Chapter 087 – Reputation - Part 1

Before long, Zhou Jia returned, dragging a man whose legs had been severed at the knees and who was howling in agony.

That man was Ruan Ah-Fei.

Zhou Jia tossed him onto the grass, took one glance at the bisected corpse nearby, then stepped aside without a word.

Though Ruan Ah-Fei knew he was finished, he clung to a shred of hope. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he began to plead.

“Young Master Li, this was all Chang Kui’s idea! He got greedy and wanted your wine recipe. Once we got it, we planned to leave the county.

“It’s all Chang Kui’s fault. Damn him!

“Please spare me... Please!

“I have a secret! Let me treat my injuries first; there’s still hope for me...”

Tears and snot streamed down his face as he whimpered.

Li Yuan stared at him for a moment, then abruptly said, “Search him.”

Ruan Ah-Fei’s body tensed. He wailed, “Young Master Li, have mercy! I’ll tell you the secret!”

Li Yuan replied evenly, “You intended to leave Gemhill County, so I’m sure you have everything on you.”

At that, Qian Da stepped forward, reaching to pull open Ruan Ah-Fei’s clothing. But the slippery rogue suddenly opened his mouth, as if to spit something out.

Zhou Jia was ready for this. Spotting the movement of Ruan Ah-Fei’s throat, he swiftly drew his blade and lashed it across Ruan Ah-Fei’s face, forcing whatever he was about to spew back down his throat.

Qian Da quickly leaped back. A moment later, a wisp of smoke puffed from Ruan Ah-Fei’s mouth, likely a knockout or poison gas. Chang Kui might have been a brute, but someone as cunning as Ruan Ah-Fei was full of hidden tricks.

With the smoke forced back inside him, Ruan Ah-Fei reeled and hit the ground, his eyes rolling and unfocused as though clouded by fog.

Qian Da leaned in again and rummaged through his clothes. He pulled out a tattered piece of leather, which turned out to be a map, along with a few gold nuggets and a small medicine vial.

He popped open the vial and sniffed from a safe distance. “Knockout powder,” he said. Then he carefully recorked it and brought everything to Li Yuan.

“Young Master Li.”

Li Yuan took the map, then gave the nuggets and the vial a quick look. “Dispose of the powder. You can split the gold among yourselves.”

Qian Da’s eyes lit up. One tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver, and there were a decent number of nuggets. Even when divied up, it was still a nice windfall. Who wouldn’t be happy about that?

“Many thanks, Young Master Li!” he said, then hurried off to hand out the gold.

Li Yuan spread out the piece of leather. It showed rivers and mountains, along with a date and seven red dots. The date was six months from now, mid-month. Each red dot was in a different location. After a quick look, he tucked the map away for later study.

Meanwhile, Ruan Ah-Fei began twitching violently. His chest heaved for a few moments before all movement ceased.

“Bury him.”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Three days later.

Word had spread about the kidnapping at the Ginger Tavern. In a place like this, you couldn’t keep something like that under wraps, and trying to hide it only made things worse.

Soon enough, people were talking about it everywhere, from the street stalls to the Blood Blade Sect disciples and the new enforcers.

“Two eighth rank enforcers, killed by Young Master Li without even a scratch on him. Impressive, truly impressive!” some exclaimed in admiration.

“I’ve never cared for those hired thugs. Good riddance!” others chimed in approvingly.

But some disciples muttered sarcastically, “All they did was kidnap a servant from his restaurant, and that servant’s still alive. Yet he dared to kill two men officially recruited by the Blood Blade Sect? Does he think the sect doesn’t matter? Is Silver Creek part of the Blood Blade Sect, or is it his personal territory?”

Meanwhile, the new enforcers were in an uproar. In a spacious loft, a hulking man sat with one leg crossed over the other, listening to the chatter with a mocking grin. His eyes gleamed with bloodlust, and his arms had been tempered into a strange, flattened shape like half a pair of scissors, with ten sharp, claw-like fingers brimming with menace and power.

