Chapter 112: Clique Dogs and Red-Shirt Slaves

Chapter 112: The Warlord's Hound, The Red-Clad Slave

The Chicken-and-Goose District, Ghost Street, Crow Clinic.

"Alright, I understand. I'll explain everything to Duo'er on my end."

"You best prepare yourself too. The moment I spread the word, I'm afraid someone will come looking for trouble immediately."

"Also, you absolutely must keep this secret. Otherwise, with that girl's temperament, she'll surely choose to fight to the death, mutually assured destruction."

Seemingly having received an affirmative reply from the other end, the worry on the old man's face eased slightly.

"Li Jun. Thank you this time."

Inside the room, the old man hung up the communication, standing rooted to the spot in a daze.

It was a long while before he grabbed his sleeve and fiercely wiped his face, squeezing his brows and eyes, piecing together an excited expression, only then pushing open the door and shouting excitedly: "Duo'er! Duo'er!"

At this moment, the young girl was sitting atop a freezer used for storing organs, a thread-bound ancient volume filled with little stick figures spread open on her knees, yet her eyes stared blankly straight ahead, their depths utterly hollow.

Crow Hua hurried over, excitement in his voice: "Girl, don't you worry anymore. It's just a petty Embroidered Uniform Guard. Grandpa found someone to clean him up!"

"Huh?"

The girl lifted a bewildered face, still not having snapped out of her trance.

"I got in touch with the Mohist Heaven's Will Society. Those fanatics don't fear the Embroidered Uniform Guard one bit. With them around, that so-called Lu Dongbin definitely wouldn't dare touch us, grandfather and granddaughter!"

"Really?"

Not a trace of joy could be seen on Crow Duo'er's face; instead, she looked at the old man with suspicion. "Old man, how would you know the Heaven's Will Society?"

"What's so strange about that? Your grandpa has wandered north and south all these years. What do I rely on? I rely on having many brothers, a wide network!"

"I just usually don't like showing off these things to you. Just now I mentioned it in passing, and they immediately agreed to escort us out of Chengdu Prefecture!"

Crow Hua patted his chest, looking utterly confident.

The girl didn't make a sound, her pair of clear, cold eyes just staring straight at the old man.

Crow Hua felt goosebumps rise under that gaze. He stroked the beard on his chin, pinched two fingers together and held them before his face, saying sheepishly: "That... well, it did cost a small price."

"But don't you worry," the old man hurriedly added: "Really, just a tiny bit. I didn't touch a single coin of the dowry I saved for you."

Crow Duo'er pursed her lips, and a sudden faint redness tinged her eyes as she looked at the old man.

She clenched her fists tight, pressing them against her legs, and spoke with a sobbing voice she couldn't hide no matter what:

"Old man, I'm telling you now. If you dare lie to me, I definitely won't care for you in your old age or see you off at the end, and I won't follow your surname anymore."

The smile on the old man's face froze instantly, the snow-white beard on his lips trembling nonstop.

After a long moment, Crow Hua suddenly burst into loud laughter, reaching out to stroke the top of the girl's head.

"Not caring for me in old age is no big deal. But the surname absolutely cannot change. The incense of our Crow family cannot be cut off. And when you marry in the future, you have to have two kids at least. One follows the husband's family name, one follows ours."

This time, the girl didn't shout like usual that she was already an adult, then angrily dodge away.

She just tried her best to lower her head, letting the old man's hand reach her.

"Grandpa, I don't want any dowry, and I won't think about reviving the sect anymore. Give the money to them."

The withered yet gentle palm lightly patted the girl's head.

"Good, give it all to them. As long as we grandfather and granddaughter live our days well."

Thud!

A cold, stiff, reeking corpse was tossed onto the floor below the hall.

There was a fist-sized hole in the corpse's chest. The exposed flesh and blood around it had long been soaked by rainwater, swollen and pale.

Wu Gong, dressed in the attire of a noble scion, sat high upon the hall. Two stunningly beautiful maids in red robes stood to his left and right.

"Is this the level of the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Association's men? They can't even handle a small matter like this, and they dare call themselves the biggest 'Blade Client Group' in Chongqing Prefecture?"

The Wu Clan Steward, hands clasped before his abdomen, emerged half a body from the dark corner upon hearing this, speaking respectfully: "Young Master, do we still pay the remaining balance?"

"Pay. Of course we pay. Business values 'integrity' above all. How could the Wu family owe anyone money?"

Wu Gong let out a cold laugh, nudging the corpse on the ground with his toe. "Send someone to deliver this 'Third Strip' back to Gong Qinghong. Tell him this is the remaining balance."

"Understood."

The steward acknowledged, then continued: "What about Li Jun? Do we keep sending people?"

Wu Gong's eyes narrowed slightly, a flash of ruthlessness vanishing in their depths.

"If even this 'Third Strip' couldn't kill Li Jun, any other blade clients sent would just be delivering themselves to death, right?"

"Sequence Eight won't do. Then let Sequence Seven come!"

The steward fawned: "Young Master, are there Sequence Seven blade clients in the Sichuan-Chongqing Gambling Association? And since Gong Qinghong failed first this time, we can definitely pressure the price down a lot. Want me to have them come try?"

"Really?" Wu Gong's face showed delight.

This steward utterly failed to detect the mockery in the eyes of the two red-clad slaves, still speaking eagerly: "Young Master, rest assured. Leave this to me. I will definitely see that Li Jun is sent off to reincarnation!"

The moment his words fell, the sound of tearing air suddenly rang out before him.

Bang!

An inkstone slammed precisely into his forehead. Blood gushed instantly.

"Do you have a brain or not? If it's not enough, go plug a few more chips into your head!"

The steward crashed to his knees with a thud, his mangled forehead thumping against the floor.

"Still sending for Sequence Seven? You think this is Confucian territory? You think you can do whatever you want?"

Wu Gong's rage soared. He pointed at the kneeling man, cursing viciously: "No wonder we've failed to crush that flea time and again. With useless trash like you as subordinates, how can anything get done?!"

Just as he was raging, a slender hand reached out, lightly hooking the scholar's jaw, feeding him a mouthful of clear, fine wine.

Red lips holding wine, the vessel named 'Skin Cup'.

Coolness entered his belly. Wu Gong's anger subsided somewhat. He let the red-clad slave wipe the corner of his mouth, and after a moment of thought, said: "That grandson Gu Xi has a belly full of sinister schemes. To still be holding back now, he definitely doesn't want to retaliate openly. Afraid it'll affect his nomination reputation."

"Meaning, Young Master, Gu Xi will use underhanded tricks?"

A bewitching, gentle voice rang out. In just one short sentence lay thick, dense charm.

"As expected of you, Sao Hong. Ice-clear and clever."

Wu Gong raised a hand and patted the face of the maid named 'Sao Hong', sneering: "Knowing Gu Xi's usual methods, he's probably setting his sights on you two right now. This cowardly scoundrel. His whole life he only plays these petty tricks that can't see the light of day."

The moment these words left his mouth, the face of the blood-covered Wu Clan Steward below changed drastically. Yet the two maids standing to Wu Gong's left and right revealed faint smiles.

"As long as he dares come, this servant will ensure he never returns!"

The other red-clad slave, with a heroic air in her brows and eyes, chimed in.

"Worthy of being my Hua Yao. A heroine surpassing men!"

Wu Gong laughed heartily. His backhand caught the maid's slender waist. He sneered: "This time, I'll stretch my face out for him. Let's see if he slaps my face, or if I chop off his hand!"