Chapter 65: Whale Tiger Gang

Kong Bin waited in the front courtyard until dusk, but he did not see Xiao Zongting return.

Zhu Xiaoqi was busy with the work in his hands and did not pay him any more mind.

Kong Bin stood alone in the front courtyard, dryly waiting for the better part of the day; he was already so hungry that his stomach was pressed against his spine, and he watched as the sunset hit the building.

With an ugly expression, Kong Bin walked over to Zhu Xiaoqi, who was watering the melons and vegetables in the garden bed by the wall, and said, "Xiao Qi, please trouble yourself to tell Xiao Lao that I have been here!"

Zhu Xiaoqi only made a sound of acknowledgment in his nose and did not even lift his eyelids.

Kong Bin's face was like cold stone as he turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Xiao Zongting had made an appointment with him, yet he had stood him up.

Xiao Baijiao had made a sachet for Duan Rong, but when he merely asked about it, he was scolded until he was drenched in blood.

They were all Apprentice Escorts from the same batch; the other side seemed to be surrounded like stars around the moon, while he had become someone people disliked.

The taste of this is something only those in the situation can truly savor.

Although Kong Bin had a firm character, after he walked out of Xiao Zongting's courtyard gate, his expression gradually became dejected as he walked, and a trace of self-pity inevitably rose in his heart...

Although it was the time for the Middle Courtyard canteen to serve meals and Kong Bin was famished, he hardened his heart and, as if punishing himself, skipped dinner and went straight to the courtyard where firewood and charcoal were piled to begin standing in his stance.

Kong Bin had only been standing for a short while when he heard a voice calling him.

"Brother Bin!"

Kong Bin did not disperse his energy; he only opened his eyes and glanced over.

He saw a familiar, blurry figure in the twilight.

It was Zhang Zheng who had come to find him.

"What is it?" Kong Bin was in a bad mood, and his tone was somewhat unkind.

Kong Bin often came to the front courtyard to practice, and he had run into Zhang Zheng several times.

Zhang Zheng naturally had a reason for coming to find him at this time.

Zhang Zheng noticed that Kong Bin's tone seemed to contain hidden anger, but he was also very clear that it was not directed at him; he pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Bin, this morning, Wu Hui came to the front courtyard to find me."

"Wu Hui?"

"Yes." Zhang Zheng nodded, paused, and then continued, "He said that Zhou Shoushan would like to invite you to a meal!"

Kong Bin's eyelid twitched; he exhaled to disperse his energy and straightened his back.

This Zhou Shoushan was the Gang Leader of the Whale Tiger Gang and had some background.

Although Xiangu County was small, it had two gangs: the Whale Tiger Gang and the Bitter Fate Gang.

These two gangs wandered between the major powers, acting as white gloves for the big powers and specializing in doing some unspeakable, filthy business.

In the land of Jiuzhou, gangs had always been the lowest level of power in the social structure.

On one hand, this world valued martial arts, and almost every major power had a high level of martial strength. Spending money to keep, or even cultivate, martial arts experts was originally the norm.

More importantly, the Sects in every state basically suppressed the gangs and did not let them develop; the reason was simple: because gangs did not pay taxes!

Taking Xiangu County as an example, all major powers had to pay a significant amount of tax to the Taiyi Sect every year.

This was not only the source of wealth for the Taiyi Sect, but it was also the means by which the Taiyi Sect controlled and monitored the major powers through the vast and strict network it organized!

The Sect would never allow organizations like gangs, which existed outside of their supervision, to develop and grow!

As the saying goes, the knight uses martial arts to violate the law!

Scattered soldiers and wandering braves could still be ignored with one eye closed! But if they wanted to grow big and strong, they had to be wiped out!

And ordinary disciples, as long as they had a way out in society, would not join a gang.

The Gang Leader of this Whale Tiger Gang, Zhou Shoushan, originally had cases against him and had spent several years in prison; after he got out, he could not find a way out in society, so in his poverty and desperation, he founded this Whale Tiger Gang!

