Editor: Costard (J3000)
Chapter 149 Asking for Money
The southwall tavern was the most famous drinking establishment in Southern Jade City. Lü Qiying, the tavernkeeper, had run it for many years and used the money he earned by selling wine to start his lending business. After gathering more money, he started helping others deposit money and set up an underground money shop.
People who deposited money only trusted those richer than themselves, and Tavernkeeper Lü was very rich. The expensive and rare spirits in his tavern were the best assurance.
The ones who had money always had the powerful connections too. Tavernkeeper Lü got the acquiescence of both Golden Roc Castle and the Meng family. He had over a dozen first-class sabremen under him, most of whom were selected by Tie Hanfeng and were well worth the money.
So, it was the first time in many years to see someone break into the tavern with sabre and sword.
The tall and short fatties at the door tried to unhook the weapon from the comer but gave up and went to find the tavern keeper as soon as they saw the teenager's hand press against his sabre.
The most important thing for a good gatekeeper was not their kung fu levels, but their eyesight. The two saw the teenager's killing aura and will, so they reported to Tavernkeeper Lü that "This person needs to be taken seriously."
So Tavernkeeper Lü temporarily put up with the teenager's insolence and invited him to a table in the corner, which, if there were no special guests, was his usual place and not far from the place where Tie Hanfeng used to sit.
Tavernkeeper Lü first looked up at Xu Xiaoyi behind Servant Huan, "What are you doing here?"
Xu Xiaoyi wished he could have been invisible or been able to hide in a brick pit, "Heh heh, I'm … heh heh."
"He's my servant, I think Tie Hanfeng should have told you." Gu Shenwei opened his mouth, still not letting go of the sabre hilt, which made him look a little nervous.
So this kid is coming to reclaim the brothel. Tavernkeeper Lü sneered and said, "Perhaps, I don't remember. The cripple used to keep his money here, now he's dead and I'm going to collect the money for him."
"From today on, I'll collect the money myself, and I'll also withdraw the money that the Xu family siblings handed over before," said Gu Shenwei.
Tavernkeeper Lü measured up the teenager and said after a while, "It's seven thousand and nine hundred taels in total. You can have it, we'll not owe each other anything."
"And the money Tie Hanfeng had deposited here in the past, also the ten carts of goods."
Tavernkeeper Lü squinted his eyes and kept tapping his fingers on the table, "Did you kill Lame Tie?"
The teenager didn't reply.
"So you're an official killer now?"
Gu Shenwei produced his name tag with the character 'jue' and shook it a bit.
Tavernkeeper Lü's eyes widened slightly. It was only a few days since he'd last seen this teenager, and now he was a true killer. He still remembered Servant Huan sitting at the table and staring blankly at the red wine; he also remembered the teenager's somber and cold face when Tie Hanfeng introduced him. He just couldn't make a connection between that teenager and this aggressive one sitting before him.
"Under which young lord?" he asked.
"Tenth Gongzi."
"Hah." Tavernkeeper Lü couldn't help laughing and feeling at ease now. So he got the killer's title by kissing that tomboy's ass. I'm afraid he must have killed his Master when that cripple was drunk. It's not unusual for that cripple to die from drink.
"I haven't seen the silver yet." Gu Shenwei didn't think there was anything funny, he was still insistent on getting the money.
Tavernkeeper Lü leaned forward a bit and advised the teenager with the tone of an old friend, "You can't start with such a big appetite, hadn't Tie Hanfeng taught you this? You killed him, it means you can inherit everything from the cripple at the castle, but here, in Southern Jade City and the whole Western Regions, the rules are different, you can't take away what's left by the one you killed. The brothel is yours, the rest is not. Take my advice, kid. A killer is still far from the most formidable ones at the castle, you still have a long way to go."
Sabre out, sabre down, sabre away.
Tavernkeeper Lü knew kung fu, though he wasn't an expert, he wasn't mediocre either. Looking at his sliced off finger on the table, his mind was momentarily dazed and he couldn't understand what had just happened.
Tavernkeeper Lü screamed. Seven or eight sabremen leapt out at the same time, drawing their sabres and attacking the two teenagers who had come to make trouble.
Xu Xiaoyi immediately covered his head and crouched on the ground. He didn't see anything or hear any shouting or weapons colliding, he only heard the thudding sound of someone falling.
Soon, peace was restored around him. Letting his hands fall and raising his head, Xu Xiaoyi saw three sabremen lying on the ground near him. Their wounds were all to their necks, the blood they'd shed seemed too little to even feed a mosquito, but they were all dead, their dim and blank eyes proved that.
Xu Xiaoyi was so surprised that he forgot to stand up.
The remaining sabremen balked. They worked for money, but they didn't want to die before they could enjoy it.
Tavernkeeper Lü covered his injured finger, his face filled with disbelief. Who is this kid's backer? How does he dare make a move and kill?
"Let's go to Golden Roc Castle and have it out in front of Unique King!" Tavernkeeper Lü became exasperated.
"I am following the castle's rule." Gu Shenwei reminded the other party that he had the right to inherit everything of his Master's according to the castle's tradition.
Blood still oozed from the stump of his finger. Tavernkeeper Lü shivered, but he soon regained his composure and sat down again in his chair. A quick-witted waiter came to bandage him.
