NOVEL WEB Chapter 88.1
They came with grand ambitions, but the moment they set foot in Great Xia, Lin Beifan was aware of their presence.
To show his welcome, he sent over the technique ‘Return of Ten Thousand Swords.’
Two days later, at the Great Xia court.
“Great Xia Emperor, we have fulfilled our promise and brought the ransom. Here are one million taels of silver. Please release our people as soon as possible!”
Even now, as they come to pay the ransom, Elder Jin Qian maintains an arrogant demeanor.
It was not only because he had always been pampered and held in high esteem, fostering an air of arrogance, but also because in his eyes, the dog Emperor before him and Great Xia were about to meet their end, so they were not worth his concern.
Lin Beifan said with a smile, “Since the Money Gang has kept their promise, I shall naturally release the prisoners!”
With a wave of his hand, the Imperial Guard brought out three people.
The Elder of the Money Gang was shocked at the sight, “What has happened to them?”
After a thorough examination, he was even more astonished and furious, his anger boiling over as he pointed at Lin Beifan and loudly accused, “You have such a vicious heart! You actually broke their meridians and bones and destroyed their martial arts!”Lin Beifan replied with a smile, “Elder, you’re being too serious. They came to kill me; should I have treated them with courtesy?”
“You!” The Elder of the Money Gang was left speechless, only able to glare at Lin Beifan.
“Fine! We will remember this grudge. There will be a time when we meet again, let’s wait and see!” The Elder of the Money Gang flicked his sleeve, immediately called his attendants, and had the three incapacitated elders carried away.
“Wait!” Lin Beifan called out.
“What is it, Great Xia Emperor?” Elder Jin Qian asked, suppressing the anger in his heart. He was eager to leave at this moment and then let the deputy gang leader and others go on a killing spree to avenge their grievances.
“We still have a deal to make!”
Lin Beifan clapped his hands. “Bring them up!”
Immediately, Imperial Guards carried four people forward.
Elder Jin Qian looked down and was once again shocked: “The deputy gang leader, Elder Wang, Elder Sun, Elder Liu, how are they here? What has happened to them?”
After checking them over, he was so frightened that his body swayed, and he almost fainted.
Because all four of them are done for!
The Money Gang has already lost three elders, and now they’ve lost another three, including a deputy leader at the Astral Qi level!
The loss is too great, he doesn’t even know how to explain it to the gang leader when he returns!
The only thing he can do is to vent his anger on Lin Beifan.
“Great Xia Emperor, what are they doing here, what have you done to them?”
Lin Beifan slammed the table and rose in anger, saying, “That is the question I should be asking you. How come they are here? What were they trying to do? Don’t you know the deeds of your own people?”
The Money Gang elder was once again at a loss for words: “What about the others?”
“They’re dead, completely dead, the blood has even dried!” Lin Beifan said casually.
The Elder of Money felt a darkness before his eyes again!
Those were 300 of Money Gang’s finest elite, with the weakest among them being at the Second-rate level!
It wasn’t easy to cultivate such a force, and now they were all gone?
“This… this is the second deal I was talking about!”
Lin Beifan sat down, smiling amiably, and said, “These three elders, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for 1 million taels, right? That one seemed to be the deputy gang leader, with the strength of the Astral Qi level, high in status and powerful in strength. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for 1 million taels for him, right? So that would be 2 million taels of silver in total!”
Elder Jin Qian felt darkness before his eyes and shouted angrily, “Two million taels of silver, you’re clearly asking for the moon!”
Lin Beifan said indifferently, “So what if I’m asking for the moon? Is there a problem?”
“You!!!” Elder Jin Qian was so angry he was about to explode.
He wished he could tear the person before him into thousands of pieces to vent the hatred in his heart.
Lin Beifan waved his hand dismissively, “I don’t have time to haggle with you right now. Deliver the money within 10 days! If you fail to do so, I will have no choice but to send them on their way! You may leave now!”
