FIMA Ch125: Reporting to the Authorities

The crowd froze and looked up.

The man sitting squarely in the corner of the main hall, his back to the crowd and facing the window, set down the teacup in his hand and slowly turned around.

The room fell dead silent for a moment.

Such a man made it impossible not to be drawn to him. Even the fiery red-clad woman, who had been bearing her fangs and brandishing her claws just a moment ago, temporarily forgot how to speak.

Xie Chenyun raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of a smile blooming at the corners of his eyes. “Have you seen enough of the show?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression was apathetic: “I simply cannot stand people shooting their mouths off.”

“Heh…” Xie Chenyun chuckled softly.

This foolish ruler truly knows how to put on an act. He was clearly helping me, yet he still has to act so tough!

But right at this moment, someone broke the sweet atmosphere.

Tang Sheng stared at Gu Siyuan, his expression looking awful to the extreme: “It’s you! You’re actually here too!”

Gu Siyuan’s eyelids lifted slightly. He swept a glance over him and said faintly, “It is me. But I do not know who you are…”

Tang Sheng grew even more furious, feeling that this guy was deliberately humiliating him.

Gu Siyuan looked at Xie Chenyun and asked casually, “Chenyun, do you know him?”

Xie Chenyun smiled playfully: “We’ve met a few times. Just an unimportant person. I think he’s called Tang Sheng?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of a portion of the people in the Lingxu Pavilion abruptly changed.

“Tang Sheng?”

“Tang Sheng… could it be that Tang Sheng?”

“One of the ‘Twin Dragons of Jiangdong’, the adopted son of the Wu family’s master?”

“Sure enough, the Wu Family Army hasn’t given up on the Imperial Seal of the Realm! They actually sent Tang Sheng directly to fight for it?”

Hearing these voices, the corners of Tang Sheng’s mouth curled up, his expression quite smug.

His smiling eyes looked toward Gu Siyuan, as if to say: So what if you pretend not to know me? So many people here recognize me. My name has long been renowned throughout the world!

The red-clad boy chimed in right on cue to hype him up: “Hmph, now you know Big Brother Tang’s identity, right? Two country bumpkins from who-knows-where actually dare to offend Big Brother Tang?”

The red-clad woman also sneered, looking at Gu Siyuan’s group: “The three of you, don’t even think about leaving here easily today.”

Tang Sheng reached out and touched the wound on the red-clad woman’s cheek, whispering, “Linglong, don’t worry. I will avenge this whip strike for you.”

The red-clad woman was indeed named Lei Linglong. Hearing this, she immediately lowered her head, looking both happy and bashful: “I know, Big Brother Tang.”

Seeing the two of them putting on a show, Song Zhengqing said disdainfully, “Whether you can get revenge is unknown, but you sure are great at talking big.”

Hearing this, the red-clad boy immediately shot a fiery glare at Song Zhengqing and said angrily, “I haven’t even looked for trouble with you yet, but you actually jump out on your own! Hurry up and hand over the thing you swindled from this Young Master!”

Song Zhengqing gave a lazy, cold sneer: “Swindled? I have to ask, do you have any shame left? Lei Yan, you must be willing to accept defeat when you gamble. Wanting back what you lost—is this the extent of the Thunderbolt Hall’s credibility?”

The red-clad boy was named Lei Yan. He was the biological younger brother of the red-clad woman, Lei Linglong, and both were the children of the current Hall Master of the Thunderbolt Hall.

Lei Linglong also snapped her head up, glaring viciously at Song Zhengqing: “No matter what, you must leave that item behind.”

That item was far too important; it absolutely could not be lost.

The lazy smile on Song Zhengqing’s face also gradually turned icy: “Keep dreaming. Do you really think I, Song Zhengqing, am made of mud? Even if I use it to wipe my ass, I still won’t give it to you. If you have the skill, come kill me directly.”

“You!” The Lei siblings’ faces instantly flushed red with anger.

Although their Thunderbolt Hall was powerful, if they truly dared to kill the son of the Duke of Song, they were afraid an entire army would march directly on Xunyang City.

Gu Siyuan swept a glance over the group and suddenly said faintly, “Or, you could sell it to me.”

Song Zhengqing turned his head and smiled: “Brother, you actually know what it is?”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “I can make a rough guess.”

