Chapter Twenty-Eight: Profiting from Both Sides

“You son of a—!”
A sharp slap rang out.
Liu Bo landed a fierce blow on Gu Cheng’s face, sending the second young master of the Gu family reeling, stars dancing before his eyes.
Gu Cheng’s face turned ashen with rage, but he dared not fight back. He clenched his fists tightly, his whole body trembling.
Liu Bo, the ninth leader of Erlong Stronghold, spat after the slap, cursing, “Now do you see how formidable we are? The Gu family of Shidai—bah!”
He spat on the ground and swore, “You dare try to outwit Erlong Stronghold? If your family doesn’t obediently bring the money to us, I’ll twist your head off and play ball with it!”
Gu Zhang, tied up beside him, blinked rapidly in alarm. Swallowing hard, he stammered, “Sir… brave sir, could there be some… misunderstanding between us?”
Smack!
Liu Bo, showing no mercy, struck him across the face as well. “Did I say you could speak?”
Gu Zhang instantly grew meek, not daring to utter another word.
“I’ve already got the whole story,” Liu Bo snarled. “It was your Gu family in Shidai who plotted against us, causing the death of more than a dozen brothers from Erlong Stronghold. If it weren’t for the fact your family still has some wealth, I’d have skinned you alive!”
After several slaps, Gu Cheng’s lips were swollen, and he felt deeply wronged—he truly knew nothing about the matter with Erlong Stronghold. He turned to look at his second uncle, who only shrank away in silence.
“For the sake of money, I won’t kill you just yet. But my brothers can’t have died in vain! I’ll see them avenged!”
With these indignant words, Liu Bo cast a furious glare at the two, then drew a rusty, chipped saber from his belt, cursing, “You two are worse than pigs and dogs!”
The Gu uncle and nephew had never seen such a scene before—they turned pale with terror. Gu Zhang quavered, “Yes, yes, we’re beasts, sir, we’re beasts…”
“We really don’t know anything about Erlong Stronghold, but, but…”
He stared at the rusty blade before him in horror, stammering, “My elder brother will definitely bring the money to you, sirs…”
If it were a sharp, gleaming blade, at worst he’d be killed with a single stroke—clean and quick. But this battered, rust-eaten weapon, with its jagged edge, promised only agony if it struck.
At that thought, Gu Zhang shuddered uncontrollably.
That would be a miserable way to go!
Liu Bo, gritting his teeth, was on the verge of violence when a rough voice called down from above: “Fool! If you kill those hostages now, we won’t get a copper!”
Liu Bo glared at his prisoners, then reluctantly sheathed his saber and replied, “Understood, Boss Peng!”
With that, he turned to leave the cellar.
Gu Zhang called out in a trembling voice, “Sir, we haven’t eaten for more than a day…”
“Nonsense!”
Liu Bo didn’t even look back. “You’ll get some food tonight.”
His voice grew more distant as he walked away.

When Liu Bo climbed out of the cellar, he winked at Li Yun, who stood guard outside the door, and whispered with a sly grin, “Second brother, how was my performance?”
“You vented our anger well.”
The chief, Li Yun, clapped him on the shoulder, laughing. “Not bad—you’re much sharper than Tiger.”
“Come, let’s go drink!”
With that, the group made their way to Li Yun’s courtyard to enjoy some wine together.
And so, several days passed in this fashion.