Because Zhou Shoushan was at the Inner Breath Realm Second Layer and knew some people in the market,

the Whale Tiger Gang gradually grew and became one of the two major gangs in Xiangu County, even suppressing the Bitter Fate Gang.

The fathers of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng were originally people from this Whale Tiger Gang and had become core members.

Kong Bin's father had even arranged a childhood marriage with Zhou Shoushan, but this matter was left unsettled after Kong Bin's father died.

Actually, that was only a few years ago!

Shen Yanliu came to this Xiangu County and became the Magistrate of Xiangu County!

The first thing Shen Yanliu did was to suppress the gang forces!

The Whale Tiger Gang bore the brunt of it!

Shen Yanliu personally took command and handled three major cases, all of which were related to the Whale Tiger Gang!

Shen Yanliu was also ruthless; he would rather implicate and kill the wrong people than let anyone go!

He arrested a batch!

He imprisoned a batch!

He killed a batch!

After the three cases passed, not only was the Whale Tiger Gang unable to recover, but even the major powers in Xiangu County were suddenly terrified into silence!

This Whale Tiger Gang was indeed unlucky; the three fires of Shen Yanliu's new appointment all burned on the head of the Whale Tiger Gang!

The fathers of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng, as core members of the Whale Tiger Gang, were both killed in this wave of purges.

Only then did Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng lose their support, and a few years later, they had no choice but to enter the Yuanshun Escort Agency and become Miscellaneous Disciples!

The Gang Leader of the Whale Tiger Gang, Zhou Shoushan, and the strategist Wu Hui, because they did not directly participate in those three major cases!

They exhausted their family fortunes and pulled various strings, finally managing to save their lives.

But from then on, they went into hiding and had not appeared in the market for a long time.

"Did he say what it was about?" Kong Bin asked with flickering eyes.

"He said that he heard you were selected as an Apprentice Escort at the Yuanshun Escort Agency and wanted to congratulate you and catch up on old times!"

Hearing this, Kong Bin began to ponder.

According to his original plan, he did not want to have any more entanglements with Zhou Shoushan and the others.

When the incident happened back then, Zhou Shoushan and Wu Hui pushed the fathers of Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng to the front to act as human shields!

It could be said that when things were fine, they would go through fire and water for their brothers, but when trouble arose, they would stab their brothers in the back!

Moreover, Kong Bin also knew that the major powers basically no longer paid any attention to this Zhou Shoushan now; he was currently like a stray dog in this Xiangu County!

However, some recent events had given Kong Bin some ideas.

Now, by taking advantage of this connection with Zhou Shoushan, Kong Bin suddenly discovered that some parts of those ideas that originally did not connect were slowly linking together, forming a rather clear strategic chain.

"Brother Bin, are we going?" Seeing Kong Bin silent for a long time with his expression shifting between light and shadow, Zhang Zheng finally could not help but ask.

"We go!" Kong Bin's gaze sharpened as he said decisively.

"Where is it?"

"They said, three days from now, at Swallow Pavilion!"

Hearing Swallow Pavilion, Kong Bin was slightly stunned.

Swallow Pavilion was a rather famous restaurant in the South City of Xiangu City!

Back then, the Whale Tiger Gang was entrenched in the South City, and this Swallow Pavilion was originally a restaurant where they often gathered.

Kong Bin had also followed his father there a few times; now that he suddenly heard this name again, some past events immediately surfaced in his heart...

On Duan Rong's side, he returned from closing his stall on West Street; only five people came to have their portraits painted today.

Moreover, among these five people, two were repeat customers from before!

They were two plump young ladies with faces like full moons; this time they made many strange and bizarre requests, one asking to be painted in the middle of a graceful dance, and the other even stranger, asking to be painted together with her mangy dog in one picture...

In short, Duan Rong spent a great deal of effort before he finally managed to send these two difficult customers away.

"It seems this wave of traffic is about to reach its end..."

Duan Rong was already considering setting up his stall once every three days.

But he estimated that even if he set up his stall once every three days, business would at most only maintain a lukewarm state for a short while longer.

(End of this chapter)