Chapter 96

According to common sense, after Dingtou's words, the man with the foreign accent would either flee in panic or get ready for a fight. If the other party had some skills, Dingtou wouldn't be afraid, because he knew he had a secret weapon in his pocket—lime powder!

As long as he could throw the lime powder into the other party's face, the outcome would be clear!

Dingtou said the words with a sense of satisfaction, as if he could already see the result. However, what he saw was a different scene—the young man casually crossed his arms, mimicking Dingtou's tone and sneered, "Sir, uh, right, you just called me sir! Sir, leave the stuff on your back, then crawl under this kid's crotch, and I'll spare your life today—otherwise, you won't be able to keep your eyes!"

His indifferent tone, carefree expression, and slightly curved lips conveyed a sense of disdain and mockery, which instantly made Dingtou furious. He rushed forward a few steps, facing the young man, raised his right hand with a sharp knife aimed at the young man's chest, and roared, "Attack! Kill this brat!"

This trick was already very familiar to him, and his two subordinates naturally didn't hesitate. They roared and charged from both sides, raising their hands high, like two big monkeys with their teeth bared. Naturally, Zunbao's attention was drawn to them. Dingtou's hand had already secretly reached into his coat pocket, touching the horse dung paper wrapped around the lime powder...

But just as he was about to pull his hand out, something unexpected happened—one of his subordinates suddenly stopped, as if he had hit an invisible wall. He suddenly fell backward!

Black smoke billowed, and then the other one fell too.

Dingtou saw clearly that the young man hadn't moved a finger, and his face still wore that carefree smile. His subordinates fell to the ground like two rag dolls!

The black smoke gathered around the young man like a stream of water.

Dingtou's mouth gaped open in shock, and he turned his head left and right, trying to understand what had happened. But all he saw was the mocking and disdainful look in the young man's eyes...

It was as if he was silently taunting, "See, I knew it would be like this!" Dingtou suddenly realized that the young man's abilities far exceeded his own, and it was unwise to be his enemy. Even a small thug like the young man could see that!

Who was this young man? What extraordinary skills did he have? Dingtou didn't know! But at this moment, he didn't need to know. What mattered was how to escape this unknown threat.

Dingtou wasn't very strong and didn't have many outstanding qualities. Besides being vicious and cunning, he had a sixth sense for avoiding danger. This had helped him rise to his position and often guided him to make different choices—

So, he suddenly raised his hands and threw away the sharp knife!

"We know we were wrong!" Dingtou shouted, "You are the boss! Fine, we'll do as you say, leave our stuff, and hand over these two scoundrels. Is that okay?" He knew that the young man and he didn't have deep enmity, and as long as he followed the rules of the underworld, he could escape with his life...

All of this was already in Zunbao's plan. He smiled at the black smoke-like Tianwu beside him, then turned and nodded, "Now you finally understand? Fine, leave all your valuables, and we'll call it a day."

Since Zunbao had spoken, Dingtou wouldn't delay. He threw his belongings to the ground and then searched his two dazed subordinates, throwing any valuables to the ground, and rushed out of the alley without a second thought!

Just as he turned the corner, he looked back, full of resentment and hatred...

Zunbao picked up the money bags on the ground, squeezed them, and was quite satisfied with the few silver dollars inside. Suddenly, he turned and headed east—now that he had money, why bother with these unnecessary troubles? Whatever happened to the Lou family was fate, and if he could avoid it, he would.

The best thing to do was to find the Hundred Ghosts Market as soon as possible.

Now that he was returning, his steps were much faster. But before he had gone far, a series of footsteps approached. He turned around, and the young man and the thug were already kneeling in front of him, covering their stomachs and looking pleadingly, "Boss, boss, take us in!"

"Take? What do you mean by taking you in?" Zunbao was puzzled, "What do you want to do?"

The young man immediately raised his head, though the pain from his injuries made him wince. He forced a smile, "Boss, don't you need some subordinates? We can do anything, whether it's scouting, cheating in gambling, conning, or pickpocketing—whatever you ask, we'll do it without hesitation!"

"Give us a chance!" the thug quickly added, "We'll do anything!"

These were underworld slang terms: 'scouting' meant reconnaissance for theft, 'cheating in gambling' meant cheating in gambling dens, 'conning' meant approaching targets for scams, and 'pickpocketing' meant stealing on the streets. Zunbao now understood that because he had taken things from their opponents twice, these two boys now saw him as a thug who had come to Xianyang to make a living, with some skills and planning to settle down...

