Lackey

Song Wen's humble attitude greatly satisfied Gou Hang.

The anger on Gou Hang's face vanished at once. After looking Song Wen up and down, he asked,

"Can you read?"

He had seen clearly just now that after Song Wen squeezed through the crowd, he carefully read the notice before turning away in disappointment.

At the time, no one had explained the contents of the notice.

From Song Wen's series of reactions, it was not hard to tell that he could read.

Song Wen was taken aback when he heard this. He had not expected to attract attention because of that.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as he weighed the pros and cons and considered how to answer.

After repeatedly weighing the matter, Song Wen decided to answer truthfully.

This Lord Gou was sharp-eyed and probably would not be easy to fool.

Having made up his mind, Song Wen bent even lower, and the fawning smile on his face grew more pronounced.

"Reporting to Lord Gou, I attended a private school for a few years when I was young and learned to recognize some words."

Song Wen's expression did not change, nor did his heart skip a beat. The lie came smoothly from his lips, and no outsider could possibly spot anything amiss.

Gou Hang nodded. He was very satisfied with both Song Wen's attitude and his answer, and there was already a hint of appreciation in his gaze.

The scholars he usually dealt with always liked to act lofty. Even when they could barely afford food, they still looked down on his recruitment offers. After all, he was merely a low-ranking leader in the Heavenly Baleful Gang.

Today, he had finally encountered a scholar who knew how to read the situation and treated him well, and in front of so many people at that. It greatly satisfied Gou Hang's vanity.

Gou Hang raised his chin, maintaining his arrogant persona.

"How old are you this year?"

"Sixteen."

In order not to be looked down upon, Song Wen deliberately added a little to his age based on his body's condition.

"What's your name?"

"Song Wen."

Gou Hang nodded and continued asking,

"How do you make a living?"

"I write letters for people and earn a meager income to get by," Song Wen continued fabricating.

After that, Gou Hang asked some more questions about Song Wen's family circumstances.

Song Wen portrayed himself as someone whose family had fallen into decline, whose parents had both died, and who had no relatives or friends.

"Follow me from now on, Lord Gou. With my recommendation, you can smoothly join the Heavenly Baleful Gang and receive a salary of one tael of silver every month."

It had to be said that in the Gan Kingdom, where literacy was extremely low, scholars still received fairly good treatment.

At the current prices in the Gan Kingdom, one tael of silver was enough to feed a family for a month.

Hesitation appeared on Song Wen's face. He instinctively resisted the sudden kindness of a stranger.

Gou Hang did not look like a good person. Could things truly be as wonderful as he claimed?

"What? You look down on the Heavenly Baleful Gang?" Gou Hang's displeased voice rang out.

Song Wen piled a false smile onto his face and explained ingratiatingly.

"Lord Gou, you misunderstand. It's only that I am untalented and know too few characters. I'm afraid I might delay your important affairs."

"If I'm not afraid, what are you afraid of? Don't be ungrateful, kid."

Hearing the threat in the other man's tone, Song Wen could only go along with it. He immediately put on a grateful smile and replied,

"Thank you for your patronage, Lord Gou. From now on, I will follow your lead in all things and brave fire and water for you."

Song Wen's eyes were filled with intense gratitude, as though he had encountered a parent who had given him a second life. The fervor and worship in his gaze made Gou Hang float with delight. It had been a long time since he had experienced being so revered.

Gou Hang reached into the arms of one of his subordinates and pulled out half an oil cake.

"Your face is all sickly. I reckon you haven't had a full meal in quite some time. Here's half a cake I had left over from breakfast. Take it and eat."

"Thank you for your reward, Lord Gou."

Song Wen accepted the oil cake and wolfed it down.

One reason was that he truly was hungry right now. The other was to continue satisfying Gou Hang's vanity.

As he ate the cake, he silently calculated in his heart.

It seemed that the treatment for members of the Heavenly Baleful Gang was not as good as he had imagined. Otherwise, Gou Hang would not have kept half an oil cake rather than throw it away.

But on second thought, if things were truly as Gou Hang said, joining the Heavenly Baleful Gang would not be a loss for him.

