Young Master of Black Tiger Gang

Chu Liang looked at Lin Bei.

Lin Bei looked at Chu Liang.

After a while, the atmosphere became a bit awkward. Lin Bei scratched his head sheepishly. "Right, I mainly need to investigate the strange case."

Oh, good.

It's a wonder you still remember.

Chu Liang grumbled inwardly.

Then he heard Lin Bei say, "There are indeed many rumors about the haunting at Nanshan Academy this time. It's said that it started with a girl named Situ Yan. Because she was bullied in the academy, she drowned herself in the Back Mountain Lake."

"Situ Yan..." Chu Liang repeated the name.

"Then, seven days later, two more student corpses appeared in the Back Mountain Lake. Their deaths were extremely tragic and terrifying," Lin Bei said. "Now everyone in the academy is saying that Situ Yan's ghost has turned into a vengeful spirit, coming to take revenge on the classmates who used to bully her."

"If it's a vengeful spirit causing trouble, then it shouldn't be too difficult to handle," Chu Liang nodded. "But why is Li Jue so scared? Did he also bully Situ Yan before?"

He always felt that the behavior of Li Jue and his father was a bit abnormal.

"Looking at his timid appearance, can he even bully people?" Lin Bei curled his lip. "It's more likely he's the one being bullied, right?"

Before they finished speaking, they saw Li Jue cornered against a wall not far ahead.

The ones cornering him were precisely the young man named Yan Xiaohu and his two attendants from earlier.

Though called attendants, they were actually two burly men, eight feet tall with broad backs and strong builds. They looked more like thugs, with fierce, fleshy faces.

Li Jue was pushed against the wall. Without saying much, he directly took out a silver ingot from his pocket. It looked quite heavy. Yan Xiaohu took it and weighed it in his hand, then smiled and left with his two subordinates.

This seemed to confirm Lin Bei's words.

"Want to go help?" Lin Bei wanted to get up and stop them.

"No need." Chu Liang gently shook his head and continued eating where he sat.

"Aren't we going to do anything about this?" Lin Bei said indignantly.

"Looking at how skillfully Li Jue took out the money, he's probably not being bullied for the first time," Chu Liang said. "If we rashly step in now, it might expose our relationship with him. Also... we don't know much about that Yan Xiaohu. Let's not cause any unnecessary trouble for now, so we don't delay the main business."

"Alright." Lin Bei turned his head back. "These people better not provoke me... otherwise..."

Slap.

Again, before he finished speaking, he was slapped hard on the back of the head. Then several dark figures surrounded him.

It was precisely Yan Xiaohu and the two burly attendants.

"Newcomer." The muscular young man patted Chu Liang's shoulder. "You're here for the first day, you don't know the rules of Nanshan Academy, do you?"

"What rules?" Chu Liang asked.

"It's that if you want to be safe and sound here, you have to pay five taels of silver in monthly fees. My young master is responsible for protecting you," one of the burly men behind him said.

"Five taels of silver?" Lin Bei raised his head. "You might as well just rob us!"

Although they didn't use gold and silver much in their immortal sect cultivation, they knew that five taels of silver was enough for an ordinary family's expenses for several months, definitely not a small amount.

Even among the young masters and ladies from wealthy families at Nanshan Academy, this was quite an exorbitant demand.

"Not convinced?" another burly man slapped the back of his head again.

"I'll be damned..." Lin Bei immediately wanted to explode.

"Hey—" Chu Liang quickly raised his hand to calm him down, then smiled and took out a ten-tael silver ingot, handing it to Yan Xiaohu. "Since it's the rule, we naturally have to follow it. I'll pay for two months first. From now on, I hope Brother Xiaohu will take good care of us."

"Oh, you're quite sensible." Yan Xiaohu chuckled, took the silver, and said warmly, "Don't worry, from now on, you're my brother at Nanshan Academy. Just mention my name, Yan Xiaohu, and I guarantee you can walk sideways."

