Chapter 36: Negotiation

Zhou You took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "My heart is in turmoil; I ask Senior Brother Xu to make the decision for me."

"Very well."

Xu Ying smiled until the corners of his eyes crinkled; this Junior Brother was quite sensible, not being unreasonable or relentless, which saved him a lot of effort.

At the entrance of the Zhou Family, a group of Wild Fox Gang lackeys were cleaning the ground.

They picked up the shredded corpses and excrement with their hands to take them away, not allowing a single bit to remain.

Stones were moved away, and the pits smashed into the ground were filled with yellow soil and tamped down, leaving no traces behind.

"Splash!"

A large bucket of water was poured onto the wall, and the gang members carefully wiped it with rags, cleaning the filth along the edges of the bricks.

The few men withdrew their gazes; the location for the negotiation between the two sides was at Li Guafu's wine stall.

"Junior Brother Zhou, set your heart at ease; today I will have them restore everything to its original state."

Xu Ying took full responsibility, patting his chest to guarantee it for him.

Opposite them, Wu Gang said politely, "It was a misunderstanding before; now that it is resolved, we are willing to provide compensation."

Tu Laosan had his jaw dislocated and could not spit out a single word, his eyes looking at Zhou You with resentment.

Zhou You acted as if he did not see it, lost in his own thoughts.

He had been too conservative just now; he should have deliberately guided the other side to damage the Martial Arts Hall Wooden Plaque.

Once Tu Laosan damaged the plaque, it would be equivalent to provoking the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall, and with the matter already set in stone, even if Xu Ying wanted to smooth things over, it would be impossible.

A move missed, a miscalculation.

Zhou You thought that today's business would end here; if he wanted to finish off Tu Laosan, he would need to think of other tricks.

He could guess that Tu Laosan on the other side was likely thinking the same thing.

"Little Zhou, have a drink."

Li Guafu walked over gracefully, placed the wine pot on the table, and invited Zhou You to drink.

The scene that had just unfolded changed too quickly, leaving Li Guafu unable to react.

Only now did she realize that Little Zhou was already an extraordinary big shot.

No wonder Constable Liu had given her repeated instructions to be on good terms with the old Zhou Family.

She had seen both men conversing at the wine stall, Wu Gang and Xu Ying; one was a high-level member of the Wild Fox Gang, the other a disciple of the martial arts hall, both big shots whose footsteps could shake the streets.

Zhou You was now sitting with both of them, discussing matters as an equal.

In the eyes of the neighbors, Tu Laosan was already a death-bringing ghost, yet he did not even have the qualifications to sit down.

"Xu Ying, we are in the wrong regarding this matter, and I am willing to pay money to let Zhou You vent his anger."

When Wu Gang said this, he felt a pang of heartache.

The gang members brought by Tu Laosan had suffered over 20 casualties, mostly deaths with few injuries, and the burial silver alone would be a huge sum.

Then there was Du Dayou's injury, and the medical expenses were not small either.

Master Tu Er's little treasury would have to be reduced by a large chunk, leaving their finances stretched thin.

"On our side, we are willing to offer 200 taels."

Xu Ying heard this number and remained noncommittal, turning to ask Zhou You, "Junior Brother Zhou, what do you think?"

"I remember Tu Laosan originally asked me for 50 taels; hmm, I won't ask for much more now, just 10 times that amount."

10 times 50 taels is exactly 500 taels.

Wu Gang's eyelids twitched when he heard this; what a lion's mouth!

With his position as a Hall Master, 200 taels of silver was already the ceiling; he could not agree to any more.

"Too much, it won't do, it won't do."

What did 500 taels mean?

According to the prices in Gongliang City, 10 taels of silver could provide a table of fine wine and food, enough for a family of three to have rations for a year.

Currently, a large number of refugees were pouring into Su Cheng, causing prices to rise, but even so, 500 taels was enough to buy a small courtyard.

Xu Ying was also clicking his tongue in astonishment; his own family's courtyard was valued at just over 500 taels, which his father had saved up after working for most of his life.

Although he felt it was a lot, they were fellow disciples, and now was not the time to undermine each other.

"Wu Gang, whether it is too much is not for you to decide. The disaster Tu Laosan caused must fall on his brother's head."