People called him Blood Scissors, a seventh rank expert the Blood Blade Sect had brought in. Many of the new enforcers hovered around him, drawn by his fierce reputation.

They spoke up one after another.

“That Li brat from the Ginger Tavern is way too arrogant, killing us enforcers like we’re nobody! Clearly doesn’t care about us at all.”

“They just nabbed one of his waiters; didn’t even kill him. So what if someone dies now and then? Yet that brat mercilessly killed Chang Kui and Ruan Ah-Fei today; what’s to stop him from killing us tomorrow?”

“Maybe we should spread the word. The Blood Blade Sect needs to teach that kid a lesson, or we’ll just switch over to the Sun Family. Might even get a hefty reward for it, too. Heh heh.”

“Exactly! We need to show these backwater big shots what we can do. They’re the ones begging for our help. If we decide to back one side over the other, the losers are gonna be shaking in their boots. That brat must be out of his mind for stirring up trouble with us!”

“Maybe the Blood Blade Sect should cripple this kid. If they won’t, that gives us a perfect excuse to side with the Sun Family and cash in on their generosity.”

Blood Scissors grew increasingly annoyed as he listened, then suddenly roared, “All of you, shut up!”

His bloodthirsty gaze swept over the group. “What, are you deaf? Or just pretending not to hear so you can drag me into some mess?

"Everyone’s saying Chang Kui and Ruan Ah-Fei took the Blood Blade Sect’s payment but never showed up to fight in Union Town. Instead, they abducted someone, tortured them, and tried to pry out the Ginger Tavern’s secret brewing recipe.

“Once they got found out, they tried to kill Li Yuan and those Blood Blade Sect disciples, probably to silence them. If it hadn’t been for Li Yuan and that Zhou Jia by his side, who knows if those disciples would still be alive?

“And you want to stir up trouble over this? You want me to stir up trouble? Are you trying to get me killed?”

Blood Scissors sprang to his feet and kicked the loudest complainer squarely in the chest.

“You’re trying to do me in, is that it? Join the Sun Family? You think the Suns are idiots? If Li Yuan were truly in the wrong and the Blood Blade Sect was just covering for him, maybe we’d have a shot. But as it stands? Forget it!”

Silence enveloped the loft.

Not long after, another enforcer said, “We don’t really know how it went down, do we? Chang Kui and Ruan Ah-Fei are dead, so who’s left to back up Li Yuan’s story?”

Blood Scissors scoffed. “What’s real and what’s fake? You’ve been around the jianghu, right? Truth doesn’t matter. Only rumors do, and what people believe. Chang Kui and Ruan Ah-Fei went after Li Yuan first; that’s why things ended like this.”

A third enforcer ventured, “What if...we snatch a Blood Blade Sect disciple, force them to change their story? Make them

admit

whatever we want. The more chaos in Gemhill County, the more we stand to gain. If the Sun Family and Wei remnants manage to destroy the Blood Blade Sect, this county will fall right into our laps, eh?”

Blood Scissors shot him a hard look. “Go ahead, then. Kidnap someone.”

The man chuckled awkwardly. “Let’s, uh...plan it together?”

Blood Scissors folded his arms. “So, are you doing it or not? Anyone else feel like joining him?”

Silence again. Nobody was reckless enough to kidnap a Blood Blade Sect disciple and risk the sect’s retaliation, let alone the stigma of taking money, then stabbing the employer in the back. Word of that would ruin any future in the jianghu. Even thieves had their code; only those who had given up on living would do truly cutthroat deals like that.

Blood Scissors finally said, “Drop it. Silver Creek is the Blood Blade Sect’s turf, and that Li Yuan isn’t some easy mark. Next time, pay more attention before you move. As for Gemhill County...” He gave a sly, toothy grin and lowered his voice, a growl echoing from deep in his chest. “Who knows who’ll end up in control in the end?”