A Surprise for the Gang Leader

Before long, the physician hurried over and applied Golden Wound Medicine to Qiu Yuanlang. After roughly stopping the bleeding, he had someone carry him back to his quarters for further treatment.

From beginning to end, Dug stayed glued to Qiu Yuanlang's side, sword in hand as he attended to him with meticulous care, asking the physician about the patient's condition every so often. If he had not held a sword to the gang leader's throat, he would have looked like the person closest to him.

Watching Feng Qi venture deep into danger, Wang San opened his mouth as if to say something. After pondering for a moment, though, he swallowed the words and silently followed Dug's side.

Qiu Yuanlang was badly wounded. If they took him away, the Iron Palm Gang would keep following them. If Qiu Yuanlang died from the jolting along the way, they would have even less room to retreat. Entering the Iron Palm Gang's territory instead and letting Qiu Yuanlang recover in peace was the safest course...

Feng Qi always managed to make the right choice in the shortest time. Compared to him, Wang San really had not thought things through carefully enough.

The Iron Palm Gang was a martial sect, and injuries among its disciples were commonplace. The physician dealt with them as easily as a familiar road. But treating an injured man while someone held a sword on him was something he had never seen before. Usually, swords were used to force physicians to treat the wounded...

If you're so worried he'll die, why did you stab him so many times? The physician ranted wildly in his heart, but he did not dare act rashly. Beside Dug stood a hand fetishist who occasionally grinned foolishly at a severed hand. Two people with such bizarre words and behavior had come to carry out an assassination—they definitely were not normal.

The physician tended the wounds with trembling hands, terrified that one slip would not only earn him no mercy from his own hall master, but would also get him stabbed by the two madmen holding the gang leader hostage...

"Physician, steady your hand. This is your gang leader—you must save him. Otherwise, the Iron Palm Gang is finished." Dug instructed the physician, then looked at Han Zuo and the others standing nearby and barked, "You two, move apart. You're blocking the physician's light."

"Feng Qi, do you have any conscience at all? The gang leader has already agreed to your conditions. Can't you let him go first and let the physician treat him properly?" Han Zuo glared at Dug, furious beyond measure.

"Hall Master Han, our alliance is still very fragile. I'm worried that bad people may harm either me or the gang leader, ruining the excellent situation that the gang leader and I worked so hard to secure. Righteousness must be guarded with the sword. This is a measure born of necessity; I hope you'll understand." After a moment of silence, Dug spoke with perfect seriousness.

Wang San glanced at Dug and silently studied his way of speaking, while also reflecting on himself. Compared to Dug, his understanding of Yandere's Fear was somewhat too stiff. He was far from Dug's seamless integration of it, whose words and actions felt as natural as though Feng Qi had always possessed that personality. Wang San had to admit defeat.

"Fuck you...!" Dug enraged Han Zuo so thoroughly that the three corpse gods leapt in fury and smoke rose from his seven orifices. The hand gripping his sword tightened, then loosened. He wanted to charge forward regardless of the consequences and chop Feng Qi into eight pieces, but he simply did not dare act. He could not bear the responsibility for getting the gang leader killed. If the gang leader died, the Iron Palm Gang truly would be finished.

"Senior Brother Han, calm down. Save the gang leader first." The usually quiet hall master swept a glance over Dug and said blandly, "Once the gang leader awakens, he will naturally handle all affairs within the gang."

"May I ask this hall master's surname?" Dug looked at him and asked.

"Liu Cheng," the man said.

"So it's Hall Master Liu." Dug smiled. "I see that Hall Master Liu is calm and steady, a man fit for great undertakings. Have the other hall masters and Gang Leader Qiu's family been informed of tonight's events?"

Liu Cheng paused. "They have."

"When will they arrive?" Dug asked.

"Those nearby can arrive tomorrow. Those farther away can make it in three to five days." Liu Cheng was exceptionally cooperative, answering whatever Dug asked.

"Hall Master Liu, your plan is probably to placate me for now, then wait for the others to arrive before discussing how to deal with me, isn't it?" Dug asked with a smile.

"I wouldn't dare." Liu Cheng pointed at the unconscious Qiu Yuanlang and answered concisely, "The gang leader is in your hands."

"A person cannot go without food or drink forever. As long as one eats or drinks, there is a chance to poison them. But few poisons kill at the sight of blood and instantly rob a person of the ability to act. So you most likely would not do that."

Dug smiled at him. "That leaves only one option: arrange for someone to assassinate me when I let my guard down, while seizing the chance to rescue the gang leader. After all, a person's energy is limited—they can't go without sleep forever. Perhaps you have already stationed archers outside the door, waiting for me to nod off so they can kill me with a single arrow."