That evening, Skinny Monkey Li Zheng returned from outside to Cangshan Stronghold and sought out Li Yun. Lowering his voice, he reported, “Second brother, I went to Erlong Mountain to check—looks like the Gu family is being sensible. They haven’t left anyone behind at the stronghold…”
Li Yun gave him a searching look. “Are you sure? We can’t risk getting surrounded when we go to collect the money.”
“I’ve left two men watching the mountain path near Erlong. It’s been days—no sign of anyone. It wouldn’t make sense for them to keep men there, not when we’ve had plenty of time to move the ransom.”
Li Yun pondered this carefully.
Five thousand strings of cash was a windfall for Cangshan Stronghold, but for these entrenched local powers, it might only sting a little—perhaps not even that.
Besides, the Gu uncle and nephew were still in his hands. It was unlikely the family would abandon them for such a sum.
After a moment’s thought, Li Yun said, “All right. Tomorrow night, you, along with Old Eight and Nine, take some men and bring the money back to Cangshan.”
“Keep it in my courtyard—don’t let my second uncle and the others handle it. Any expenses can come through me.”
Li Zheng nodded and grinned. “Don’t worry, second brother, it’s as good as done.”
He looked at Li Yun with admiration. “You really are a genius at this bandit business. Barely a few days off the mountain, and you’ve already sniffed out such a fat sheep.”
Li Yun rubbed his nose at the dubious compliment, not quite sure how to reply.

Once arrangements were made, Li Yun set off down the mountain early next morning.
He rode straight back to Qingyang County.
He needed to confirm something with Magistrate Xue before making his next move.
On horseback, the journey was vastly quicker than on foot, and by afternoon, Li Yun had arrived at the county seat. He made his way to the yamen, entered the inner offices, and soon saw Magistrate Xue.
By now, the magistrate had already heard that the Gu uncle and nephew had been kidnapped, and was pacing about in agitation like an ant on a hot pan.
Seeing Li Yun return, he jumped up at once, scattering the papers in his hand and sending ink splattering everywhere.
He grabbed Li Yun by the collar, hissing, “Where have you been?”
Li Yun, calm and composed, replied with a smile, “Naturally, I was taking care of some business for Your Excellency.”
The magistrate’s expression shifted, and he hurried to shut the door before turning back, his face dark and voice lowered.
“You… you’re far too reckless!”
Li Yun remained unruffled. “Rest assured, nothing will go wrong. Even if there is trouble, it won’t implicate you.”
“Gu Zhang argued with me one moment, and the next, he’s kidnapped!”
The magistrate’s face was grim. “You even had the yamen runners watching him. How can this stand up to scrutiny?”
Li Yun smiled. “They may suspect, but they won’t find any proof.”
“Suspicion alone is too much!”
The magistrate took a deep, hoarse breath. “You men of the jianghu don’t understand—here in officialdom, even the slightest suspicion is enough to bring disaster. That Gu family… they have powerful connections above!”
Li Yun sat down, sipped his tea, and smiled. “That’s precisely why I came back to see you. About my new household registration—have you arranged it? If so, then as for those two from the Gu family…”
“I won’t have to go to extremes.”
Magistrate Xue went to the door, checked that no one was outside, and finally sat opposite Li Yun, resigned. “It’s done. They can check all they want—they won’t find anything.”
“Excellent.”
Li Yun rose, his expression grave, and cupped his fists in salute. “Sir, I’ve been out investigating bandit activity these past days. When I passed by Tangxi, I found that bandits from Erlong Stronghold kidnapped some good folk. I request permission to take a squad of yamen runners out of the city…”
“To investigate and apprehend the criminals.”
At first, the magistrate frowned, then looked at Li Yun.
Li Yun stood tall and straight, face calm. “Sir, I’ve trained in martial arts since childhood. Ordinary bandits are no match for me—you may rest assured!”
Who’s worried about you!
The magistrate’s eyelid twitched. After a moment’s silence, he seemed to grasp Li Yun’s meaning, and sighed quietly. “Go on, but don’t let there be any more slip-ups.”
Li Yun nodded with a smile.
“Rest assured, sir.”
“By leading a raid to capture bandits, I’ll be winning you some merit, too. Perhaps, sir…”
Li Yun was all smiles.
“You might even get promoted.”
The magistrate frowned and sighed.
“Merit is useless now. If you want advancement, you need to…”
He trailed off with another sigh.
“There’s no point discussing it with you. Go—see to your business.”
Li Yun, thoughtful, gave a slight bow.
“I’ll be off, then.”