Having revealed the mastermind, the burly man's voice grew feeble, whether from the poison or from being frightened by Gao Shang.
"Zhou Qi said you've been buying whale rubber in bulk lately. Not only do you have money, you probably have a steady channel for reselling it, too."
"He gave us a thousand Gold Soul Coins to find a way to get you to reveal that channel."
Gao Shang's brows furrowed slightly.
He had already left the whale rubber purchases to someone else. He hadn't expected anyone to trace them back to him so quickly.
"And what if I refused to talk even if it killed me?"
The burly man glanced at Gao Shang. He felt that someone as ruthless as Gao Shang ought to treasure his life more than he did, and wouldn't value money over his own life.
But he didn't dare say that, and could only continue his account:
"Zhou Qi said that if you'd rather die than talk, we should squeeze as much money out of you as possible. If that didn't work... kill you outright."
"Then any Gold Soul Coins on you would be ours."
"As for the pharmacy buying whale rubber for you, without you paying, its money would be tied up in unsold stock. He could take the opportunity to buy it out."
Gao Shang fell silent.
Sun Meng was also dumbstruck by what she heard.
She had thought someone had simply come to cause trouble at the shop. She hadn't expected them to have planned so far ahead.
After a while, Gao Shang let out a breath.
He really had underestimated the people of the Douluo Continent a little.
This Zhou Qi was well-informed and ruthless enough.
If he got the channel out of Gao Shang, he could get a hand in the whale rubber business. If he couldn't, he could still swallow up a rival pharmacy.
As for the two before him, whether they extorted money or killed someone, they would most likely flee far away afterward.
As long as no one named him, none of this could be laid at his door.
Killing with a borrowed knife and pulling the firewood from beneath the cauldron-he had played those moves beautifully indeed.
"Who else knows about this besides you two?"
The burly man shook his head.
"No one else on our side. On Zhou Qi's side... I don't know. He's pretty cautious. He probably wouldn't go around telling people."
Gao Shang rubbed his chin.
This was a little tricky.
Zhou Qi even knew that he only had level-one Soul Power, which meant he might have acquaintances in Spirit Hall, too.
If that really was the case, Su Yuntao alone might not be able to handle this properly.
As for the city lord's residence, he had even less influence there. Unless Ma Xiunuo stepped in, even getting an audience with the city lord would be difficult.
"Um... we..."
Seeing that Gao Shang had made no move for so long, the burly man couldn't help speaking up quietly.
He could still hold on himself. Although the wound at his waist hurt, Hong Hua's poison was only a paralytic toxin and wasn't lethal.
But Hong Hua still hadn't woken up, and he simply couldn't stop worrying.
Gao Shang glanced at him, then looked at Sun Meng beside him.
Although she was curious, she still hadn't recovered from her earlier fright, and lingering fear remained in her eyes when she looked at the burly man.
Gao Shang had an idea.
Though these two weren't particularly strong, they still had some bottom line. Keeping them to watch the shop and protect Sun Meng would be sufficient.
"I won't bully you, either. I'll give you two choices."
"One, leave the thousand Gold Soul Coins Zhou Qi gave you as compensation. I won't pursue what happened today any further."
"Two, stay and help watch my shop and protect my shop assistant. You'll each get two hundred Gold Soul Coins a month, with extra rewards if you perform well in the future."
The burly man had already resigned himself to his fate. As long as he and Hong Hua could survive today, anything else was negotiable.
Yet Gao Shang's first condition was actually just for them to leave those thousand Gold Soul Coins behind?
He had only just used Hong Hua's life to force him to talk, and now he was willing to let them go.
He almost thought there was something wrong with the mind of the person before him.
But before he could choose the first option, Gao Shang's next words knocked him senseless.
Two hundred Gold Soul Coins per person per month?
That was four hundred for the two of them!
It was as much as the monthly subsidies of four Soul Elders!
If he'd met a boss like this earlier, why would he have taken a job stirring up trouble in the city for a thousand Gold Soul Coins?
Though a mercenary's life offered more freedom, Gao Shang was simply offering far too much.
The burly man dismissed the Martial Soul in his hand and dropped to his knees with a thud.
"Boss, I'm yours from now on! Please save Hong Hua first!"
"Don't worry. Since I've taken you in, I'll naturally save her."
Gao Shang reached out and helped the burly man up, brought him into the shop, then went outside and carried Hong Hua back in.
Seeing Sun Meng standing nearby, wanting to help but not knowing how to lend a hand, he said with a smile:
"Sister Xiao Meng, go tidy up. We're closing early today. I'll take you to dinner with Brother Tao and the others tonight."
"Huh? But... boss, with my status..."
Gao Shang knew what she was worried about.
Although Sun Meng worked in the shop and received wages every month, she had actually signed a contract selling herself into servitude.
Three years ago, Su Yuntao had bought her with the intention of having her care for the young Gao Shang.
But Gao Shang was a transmigrator, and most of the time, he didn't need her to look after him at all.
As time went on, having nothing to do instead left Sun Meng living in fear all day long.
Only then had Gao Shang opened a milk tea shop, both to give her something to do and to earn some money along the way.
"All right, Sister Xiao Meng. We're all family. Brother Tao won't object."
"It's settled. Hurry up and tidy up. I still have to treat these two."
With that, Gao Shang dragged one person in each hand toward the back courtyard.
There was no helping it, given his height.
Even after absorbing his first Soul Ring, he was still less than a meter and a half tall. With two adults to move, dragging them was easier instead.
The back courtyard wasn't far away anyway. As long as he was careful, he wouldn't injure them further.
"All... all right."
Sun Meng lowered her head and didn't refuse again.
Busy getting the two into the back courtyard, Gao Shang didn't see that her eyes, hidden behind her hair, had already reddened.
Once in the back courtyard, Gao Shang settled the two beside the wall, opened the System Shop, and searched for suitable medicines.
The Douluo Continent had a fairly comprehensive range of medicines for ordinary people, with appropriate prescriptions for most illnesses and injuries.
Medicines suitable for Soul Masters, however, were pitifully scarce.
There were even fewer varieties than those special items that could provide Soul Rings, and most of their effects left much to be desired.
Although the system offered enhanced versions of various medicines, these mostly used older medicinal ingredients, with few improvements to the prescriptions themselves.
For high-level Soul Masters, taking such medicines was less efficient to absorb than simply consuming the medicinal ingredients directly.
Fortunately, neither Hong Hua nor the burly man had a high Soul Power Level, so these medicines were still guaranteed to work on them.
The two pills cost two hundred and thirty Gold Soul Coins in total.
Hong Hua's pill treated mental trauma and was more expensive, costing a full two hundred Gold Soul Coins.
The burly man only needed the poison removed first, which cost just thirty Gold Soul Coins.
After giving them the pills, Gao Shang continued questioning him while waiting for the medicine to take effect:
"Tell me about yourselves in detail."
"Boss, my name is Wang Tianyuan. My Martial Soul is an iron hammer, and I'm a level-twenty-four Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster."
The system's antidote really did take effect quickly.
In barely half a minute, much of the numbness in Wang Tianyuan's body had faded, and some of his strength had returned.
Only the wound at his waist remained. Any large movement still pulled at it painfully.
After introducing himself, he looked at Hong Hua, who had yet to wake up.
"Her name is Hong Hua. Her Martial Soul is rose thorn, and she's a level-twenty-five Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster."
"We're both twenty-five this year."
"Twenty-five?"