Getting Things Done, Fists Leading the Way!

Chapter 40: Getting Things Done, Fists Leading the Way!

Chapter Forty: Getting Things Done, Fists Leading the Way!

If Lin Mo had guessed correctly, Zhao Hubiao, the Tiger Gang leader he had once eliminated, had been working for the Qianjin Escort Agency. That incomplete scroll was likely also a means of luring people into risking their lives for them.

Could I get the later contents of the breathing technique this time...? Lin Mo thought.

"Commander-in-Chief Lin, would you care to say a few words?" the inspector's guard asked with a smile.

Lin Mo nodded, clasped his fists, and declared loudly, "Thanks to the inspector's esteem, as the Commander-in-Chief for this operation, I, Lin Mo, will certainly act impartially. I hope all my colleagues will encourage one another!"

After a few simple pleasantries and polite words, Lin Mo took his seat. The remaining proceedings mostly consisted of Wang Zhongtian delivering motivational remarks.

"Master, about this matter..." Lin Mo looked toward Yang Yun and the other man, his expression questioning.

"Naturally, it is because the inspector thinks highly of you. But you also owe it to your luck this time. Li Erlang's status makes it inconvenient for him to step forward, so most of the credit for this arrest has fallen to you."

Yang Yun reassured him, signaling that Lin Mo need not be nervous. He then mentioned a few matters requiring attention. "This is a great opportunity. You may have first pick of any treasures, but there must be a limit..."

"Please enlighten me, Master," Lin Mo said.

Yang Yun quietly extended five fingers from beneath his sleeve. Yet he clearly did not mean fifty percent. In a low voice, he said, "Half a percent. Any more would be greed."

Half a percent? That was no small sum...

Lin Mo secretly rejoiced. This was far more generous than the reward of merely choosing a few treasures he had imagined.

Which of those two families' treasuries did not hold hundreds of thousands of taels in wealth? Half a percent, pieced together from here and there, would amount to at least ten thousand taels. On the path of cultivation, he likely would not need to worry about money for a long time.

Xu Changfeng had no such concerns. He looked at Lin Mo eagerly, his eyes shining.

"Junior Brother, which household should we raid first?"

There was an art to confiscating households as well. The County Yamen and all the various factions had their eyes fixed on these two fat chunks of meat, making the first choice especially important.

But Lin Mo had long since made his choice.

"The Qianjin Escort Agency. We'll use it as the first sacrifice to the blade!"

"Alright, Junior Brother. Don't worry—if anyone dares block us, this senior brother will knock them down one punch at a time!"

Xu Changfeng rolled up his sleeves, eager to have a go.

Inside a private room at the Changxing Restaurant, Martial Master Wang's Personal Disciples gathered around a table. More than ten people sat there, yet not one had touched their chopsticks.

"What sort of background does this Lin Mo have? Just by killing a few water ghosts and arresting some people, he earned the inspector's favor?" A burly man in martial attire drained a cup of wine in one gulp, his tiger eyes sweeping across the others.

"Heh, although Lin Mo belongs to Master Yang's faction, Master Yang has always stayed above worldly disputes. Could we invite him over?" A young man in fine robes suggested, fanning himself. "There's plenty of profit to be had from this household raid..."

At those words, everyone nodded. Wang Heng, the senior brother seated at the head of the table, looked at his junior brother Chen Qing beside him and asked curiously, "Junior Brother, I heard you and Lin Mo came out of the Stone Wall Courtyard in the same intake?"

There were quite a few courtyards like the Stone Wall Courtyard at the Changhe Martial Arts School, where only one senior brother guided newcomers and martial masters inspected the place from time to time. It was already rare for Personal Disciples to emerge from the same courtyard and the same intake.

If they had some friendship, it would naturally save them quite a bit of trouble.

"That's right. We've met before and exchanged a few words." With one sentence, Chen Qing distanced himself from Lin Mo as much as possible.

