Ransom

After knocking Yan Shaofeng unconscious and taking him away, Black Dog did not kill the young guards.

Instead, he left behind a letter and said, "Go back and tell Old Dog Yan that if he wants to keep his son's worthless life, he'd better prepare one hundred thousand taels of silver and a thousand jin of white rice. Otherwise, he can wait to collect the corpse!"

With that, he hoisted the sack containing Yan Shaofeng onto his shoulder and left.

Through several secret channels, the group quickly left the city and returned to the mountain stream where they were hiding.

At the Black Tiger Sect, a middle-aged man dressed in fine robes, carrying himself with an air of unquestionable authority, looked at the letter in his hand and trembled with rage.

With a bang, he slammed his palm onto the table, shattering it into pieces in an instant.

The young guards below trembled like leaves. They were the very ones who had gone out with Yan Shaofeng.

"Bold. Truly bold! Have these Black Wind Bandits grown tired of living?" Yan Min roared continuously like an enraged tiger.

"Men! Gather the experts inside the sect! Today, I will wipe out these Black Wind Bandits and let them see the might of my Black Tiger Sect!"

But no one made a move, because Zhang Feng at his side raised a hand, signaling them not to act for now.

Looking at the man before him, who was flying into a furious rage, Zhang Feng said calmly, "Brother Yan, calm down. Shaofeng's life is still in those bandits' hands!"

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? That useless trash was captured just like that, without even the strength to resist. He's utterly disgraced me!" The more Yan Min thought about it, the more agitated he became.

"Ah, no matter what, Shaofeng is still your son—the young master of our Black Tiger Sect. If we don't save him, who will inherit the Black Tiger Sect in the future?"

"Even if we save him, are we supposed to swallow this insult? Those Black Wind Bandits, who knows where they crawled out from, think they can oppress us like this?" What Yan Min could not tolerate most was being targeted by such an obscure little force as the Black Wind Bandits.

"Hmph, Big Brother, don't worry about this. I'd like to see just what the Black Wind Bandits are capable of, to think they can swallow one hundred thousand taels of silver and a thousand jin of white rice!"

"We'll prepare the goods and trade them for Shaofeng first. As for everything else, leave it to me! I'll keep watch over it all from the shadows!" Zhang Feng promised, thumping his chest.

In the end, Yan Min agreed to Zhang Feng's proposal.

In less than a day, Yan Min had gathered one hundred thousand taels of silver and a thousand jin of white rice. Such supplies were enough to feed an army of a thousand men for an entire year!

Even for the Black Tiger Sect, losing them for real would hurt badly for a long time.

Before setting out, Yan Min carefully instructed him, "A-Feng, everything after this will depend on you. I'll wait for you halfway there. If you get any intelligence, send it back as early as possible!"

"Don't worry, Big Brother. Once I get a clear grasp of those bandits' background, it'll be their day of death!"

"Good. Then set off!"

Led by Yan Min, a long convoy slowly rolled out of Nine Lions City, naturally drawing the attention of some onlookers.

"What is the Black Tiger Sect up to? Why are they suddenly making such a huge show of force?"

"Yeah, even Tiger Yan has personally taken the field. Looks like they're really getting serious!"

"Hmph, that Tiger Yan—I hope he dies out there. He's taken so much of our Nine Snakes Gang's territory. His greed knows no bounds!"

Elsewhere, Liu Yunfeng led dozens of skilled men as they waited at the agreed location. Yan Shaofeng was still stuffed inside a sack, his mouth packed with rags.

Standing beside Liu Yunfeng was a person completely wrapped in a black robe. This person was Shen Fan. Since he had promised to help Liu Yunfeng settle some troubles, Shen Fan would naturally take action.

After quietly walking aside with Shen Fan, Liu Yunfeng immediately put on a respectful demeanor.

"My lord, this time we'll definitely lure Yan Min here. As long as you can take down Yan Min, the Innate Cultivation Method will be within easy reach!"

Liu Yunfeng smiled ingratiatingly as he secretly studied Shen Fan's expression.

Seeing no change in Shen Fan's expression, Liu Yunfeng quietly let out a breath of relief.

But a single sentence from Shen Fan made him tense up.

"Complete my task properly. I can overlook some of your little schemes, but if you fail to accomplish it, I won't mind replacing you with someone more useful!"