"We should have a talk." Tavernkeeper Lü said, looking as indifferent as usual as if the whole situation was under his control. It was just that his face was still a bit pale. He had underestimated the teenager. It was a great mistake and he had to make it up as soon as possible.
So, the old and the young had a serious 'talk'. The waiter brought the proof and statement of the money Tie Hanfeng had deposited. Lame Tie didn't want jewels and other valuables, he had converted all of them into silver. Including the money he had saved all these years and the money they had harvested from Bag Zhou, it was 316,000 tales of silver in total.
"Shall I change the name to yours?"
"No, as long as you know Tie Hanfeng's stuff is mine."
Tavernkeeper Lü knew it now and he felt very painful at heart. With this more than 300,000 tales of silver he could have earned a lot of interest, but what the teenager said next surprised him again.
"The silver will stay deposited here."
In blink of an eye, the teenager was no longer a 'snatcher', but a big customer. Tavernkeeper Lü immediately straightened himself up and nodded slightly. There was something he would say to every customer, so too the teenager before him, "You can rest at ease to deposit your money here. However, I must tell you in advance that I don't accept any notes or any other people to withdraw the money, I only recognize your face, if you accidentally disfigure your face, you'd better come over and let me have a look at it right away."
The matter was settled. Gu Shenwei took away half of the nearly 8,000 tales of silver collected from the sister and brother of the Xu family, left the other half to the injured Tavernkeeper Lü and the other three dead sabremen, if the three still had relatives who could collect the money.
As a return, Tavernkeeper Lü offered some free information that Tie Hanfeng had already bought a house in Northern Jade City.
The teenager left. A few drinkers in the tavern had sat quietly through this incident, soon they would spread the story across Southern Jade City, which was the biggest headache for Tavernkeeper Lü. Looking at his missing finger and the corpses on the ground, the anger in his heart became more unquenchable.
This isn't over, thought Tavernkeeper Lü. It would be a brave mistake for the teenager to think that saving him money would erase the humiliation he had inflicted on him.
Gu Shenwei had no such illusions, but he needed to act. His failure to find the documents of the Gu family's killing had temporarily frustrated his plan for revenge in the castle. He must do something to satisfy his restlessness at heart.
Hatred was like firewood, as long as it could be accumulated enough, it could ignite a fire large enough to devour the whole of Southern Jade City and spread to the castle. Gu Shenwei wanted the fire to be as big as possible, even if it would burn himself. And he would grasp Shangguan Ru tightly, letting Unique King's favorite daughter suffer the fire with him.
Waiters from southwall tavern sent 4,000 taels of silver as soon as the two teenagers returned to retention alley.
Xu Xiaoyi had been looking at Brother Huan with admiration along the way; now, standing in front a pile of silver, he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Although the silver was earned by his sister, it was all taken away regularly and he had no chance of seeing it all together. He stood there for a long while before he hoarsely called his elder sister.
Xu Yanwei was busy upstairs doing 'business'. Upon hearing the call, she put on her clothes and walked out of her bedroom, her face full of dissatisfaction. Then she also became stupefied.
The guest shouted from inside with a gruff voice: "Who the hell is screaming? Tell him to fuck off."
"Somebody came to deliver me money." Xu Yanwei said without turning back, her voice slightly quivering.
The guest walked out angrily with his upper body naked, revealing his pale fat girth, "How can you stop halfway when doing something like this? How much is it? I'll add one …"
The fat guest stared at the pile of silver downstairs and frowned. It's just a few thousand taels, not that much, but it's too much to spend on a bitch.
The guest turned and went back inside. A few moments later, he dressed up, waddled down the stairs, and left without saying a word.
The brother and sister stood side by side and stared at the silver. They didn't say anything for a long time and didn't even notice the guest's departure.
Xu Xiaoyi was first to raise his head. He knew that no matter how good the silver looked, it was not his, but belonged to the 'Big Lord Huan'.
"This is yours now."
The sister and brother didn't expect the 'Big Lord Huan' would say this. Surprised, they raised their heads, their eyes bewildered. They were like two little kids faced with the sudden arrival of an unfamiliar and generous relative, they didn't know whether they should show their gratitude or stay alert.
Xu Yanwei thought faster than her younger brother this time, she said in a timid voice, "Shall we go upstairs?" Perhaps she felt her younger brother and Big Lord Huan looked confused, she added, "You're the real lord now, this is your right."
Xu Yanwei slowly walked up the stairs, Gu Shenwei thought for a while and followed up. Big Belly Buddha did so before, so had Tie Hanfeng. This was probably a rule of the trade.
Xu Xiaoyi revealed a smile as he saw the two walk upstairs, then his gaze returned to the silver placed neatly on the floor. With his arms outstretched, he lay on his stomach. He didn't believe that any women could be more comfortable to hug than these hard silvers.
Gu Shenwei was only a few steps behind Xu Yanwei. But when he walked into the bedroom, Xu Yanwei had already stripped off all her clothes and laid on the bed. She supported her head with one hand, and covered half her body with the other. With an expression of bashfulness, her cheeks blushed as if the teenager's eyes could swallow her.
This is what Xu Yanwei is good at, Gu Shenwei thought. He removed his sabre and sword and threw them on the ground.