I'm Just a Beast Tamer

Chapter 53: Chapter 51: Sudden Wealth

Inside the underground casino.

The casino had just closed for the night, and a group of key members from the Black Fish Gang were counting the day’s earnings.

"Yushan, be sure to count Lord Xu’s share carefully. Don’t miss a thing," a burly, middle-aged man said to Qin Yushan.

"Gang Leader Gong, rest assured. I’ve already counted it twice," Qin Yushan replied respectfully.

"Gang Leader, the White Jade Gang has seen that we’re buying up Silver Spot Fish and started buying them too. They’re even competing with us. What should we do?"

Another subordinate leader spoke up.

"Let them buy what they want, and we’ll buy what we want. If they dare cross the line and try to poach from us, don’t be polite!"

"Those people from the White Jade Gang are short-sighted. They’re not worth fearing."

"Don’t let up on acquiring the Silver Spot Fish. We need to cultivate more Skin Refining Martial Artists and build a solid foundation."

"Also, remember to keep the gang members in line. Make them follow the gang’s rules and don’t let them run wild. In time, our Black Fish Gang has a chance to become the number one gang in Lizhou!"

Gong Wanping spoke calmly, dismissing the White Jade Gang. He seemed more concerned with whether his own members were following the rules.

Following the rules to become the number one gang in Lizhou?

Several of the subordinate leaders below sneered inwardly.

’This Gang Leader Gong must have fried his brain from training.’

’If you can become a major gang just by following the rules, can you even call it a gang anymore?’

However, they didn’t voice any objections. Instead, they loudly showered him with praise.

’It’s great to have a boss who plays by the rules. He never goes back on his word when he promises benefits.’

’Other bosses promise you rewards and then go back on their word at any time. And if you dare to complain, you have to worry about ending up dead in the middle of the night, unable to rest in peace.’

A gang leader like Gong Wanping, who kept his promises, was a rare sight.

Recently, some subordinate leaders from other gangs had even considered defecting to join them.

Because the Black Fish Gang’s leader didn’t randomly assign them tasks to squeeze money, it was very easy for them to make a profit on their own.

’Aside from Qin Yushan and a few others, the rest of these guys are useless. In a few days, I’ll get rid of them and replace them with people willing to follow the rules.’

They were sneering at Gong Wanping, but how could they know that he had already sentenced them to death in his heart?

The accounts were almost finished, but at that moment, Gong Wanping’s earlobes twitched slightly.

"Who’s there!"

Gong Wanping stared outside the casino and barked sharply.

It was dead silent outside the casino; there was no response.

The other gang members and subordinate leaders, who had been confused at first, now also stared outside as if facing a great enemy.

There were supposed to be two Skin Refining lookouts outside the casino, but they were now silent. Something had clearly happened to them.

Although the two Skin Refining members had been silenced without a sound, the group wasn’t particularly afraid.

After all, there were more than twenty of them here, including over ten Skin Refining Martial Artists. Their gang leader was even a powerhouse at the Great Success stage of Muscle Training, half a step into Bone Refining!

No one answered, but suddenly, with a few HISSING sounds, the oil lamps inside the casino were extinguished almost simultaneously!

"Not good!"

"Take cover!"

Gong Wanping was startled. With a Roar, he quickly ducked and hid under a gambling table.

The others wanted to hide too, but they didn’t have Gong Wanping’s reaction speed.

All that could be heard were a series of soft whooshes through the air, followed by the thuds of bodies hitting the floor.

Gong Wanping didn’t know what was happening in the darkness, but he knew he couldn’t let the enemy continue to act so wantonly.

He stared at the faint silhouette by the door, grabbed a nearby wooden table, and violently hurled it at the figure.

Then he followed right behind it, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to the intruder.

But in the next instant, Gong Wanping felt a series of sharp pains all over his body.

’What is this?’

Gong Wanping couldn’t figure it out at first, but then he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his forehead. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.

Only a few seconds had passed between the lamps being extinguished and the entire casino falling silent.