To be so highly valued by the Thunderbolt Hall, yet something that could be used as toilet paper—it was likely some sort of blueprint or design related to a new firearm or explosive.

Sure enough, the next moment, Song Zhengqing pulled something resembling a parchment scroll from his robes and tossed it toward Gu Siyuan.

Lei Linglong’s expression changed. She swung the whip in her hand toward Gu Siyuan, intending to snatch it away by force.

Xie Chenyun’s face turned instantly freezing. He rapidly raised both palms. As his palm wind swept out, carrying a thick aura of scorching flames, it blasted the whip—and the person holding it—several steps backward.

Tang Sheng hurriedly flew over and caught Lei Linglong to prevent her from taking further damage.

Lei Yan also rushed over anxiously, crying out, “Sister!”

Xie Chenyun stared at her, his tone freezing: “Do it again, and I’ll take your life.”

Lei Linglong looked at him, then clutched her chest and violently coughed up a massive mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of ruptured internal organs.

Gu Siyuan casually caught the item Song Zhengqing had thrown. He looked up, made eye contact with Xie Chenyun, and then lowered his head to examine the parchment, offering absolutely no words of thanks.

Seeing this, Xie Chenyun actually felt even happier in his heart. He had long since considered Gu Siyuan as ‘his person’ and thoroughly enjoyed this natural, matter-of-fact reliance on him.

On the other side, seeing Gu Siyuan leisurely looking through the parchment, Lei Yan’s expression turned incredibly ugly.

The Lingxu Pavilion was already the largest entertainment venue in Jiangcheng. The third floor mostly consisted of VIP private rooms, but besides that, there was an enormous gambling hall meant for VIPs to pass the time after their meals.

Lei Yan had always loved gambling, and his skills weren’t bad. This time, he had gambled big. However, this guy had a foul and vulgar mouth. Not only did he bully the servants waiting on him, but he also harassed the maids.

Song Zhengqing happened to be relaxing there. Seeing this, with the intention of teaching him a lesson, he went and played a few rounds with him.

Unsurprisingly, Lei Yan lost several rounds in a row, nearly losing the pants off his back.

However, gamblers always have a certain mentality: the more they lose, the less willing they are to walk away, always believing they can win it all back in the next round.

Thus, on the final hand, Lei Yan made a massive bet with Song Zhengqing.

He revealed his identity as the Young Master of the Thunderbolt Hall and staked the blueprint of a new firearm he had just acquired at a discounted value. The stakes were incredibly high; if he won this hand, not only would he win back everything he lost, but he would also clean Song Zhengqing out entirely.

However, heaven did not grant his wish.

In the end, Lei Yan still lost.

With that, the firearm blueprint naturally belonged to Song Zhengqing.

But Lei Yan refused to accept it. Losing gold and silver was fine, but if he lost this, his father would probably beat him to death. He then tried to use his identity to threaten Song Zhengqing.

But as a member of the Song Clan and the legitimate son of the family head, why would Song Zhengqing fear such a threat? He naturally took the item away without a shred of politeness.

Who knew that at this moment, Tang Sheng and Lei Linglong would come looking for Lei Yan. After learning what happened, they also issued threats, and ultimately, it escalated directly into a physical fight.

…

Lei Yan glared at Gu Siyuan: “Don’t bring trouble upon yourself! Some things are not meant for you to see. Return the blueprint immediately, and I will spare your life today.”

Gu Siyuan acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, completely ignoring him.

Xie Chenyun, however, shot a dark look at this boy who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth: “You really want to end up like your sister, don’t you?”

Lei Yan’s gaze shrank. His martial arts weren’t even as good as his sister’s; naturally, he was no match for this person.

Right at this moment, a commotion arose at the entrance of the Lingxu Pavilion. A squad of about twenty people wearing red clothes and half-face masks arrived.

As soon as they entered, they bowed to Lei Linglong and Lei Yan.

“Eldest Miss, Eldest Young Master, we finally found you!”

Lei Yan’s eyes lit up: “You’re just in time!”

Tang Sheng also felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Watching Xie Chenyun’s move earlier, he knew his cultivation was not weak now; he was probably no longer beneath him. And they also had Song Zhengqing on their side. Although Song Zhengqing had lost to him earlier, he was more than enough to deal with the Lei siblings.

