Chapter 44. Are you crazy?

Just as each person has their own characteristics, the underworld is also diverse.

However, I haven't seen many underworld figures who kill their subordinates like this.

The chaotic fight that began as if entangled by the promise to save only one person ended after Dugu Sheng killed all his subordinates. The bastard turned to me from the bow of the boat with a bloodied face.

"I've killed them all. Will you keep your promise and let me live?"

This guy never trusted me until the end. He might have been ready to jump into the river at any moment.

Dugu Sheng's mindset was also impressive to me.

"I'll let you live."

Dugu Sheng finally slumped to the deck and let out a sigh of relief.

"Huh."

"What's the current situation in the Black Sand Gang?"

Dugu Sheng replied with a sharp tone.

"What does it matter? It's full of lunatics. Can I run away now? Or do I have to keep cleaning up after you?"

"I saved you to guide me. Where are you going?"

"Got it. What about those sailors?"

Dugu Sheng pointed to the trembling sailors with his bloodstained knife, asking if he should kill them too.

Of course, I shook my head.

"Don't kill those who work."

Dugu Sheng nodded and, as if his rest was over, got up and threw his dead subordinates into the river.

The splashes followed one after another.

I had a question about Dugu Sheng's bizarre actions.

"Six hundred, you said? Did you expect to survive when you came to the Black Sand Gang?"

Dugu Sheng replied while throwing the bodies into the river.

"How would I know? I just saw you and knew you were crazy. I expected you to kill us all. I don't know what happened after that."

Indeed, it was the answer of a man who didn't know what would happen next.

A short while later, the boat docked near the Black Sand Ancient City, and only Dugu Sheng and I disembarked and headed to the Black Sand Gang.

The main base of the Black Sand Gang was located inside a long wall built by a minority to resist foreign forces, forming a cluster of houses.

It's said that the old sailors and fishermen here used to gather in groups to gamble on stormy days. Surprisingly, the Black Sand Gang's power started from that small gambling table. Initially, the first leader of the Black Sand Gang organized to protect the fishermen but actually focused on the gambling business.

The intention to protect the fishermen was similar to why I created the Haomen.

However, the business that started from the gambling table grew to include auctions, gambling, and controlling some waterways to collect tolls. Thus, the Black Sand Gang is both an underworld organization and a pirate group.

Tracing back to the beginning of the force that extorts the powerless, one would find that they were originally powerless themselves.

Dugu Sheng handed his knife to a subordinate guarding the dilapidated city gate.

"I've brought the one the leader is looking for. Open the gate."

The gatekeeper, without a word, hurriedly opened the gate. Dugu Sheng seems to be quite influential within the Black Sand Gang.

After entering the territory of the Black Sand Gang, Dugu Sheng asked me,

"How long do I have to guide you? I want to leave a bit early."

"You'll guide me until I leave the Black Sand Gang."

Dugu Sheng, frowning, replied,

"Got it."

What's unique about Dugu Sheng is that he fears me but never uses polite language, and he maintains the attitude of always keeping his word.

Whenever someone approached or asked about my identity, Dugu Sheng would immediately brandish his bloodstained knife.

"I'm busy, so don't get in my face. Move, move, move before I cut your face!"

Dugu Sheng, like Guan Yu breaking through the five passes, led me straight through the territory of the Black Sand Gang.

There were definitely a lot of people inside the Black Sand Gang.

Some asked who we were, and some occasionally tried to stop us, but Dugu Sheng stubbornly brandished his knife and cursed, making people back off.

Although there were six hundred, not all of them were martial artists. If all six hundred were martial artists, the Black Sand Gang would be one of the top underworld forces in the Central Plains. However, the six hundred included everyone living and working within the territory.

Dugu Sheng finally pointed to a building ahead and said to me,

"I'll go in first and report. Come slowly. I won't run away. As promised, if you survive and leave the Black Sand Gang, I should be saved."

Is it a tenacious survival instinct? Or the eccentric behavior of a madman?

Dugu Sheng's pace quickened. He probably intended to report my arrival and stay nearby.

A guard at the entrance to the main base asked Dugu Sheng,

"Dugu, what's going on?"

"I've brought the one you're looking for. Report to the leader."

"Who is he?"

"The one who killed the previous leader."

"Oh!"

I looked around and entered the largest building in the territory. Despite the shabby walls, the atmosphere inside was surprisingly opulent, as if built to enhance the leader's prestige.

However, the main hall of the base was empty, like a tent set up on a battlefield. There was a main seat for the leader, and chairs lined up on both sides. Various weapons were displayed on the left wall.

It seemed a meeting had just ended, and the Black Sand Gang's officers were chatting. I glanced around and said,

"There are a lot of old guys."

It felt more like a gathering of elders rather than typical officers. An officer who received the report told a subordinate,

"Tell the leader to come out again."

"Understood."

The chaotic atmosphere quickly settled down, and everyone either sat in their chairs or moved to the walls to stand guard.

I found a chair and said to an officer sitting at the end,

"Give me a chair."

I slapped the guy who looked up silently, sending him flying out of the chair. He rolled on the ground and quickly got up. While I moved to the center with the chair, an officer near the main seat spoke,

"Wait over there."

The guy who lost his chair obediently moved to the wall and glared at me silently.

Sitting down, I looked around and saw Dugu Sheng leaning against the wall, standing crookedly.

