What Do You Want?

Su Yun let out a cold laugh, pulling his hand back slightly and dropping a few gold coins back into the pouch. "Eighty."

Red Hair's pupils quaked, his voice beginning to tremble. "You... you're asking me to bow down for money—that's like asking me to die!"

Su Yun withdrew a few more coins. "Fifty."

Red Hair, on the verge of tears, reached out a hand but didn't dare to grab, his bejeweled sandals scuffing anxiously against the ground. "How am I supposed to face my old friends from the Buried Love Clan in the underworld?"

Su Yun kept pulling coins back. "Twenty."

Red Hair completely broke down. He lunged forward, grabbing Su Yun's wrist in a death grip, and screamed hoarsely, "Enough, boss!! Don't keep docking my pay for no reason!"

Su Yun stopped, looking down at him from above.

Red Hair stared at the pouch with pitiful longing, as aggrieved as a two-hundred-pound child, snot nearly dripping from his nose. "You said a hundred just now..."

A faint smirk curled at the corner of Su Yun's mouth, his eyes glinting with amusement as he watched Red Hair's bitter face. "What's the matter? With a hundred Gold Soul Coins, you can't stand tall and proud anymore?"

Su Yun leisurely dangled the pouch by its string, swaying it gently in front of Red Hair's eyes.

Clink—

Clink—

The crisp, pleasant sound of coins clinking echoed through the silent alley.

Like a demon whispering in his ear.

Red Hair's gaze involuntarily followed the heavy pouch as it swung left and right.

Su Yun brought the pouch a little closer, his voice laced with temptation. "Want it? If you want it, just say so."

Red Hair bit his lip hard, his hands clenched tightly at the seams of his pants, trying to hold his last line of defense. "I... I'm not that kind of person..."

Grrrrrrr—!!!

A protest even louder than before erupted from his stomach, followed by the groaning bellies of the three lackeys behind him.

Su Yun smiled, shaking the pouch again.

The sound of gold coins colliding was the most beautiful melody in the world. "Really don't want it? Then forget it. I'll find someone else. After all, a hundred Gold Soul Coins—how many loaves of bread is that? Seems like it could fill this whole alley, doesn't it?"

With that, Su Yun made as if to pull the pouch back.

Red Hair's body reacted faster than his mind. He lunged forward a step. "I want it..."

Su Yun paused, tilting his ear as if he hadn't heard clearly. "What? Louder. Where's that proud, unyielding spirit from before?"

Red Hair trembled all over, his face flushed crimson, shame and hunger battling wildly in his mind.

Finally, he shut his eyes and roared in self-abandonment, "I want it!"

Su Yun pressed closer, his voice growing softer. "Want what?"

Red Hair's eyes snapped open, fixed on the pouch, already fantasizing about all the food this bag of Gold Soul Coins could buy. "I want the Gold Soul Coins..."

"Whose Gold Soul Coins?" Su Yun asked with patient persistence.

"Godfather!! I want Godfather's Gold Soul Coins!!"

Red Hair finally collapsed, the last shred of dignity thrown to the wind. He sobbed out the words. "Godfather! Please! Give me the Gold Soul Coins!!"

Su Yun nodded in satisfaction, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening. "That's more like it. Man is iron, food is steel—why pretend to be a tough guy?"

With a casual toss, the heavy pouch arced through the air in a perfect parabola.

Red Hair practically lunged to catch the money pouch, as if it were his very life and soul.

Feeling the heavy weight in his hands, that real sensation instantly shattered every last shred of his psychological defenses.

Thump!

Red Hair dropped to both knees, kneeling with crisp decisiveness, the ground trembling from the impact.

Behind him, his three underlings followed suit, dropping to their knees in unison.

Clutching the money pouch, Red Hair looked up at Su Yun, his eyes no longer holding the arrogance from before, replaced instead by the devout reverence of one who had found a second father.

He drew a deep breath, channeling all his strength, and bellowed the oath straight from his heart:

"Godfather!!!"

The three underlings behind him echoed, knocking their heads to the ground like pestles pounding garlic.

"Godfather above! From now on, we all obey you!!"

The shouts still echoed through the alley, but Red Hair had already scrambled nimbly to his feet.

Gripping the money pouch tightly, he waved his hand grandly and shouted to his three underlings:

"Brothers! Time to work! Go clear out Wang Er Ma Zi's bakery! Then buy two buckets of hot milk from Aunt Li! Move it!"

"Yes, boss!"

Four colorful figures streaked past like a rainbow, and just a few minutes later, they came running back, carrying a mountain of bread and two large buckets of hot milk.