Jiang Zuo relit an oil lamp and walked past the fallen Black Fish Gang members one by one.

As he passed one of them, Jiang Zuo paused.

The man suddenly tried to leap up from the ground and stab Jiang Zuo with a dagger.

But Jiang Zuo had come over precisely to finish off any survivors. Before the man could even get up, his fist had already smashed down.

THUD!

The man fell back to the ground, completely silent.

Jiang Zuo began to gather the valuables in the casino, not even sparing what was on the corpses. He collected everything and tossed it into his storage pouch.

"A Cultivation Technique?"

Finally, on Gong Wanping’s body, Jiang Zuo found a book. It looked like a Body Cultivation technique.

After stashing the Cultivation Technique, Jiang Zuo departed silently.

’Establish a rule-abiding gang... what grand plan did that guy have? Oh well, it’s none of my business.’

Before jumping into the river to leave, Jiang Zuo recalled the words he had overheard outside.

In this day and age, trying to build a rule-abiding gang was easier said than done.

But if one could succeed, the potential would be immense.

「...」

Early the next morning, news that the Black Fish Gang’s hundred-plus members had been almost completely wiped out overnight spread like wildfire throughout Lizhou and beyond.

Although the dead were gang members, it was rare for so many to die at once.

However, few people were frightened by the deaths of over a hundred people.

Outside Lizhou City, many common folk were actually clapping and cheering.

The constables from the Lizhou Government Office arrived early in the morning, but they merely had the forensic doctor collect the bodies and called it a day. They had no intention of pursuing the killer.

’Are the lives of gang members even considered lives?’

’Risking their lives to hunt down the killer? Are you kidding me?’

It could be said that apart from a few individuals and some members of other gangs who felt uneasy about the Black Fish Gang’s demise, their extermination caused almost no ripples at all.

「Inside Lizhou City.」

「Xiangshan Martial Arts Hall.」

"The Black Fish Gang was almost wiped out? Gong Wanping is dead?"

"Nearly everyone was killed by an Embroidery Needle. Since when did Lizhou City have such an expert?"

"I was counting on Gong Wanping to secretly cultivate a group of useful people, but I never expected he’d get taken down himself."

"Forget it. Finding someone else to build the same kind of gang is no longer an option. I’ll have to think of another way."

Fangxiang Mountain frowned as he read the message he had just received.

No one knew about his relationship with Gong Wanping. Gong Wanping was supposed to be of great use to him, but now he had suddenly died without a trace.

Shaking his head, Fangxiang Mountain stopped dwelling on it.

Finding someone else to build a similar gang would only attract unnecessary attention. In the end, relying on himself was the safest bet.

He was already close to the Perfection stage of Blood Exchange. As long as he could successfully open his Five Viscera Qi Veins within five years and enter the Meridian Passage realm, he would have a sliver of hope of cultivating Inner Breath and becoming a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

By then, he would no longer need these external forces.

「...」

"Over thirty-two thousand silver taels!"

Jiang Zuo returned to his wooden cabin from the bottom of the Li River and began to count the income in his storage pouch.

Not counting some gems and jewelry, the silver taels and silver banknotes alone amounted to a staggering sum of over thirty-two thousand.

Previously, Jiang Zuo had painstakingly raised dogs, and with perfect timing and circumstances, he had only managed to earn a little over ten thousand silver taels in total.

Seeing such a huge sum of money, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

’This is what it’s like to get rich overnight. I feel like some nouveau riche!’

"Copper Mountain Body Refining Technique!"

Jiang Zuo glanced at the name of the Cultivation Technique he’d acquired, but he wasn’t very interested.

After learning from Subai that breaking through to become an Innate Martial Artist could potentially create a Spirit Root, Jiang Zuo had been paying attention to information about martial arts for the past few years.

Based on the information he’d gathered so far, if one wanted to reach a high level of cultivation, it was best to start with a top-tier Cultivation Technique and avoid switching techniques midway if at all possible.

It wasn’t that switching techniques made it impossible to break through, but there would always be flaws.

