Chapter 20
“I knew it would be like this!”
“Crazy!”
“Big brother. Are you serious right now?”
Why are these guys reacting like this?
In an instant, the Dongdong brothers shook their heads with a disgusted look on their faces.
Of course, I didn’t understand.
Did I say something wrong?
“What’s wrong with you guys?”
At my question, Il-dong frowned and said.
“So-cheon Older Brother. I know how great you are. Honestly, with your skills and guts, even a member of a prestigious righteous sect would have to bow down to you. However, Older Brother, you’re sometimes too reckless. The Green Gang is just a group of ruffians, but they have a long history. In other words, they have connections with the Black Path all over Shaanxi. Shouldn’t we have some kind of plan?”
Thinking over Il-dong’s words, it made sense.
But my mind hadn’t changed.
Yeah.
The Green Gang is a group of old villains, so they must have connections with the Black Path all over Shaanxi.
But so what?
“Il-dong.”
“Yes, So-cheon Older Brother.”
“Are you mistaken about something?”
“Mistaken about what?”
“Do you think we’re some kind of organized sect? We’re just four people: a bounty hunter, a villain who steals from other villains, a father of a little girl, and three former neighborhood thugs. What kind of plan do we need to take down some ruffians?”
“Older Brother, but still……”
“Il-dong.”
I cut off Il-dong’s bewildered protest and said.
“When a person does something, they shouldn’t be picky. If you say this can’t be done because of this, and that can’t be done because of that, then in the end, there’s nothing you can do.”
“What does that……”
“You, Yi-dong, and Sam-dong. You guys are the damn simple and ignorant Dongdong brothers. Act accordingly. It doesn’t suit you to overthink things. Of course, the same goes for me.”
“Ah……”
At this moment, I thought I was a smooth talker.
Honestly, my words were sophistry.
I, the one who said it, know that well.
However, my eloquence was unstoppable, and Il-dong was speechless, unable to answer and only trailing off at the end of his sentence. So, in the end, the brief debate between me and Il-dong was my victory.
“Let’s go. To the Green Gang.”
◈ ◈ ◈
Frankly speaking……
I’m aware that my current actions are nothing short of crazy.
Does it make sense for just four people to rush into the headquarters of the biggest gang in Chang’an without any preparation?
Il-dong, Yi-dong, and Sam-dong must be dumbfounded by that as well.
But there’s no other way.
I’m a reincarnator who has experienced a past life, but my past life was filled with nothing but murder.
Simply put, I’ve spent my whole life in the Jianghu, making a living with a sword, but I have no experience or talent other than taking people’s lives.
Therefore, I can’t help but be weak in strategic matters.
Surely, I’ll make many more immature and clumsy moves in the future.
But I still intend to stick to this straightforward approach.
Why?
Because that’s all I’ve ever known.
“Is this the guy? The bastard who wanted to see the boss?”
When we arrived at the Lotus Pavilion, the headquarters of the Green Gang, the gatekeeper looked me up and down and asked Il-dong.
Judging from his tone alone, it seemed like he was a senior disciple of the Dongdong brothers when they were part of the Green Gang.
“Watch your mouth. This is the Older Brother we serve. You’ll get hurt if you keep talking like that.”
At that moment, Il-dong clearly showed his displeasure towards the gatekeeper.
Well……
Whether the gatekeeper was Il-dong’s older or younger brother in the past, Il-dong is now my man, so it’s natural for him to be angry at the insult I received.
“What? Kang Il-dong. You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you? I should have chopped off your hand when you guys left the Green Gang. Don’t get cocky. As soon as the boss sees this crazy bastard, you guys are next. I hear you’ve been cozying up with the government and stabbing your partners in the back? You bastards with no loyalty whatsoever. Anyway, you’re all dead today.”
The gatekeeper, after hearing Il-dong’s warning, spouted nonsense.
What?
Cozying up with the government and stabbing partners in the back?
No loyalty whatsoever?
I was momentarily stunned by the gatekeeper’s absurd way of thinking, but Il-dong stepped up just in time.
“How dare you threaten us? Hey, Dol-seok. Do you still see me as Kang Il-dong, the errand boy from the Green Gang? Haven’t you heard about us? We’re not backstabbing partners, we’re villains who steal from other villains. We’re bounty hunters.”
But.
Ugh……
Il-dong was also saying embarrassing things.
Villains who steal from other villains, bounty hunters……
These are things you say as a joke, depending on the situation……
You’re really saying that in this situation?
“What are you talking about? Villains who steal from other villains? Hahaha. You must be out of your mind!”
As expected, the gatekeeper burst into laughter, and Yi-dong and Sam-dong, probably embarrassed like me, blushed.
“No, wait…… What’s so funny? What’s wrong with what I said……”
“Il-dong.”
“Yes, So-cheon Older Brother.”
“Shut up.”
“……???”
I cut Il-dong off before he could say anything more embarrassing and stared intently at the gatekeeper.
His physique, his aura, his bones, muscles, his overall build – he was nothing but an ordinary, insignificant being.
『Il-dong.』
So I decided to leave the ‘handling’ of the gatekeeper to Il-dong and sent him a telepathic message.
『Yes, So-cheon Older Brother.』
『Kick that bastard in the groin.』
『What?』
『Didn’t I tell you? In this kind of fight, gaining the upper hand is important. You lost in a war of words, so take him down physically.』
『Older Brother, but still, the groin is a bit…… That bastard will really become a eunuch.』
『I don’t care if that bastard becomes a eunuch or a cripple.』
『Ah, I understand.』
Il-dong, after hearing my telepathic message, shook his head and sighed once, then just like that,
Bam━!
