Danwu Refining Spirit

Chapter 87 Yokoyama's Doubts

Twenty thousand taels of gold, that's equivalent to two million taels of silver! Tiger was filled with rage!

Ever since he heard that Xiao Chong had been breaking other people's belongings while eating lately, and that he always paid for them at the original price with an extremely sincere attitude, Tiger began to set up this scheme, hoping to make up for the losses from last time.

For this reason, Tiger even took over the Happy Forest restaurant, and every day he led a group of his underlings to ambush Xiao Chong in the back room, just waiting for him to take the bait.

Nowadays, countless pioneers have emerged in the Southern Wilderness, and Tiannan Town can be said to be a place where every inch of land is precious. The owner of this restaurant spent a full twenty taels of silver to buy it, and that was at a price that the original owner couldn't afford to offend and gave away half of it.

And today's matter was discussed with Mayor Hengshan beforehand. With Hengshan as our backer, as long as we find something to hold against Xiao Chong, we can decide whether to kill or torture him as we see fit.

Everything was ready, and Xiao Chong, as expected, delivered himself to be slaughtered, but things took an unexpected turn.

He had thought that by taking advantage of Xiao Chong's isolation and with his superior cultivation, he could capture him in one fell swoop. But who would have thought that this guy's combat power would be off the charts today, wiping out his entire group in one fell swoop.

"Damn Yokoyama, why isn't he here yet? Did he take the money but not want to do the job?" Tiger was getting angrier and angrier. Suddenly, he made a "uh" sound in his throat, couldn't choke on a phlegm, and passed out.

"Go fetch a bucket of cold water to sober him up," Xiao Chong ordered the fat man, too lazy to even activate "Green Thorn."

The fat man excitedly ran into the yard, grabbed a large bucket of well water, and poured it over Tiger's head.

Poor Tiger, shirtless in the late autumn weather, was jolted awake by the icy well water, coughing loudly.

"I protest! This is robbery!" Tiger said, curled up in a ball and shivering.

"What a hypocrite!" Xiao Chong stomped his foot on Tiger's chest, his face grim, and said, "Protest denied! If you don't pay, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs today!"

"Woof, woof..." The fat man found a big wolfhound from somewhere and started barking wildly at Tiger.

Just then, a burst of laughter rang out from outside the door. Accompanied by the laughter, a young man in his twenties walked into the house. He was none other than Hengshan, the mayor of Tiannan Town and a martial arts master of the Heng family.

"Young man, you have quite the temper," Hengshan said in a deep voice, his smile vanishing as he entered and saw Xiao Chong's posture. "Troublemaking is strictly prohibited in Tiannan Town. Haven't you heard that?"

Is this an attempt to favor these thugs? Why didn't you do anything when they came to my territory to collect protection money?

Xiao Chong threw Tiger to the ground, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Hengshan, and said, "I only have a small score to settle with Mr. Tiger, and I am not here to cause trouble."

Yokoyama said without changing his expression, "I can't handle debt collection, but fighting here is not an option."

How can we collect debts without a fight? This one-eyed man isn't exactly a saint; do you think he'll just give it to us willingly? Xiao Chong's brows furrowed as he began to think of a solution.

Upon seeing Hengshan, Tiger on the ground suddenly felt emboldened and struggled to his feet, shouting, "Mayor, don't listen to his excuses! He killed one of my shop assistants!"

He pointed at the corpse of the henchman whose head had been shattered.

Yokoyama glanced in the direction Tiger was pointing and saw a corpse lying on the ground. His voice grew even colder as he said, "Then there's nothing more to say. Come with me."

He was about to step forward and grab the person when he said that.

"Wait!"

Xiao Chong shouted urgently, his mind racing. He thought to himself that it seemed that what Ah Hui had said was true. Hengshan had received a lot of benefits from One-Eyed Dragon. Otherwise, why would he come only after he had taken down One-Eyed Dragon?

But since you're willing to accept the one-eyed man's benefits, there's no reason why you shouldn't accept mine.

Thinking of this, Xiao Chong smiled and said, "I hope Mayor Hengshan will investigate thoroughly. This shopkeeper clearly died by his own weapon, not by me."

As he spoke, without caring that everyone was watching, he flipped his hand over and stuffed a pocket into Yokoyama's hand.

"These are some trinkets that I obtained by chance a few days ago while probing the spiritual veins. Consider them a small gift for the town mayor. Please accept them with a smile," Xiao Chong said with a slight smile.

"This kid knows how to handle people. Let's see what's inside first." After giving this thought to himself, Yokoyama weighed the pocket in his hand.

But he immediately felt that the portion was not enough, and upon closer inspection, he could faintly smell a bloody odor, which made him even more dissatisfied.

Based on his years of experience in accepting bribes, he judged that the items in his pocket were neither hard currency like spirit stones nor rare treasures; most likely, they were ordinary items like beast cores that were not presentable.

"What a country bumpkin! I am a martial arts master of the Heng family and the mayor of Tiannan Town. What good things haven't I seen? You think you can just give me a small bag of beast cores?" Hengshan thought to himself, secretly despising Xiao Chong, and raised his hand to return the bag to him.