Wang San raised his eyes toward Liu Cheng, wondering whether it was time for him to make his entrance.

But Dug had not said anything, so he did not dare act rashly.

From the moment Dug had suddenly turned hostile until now, people had been watching them constantly. The two of them had not even had an opportunity to confer.

The current situation was not part of the plan. Even if he wanted to cooperate, Wang San had no idea where to begin.

Yandere's Fear had side effects that were far too severe. Using it and ruining Feng Qi's plans would be counterproductive. So he could only wait quietly, relying on a severed hand to maintain his persona while silently increasing his attributes.

Liu Cheng's expression did not change. "I will not gamble with the gang leader's life. I cannot bear the consequences if the archers fail."

"While he is unconscious, naturally you would not dare gamble with him. That is why you said that once the gang leader wakes up, he will naturally handle the gang's affairs." Like a famed detective who had seen through everything, Dug spoke with eloquence. "With Qiu Yuanlang unconscious, he is naturally at my mercy. But once he wakes up, given his martial skill, it should not be difficult for him to temporarily break free of my control. Perhaps you are not only summoning hall masters from all over, but also inviting experts to ensure nothing goes wrong. After all, after spending so long in the martial world, who doesn't have three or five close friends of comparable skill?"

"Seventh Master certainly has an Exquisite Mind." Liu Cheng sneered and cut Dug off. "I don't have as many twists and turns as you do. Just set your mind at ease. Since the gang leader agreed to cooperate with you, no one will touch you before he wakes."

"No one will touch me before Old Qiu wakes up?" Dug smiled.

Old Qiu?

A vein throbbed on Liu Cheng's forehead. Suppressing the anger in his heart, he said, "Naturally."

"What if he never wakes up?" Dug turned to look at the unconscious Qiu Yuanlang, eager to try. "If he stays like this—not waking, not dying—wouldn't I be able to live safely and without worry forever?"

The physician's hand trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Damn it!" Liu Cheng suddenly clenched his fists and was about to lunge at Dug. But in the next instant, Dug shifted the edge of his sword slightly. Liu Cheng's movement came to an Abrupt Stop. He drew a deep breath, glared at Dug with a face ashen with rage, and finally understood why Han Zuo flew into a fury at the slightest provocation. This bastard was just too damn infuriating.

"That's more like it. You clearly care deeply about Old Qiu in your heart, so why pretend to be so calm?" Having easily shattered Liu Cheng's psychological defenses, Dug looked at him encouragingly. "Hall Master Liu, a person's mental health is important and needs constant upkeep. Learn from us Heavenly Demons—express your genuine feelings directly, and life won't be so exhausting."

"..." Liu Cheng took several deep breaths. He did not want to say another word to Dug.

Wang San silently curled his lip. If I could beat you, I'd want to slap you twice myself. Maintenance is a support-type Keyword—how did you manage to use it so obnoxiously? "Set your mind at ease. Old Qiu is now my partner. I still need to join hands with him to create a great enterprise. Even if you want him dead, I still have to protect him." Dug shook his head and sighed softly.

"No one wants the gang leader dead," Liu Cheng said through gritted teeth.

"Mm." Dug nodded, then abruptly changed the subject. "Why don't we give Old Qiu a surprise, you two hall masters?"

Liu Cheng and Han Zuo exchanged a glance, both struck by a sense of foreboding. Liu Cheng asked shakily, "What surprise?"

"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. The Iron Palm Gang is rotten from top to bottom, rotten to its very roots." Dug said. "We must uphold righteousness, peace, integrity, and stability in the martial world. The Iron Palm Gang's current reputation clearly will not do, so we must begin by putting our own house in order and turn the Iron Palm Gang into a positive, uplifting gang praised by everyone. I think we ought to establish new gang rules.

"We must thoroughly investigate the gang's members. Any gang member who has oppressed the common people should be publicly executed. Usury, withholding wages from workers—all of it must be abolished. Things like abducting women—there must not be any of that. Those already abducted must all be sent back, along with compensation...

"Even our most vital river transport business—I think we can lower the prices somewhat and make it as accessible to ordinary people as possible..."

"..." Liu Cheng.

"..." Han Zuo.

"The name Iron Palm Gang isn't very good either. It carries too much killing intent and does not suit our new image of upholding justice in the martial world." After thinking for a moment, Dug said, "Why not change the name as well? We'll call it the Peacekeeping Gang—simple and direct..."