Chapter 680: Pledging Allegiance
Inside another two-story small building, Gesangjor’s breathing stagnated. As he turned to look at the two old men, he saw them nodding at him at the same time.
After a while, Gesangjor appeared in front of Tang Xiu and the others along with the two old men. He glanced at the dead bodies on the ground as a complicated look could be seen in his eyes. He then forced out a smile and said, “I never expected you to be a cultivator, Mr. Tang, and neither did I expect that you would have such a formidable strength. It seems that my worry was ungrounded.”
“And neither did I expect that you were a member of the Strange Doors, Proprietor Gesangjor. More so that… your status should be pretty high, am I right?” Commented Tang Xiu lightly.
“I’m the Sect Master of the Venom Sect, but I’ve never involved myself in the other factions’ disputes,” bitterly explained Gesangjor. “If anything, we’ve been in Kanas for many years and have never provoked others. Mr. Tang, if you are annoyed and unhappy with the people from the Strange Doors, please do not direct your anger toward our Venom Sect. Daoist Qiankun, Jin Sanchi, and Jin Sijie insisted to stay here, while I did not have the guts nor the ability to drive them away.”
“In today’s society, covering-up others’ crimes is also considered as being guilty before the law, don’t you think?” Said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Gesangjor spread his hands and said, “I beg your forgiveness, Mr. Tang. You would not stoop down to our level, ignorant and less informed people, would you?”
“It’s easy,” said Tang Xiu with a faint smile. “I’m very much resentful for the fact that Jin Sanchi and Jin Sijie were able to beguile the forces under the Strange Doors and bossed them around. If you can make up for their previous faults and remove all those forces, I won’t hold you accountable anymore.”
Gesangjor’s expression moved as he suddenly cupped his fists and replied, “Gesangjor is willing to serve you, Mr. Tang.”
Serve me? Didn’t he just want to expiate himself and make up for his faults with merits?
Tang Xiu’s mind turned sharp. Despite knowing perfectly well what Gesangjor’s intention was, he let out a faint smile, stretched out three fingers and slowly said, “Three years. If your Venom Sect’s deeds and actions can satisfy me within these three years, I don’t mind making you go on a step further.”
Is it like an internship period?
Gesangjor’s eyes lit up and with a bit of excitement, he replied respectfully, “I, Gesangjor, along with the entire Venom Sect behind me, will forever serve and work for Mr. Tang in the future. Regardless of whatever you order us to do, we will definitely do our best to achieve it as long as it is within our capabilities.”
A smile outlined on the corner of Tang Xiu’s mouth as he nodded and said, “Then your first task is to completely exterminate all the people from the Strange Doors who participated in this incident! His name is Mo Awu, and I’ll instruct him to lead a few men of mine to stay here to aid you. I hope all of them have already reported to the King of Hell ten days later.”
“Affirmative!”
Gesangjor did not know the degree of strength possessed by Mo Awu’s group, yet he presumed that they were also cultivators given the fact that they could follow Tang Xiu. With the help from several cultivators, it would simply be a breeze to eradicate those eight families.
Afterward, Tang Xiu did not hurry to leave but stayed on the hunting ground to heal himself. Although his injury was not severe, it was not light either. Especially the backlash caused by the explosion of the spear array that made him feel the burning pain from his internal organs. If he did not heal himself as early as possible, it would probably leave a latent danger to himself.
At noon the next day, just as Tang Xiu came out of the room, Mo Awu told him that Old Blind had already left, leaving a message to Mo Awu to be conveyed to him that she would go to the Shanghai’s Everlasting Feast Hall in June this year to find him.
“Boss, the Venom Sect is all done with the preparation and are ready to proceed.”
At lunchtime, Gesangjor arrived in a hurry.
“Then, it’s time to start since you’ve already prepared!” Said Tang Xiu. “And remember, do not leave any latent dangers behind, and neither must you create too much noise. Besides… the present time is kind of a new society, to begin with.”
Gesangjor nodded with a prudent expression. In fact, Tang Xiu did not even need to remind him as he was also aware of how he should do the job. Under the current circumstances, the media had quick access to information and were well-informed. And what his Venom Sect was adept at was assassination with poison; killing while remaining invisible.
“Boss, those eight families and forces of the Strange Door have a very big power as far as I know. How should we manage the aftermath after we’re done killing them?” asked Jin Shi all of a sudden.
Tang Xiu looked at him with an unusual expression and suddenly grinned, “Awu, I think Jin Shi is quite good and smart. Alright, I think he’s suitable to be in charge of the matters here! As for you, go back with me.”
Mo Awu was valiant and brave, yet was slightly lacking in thinking things through. Upon hearing the question from Jin Shi, he too realized that he overlooked the matter of how to manage the aftermath and thus let out a hollow laugh and nodded without speaking.
Tang Xiu then continued, “Jin Shi, call my Grandfather personally if some government officials are involved in this matter, I think he can solve it. In the case that it involves someone from the business community, you can call Kang Xia in person and she’ll handle that for you. Do remember, the killing must be done, and you must not be soft-hearted.”
“Affirmative,” replied Jin Shi respectfully before he turned around and left.
In the evening, Tang Xiu went to Jie Walie’s horse ranch in Kanas. After Jie Walie welcomed him, he then got out of the car and said with a smile, “Brother Jie, I just felt that I must dine in your place tonight.”
“You’re most welcome,” said Jie Walie with a clear voice and a smiling face.