Shen Fan gave Liu Yunfeng a small warning.

"Yes, my lord. I will definitely complete your task properly!" Liu Yunfeng was drenched in sweat, thinking Shen Fan had discovered his little scheme.

Indeed, Liu Yunfeng had some selfish motives in choosing Yan Min. The first, naturally, was the enmity between them.

If Shen Fan could kill Yan Min, it would naturally fulfill his wish.

The other reason was that Yan Min was an expert, one of the top experts in Nine Lions City. He possessed cultivation at the sixth level of the Innate realm, and with his overbearing Black Tiger Fiend, he could almost fight an Innate late-stage Martial Artist across realms!

Liu Yunfeng actually wanted to test whether this mysterious expert truly had such great ability. If the two were both badly wounded, he might be able to reap the rewards like a fisherman watching clams and a snipe fight!

Liu Yunfeng's plan was a good one. Such thoughts were indeed worthy of the man who had made it this far.

Shen Fan could tolerate such thoughts from him. After all, there was no such thing as wholehearted loyalty in this world. He only needed to display his strength until the other man lacked the courage to resist—that would be enough!

By evening, everyone was somewhat tired, yet there was still no sign of the Black Tiger Sect members coming to pay the ransom.

One bandit angrily kicked over Yan Shaofeng, who was tied up in the sack, and cursed, "What kind of Black Tiger Sect young master are you? I'd say you're nothing but trash. For someone like you, your old man probably wishes you were dead!"

Yan Shaofeng struggled to spit out the rags in his mouth. He glared venomously at the bandit but said nothing, because he knew that no matter how much he said, it would be useless. Better to behave himself.

But that look in his eyes greatly displeased the bandit, so he called over several brothers and had them beat Yan Shaofeng together, venting the resentment in their hearts.

Yan Shaofeng screamed miserably from the beating. Liu Yunfeng merely glanced at him and said nothing. Only after a while did he drawl, "Go a little easier. Don't actually beat him to death!"

Only then did the underlings slowly stop. By then, Yan Shaofeng's face was swollen and bruised, his mouth full of blood. Clearly, several of his teeth had been knocked out.

In that miserable state, even his own father would probably barely recognize him!

But Liu Yunfeng was quite pleased with what he saw. Even if his men did nothing, he would find a chance to make this brat suffer a little. Otherwise, how could he make that old thief Yan Min's heart ache?

After waiting another half hour, with the sun about to set, several small black dots suddenly appeared on the distant horizon.

"They're here, they're here! Damn it, they made Old Man wait so long—they've finally come!" the bandits cursed and grumbled.

Shen Fan frowned as he listened, but he still held himself back.

"Shut up, all of you. Stay sharp later. Check everything carefully, understand?"

As soon as Liu Yunfeng spoke, the lackeys all answered obediently.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Yan Min, riding a tall horse, arrived several dozen meters away. Seeing the pitiful handful before him, the fire in Yan Min's heart immediately surged up.

He could tell that these fellows were absolutely a third-rate force, yet they actually dared to target his Black Tiger Sect like this. Had they truly eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard?

Shen Fan concealed all his aura and quietly waited for the right moment to strike.

"You're the Black Wind Bandits? Enough. Hurry up and return my son!" Though he looked down on this group, Yan Min still had some sense left.

"Where are the goods? Have the silver and white rice been prepared?" Liu Yunfeng asked. Looking at this old enemy of his, Liu Yunfeng hated him so much his teeth itched to the roots.

But Yan Min clearly failed to recognize Liu Yunfeng. He forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and waved a hand, signaling his subordinates to carry up the silver and white rice.

Very quickly, dozens of chests of silver and dozens of sacks of white rice were piled into a small mountain.

The Black Wind Bandits nearly drooled at the sight.

The two sides exchanged a knowing look, then began the exchange.

Yan Min looked at Yan Shaofeng, whose face had been beaten into a pig's head, and was so furious he nearly crushed his teeth. But when he suddenly thought of something, he still held himself back.

After the inspection was complete, Liu Yunfeng and his lackeys directly left with the silver and grain. Shen Fan did not make a move for the time being either.

However, he sensed an aura following behind them. After carefully feeling it out, Shen Fan revealed a satisfied smile.

"An Innate Martial Artist? Now this is getting interesting!"