Yang Ge laughed, "No need, this matter can only be handled by me."
Yang Tiansheng became even more curious, "What exactly is it? The Ming Sect can’t lend a hand?"
Yang Ge, "What else could it be? It’s the business with the Five Poisons Cult."
Yang Tiansheng, "Didn’t Yan Shijun die by your hand? What else is there to worry about?"
Yang Ge spread his hands, "Yan Shijun is dead, but I haven’t gotten my money back!"
Yang Tiansheng, "Huh? You’re still planning on asking the Five Poisons Cult for money?"
Yang Ge, "Why not? That’s the hard-earned money we brothers risked our lives for all the way from Dongying. Why wouldn’t I want it back?"
Yang Tiansheng, "But aren’t you no match for the person behind the Five Poisons Cult?"
Yang Ge, "If I can’t beat him, should I just forget about the money?"
Yang Tiansheng, "If you can’t beat him, how are you going to get it?"
Yang Ge casually sipped his tea and said, "I may not be able to beat him, but he couldn’t kill me either, could he?"
Yang Tiansheng wordlessly reached out to check his forehead and said, "You’re not sick, so why are you talking nonsense?"
Yang Ge, "Crow’s mouth, can’t you wish me some good luck?"
Yang Tiansheng, "I only say this to you because you’re my brother. Why should I care if a stranger drops dead?"
Yang Ge pondered for a moment before speaking calmly, "Let’s put it this way, do you know on what ground I’ve managed to get to where I am today?"
Yang Tiansheng thought about it and said with conviction, "Bold and careful, and not afraid of death!"
Yang Ge snapped his fingers, his face full of smiles as he slung an arm around him, "Isn’t that why we’re considered brothers from different mothers?"
Yang Tiansheng shoved his hand away and said speechlessly, "Wake up. You’re not afraid to die, but that doesn’t mean you’re immortal..."
"Couldn’t care less!"
Yang Ge said lazily, "Having reached where I stand today, I could slack off, coast along, or stay out of trouble and hang by myself. The only thing I can’t afford to do is show any sign of cowardice!"
"If I show a hint of weakness, those shady types that don’t show their faces will smell blood and be all over me..."
After a long contemplation, Yang Tiansheng spoke softly, "Aren’t you overestimating them? I don’t think they have the guts to provoke you!"
Yang Ge finished his tea and said indifferently, "There are more ways to kill a man than just with a sharp blade!"
Yang Tiansheng wanted to say something more, but Yang Ge had already slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Alright, forget about these vexing issues. Think positively – maybe the Five Poisons Cult grew some brains after losing their leader? If they just return the five million silver taels they owe me to Lu Ting, I’ll have no reason to trouble them any further, right?"
The truth was, having reached his current status, he could indeed slack off as long as he didn’t step into the fray.
But once he did, he had to stay tough to the end, never backing down!
If he took one step back, he himself might not face much trouble and could still return to Yuelai Inn to be the indifferent Store Manager.
But many people, many affairs, would spiral out of control because of his retreat.
Like the Yang Tiansheng right in front of him.
Like the solid foundation in Dongying.
Or Wei’s current flourishing state of affairs...
Of course, setting aside these external factors, he himself didn’t want to back down either!
After all... who doesn’t have a rebellious streak?
He, Yang Ge, was not easily frightened!
...
Seeing that he couldn’t persuade Yang Ge, Yang Tiansheng decided not to say any more.
He knew Yang Ge well; he knew that the man never did anything without assurance. No matter how brash he sounded, when it came to action, he was always careful and methodical.
In all the time he’d known Yang Ge, he’d never seen him take a major loss from anyone...
Yang Tiansheng put his mind at ease, crossed his legs comfortably, and lazily asked, "What do you want to do this afternoon? Want me to take you to one of Fengyang’s brothels to open your eyes?"
"Not going! I sure won’t be drinking your bathwater!"
Without a second thought, Yang Ge bluntly refused and once again turned his attention to the lotus pond, his enthusiasm evident as he asked, "Are there fish in this pond?"
Yang Tiansheng replied uncertainly, "Uh... there should be, right?"