Tang Xiu nodded and smiled in response. As he walked inside, he said, "To make nothing of the hardships you endured, I troubled you to venture deep into the forested mountains this time, Brother Jie. I can’t express my gratitude with words, so I’ll just gift you something big after we’re done dinning. Please consider it as a token of my gratitude!”
“Brother Tang, we are friends, you don’t need to be overly courteous,” said Jie Walie sternly. “What I like about you is neither your money nor possessions, but you as a person!”
“The thing I’m going to gift you is not something money can buy.” Tang Xiu shook his head. “Alright, please don’t refuse it, and let’s just finish the meal first.”
“Alright, I’ll tell them to get it prepared now.”
Jie Walie was somewhat looking forward to it. He already knew that Tang Xiu was a cultivator, and therefore felt that the gift Tang Xiu wanted to give to him was probably something that countless people could only dream of obtaining.
As expected! Tang Xiu imparted him a basic cultivation technique to cultivate qi after dinner. The technique could not lead an ordinary person to be called as cultivator, but it was still able to prolong his lifespan and strengthen his body, nonetheless. Furthermore, it was very easy to practice this cultivation technique, and Tang Xiu even gave Jie Walie a prescription to let him obtain medicinal herbs according to it and consume as a medicated diet.
With all this done, as Jie Walie was feeling grateful, Tang Xiu led Mo Awu and left the horse ranch and quickly rushed to the airport. What made him helpless was that all the flights from Kanas Airport were canceled due to bad weather. Tang Xiu did not want to waste time here and therefore took a bus with Mo Awu and rushed to the North Xinjiang Train Station overnight.
“All the train tickets have been sold out, Boss.”
Mo Awu came out of the ticket booth looking a bit helpless. It just after the New Year celebration, thus it was rush time for students and migrant workers to leave their hometowns and return to their school and work.
“It’s two in the morning now, and it seems like we can only stay here. Let’s find a hotel nearby to spend the night and then leave tomorrow morning,” said Tang Xiu.
Mo Awu silently nodded. But then, a glint suddenly flashed in his eyes and he hurriedly said, “I may have another way to buy a train ticket, Boss. Just wait a bit.”
Tang Xiu watched Mo Awu leave quickly and spoke to a few furtive young men in the corner a dozen meters away. He handed over a few paper bills and then returned back with two train tickets, saying, “Boss, those guys are ticket scalpers. But we’ll need to transfer to another transportation means in Ning Province, nonetheless.”
After boarding the train, Tang Xiu and Mo Awu arrived in Ning Province in the evening. Fortunately, the ticket they bought was in couchette car, so they did not feel tired at all. Afterward, the duo rushed to Ning Province Airport without pausing to rest. After successfully buying the flight tickets, they then boarded the plane to Shanghai smoothly.
“Strange, how come no one is here?”
Tang Xiu and Mo Awu were surprised after boarding the plane since there was no passengers there at all. Other than the four flight attendants, the entire cabin was empty.
“The flight has been canceled due to the weather, Sir. However, the issue has been lifted due to the changes in the weather as well, but the passengers who originally booked the seats have already been refunded. The two Sirs may have to wait for a while since there’s still half an hour left for four flights to take off. Also, there should be some more passengers boarding later,” one of the elegant flight attendants answered.
Tang Xiu understood in a flash. After taking a seat according to the ticket number, he then waited quietly.
“Hello, Sir. There are a lot of passengers here, and I like sitting by the window. May I ask whether we can exchange seats?” A pleasant voice sounded as a woman with an alluring figure and wearing a veil standing in the aisle next to Mo Awu asked him.
“Exchange seats?”
Mo Awu furrowed his brows and quickly glanced around the cabin. What made him secretly vigilant was that the total passengers that boarded the plane were only five people. This also included the woman next to him. Tang Xiu, who sat by the window with his eyes shut, also heard her voice, as he opened his eyes to look around and found the same issue.
“Awu, pick any seat in the back,” said Tang Xiu calmly after glancing at the veiled female.
“Alright,” replied Mo Awu and quickly took a seat in the back row.
Tang Xiu calmly watched as the veiled woman took a seat and also smelled the fragrance she exuded out. He then let out a light smile and said, “Sure enough, it really is a small world, isn’t it, Miss Xue? The saying does have its own truth.”
Xue Yu’s eyes curved and let out a smile as she replied, “The Old Ancestress told me that you’d take this flight to Shanghai. It just so happened that I need to go to Shanghai as well to find my fiancée, and we happened to bump into each other. What is it? Don’t you want me to sit next to you, Mr. Tang?”
“Your fiancée? Is it Chu Yuan?” Asked Tang Xiu.
“Actually, I’ve seen that fiancée of mine,” said Xue Yu, shaking her head.
“Huh?” Tang Xiu was surprised. “Where is he?”
“Far from the horizon and yet right here under my nose,” said Xue Yu with a smile. “Do you really not know? Or are you intentionally playing the fool?”
Tang Xiu pointed his finger at his nose and said incredulously, “You mean, me?”
“Is there anyone else besides you in front of me?” Asked Xue Yu back with a smile.
Tang Xiu rolled his eyes at her and snappily said, “Miss Xue, you can eat whatever food you want, but don’t speak nonsensical things randomly. The room in my home has already been occupied by someone else, and I have no interest to hear such a joke.”
“Had I been unaware of your true identity, I may not be sure that you’re the first man who ever saw my face.” Xue Yu shook her head. “Mr. Tang… No, I should call you Tang Xiu. Addressing you with this name feels kinda intimate, right? Anyways, did I speak incorrectly that you’ve already seen my face back when we were in Star City, Tang Xiu?”