Chapter Twenty Seven White Goat Horn
Fatty Zhang’s name was Zhang Nan. Calling him fatty was extremely appropriate but only a rare few Changling gangsters like Wang Taixu dared to call him this.
Before he even arrived at Red Charm Tower, the people of Two Level Tower had surrounded this building. There were more than a hundred members of Two Level Tower in the surroundings streets and alleys in addition to the countless archers and other people in hiding who could post a threat cultivators.
Someone in another room in Red Charm Tower was playing a tune that passed through the thick walls that turned the atmosphere of this room odd.
Fatty Zhang’s face twitched when he saw Wang Taixu remain silent after sitting down. He said with displeasure, “Wang Taixu, what do you want? We are guests, you are the host. Since you have come, what do you intend by remaining silent?”
Seeing Zhang Nan’s oily face, Wang Taixu’s expression did not change. He said with a slight smile, “While I am the host, you are the ones that wished to talk to me. I did not want to talk to you. So I naturally want to hear what you want to discuss with me.”
Zhang Nan’s expression cooled slightly. He snorted and did not speak.
Beside him, Tang Que slowly raised his head, his vicious eyes staring at Wang Taixu.
“I started killing at fifteen. At sixteen, I came with Xu Jin, and Lin Qingdie to Changling. I don’t know how much blood I spilled to climb to my present position,” Tang Que said coldly and slowly. “Of course, I do not fear death … … I meet you today, not pleading for you to spare Jinlingtang, but to tell you, even if you can kill me and all my brothers, Two Level Tower will not be able to keep your businesses.”
Wang Taixu calmly looked at this exceptionally dark and cold man. He said, unaffected, “And then?”
Fatty Zhang’s facial muscles trembled slightly and he smiled awkwardly. “Wang Taixu, the streets have an old saying, have mercy and do not be too extreme. Too many of your people have died already. If you keep fighting, this will give the higher ups a chance to interfere. Then no one will be well off. You are smart, you know when to advance and retreat. You killed so many of Jinglintang. You have enough bargaining chips. If you work with Jinlintang, you will only profit.”
Wang Taixu smiled upon hearing this and remained silent.
“Wang Taixu, say something,” Zhang Nan shouted, suddenly became irritated seeing Wang Taixu act like this.
A disdainful look appeared on Wang Taixu’s face. He looked seriously at the fat man. He sighed softly, “Fatty Zhang, you are a smart person, and you are older than me. You should understand there are matters inconsequential people like you and I cannot touch.”
Zhang Nan’s expression darkened. He said, “Wang Taixu, speak clearly.”
“Since you want me to speak clearly, I will make it clearer.” Wang Taixu looked at the other man, his eyes turning cold and distance. “You talk on their behalf. They have clearly told you some things and given you some benefits. But you know that Two Level Tower has done business for many years in Changling. Will we not be able to find a backer among the higher-ups if we wanted to?
“But why didn’t we?
“Do people like us qualify to be counted as friends with the powerful and nobility in court? Finding a backer means becoming a dog to them.”
Hearing Wang Taixu’s words, a sliver of a sneer on Fatty Zhang’s face. He wiped his sweat with a cotton handkerchief and interrupted coldly, “But you should also understand, to those important people, our lives are the same as that of a dog.”
“Feral dogs can bite people as they wish,” Wang Taixu sneered. “Family dogs can be killed and cooked as one wishes. A backer is not always reliable. You do not know when your backer may fall one day due to some matter, and crush you on their way down. If you follow someone, other people will find you irritating. In these years, Two Level Tower has obediently played in the mud at the bottom of the pond, and carefully not allied with any important person. This isn’t because I do not want Two Level Tower to go up a level, but we are born with these fates. We can live safely this way. You, a feral dog, wants to steal meat from the tiger’s mouth. No matter how delicious the meat is this time, if you pay with your life and family, is it worth it?”
Zhang Nan’s facial muscles shook again. He said coldly, “Important people vary in their importance.”
“How important can they get?”
Wang Taixu thought of what Ding Ning had said to him previously. He looked sideways and saw Ding Ning calmly sampling the dishes in front of him with great confidence. he couldn’t help but smile. “Other than the ministers Yan and Li that are deeply trusted by His Majesty, who else, however important, do not fall when decreed? Did you forget what happened two years before His Majesty’s ascension?”
