Threefold

Before Chen Hao could finish speaking, Hu Biao's tone had already turned icy.

"Heh, so you're the brat who called the Black Wolf Gang's leader brother, with a friendship forged through life and death?"

"...Me?"

Chen Hao's expression changed drastically. On his way here, he had already heard that the Black Wolf Gang had been destroyed. And the ones taking over this area were the Giant Tiger Gang, the Black Wolf Gang's bitterest enemies.

"Absolutely not! I'm not familiar with the Black Wolf Gang at all... Which bastard born without an asshole spread rumors to screw me over... He's trying to get me killed!"

At those words, Madam Wang and Chen Yong's faces turned red, then green. Their intestines practically twisted with regret.

"Rumors? Would your own father and mother harm you?"

Hu Biao cut him off, his voice cold and harsh.

"Say no more. From now on, your family's Peace Tax will be collected at triple the rate."

"...How much?!"

The Chen family's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Given their family's current circumstances, even paying the normal Peace Tax would be difficult to sustain.

Triple... That was practically driving their whole family onto the road to death.

"Sir!"

Chen Hao swallowed and spoke in a low voice.

"I... I'm a Martial Artist from White Ape Hall. Our hall master was also a gang man in his younger days... Perhaps you know each other..."

"Don't tell me, I really do know him! Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here personally today!"

Hu Biao raised a hand and pointed at the scar on his brow bone.

"See this? Your hall master left it there. Back then, he used his strength to bully the weak and even launched a sneak attack... Heh... Pah!"

Hu Biao spat a wad of phlegm onto the ground.

"Triple! I said it! Even if you bring out the Heavenly King himself, it'll still be this amount! Dare pay even half a coin less, or dare pay even a moment late..."

"Whether I tear off one of your parents' arms or drag that old coffin stuffing out to fill a ditch will depend on my mood at the time."

As Hu Biao spoke, his cold gaze swept over Old Chen, Chen Yong, and Madam Wang.

After a brief pause, Hu Biao dusted off nonexistent dirt from his lapel, then called his men and turned to leave.

Just as he reached the door—

Hu Biao turned back again.

"Almost forgot. Every household under your name counts. Every single one pays triple!"

Only after saying that did he finally swagger away.

The shack fell deathly silent, making the arrogant laughter outside sound all the more piercing and heart-rending, like knives drilling into their hearts!

No one knew how long passed.

That dead silence was broken by a hushed conversation outside.

"Mother, Father, it smells so bad here... Xiao Die wants to go home."

"Be good, Xiao Die. We're here to see your Brother Hao, the Martial Artist brother you admire most... Old Zhao, didn't we forget anything?"

"You've asked that eighteen times along the way. Nothing's missing! Oil, salt, rice, flour, pastries, fruit, pork—nothing's missing!"

"Fine, you walk in front. When we see A-Hao, we must be polite... Smile! Smile wider! Wider!"

The family of three quickened their pace, squeezed through the narrowest part of the alley, and finally entered the Chen family's ramshackle shed.

Before they had exchanged more than a few words, Chen Yan's shriek, thick with tears, rang out from inside.

"What!? Triple!?"

"The little savings my family had were long emptied out by A-Hao! And our home was already on Giant Tiger Gang territory. Old Zhao only went yesterday to say that our family was listed under A-Hao's name!"

"This... From now on... How are we supposed to live!?"

Only after Chen Yan's crying and shouting had eased somewhat did Chen Hao's deliberately calm reassurance sound from inside.

"Little Aunt, Uncle... endure it for now. Once the Peace Tax is paid in full, everything will be fine."

"Little Aunt, believe me! Once my injuries heal, I'll immediately gather my fellow disciples and demand an explanation. Whatever the Giant Tiger Gang takes from us, I'll take it back tenfold, a hundredfold!"

"..."

"Uncle, believe me! Oh, right... How much money did you bring today? Help me hire a doctor first."

"???"

"Xiao Die, how about Brother teaches you martial arts later?"

"No! Xiao Die doesn't want to practice martial arts! Xiao Die doesn't want Mother to cry or Father to get angry!"

At the edge of South Outer City.