"Brother Xiaohu is awesome," Chu Liang flattered him, then asked, "Then, outside of Nanshan Academy, I wonder if Brother Xiaohu can still cover us in Yanjiao City?"

"Don't worry about that..." the burly man behind him added, "Our young master is the Young Master of Black Tiger Gang. You can go ask around. Our Black Tiger Gang is part of the Whale Gang, you understand? If you get along well with our young master, you can run rampant throughout Yanjiao City."

"So it's the Young Master of Black Tiger Gang, my apologies for not recognizing you sooner." Chu Liang put on an appearance of having heard of him for a long time.

With a few words, he happily sent Yan Xiaohu away.

After they left, Lin Bei rubbed the back of his head and said gloomily, "Although these few people have martial arts cultivation, they are at most equivalent to the Body Tempering realm. I could have taken care of them in a few moves. Why didn't you let me act?"

"The situation is unclear, let's not stir up trouble first. This Black Tiger Gang seems like a local snake. If we really provoke the Whale Gang, the mission will be difficult to complete," Chu Liang advised. "Let's first find out the details before making a move."

"Alright, the mission reward hasn't been received yet, and we've already lost ten taels of silver..." Lin Bei was still a little heartbroken.

"We can just ask Master Li to reimburse us later," Chu Liang said with a light smile.

The Whale Gang, also known as the Four Seas Whale Gang, is one of the Ten Earths, and the only force among the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten that is a gang rather than a sect, yet it can stand alongside various immortal sects. Its strength is self-evident.

Its members are spread throughout the four seas, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, dominating businesses such as shipping and docks. It can be said to be a behemoth.

If this Black Tiger Gang is indeed related to the Whale Gang, it's no wonder Yan Xiaohu is so arrogant.

However.

After returning to the classroom, he still went over and asked Li Jue, "Are you alright? Do you need our help with Yan Xiaohu?"

"No need." Li Jue shook his head gently and whispered, "I'm used to it by now, and... anyway, he won't live long."

Chu Liang was about to turn around when he suddenly heard him add a sentence, and was immediately surprised. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing..." Li Jue quickly shook his head and fell silent again.

But Chu Liang's doubts deepened.

The afternoon passed without incident.

When school was over, the two followed Li Jue from a distance, descending the mountain towards Yanjiao City.

Lin Bei reported the information he had gathered to Chu Liang, "That Black Tiger Gang, they say they are part of the Whale Gang, but it's actually just a nominal affiliation. They probably want to piggyback on the relationship. I've never seen the Whale Gang involved in their affairs."

"They are indeed a large gang in Yanjiao City, with dozens of martial arts cultivators in the gang, but most are in the first realm. There are a few hall masters in the second realm, and only the gang leader is a martial artist in the third realm."

Chu Liang nodded gently.

In a place like Yanjiao City, such a force is indeed enough to act tyrannically.

After all, inherent forces are different from hired thugs. Master Li can spend a lot of money to hire cultivators in the Divine Intent Realm to guard his home for a few days, but he can't afford to keep them long-term. Moreover, Mount Shu disciples are bound to act righteously and usually only deal with matters of demons and monsters; they cannot help him with other things.

If a gang can long-term support dozens of martial arts cultivators who can be directed anywhere, and also have a master in the third realm guarding them, it is indeed not weak.

But that was all.

With a plan in mind, he looked around and quickly spotted Yan Xiaohu, who had just left the academy.

"Brother Xiaohu." Chu Liang, with Lin Bei in tow, walked over with a smile.

"Ah, Little Chu, what's up?" Yan Xiaohu now saw Chu Liang as a smart person, someone he could appreciate and potentially take under his wing.

"Didn't you ask me to inquire about the Black Tiger Gang earlier? I went and asked around," Chu Liang said with a smile.

"Hmm? So what are you doing now?" Yan Xiaohu found his smile a bit strange.

Then he heard Chu Liang say, "So now I'm going to get the money back."