Wang Heng pondered for a moment, then asked, "Judging from the inspector's esteem for him this time, it would be best if we could win him over. But all things in this world swarm about for profit. Junior Brother, do you still remember what aptitude the two of you had when you became Personal Disciples?"

Chen Qing replied, "I sensed qi and blood within a week. Lin Mo seemed to have done so in the second intake, after a little more than twenty days... I do not know the details beyond that. I only know that he started out as a Registered Disciple."

"From a Registered Disciple to a Personal Disciple—that's somewhat interesting. But his natural aptitude is still a little lacking. Perhaps he simply knows how to ingratiate himself?"

Someone gave a light chuckle, and others echoed him.

"Even so, we should try to win him over. The Prefecture City competition is not far off. The inspector favors Lin Mo, and if we can bring him to our side, he might be able to smooth some paths for us." Wang Heng thought of this, then seemed to think of something else and continued, "Perhaps that is his only use. Once the Prefecture City competition ends, those without natural aptitude or strength will naturally be separated out."

"Should we have Junior Brother Chen handle the effort to win him over? After all, they have a bit of old acquaintance between them," someone suggested.

Chen Qing wanted to refuse, but it was difficult to decline with everyone pressing him from both sides. He could only agree helplessly.

"What terms should we offer?"

"The Li family behind Lin Mo is merely a third-rate Lineage. It has also suffered grievous losses in the Water Ghost Calamity this time and cannot offer much profit... Why don't I ask my family to find him a nominal post in the Meng family of the Prefecture City?"

Meng Ziqi proposed. In his view, this suggestion was already beyond reproach. His Meng family held a patch of land in the Prefecture City, and gaining a foothold there was no easy matter.

The resources one could enjoy there alone were worlds apart from holding a nominal post in the Li family.

Though he was only a descendant of a branch line, arranging one or two nominal posts was no problem at all.

Before the Qianjin Escort Agency residence, a vast crowd had gathered, the two sides locked in a standoff.

"Commander-in-Chief Lin is conducting official business. All unrelated persons, stand aside."

Lin Mo watched from the side as Xu Changfeng strode forward, only to be blocked by several retainers of the Qianjin Escort Agency. They were not direct members of the Zhou family, and fortunately had not suffered overly severe implications.

"This is the Qianjin Escort Agency, not some place any stray cat or dog can enter!" One man stepped forward with a blade in hand and barked impatiently.

With the Zhou family's downfall, the first to profit were precisely retainers like them, who held a certain amount of power within the escort agency. If Lin Mo and his men were allowed to come and go as they pleased, what would be left for them to take?

Even if it meant offending the inspector, they had to give it a try.

But before Lin Mo could respond, there came a thunderous boom.

Xu Changfeng flooded his entire body with qi and blood, then smashed the man blocking the way through the gate with a single punch. The man rolled a long way, dead or alive unknown.

"My junior brother came under orders from the Prefecture City Inspector, yet you still dare block his path? Do you not even regard the inspector as a person?"

That blow was clean and decisive, instantly shocking the others into stillness. Even Lin Mo's eyes lit up as he led his men straight inside.

"Move! If anyone else dares block us, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"

Lin Mo's face was icy as he led his men directly into the courtyard. Just as he had expected, people were already moving goods in and out of the treasury.

With a wave of his hand, several quick-witted martial artists behind him stepped forward to intercept them.

"What are you trying to do? This is the Qianjin Escort Agency!"

Someone still refused to accept it and tried to roar loudly to bolster his courage.

"What are we doing? Naturally, we are confiscating the household under the inspector's orders!"

Lin Mo drew in a long breath, channeling his qi and blood so everyone in the courtyard could hear him clearly. He emphasized, "The Qianjin Escort Agency colluded with the White Lotus Sect. Under orders, I, Lin Mo, am confiscating this household. Anyone who dares obstruct us will be dealt with as a remnant of the White Lotus Sect!"