"Sir, here's your roast goose!"
The shopkeeper soon brought out a large wooden basin filled to the brim with steaming roast geese.
His shop was a long-established business in Chaoyang City. Though it was out of the way, plenty of people in the city still came to buy his roast goose, so he prepared dozens of them every day.
He had only gone to the kitchen to heat up the geese he had already prepared, so naturally he had been quick.
Wang Hao said nothing more. He grabbed a roast goose and tore into it.
Before long, Wu Tai walked in, a broadsword tucked at his waist and blood covering his body. He first gave the resentful-looking shopkeeper an apologetic nod, then sat down, grabbed a roast goose, and tore into it as well.
At the same time, he placed a bundle on the table in front of Wang Hao. It contained the money he had found.
Holding the goose in one hand, Wang Hao opened the bundle with the other, revealing its contents.
At the bottom were five banknotes worth a hundred taels of silver each. On top of them were some pieces of silver, which looked to total more than a hundred taels.
"Shopkeeper, take these hundred taels. Leave Chaoyang City and find somewhere else to reopen your shop!"
Wang Hao pulled out a hundred-tael banknote and tossed it to the deeply troubled shopkeeper standing nearby. After all, their arrival at his shop was bound to bring trouble. The Black Tiger Gang wouldn't care about the reason, and if they caught the shopkeeper, his fate wouldn't be a good one.
The man was innocent and had promptly prepared this food for them, so Wang Hao naturally didn't mind giving him a hand.
"Thank you, sir!"
The shopkeeper froze for a moment. Once he came to his senses, he thanked Wang Hao in delight and hurried back inside. Before long, he came out happily carrying a small bundle on his back and his daughter in his arms, then took his wife by the hand and hurried out through the back door.
His shop might have been thriving, but he used only the finest ingredients, so his profits weren't all that high. After deducting the hefty protection fees collected by the Black Tiger Gang, he was doing well if he earned a tael of silver in a month.
Now this customer had given him a hundred taels all at once. How could he not be delighted?
With the savings he had accumulated over the years, he could go to any city and open an even bigger and better shop.
This man was truly his great benefactor!
"Benefactor, you truly have a kind heart!"
Moved by the sight, Wu Tai spoke with heartfelt admiration.
"Of course. You should know I'm known for doing one good deed a day. Though helping fallen old ladies up is an exception!"
Wang Hao spoke proudly.
"Huh?"
Wu Tai was utterly baffled. He could understand the first half, but the second made no sense to him.
"It's nothing. Hurry up and eat. I'll go in the back and find something to pack all these roast geese in."
Only then did Wang Hao realize that this wasn't Earth, so there was no way Wu Tai could understand the joke.
After that offhand reply, he got up and went to the kitchen. Before long, he found a sack and packed all the roast geese into it.
After all, they didn't have much time. The Black Tiger Gang would come after them before long, so they couldn't sit here eating at their leisure.
"Benefactor, lie down on the cart. I'll pull you to the Black Tiger Gang."
When Wang Hao came out, he saw that Wu Tai had changed clothes and put on a conical hat that concealed most of his face. He was pushing a handcart with a piece of burlap on it for cover.
There was no helping it. Wang Hao's build was far too conspicuous, making it utterly unrealistic for him to sneak to the Black Tiger Gang. Things would be much better if he could cover himself up.
"Mm."
Wang Hao nodded and lay down on the cart, scooping up Little Erha, who was holding a goose head and gnawing away at it, as he did so.
He intended to keep the little fellow!
Not daring to waste time, Wu Tai pulled the little cart into a secluded alley.
Heaven was on their side. Before long, rain began pouring down in torrents, completely masking the smell of blood on the two men.
Although the Black Tiger Gang had sent out many men to search the entire city, finding two people in these conditions was far too difficult.
Wu Tai was also extremely familiar with Chaoyang City and chose secluded alleys to travel through, so they remained undiscovered all the way to the rear wall of the Black Tiger Gang's compound.
Of course, it wasn't that nobody had found them. A small squad of Black Tiger Gang members had spotted them along the way, but they had all ended up lying on the ground beneath Wang Hao's greatsword, so it was as good as not being discovered.
Right, no living person had discovered them!
Upon reaching a quiet spot beneath the wall, Wu Tai picked up a small stone and quickly scratched a simplified layout of the estate onto it.
"Benefactor, this is the Black Tiger Gang's compound. This area is where the gang members live, this area is where the higher-ups live, and this area is a large training ground. This..."
With time pressing, Wu Tai wasted no words. Pointing at the layout he had drawn, he quickly explained it to Wang Hao, even describing every path in complete detail.
"You don't need to follow me in. But you'd better find a carriage and wait in the alley directly opposite the Black Tiger Gang's compound to meet us. Once I bring your Qing'er out, we'll immediately take the carriage to the city gate."
After carefully studying the estate layout scratched on the wall once more, Wang Hao made his decision.
"Then please be careful, Benefactor!"
Wu Tai knew his strength was lacking and that following Wang Hao would only make him a burden who got in the way, so he nodded in agreement without saying anything more.
"Take good care of my dog. Don't let him get lost."
Wang Hao rubbed Little Erha's head, took a running start, and scrambled up the wall in a few moves. He looked inside, and seeing no one nearby, climbed over.
"Qing'er, wait for me!"
