Resolution

Shen Mu slowly walked forward, his tone indifferent. "If I hadn't followed you last night, wouldn't I be the one dead today?"

"I never had any grudge against you, yet you actually teamed up with outsiders to kill me?"

"No grudge?"

Guo Jinchuan bared his teeth, stained red with blood, and let out a strange, cackling laugh. "If you'd lent me the silver you had, how could I have done you harm?"

"Why wouldn't you lend me the money?"

"If you'd given me the money, would I have gone to all this trouble?"

As he spoke, Guo Jinchuan's expression grew more and more venomous. He roared, "All of this is because you deserve to die!"

Shen Mu shook his head at that and scoffed. "I deserve to die just because I have money and wouldn't lend it to you?"

"Are you in debt to the Money Gang because of me?"

"You racked up that huge debt yourself by gambling recklessly."

"There are other people in Emerald Cloud Valley with money. Why didn't you borrow from them?"

"It's simply because you thought I was weak and easy to bully."

"You brought this fate upon yourself."

After hearing Shen Mu's words, Guo Jinchuan faltered. He wanted to argue, but couldn't find anything to say. He stared blankly, speechless.

Only now did he suddenly understand.

From the moment he had walked into the gambling house, everything had already been fated.

Guo Jinchuan fell silent for a moment, then looked at Hong Jingcheng and rasped, "Brother Hong, all the blame is mine. Can you give me a quick death? If you can, please look after my family. They're innocent..."

Hong Jingcheng glanced at him and ignored him.

"Innocent?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "Whatever happens to them from now on will be because of you. You should have known this day would come when you did all this."

He turned to Hong Jingcheng and called out, "Brother Hong, I'll leave these two to you."

"Brother Shen, we owe this case being solved to you. Without you, it wouldn't have been easy to crack."

Hong Jingcheng walked over with a smile.

Shen Mu chuckled. "I only happened to stumble upon what was going on. We have you to thank for capturing these two."

Hong Jingcheng gave a quiet laugh and didn't pursue the subject.

"Cough, cough..."

At that moment, Yue Kun, who had been lying nearby, came to as well.

"You two, I admit defeat today. Could you spare my life? I'll give you all the Origin Mulberry Fruits we stole, as long as you let me go."

Yue Kun pleaded.

Hong Jingcheng walked over and said coldly, "Which faction in Cloud Dragon County are you from?"

"The Hundred Generations Martial Hall."

With his life in someone else's hands, Yue Kun didn't hesitate at all and readily gave his affiliation.

"The Hundred Generations Martial Hall?"

Shen Mu couldn't help but freeze. He'd suspected as much, but hearing Yue Kun admit it made everything click into place.

The Four Great Martial Halls mainly made money by enrolling students and collecting their tuition fees.

Aside from that, the martial halls also organized hunting parties to venture into the Dark Night Beast Forest and hunt monsters, then bring the spoils back to the city to sell. Their main customers were the students...

Beyond this, the Four Great Martial Halls didn't have many other profitable businesses.

The students paid out of their own pockets to learn martial arts, and most of them were so poor they couldn't scrape two coins together.

That was precisely why the Origin Mulberry Fruits in Emerald Cloud Valley had become a way for many students to make quick money after their cultivation had progressed.

After all, stealing Origin Mulberry Fruits was much safer than hunting monsters...

"So you're from the Hundred Generations Martial Hall."

Hong Jingcheng sneered. "Then I suppose the others involved in this were from the Hundred Generations Martial Hall too?"

Yue Kun faltered and said nothing. Hong Jingcheng had evidently guessed right.

"Hmph."

Hong Jingcheng snorted and continued, "Over the years, the thieves who've come to Emerald Cloud Valley to steal Origin Mulberry Fruits have mostly been from your Four Great Martial Halls."

"But they always sneaked around, and even when we caught them, we'd just teach them a lesson and let them go."

"This time, though, you caused the deaths and injuries of over a hundred members of the Firewood Gang..."

"You've crossed the Firewood Gang's bottom line. You all deserve to die!"

