Undercurrents

Nearly another month passed.

At a restaurant in West River Ward, Chongming City, Wei Ni had just seen off a group of the ward's most prominent merchants. Now he gazed down at the scene below, thoroughly pleased with himself.

What a bustling street it was, with pedestrians woven together like cloth and carts and horses flowing like water.

Peddlers, passersby, carts, and horses jostled shoulder to shoulder along the street, their raised sleeves forming a canopy of shade.

Even in Chongming City, a place like a paradise beyond the world, this was a district of the finest prosperity. Even selling a son here would fetch a couple more silver ingots than elsewhere.

All of this is mine!

He had endured countless hardships to rise from a penniless fighting man to a Blood Refining expert, finally earning himself a seat among the leaders of the Wild Wolf Gang, whose fame shook Chongming City. Wasn't this the very day he had done it all for?

Wei Ni gathered his thoughts and was about to look away, still riding high on his good spirits, when he spotted a man standing beneath a roadside tea stall across from the restaurant, tilting his head and smiling at him.

Fucking ugly! Wei Ni cursed inwardly. He hurriedly wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a look of shock. Then he hunched over and scurried downstairs, knocking over a servant coming up to serve tea and leaving the underlings beside him wide-eyed with surprise.

As he neared the smiling man, he lowered his head even further and, with practiced ease, put a fawning smile on his face. Finally, he raised his coarse voice a pitch and said shrilly, "So it's Master Hong! I was wondering why the magpies wouldn't stop calling this morning."

The commotion startled the tea stall owner. This lord of the Wild Wolf Gang was infamous for his inhuman brutality, so how-

The slender-waisted young man addressed as "Master Hong" wore a false smile. He raised his eyebrows and beckoned Wei Ni over.

Wei Ni didn't dare delay. Hunched over, he hurried across.

Slap, slap, slap. Three crisp smacks rang out from the tea stall, leaving the left cheek of the Wild Wolf Gang's lowest-ranking leader red and burning. Yet the fawning smile on his face didn't change in the slightest.

The sight frightened the idle onlookers in the street into scattering at once.

"Why do your magpies squawk nonsense every day? Don't they get tired?" The slender-waisted young man casually drew back his hand. "Nothing else. I just came to say hello, and now I'm leaving. You can go back too. Oh, right, remember to pay for my tea here."

With that, the slender-waisted young man turned and walked toward a rouge shop in the middle of the street.

Wei Ni lowered his head and acknowledged him, breathing heavily. Only after waiting half the time it took to smoke a pipe did he dare raise his head.

He then fumbled a large handful of silver scraps out of his waist pouch and tossed them onto the table.

The honest shopkeeper was so frightened that his voice trembled as he stammered, "L-Lord Cao, h-how about-"

Hearing that, Wei Ni glared and angrily flipped the square table. "You blockhead! Do you think your grandpa can't afford a cup of tea?!"

The shopkeeper hurriedly prostrated himself, his backside high in the air as he begged for mercy again and again.

With a hand on his saber hilt and handprints all over his face, Wei Ni strode out of the tea shop with his head held high. His defiant manner made everyone outside lower their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

Only after entering the restaurant's main hall did Wei Ni glance back toward the street, his expression as still as water.

The thin-browed young man paid no attention to what the Wild Wolf Gang's lowest-ranking leader was thinking.

In the blink of an eye, he reached the rouge shop. Just as he lifted the curtain, a shrill curse shot into his ears: "Get out!"

The thin-browed young man, one foot already on the step, was so startled that he stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.

Only after he heard no other sounds from inside did he relax. He bent over and waited at the door, with not a trace of his earlier overbearing manner.

Cao Hesheng had just shouted the blind fool of a servant away. Turning around, he placed his left hand on the saber hilt at his waist and reached out with his right to pinch the rouge shop proprietress's smooth, tender cheek.

Whoa. Goodness, he had nearly squeezed water out of it.

How could she look like the mother of a child? Even the young girls he had slept with couldn't compare. He hadn't expected to find such fine goods on his trip out today.

The powerfully built shopkeeper watched it happen, trembling with anger and grinding his teeth, yet he didn't dare utter so much as half a syllable.

A different sort of pleasure suddenly welled up in Cao Hesheng's heart. Hehe, a Blood Refining martial artist with a hundred servants—what an impressive reputation. Do you dare lay a hand on me? I'm the city lord's fourth maternal cousin-uncle's own great-grandson. Do you know what surname rules Chongming City now?