Elder Jin Qian, looking at the closing doors of the imperial palace, was filled with a thousand fires of rage.
He wished he could charge in and go on a reckless killing spree.
However, he had to bring back the three elders with him, so he couldn’t take the risk.
Moreover, even the deputy gang leaders had fallen into the hands of Great Xia; charging in himself would be nothing but a suicide mission.
Thus, he could only return dejectedly and report the matter to the gang leader.
Upon hearing this, the Money Gang leader’s face turned pale: “What? The deputy gang leaders… they’ve also fallen at the hands of Great Xia?”
Elder Jin Qian, with a grave expression, said: “Gang leader, I witnessed it with my own eyes. How could it be false? I would never have imagined that the deputy gang leaders would actually be defeated by Great Xia. Sigh!”
The Money Gang leader felt a strong shock in his heart, and his complexion turned ashen.
“What to do, what to do…!”
One after another, a deputy gang leader, six elders, and more than 400 skilled members have been taken down!
The Money Gang has truly suffered a heavy loss, a severe blow to its vitality!
Right now, his primary concern isn’t about paying the ransom for his people but rather how to preserve the Money Gang and avoid being annihilated and absorbed by other formidable enemies after they see the Money Gang state.
“Leader, should we pay the ransom to get our people back?” the Elder of Money asked with deep concern.
“This…” The Leader of the Money Gang hesitated.
If those people was still strong, he would definitely pay the ransom without a second thought.
But now that the person has been rendered useless, what’s the point in redeeming them?
Having lost the person and the money, it’s just a senseless weakening of one’s own power!
Elder Jin Qian, seeing the expression on the gang leader’s face, already understood the latter’s choice and could only sigh silently to himself.
Despite the deep heartache and helplessness, he had no choice but to understand.
Yet, he couldn’t help but feel a desolate sense of ‘when the rabbit is dead, the dog is cooked’.
Just then, someone rushed in hurriedly.
“Leader, it’s bad news! The word has gone wild on the rivers and lakes, saying that you, the boss, refuse to pay the ransom to redeem the deputy leader. They’re saying you’re cold-hearted and ruthless, utterly indifferent and lacking the moral code of the rivers and lakes!”
The Leader was shocked: “What? Is that true?”
“Yes!”
“It must be the work of Great Xia, they’re forcing my hand!” The Leader was so angry that he was grinding his teeth.
You have to honor loyalty when you’re part of the rivers and lakes!
The reason why our Money Gang was able to establish itself was not just because of profit but, most importantly, because of loyalty!
It’s because of loyalty that we’re all good brothers, able to help each other out and stand united!
If he turns a blind eye to death, watching his brothers who fight to the death for him perish, then the loyalty that took so long to build will dissipate!
Without loyalty, there’s no cohesion. Once everything becomes about self-interest, his Money Gang will surely fall apart, each to their own, and their demise won’t be far off!
“Leader, what do we do now?” the Money Elder asked.
“What else can we do but immediately raise money to ransom our deputy leader and the others!” the boss said, somewhat angrily.
“And what about our vengeance?” the Money Elder asked again.
“We’ll have to seek revenge later!”
The Money Gang boss sighed regretfully and said, “After two defeats with heavy losses, Great Xia is clearly not as simple as it seems on the surface! I sent people to their deaths without a thorough investigation; I am the sinner of the Money Gang! So for now, we must swallow this loss. When the opportunity arises, we will avenge this!”
“Yes, Sect Leader!”
Elder Jin Qian made his way to Great Xia once again with the ransom.
But this time, he couldn’t afford to be arrogant. In front of Lin Beifan, he appeared extremely humble and lowly.
Fearing angering the other party and not being able to return himself.
Lin Beifan was easy to talk to; after receiving 2 million taels, he promptly released the captive.
We are currently recruiting. CN/KR/JP Translators/MTLers are welcome!
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/HGaByvmVuw