Jiang Zuo wasn’t just pursuing a breakthrough to Innate Martial Artist; he was aiming to create a Spirit Root. He naturally looked down on ordinary cultivation techniques.

’Just as I thought. It’s the same old routine of using medicinal stimulation and external battering.’

After flipping through it briefly, Jiang Zuo cast the Body Cultivation technique aside.

In Jiang Zuo’s eyes, this type of technique was the lowest grade of Body Cultivation.

By stimulating the body with drugs and external forces, one would not only break through human limits but also overdraft their body’s potential and create many hidden dangers.

Jiang Zuo didn’t know how high-level cultivation techniques were practiced, but Immortals existed in this world. For an Immortal, tweaking these Body Cultivation methods would surely be a trivial matter.

Therefore, there were most likely different cultivation methods that simply weren’t circulated on the open market.

If it turned out there really weren’t any, it wouldn’t be too late for him to pick the best of the bunch then.

He had a long life and could even regain his youth. He wasn’t afraid of being late, only of making a mistake.

「...」

After wiping out the Black Fish Gang, Jiang Zuo waited a month to confirm that their demise hadn’t caused any major repercussions and that no one was investigating him.

Finding a suitable time, Jiang Zuo summoned Ruan Jianglan.

After his sudden windfall, it was time to set his plan in motion.

"Miss Ruan, I have a job for you. I was wondering if you might be interested."

Jiang Zuo got straight to the point.

"Brother Zhao, please speak. It is my honor that you would even consider me!"

Ruan Jianglan didn’t bring up the past. She just spoke sincerely, a hint of expectation in her voice.

"Good. Starting today, I want you to go into Lizhou City in the afternoons. Go to the street vendors and look for bone ornaments, bone tools—anything made of bone will do."

"Ask about their prices, and carefully remember how the vendors describe them. You must also carefully observe the characteristics of the bone items yourself and commit them to memory."

"After you’ve memorized three items from different vendors, come to me the next day at noon and describe their characteristics to me."

"You can use the vendor’s words or add your own observations. In short, do your best to make me want to buy them, but no matter what you say, it must be the truth."

"As long as you do as I say, I don’t care what you do with the rest of your time. When you come here at noon, I will provide a full meal for you and your child."

"For now, this job will only last for one month. After a month, I will judge whether you are capable of handling it."

"If I feel you aren’t up to it, then after one month, this arrangement will end."

"If you are capable of continuing, I will give you an additional reward at that time."

"So, are you willing to give it a try?"

Jiang Zuo finished his long speech and looked at Ruan Jianglan.

"I’m willing!"

Ruan Jianglan took a deep breath and answered without the slightest hesitation.

Compared to the other jobs she had done, this one might be difficult, but it wouldn’t be physically taxing.

Don’t just look at the reward being a full meal; if the people in her settlement found out, countless of them would be begging to do it.

"Good. Come back tomorrow at noon."

Jiang Zuo nodded.

He didn’t give Ruan Jianglan specific instructions on how to do it. If she didn’t even have the basic ability to learn, Jiang Zuo would have to find another way.

From that day on, Ruan Jianglan came to Jiang Zuo’s place every day to describe the bone items she had encountered the day before.

While listening to her descriptions, Jiang Zuo would ask questions about things that particularly interested him, such as the hardness of the bone, its color and luster, the part of the body it came from, and so on.

Ruan Jianglan could answer some questions, but not others.

However, as the days passed, her observation of the bones became more and more meticulous.

Especially after eating her first lunch at Jiang Zuo’s, Ruan Jianglan’s desire to continue this job became incredibly strong.

Jiang Zuo didn’t make the lunch overly delicious, but he wouldn’t deliberately mistreat his own stomach either.

Ruan Jianglan couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten such a meal, full of fish, meat, and rich oils.

Not to mention, even when Jiang Zuo just casually whipped something up, the food was incredibly fragrant.

Therefore, every day, Ruan Jianglan worked extremely hard, replaying her observations in her mind many times before describing the previous day’s findings to Jiang Zuo.

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