Old Fifteen could do such unreasonable nonsense, yet coming from someone like Old Fifteen, it did not feel abrupt at all.
He himself wanted to ask, after the new Scorpion Gang was established, how many people would think this gang leader was normal?
He estimated that those who continued to follow him to seek a future were also somewhat abnormal. Looking at it now, the eight people who left actually seemed relatively normal.
Tong Zaitian also wanted to ask, he had spent money and effort, only to get a third-in-command position, so on what grounds did the others get theirs?
However, the others did not think this way. Since it was given to them, they all felt they deserved it. For example, Mo Li and Gao Changtai felt that since they had unearthed the secret of the Qilin Ginseng, their contribution was significant.
After coming to his senses, Fan Jiu, who was baffled by his own inexplicable silent sigh, bowed with his hands clasped first to express his gratitude, “Thank you for your favour, Gang Leader. I, Fan, will definitely do my utmost to serve the gang leader.”
Mo Li smiled and bowed with her hands clasped, “Thank you for the gang leader’s heavy reliance.”
Gao Changtai also bowed with a smile, “Thank you for the gang leader’s appreciation. I will definitely not let down your high expectations.”
He was not unhappy about being ranked last, pondering that at this speed of bestowing titles, could the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth-in-commands be far behind?
Yu Qing waved his hand cheerfully to dispense with the formalities, “In the future, everyone should work together with one heart and go to the mountains and seas together.”
A group of new members also reacted, bowing with their hands clasped one after another.
“Greetings to the third-in-command.”
“Greetings to the fourth-in-command.”
“Greetings to the fifth-in-command.”
“Greetings to the sixth-in-command.”
The voices were first scattered and messy, then gradually became uniform, creating a momentum of a collective greeting.
The several commanders returned the bows with clasped hands one by one.
Watching them exchange pleasantries with each other, Yu Qing’s mind flew elsewhere. He wondered what the reaction of those top gangs would be upon learning that the Scorpion Gang had registered to participate. They would not suppress them, would they?