After subduing the entire Green Tiger Gang, Liu Chu immediately began taking inventory of the treasury.
Accompanied by Ruan Jin, the hall master who had been the first to submit, he found a hidden underground passage inside the gang's main hall.
"The gang has seven hundred taels of silver in total. Four hundred of those are for its operating expenses."
"The gang has six hall masters. Excluding Hall Masters Zhu Kai and He Yuanchang, who are dead, and Hall Master Xu Kun, whom you just killed, only three hall masters remain..."
Though Ruan Jin was still injured, he eagerly briefed the new gang leader on the gang's affairs.
"I never expected three of the Green Tiger Gang's six hall masters to die by my hand."
After doing the math, Liu Chu felt a flicker of surprise.
Without even realizing it, he had killed the Green Tiger Gang's leader and three hall masters, wiping out more than half of its top forces!
"So that means I can use three hundred of these seven hundred taels?"
Liu Chu pondered aloud.
Ruan Jin wore a fawning smile and chuckled. "In theory, yes. But as long as you can repay the remaining four hundred in a short time, there's no harm in borrowing it for a while..."
Liu Chu glanced at him, thinking that this man was indeed a flatterer.
Ruan Jin's words had certainly tempted him.
Seven hundred taels of silver was no small sum.
But after giving it some thought, Liu Chu still felt it would be rather dishonorable.
More importantly, he had no need to dip into the gang's operating funds yet.
"Take me to see the Treasure Fish!"
After inspecting the treasury, Liu Chu put away his three hundred taels' worth of silver notes and gave the order.
He knew that the Green Tiger Gang had annexed the Golden Fish Gang's territory, along with its Treasure Fish.
The two of them arrived at a pond under tight guard.
The water was clear, and several green lotus plants grew in the pond. Beneath them, a few Treasure Fish swam and played, their scales vivid and varied. Some had four gills and two tails, while others had horns on their heads; each possessed some wondrous feature.
"There are only five Treasure Fish in total..."
Ruan Jin explained, "According to the former members of the Golden Fish Gang, there used to be eight, but a few were lost during the fighting..."
"Only five Treasure Fish..."
Liu Chu frowned slightly, disappointed.
He needed ten Treasure Fish to complete his next offering.
Five Treasure Fish would only get him halfway to his goal.
"But now I have enough silver. Buying five more will be a piece of cake!"
Liu Chu quickly swept aside his disappointment.
He now had more than five hundred taels on him, plenty to buy five Treasure Fish!
After inspecting the fish, Liu Chu returned to the main hall.
By then, the gang members had finished cleaning the hall. The bloodstains and corpses were gone, and the place had returned to its former neat and tidy state.
Two hall masters waited inside, ready for Liu Chu's orders.
"By the way, does your gang have any cultivation manuals?"
Liu Chu suddenly remembered another goal.
Cultivation manuals!
His saber technique was now nearing perfection, and next he would need to seek out a new cultivation method and martial skill.
"We do. There's the Rolling Thunder Nourishing Practice and the Thunderclap Blade Technique. The former gang leader acquired them by chance. Only members who had distinguished themselves or possessed exceptional innate talent were taught them..."
One of the hall masters spoke up at once. "I once took a blade for the former gang leader, so he rewarded me with these techniques. That's how I eventually broke through and became a hall master."
"Oh? The Rolling Thunder Nourishing Practice! The Thunderclap Blade Technique!"
Liu Chu's eyes lit up at once.
He turned his gaze to the other two hall masters.
Hall Master Ruan Jin nodded as well. "Reporting to the gang leader, I also practice these techniques. The former leader selected several members with exceptional innate talent, and I was among them. He taught us this practice, and I eventually broke through into the Grade-Entry Realm!"
Liu Chu nodded slightly.
Gangs and martial arts schools were ultimately different. Disciples at martial arts schools paid for their training themselves, often dozens of taels of silver. They were either wealthy or well-born.
People like Liu Chu, who had lucked into a sum of money and dared to sell everything they owned and stake it all on training, were exceedingly rare!
Gang members were just trying to earn enough to get by. Most came from poor families, couldn't afford dozens of taels of silver, and had little chance of earning that much either.
Even if they did manage it, few could bring themselves to spend it on martial arts.
After all, that sum was enough to marry a wife and live a comfortable life.
Using it to train in martial arts would most likely be like scooping water with a bamboo basket!
