Chapter 113: Choosing the Chief

The various fighters and heroes in Willow Lake City truly couldn’t take it anymore.

They urgently needed to select a new Chief.

Order, rules… saying those words might sound laughable, but without them, things were truly deadly…

When the Devouring Sea Gang was still around, everyone followed their rules. Simply put, for every business deal completed – whether by kidnapping victims, plundering, selling good-family women, or sneaking into someone’s room in the dark to steal – whatever profit you made, half had to go to the Devouring Sea Gang. Fail to pay, and your entire family would be wiped out.

Besides the regular tribute, matters of revenge killings or territory divisions were also decided by the Devouring Sea Gang. If you sought revenge privately, you might kill your enemy, but the Devouring Sea Gang would come and finish you off right afterwards.

But now, the Devouring Sea Gang was gone. True, they no longer had to pay that tribute, but there were also no rules.

Instantly, the whole underworld in Willow Lake City became utter chaos. Some rushed to do more business, frantically grabbing money. Others started shouting for fights and killings, scrambling for territory. Still others used the chance to strike at their enemies, slaughtering entire families. This caused widespread panic, anger, and resentment. Damn it, you couldn’t even rob houses and steal from others properly anymore! How were people supposed to live?

I can’t exactly go report to the officials that those black-hearted fellows are disrupting my business of abducting good-family women, can I?

Better to have a Chief come forth…

With a Chief around, though there’d be tribute to pay, at least the business could be done steadily…

With everyone calling for it, countless people were thinking of stepping up to take the Devouring Sea Gang’s place.

Some were former leaders of refugee-turned-bandit groups that had attached themselves around the Devouring Sea Gang. Others were remnants who had miraculously survived the gang’s destruction. There were also some rogue wanderers who came to Willow Lake City for the Human Elixir affair, only to find the Devouring Sea Gang gone and the city’s shady businesses untended, making them consider staying and setting roots.

Among them, some plotted in secret; others were already fighting each other relentlessly.

However, though several conflicts had erupted and plenty had died, the position of Chief still remained unfilled.

Their power levels were roughly the same; no single individual truly commanded universal respect.

Logically, if the city governor’s office or the Academy intervened to support one, it could reduce much of the bloodshed, successfully establish a new Devouring Sea Gang, and maintain order. Yet, precisely at this time, the Academy and the City Governor became astonishingly quiet and low-key, turning a blind eye to the deadly conflicts in the shadows, as if they had forgotten all about it, leaving the underworld completely unsupervised.

Since no one from above was handling it, it all came down to personal capability. So, after countless pointless clashes, those who coveted the Devouring Sea Gang’s territories and believed themselves powerful enough to compete for the position finally decided to sit down and talk.

The meeting was held on a painted pleasure boat on Willow Lake.

The boat was hired by Cao Bazi, a notoriously ruthless figure from the Zhou Wharf of Willow Lake City. He also invited over a dozen prominent underworld leaders from around the city. The larger ones commanded thirty to fifty men; the smallest was a family of three running a murderous inn outside the city. Practically every major shady trade in Willow Lake City was represented, filling seven or eight tables – it almost had the vibe of a grand martial assembly.

Among so many people, Cao Bazi’s attention was fixed on just one person.

This Cao Bazi led the largest band of bandits who previously attached themselves to the Devouring Sea Gang, looting everywhere. As they were never formally invited to join the gang proper, they survived the catastrophe a month ago. Now, with a large band of roving bandits under him, he eyed taking over the Devouring Sea Gang’s turf… although the city-west-based Old Knives Gang shared the same ambition.

The Old Knives Gang rose to power through violence. While they had fewer followers than Cao Bazi, they were fierce and fearless fighters, making them tough opponents. After the Devouring Sea Gang’s fall, the two sides had clashed openly and covertly over the gang’s businesses, fighting seven or eight battles already, with many dead on both sides.

This meeting was essentially about those two factions dividing territories and setting rules.

“Enough small talk,” Cao Bazi began, getting straight to the point. “We used to follow the Devouring Sea Gang for a living; we know the rules. From now on, the underworld of Willow Lake City will have me, Cao Bazi, as the head. Your Old Knives Gang can join. I’ll give you the title of Deputy Chief. What do you—”

Before he could finish, the leader of the Old Knives Gang, Old Knife, exploded: “The hell with that! Why should I be your Deputy Chief? Think I’m scared of you?”

“What the hell does fear have to do with it?” Cao Bazi sneered. “If your Old Knives Gang took charge, all you’d know is collecting money and butchering people. You’ve got no idea how business works! If you became Chief, could you handle businesses as big as Willow Lake City’s?”

“A gang like ours—we don’t need to know business! I’ll be the Chief of Willow Lake City!” Old Knife spat back.

“You? The Chief? Spit!” Cao Bazi mocked.

“You, neither! Spit, spit!” came Old Knife’s retort.

“Spit spit spit!”

“Spit spit spit spit spit… Hah! Ptooey!” Old Knife punctuated his response with a mighty gob of phlegm.

“… …”

The negotiations went sour instantly. Especially when that wad of phlegm landed squarely on Cao Bazi’s face. Tempers flared, and both sides were about to flip the table and start fighting. The surrounding minor bosses reacted quickly: some grabbed wine jars, others tore chicken legs, all hastily dragging chairs back to make space. None intervened; they just watched, wide-eyed and eager.