"When the sun goes down today, wash yourself clean and come to my room."

After issuing that instruction, Cao Hesheng gave the proprietress's breast a final squeeze, then sniffed his fingertips. How fragrant.

Before leaving, he gave them his address, paying no heed to the shopkeeper and his wife's complicated, indescribable expressions. Nor was he afraid they would have the nerve not to come.

Cao Hesheng left the shop and headed for the pharmacy. He hadn't forgotten the important business his great-grandfather had assigned him. Several Blood Refining Realm experts had died to obtain a striped tiger twenty feet long, and it had only one tiger penis. He mustn't let another household snatch it up and present it as a gift.

He called his idiot attendant over, and master and servant walked down the middle of the street with their feet turned out.

At the sight of the two scourges, one big and one small, everyone on the street gave way. The road had been crowded only moments before, yet a space opened up around the pair. How imposing they looked.

Suddenly, as Cao Hesheng was beaming with satisfaction, he heard hoofbeats behind him.

"What nerve! Don't you know galloping is strictly forbidden in the city?" Cao Hesheng saw a young rider with a feather in his hat galloping along.

Passersby and traveling merchants scattered out of the way, and Cao Hesheng got a clear look at the youth.

It was the city lord's eldest legitimate grandson. In terms of seniority, he and Cao Hesheng were brothers of the same generation. No wonder he was so bold!

Never mind riding a horse atop the city walls-even if he made everyone in the city carry their horses through the streets on their backs, no one would dare say no.

As he thought this, his feet slowed. He turned and went to meet the youth with quick little steps, a familiar, fawning smile appearing on his face without his realizing it.

"Whoa." The youth pulled on the reins. Brought up short like that, his galloping horse showed anger on its face.

"Who are you?!"

"Greetings, young master. This humble one is Cao Hesheng. My grandfather is the city lord's cousin, separated by only one branch of the family."

"Is your surname Kang?"

"This humble one's surname is Cao." Cao Hesheng was taken aback, and the smile on his face froze, but he still answered respectfully.

"Does your family have an immortal on the mountain?" The youth's voice turned cold.

"No, but an ancestor of the current sect leader immortal is this humble one's-" Hearing that something was wrong with the youth's tone, Cao Hesheng answered in a trembling voice, only for a whip to lash out at him. Before he could wipe the fawning smile off his face, a broad strip of flesh was torn up across it.

"Young master... Young master, why go so far? By seniority, I'm a brother of your generation too." A wound split Cao Hesheng's face in two, running from the corner of his mouth past the corner of his eye. It was a truly horrifying sight.

"Your surname isn't Kang, and your family doesn't have an immortal! Yet you dare block my way, and think you're fit to claim brotherhood with me!"

"Get out of the way, you lowborn wretch!" The youth lashed down again without mercy. Another wound blossomed on Cao Hesheng's face, making him cry out in pain.

"If you ever dare claim kinship with my Kang Household again, don't expect my whip to be as light as it was today!"

With that, the youth couldn't be bothered to spare him another glance. He squeezed the horse's flanks and rode off.

The shopkeeper, who had mustered the courage to poke his head out and look, watched the youth's retreating figure, then looked at Cao Hesheng, who was still wailing in the street. A cold glint appeared in his narrow eyes.

"Neigh!" The youth galloped on, startling countless pedestrians out of his way before finally reining in his horse in front of the city lord's residence.

Inside, Kang Dahou received word and rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet.

He was nearly seventy and fond of women. Even though Kang Dabao occasionally sent people to bring low-grade spiritual items back to the clan, it was hard to say whether they could counter the effects of those potent aphrodisiacs. His body could hardly be called robust, and in the end, he only managed to shuffle out with an old servant supporting him.

"Are those two families almost here?"

The scenery on my way home from work today was gorgeous. If only I hadn't been scolded by my boss.

By the way, does anyone know how to post a bonus chapter? I want to share some pictures with you guys.

Thanks to Bai Yao for the two monthly votes, and thanks to Ni De Shi Fa Le for the 100-point tip.

I hope those of you with time to spare will keep following the story, vote, and comment. You can even throw some coins at me. For those who are busy, please stay on the last page of each day's update for twenty seconds. Thank you, everyone.