Because of all this, he had hesitated and hadn’t made a direct move until now. Now, things were finally looking up.

He immediately gave Gu Siyuan a cold sneer: “You piece of trash who doesn’t know martial arts. Back in Jinling, relying on your guards, you used despicable sneak attacks to kill Yanyan. Then, ignoring all jianghu morality, you used superior numbers to bully the few just to barely win against me. Did you think you could do the same today?”

Gu Siyuan finally lifted his head from the parchment. He swept a glance over the group of masked men in red, raised an eyebrow faintly, and said, “Why can I not?”

However, everyone else in the room gasped in shock.

This person doesn’t know martial arts?!

Not knowing martial arts, yet he dares to provoke Tang Sheng and the Lei siblings time and time again?

He truly has guts that cover the sky!

Lei Linglong also asked hesitantly, yet intrigued: “Big Brother Tang, you said this person doesn’t know martial arts?”

Tang Sheng nodded, saying quite disdainfully, “Just a naive noble young master from Jinling City. His ten fingers have never touched spring water (he’s never done hard work). Back then, he only managed to bully the few because he had many guards. I didn’t expect that even after coming to Jiangcheng, he would still dare to put on an act in front of me!”

Hearing this, Lei Yan burst into loud laughter: “Use superior numbers to bully the few? Hahaha, this Young Master loves using numbers to bully the few! Big Brother Tang, just wait, watch how I blow them all to the sky!”

As his words fell, he waved his hand. The masked men in red who had rushed in immediately crouched down and flipped their arms. Bound to their arms were devices resembling sleeve-arrow crossbows, but instead of short arrows, there were circular slots.

The red-clad warriors expertly pulled round, black pellets from boxes at their waists and slotted them into the devices.

Upon seeing this object, the expressions of everyone in the main hall changed.

“Thunderbolt Pellets?!”

“They’re going to use Thunderbolt Pellets?”

“Heavens, in such a confined space, we might all get caught in the blast…”

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes, glancing at the parchment in his hand.

So this is the Thunderbolt Pellet.

Lei Linglong hurriedly grabbed Lei Yan, saying urgently: “Wait! The blueprint is still in his hands! It doesn’t matter if he dies, but what if the blueprint is destroyed?”

Lei Yan furrowed his brow, looked at his sister, then at Tang Sheng: “Then let’s temporarily hold off on blowing him to the sky. Tell me, what should we do?”

Lei Linglong looked dependently at Tang Sheng.

Tang Sheng patted her head: “Then listen to me.”

After saying that, he put on an aloof and superior front, took a step forward, and said loudly to Gu Siyuan and Xie Chenyun: “Today, this Young Master and the two heroes of the Lei family are feeling exceptionally merciful. We don’t want your lives. We only require you to return the item in your hands, kneel down, kowtow to admit your mistakes to us, and then break your own legs and crawl out of here. If you do that, today’s matter will be considered settled.”

He had only met this man, Gu Siyuan, once, yet he had always possessed such a lofty, unreachable demeanor—like the sun in the mortal realm, like a star in the heavens, as if he, Tang Sheng, was not even worthy of being in his sights.

Hmph, simply killing a person like this would be too boring.

Breaking his bones and making him kneel before me like a dog is the only proper way!

Lei Yan also immediately burst into laughter.

A man like Gu Siyuan—a man among men—torturing him like this is definitely the best…

Xie Chenyun’s face was freezing cold. He stared at Tang Sheng, his eyes seemingly filled with wind, frost, swords, blades, and raging furnaces.

Heh, to actually dare make such demands of Gu Siyuan.

However, at this moment, the warriors of the Thunderbolt Hall had already secured the doors of the Lingxu Pavilion, and the launchers for the Thunderbolt Pellets were aimed directly inside the pavilion.

Lei Yan put his hands on his hips and shouted triumphantly: “I’ll count to ten! If you don’t kneel and kowtow, we’ll fire one Thunderbolt Pellet! If you don’t kowtow by twenty, we’ll fire two! Hehe, I won’t kill you. I will make you watch helplessly as all these people in the Lingxu Pavilion die for you! They will all die because of you…”

Hearing this, Lei Linglong also seemed to think of something fun. Her gaze swept around until she found the little girl she had wanted to teach a lesson to earlier but couldn’t. Pointing at her, she laughed: “Not just him, but her too! Didn’t you just jump out and claim you saved her earlier? This lady will kill her first, right in front of your face!”