Soon, the leader of the Black Sand Gang walked out.

He looked over sixty, with dark skin and white eyebrows.

The officers all looked at me, and the leader sat in the main seat, watching me.

"Yizha, thank you for coming."

I nodded and replied,

"I said I'd come next time, but my subordinates insisted on bringing me."

"Who brought you?"

Dugu Sheng, leaning against the wall, replied,

"It's me, leader."

The leader looked at Dugu Sheng and said,

"Dugu Sheng, you've worked hard. Thank you."

Surprisingly, Dugu Sheng replied,

"Why are you making such a pointless joke?"

As Dugu Sheng cursed, the other officers all scolded him.

"This disrespectful guy needs to have his mouth torn to come to his senses."

The leader raised his hand to calm them down.

"Yizha is here from Yiyang. What do you think we should do?"

Suddenly, everyone fell silent.

"If there are no suggestions, I'll handle it myself."

"Please do."

"Yizha, you killed three people from the Black Sand Gang. I heard you burned their house. Is that true?"

"Probably."

I didn't remember clearly.

It wasn't a significant event, so I didn't dwell on it.

The leader said,

"Our people provoked you first, so just cut off three fingers and leave."

What kind of bizarre judgment is this?

I held up three fingers and replied,

"I can't cut off body parts given by my parents. Refused."

The leader nodded.

"Then pay a hundred gold coins for each finger. Yizha will be under the supervision of the Black Sand Gang and must repay the damages. That's it."

The leader, who seemed to have lived like a king, waved his hand as if to dismiss me.

I sighed.

Fellow martial artists, there are so many crazy people in this world.

The other officers also accepted the leader's judgment, as if a small trial had ended without major issues.

"Thank you for your hard work."

I sighed and said,

"I don't have that kind of money. Even if I did, I wouldn't pay it."

The officers who had just stood up to leave sat back down and glared at me.

This time, the leader also glared at me with a displeased look.

"Yizha, do you know what kind of place this is?"

"I didn't know, so I came by boat."

"The Black Sand Gang will get the money from you. Can your family afford it?"

"I don't have a family. I miss them today. I miss the taste of noodles."

"If you don't have a family, the people in Yiyang will be forced to pay. Is that okay?"

"Tsk."

I called Dugu Sheng, who was leaning against the wall.

"Dugu Sheng, you bastard, come here."

Dugu Sheng, frowning, replied,

"Why are you cursing at me?"

I reached for Dugu Sheng's knife and said,

"Give it to me."

Dugu Sheng walked over and handed me the knife, then grumbled and returned to the wall.

Holding Dugu Sheng's knife, I said to the leader,

"Old man, are you crazy?"

"..."

These guys are so crazy that even I, a demon from my past life, was slightly taken aback. I looked around at the officers and said,

"You guys are completely a group of lunatics."

The leader, remaining calm, said,

"It's been over ten years since I or the officers have shed blood."

An officer interjected,

"Not me."

"Shut up. But we've never avoided a fight. Are you suggesting we end it this way?"

Looking at the officers, I noticed they were all over forty, while the guards near the walls were mostly young.

Is this a thoroughly respectful underworld? They seem to have many laws to protect themselves and isolate the outside world.

I asked,

"How many officers are there in total?"

Dugu Sheng immediately replied,

"Twenty-one, including the leader."

Holding the knife, I stood up and said to the leader,

"Old man, either crawl over here and lick my feet, or kill all twenty-one. Choose."

I suddenly felt frustrated, remembering my past life. During my martial arts training, I heard that the Black Sand Gang was wiped out by a powerful martial artist, but I couldn't remember who it was.

Anyway, it wasn't me. I was being dragged around by a problematic figure to learn martial arts at that time.

These guys deserved to be wiped out.

Their ancestors probably built the wall near the river to protect against foreign invasions.

Their natural attitude of passing judgment and punishment on outsiders made them seem more like a small dictatorship than an underworld force.

It feels like I'm touring a kingdom full of lunatics.

As the leader stood up, two subordinates approached and handed him a saber in each hand.

The leader, holding the sabers, clicked his tongue.

"Young man, do you really have to see blood?"

The other elders also stood up and went to the weapon display, each grabbing a weapon. I watched in amazement as they held various weapons.

Three-pointed spear, crescent moon saber, straight sword, long sword, judge's pen, iron staff, langya staff, hook spear...

Most of them held a metal spike, which was probably a harpoon.

Dugu Sheng said,

"Why are we fighting in such a cramped space?"

At this moment, an elder with a metal spike threw it at Dugu Sheng's forehead. Dugu Sheng dodged with a head movement, and the spike embedded itself in the wall with a thud.

Dugu Sheng glared and said,

"You damn old man."

The elder who threw the spike calmly replied,

"Shut up. I'll kill you first."

At this moment, Dugu Sheng said something that caught my attention.

"Try to kill me. You only have seven fingers left."

It seems that killing each other in the Black Sand Gang results in cutting off a finger. I couldn't immediately tell if this was a fair judgment.

Regardless, I was greatly impressed by all the Black Sand Gang's antics.

"Wow, you guys are really crazy."

While the leader stood still like a commander, twenty elderly martial artists charged at me.

The weapons coming at me included a three-pointed spear, crescent moon saber, harpoon, straight sword...

I don't know.

I also swung my knife.