Hiring Killers

Wu Kui raised a brow, picked up the wine jug on the table, and poured himself a cup. Casually, he said, "Oh? That little alchemist who's been making quite a stir lately? What, he didn't show your great Shopkeeper Chen any respect?"

"More than just no respect!" Chen Kun slammed the table, making the cups and plates clatter. "I went to discuss it with him politely, told him to sell his pills at market price so everyone could have a bite to eat. And what do you think he did? Not only did he refuse, he fucking used his status as an External Alchemist of the Flowing Cloud Sect to pressure me! Going on about lawful business and paying taxes according to the law—bah! Some poor brat who crawled out of God knows which backwater, and just because he can refine a couple batches of pills, he dares not put me, Chen Kun, in his eyes!"

Wu Kui took a sip of wine and gave a chuckle. "Young people get a little skill and their arrogance shoots through the roof. Normal enough. What, Shopkeeper Chen, you want to teach him a lesson?"

"A lesson?" A vicious gleam flashed in Chen Kun's eyes. Lowering his voice, he enunciated each word: "I want him dead!"

Wu Kui paused mid-drink. He set down his cup, the teasing smile fading from his face as his gaze sharpened. "Dead? Shopkeeper Chen, isn't that a bit much? He's just some junior stealing your business. Cutting off a man's source of wealth is hateful, sure, but killing him outright... wouldn't that make too much noise? And you said he has an External Alchemist position with the Flowing Cloud Sect?"

"It's necessary! Absolutely necessary!" Chen Kun said heatedly. "That brat's pill-refining efficiency is freakishly high, and the quality of his finished pills isn't bad either. On top of that, he's priced them so low! If this keeps up, who in the inner district will still buy pills from my Hundred Herbs Hall? He's digging up my roots! If I don't get rid of him, I won't be able to sleep or eat in peace!"

Chen Kun leaned forward and stared at Wu Kui. "So what if he's an External Alchemist of the Flowing Cloud Sect? It's nothing but an empty title! The Flowing Cloud Sect can barely protect itself right now. Why would they make a huge fuss over one dead, insignificant External Alchemist? Gang Leader Wu, with the sort of business your Wu Han Gang usually handles, are you really afraid of this?"

Wu Kui stroked the stubble on his chin and pondered. "That's true... but he is still connected to the words 'Flowing Cloud Sect.' It's bound to be a little troublesome. With greater risk, the price..."

Chen Kun immediately said, "The price is negotiable! One hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones! I want it done cleanly and decisively. Make him disappear completely. Best if it looks like an accident, or the work of rogue cultivators from outside. Under no circumstances can it lead back to me!"

"One hundred Spirit Stones?" Wu Kui sneered, shaking his head as he held up five fingers. "Shopkeeper Chen, that's not very sincere of you. Killing an ordinary Rogue Cultivator at Qi Refining Level 5—one hundred Spirit Stones might be enough. But the target is a somewhat famous alchemist, and he's wearing the Flowing Cloud Sect's skin. That kind of risk isn't something one hundred Spirit Stones can brush aside."

Wu Kui leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and said unhurriedly, "Though that brat is only at Qi Refining Level 5, his status as an External Alchemist of the Flowing Cloud Sect makes things difficult. The loose ends afterward need to be cleaned up; people need to be paid off, and we need to lie low. Five hundred Spirit Stones! One stone less, and the Wu Han Gang won't take this job."

"Five hundred?!" Chen Kun was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, nearly leaping up as his face flushed red. "Wu Kui! Are you fucking robbing me? Five hundred Spirit Stones to kill a brat at Qi Refining Level 5? Is he worth that price?"

Wu Kui's expression darkened as well, and his tone turned cold. "Shopkeeper Chen, you can't put it that way. It isn't about whether he's worth it—it's about whether the risk of this job is worth it! Do you think people from the Flowing Cloud Sect are so easy to touch? Even an External Alchemist will have someone asking questions if he dies! When my brothers make a move, we're tying our heads to our belts! Five hundred Spirit Stones buys his life, buys future peace for your Hundred Herbs Hall, and buys the risk my brothers take! If you think it isn't worth it, the door's over there. Please find someone more capable! See who else in this Marketplace would dare take on such a hot potato!"

Chen Kun's chest heaved violently, his expression shifting back and forth.

Five hundred Spirit Stones was no small sum even to him. It was enough to buy materials for several batches of Harmony Qi Pills.

Chen Kun had originally thought that one hundred Spirit Stones would be enough to tempt those desperadoes of the Wu Han Gang to kill a brat at Qi Refining Level 5.

But when he thought of Li Chengjie's unyielding attitude, and of how his business might be completely squeezed out in the future, a surge of Evil Fire shot straight to his head.

