Gang Leader Zhao, I'll Send You Off Tonight!

As autumn begins, the locust tree leaves in Qingyun County start to turn yellow, falling one by one, then two by two, in silence.

Metalworking Street, Weapon Forging Workshop.

A burly middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and large eyes frowned. In the two letters he had received earlier, his junior brother had praised a young man named Su Mu highly. He knew his junior brother was a reserved and steady person, not one to brag.

Because this junior brother had once shown kindness to Wu Lie, he took this matter quite seriously and had been lingering outside the Weapon Forging Workshop for the past few days.

Today was the deadline for the Start of Autumn, yet Su Mu still hadn't shown up at the Weapon Forging Workshop.

"Could he have given up?"

"Daddy, Mommy sent me to call you for dinner. Stop looking. That kid probably isn't coming. That person is definitely tricking you again."

"Qiao'er, don't talk nonsense. Have some respect. That person is your Martial Uncle Li, and it's not just 'that kid.' His name is Su Mu, and he's even older than you."

"Hmph, it's happened so many times over the years. They're all connections with no real ability, and in the end, none of them can stay with you, Daddy."

Wu Lie's brow furrowed again at her words. His daughter was spoiled and disrespectful, but her words seemed to hold some truth.

"He doesn't even have the courage to show up at the Weapon Forging Workshop... Perhaps my junior brother misjudged him this time."

The setting sun was like blood, the last wisp of summer's warmth scattered by the cool breeze, falling at the end of the long street.

Under the night sky, the coolness of autumn arrived.

Seventy li to the south, in the small town of Qingshui, a young man returned to his inn and closed his eyes to rest. When night fell, he slowly opened his eyes. "Time to go meet the number one person in Qingshui Town."

Su Mu had always felt that the Black Mountain Army's attack on Qingshui Town was inseparable from the Black Tiger Gang.

The leader of the Black Tiger Gang, Zhao Xuan, was no good person either. The Black Tiger Gang had been entrenched in the Qingshui Town area for over a decade, committing many acts of extortion and robbery. He absolutely did not believe that Zhao Xuan, the gang leader, was unaware of this.

From their first meeting, this Smiling Tiger had given Su Mu a sense of danger. After Zhou Shan's death, Su Mu's disposition had quietly changed, becoming much colder.

Su Mu himself hadn't even noticed this. In any case, he would have no psychological burden killing someone like Zhao Xuan.

Leaving his room, Su Mu had just walked out of the inn when he was called out.

"Young friend, stop."

Su Mu turned and looked closely. With his photographic memory, he quickly remembered that the old man before him was one of the medicinal farmers he had rescued from the Black Mountain Army in the dense forest.

Had he recognized him, or was it a coincidence?

And in his eagerness for revenge back then, he hadn't noticed at all that among the medicinal farmers, there was a Qi Refining Martial Artist of a certain rank.

A medicinal farmer?

Su Mu's mind raced. He immediately compared the person before him with the portrait of Pharmacist Lin that the young physician at the clinic had shown him. The figure of the person before him bore some resemblance, but the features were completely different.

Upon closer inspection, there was nothing unusual about the person's features. He shouldn't have disguised himself. This person was not Pharmacist Lin.

Without showing any change, Su Mu said, "Old sir, do you need something from me?"

"Young friend, I've finally found you. I will never forget the life-saving grace in the dense forest that day..."

Su Mu was shocked and surprised that his identity had been seen through by the person before him. He immediately shook his head and interrupted the old medicinal farmer's words.

"Old sir, you've mistaken me for someone else. I've never been to any dense forest these past few days."

The old medicinal farmer stepped closer, carefully observing him with his cloudy eyes before suddenly chuckling, "Ah, yes, my old eyes are blurry, and I've mistaken you."

"But I have a request. It's been uneasy around here lately. I'd like to ask you to accompany me to Qingyun City. I can pay you silver as compensation."