But they didn't eat first; instead, they charged straight toward the deepest shadows of the alley.

Su Yun raised an eyebrow, hands in his pockets, and followed at a leisurely pace.

Pushing past a pile of cluttered, discarded wooden crates, the sight before him made Su Yun stop.

At the end of the alley, a dozen or so ragged children were huddled together.

Some had dirty faces, others had snot running from their noses—clearly, they were stray orphans from the neighborhood.

Seeing Red Hair and the others return, the children's eyes lit up instantly, and they swarmed around like a flock of sparrows waiting to be fed.

"Uncle Red! Brother Green!"

"Wow! Bread! It smells so good!"

Red Hair had shed the groveling, bootlicking demeanor he showed Su Yun earlier. Now, despite still sporting that garish red hair, his eyes were unusually gentle.

As he stuffed bread into the children's hands, he tried to maintain the authority of a big brother:

"Eat slowly! No fighting! Anyone who fights gets their butt smacked! There's enough for everyone!"

"Little Fatty, here's your milk! Careful, it's hot! This is from godfather... ahem, from the great benefactor I met today—remember that!"

Red Hair swallowed his own saliva but insisted on handing the biggest piece of bread to a little girl with a broken leg.

So that was it.

Four Soul Grand Masters over level twenty—even in a small town like this, they wouldn't starve, no matter how badly they were doing.

Unless every copper coin they earned was being poured into this bottomless pit.

Just as Su Yun leaned against the wall, quietly watching, a sharp-eyed little boy spotted him.

The boy wore an old shirt that was a bit too big for him, but he wasn't skinny—his cheeks were plump, clearly well-fed.

He clutched tightly the half-loaf of bread Red Hair had just given him, with a ring of white milk stains around his lips.

Seeing that sunglasses-wearing young master with an imposing aura staring at Red Hair, the boy's expression shifted instantly.

It was fear.

At this age, to a child like him, a noble young master who looked like a doll often represented power and authority.

He thought Su Yun was someone sent by a wealthy family to collect a debt.

The boy abandoned his beloved bread and stumbled over to Su Yun.

All he could do was reach out his small hand, timidly tugging at the hem of Su Yun's clothes.

"Young master... please..."

The boy looked at this peer who wasn't much taller than him but seemed to live in a different world, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Please don't let them take Uncle Red away... don't hit him..."

Red Hair, who was distributing the milk, was so startled he nearly dropped his ladle:

"Oh, my little ancestor! Let go! Don't dirty the god... don't dirty the young master's clothes!"

He was about to rush over and scoop the boy away, but the child clung tightly to Su Yun, tears streaming down:

"Uncle Red never robs anyone... really... that money was all borrowed... he'll pay it back with interest..."

"Young master, I can work, I can shine shoes... whatever Uncle Red owes your family, we'll pay it back, with interest..."

"Please, don't take him away, Uncle Red is a good person..."

The alley fell silent in an instant.

Red Hair stood frozen, his face instantly flushing crimson as shame, embarrassment, and a hint of mortification at being seen through surged within him.

"That... uh... young master, the kid doesn't know any better, please don't—"

Su Yun looked down, through his sunglasses, at the little boy still trembling and pleading incessantly.

He didn't mind the greasy grime on the boy's face. Instead, he reached out a fair, tender hand and gently wiped away the milk stain at the corner of the boy's mouth.

"Don't cry."

Su Yun's voice carried an uncommon gentleness:

"I'm not here to take him. Quite the opposite—I've come to invite Uncle Red to help with something big."

With that, he pulled another small pouch of gold coins from his chest and tucked it into the boy's patched pocket, then turned his gaze to Red Hair.

Su Yun looked at the group of children, now laughing through their tears, healthy and whole.

Then he looked at the four gaunt Soul Grand Masters.

Su Yun stepped forward and lightly patted Red Hair on the shoulder.

"Good work."

Red Hair stared at Su Yun, and suddenly his eyes stung.

All these years, everyone had treated them as good-for-nothing punks, the dregs of society. No one had ever seen past that garish, punk disguise to the pitiful shred of dignity they fought so hard to protect.

And today, the one who saw through it all was a child.

He sniffled, jerked his head away, and roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand in a cover-up, then shouted at the brothers behind him:

"What are you standing around for! Didn't you hear what the foster father said! Eat up! Wash your faces when you're done! Tomorrow we're following the foster father to do something big!"

"Yes, Big Brother! Yes, Foster Father!"

Watching these spirited young men crying as they wolfed down their bread, Su Yun put his sunglasses back on, hiding the smile in his eyes.