The door to the Zhenshan Gang leader’s room was practically smashed open, the knocking making a tremendous racket.
Wei Yue, who was talking with his subordinate, immediately ordered the man to open the door and see what was going on.
The subordinate obeyed and went to the door. As soon as it opened, he found it was Young Master Liang of the Liang family from the Sea Market. Before he could even be polite, Liang Ban had already barged straight in, leaving the subordinate somewhat at a loss, wanting to stop him but not daring to. He quickly shouted inside, “Gang leader, Young Master Liang is here.”
Wei Yue poked his head out. Seeing Liang Ban entering uninvited, a gloomy look flashed in his eyes. He forced a smile onto his face, raised his hand, and gave a gesture to the subordinate at the door. The latter understood and left, closing the door behind him.
With no one else around, Wei Yue’s face instantly darkened. He grabbed Liang Ban by the collar and scolded him in a low voice, “Are you crazy? I told you not to come directly to me. Do you not understand human language, or are you terrified that outsiders will not understand our relationship?”
His anger was so great at this moment that he wished he could slap this fool hard across the face twice, and he also hated himself for choosing such trash to cooperate with.
To him, what they were doing was no small matter. They wanted to make a fortune in Nie Rifu’s territory and even seduce Nie Rifu’s woman. Once exposed, let alone making a fortune, they probably would not be able to leave Tianji Mountain alive.
Fearing the background of the Liang family from the Sea Market, Nie Rifu might not touch this pretty boy, but he definitely would not let him off.
Liang Ban slapped Wei Yue’s hand away several times before finally batting his grasping hand aside. “You are overthinking it. I can approach anyone openly and above board. Do not rush to find fault with me. Let us first talk about what exactly is wrong with you.”
Wei Yue was slightly stunned. Thinking about his own side, he could not figure out what was wrong, and asked in confusion, “What is wrong with me?”
Liang Ban tapped his chest with the folding fan in his hand. “You really have a terrible memory! You said that once Nie Rifu knew about Lian Yu and that big guy being ambiguous, he would kill that big guy. How long has it been? Not only is the guy perfectly fine, but he was also having breakfast in Lian Yu’s room early this morning. They were so affectionate, so much like a loving couple. They might have even spent the night together last night. Where is Nie Rifu’s reaction? Did you not say you would let Nie Rifu know? Did you actually let him know or not?”
Speaking of the scene he saw this morning, he was absolutely furious. His anger had gone beyond the matter itself. The greatest feeling was that his dignity had been trampled upon. Relying on his handsome and elegant image, he had actually lost to that kind of stupid big guy. This was truly an insult to him.
He suddenly realised that his most prized asset was no longer valuable, which he found completely unacceptable.
He had been waiting there all morning, wanting to see how Mu Aotie would die, wanting to see the scene of Nie Rifu dealing with Mu Aotie.
Who knew that there would be no reaction until now, and instead, he waited for Mu Aotie to swagger back. He instantly lost his composure. After enduring it repeatedly, he could not hold back and finally ran over in person to demand an explanation.
Speaking of this, Wei Yue was also puzzled. “Not long after you left yesterday, I already arranged for someone to tip off Nie Rifu’s side.”
Actually, what puzzled him was not just this. Just now, he was also talking with his subordinate about Yu Qing and the others. He found that the Scorpion Gang was recruiting people and intentionally tried to plant a spy within the Scorpion Gang. As a result, with the energy of his Zhenshan Gang, he surprisingly failed to infiltrate at all. Not a single person managed to get in.
Liang Ban looked highly suspicious. “Are you sure your subordinates did not make any mistakes? Are you sure Nie Rifu has personally heard about it?”
Wei Yue said, “I was afraid someone would block the message, so I arranged for multiple channels of information to seep into all levels over at the City Lord’s residence. Logically speaking, Nie Rifu should be able to learn of the situation. I do not know why Nie Rifu has not reacted until now. As for whether Nie Rifu heard it with his own ears, how would I know? I cannot possibly run up to Nie Rifu in person and say, ‘Your woman is getting involved with another man.’ Do you believe Nie Rifu would not beat me to death first? Let us just wait a bit longer. Perhaps Nie Rifu is also observing in secret after hearing the news. Big shots do not act in a frantic rush.”
