Chapter 518: Chapter 447: Competent Assistant _2
Yang Xiao sat on the edge of the bed, took the cup of water that Ling Yanyu handed over with both hands, didn’t drink, and casually asked, "How’s the Nie Family Teahouse?"
"All good. It’s too wasteful for me to live in the Nie Family Teahouse all by myself, and you rarely come back, so I... I’ve rented out the teahouse for now," Ling Yanyu continued evasively.
Seeing that the kid still wasn’t telling the truth, Yang Xiao didn’t confront him directly but instead held out his hand and bluntly asked, "Where’s the money?"
"The money..."
Ling Yanyu pursed his lips tightly, his face looking ugly, and before he could continue to prevaricate, Yang Xiao yanked off his scarf, revealing the bruise on his face.
Realizing he couldn’t hide it anymore, Ling Yanyu knelt down with a "thump," kept kowtowing to Yang Xiao, and the floor pounded loudly, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jiang, I was useless, I failed to take care of what you left behind, I... I lack your methods, couldn’t control those guys, they beat me up, and they took the Nie Family Teahouse too!"
"Don’t kill me, I... I can still be useful, I’ll prove it to you, please don’t kill me, I beg you!" Ling Yanyu trembled with fear.
But the next second, a hand was placed on his shoulder, lifting him up, "There is gold beneath the knees of men, don’t kneel at the drop of a hat."
"It’s normal you couldn’t hold them off; you’re outnumbered. I don’t blame you, but you need to be honest with me." Yang Xiao wasn’t blaming Ling Yanyu. After all, he was just an ordinary person, and it was as hard for him to establish himself in Xiang Ma Town as it was to climb to heaven. Ultimately, Yang Xiao had miscalculated and underestimated the complexity of Xiang Ma Town.
"You... Do you really not blame me?" Ling Yanyu was stunned.
"You did nothing wrong; it’s my problem. Now tell me everything from the beginning to the end, carefully. Who beat you, I’ll help you get back at them," Yang Xiao promised.
Upon hearing this, the grievances weighing on Ling Yanyu’s heart were released instantly, and he burst into tears. He told Yang Xiao that it was a group called the Golden Snake Gang. Some time ago, he had paid them for information, and somehow, they had set their sights on him. They had cased the place several times, discovered he was alone with no backup, then came over and gave him a severe beating. They robbed him of all his money and took over the Nie Family Teahouse. If he hadn’t knelt and apologized, things would have ended much worse.
Yang Xiao now understood the rest. Ling Yanyu didn’t dare tell him because he was afraid of being punished, so he hid out in this place until now.
"Is this Golden Snake Gang strong?" Yang Xiao asked.
"They’re alright, somewhat famous. They say their gang leader has... also has a mask," Ling Yanyu recalled.
"What character is on the mask?" Knowing oneself and knowing the enemy ensures victory. Yang Xiao wasn’t some rash youth who only knew how to fight and kill.
"Grudge Mask," Ling Yanyu said softly.
Hearing this, Yang Xiao smiled. Now, even the Character "Li" Mask wouldn’t intimidate him, let alone a youngster with a Grudge Mask.
"Lead the way," Yang Xiao stood up.
At this point, he had realized that to stay peacefully in Xiang Ma Town, he needed to instill fear in the other powers. Today, he would start by dealing with the Golden Snake Gang, who were unaware of the consequences of offending him.
"Now?" Ling Yanyu was taken aback.
Yang Xiao had already gotten up and was walking to the door. He looked back impatiently and urged, "Hurry up, I have serious matters after we take care of them."
"Oh, oh, oh."
To be safe, Yang Xiao changed into his Drama Robe, still wearing it close to his body underneath the outer layer, then Ling Yanyu led him through a shortcut, and they reached the Nie Family Teahouse in just over ten minutes. The place was still brightly lit and very lively inside.
In the blink of an eye, before Ling Yanyu could understand what was happening, Yang Xiao had brought him into the Nie Family Teahouse. They didn’t use the door; it was as if they moved through space.
