The Complex Situation in the Outer City (Please Bookmark and Vote)

"Higher?" Xiao Wang was somewhat puzzled. After thinking it over briefly, he understood. "Senior Brother, you mean a higher price also means greater risk."

Linghu Ke glanced at Xiao Wang. "Junior Brother, your mind really is quick. That's right. Reward and risk have always gone hand in hand. A high price means high risk. If you think the risk is too great and don't want to go, I can talk to Sister Hua and have her replace you."

"No need." Xiao Wang immediately rejected the suggestion. "Didn't you say it yourself, Senior Brother? High price, high risk. But you can look at it the other way around too. The risk may be high, but so is the pay."

Linghu Ke was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, that's true."

"Senior Brother, there are still a few things I don't understand." As they walked back, Xiao Wang asked.

"Like what?"

Xiao Wang paused and pointed around them. "This should already count as the outskirts of the outer city, right?"

Linghu Ke nodded. "That's right."

"Then security here should be considered pretty bad, even by outer city standards?"

"Yes."

As soon as Linghu Ke answered, he guessed what Xiao Wang meant. "Are you wondering how Sister Hua, a woman with barely any guards or bodyguards, can establish herself in a place like this?"

"Exactly."

Xiao Wang nodded. That was indeed what puzzled him.

Even areas close to the inner city were not necessarily much safer. Bloody incidents occurred from time to time at night, yet Sister Hua possessed so many valuable things and had only a few guards, but she still came and went freely.

"A man's only guilty of possessing a treasure. Has no one ever set their sights on her?"

"You don't know this, then. Anyone doing business in the outer city, especially big business, is either connected to the Patrol Bureau, connected to a gang, or directly from the inner city. Take Fusheng Group, for example. In short, anyone doing major business in the outer city has people backing them."

"I understand." Xiao Wang nodded after hearing that, realizing that the situation in the outer city was even more complicated than he had imagined.

After a brief pause, he continued asking:

"Also, why did Sister Hua hire five of us from three different factions to deliver goods? Since delivery is a cooperative effort, wouldn't hiring people from the same group make coordination much tighter?"

Linghu Ke replied, "You're quite observant. You're right that people from the same group would coordinate very well, but that also carries the greatest risk. No one dares act recklessly in the city, but once you leave the city, no one can say what might happen."

"You mean this is to prevent the delivery people from turning on her and hijacking the goods themselves?"

Linghu Ke nodded. "That's right. These are lessons countless people before us learned with their lives. That's why important goods are now transported this way—different people, balancing and restraining one another. When facing bandits, there may be gaps in coordination, but at least they generally won't turn on each other and stage a hijacking. That's why Sister Hua didn't stop Xiang Menqing when he accused you. In her eyes, that kind of hostility actually made her safer."

"Of course, there's another reason as well: you need a combination of ranged and close combat."

Xiao Wang nodded as he listened. Once the reasoning was laid out, it was not hard to understand.

"Then since people like Sister Hua are backed by either the Patrol Bureau or gangs, does that mean the risk will be a little lower when we leave the city to deliver their goods?"

Linghu Ke gave a cold laugh. "You're overthinking it. Not only is it not lower, it's even greater."

"Huh? Why?"

Linghu Ke turned and swept his gaze around. "Whether it's the Patrol Bureau or gangs, there are countless power blocs and factions. There's only so much meat, but far too many mouths want a bite. Right now, there are definitely people from other factions watching this place from the shadows. The moment we leave the city, they'll seize the chance to act."

As Xiao Wang listened, he too cautiously glanced around. Only then did he truly begin to understand how dangerous this job was.

"So delivering goods doesn't just mean fighting bandits outside the city. It's also essentially a conflict with other factions inside the city."

"More or less. But they don't dare make it too open. At least on the surface, they maintain peace. If things blow up too badly, it won't be the Patrol Bureau's problem anymore. The inner city will directly step in and suppress it."

"The inner city?" Xiao Wang repeated. "Senior Brother, from the way you put it, the inner city's combat strength seems much higher than the Patrol Bureau's."

Linghu Ke smiled. "Is that hard to understand? If the Patrol Bureau were stronger, then the Patrol Bureau would be in the inner city now, not those people. Do you think this is some peaceful age of perfect order?"

Xiao Wang's eyes narrowed at those words.

He could not help looking toward the distant inner city wall and recalling what Aries had told him.

Even if I entered the inner city now, I'd probably still be a nobody, at the mercy of others.