It was only this last sentence that calmed the furious Liang Ban down. Thinking about it, it was true. Big shots were indeed not so easily impulsive.
The door to the guest room of the Tianhong Gang leader was also knocked open.
A capable man entered, closed the door, and walked quickly to Shen Wukong, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, reporting, “That Leader Zhu has already taken the people of the Scorpion Gang to complete their registration at the Gongshan Hall and has returned to the Shixin Residence.”
Shen Wukong opened his eyes a slit and frowned. “Are they really going to participate in the Tongque Martial Event? Did that meal from Lian Yu eat away their brains? With so many gangs in Tianji Mountain, is it the turn of a mere Scorpion Gang to make a splash?”
The capable man said, “The participation should not be fake. It has been confirmed, and the ten million taels registration fee has also been paid.”
Shen Wukong asked, “Have our people been planted inside?”
At the previous banquet, after discovering that Lian Yu was interested in Mu Aotie, although on the surface he did not want to pay attention to the Scorpion Gang and indeed wanted to keep his distance to avoid being misunderstood by Nie Rifu, secretly he still wanted to have some grasp of the situation. He had given orders to check what was going on with that Scorpion Gang.
What was a top gang in Tianji Mountain? Naturally, it was a gang with a certain amount of power and strength, especially within Kuailei City. It possessed a certain ability to hear rumours and did not lack eyes and ears to observe the large and small situations in the city.
As soon as the order came down from above, the eyes and ears below immediately acted upon the command.
Upon this investigation, the Scorpion Gang’s public recruitment could naturally not be hidden from this side. Shen Wukong immediately ordered that, taking this opportunity, personnel be arranged to infiltrate the Scorpion Gang for observation.
At this moment, hearing this inquiry, the capable man showed a trace of embarrassment. “This subordinate is incompetent. Our personnel failed to infiltrate.”
Shen Wukong’s half-closed eyes opened completely, and he stared at him, asking, “They have already completed their registration at the Gongshan Hall. Have they not finished recruiting people yet?”
The capable man said, “The recruitment has already ended.”
Shen Wukong asked, “How many people were recruited?”
The capable man said, “According to observation, there should be fifty.”
Shen Wukong was puzzled. “Recruiting fifty people in such a short time, logically speaking, the screening process should not be too strict. Do they have some special screening methods?”
The capable man smiled bitterly. “I really did not see any special screening methods. It was just a leading member of the Scorpion Gang pointing fingers based on personal preference. He casually picked some people out of the crowd. I did not see any screening.”
Shen Wukong frowned again. “You cannot even handle such a small matter. Since it is a method of recruitment, why not urgently transfer more people over to make up the numbers and increase the probability of being chosen?”
The capable man could not help but sigh heavily. “Gang leader, we did transfer them. I temporarily transferred dozens of people to go and make up the numbers, but the result…” He spread his hands, indicating that not a single one was chosen. “The recruitment time was indeed not long. It was too late to think of another way. They just went through the motions and ended the recruitment. I even arranged for someone to chase after them and ask directly if they still needed people. They said they did not need anyone now, saying something about meeting again if fate allowed in the future. I could not force the Scorpion Gang to recruit more people, so I had to give up.”
Shen Wukong pondered for a while and said thoughtfully, “In that case, it really cannot be blamed on you. Transferring dozens of people to make up the numbers and not a single one being chosen can only mean our luck is truly bad.”
Seeing that the gang leader was no longer blaming him, the capable man breathed a sigh of relief.
In the room of the Xingyue Gang leader, a woman with an ordinary appearance but full of spirit was also reporting the situation of the Scorpion Gang to the gang leader, Gu Yang.
The reason for paying attention to the Scorpion Gang here was the same as on Shen Wukong’s side.
“Recruiting fifty people in such a short time, and not a single one of our people could be planted inside?” Gu Yang found it somewhat unbelievable, and then asked, “Did you not send more people over to infiltrate?”
Top gangs had their own efficiency in handling matters. For her, she felt this kind of thing should not be difficult to achieve.
The woman said, “We did send them. I urgently transferred dozens of people over, but in total, more than two hundred people were willing to accept the Scorpion Gang’s recruitment. The Scorpion Gang seemed worried that they could not handle so many people, so they only calmly selected fifty people from them. Our luck was bad, and not a single one was chosen.”