Standing in the familiar courtyard, Ling Yanyu experienced a flood of emotions. At that moment, the room door opened, and a drunken brawny man staggered out. Upon seeing Ling Yanyu, he was taken aback for a moment, then burst into rage, "You little bastard dare to come back? Did you take Master Fang’s words as nothing but wind?"
Villains die from talking too much, but Yang Xiao didn’t waste words. He went forward and kicked the stout man to the ground, then grabbed the Human Bone Staff and started thrashing the man’s face randomly.
Without infusing spiritual power, the Human Bone Staff at that moment was just an extremely tough stick, very handy to use.
Hearing the wails of the stout man, people from the house also rushed out one after another, with a bald man in black leading the way, wielding a silver Butterfly Knife with flashy moves.
In less than a minute, more than a dozen men had all been knocked to the ground, and the leading bald man, who liked to show off his knife skills, received special treatment from Yang Xiao, was beaten until his mouth and nose bled and begged non-stop for mercy.
In a short time, the courtyard was filled with people lying down, all holding their bodies and howling in pain. Yang Xiao had struck mercilessly, targeting below the belt, so their suffering was imaginable.
"Ling Yanyu, come over and identify them. Who hit you?" Yang Xiao sat on a wooden chair, legs spread wide, in an imposing manner.
At that moment, Ling Yanyu also finally found his chance to breathe freely, carrying a shovel from the yard and smacking several people hard, causing them to scream miserably.
Seeing it was about enough, Yang Xiao called a halt and started questioning. He had felt during the fight that these were all insignificant characters, there wasn’t a single Angel Envoy among them. After questioning, these men were all members of the Golden Snake Gang, the leader being a minor figure within the gang.
"What a piece of crap Golden Snake Gang, just trash." Yang Xiao was greatly disappointed and then turned to Ling Yanyu, "Point out the one who made you kowtow before."
"Him, and him, that one...also the one under your foot." Ling Yanyu, as if he were armed with an imperial sword, pointed out several people in succession.
Yang Xiao moved his foot; beneath it was a bald head – the leader of these men and a minor figure in the Golden Snake Gang.
"Dare to mess with me, truly courting death. You forced my people to kowtow before, today you must return it tenfold, one kowtow for ten, start now." Yang Xiao leaned back in his chair, glanced at Ling Yanyu, "Yanyu, count for me, whoever dares to miss one, I will take his life!"
"Do it harder, I want to hear the sound!"
After such an ordeal, the dozen or so people from the Money Gang were already half-dead, but even so, Yang Xiao didn’t let them go easily. He casually threw the Butterfly Knife, landing it at Ling Yanyu’s feet, "Go, cut off the ears of this bald man for me."
"Ah?" Ling Yanyu’s face showed shock.
"Didn’t you hear me?" Yang Xiao’s gaze turned unfamiliar, sneering: "With that attitude, do you still want to avenge your parents? Think about it, if you were the one beaten to the ground today, how would they treat you?"
"With no talent or background, to stand your ground in Xiang Ma Town, you need to be ruthless. If they’re ruthless, you have to be even more so. If you dare not do even this small thing, you might as well forget about revenge. Your parents deserved to die, and you, you’re nothing but a worthless blockhead!"
Yang Xiao knew that Ling Yanyu’s nature wasn’t bad, but at the same time, he wasn’t vicious enough, to himself or to his enemies, carrying a sort of university student’s clarity, which would be okay in life, but in the dog-eat-dog Xiang Ma Town, these would sooner or later become his Death Sentence.
Yang Xiao needed a capable assistant, not someone who does things half-heartedly. Even if Ling Yanyu was still weak, his nature had to be resilient, to first have the heart of a champion before possibly becoming a real one.
Hatred, the desire for revenge, is the best catalyst.
In the end, Ling Yanyu still picked up the Butterfly Knife, stepped toward the leading bald man, ignoring his pleas, and swung the knife fiercely – the next second, the knife did not cut off the bald man’s ear, but instead plunged into his heart.
"Puchi!"
"Puchi!"
...
One knife thrust followed another, each withdrawal bringing a spray of blood, life swiftly draining away at the fingertips, the bald man fell to the ground, eyes widening in helplessness, staring at this young man who had once been beaten into kneeling and begging for mercy, his vision blurring bit by bit.
