Young Master of the Black Tiger Gang

Chu Liang looked at Lin Bei.

Lin Bei looked at Chu Liang.

For quite a while, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Only then did Lin Bei scratch his head sheepishly. "Right, I still need to look into the strange case."

Well, well.

How rare of you to remember.

Chu Liang grumbled inwardly.

Then he heard Lin Bei say, "There really are quite a few rumors about the haunting at Nanshan Academy. They say it started with a girl named Situ Yan. Because she was bullied at the academy, she drowned herself in the lake behind the mountain."

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

"Then, seven days later, two more students' bodies appeared in the lake behind the mountain. Their deaths were both exceptionally gruesome and horrifying," Lin Bei said. "Now everyone at the academy is saying Situ Yan's ghost turned into a Vengeful Spirit and came back to take revenge on the classmates who used to bully her."

"If a Vengeful Spirit is causing trouble, then this will not be difficult to handle." Chu Liang nodded. "But why is Li Jue so afraid? Could he have bullied Situ Yan before as well?"

He had always felt that Li Jue and his father were behaving somewhat strangely.

"With that sullen gourd of his, could he even bully anyone?" Lin Bei curled his lip. "It would be more believable if he were the one being bullied."

Before either of them had finished speaking, they saw Li Jue being cornered against a wall not far ahead.

The ones blocking him were the youth named Yan Xiaohu from earlier and his two bookboys.

They were called bookboys, but in truth they were two burly men standing eight feet tall, with broad backs and thick waists. Calling them thugs would have been more fitting. Their faces were covered in flesh, and they looked fierce as demons.

After Li Jue was shoved into the corner, he said nothing. He simply pulled a silver ingot from his pocket, and it looked rather weighty. Yan Xiaohu weighed it in his hand before grinning and leaving with his two underlings.

It seemed to prove Lin Bei's words perfectly.

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

"No need." Chu Liang shook his head lightly and continued sitting there, eating.

"We're just letting this go?" Lin Bei said indignantly.

"Judging by how skillfully Li Jue took out the money, this probably isn't his first day being bullied." Chu Liang said, "If we rashly step in to help now, we might expose our connection with him. Besides... we do not know much about Yan Xiaohu yet. Let's not stir up extra trouble and delay the real business."

"Fine." Lin Bei turned back around. "Just don't let these people mess with me... or else..."

Smack.

Before he could finish, someone viciously slapped the back of his head. Then several shadows surrounded them.

It was Yan Xiaohu and those two hulking bookboys.

"Newcomers." The sturdy youth patted Chu Liang on the shoulder. "It's your first day here, so you don't understand the rules of Nanshan Academy, do you?"

"What rules?" Chu Liang asked.

"If you want to stay safe and sound here, you need to pay five taels of silver every month as a regular fee. My young master will be responsible for protecting you," said one of the burly men behind him.

"Five taels of silver?" Lin Bei raised his head. "Why don't you just rob us?"

Though they did not use much gold or silver while cultivating at immortal sects, they still knew that five taels of silver was enough to cover an ordinary family's expenses for several months. It was by no means a small sum.

Even if all the young masters and young ladies at Nanshan Academy came from wealthy families, this was truly a lion opening its jaws wide.

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

"Damn it..." Lin Bei immediately flared up.

"Hey—" Chu Liang hurriedly raised a hand to hold him back. Then, smiling, he took out a ten-tael silver ingot and handed it to Yan Xiaohu. "Since it is the rule, naturally we should follow it. I'll pay for two months first. From now on, I hope Brother Xiaohu will look after us."

"Well now, you're quite sensible." Yan Xiaohu chuckled, accepted 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 mighty indeed." Chu Liang flattered him, then asked, "But once we leave Nanshan Academy, can Brother Xiaohu still cover us in Yan Suburb City?"

"Don't worry about that..." the burly man behind them said again. "My young master is the young master of the Black Tiger Gang. Go ask around if you do not believe it. Our Black Tiger Gang is under the Whale Gang, understand? Make friends with my young master, and you can run wild and tyrannical throughout Yan Suburb City."

"So you are the young master of the Black Tiger Gang. A pleasure, a pleasure." Chu Liang wore the expression of someone who had long admired his name.

With just a few words, he sweet-talked Yan Xiaohu into leaving happily.

After they left, Lin Bei rubbed the back of his head and said darkly, "Those three have some martial cultivation, but at most they're equivalent to the Body Tempering Realm. I could have dealt with them in two or three moves. Why didn't you let me act?"

"We don't know the situation yet, so do not provoke trouble first. This Black Tiger Gang looks like a local snake. If we really draw people from the Whale Gang here, the mission will become difficult." Chu Liang advised, "Let's find out their background first, then make a move."

"Fine. We haven't even collected the mission reward yet, and we've already lost ten taels of silver..." Lin Bei still felt pained over it.

"We can have Master Li reimburse us later." Chu Liang smiled lightly.

The Whale Gang, also known as the Four Seas Whale Gang, was ranked among the Ten Lands. It was also the only force among the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands that was a gang rather than a sect, yet it stood shoulder to shoulder with the immortal sects. Its strength was self-evident.

Its members were spread throughout the four seas, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. It monopolized countless businesses such as canal transport and docks. It was truly a colossal behemoth.

If the Black Tiger Gang really had ties to the Whale Gang, it was no wonder Yan Xiaohu was so arrogant.

However.

After returning to the classroom, Chu Liang still leaned over and asked Li Jue, "Are you all right? Do you need our help with Yan Xiaohu?"

"No." Li Jue shook his head lightly and whispered, "I'm used to it already. Besides... he won't live much longer anyway."

Chu Liang was about to turn away when he suddenly heard that addition. Startled and suspicious, he asked, "What do you mean?"

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

But Chu Liang's doubts deepened further.

The entire afternoon passed without incident again.

When school ended, the two followed far behind Li Jue as he headed down the mountain toward Yan Suburb City.

Lin Bei reported what he had learned to Chu Liang. "That Black Tiger Gang claims to be under the Whale Gang, but it is really only borrowing the name. They probably just want to ride its coattails. No one has ever seen the Whale Gang involve itself in their affairs."

"It is indeed considered a major gang in Yan Suburb City. There are several dozen martial cultivators in the gang, though most are in the First Realm. There are a few Second Realm hall masters, while only the gang leader is a Third Realm martial artist."

Chu Liang nodded lightly.

In a place like Yan Suburb City, such a force was indeed enough to lord it over others.

After all, an established force was different from hired thugs. Master Li could spend a great deal of money to hire Divine Intent Realm cultivators to guard his home for a few days, but he could not afford to keep them long-term. Besides, Shushan disciples who took action would certainly uphold justice and chivalry. They usually only handled demons, ghosts, and monsters, and could not possibly help him with other matters.

If a gang could support dozens of martial cultivators who would strike wherever they were pointed, with a Third Realm expert stationed among them, it truly was not weak.

But that was all.

Once he had a clear picture, Chu Liang looked around, and his gaze quickly found Yan Xiaohu, who had just left the academy.

"Brother Xiaohu." Chu Liang approached with Lin Bei, smiling.

"Little Chu, what is it?" Yan Xiaohu now considered Chu Liang a smart fellow, the sort he could bring in as a lackey.

"Didn't you tell me earlier to ask around about the Black Tiger Gang? I did." Chu Liang smiled.

"Hm? So what are you going to do now?" Yan Xiaohu felt that his smile was somewhat strange.

Then Chu Liang said, "So now I'm going to take my money back."