“That is indeed bad luck. Huh…” Gu Yang, who was nodding slowly, suddenly made a surprised sound and asked suspiciously, “What did you say? There were more than two hundred people willing to accept the Scorpion Gang’s recruitment?”
The woman said, “Yes. There were none at first, but later there were more and more. By the time it was ending, the number of people gathered definitely exceeded two hundred.”
Gu Yang looked completely surprised and paced back and forth. “Is it my ignorance? Could it be that the original Scorpion Gang actually had some reputation? Otherwise, how could a mere low-tier Scorpion Gang recruiting people in Kuailei City attract so many people?”
The woman thought for a moment. “Perhaps there are more newcomers coming to Kuailei City recently. It is also possible that as more and more people gathered, it led to a herd mentality.”
“Is that so?” Gu Yang muttered to herself. After pacing back and forth for a while, she suddenly turned around and said, “Make the arrangements. I want to host a banquet tonight. I want to invite that Leader Zhu of the Scorpion Gang. Oh, and invite that big guy along as well.”
“Understood.” The woman agreed and then asked, “Should we find a few beautiful women to keep them company?”
Gu Yang thought for a moment and waved her hand. “Forget it. We do not know the situation between Lian Yu and that big guy. It is better to keep it simple.”
“Understood.” The woman accepted the order and left.
Not long after, the woman appeared at the door of Yu Qing and Mu Aotie’s room. She knocked on the door, opened it, and delivered an invitation, inviting the two martial brothers to attend the banquet in the evening.
It was not that the two martial brothers were unwilling to honour the invitation, but because they could not go due to special reasons, so they could only politely decline.
After seeing the guest off, closing the door, and returning to the room, Yu Qing looked at the invitation in his hand. It felt quite formal. He puzzledly stroked his small beard repeatedly. “What on earth? First, it was Gang Leader Wei of the Zhenshan Gang, then Gang Leader Shen of the Jinchan Gang, and now Gang Leader Gu of the Xingyue Gang has popped up. They are hosting banquets one after another, and all tonight. When did the two of us become so popular?”
With three banquets, they could not be in two places at once. They had already agreed to go to the one hosted by Wei Yue of the Zhenshan Gang first, so the subsequent ones could only be politely declined.
Mu Aotie pondered and said, “It is unlikely that we have become popular. Perhaps today is a special day, and these top gangs are just inviting us as an afterthought. It is also possible that they know we have also registered for the Tongque Martial Event and want to test the waters.”
Yu Qing thought for a moment and nodded. “It is possible. Will the other two families also come looking for us?”
Just as he finished speaking and had only just sat down to ponder for a moment, a “knock, knock” sound came from the doorway.
The two martial brothers looked at each other.
Wei Ji returned to the door of the Shanhai Gang leader’s room. He knocked on the door, and after hearing the response from inside, he opened the door and went in himself.
After closing the door and listening to the movement outside, he walked quickly to Gu Renshan, who was drinking tea alone, and reported, “The gang leader’s invitation has been delivered, but it was politely declined by them.”
Gu Renshan’s hand holding the tea stiffened. The teacup made a crisp sound as it fell back onto the table. He gave a cold sneer. “It seems my Shanhai Gang is not considered worthy of notice in their eyes.”
Wei Ji hurriedly said, “Gang leader, you are overthinking it. It is not that they are not giving face. We went too late. The second in command, Shen Jinchan, Gu Yang, and Shen Wukong all issued invitations, and all for tonight. The two of them had already agreed to the first one who invited them, the second in command. The subsequent ones could only be rejected, with a promise to host a banquet another day to apologise to us.”
“They all issued invitations?” Gu Renshan was stunned for a moment, then slowly stood up. “I was wondering why a mere Scorpion Gang recruiting people would suddenly have two or three hundred people responding. So that is what it is.”
Hearing this, Wei Ji suddenly realised, his face full of shock. “Then are not all the people inside the Scorpion Gang spies from those four families?”
The thought of that scene was almost too beautiful to behold. Gu Renshan could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He walked out from beside the desk and shook his head slightly. “Fifty people were casually picked from the crowd, and not a single one of our people was among them. Are we walking on bad luck?”
Speaking of this, he suddenly turned his head and said, “Go and find out where Wei Yue is hosting his banquet. We will also go and join the fun tonight.”