Saying that, she laughed so hard she couldn’t stand straight.

Tears welled up in the little girl’s eyes, but she remained very stubborn: “I won’t kowtow to you! Kill me if you have the skill!”

Xie Chenyun’s pale fists were clenched to the absolute limit, his expression fluctuating rapidly.

Gu Siyuan’s demeanor remained indifferent. He slowly rolled up the parchment and tucked it into his robes, as if completely oblivious to the situation.

However, he reached out, wrapped his hand around Xie Chenyun’s fist, gently pried it open, and said faintly: “You’re clenching too tightly.”

Looking at the person beside him, for some reason, Xie Chenyun’s mood gradually calmed down.

He hooked his finger around Gu Siyuan’s and asked, “You’ve thought of a way?”

“More or less,” Gu Siyuan said softly.

Tang Sheng slanted his mouth, looking at Gu Siyuan: “What are you still waiting for? Do you actually think a savior is going to fall from the sky?”

Lei Yan stared at Gu Siyuan and began counting: “Ten, nine…”

“That’s enough.” Gu Siyuan stood up.

Joy appeared on Tang Sheng and Lei Yan’s faces.

Gu Siyuan waved his hand and said loudly: “Do it.”

At this abrupt command, the warriors of the Thunderbolt Hall blanked out for a moment, then looked at each other in confusion.

Why is the person being threatened giving orders and seeking death?

Tang Sheng and Lei Yan were equally bewildered.

However, the next moment.

The crowd watched as four figures suddenly sprang out from among the masked men in red. Daggers abruptly slid from their sleeves, and with terrifying speed, they began harvesting the heads of their comrades!

“Are you insane?!” Lei Yan cried out in horror.

Tang Sheng was even more shocked, just about to say something.

“Loose arrows!”

Suddenly, that cold male voice rang out once again.

In an instant, a shower of arrows rained down from the sky.

Furthermore, almost every single arrow found its mark on the Thunderbolt Hall warriors, who were frozen in shock from the sudden betrayal!

Immediately, the Lingxu Pavilion was filled with the deafening sounds of wails and cries of agony.

Tang Sheng completely failed to comprehend what had just happened or why things had turned out this way. But his first reaction was to shove the person next to him forward, while he himself leaped straight out the window.

Lei Linglong crashed to the floor, her expression changing drastically as she could only scream: “Big Brother Tang!”

Gu Siyuan looked at the remaining dozen or so masked men in red. They had essentially all lost their mobility; they were either clutching their bodies screaming, or already lying dead in pools of blood.

He turned his head and ordered: “Half of you clean up the battlefield, the other half capture them.”

After saying that, he shot a glance at Xie Chenyun, and the two gave chase out the window in the direction Tang Sheng had fled.

However, the Lingxu Pavilion was built over the water, extremely close to the riverbank.

Tang Sheng was also an incredibly decisive figure. After escaping, he disregarded everything else and charged straight toward the river.

Just at this moment, a boat happened to pass by.

Two figures, a man and a woman, stood at the bow of the boat.

Seeing Tang Sheng, the woman recognized him at a glance and shouted loudly: “Big Brother Tang!”

Tang Sheng’s face lit up: “Man’er!”

Then, he leaped directly into the river, swimming rapidly toward the boat.

Wu Man’er immediately turned to the person beside her: “Quick! Quick! Big Brother Tang is being chased, hurry and pick him up!”

Hearing this, Yang Tai’s eyes darkened.

Hmph. Big Brother Tang, Big Brother Tang, all you know is Big Brother Tang…

Seeing him remain motionless for a long time, Wu Man’er frowned in displeasure and scolded lightly: “Yang Tai, what are you doing?! Can’t you see Big Brother Tang is in danger?!”

Yang Tai stared at her, his tone slightly cold: “I am also your adopted brother, and we grew up together. Why do you call him ‘Big Brother Tang’, but call me by my full name?”