He kicked the gatekeeper right in the groin.
The gatekeeper, without even a scream, groaned and rolled on the ground. Judging by the friction sound at the moment of impact, he wouldn’t be able to use his lower body for the rest of his life.
“Hey. Il-dong has been training his lower body like crazy, so you won’t be able to pee properly for a while. Not to mention your balls, your d*ck is probably crushed too.”
Only after I declared the gatekeeper’s ‘eunuch status confirmed’ to him, who was still rolling on the ground with his mouth open and unable to make a sound, did I open the doors of the Lotus Pavilion.
You should have……
Watched your mouth in the Jianghu, man.
◈ ◈ ◈
The Lotus Pavilion, the headquarters of the Green Gang, is the largest brothel in Chang’an.
Brothels are generally divided into two categories.
There are brothels that simply entertain with alcohol and music, and there are brothels that openly engage in prostitution. The Lotus Pavilion is a pit of evil that not only engages in prostitution but also sells anything that can be sold in the world.
Therefore, the first floor is for alcohol and food, the second floor is for prostitution, and the third floor is a comprehensive entertainment system that combines all of that. From the fourth floor onwards, access is strictly restricted to ordinary people.
The floors from the fourth floor onwards, where access is restricted to ordinary people, are probably the main source of income. According to the Dongdong brothers, they sometimes sell drugs and dangerous goods like explosives, and sometimes they even host markets for poisons, including Gu, and human trafficking.
Honestly, at this point, they’re no different from the Demonic Cult, just smaller in scale.
If a mere gang of ruffians is like this, how much more evil are the Black Path members who back them, and how do they fill their pockets?
I think I can now understand what the newly appointed provincial governor said about the recent deterioration of public order in Shaanxi.
“I’ve never seen anyone as fearless as you in my life……”
When I entered the Lotus Pavilion and shouted for the boss to come out, a giant man in a silk robe with a golden dragon embroidered on it came down from the second floor and muttered.
I recognized at a glance that the giant man was the boss of the Green Gang.
I saw him, but……
“Are you a human or a boar? Reveal your identity.”
I couldn’t register him as a human in my eyes.
I’ve seen countless people in my past life.
Among them, I’ve seen people as big as Il-dong, people who looked incredibly unpleasant, and people who were so skinny that they looked like they would crumble with the slightest gust of wind……
But seriously, I’ve never seen anyone who looked so much like a pig…… no, just a boar itself.
“Older Brother!”
“Oh my……”
“We’re done for…… done for.”
It wasn’t the boss boar, but the Dongdong brothers who reacted first to my words.
They had expected things to go south as soon as I entered the Lotus Pavilion and shouted, ‘Boss of the Green Gang, come out here!’ But they still seemed quite flustered.
However, contrary to expectations, the boss boar spoke in a calm tone.
“You’re Jin So-cheon, aren’t you? I’ve heard a lot about you. I hear you’ve recently been colluding with the government and attacking our Black Path comrades. I was planning to take care of you anyway, but I received a message from Il-dong a few days ago. Good job. Today, I will punish you and uphold the law of the Jianghu.”
Of course, even though his tone was calm, the content of his words was utter b*llshit, which was absurd, but a funny thought suddenly occurred to me, and I decided to tease the boss boar for a bit.
“That’s amazing.”
“What’s so amazing?”
“You’re clearly a boar, but you’re not oinking and you’re speaking human language…… Are you some kind of genius boar…… or something?”
Was my joke too much?
In an instant, the guys standing next to the boss boar, who looked like a domestic pig, a monkey, a chicken with a dumb look, a duck with a protruding beak, a dog, a rabbit with huge front teeth, and so on.
These animals from the animal farm glared at me as if they were about to kill me, and then suddenly took out their broadswords, maces, wolf-fang clubs, iron hammers, and other weapons, exuding a menacing aura.
Suddenly, the Iron Blood Gang robbers that I took down with the Dongdong brothers for the first time came to mind.
Back then, I was worried that the Dongdong brothers might get hurt the moment those guys took out their weapons, but now I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Over the past few months, I’ve raised the Dongdong brothers to be that capable.
They haven’t realized their own strength yet, but honestly, at their current level, they could easily take down a low-level member of a Black Path sect or a prestigious righteous sect.
So I confidently raised my head and waited for the counterattack of the animals under the boar’s command.
“Jin So-cheon. You’re crazier than I’ve heard. You seem to be acting up because you’re relying on the government’s high-ranking officials…… Heh. You’re wrong. Do you think there are only one or two high-ranking officials protecting our gang? Even if I tear you limb from limb today, no one will step up for you.”
“Of course, you would think so. I can’t do bad things like you without relying on the government. But, boar. I’m not like that.”
“……What?”
“Relying on someone to act up and mess around…… That doesn’t suit me, and I actually find it disgusting.”
“Then what are you relying on to be so arrogant in front of me?”
Pfft……
The boar’s lines are so dramatic.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the boar, who was acting like the Martial Alliance Leader despite being just a gang leader, and after chuckling for a bit, I said.
“Boar. Stop oinking and leave now. Of course, you have to leave everything you have and give me one of your hands, but that’s better than having your lower body joints turned to dust and becoming a cripple for life, right? By the way, if you say one more word, I’ll do it right away, so stop flapping your s*it-smelling mouth.”