Xu Ying said proudly, "Is the reputation of my Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall not worth anything?"

"When Tu Laosan was blocking the door today, did he really not see the wooden plaque hanging in front of it?"

When all is said and done, Tu Laosan was in the wrong, and he had no grounds to argue even if he wanted to.

If he had even a little patience and waited to confirm Zhou You's failure before showing up, it wouldn't have caused such a big scene.

Attacking the home of a Zhengshi Xuitu of the martial arts hall was, by its nature, equivalent to starting a war.

Wu Gang would rather pay money than let things escalate, simply because the Jian Xiong Martial Arts Hall was wealthy and powerful, and they could not afford to offend them.

"Fine, I will convey this condition to Master Tu Er, but you must guarantee that you will not make a move against Tu Laosan."

Xu Ying nodded, "I give you three days to provide an answer, otherwise, I won't be able to hold back Junior Brother Zhou."

Just as Wu Gang was leaving with Tu Laosan, Zhou You suddenly spoke up, "I have a piece of news to remind you of."

Hmm?

"Previously, Tu Laosan hired an outsider to kill me, a martial artist with internal strength named Lu Zhigang; he was injured but did not die, and he escaped secretly."

"Before he left, he made a harsh threat, saying that Tu Laosan was underhanded and that he would definitely come back for revenge."

"I can refrain from touching Tu Laosan, but you all should watch out for this Lu Zhigang."

The veins on Wu Gang's forehead throbbed; he wished he could strangle Tu Laosan, this troublemaker.

An outsider, a martial artist with internal strength—he even made contact with such a dangerous fellow?

Regardless of whether what Zhou You said is true or false, this matter is definitely not over.

At the time, Tu Laosan bribed Lu Zhigang without telling him that the opponent had already mastered Jinli, which led to the failure of the ambush.

Harboring a grudge and unable to defeat Zhou You, Lu Zhigang will surely shift his target to Tu Laosan.

He immediately cupped his hands toward Zhou You, "Many thanks for the reminder; I will remember this favor."

He thought to himself that he must return as quickly as possible to tell Second Master Tu to prepare early.

Lu Zhigang came from a Su City martial arts school and practiced the agile Yanxing Quan, allowing him to leap high and move like a phantom.

If he did not die, he could hide with the 60 taels of silver given by Tu Laosan, recuperating and nourishing himself, and would soon be able to recover his peak combat power. What are refugees?

Desperate outlaws who have nothing, so poor that they have only their lives left.

Once he hides in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate, his strikes will be unscrupulous and will surely become Tu Laosan's nightmare.

"Junior Brother Zhou, why haven't I heard you mention this matter?"

Xu Ying asked about the matter regarding Lu Zhigang.

"It wasn't a big deal, so I didn't report it; that Lu Zhigang was already so starved he was unrecognizable, and he fled in a panic after failing to beat me."

Zhou You was certain that no one would expose this lie, as Lu Zhigang was now dead with no proof, and his body had been cremated by the white-robed people of the Release God Sect.

He insisted that Lu Zhigang was not dead and would surely return, which had its own purpose.

"Next, it is time to invest time in practicing Yanxing Quan."

Only by using Yanxing Quan to beat Tu Laosan to death could the evidence of Lu Zhigang's revenge be substantiated.

That's right, Zhou You accepted the reconciliation on the surface, but in his heart, he refused to let Tu Laosan go.

Zhou You of the Jian Xiong Martial Arts School promised not to take action, but 'Lu Zhigang' could.

Although the real Lu Zhigang was already dead, Zhou You could completely create a new Lu Zhigang from scratch and use Yanxing Quan at the Jinli Level to beat Tu Laosan to death.

"Junior Brother Zhou, you asked for 500 taels; aren't you afraid they won't agree?"

Zhou You thought that what he wanted was for them not to agree, so he would have a reason not to accept the reconciliation.

However, that possibility was slim.

Through this negotiation, he had roughly grasped the way martial arts schools and gangs coexist, which is that they do not interfere with each other.

Regarding avoiding low-level conflicts as much as possible, the middle and upper levels of both sides were well aware of this.

Therefore, during the negotiation just now, Xu Ying and Wu Gang both maintained a consistent tacit understanding.