Yang Ge cast a glance at him, "This is your home, and you don’t even know if there are fish in the pond?"
Yang Tiansheng laughed, "There used to be, but I set off an explosion in the pond one summer during training and killed quite a few fish..."
Yang Ge: "You good-for-nothing, didn’t your aunt break your legs for that?"
Yang Tiansheng: "My mom dotes on me, why would she..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw his elderly mother waving frantically at him from the corner in the distance. His face changed, and he sighed, "You sit tight, I’ll be right back."
Yang Ge waved his hand, "Bring over a couple of fishing rods, let’s cast a few lines!"
With annoyance, Yang Tiansheng rolled his eyes at him, "These are koi fish in here!"
Yang Ge: "Can’t koi be fished?"
Yang Tiansheng: "Prodigal!"
...
Just in time.
Within the forest more than ten miles south of Mount Longhu.
Two figures, dressed as peasants in coarse cloth, appeared next to the pit from which Yang Ge had emerged covered in mud days before. They bent down and carefully examined the soil, uncovering several torn pieces of cloth.
The two stood up with the cloth pieces in hand, their eyes full of shock as they surveyed the chaotic landscape, resembling a terrain ravaged by tens of thousands of boars.
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After a long while, one of them said in a low voice, "This must have been Yang Erlang’s hideout that day; the speculation from the organization was not wrong. Yang Erlang indeed lost his battle with the one from Mount Longhu!"
The other replied, "Yang Erlang did lose, but this place... it’s truly horrifying and forbidding. I still believe the organization should be cautious with Yang Erlang and not make any more unwise moves."
"I think the same, but you and I aren’t the ones calling the shots."
"But the Divine Monarch and the Seven Envoys will base their decisions on our findings, won’t they?"
"You’d better not mess around; the Divine Monarch will personally review the findings, and he does not tolerate any sand in his eyes... You know the consequences of tampering with the findings without permission, don’t you?"
"We don’t need to change the findings. We just need to fill this hole. Who would know that Yang Erlang lost that day?"
"This..."
"Think about it. If Yang Erlang comes knocking, those above might escape a catastrophe, but where can people like us run to?"
"Are you suggesting that Yang Erlang was on par with the one from Mount Longhu?"
"I mean, we should just report everything here, as well as Yang Erlang’s trail to Fengyang, exactly as witnessed. Let those above decide what to do next... Even if someone from the organization discovers this pit later, who can prove that you and I filled it?"
The one hesitant to act still struggled.
Yet the one who proposed filling the hole had already thrown the pieces of torn cloth back into the pit and begun restoring it to its original state.
Seeing his companion almost finish burying the pit, the hesitating figure finally gave up resisting and symbolically scooped up a handful of dirt to throw into the pit.
Relief washed over the one filling the hole upon seeing this.
After tossing a handful of dirt, the hesitant person stood up, patted his hands, and murmured in a melancholy tone, "With this, Yang Erlang, the ’Lord Zhongshen’, has truly secured his position as the first person of this age!"
The one filling the pit: "Isn’t surviving a battle with the one from Mount Longhu proof enough that he is the first person of this age?"
The hesitant one: "That’s true... if I remember correctly, this should be the first time the organization has recognized someone as the number one in the world, right?"
The one filling the pit: "You haven’t finished reading those old yellow calendars stored in the archives, have you?"
The hesitant one: "What do you mean?"
The one filling the pit: "If you had read all those old calendars, you’d know that our ’Outside the Tower’ organization has recognized many as the number one in the world!"
He stood up, kicked over a pile of dead branches and leaves to cover the traces of the pit, and finally looked up towards Mount Longhu, "The last one to be called the first in the world was the one from Mount Longhu!"
The hesitant one paused for a long time before suddenly coming to his senses, "Are you saying that because of that one, the organization stopped recognizing a number one in the world?"
The one filling the pit nodded, "Precisely because of that one, there has not been another recognized as the number one in the martial world, until Yang Erlang topped the List of Heroes!"
Murmuring phrases such as "the battle of the new and old number ones" and "escaping unharmed," the hesitant one looked up after a long while and said, "You’re right, we indeed cannot afford to provoke that ’Eminent Holy True Monarch’!"