Chapter 539 - 266: Such Blood Relatives

Chapter 539: Chapter 266: Such Blood Relatives

A cloud drifted by, hazy as smoke.

The azure sky seemed to wait for a misty rain, and before long, a long-absent drizzle began to fall, its patter deepening the autumn chill.

As mentioned before, the West Market was the largest market in the Daqian Capital City.

Half the establishments here hung plaques bearing the Zheng Clan’s name.

The West Market was adjacent to the West City Gate.

And Xiaoyao Square was situated in a corner of the West Market, just two alleys from the city gate.

On the surface, Xiaoyao Square was a general store, selling firewood, rice, oil, and salt during the day, and hosting gambling at night.

A Thug guarding the door rounded the corner of the alley. He had just relieved himself by the roadside and was now hitching up his pants, tying the sash as he grinned at another man.

"Guess what I just saw? I don’t know what’s gotten into those cats from the Six Gates, but they’re up in the middle of the night, plastering wanted posters all over the streets!"

"Wanted posters? Who are they after?"

"Never heard of him. Doesn’t sound like anyone from the underworld. Name’s Zhang San or something."

Hearing the name, the other man sneered and shook his head. "Never heard of him. Who the hell is he to be worth all this fuss from those cats?"

"Funnily enough, that Zhang San also calls himself Lord Blade."

"..."

The air fell silent for a moment. The two doormen for Xiaoyao Square exchanged a look.

Then, one of them gave a sheepish smile. "What are you thinking? Our Lord Blade isn’t named Zhang San."

"True. What a strange coincidence this whole damn thing is."

"What a stupid name!"

"I know, right? What a stupid name!"

"The bounty’s one thousand taels of silver!"

"HISS! Is that guy Zhang San worth that much? If I ever run into him, I’ll beat him into submission and hand him over to the Government Office for the reward."

"Hahaha! We’d be set for the rest of our lives!"

The two guarded the door, bored out of their minds.

After a while, one of them couldn’t help but ask again, "What did that Zhang San do? How could he be worth a thousand taels of silver?"

"Home invasion, robbery, murder for profit—all unpardonable crimes."

The other man read the words on the wanted poster, one by one.

The first man was dumbfounded when he heard.

’That’s it?’

’Twenty years ago, in those godforsaken times, who hadn’t done something like that?’

’Is that worth a thousand taels of silver?’

’Twenty years ago, a wanted poster for that kind of thing was only worth half a tael of crushed silver.’

"The price sure has gone up!"

The two of them grumbled indignantly about the reward money.

The increase was simply absurd.

CLIP-CLOP CLIP-CLOP...

Deep in the night, the clatter of hooves grew urgent.

A luxurious carriage stopped in front of Xiaoyao Square.

A man of noble grace and magnificent bearing—wearing a formal cap, a jade pendant at his waist—alighted with composure.

The two had seen plenty of high officials and noble personages in their time. One look at the man stepping down from the carriage told them he was a big spender.

Just as they were about to shamelessly approach and offer a "Welcome," a chill ran down the back of their necks. With the WHIR of a mechanism, the cold, sharp points of something were pressed silently against their throats.

Qing Shisan pulled a thick notebook from his robes, stepped forward, and lifted each man’s chin to study their faces for a moment. Then he turned back to report to the Red King:

"Qiu Zhong, from Liao County in Tongzhou. Registered with the Ministry of Revenue. Alias: Yuan Shan. Responsible for two deaths."

"Jia Ziling, also from Liao County in Tongzhou. Registered with the Ministry of Revenue. Alias: Wang Eryang. Responsible for three deaths."

"Coincidentally, these two used to call themselves the ’Tongzhou Twin Dragons.’"

The Twin Dragons had once lived lives of licking blood from a knife’s edge, so they naturally knew what the cold sensation pressed against their necks was. It certainly wasn’t an ice pop! They didn’t dare move a muscle, terrified the person behind them might have a shaky hand and kill the wrong man by mistake. But before they could even try to argue, this scruffy man in a traveler’s getup and straw sandals reeled off their hidden pasts as if he were counting his family jewels. A cold sweat instantly beaded on their foreheads, their faces contorted into masks of misery, and the thousand words in their hearts converged into a single phrase:

"My lord, spare me!"

"My lord, spare me!"

Zheng Xiu was puzzled. "It only took you one day to dig up all their dirt?"

Qing Shisan was on the job this time, so he lit up his dry pipe with a clear conscience, took a blissful puff, and said leisurely, "For this, we have Lord Blade to thank. He wrote down all the details on these guys in his diary, plain as day. I spent a full hour in the middle of the night copying it on their roof by lamplight. It was exhausting."

When the Tongzhou Twin Dragons heard this, they inwardly cursed the eighteen generations of Lord Blade’s ancestors until their graves smoked.

Zheng Xiu asked curiously, "Do respectable people write diaries?"

Qing Shisan spread his hands. "Maybe he was afraid he’d forget the dirt he had on them?"

"Makes sense."

Zheng Xiu nodded.

The instant the Red King nodded, two Brotherhood Assassins, their faces hidden in black robes, chanted in low voices.

"Nothing is true,"

"Everything is permitted."

SHINK!

A Sleeve Arrow shot out and retracted.

The Tongzhou Twin Dragons’ eyes went wide, but their mouths were covered.

A moment later, the two became warm corpses and collapsed limply.

Qing Shisan lectured, "You should have finished your chant before you came out."

"Boss, it’s just, uh, been a while since we had a job, you know?"

"We were in a hurry, in a hurry!"

The two from the Brotherhood gave a sheepish laugh, then once again became shadows, melting into the darkness and vanishing.

With the two men dead, Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan strode inside.

Inside, Xiaoyao Square was a winding maze, a whole other world.

Passing through several folding screens, even from behind a door, Zheng Xiu could hear the foul, smoky atmosphere within. People were gathered in small groups. Some squatted precariously on stools, others stared intently at card games, and still others wailed hysterically over their losses. They were playing some backward games like pitch-pot, flick-chess, grass-fighting, archery, and string games.

This was the "Human" section, where the stakes weren’t high.

Mahjong, Dice—the high-stakes games were further inside.

"Let’s be quiet. Don’t spoil the patrons’ fun."

Zheng Xiu’s tone was calm. It was a simple sentence, yet it decided the life or death of many.

Qing Shisan gave two whistles with a grin.

The Thugs inside—the house’s hidden lookouts responsible for maintaining order—had just noticed the two "new faces" who had barged into Xiaoyao Square. They were inwardly cursing the Twin Dragons at the door, certain they must have snuck off somewhere to slack. Just as the Thugs were about to step forward and question Zheng Xiu and Qing Shisan, shadows flickered behind them. One after another, they collapsed with a THUD.