"Kid, you're dead meat. Do you think I don't know how big Yokoyama's appetite is?" Tiger was secretly pleased to see Yokoyama's disgusted look.

But soon, his mood soured.

“If this were a bag of high-grade spirit stones, and you secretly delivered it to my residence without making a sound, I would have turned a blind eye to today’s matter and let it pass. But the way you delivered it this way puts me in a difficult position.”

As Yokoyama handed the bag back, he muttered to himself, but just as the bag was about to be returned to Xiao Chong, his movements suddenly stopped, and he froze in mid-air.

"Something seems off." Yokoyama began to recall every action Xiao Chong had taken before.

"His hands were clearly empty just now, so how did a bag suddenly appear? Where did this bag come from?" Yokoyama was filled with doubt.

"Could he be able to manipulate space? But... such a method can only be mastered by those who have reached the Transcendent Realm or become a seventh-grade or higher Mind Master. So how did he do it?" Yokoyama continued to ponder.

"Could it be that this person is pretending to be a complete idiot in terms of cultivation, but in reality he is a master who plays the fool and is just pretending to be weak to take advantage of others?" Yokoyama thought about it more and more and more, and became more and more puzzled.

"But it doesn't seem like it at all. I've never heard of such a powerful guy in Flying Moon City. Ah, there must be some reclusive old monster supporting him from behind."

That must be the case, otherwise how could an ordinary teenager dare to run rampant and cause trouble everywhere in a place like the Southern Wilderness, where all sorts of people mingle?

Furthermore, otherwise, why would that accompanying martial arts master be willing to follow him as his leader? Yokoyama felt that he had seen through Xiao Chong's true nature.

"No, this is a dangerous place, and we should not stay here for long. It is best to leave as soon as possible."

Thinking of this, Hengshan put the bag back and put on a smiling face, saying, "Brother Xiao, in principle I shouldn't accept your things, lest some people who don't know the truth gossip and think I've kept your bribe."

But the essence of brotherhood lies in sincerity. Since my younger brother has said that these are just some inexpensive little gifts, I can't refuse them. Don't you agree?

Huh? When did we become brothers? Just because of this insignificant beast core? A martial artist from the Heng family shouldn't look like such a poor, unsophisticated person.

Hearing the unspoken warmth in Yokoyama's tone, Xiao Chong was a little bewildered.

He had only been testing the waters, and was prepared to be taken advantage of, but he never expected the other party's attitude to change so quickly, as if they were completely different people.

Okay, I'm an easygoing person. Since you insist on being my brother, there's no reason for me to refuse.

Xiao Chong laughed, following Hengshan's words: "Brother is absolutely right. This little bit is just a private matter between us brothers. If anyone dares to gossip, just tear their mouths off."

Yokoyama solemnly put the bag into his pocket and said with a smile, "Absolutely right, absolutely right. My words, brother, resonate deeply with me."

"And what do you think of the shop assistant who just committed suicide, brother?" Xiao Chong pressed on while the iron was hot.

"I have examined the wounds, and this man has undoubtedly committed suicide. Wasn't his head struck by his own iron rod?" Yokoyama stepped forward, looked at the man on the ground, pretended to examine him, and loudly announced the result.

Tiger was completely dumbfounded.

This scene is too bizarre. Was it rehearsed in advance? Otherwise, how could the lines be matched so perfectly?

"Mayor Heng, you've taken money from our family..." Tiger was furious and shouted, about to expose the truth that Hengshan had taken money but did nothing.

But before he could finish speaking, Yokoyama slapped him across the mouth, shattering his front teeth.

"Shut up!" Yokoyama's face darkened, and he said coldly, "If you dare to spout any more nonsense, believe me, I'll kill you right now!"

Tiger was startled and quickly covered his mouth, but his pitiful expression made him look like a lamb who had suffered injustice in front of the big bad wolf but dared not speak out.

Seeing that Tiger was no longer speaking, Yokoyama flexed his hand, quite satisfied with the effect of the slap. But then he thought again and realized that leaving like this was not a good idea.

In this business, reputation is everything. He took bribes from Tiger, but now he's teaming up with others to bully him. If word gets out, it will ruin his reputation.

"Yes, let's find a way to resolve this completely and not leave any loose ends."

Thinking of this, Hengshan looked at Xiao Chong and said with a smile, "Brother Xiao, I know a little about the grudges between you two."

If you say he owes you money and won't pay it back, that's a joke. But since he's so foolish as to mess with you, it's normal to ask him for some "service fee".

I think it would be better if I took the initiative and made him give this 'Happy Forest' to my brother as compensation, and that would be a more lenient solution, wouldn't it?

Hey! Looks like those beast cores weren't a waste after all; the return is immediate, which completely exceeded my expectations!

Xiao Chong was secretly delighted, but he pretended to be very unwilling and said, "Since Brother Hengshan has spoken, I can't let you lose face. Let's do as you say."

"Then I'll take charge." Hengshan smiled, turned to Tiger and said coldly, "You have to move out of here before dark. As for this restaurant, from now on it belongs to my brother and will be renamed Xiao. Get out!"