To hell with it. Willow Lake City only needed a Chief. Who got the job didn’t really matter to them…

But just as Cao Bazi and Old Knife were about to move beyond words to swords, a cold snicker echoed from outside the boat. The lantern flames flickered violently, and a streak of red light floated into the cabin. A melodious but chilly voice filled the air: “You lot? Aiming to be Chief?”

“Lad… Lady Hongtao?”

The faces of both Cao Bazi and members of the Old Knives Gang blanched. They stared at the stunningly beautiful, alluringly effeminate woman who had entered. The very air seemed to freeze with her presence; a deep chill rose from their bones. “Wh… When did you return to Willow Lake?”

Lady Hongtao was one of the Helmsmen of the Devouring Sea Gang, a figure with immense standing. In all of Willow Lake City, it was rumored half the men wanted to bed her, while the other half feared her. Most who desired her and acted or spoke on it had ended up dead. Lady Hongtao relished the feeling of being desired but untouchable.

To put it plainly, her status was basically equivalent to “The Realm’s Most Beautiful Warrior.”

“I never left!” Lady Hongtao declared, seating herself at the head position. She planted her foot, clad in an embroidered slipper but bare-ankled, onto the table, revealing smooth, snowy skin. Her expression hovered between amusement and disdain. “Had I truly gone, how could I have witnessed such a farce – ‘with the tiger gone from the mountain, the monkeys swagger as kings’?”

Cao Bazi and the Old Knives Gang leader’s expressions instantly became deeply embarrassed.

Utter disaster…

They thought everyone from the Devouring Sea Gang had either died or fled, and it was finally their turn. Who would have thought Lady Hongtao would return?

Seeing someone slender as a snake, seemingly easy to cut down with one blow, yet recalling the terrifying tales of her killing unseen, the usually vicious Cao Bazi and Old Knife were now thoroughly cowed, not daring to breathe too deeply.

“S-since you are still in Willow Lake,” Cao Bazi, quicker to react, stammered, trying to offer her the position first, “then the position of Chief surely—”

“The position of Chief… will still require careful discussion,” Lady Hongtao began, intending to assert her claim.

But before she could fully express it, another voice spoke up calmly. Everyone looked over, and their hearts skipped a beat. Through the doorway walked a handsome man dressed in pale cyan robes. He held an unfolded folding fan and appeared in the cabin with a light chuckle. Anyone who saw him felt their heart nearly leap from their chest in shock…

“Lin Jiyi…”

The former Deputy Chief of the Devouring Sea Gang, Lin Jiyi. An evil cultivator practicing the Classic of Calculations. Second only to the Great Leader Chaosheng in cultivation level.

He was also one of the leaders who had escaped the carnage of the gang’s destruction. One of the few survivors among its core members.

“You also want to be Chief?” Lady Hongtao asked, her beautiful face twisting into disdain and cold mockery at the sight of him.

“How could that be?” Lin Jiyi chuckled. With a shake of his fan, he added, “Lin is not cut out to be the Chief. I harbor no ambitions to fight for the position. What I consider…” His tone grew slightly deeper, carrying a certain weight, “…is merely finding a suitable Chief. To support him well, and lead an unburdened life.”

“Find a Chief?” Cao Bazi and Old Knife exchanged uncertain looks but hesitated to raise their hands.

Lady Hongtao just snorted coldly, eyeing Lin Jiyi. “And who would you choose?”

“Certainly not you!” Lin Jiyi replied directly.

Lady Hongtao’s face instantly darkened.

“You see them as monkeys swaggering as kings while the tiger is absent?” Lin Jiyi spoke calmly to the infuriated Lady Hongtao. He then turned his gaze beyond the cabin, toward the pitch-black lake night. He cupped his fists slightly and called out with a laugh: “Willow Lake City stands leaderless, a time when a truly superior master should emerge to unite and guide us! Respected seniors and eminent figures from afar, since you reside among us in Willow Lake City, why not now step forward and meet us with openness?”

Everyone inside the cabin was momentarily stunned by his words and instinctively turned toward the cabin entrance.

Simultaneously, the seemingly quiet space around the lake stirred with tangible tension as the gathering air of powerful entities became palpable.

Suddenly, the stillness shattered.

“Whooshing…” Black, rolling Demonic Qi churned the winds. The lake waters surged, throwing up waves over ten feet high, as a sinister figure wreathed in shadow materialized onto the deck.

“Swish!” A dazzling Flying Sword sliced through the air like lightning. A stern-faced man in purple robes landed silently on the deck, hands clasped behind his back.

“The waters splashed as…” A giant corpse, over thirty feet tall, waded through the water. Perched on its shoulder was a woman wearing a distinctive Bronze Mask.

And further out, more silhouettes appeared within shimmering green mist. Among them: a gaunt man in green robes; another with flames bursting skyward, an obese old man seated on a fiery bird; and a weird figure with vertical pupils and bright crimson hair, a serpent coiled around his neck…

The seemingly empty, ink-black lake surface suddenly filled with over a dozen bizarre and outlandish figures.

These were none other than Qi Refiners!