The Green Tiger Gang's leader certainly wouldn't pay out of his own pocket to teach every gang member martial arts. That would cost thousands of taels of silver!
Not to mention that the Green Tiger Gang's leader couldn't afford that much. Even if he could, he would never do such a thing.
Blowing thousands of taels on a venture with a laughably low chance of success would be utter foolishness.
After all, a martial arts school's master could earn a great deal of silver by teaching people martial arts.
But when a gang taught people martial arts, it ended up spending money instead.
The two operated on entirely different principles.
At most, a gang would teach some combat techniques to improve its members' fighting ability. It wouldn't have them practice nourishing techniques or strive to break through to a new realm.
Still, gangs would select some members with exceptional innate talent, use a portion of their profits to teach them cultivation methods, and provide them with meat and medicinal meals, raising them into elite members.
Ruan Jin and the other hall master belonged to this group!
Liu Chu turned to the last man.
The last hall master gritted his teeth and spoke with difficulty. "When I was young, I joined the Flying Eagle Martial Hall. I practiced the Flying Eagle Technique, and its manuals can't be passed on to outsiders."
He had joined the Flying Eagle Martial Hall as a young man to study martial arts, but had failed to break through into the Grade-Entry Realm. He hadn't completely abandoned his training in the years that followed, and after more than a decade, he had finally managed to break through by sheer luck.
"The Flying Eagle Martial Hall..."
Liu Chu furrowed his brow, then reassured him, "I know the rules. Martial arts school disciples aren't allowed to pass on their techniques. That's fine."
He didn't press the matter.
The Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall had recently had a case of its techniques being passed on to outsiders, and his senior brother Lin Bei had already gone to deal with it.
If this hall master taught Liu Chu his technique, the Flying Eagle Martial Hall might come looking for him as well.
And if it brought the master of the Flying Eagle Martial Hall to his door, things would get troublesome.
"Thank you for understanding, Gang Leader!"
Seeing that Liu Chu didn't hold it against him, the hall master breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly feared that Liu Chu would force him to pass on the technique. If the matter came to light, he would likely be doomed.
At best, his cultivation would be crippled. At worst, he would die!
"You two, write out the Rolling Thunder Nourishing Practice and the Thunderclap Blade Technique for me..."
Liu Chu instructed the two men.
The Rolling Thunder Nourishing Practice and Thunderclap Blade Technique had come from the Green Tiger Gang's former leader. No one knew who had taught them to him, and their lineage might already have died out. There was no need to fear anyone coming to demand them back.
In less than half an hour, the two men handed over the written manuals.
Liu Chu had initially worried that the two didn't know how to read or draw and wouldn't be able to write out the techniques.
It turned out his concern had been unnecessary.
In fact, once they stepped into the martial path, martial artists generally learned to read and write, draw diagrams, and even consult simple medical texts, building up their knowledge of the human body's meridians, bones, muscles, skin, internal organs, and the like.
All of these were basic martial knowledge.
Liu Chu compared the two versions of the manuals line by line. Finding nothing suspicious, he nodded in satisfaction.
Come to think of it, he wondered if he could practice two nourishing techniques at once...
The thought vanished in an instant, and he settled his mind. No need to rush. I'll wait until my Duanmen Saber Technique and Dragon-Tiger Nourishing Practice are perfected before practicing the Rolling Thunder Nourishing Practice and Thunderclap Blade Technique.
Liu Chu spent the night awake, discussing gang affairs with the three hall masters in the main hall.
He mostly listened, getting a rough grasp of the gang's ins and outs: how many members it had, how many mid-level members, and who they were.
Afterward, Liu Chu showed himself to be a leader who valued capable people. He met each of the gang's mid-level members in turn to put them at ease.
Many of them were so overwhelmed by the attention that they felt even more reverence for Liu Chu.
Once everything was settled, Liu Chu had a thought. I don't have many people I can trust in this gang yet. They could secretly join forces and sideline me.
He immediately wrote a letter and handed it to Ruan Jin. "Go to the Changle Gang's territory and find Han Qi. Give him this letter and ask him to come see me."
"Yes, sir!"
Ruan Jin accepted the letter, secretly delighted. The new gang leader gave me his very first task. That means he trusts me more!
With the letter in hand, he headed straight for the Changle Gang.
He usually wouldn't have paid attention to a nobody like Han Qi, but the former gang leader had shown the man particular interest lately, so Ruan Jin knew who he was.
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