Su Mu, however, directly shook his head. He had promised the young physician that he would find Pharmacist Lin and couldn't get away right now.

"Old sir, you can head north of the city tomorrow morning. There's an ox cart going to the county town for two hundred wen. Or you could try negotiating with the merchant caravans that pass through; perhaps they can take you along to Qingyun County."

"It was my presumption. Thank you, young friend, for the information."

Su Mu turned around, his brow furrowed. This old medicinal farmer must have seen through his identity, otherwise, he wouldn't have inexplicably asked a mere youngster like him to escort him to Qingyun County.

But it was clear that the old gentleman was also discreet. Seeing that Su Mu had directly denied it, he didn't press the matter further.

Afterward, Su Mu quickly walked into a small alley and disappeared into the shadows. A quarter of an hour later, confirming that the old medicinal farmer had no intention of following him, Su Mu took out a mask from his clothes and covered his face, then headed towards the Black Tiger Gang.

To the south of the bustling Qingshui Street in Qingshui Town stood a magnificent mansion, guarded by two stone lions nearly as tall as a person at the entrance. Several Black Tiger Gang members in tight-fitting clothes, with long swords at their waists, stood guard, the security extremely tight.

During the day, if any residents of Qingshui Town passed by, they would choose to take a detour, as this was the headquarters of the largest gang in Qingshui Town, the Black Tiger Gang, and the residence of Zhao Xuan, the number one person in Qingshui Town.

There was a saying circulating in Qingshui Town: "Better to offend the government than to offend Zhao Xuan."

Indeed, offending the government might at most land you in jail for a few days, but offending Zhao Xuan could lead to you vanishing without a trace the next day. The government also turned a blind eye to the actions of the Black Tiger Gang.

At this moment, in a study within the deep courtyard of the mansion, Zhao Xuan had been restless for several days.

"A rabble! That Black Mountain Army is a bunch of useless fools, unable to handle such a small matter!"

After Wu Heng died that day, although Zhao Xuan outwardly made peace with the Li Family Blacksmith Shop, he was extremely wary behind the scenes. Later, Zhao Xuan learned that a group of Black Mountain rebels nearby had abducted a batch of blacksmiths in the next town, and an idea struck him.

Soon after, he secretly contacted that group of Black Mountain rebels and informed them about the reputation of the Li Family Blacksmith Shop. The two parties hit it off immediately. Zhao Xuan wanted to use the Black Mountain rebels to eliminate the person behind the Li Family Blacksmith Shop.

As per their agreement, Zhao Xuan falsely reported that bandits were causing trouble, but unexpectedly, the powerful individual behind the Li Family Blacksmith Shop did not appear.

And that group of Black Mountain rebels was completely wiped out by the Qingyun Army.

"Damn it, is the person who killed Wu Heng that day related to the Li Family Blacksmith Shop?"

The candlelight burned brightly in the room. Zhao Xuan's usually refined scholar-like face was now terrifyingly grim. He had spent a lot of silver to put on this act. The original agreement with that group of Black Mountain bandits was a three-seven split of the spoils after looting the town.

Now that the Black Mountain Army group has been wiped out, there's no way Zhao Xuan still has thirty percent of it.

"However, word is that those rabble were all killed on the spot by the Qingyun Army, so there won't be a third person who knows."

"If you don't want anyone to know, you shouldn't do it..."

Just as Zhao Xuan's brow furrowed, the candlelight in the room suddenly extinguished, and a voice filled with killing intent came from outside the house unexpectedly.

"Who is outside?"

Zhao Xuan's skin suddenly crawled with goosebumps, and he was instantly terrified. Not to mention the strict security inside and outside his manor, this person was able to sneak to the outside of his study without a sound.

If this person hadn't spoken on their own initiative, he probably wouldn't have even noticed their arrival.

"Gang Leader Zhao, Hall Master Wu is lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs, so he asked me to send you off tonight."