Clenching his fists, Wu Tai watched Wang Hao climb over the wall. Then he picked up Little Erha and hurried down another alley to prepare the carriage Wang Hao needed.
Leaving aside Wu Tai's preparations outside, Wang Hao, having climbed into the Black Tiger Gang's compound, carefully made his way toward the very center of the estate, because Wang Heihu's bedroom was in the innermost area.
Wang Heihu liked keeping dogs, especially vicious breeds, so he had built the kennels beside his bedroom and assigned someone specifically to look after them.
If what that Black Tiger Gang member had said earlier was true, Qing'er should be in those kennels.
Perhaps the Black Tiger Gang had sent most of its members out, because there weren't many people in the compound. Wang Hao dealt with the few he encountered and hid them.
In the end, Wang Hao even swaggered into the inner area. Following the sound of barking, he soon found the kennels.
"Are you Miss Qing'er?"
Before he could enter the kennels, Wang Hao saw a woman with her face covered coming out, pushing a wheelbarrow full of dog feces. Dressed so strangely, she was probably Qing'er, the woman who had slashed her own face.
"..."
Qing'er looked at Wang Hao blankly. Her eyes, the only part of her face visible, were lifeless. Clearly, she wasn't shocked by his frightening physique-or perhaps she simply didn't care.
"Wu Tai offered his family's Secret Forging Scroll and his own life as the price for me to bring a girl named Qing'er out. If you're Qing'er, come with me!"
Wang Hao looked the woman over. Sure enough, through the gaps around her eyes, he could faintly make out several gruesome scars on her face. He could be fairly certain she was the person he was looking for.
"Brother Tai?"
Sure enough, when Qing'er heard Wu Tai's name, a spark returned to her lifeless eyes, and she seemed to come a little more alive.
"Has Brother Tai finally come for me? No, I can't see him. Qing'er died long ago. I'm not Qing'er."
At first, she was overjoyed, but when she thought of how she now looked like a vicious ghost, Qing'er shook her head repeatedly. She was extremely agitated and spoke incoherently.
"Tsk, tsk! Wu Tai said that if he doesn't see you in an hour, he'll take his saber and charge in himself. Sigh, with his paltry skills, the Black Tiger Gang will surely chop him into dumpling filling. They might even feed him to the dogs in the kennels!"
Faced with the thoroughly uncooperative Qing'er, Wang Hao didn't grow anxious. Instead, he clicked his tongue at leisure, because he had already grasped this girl's weakness.
Sure enough, Qing'er, who had nearly retreated into the kennels, immediately stiffened at his words.
"I'll go with you!"
After struggling with herself for quite a while, Qing'er finally decided to go out and see her Brother Tai.
She couldn't let Brother Tai do something foolish!
"Clang! Clang!"
Just then, piercing gongs rang out across the estate. The whole place erupted into an uproar, with shouts rising all around.
"Oh? Looks like getting out will take some work."
Wang Hao wasn't surprised. After all, he had killed several people on his way in. Although he had hidden and concealed them at the time, it wasn't foolproof. They were bound to be discovered afterward; it was only a question of when.
It was already pretty good that discovery had been delayed this long!
"Miss Qing'er, do you know the fastest way to throw this place into chaos?"
Wang Hao turned his gaze back to Qing'er, hoping she could give him some inspiration.
After all, he was unfamiliar with the Black Tiger Gang's estate. The layout Wu Tai had given him earlier was only a simplified version, with many blind spots, so it would be difficult to throw the place into chaos with that alone.
Only by creating chaos and preventing the enemy from organizing enough men to surround and kill him could he break out smoothly and make enough of a commotion to draw the men stationed at the city gate over here, giving himself a chance to get through the gate.
"I know a place where a large quantity of fierce fire oil is hidden. There's also likely a tunnel leading outside in Wang Heihu's secret cultivation chamber."
Qing'er was quick-witted too. She soon understood what Wang Hao had in mind and offered two suggestions.
"Fierce fire oil, and a large quantity of it? The Black Tiger Gang has some big ambitions!"
Wang Hao raised his brows. He hadn't expected the Black Tiger Gang to dare hide large quantities of a strategic resource like fierce fire oil.
In this era, fierce fire oil was simply processed petroleum, and because of its properties, the imperial court had prohibited its sale.
Wang Heihu really was bold!
"Lead the way!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Hao decided to head straight for the place where the Black Tiger Gang had hidden the fierce fire oil.
There was going to be a huge commotion today!
"Benefactor, please wait a moment!"
Instead of setting off immediately, Qing'er turned back into the kennels behind her and unfastened all the vicious dogs' chains.
"Woof! Woof! Woof..."
A burst of frenzied barking rang out, followed by dozens of ferocious figures charging from the kennels. Qing'er was the last to come out.
The vicious dogs didn't run off. Instead, they circled Qing'er, acting very affectionate.
It wasn't hard to guess why. Qing'er had raised these dogs for four whole years, feeding and bathing them and cleaning their kennels all by herself. She had long since formed a close bond with them.
Even if Wang Heihu came, the dogs probably wouldn't be as affectionate with him as they were with Qing'er.
"Benefactor, please follow me!"
Qing'er nodded to Wang Hao, then strode off in one direction. The vicious dogs hurried after her.
What a clever woman!
Wang Hao gave Qing'er an appreciative look, then hurried after her with his greatsword.
He didn't have much time left!