Wu Man’er curled her lip, frowning impatiently: “How can you be the same as Big Brother Tang? What are you dawdling for?! If something happens to Big Brother Tang, I won’t let you off! When I get back, I will definitely complain to my father!”

Yang Tai gritted his teeth and issued an order to the servants, telling them to turn the boat toward Tang Sheng. However, the coldness on his face only deepened.

When Gu Siyuan and Xie Chenyun chased him out with their men, they saw that Tang Sheng was only a few steps away from the small boat.

Furious, Xie Chenyun slammed a palm toward the river surface, instantly sending up a white wave over a zhang (approx. 3 meters) high.

He gave a cold sneer, his voice laced with ice: “This kid sure has luck with women! Time and time again, he gets saved by women!”

Gu Siyuan seemed to have expected this long ago, his expression incredibly calm: “Just a piece of trash. Right now, him being alive is slightly more useful than him being dead.”

Xie Chenyun tilted his head to look at him, his large eyes wide and round: “En? You have another strategy?”

“I wouldn’t call it a strategy, just some clumsy methods.” Looking at his cute appearance, Gu Siyuan couldn’t resist reaching out and pinching his cheek.

“Wu…” Xie Chenyun opened his mouth indignantly and bit down on the webbing between Gu Siyuan’s thumb and index finger.

Feeling the warmth on his palm, Gu Siyuan naturally didn’t feel any pain, but a strange, inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart.

It seems that he and Xie Chenyun had grown so accustomed to ‘faking it’ that it had become real.

Such contact didn’t feel surprising in the slightest anymore.

He withdrew his hand, gently clenching his fist, and his face returned to a mask of apathy: “There are still a few days until Lidong. We’ll talk again when the Outer Heaven Pavilion’s ‘Choosing a Ruler on Behalf of Heaven’ grand assembly begins!”

Xie Chenyun immediately let out a disdainful sneer: “Choosing a ruler on behalf of Heaven? A mere martial arts sect actually dares to speak such arrogant nonsense about ‘acting on behalf of Heaven’?”

After a long while, he turned his head and looked at Gu Siyuan curiously, smiling: “You’re actually not angry at all?”

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone placid: “Who says? I’m so angry right now I could die. Can’t you tell?”

“…” Xie Chenyun.

If your expression wasn’t exactly the same as it is every day, every moment—completely rippleless and unchanged—I really might have almost believed you.

“Let’s go back. There are still some loose ends to tie up at the Lingxu Pavilion.”

Gu Siyuan reached out his hand, just about to take Xie Chenyun’s, but thinking of what had just happened, he suddenly stopped halfway.

However, Xie Chenyun grabbed his arm directly, wrapping both hands around it intimately, and smiled playfully: “Let’s go, let’s go!”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

He turned his head to look at the calm and unbothered person beside him, thinking to himself: Sure enough, I was overthinking it. Chenyun is so open and magnanimous.

As they walked, Xie Chenyun asked curiously: “When did you arrange people inside the Thunderbolt Hall? How did you know we would happen to run into them today?”

Gu Siyuan’s voice was flat: “I didn’t know we would run into them today. I just had some interest in a few of the Thunderbolt Hall’s business operations, so a few months ago, I casually arranged for some personnel to infiltrate them. It was just good luck.”

“…” Xie Chenyun.

Your luck truly is good.

He blinked and asked again, “What about those archers ambushed outside the Lingxu Pavilion? Could it be that because you were ‘interested’ in the Lingxu Pavilion, you also arranged them inside in advance?”

Gu Siyuan shook his head: “The Lingxu Pavilion doesn’t have that qualification yet. It was only after I saw Tang Sheng and Song Zhengqing fighting that I sent the shadow guards to request personnel from the Provincial Military Commander’s office.”

“En? Why?” Xie Chenyun was even more curious.

Gu Siyuan also felt quite strange about his confusion: “Seeing people fighting in a public place, isn’t reporting to the authorities the right thing to do?”

“…” Xie Chenyun.

Is that how things work for us people in the martial underworld?

…

On the tranquil surface of the river.

After Tang Sheng climbed onto the boat, he gave Yang Tai a deep look.

This guy deliberately dawdled earlier, almost causing him to be caught by Gu Siyuan.

Hmph… If I don’t deal with him soon, I’m afraid he will sooner or later become a major hidden danger.

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