“You say this. It appears you are determined not to make concessions?” Zhang Nan took out a cotton handkerchief again to wipe his sweat, his expression calming.
Wang Taixu did not look at him but at Tang Que. He said, “If you came to ask me to spare you and your brothers, I may agree as long as you will never return to Changling. This is the greatest concession I can make.”
“Really?”
Tang Que looked coldly at Wang Taixu, saying, “If I had been present that day, you would have died already. Our only mistake was not expecting you are a realm five cultivator.”
Wang Taixu smiled. “There are not so many maybes in the world. I only know I lost a tooth, and two leaders of Jinlingtang were lying in the mud.”
Tang Que did not become infuriated at this. An unusual flush appeared on his face. He looked at Wang Taixu, and said coldly, “You are very confident.”
Wang Taixu smiled and said, “You need to self-reflect.”
Tang Que narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing past Ding Ning who sat next to Wang Taixu and focused on eating, and the old man who had been silently drinking tea since he sat down. “I do not know where your confidence comes from. A common youth of Falling Parasol, and a fortune-teller from under the bridge?”
Wang Taixu said seriously, “They are enough.”
“You are the one who gave up your last chance.” Tang Que shook his head and said coldly.
Then the wine cup fell from his hand.
The moment his wine cup started to fall, Zhang Nan’s eyes shone with cold light.
“Now!” he shouted.
Before Wang Taixu, Ding Ning, and the silent white-haired old man came in, there had been eleven people inside the room.
Other than Zhang Nan, Tang Que, and two others, the other seven were all from Two Level Tower.
Those that qualified to sit with Wang Taixu here were naturally the most important people of Two Level Tower and the people he trusted the most.
When Zhang Nan shouted, these seven all started to act.
Yet three of them attacked the other four.
The winds blew wildly, accompanied by harsh screams.
Zhong Xiu, dressed in purple robes, flew up like a purple butterfly from beside Zhang Nan. A light purple sword appeared from the sleeve of his left hand as if by magic. He pointed towards Wang Taixu’s head.
The table in front of Tang Que split into pieces. A large indigo sword jumped up from his knees and landed in his palm.
With a loud shout, Tang Que moved forward in a straight line, the vital energy in his body flooding into the sword. The sword rippled with indigo waves and then surged towards Wang Taixu.
Behind him, the one-eyed Tang Mengchen, who had been sitting with his face downturned all this time, raised his head and also his arms.
Loud metallic ringing came from his arms. Dozens of blue lights shot out and surrounded Wang Taixu.
In this moment, Zhan Nan did not act and sat still. Just as they had planned, there was no need for him to act now.
The three people on the other side, who were secretly on their side, could stop the four people loyal to Wang Taixu from helping him. Wang Taixu, who was already injured, could not defeat Zhong Xiu, Tang Que, and Tang Mengchen fighting together.
Once Wang Taixu was dead, they could quickly control the situation here.
Thinking about how the most important competitor in Changling would fall, Zhang Nan should have been feeling confident and satisfied. However, he felt a strong sense of anxiousness at this time.
The young and the old person next to Wang Taixu looked too unaffected.
Ding Ning was still calmly serving himself food.
On the other side, the white haired old man was still drinking tea.
In this chaotic room, this scene was too calm and strange.
According to the people from Two Level Tower that Wang Taixu trusted the most, these two were ordinary people. That youth was only an ordinary common youth of Falling Parasol Alley. That white haired old man was just a fortune teller that Wang Taixu met today in the market.
According to those people, Wang Taixu only felt that this old person had an ethereal aura so he was taken along to make them suspect he was a powerful cultivator.
This was why in the previous conversation, Tang Que would say that he did not know where Wang Taixu got his confidence.
They already saw all of Wang Taixu’s trump cards.
However, why did the two act so at a time like this?
Zhang Nan felt colder and colder, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead and body.
Wang Taixu sat motionlessly.
His right hand seemed to suddenly disappear into the air.
A grey sword light appeared in front of him.
This was a sword just one foot long. The sword tip was slight blunt and the sword looked like a gray ruler.
He ignored the long light purple sword heading for his forehead, and the indigo sword lights surging towards him. He focused on redirecting the blue light that reached him.
At this time, Zhang Nan gave an involuntary cry of fear because what he feared the most occurred.
The white haired old person’s teacup fell.
A white sword appeared in his hand.
This sword was thick and short, looking like a thick goat horn.