Chapter 40
Chapter 40
The crowd of onlookers looked puzzled by Tian Heng's words. Why on earth was Shen Lang's name being mentioned here? In this atmosphere, Tian Heng had to continue, hiding his shame as best he could. As the saying goes, "The victor is king, the loser a bandit." Such is the way of the world. What more needed to be said?
"Young Master Shen Lang is not only the son-in-law of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate, but also my dearest friend. How dare you offend such a man? If I do not punish you severely, how can I uphold the discipline of our Black Clothes Gang? Men, bring me a club."
Another subordinate handed him a thick, hard club. Tian Heng sighed heavily a few times and walked up to Thirteen.
"Thirteen, do not resent me for this."
Thirteen did not answer, his expression impassive. This angered Tian Heng. *Are you defying me? Do you refuse to accept my decision?* Tian Heng raised the club and brought it down hard on his legs.
*Crack!*
Thirteen's legs were broken.
"Ugh!"
From beginning to end, he only let out a single, small groan, not a wretched scream. He merely growled softly, like a wounded beast. Fourteen, however, lacked such fortitude and trembled all over.
He couldn't accept it. They had offended Shen Lang for the Gang Leader's honor and for the benefit of the Black Clothes Gang, yet now their limbs were to be broken? Was there any justice in this world? It was clearly the Gang Leader's fault for provoking Shen Lang, so why should he and Thirteen be the ones sacrificed?
*'Gang Leader, is this how you abandon your men? What about the loyalty you always preach?'*
Fourteen shouted loudly.
"I won't accept this! I won't accept it!"
Enraged, Tian Heng cast off the mask that concealed his ugliness the moment Fourteen yelled. He snatched the club and swung it fiercely at Fourteen's legs.
"Aargh!"
A terrible scream rang out as Fourteen's legs were broken. Tian Heng struck again, and Fourteen's arms were brutally shattered. He struck with such force that the bones inside were smashed to pieces.
"Aaargh!"
As Fourteen let out an even more wretched scream, the onlookers felt a chill run down their spines. He fainted immediately. For a moment, everyone around felt as if their own limbs had been broken, their faces twitching.
The members of the Black Clothes Gang, in particular, felt their bodies turn ice-cold. Seeing Thirteen and Fourteen was like seeing their own fate, and a sense of sorrow and dread washed over them. How loyal had Thirteen and Fourteen been to the Gang Leader? And yet, when trouble arose, they were the first to be made scapegoats, the first to bear the blame. The Gang Leader who always spoke of loyalty was such a ruthless man.
Today, he had sacrificed Thirteen and Fourteen without hesitation. So, who would he sacrifice tomorrow? It would surely be their turn next. Thirteen and Fourteen were the Gang Leader's most trusted subordinates. Compared to them, their own value was lighter than a feather. When the time came, the Gang Leader would sacrifice anyone without a second thought.
With this act, Tian Heng had lost the hearts of the Black Clothes Gang. Their loyalty to him had scattered, and it would be difficult to lead them from now on. Moreover, there was a huge crowd of onlookers. They had seen the man they thought was imposing and fierce break the legs of two of his own men just because Shen Lang pressured him. His prestige had hit rock bottom.
Tian Heng gritted his teeth.
"Shen Lang, are you satisfied now?"
"Somewhat. Gang Leader Tian, do you recall what I said yesterday? I am a man of my word."
Recall? It was seared into his very soul, into his bones. How great a price would he have to pay to make up for today's losses? He had roamed the martial world his entire life, never imagining he would be brought so low by a pale-faced scholar like Shen Lang.
But Tian Heng still had a chance. If he held fast to the Prefect, helped him and the Governor eliminate the Count of Xuanwu's Estate, the position of deputy city lord would be his in the future. If that happened, today's humiliation would be worth enduring. With power, there was no need to speak of loyalty in the martial world. So he had to swallow today's shame. *Bide your time, bide your time!*
"Gang Leader Tian, the sun is about to set. We have just a little more to wrap up our business."
Tian Heng shouted.
"Shen Lang, don't push me any further!"
"Didn't I win nineteen thousand gold coins from your gambling den? You're not planning to pretend that never happened, are you? Give me the money. I have to have dinner with my wife soon, so we must finish everything before then."
Tian Heng's eyes turned bloodshot, and he was on the verge of exploding. He didn't want to give him the money, nor could he. The tens of thousands of gold coins paid out to the gamblers today had already nearly emptied the Wealth and Honor House's coffers. Where was he supposed to get such a large sum?
Shen Lang said.
"I value loyalty. You might not be in a position to give me the money, and in that case, I can't very well tell you to sell your wife to raise the funds. So let's do this. Give me two thousand gold coins first, and write me an IOU for the remaining seventeen thousand. How about it?"
Shen Lang estimated that the Wealth and Honor House could only produce about two thousand gold coins. In this absurd situation, Tian Heng could only marvel at Shen Lang's ruthless scheming. *Heavens, why don't you strike down this despicable, shameless bastard with a bolt of lightning?*
"Gang Leader Tian, give me two thousand gold coins and the IOU, and we'll call it a day. If you don't, your gambling dens will have to face a disaster named Shen Lang every single day. If that were to happen... things would get awkward for both of us, wouldn't they?"
Shen Lang glanced at the sky.
"I really am running out of time. My wife will be waiting anxiously. If I don't have dinner with her, I won't be able to earn her love."
Tian Heng didn't even want to give up the two thousand gold coins. That money was his last resort for crushing this bastard. Even if he had to change his tune in front of everyone, he didn't want to part with it, so he stood his ground. Just then, a voice reached his ear.
"Give him the money."