Deep within a stretch of old shacks that had been completely abandoned after evil spirits had once run rampant there in years past stood a ruined temple, its walls collapsed and its tiles shattered, long since forgotten by all.

A figure slipped through the temple gate like a ghost.

Cobwebs crisscrossed the temple, and dust lay thick upon every surface. Though several strands of bleak daylight leaked through holes in the roof, they only made the place seem more sinister and strange.

The person raised a hand and slowly removed the veiled bamboo hat.

A shaft of daylight happened to fall across the person's face.

Their brows and eyes were exquisite as a painting, their skin cold and pale, yet their lips bore an unnatural rosy red. Beneath that beauty lay an unmistakably feminine softness.

"Urgh..."

An inexplicable, strange sound escaped from their throat.

The voice fluctuated wildly. One moment, it was hoarse and gloomy, like earth and stone grinding together; the next, it was clear and melodious, like jade chimes being struck.

Looking closely at the person, then listening to that voice, one could not tell whether they were male or female.

Even their age was impossible to judge.

"Shen Chong... Wu Lian... Die!!!"

Their red lips opened again, and their black, unfathomably deep eyes swept toward a corner of the Inner City, as though they could see through half the city at a glance.

"My sect's sacred relic... How could it be allowed to remain lost in such a filthy place..."

That strange voice echoed softly through the empty ruined temple, its pitch shifting between yin and yang without any pattern, yet every word was incomparably clear.

"Find it!"

Their flawless fingers, pale and lustrous as jade, lightly brushed over the dust-covered shrine. The movement was elegant, yet it carried an inhuman stiffness.

"Those who stand in my way... Kill! Kill! Kill! Even if every one of the city's million households must be slaughtered, the sacred relic must be welcomed back!"

Peaceful Lane.

Inside the small but clean and orderly earthen-walled tile-roofed house.

Madam Li sat on a low stool by the window. The mild early-winter sunlight slanted through the lattice and settled over her, warm and cozy, leaving her heart feeling especially at ease as well.

Her fingers unconsciously twisted the corner of her clothes. Looking at the garments drying outside the window, she spoke hesitantly.

"Cheng, your mother is always sitting around like this. My bones are growing lazy. The families living around Peaceful Lane all seem respectable, so I was thinking of taking on some small mending and laundry work..."

"Mother, things have been chaotic outside lately. Don't take on odd jobs."

Chen Cheng had made a special trip back today, bringing a bulging sack of rice, a slab of pork with fat and lean meat layered together, and several kinds of dried vegetables that would keep well.

He sat across from his mother and spoke steadily.

"If you really can't sit still, just buy some cloth and make yourself a few thick winter clothes and quilts."

As Chen Cheng spoke, he took out a handful of silver pieces from his robes.

"Here are three taels of silver. Keep them for now."

"No! Your mother has hands and feet. It's bad enough that I can't help you—how can I drag you down?"

Madam Li shook her head repeatedly.

"How is that dragging me down? Listen to my explanation."

Chen Cheng said calmly.

"One tael is for the winter tax for the two of us. One tael is for cloth and sewing supplies. With the remaining tael, you can buy whatever we need for winter... I can use it too whenever I come back, right?"

"This..."

After hearing him out, Madam Li found that it truly made sense.

If she did not accept this money, there was no way to ensure that the household could make it safely through the winter.

"Cheng... This family is truly being held up by you! Mother... Mother is truly enjoying the blessings you've brought!"

She wiped the corners of her eyes, yet she could not suppress her gratified smile.

"It's only because we moved out. If we were still in Bitter Locust Village... Aunt Zhang and the others would surely be so jealous of Mother!"

Seeing his mother so happy, Chen Cheng's mood improved greatly as well. He kept her company and spoke with her for quite some time before finally getting up to leave.

Just beyond the wall beside this house was the Lower Academy of Dragon Mountain Hall.

Chen Cheng walked around to it and knocked on the door.

(Please vote with your monthly tickets. It's Monday today, and I'm hoping to climb the new book rankings. Handsome readers with monthly tickets, please toss a few my way. Many thanks, many thanks, many thanks... (≥?≤)?)