"I need to improve my strength as quickly as possible."

After pulling his thoughts back, Xiao Wang thought of another question.

"And those two men with guns, Ding Hanlin and Xiang Menqing. Can they really carry guns so openly? Aren't ordinary people forbidden from carrying guns in the outer city? Even if they carry them, shouldn't they do so secretly? They didn't seem to care at all, especially Xiang Menqing."

"The people carrying guns in the outer city come from complicated backgrounds, but they're most likely connected to military, police, or academy backgrounds. Many of them may even have once been with the Patrol Bureau and are only working outside now."

"I understand," Xiao Wang said. "So there isn't much difference between banning it and not banning it."

"There is still a difference. Did you see what kind of guns they were using?"

"I did. Pistols."

"That's right. That's the difference. For pistols and ordinary firearms, people generally turn a blind eye. But firearms with greater destructive power, like sniper rifles, submachine guns, or machine guns, are strictly controlled."

"I understand."

The two chatted as they headed back. By the time they reached the martial arts school, the sky had darkened without them noticing.

The moment they opened the school gates, they smelled the aroma of food.

After entering, they saw Wei Zhongxing sitting at the entrance of the main hall, drinking tea.

The two went inside and bowed to Wei Zhongxing.

"Did you settle it?" Wei Zhongxing asked casually.

"Yes."

"What price?"

"Five thousand federal dollars per person," Linghu Ke answered.

He knew why Wei Zhongxing was asking. As an old hand in this line of work, Wei Zhongxing only needed to hear the price to judge whether the danger level was high or low.

After hearing the answer, Wei Zhongxing looked at Xiao Wang. "Do you know what that means?"

Xiao Wang nodded. "I do. Second Senior Brother explained it to me."

"You still decided to go?"

"I'm going. High risk means high income."

Xiao Wang repeated to Wei Zhongxing what he had said to Linghu Ke.

"It's enough that you know what it means."

After hearing that, Wei Zhongxing did not try to dissuade him. He merely said that lightly and fell silent.

Just then—

Cheng Hu's voice came from outside.

"Dinner's ready."

The four then went to sit in the main hall. Today's meal was considerably more lavish than usual. Not only was there more oil, there was meat, especially the pork liver Xiao Wang had specifically bought.

"Go get a bottle of liquor."

Before they started eating, Wei Zhongxing instructed Cheng Hu.

Cheng Hu immediately got up, brought the liquor over, and poured a cup for each of them.

Wei Zhongxing lifted his cup and looked at Linghu Ke and Xiao Wang. "When you deliver those goods, keep your damn eyes open. Understand?"

"Understood. Thank you, Master."

Linghu Ke and Xiao Wang answered in unison.

Then Wei Zhongxing turned to stare at Xiao Wang. "You're a rookie. Don't fucking try to show off. Keep your eyes open. Understand?"

"I understand, Master. Don't worry."

"Come on, let's have a drink together." Wei Zhongxing raised his cup forward.

The three martial brothers also raised their cups, clinked them together, and drained them in one gulp.

After finishing their drinks, they began eating. Xiao Wang picked up a piece of pork liver and put it in his mouth. After chewing twice, his eyes lit up. He gave Cheng Hu a thumbs-up. "Eldest Senior Brother, excellent cooking."

Cheng Hu smiled. "I have Junior Brother to thank for this. Without you, who knows when we would have gotten to eat pork liver?"

Wei Zhongxing immediately shot Cheng Hu a glare. "You mean I've never let you eat pork liver?"

As he spoke, Wei Zhongxing was also stuffing a large chopstickful of pork liver into his own mouth.

"Master, that's not what I meant," Cheng Hu replied quietly.

The four soon finished their meal amid casual chatter.

After resting for a while, Xiao Wang began practicing the Tiger Guard Fist in the courtyard again.

He was no longer thinking only about getting into Mount Yuan Martial Arts Academy. He was also recalling what Linghu Ke had said.

And what had happened earlier in Sister Hua's office. If Xiang Menqing had raised his pistol and fired at him then, could he have dodged it? And if he had dodged it, could he have killed him in return?

After thinking it over carefully—

I could probably dodge it, but killing him in return would be difficult, Xiao Wang thought.

I still need to train.

Seeing how hard Xiao Wang was working, the other three said nothing more.

After watching for a while, they each went off to rest.

Before leaving, Wei Zhongxing reminded him:

"You're delivering goods tomorrow. Don't train too long. Get some rest early."