This help I really can't give!

Steward Zhang was the steward in charge of the old northern district of Yangzhou City for the Cao Gang.

He was fifty-six this year, his hair streaked with gray. The fierce man who had once fought his way through the old district was long past his prime.

"Steward Zhang, that's how it is. I'm hoping you can help me out."

Old Master Du rubbed his hands together, his face full of fawning flattery.

Steward Zhang chuckled lightly and said, "Old Du, we've known each other this long. No need to beat around the bush."

"Yes, yes, go on." Old Master Du said with a sycophantic smile.

"This matter of yours—I really can't help."

"Ah?" Old Master Du's face immediately fell.

"But—that steward at Kui Shui Pier is just a newcomer. How could even you, sir, have no way to deal with him?"

Steward Zhang shook his head with a smile and said, "There's something you don't know."

"Tell me."

"That Steward Li may be a newcomer, but do you know how old he is?"

"No."

"Just eighteen."

Steward Zhang asked again, "And do you know his current cultivation level?"

"No." Old Master Du shook his head and answered honestly.

"At the very least, he's a Mid-sixth Grade Martialist Realm!"

"Sss!"

Hearing this, Old Master Du sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

He had lived long enough to have seen the world.

He knew what a Mid-sixth Grade Martialist represented.

It meant that in the future, within the Cao Gang, the man could at least sit in the position of Hall Master. It meant that if he so wished, he could wipe out the entire Du Family at any time.

Steward Zhang felt that wasn't enough, so he added with a grin, "That's not all. I heard he recently rendered a service and exchanged it at the Scripture Repository for the former Old Gang Leader's unique internal technique. Guess what happened?"

"What happened?"

"In less than a day, he mastered it."

"Oh my god!"

Old Master Du let out a strange cry and nearly collapsed to the ground.

Steward Zhang clicked his tongue and said, "This news has spread among the upper echelons. I hear even the Old Gang Leader has taken notice of this Steward Li and plans to find time to meet him."

A martial prodigy who had caught the attention of the Cao Gang's high ranks—his future was truly boundless. It wouldn't stop at Hall Master; he might become an External Affairs Envoy, or even Deputy Gang Leader!

Thinking this, Old Master Du's face turned ashen.

That meant his own son had offended a future Important Figure of the Cao Gang.

Was the Du Family doomed to be ruined by his hands?

"Steward Zhang, you have to save me!"

Old Master Du grabbed Steward Zhang's thigh, wailing with snot and tears.

"Hey, Old Du, what are you doing?"

Steward Zhang was speechless. He tried to pull Old Master Du up, but the man clung to his leg so tightly that he couldn't push him away for a while.

"Sigh, at this point, just send some gifts to test Steward Li's attitude and see what he's thinking."

Steward Zhang said with a helpless expression.

Li Xian looked at the several boxes of gold bars laid out on the floor and asked in confusion.

"Who sent these?"

"The Du Family sent them." Brother Xin said with a grin.

"The Du Family? Which Du Family?"

"The family of that brat who spoke rudely to us while drinking yesterday."

Li Xian was even more puzzled.

"Why would that brat send us gold bars?"

Wan Cai, standing nearby, said, "Because when I came out yesterday, I called a few of our junior brothers over to teach that brat a lesson—to watch his mouth from now on."

The Cao Gang had strict hierarchies. People like Brother Xin and Wan Cai were elite disciples of the gang.

Below the elite disciples were countless outer disciples.

Those outer disciples were mostly idle loafers around Yangzhou City, with no real combat ability, knowing only some crude fist and foot techniques.

Those who can truly cultivate and enter the ranks, like Wan Cai and Brother Xin, are the real core disciples of the Cao Gang, holding absolute authority over the outer disciples below.

Li Xian didn't want to make a fuss, but that didn't mean his people wouldn't stand up for him.

When one's superior is insulted like that, the underlings naturally have to reclaim their leader's dignity.

However, Wan Cai only had the dock's outer subordinates teach that Young Master Du a lesson; as for what happened afterward, he knew nothing.

Now, seeing these boxes of gold bars before him, he even wondered if Old Master Du was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"So, Boss Li, will you take them or not?"

Li Xian gained a new understanding of the Cao Gang's power in Yangzhou City.

He waved his hand, tossed out one box of gold bars, and said to them, "Take this and split it among the brothers who worked yesterday. This matter ends here."

"You got it!"

Brother Xin and Wan Cai picked up the gold bars and rushed out in high spirits.

They were taking the lion's share of this cut.

How could they not be thrilled?

Li Xian looked at the remaining gold bars on the ground and couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

Back in Nanfeng City, his own Escort Agency would toil for a whole year and might not earn even half of what lay here. Now, just being a manager, going out for a drink covered his expenses for a year.

Indeed, choosing to step out back then was the right call.

The incident at Fengyang Tower was just a minor episode for Li Xian.

He had more important things to do.

Today, he received another mission.

A wealthy young lady in Yangzhou City had been abducted—by a Flower Picking Bandit, no less.

Her family was a wealthy and prestigious clan in Yangzhou City; compared to them, the Du Family was like mud beneath clouds.

That clan approached the Cao Gang, begging for help to rescue their young lady.

As for the Flower Picking Bandit, they didn't care whether he lived or died.

The Cao Gang didn't want to bother with such a trivial matter, but they couldn't refuse the price the family offered.

So, they issued a mission within the gang.

"Rescue Miss Huang. Reward: one hundred taels of gold, one thousand Merit Points!"

Li Xian couldn't sit still after hearing that.

The gold didn't matter much; what he cared about was the Merit Points.

With one thousand Merit Points, Li Xian could exchange for the next three layers of the Crimson Sun Nine Songs Mind Method.

Without hesitation, he accepted the mission.