The Heavenly Baleful Gang was Salt City's largest underworld force. Since he was joining as a scholar, they presumably would not send him out to fight and kill. His personal safety would still have some protection, while his food and shelter would be taken care of. Given his current circumstances, it was already the best choice available.

For all of this, he truly had to thank Lord Gou before him. Though Lord Gou did not seem to have much sense, he had indeed solved Song Wen's most urgent problem of survival.

Gou Hang had come to this street to post and announce the Heavenly Baleful Gang's recruitment of children. He loudly proclaimed the contents of the notice.

Naturally, he could not read, but someone had told him the contents of the notice beforehand.

Then, he led Song Wen away.

After passing through the tight defenses of numerous Heavenly Baleful Gang members, they entered the gang's headquarters.

The Heavenly Baleful Gang's grounds were enormous. Under Gou Hang's guidance, they wound through twists and turns before arriving outside a row of houses.

After entering one of the rooms, Gou Hang respectfully said to an old man,

"Elder Yan, I found a newcomer. He's a scholar who can read."

Elder Yan was over fifty years old. In these turbulent times, with little medicine and scarce medical care, he was already considered long-lived.

He opened his clouded eyes and examined Song Wen before tossing him a small booklet.

In a tone that brooked no refusal, he said,

"Read the contents of that booklet aloud."

Song Wen caught the booklet and knew this was a test of his abilities.

So this is an ancient job interview! Song Wen thought to himself.

He opened the small booklet and began reading aloud.

"Heaven and earth are dark and yellow; the universe vast and wild. The sun and moon wax and wane; the stars are spread across the sky. Cold comes and heat departs; autumn harvests and winter stores..."

"Enough. That will do."

Elder Yan did not let Song Wen finish. After he had read a little over a hundred characters, Elder Yan interrupted him.

Elder Yan turned to Gou Hang. "Your luck isn't bad. Elder Extreme Yin has recently been recruiting another batch of literate young people. This boy happens to be a good fit."

Gou Hang rubbed his hands together, looking somewhat restrained as he gave an awkward laugh.

"Elder Yan, I heard that there's a reward for bringing scholars to Elder Extreme Yin. So, about that..."

Elder Yan smiled. "You're quite well-informed, boy. I thought you had simply gotten lucky and stumbled into him. Turns out you came prepared. Go to the accounts office and collect ten taels as your reward."

"Thank you, Elder Yan." Gou Hang bowed and scraped, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

Song Wen, watching from the side, was somewhat baffled.

What was going on? Why was there a reward of ten taels of silver for recruiting a scholar?

In Salt City, ten taels of silver could buy two pretty young servant girls.

A bad feeling rose in his heart. It seemed that he had been sold.

Earlier, he had been rather pleased with himself, thinking he had played Gou Hang like a fiddle. It turned out the fool was himself.

Looking at Gou Hang as he turned to leave, Song Wen called out with the last sliver of hope remaining in his heart.

"Lord Gou, weren't you going to let me live in luxury?"

Gou Hang shot Song Wen a disdainful glance, his eyes filled with coldness and mockery.

Then, without saying a word, he turned and left, quickly disappearing from sight.

"He's just a street thug. How could he possibly let you live in luxury? Going to Elder Extreme Yin is an opportunity that countless people could only beg for. That is an immortal opportunity, so don't be ungrateful."

Elder Yan's cold voice sounded behind Song Wen.

"Men, take this boy to Elder Extreme Yin."

Two burly men entered from outside. Each had a three-foot steel saber tucked at his waist.

Clang!

Half a saber slid from its sheath. The gleaming blade radiated a chilling light that made Song Wen's eyes ache.

"Kid, I advise you to behave yourself and don't make any rash moves," one of the burly men said coldly.

Song Wen's heart was full of anger and unwillingness. He did not believe a single word of Elder Yan's so-called immortal opportunity.

If it truly were an immortal opportunity everyone envied, would they be recruiting people through abduction and coercion?

But faced with the chilling steel saber, he could only helplessly accept reality.

The weak could only be manipulated by others!

Yet as he followed the two burly men away, his fists were clenched tight, incredibly tight.