He was torn between laughter and tears and had to explain, "You seem to have misunderstood. I'm just a passerby, looking for information in Xianyang, and I'm about to leave... uh, you can't come with me."

"Really?" the young man and the thug asked in unison, their disappointment evident, "You won't stay?"

"Really," Zunbao tried to make his face look convincing, "That's the truth."

"Oh, boss, let us follow you," the two clearly didn't believe him, "At least in Xianyang, let us follow you, or Dingtou will beat us to death."

This made Zunbao a bit worried. But he thought about it and took a silver dollar from Dingtou's money bag, handing it to the young man, "Here, take the money and hide for a while. Wait until the heat dies down—otherwise, go live somewhere else."

"We won't go anywhere but Xianyang," the two looked determined, and continued to plead, "Please, boss..."

"Suit yourselves," Zunbao turned and continued toward the eastern city, "I have to go about my business now."

Seeing the two look extremely dejected, the young man suddenly had a new idea and pulled the thug to catch up, "Boss, if you need to find something, we can help. We know everything in Xianyang!"

"Gambling dens, opium dens, brothels, black markets... we can find anything you need!" the thug quickly added.

"I need to find..." Zunbao realized he was about to spend money to get information but didn't know where to go. Perhaps... he thought, perhaps it wouldn't be bad to take them along in Xianyang!

At most, he just needed to be cautious about Dingtou, which didn't seem too difficult!

The thought flashed through his mind, and he acted on it without much consideration. But there were many things he hadn't thought of, and everything didn't go as he had imagined...

So he agreed, "Alright, I'll let you follow me—but only while I'm in Xianyang. If I leave, we'll go our separate ways, and we'll owe each other nothing."

"Whatever you say, boss!" the young man and the thug beamed, calling out in unison.

Zunbao smiled and coughed, "Now, tell me, who should I go to for information?"

...

By the time they returned to the eastern city, it was almost dusk. The streets were still bustling, and the pancake and baked bun stalls were particularly busy. Zunbao saw the young man and the thug looking around with hungry eyes, their Adam's apples bobbing up and down. He had a sudden idea and bought six solid donkey meat buns from a crowded stall.

He gave each of them two, saying, "You must be hungry. Eat these buns first."

The young man and the thug initially hesitated, even though they had thought about having a good meal. In Xianyang, it was rare for a thug to give them more than two flatbreads, let alone buns. They dared not reach out until Zunbao urged them again, and they cautiously took a bite...

It was indeed a rare delicacy, with a large, meaty filling and plenty of juice!

Their stomachs growled, and with the delicious food in hand, how could they resist? Seeing Zunbao wolfing down the buns and urging them, they finally believed it was for them and started to eat voraciously.

They almost choked themselves to death!

Zunbao saw their state and guessed they hadn't eaten all day. He sighed, continued to eat the buns, and walked forward, feeling a strange sense of pity...

After eating the buns, they turned a corner and arrived at a stall with a black curtain, with a large 'Fa' character on it, and a sign that read 'Four Sheng Cai Gui.' It looked like a gambling den. Two burly men stood by the door. Seeing the young man and the thug, they waved them away impatiently, "Get lost, you penniless scoundrels, what are you doing here?"

"Gambling, what, can't we come in?" The young man, used to this attitude, casually took out the silver dollar Zunbao had given him, blew on it, and it made a 'ding' sound, "Look, we have money today!"

The thug whispered to Zunbao, "Boss, to get information, you need to find Lulu Tong. He loves gambling here and knows everything. As long as you can pay, he can even tell you who Xia Dujun spent the night with last night." Zunbao understood and nodded.

With the silver dollar, the two men's attitudes changed instantly. They laughed, "You brats have changed, bringing silver dollars to the gambling den—fine, do as you please, go in!"

The young man chuckled, nodded proudly, and lifted the curtain, letting Zunbao in first, "After you, boss."

The three entered the gambling den, leaving the door guards to mock, "Pity, they finally got some money, but instead of buying a good meal, they come to throw it away..." "If not for them, what would we eat and drink?" the other guard laughed, "We rely on these fools, or we'd be starving!"

The two guards looked at each other and burst into laughter. (To be continued)