Chapter 63

Geng Zhiwei proposed three conditions: first, the Yu Family Pharmacy gives him a fifty percent stake; second, Yu Nan marries him as his sixth concubine; third, Yu Nan is beaten in public.

Yu Nan's face turned pale.

Jia Quansheng added from the side, "I think my brother's three conditions are quite reasonable. Boss Yu, being able to marry into the Geng family is your good fortune!"

Before Yu Nan could speak, the guards behind her could no longer hold back: "Geng Zhiwei, you bastard, I'll screw your ancestors for eight generations!"

Geng Zhiwei spat on the ground: "Whose dog are you? Is it your place to speak here? Shopkeeper Yu, I've stated my conditions; do you agree or not?"

He hadn't come to negotiate; he had come specifically to disgust people!

Yu Nan stood up and said, "Young Master Geng, it seems this matter cannot be resolved. Since you don't care about saving face, let's set another time and settle this with our foundations!"

This meant a fight was about to break out.

"Straightforward! I like that straightforwardness of yours!" Geng Zhiwei laughed. "We don't need to set another time; today is fine. Let's fight right now!"

Two guards behind Geng Zhiwei rushed up with knives, and Yu Nan drew her pistol, aiming directly at Geng Zhiwei.

Geng Zhiwei sat in his chair, drinking tea, showing no fear at all.

A guard blocked Geng Zhiwei, and Yu Nan pulled the trigger, firing a shot that hit the guard in the chest.

Fresh blood sprayed from the guard's chest, and his body swayed twice, but he raised his machete and continued to charge at Yu Nan.

What a formidable physique!

Is this a Body Cultivator?

Yu Nan hurriedly fired a second shot at the opponent.

Click!

The revolver's hammer struck the end of the bullet, but the bullet didn't fire.

A dud!

Yu Nan fired a third shot, but it was still a dud.

Is she really this unlucky?

This had nothing to do with luck; in Puluo Continent, gunpowder was unreliable, and the success rate of firearms firing was less than thirty percent; duds were a very common occurrence.

This was also the reason Li Banfeng had never come into contact with firearms.

In Puluo Continent, firearms were not the weapon of choice; revolvers were acceptable, but if one relied on a semi-automatic pistol, encountering a dud would be troublesome.

Yu Nan fired six shots in a row, the cylinder rotated once, and only two bullets fired.

Both bullets hit the guard, and the guard bled continuously, but he never fell to the ground; instead, Yu Nan was slashed on the shoulder by the guard's machete.

Took two shots and had no reaction?

This wasn't about blocking or dodging; this was taking a bullet and simply shrugging it off!

This could no longer be explained by ordinary physical toughness; this guard was simply not an ordinary person.

From Yu Nan's understanding, this person might be a third-layer Body Cultivator.

But why would a third-layer Body Cultivator be a guard for Geng Zhiwei?

As far as Yu Nan knew, the highest-level guard around Geng Zhiwei was a second-layer Body Cultivator.

And it wasn't just one guard who was this powerful; another guard was currently fighting two of Yu Nan's clerks.

The clerks had no weapons, so they were fighting the guard with chairs.

A chair leg broke, and a clerk stabbed the chair leg into the guard's body; the guard bled, but his combat effectiveness remained undiminished.

One clerk was stabbed through the chest by Geng Zhiwei's guard and fell to the ground, unable to get up.

Another clerk fought one against two, struggling fiercely against the opposing guard.

"Shopkeeper, run, run!" the clerk screamed, as the guard's machete had already pierced his stomach.

Shouts of battle also came from downstairs; the clerks of the Yu Family Cloth Shop were at war with the people from the Geng Family Pharmacy.

A man from the Geng Family Pharmacy had his head split open by an axe, blood covering his entire body, yet he could still fight with a dagger.

Head split open, and he could still fight?

Could it be that everyone Geng Zhiwei brought today was a third-layer cultivator?

That's impossible...

Yu Nan was slashed on the leg again, her eyes filled with panic.

Late at night, Yu Nan led her people back to Baixiang Village.

Of the thirty-three clerks, eleven were dead; two bodies were brought back, while the other nine remained at Wangchun Tower, and there was no telling what Geng Zhiwei would do to them.

Including Yu Nan, everyone was injured, and none of the injuries were light.

As for the Geng family, many of them were also seriously injured, but before Yu Nan retreated, she hadn't seen a single one of them fall.

She never dreamed that the Geng family's strength would be this great.

After simply dressing their wounds, Yu Nan ordered her men to set up a mourning hall to first pay respects to the fallen brothers.

After everyone kowtowed, Yu Nan kept vigil alone; after burning two stacks of paper money, Yu Nan sighed and said, "Brothers, walk slowly on the road to the Yellow Springs; I will be there soon."