That brat had to die!

After pondering for a moment, Chen Kun forcibly suppressed the ache in his heart and his rage. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Fine! Five hundred it is! But I have one condition!"

Seeing that the other man had agreed, Wu Kui smiled again, though there was a trace of cruelty in it. "Shopkeeper Chen is forthright! What condition? Let's hear it."

"First, it has to be quick! Make your move within the next two or three days if possible! I don't want to see that brat jumping around in front of me any longer!" Chen Kun said viciously.

"No problem. We've always been decisive in our work." Wu Kui nodded.

"Second, it must be clean! You can't leave behind any evidence pointing to me or Hundred Herbs Hall! It would be best to make it look like a robbery and murder—take all the pills and Spirit Stones from his shop!" Chen Kun added, trying to make his motive appear more like it was for wealth.

Wu Kui smiled knowingly. "Understood. We all understand. Once the man is dead, the goods naturally fall to us to handle. We'll make sure it looks like an ordinary home-invasion robbery and murder. Even if the Flowing Cloud Sect investigates, they won't be able to trace it back to you, Shopkeeper Chen."

"Third..." Chen Kun lowered his voice, the words nearly squeezed through his teeth. "I need confirmation that he's dead! If he's alive, I want to see him; if he's dead, I want to see the corpse... no, don't leave the corpse either. Dispose of it cleanly!"

A bloodthirsty gleam flashed in Wu Kui's eyes. "Rest assured, Shopkeeper Chen. The Wu Han Gang never leaves future trouble behind when we work. We guarantee he'll vanish from this world completely—not even a strand of hair will be found."

Chen Kun stared hard at Wu Kui, as if carving his appearance into his heart. Only then did he reluctantly take a bulging bag of Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag, but he did not hand it over immediately. "I can pay half first—two hundred and fifty. Once the job is done, I'll pay the other half."

Wu Kui shook his head and extended his rough palm. "Shopkeeper Chen, those aren't the Rules. In this kind of business, it's payment first, goods afterward. What if we succeed and you turn your back on the deal, or something unexpected happens? Who would we seek justice from then? Five hundred Spirit Stones, paid in full at once. I, Wu Kui, guarantee it with the Wu Han Gang's reputation: once we take the money, we handle the job, without the slightest delay!"

"Reputation? Your Wu Han Gang has a fart's worth of reputation!" Chen Kun cursed inwardly, but he did not dare show it on his face.

Chen Kun knew exactly what those rogue cultivators who licked blood from their blades were like. Without full payment, they would never truly put in the effort. They might even turn around and extort him instead.

After weighing the pros and cons, and thinking of the immense threat Li Chengjie posed, Chen Kun finally hardened his heart. He slapped the bag containing five hundred Spirit Stones heavily into Wu Kui's hand. "Fine! Take it all! Wu Kui, remember what you said! If you botch this, or if word gets out..."

Wu Kui accepted the bag of Spirit Stones and swept it with his divine sense. His face immediately split into a broad grin, all previous displeasure cast aside. Patting his chest, he promised, "Rest assured, Shopkeeper Chen! Take a man's money, rid him of his troubles! The Wu Han Gang still has that much professional integrity! Just wait peacefully for good news! Within three days, that brat surnamed Li will vanish from the face of the earth!"

Wu Kui weighed the Spirit Stone bag in his hand, then added, "By the way, Shopkeeper Chen, is there anything else we should watch out for regarding that brat? For example, his usual routine, or whether his shop has any Protective Formations?"

With a dark expression, Chen Kun laid out everything he knew. "He spends most of his time in the shop refining or selling pills. He should sleep there at night too. You know the location—it's in the southwestern part of the inner district. As for protection... what kind of decent protection could a newly opened little shop have? At most, a few minor warning formations. Nothing worth mentioning. Still, he is at Qi Refining Level 5, so don't be too careless when you act."

"Qi Refining Level 5? Heh, before my brothers, he's nothing but chickens and dogs made of clay!" Wu Kui gave a savage grin and put away the bag of Spirit Stones. "All right, Shopkeeper Chen. Go back and wait for word. Leave the rest to us."

Seeing Wu Kui's supremely confident manner, Chen Kun felt somewhat reassured, but the lingering ache of parting with the money and a faint unease still clung to him.

Chen Kun said no more. He rose to his feet and left with a dark face.

Wu Kui watched Chen Kun's departing back, weighing the Spirit Stone bag in his hand as a greedy, cruel smile appeared on his face.

"Li Chengjie? A fat sheep who can refine pills... heh heh, looks like the Wu Han Gang is meant to get rich!" Wu Kui muttered. Then he shouted outside, "Someone! Go call Old Hei and Viper! We've got work!"