Yue Kun's expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly said, "Brother, only the two of you know about this right now. Why don't we settle this between ourselves and keep it from getting out of hand?"

"We were wrong to cause the Firewood Gang such heavy losses, but it really was an accident."

"We originally planned to lure an unranked monster over a cliff and use it to cause a commotion, giving us a chance to sneak into the valley and steal the Origin Mulberry Fruits."

"We never expected the trap we set to attract a Dark Gold Red Tiger looking for food."

"If you let me go, you can have all the Origin Mulberry Fruits we got this time."

"That's at least five thousand taels of silver. If you turn us in, how much could you possibly earn?"

"I can make you much more than that."

After hearing Yue Kun's offer, Hong Jingcheng looked tempted.

If he turned the two men in, he'd only earn a thousand taels of silver. If he didn't, he could use this to make several thousand.

Even if he entered the ranks someday, he'd have the resources to support his cultivation afterward.

Seeing the hesitation on Hong Jingcheng's face, Shen Mu's heart skipped a beat.

If Hong Jingcheng didn't turn the two in, he might kill Shen Mu to keep all that money for himself...

Shen Mu hurriedly said, "Brother Hong, don't listen to his honeyed words. Think about it: if you got your hands on those Origin Mulberry Fruits, how would you sell them?"

"How many people are investigating this now?"

"If it comes to light, won't the higher-ups suspect you were behind it?"

"Then not only would you be implicated, Brother Hong, but your family would be dragged into it too. Why gamble your life for this fortune?"

"You're with the Firewood Gang. If you enter the ranks and become a Market Master in the future, you'll have plenty of chances to make money. Don't let greed blind you to the bigger picture."

Hearing Shen Mu's words, Hong Jingcheng broke out in a cold sweat. He really had been considering it.

Now that Shen Mu had warned him, he immediately came to his senses.

Making a thousand taels of silver from these two men was already a huge windfall. Why take such a reckless risk?

"No, no! I have a way to sell them. If we wait a little longer, I can take the dried Origin Mulberry Fruits to neighboring Blue Mountain County..."

Yue Kun's expression changed dramatically, and he hurriedly tried to explain.

But before he could finish, Hong Jingcheng kicked him with all his might again, sending him flying.

"Hmph! You dared try to drag me into your schemes. You deserve to die!"

Hong Jingcheng snorted coldly.

Yue Kun crashed heavily to the ground. He tried to force out a few more words, but pain racked his whole body, and he passed out again.

"Brother Shen, I'll take these two with me. When the reward comes through, you'll certainly get your share."

Hong Jingcheng smiled as he promised.

"We were able to solve this case because you stepped in, Brother Hong. I only provided a little help."

Shen Mu shook his head. "I work for the Firewood Gang. I wouldn't dare expect a reward."

"Brother Shen, there's no need to be modest. If you hadn't given me the information, I wouldn't have been able to capture them alive."

Hong Jingcheng smiled. "There's no time to lose. I'll take these two to the two Market Masters, Lin Xiao and Kong Mingyuan, and interrogate them for the full list of people involved in that night's operation."

Now, the more Hong Jingcheng looked at Shen Mu, the more he liked him.

Not only had Shen Mu helped him pocket over a thousand taels of silver, but he'd also helped him earn favor with Lin Xiao and Kong Mingyuan and strengthen their ties. It was like a pie falling from the sky—he'd made a killing.

"All right, take care, Brother Hong."

Shen Mu called out with a smile and watched as Hong Jingcheng knocked Guo Jinchuan unconscious with a palm strike, then hauled both men toward the valley entrance.

Only after Hong Jingcheng disappeared from sight did Shen Mu withdraw his complicated gaze.

"Who would've thought it all came down to one gambler's moment of weakness?"

Shen Mu couldn't help but sigh, thinking of the gang members who had died to the Dark Gold Red Tiger that night.

The setting sun was like blood, illuminating all of Emerald Cloud Valley.

Shen Mu sat atop the Bamboo Shed, admiring the breathtaking scenery all by himself.

A crisis that could have ruined him completely had been resolved without a hitch.