It was Zhang Jin's voice. He had been watching the scene unfold from the upper floor of the Wealth and Honor House with cold eyes.
"The Count of Xuanwu's Estate has strict family principles, and the Count is a conservative man. He'll consider money won from a gambling den to be the filthiest kind. If Shen Lang takes that money back to the estate, the Count will be so disappointed in him that he might beat him half to death."
Zhang Jin's words made sense.
The Count of Xuanwu would surely think, *'The proud, hundred-year-old noble estate earning money through such vulgar means? When did the Jin Clan fall so low?'*
Realizing Zhang Jin had a very good point, Tian Heng nodded and said.
"Very well. I'll give him the money! Men, Young Master Shen Lang won this money fair and square in our gambling den. Take two thousand gold coins from the coffers and give it to him at once."
A moment later, his men brought a chest filled with two thousand gold coins.
"Aren't you going to give me the IOU?"
"I'll write it now."
Tian Heng wrote the IOU and handed it to Shen Lang. But no one believed this IOU would ever actually be honored.
"Young Master Shen, are you satisfied now?"
Shen Lang took the IOU and examined it closely. Then he opened the chest, grabbed a handful of gold coins, and savored their heavy feel. The brilliant golden gleam of the coins was enough to blind everyone around. Tian Heng sneered inwardly.
*'Take it, go ahead and take it. I'll be waiting for the news that the Count of Xuanwu has broken your legs.'*
Shen Lang might be triumphant taking the money, but it would lead to disastrous consequences back at the estate and tarnish its reputation. Tian Heng imagined how furious the Count would be when he saw the gold, how he would beat his chest in disappointment.
But then, Shen Lang's charming smile suddenly shifted into a righteous expression. He spoke righteously, his voice filled with passion.
"How could a mere two thousand gold coins possibly catch my eye? Tian Heng, do you know how many people have squandered their fortunes and ruined their families in your gambling den? How could you watch that happen and continue to operate this place?
I, Shen Lang, consider this money to be nothing more than filthy dirt. I came to your gambling den not to win money, but to punish you for the unjust wealth you have accumulated. And I came to seek justice for the tens of thousands of families in Xuanwu City who have been torn apart and ruined because of it.
My father-in-law has always told me to cherish the people as if they were my own children. My punishing the Wealth and Honor House today was not for myself, but for the countless people of Xuanwu City. This money came from the people, so I will not take a single coin. I will return it all to them!"
Shen Lang suddenly grabbed the gold coins and threw them into the surrounding crowd.
"This money is all yours!"
In that instant, everyone present went completely wild. Two thousand gold coins was a fortune that an ordinary person might never see in their lifetime. Shen Lang had given it all away to the people of Xuanwu City. The hundreds of people there erupted into a frenzy.
"Long live Master Shen Lang."
"Long live the Count's Estate!"
All the people surrounding the area shouted at the top of their lungs. Tian Heng could only stand there dumbfounded, unable to do anything as he watched the scene unfold. Watching his own money disappear into thin air, utterly powerless to stop it, he was about to explode.
*'You bastard! It wasn't enough to force me to break my adopted sons' legs, now you're using my money to buy goodwill? Just how far do you intend to toy with me?'*
In this disastrous situation, unable to vent the rage that had risen to the top of his head, Tian Heng suddenly clutched his tightening chest. A moment later, a stabbing pain shot through him, and he spat out a mouthful of red blood.
"Shen Lang, I, Tian Heng, cannot live with you! I will absolutely not... live under the same sky... as you!"
Tian Heng staggered and fell backward. Inside the Wealth and Honor House, Zhang Jin and City Lord Liu Chengyan were completely stunned by the scene.
Zhang Jin and City Lord Liu Chengyan could only stare at each other. The City Lord also received a cut from this gambling den, so with such a major incident, it was only natural for him to come and see. However, due to his status, he did not show his face publicly. Zhang Jin looked at Shen Lang's handsome face and recalled the scene of kicking him out.
It had only been a few days, yet it felt like a lifetime ago. Zhang Jin watched as Shen Lang stripped Tian Heng and his gambling den bare with his devilishly clever and cunning schemes, completely unable to understand how he was so different from before.
"My Lord, the gambling den is in such chaos right now. What if something were to happen to Shen Lang?"
"An interesting thought."
He was in a hostile relationship with the Count's Estate, so he was also an enemy of Shen Lang.
"Right now, thousands of people are surrounding Shen Lang, picking up money. If a trampling incident were to suddenly occur, it would have nothing to do with us, right?"
"Of course, it would have nothing to do with us."
"If such an incident were to happen, it would be perfectly normal for Shen Lang to be trampled in a... sensitive area and become a eunuch, wouldn't it?"
"One could say it's a very normal situation."
In such a chaotic situation, if Shen Lang were to be injured by the crowd, it would be his own fault for making such a spectacle. The Count claimed to love the people as his own children, so he couldn't possibly track down and punish the thousands of people here. Tian Heng had already been so brutally defeated by Shen Lang that he had coughed up blood and fainted, so he couldn't be held responsible either.
Liu Chengyan suddenly spoke.
"If a trampling incident were to occur, many people would surely die, and hundreds would be injured. In that case, it would be difficult for both Shen Lang and the Count's Estate to evade blame."
Zhang Jin was unconsciously stunned. This City Lord before him was targeting not just Shen Lang, but his backer, the House of Xuanwu. To speak so casually of using others to kill people, of hundreds being injured... Zhang Jin couldn't help but be astonished.
The two looked at each other and nodded. They had decided to use this golden opportunity to create a major incident to bring down the Count's Estate. Crushing Shen Lang's sensitive parts would just be a bonus.