Chapter 157: Threat

Lin Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead by the dark riverbank and personally loaded the last box of valuables into the ship’s cabin.

He carefully checked the arrangement of these priceless goods for a while, making sure that the precious items would not be damaged by the ship’s tossing and turning. Only then did Lin Qi jump off the ship with Long Cheng, smiling and waving as they watched the ship depart.

Aunt Lili stood gloomily at the stern, looking at Lin Qi with a pitiful expression. Being seasick, she really did not want to make the trip back and forth again. Uncle Bar cautiously attended to Aunt Lili, afraid that his own sister might suddenly go crazy and give him a hard hit.

Lin Qi looked helplessly at Aunt Lili’s tearful face. There really was no other way. After committing such a big crime, the Imperial Capital would definitely be under lockdown tomorrow. Those ever-present Copper Helmets would surely turn the city upside down. If so many members of the Black Tiger Family remained in the city, as recent strangers, they would undoubtedly become the prime suspects.

They had no choice but to let Aunt Lili and the others leave first and return to the Imperial Capital only after the situation calmed down in a few days. Additionally, with two Celestial Knight experts escorting the ship, Lin Qi could rest assured—the cargo on this ship was too valuable. Lin Qi truly did not dare to let a group of ordinary sailors take these items back to Dun Er Ke.

Although these sailors were all subordinates of the family, wealth could tempt anyone. Without Bar and Aunt Lili to escort them, who could guarantee that these sailors wouldn’t be swayed by greed and betray the family? This wasn’t a matter of just tens or hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins; merely those four vases passed down from the Dark Calendar era were enough to drive all the Nobles of the Continent with questionable bloodlines mad, let alone these ordinary sailors.

So Lin Qi could only apologetically watch as the seasick Aunt Lili sailed away. He clasped his hands together and silently prayed—may the benevolent Deity ease Aunt Lili’s seasickness this time, because as the old sailors said, isn’t seasickness something you just get used to after throwing up enough?

Only when the ship completely disappeared from the dark river surface did Lin Qi and Long Cheng shoulder the metal box, now filled with all the transferred Divine Seal of Pursuit, and the gold bars, and head back the way they came. Along the way, they grabbed the gold bars imprinted with dozens of Divine Seals of Pursuit and tossed them everywhere, waiting to see which lucky person would pick them up.

Of course, those people might be tracked down by the Church, but so what? What could the Church do to these ordinary folks?

Finally, after throwing the metal box in front of a certain guard station of the Imperial Capital Guard Department, Lin Qi and Long Cheng chuckled and melted into the darkness.

Even though they had been busy for so long, Lin Qi and his companions had actually worked very efficiently. The entire looting of No.1 Shenghui Street had taken only a little over four hours. Since it was still early, Lin Qi took Long Cheng, who was now disguised with a Westerner’s face, and headed straight into Cripple’s Tavern.

Long Cheng had no idea where Lin Qi was taking him. As soon as he entered, the foul air in the tavern nearly made him faint. He instinctively glanced at Lin Qi, but Lin Qi didn’t look back and just muttered under his breath, “Bear with it. There might be something here that interests you.”

Lin Qi was still thinking about Jiang Yong and that group of Easterners, especially Jiang Yong’s hand—it was a hand worth a fortune! Previously, Lin Qi didn’t have the strength to deal with Jiang Yong and his men, but in a few days, Bar and Aunt Lili would return to the Imperial Capital. With the addition of Long Cheng as a strong fighter, if Lin Qi didn’t scheme for the valuables on Jiang Yong and his companions, would he even be Lin Qi?

Watching Long Cheng’s face, which had turned purple from holding his breath, Lin Qi cheerfully walked up to the counter and plopped down on a greasy high stool. He snapped his fingers at the female attendants behind the counter and said, “Hey, dear sister Ai Li, bring us two cups of the good stuff without any water added. Oh, and where’s Uncle Cripple?”

Long Cheng reluctantly sat down next to Lin Qi, suppressing his disgust. For Long Cheng, this was a place he had never set foot in before—a low-class tavern with filthy air, shabby decor, and rough, stinky customers. When had he ever been to such a place?

Sitting gloomily beside Lin Qi, Long Cheng made up his mind: after one drink, he would leave this wretched place immediately. According to his agreement with Lin Qi, the large bag slung over his shoulder was now filled with jewelry worth a fortune. These would be enough for his expenses in the Western region, and even when he returned to The East, they would allow him to live comfortably for a long time.

Since he and Lin Qi were now even, why should he still stick around with him? Long Cheng preferred ultra-luxurious hotels, beautiful women, and fine wine. He would never drink in such a third-rate place.

Especially those women who were desperately batting their eyes at him—Long Cheng almost threw up.

Lowering his head and gripping his glass, Long Cheng counted silently in his heart, wondering if he would suddenly snap and kill everyone in this damn tavern if he had to stay another quarter of an hour.

Just then, Cripple quietly emerged like a ghost from behind the counter. Beaming, he lowered his voice and laughed, “Ah, Lin Qi, you’re here? Tsk, so you still remember my little tavern? And you’ve brought a new friend?”

Long Cheng didn’t even look at Cripple; he had no interest in old, ugly men. Feeling the heavy weight of the large bag on his back, he reminisced about the pretty young maids at the luxurious hotel he had stayed in a few days earlier.

Lin Qi glanced at the distracted Long Cheng and chuckled softly, “Oh, dear Uncle Cripple, I want to ask you about something.”

Soundlessly, Lin Qi slid a one hundred Gold Coin Gold Note toward Cripple.

Cripple looked at Lin Qi in surprise, snatched up the Gold Note, and whispered with a laugh, “Oh, Young Master Lin Qi, you’ve become quite generous. What do you want to know?”

Lin Qi said in a low voice, “Those Easterners, the one called Jiang Yong? You know, they’re very rich!”

Cripple’s smile stiffened. He frowned and looked at Lin Qi with displeasure, sighing, “They are my customers, Lin Qi. How can you target them? They are my guests!”

Long Cheng, who had been sitting nearby, slowly raised his head. He narrowed his eyes at Cripple, and the chilling aura from his purple eyes—due to the colored lenses—made Cripple shiver all over.

Lin Qi smiled at Cripple, gently kicked Long Cheng, and said with a grin, “Oh, I’m just asking, you know? I’m just curious. Really, how could I have the ability to deal with them?”

Lin Qi smiled kindly, while Long Cheng’s hand quietly sank into the thick wooden surface of the counter.

Cripple’s expression grew even more grim.