Chapter 90: Good lad, is this how you treat a brother?

No.

What that meant was, he alone had guts, and all those who had originally followed Jade Buddha were cowards.

"Bah! Who the hell's a coward? Buddha, just say the word and we'll brothers go all out against them!"

"That's right, go all out against them!"

"..."

One stone stirred up a thousand ripples.

Once Red Tiger said that, the rest of them could no longer hold back, volunteering one after another to deal with Yaksha and the two men of Galloping Dragon Hand.

His subordinates' loyalty pleased Buddha greatly; the anger on his face faded considerably.

But he still waved his hand and said.

"I know you're loyal. Wait a bit longer. After all, right now..."

The day to elect the new Hall Master was right around the corner. Naturally, Jade Buddha didn't want any extra trouble at this time. Even if he had to act, it would have to wait until he was seated as Hall Master.

Then settle the score properly.

Only, before he could finish speaking, another brother came to report.

"Boss, bad news! Yaksha and Galloping Dragon Hand's men barged into our territory for no reason and stole a batch of our liquor!"

"What!"

The first to fly into a rage was not Jade Buddha, but Red Tiger.

Because Red Tiger had been in the liquor business before. Having just followed Jade Buddha, Red Tiger, to show his loyalty, had directly arranged for men to deliver a large batch of liquor for free.

"That was liquor worth over a hundred thousand taels, just stolen like that!"

Red Tiger's eyes were furious, but inwardly he was completely at ease. Since he already knew how to stir up trouble, this liquor had naturally been arranged by Red Tiger's men to be received — a simple transfer from left hand to right.

"What!"

But Jade Buddha didn't know that.

Hearing it was liquor worth over a hundred thousand taels, Jade Buddha could no longer sit still.

No matter how rich you were, you couldn't afford to burn through money like that.

"Dammit, they think this Buddha of yours can't lift a blade anymore?"

His originally 'simple and honest' expression twisted with rage.

And from this moment on.

Jade Buddha completely tore off all pretense with Yaksha and Galloping Dragon Hand.

,,,

"You dare hurt my boss? Kill them!"

"Get him!"

"I damn well want to see who's so blind."

At the same time, over on Ye Tian's territory, things were just as lively. The target Mei Yongning had picked was a small gang called the Hǔ Shā Bāng — the whole gang combined was only a hundred or two hundred men.

They were also in the business of forcing decent women into prostitution.

Under Mei Yongning's arrangement, Pili Huo and the others all believed it was those blind fools of the Hǔ Shā Bāng who had recklessly 'hurt' their boss.

Once they started fighting, they truly held nothing back.

They were going in for the total annihilation of the Hǔ Shā Bāng.

"How come you're here too?"

When Pili Huo arrived, he saw that Twin Blade General and Pursuing Fang had both brought their men over. Outside the Hǔ Shā Bāng, with its mere hundred or two hundred members, eight or nine hundred gang members had gathered — that was only leaving a few behind to guard the home base.

Otherwise, they could have pulled over a thousand in one go.

Pili Huo thought he'd come early enough, but he still hadn't escaped being run into by Pursuing Fang and Twin Blade General.

"What, only you can avenge Boss?"

Pursuing Fang said irritably.

As for Twin Blade General, he nearly cursed out loud.

"I was just wondering why there was no movement on your end. Didn't expect you'd sneak your men over on your own. Don't forget, I was the one who brought you in back then. Now when there's credit to be had, you don't think of your brothers anymore, huh?"

"Ahem!"

Twin Blade General's words made Pili Huo awkwardly clear his throat.

"Who says so? I just figured the Hǔ Shā Bāng had so few men that I alone could handle it, so I wouldn't trouble you."

It had to be said.

Ever since he started managing territory on his own, Pili Huo's brain had been working better and better.

In the past, he definitely couldn't have come up with an excuse like that.

"Hmph!"

You tell me if I believe that or not.

"Um."

Fortunately, at that moment, the younger brothers beside the two of them couldn't hold back and reminded them.

"Two bosses, it looks like Brother Pursuing Fang has already started."

If they kept arguing, there wouldn't be a single scrap of credit left.

"What!"

First came a startled cry, and they both looked over at once. Sure enough, while they were still arguing, Pursuing Fang had already led his band of brothers charging into Hǔ Shā Bāng's territory.

"That guy is way too sneaky."

"Exactly, trying to steal the whole attack for himself!"

After saying this, Pili Huo and Double-Blade General exchanged a glance, tacitly said no more, and moved in unison, charging toward the territory of the Hǔ Shā Bāng.

The Bāngzhǔ of the Hǔ Shā Bāng probably couldn't figure it out even at the moment of his death—how, while running a perfectly good business of forcibly abducting women, he'd somehow provoked Yù Gōngzǐ. But in the jianghu, when factions clash,

there's never any time to reason things out with you.

,,,,

The Hǔ Shā Bāng's territory wasn't all that large.

For Ye Tian, it could only count as a small bonus; the real show was still to come.

"Tch! That Yaksha and Benlong Hand are really trash—joining forces and they still can't beat Jade Buddha."

In just a few short days,

the fight on Jade Buddha's side had already reached a conclusion.

Jade Buddha wasn't the type to grow complacent and arrogant; since he'd chosen to fight, he went all out, aiming to beat his opponents into a state from which they could never recover.

Otherwise, if he only meant to test the waters, he might as well not have struck at all.

Under such circumstances, even fighting two against one, Yaksha and Benlong Hand showed an obvious decline not long after engaging Jade Buddha.

If the fight dragged on any longer, there'd be even less hope of victory.

His subordinates were nearly wiped out, and Yaksha and Benlong Hand were beaten into half-cripples. He'd thought it would be a fierce dragon-and-tiger struggle, but in the end these two were trash even when not joining forces—how were they still this trash after teaming up?

"..."

Yaksha and Benlong Hand, these two, were both figures of considerable standing out in the world.

The only one who could evaluate them so bluntly was their own Boss.

After shaking his head helplessly, Mei Yongning still said,

"Although these two aren't a match for Jade Buddha, the main reason is that Jade Buddha is cautious by nature—he nearly sent out his entire force, all just to wipe out Yaksha and Benlong Hand in one decisive blow."

"He did succeed, but Jade Buddha's side suffered heavy losses too—nearly half his subordinates were lost, and a lot of the businesses on his territory have come to a grinding halt."

"Jade Buddha was probably planning to recover his strength after taking the Hall Master seat. If he fails to claim the Hall Master seat, then this time Jade Buddha really has lost so badly it's beyond words."

Just like Lei Tang back then, he was scheming to take the Hall Master seat and turn the situation around.

But what a pity.

Thinking this, Mei Yongning suddenly looked toward his own Boss.

Lei Tang was gone, Yaksha and Benlong Hand were both crippled—without his own Boss, the Hall Master seat really would have been in Jade Buddha's pocket.

But what a pity.

The world doesn't have so many "ifs." Every move Jade Buddha made had been foreseen by Ye Tian.

And precisely because of this,

Mei Yongning could feel even more keenly just how terrifying Ye Tian was.

,,,,,,,