Li Banfeng entered the mourning hall and burned some paper money along with Yu Nan.

Although they were strangers, this was a sign of respect for the deceased.

Yu Nan looked at the bodies in the mourning hall, lowered her head, and said with a desolate expression, "I thought Geng Zhiwei invited me to a banquet, at least to be polite before resorting to force. I didn't expect him to lure me out and start fighting directly.

I know that in terms of strength, I can't compete with the Geng family, but I didn't expect his strength to reach this level.

Geng Zhiwei will probably come to Baixiang Village to find me tomorrow. I can't escape this disaster.

Brother Qiye, take Boss Qin and leave quickly. I can't even protect myself, so naturally, I can't protect you."

Li Banfeng asked, "Knowing you couldn't compete with the Geng family, why did you insist on attending the banquet with blades drawn?"

Yu Nan lowered her head and said, "I had no choice. He sent the invitation, so I had to go. That's the rule of the Jianghu."

Li Banfeng asked, "Is Geng Zhiwei a person who follows rules?"

"No," Yu Nan answered in a very low voice.

"Then what use is your rule?"

After a long silence, Yu Nan raised her voice, "If I don't go, my brothers and I will never be able to hold our heads high again!"

Li Banfeng looked up at the two corpses in the mourning hall and asked, "Can they hold their heads high now?"

Yu Nan lowered her head and said nothing.

Li Banfeng asked again, "Tomorrow, if you are killed by Geng Zhiwei, will you be able to hold your head high?"

Yu Nan had no way to answer.

Li Banfeng asked one more time, "Tell me, what use is your rule?"

Yu Nan was speechless.

She didn't want to mention Jianghu rules anymore.

After struggling for so many years, she had always thought of herself as a person of the Jianghu.

But this time, encountering Geng Zhiwei, Yu Nan felt as if she didn't understand the Jianghu at all.

After a long silence, Yu Nan sighed, "Brother Qiye, perhaps I was wrong, but now is not the time to argue about right and wrong.

Geng Zhiwei won't let me go, and he certainly won't let you go. He will find you sooner or later. I just want to remind you, Brother Qiye, leave quickly."

She was right about this; if Geng Zhiwei were allowed to have his way and keep killing, he would eventually find Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng wasn't that hard to find; by catching a few living people from Yu Nan's subordinates and using torture, he could be found out.

While they were talking, a young girl walked into the mourning hall with tears in her eyes, holding a sharp knife in her hand: "Shopkeeper, this knife is Old Eight's. I want to keep it as a memento."

This girl was Wang Xuejiao, Old Eight's older sister.

Old Eight was dead, and even his body hadn't been brought back.

Yu Nan nodded, "Take it."

Li Banfeng looked at the knife; there were red spots on it, and it seemed there were still bloodstains. Li Banfeng smelled a peculiar fishy odor.

"Young lady, can you let me see the knife?"

Wang Xuejiao handed the knife to Li Banfeng, and Li Banfeng smelled it carefully: "Is this a watermelon knife?"

"Nonsense!" Wang Xuejiao became anxious, "This is Old Eight's knife. From the day Old Eight followed the shopkeeper, he had always carried this knife. This knife is covered in the blood of those bastards from the Geng family!"

Li Banfeng looked at the red spots on the knife: "This isn't blood; this is watermelon juice. This knife must have been used to cut watermelons all day long!"

Watermelon?

Yu Nan was stunned, and Wang Xuejiao cursed at Li Banfeng: "What the hell are you? How dare you insult my brother!"

Li Banfeng looked at the girl and offered no explanation.

Yu Nan had someone persuade Wang Xuejiao to leave, and she picked up the knife and smelled it herself.

There was a fishy smell, but Yu Nan couldn't tell if it was blood or watermelon juice.

Li Banfeng said to Yu Nan, "Bring a few more weapons; we'll check them one by one and we'll know."

Before long, the clerks brought over a dozen weapons. Li Banfeng smelled them one by one and confirmed his judgment: "This is definitely watermelon juice. Although there is a fishy smell, it can't cover up the sweetness of the watermelon."

Yu Nan didn't believe it: "I can't smell it."

Li Banfeng picked up an axe from among the weapons and peeled off a fragment from the rust spots on the axe head.

If it were anyone else, they would take this for rust, or perhaps for flesh from the Geng family members.

But only Li Banfeng could distinguish it by the smell.

This wasn't any kind of residue.

Li Banfeng cleaned the object and pried it open to see a black shell with a white center: "Look carefully, this is a watermelon seed."

Yu Nan looked carefully for a moment, her pupils constantly contracting.

This time she saw it; it really was a watermelon seed.

PS: Dear readers, although some Dao sects are difficult, it doesn't mean they aren't powerful. Leave a comment and vote for Shala!

(End of chapter)