Geng Zhiwei laid out three conditions. First, the Yu Family Pharmacy had to give him a fifty percent share. Second, Yu Nan had to marry him as the Sixth Mistress. And third, he wanted to beat Yu Nan publicly.
Yu Nan’s face turned pale.
Jia Quansheng said from the side, "I think my brother’s three conditions are quite reasonable, Boss Yu. It’s your good fortune to be wed into the Geng Family!"
Before Yu Nan could speak, the bodyguard behind her could no longer hold back, "Geng Zhiwei, you bastard, I curse your ancestors for eight generations!"
Geng Zhiwei spat, "Which family’s dog are you? Do you think it’s your place to speak? Manager Yu, I’ve stated my conditions. Do you agree or not?"
He wasn’t here to negotiate. He had come specifically to disgust others!
Yu Nan stood up and said, "Young Master Geng, it seems we can’t talk this through. Since you’re not giving face, let’s set another time to fight it out!"
This was a call to fight.
"Straightforward! I like your decisiveness," Geng Zhiwei laughed. "We don’t need to set another time. Today is perfect, let’s fight right now!"
Two bodyguards behind Geng Zhiwei charged forward with knives. Yu Nan drew her gun and aimed directly at Geng Zhiwei.
Geng Zhiwei sat in his chair, drinking tea without showing a trace of fear.
One bodyguard stood in front of Geng Zhiwei. Yu Nan pulled the trigger, and a shot rang out, hitting the bodyguard in the chest.
Blood spurted from the bodyguard’s chest. His body swayed twice but, holding a machete, he continued to charge at Yu Nan.
Yu Nan quickly fired a second shot at him.
CLICK!
The revolver’s hammer struck the end of the bullet, but it didn’t fire.
Yu Nan fired a third shot, and again it was a misfire.
It had nothing to do with luck. In Puluo State, gunpowder was unreliable, and the success rate of firearms discharging was less than thirty percent, so misfires were very common.
This was why Li Banfeng had never touched firearms before.
In Puluo State, firearms were not the weapon of choice. Revolvers were passable, but for recoil-operated guns, a misfire could be very problematic.
Yu Nan fired six shots. The cylinder revolved a full circle, and only two bullets fired.
Both shots hit the bodyguard. Blood kept flowing from his wounds, but he never fell. Instead, Yu Nan received a cut on her shoulder from the bodyguard.
This was beyond the explanation of mere physical robustness; this bodyguard was no ordinary person.
𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
And it wasn’t just one bodyguard who was that powerful; another was fighting with two of Yu Nan’s men.
Yu Nan’s men were unarmed; they were using chairs to fight the bodyguards.
The chair leg broke. One of her men stabbed the leg into the bodyguard’s body. Blood was shed, yet the bodyguard’s combat ability remained undiminished.
One of her men was stabbed through the chest by Geng Zhiwei’s bodyguard and fell to the ground, motionless.
The other man, facing two enemies, struggled valiantly.
"Shopkeeper, run, get out of here!" the man bellowed, the bodyguard’s machete already piercing his stomach.
Sounds of fighting also came from downstairs; the Yu Family Cloth Store’s men had started battling the men from Geng Family Medicine Shop.
One of the Geng Family Medicine Shop’s men had his head cleaved open by an axe. Blood covered his entire body, yet he was still able to fight with a dagger.
Yu Nan received another cut on her leg, her eyes filled with panic.
「Later that night」
Yu Nan led her people back to Hundred Fragrance Village.
Out of thirty-three men, eleven had died. The corpses of two were brought back, while the remaining nine were left in Spring View Tower, with no telling how Geng Zhiwei might desecrate them.
Including Yu Nan, everyone was injured, and the injuries were all serious.
As for the Geng Family, they too had many people seriously injured, but as Yu Nan retreated, she saw none of them fall.
In her wildest dreams, she couldn’t have imagined the Geng Family’s strength to be so formidable.
After a cursory treatment of their wounds, Yu Nan ordered her subordinates to set up a mourning hall to pay homage to their fallen brothers first.
After everyone kowtowed, Yu Nan kept the vigil alone. After burning two stacks of spirit money, she let out a deep sigh and said, "Brothers, walk slowly on the Yellow Springs Road. I will be there soon."
Li Banfeng entered the mourning hall and burned some paper money alongside Yu Nan.
Though he didn’t know them personally, it was a matter of respect for the deceased.
Yu Nan looked at the two corpses in the mourning hall, bowed her head, her expression desolate. "I thought Geng Zhiwei invited me to the banquet out of courtesy before resorting to force. I never expected him to lure me out and attack directly.
"I know, in terms of strength, I can’t match the Geng Family. But I also didn’t expect them to be this powerful.
"Geng Zhiwei will probably come to Hundred Fragrance Village for me tomorrow. I won’t be able to escape this disaster.
"Seventh Master, take Boss Qin and leave quickly. I can’t even protect myself, let alone you."
Li Banfeng asked, "You knew you couldn’t beat the Geng Family, yet you still went to the banquet so openly?"
Yu Nan bowed her head. "I had no choice. He sent an invitation, so I had to go. That’s the rule of the Jianghu."
Li Banfeng asked, "Is Geng Zhiwei a man who abides by the rules?"
"No," Yu Nan answered in a very soft voice.
"Then what’s the use of these rules?"
After a long silence, Yu Nan raised her voice, "If I hadn’t gone, my brothers and I would never be able to hold our heads high again!"
Li Banfeng looked up at the two corpses in the mourning hall and asked, "Can they hold their heads up now?"
Yu Nan remained silent, looking down.
Li Banfeng asked again, "Tomorrow, if Geng Zhiwei kills you, will you be able to hold up your head?"
Yu Nan had no answer.
Li Banfeng repeated, "Tell me, what’s the use of these rules?"
Yu Nan had nothing to say.
She didn’t want to talk about the rules of the Jianghu anymore.
After struggling for so many years, she had always considered herself a person of the Jianghu.
But facing Geng Zhiwei this time, Yu Nan felt as if she understood nothing about the Jianghu at all.
After a long silence, Yu Nan heaved a deep sigh. "Seventh Master, perhaps I was wrong. But now isn’t the time to argue about right and wrong.
"Geng Zhiwei won’t let me go, and he certainly won’t let you go either. He’ll find you sooner or later. I just want to remind you, Seventh Master, to leave quickly."
She was right about this. If Geng Zhiwei continued his rampage unchecked, he would eventually find Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng wasn’t that hard to find. If they captured a few of Yu Nan’s men alive and tortured them severely, they could get the information.
As they were speaking, a young woman, tears welling in her eyes, entered the mourning hall. She held a sharp knife. "Shopkeeper, this knife belonged to Eighth Brother. I want to keep it as a memento."
The young woman’s name was Wang Xuejiao; she was Eighth Brother’s older sister.
Eighth Brother had died, and his body hadn’t even been brought back.
Yu Nan nodded. "Take it."
Li Banfeng looked at the knife. It was speckled with red spots, seemingly still stained with blood. Li Banfeng detected a peculiar smell.
"Miss, may I take a look at this knife?"
Wang Xuejiao handed the knife to Li Banfeng. He sniffed it carefully. "Is this a watermelon knife?"
"Nonsense!" Wang Xuejiao became agitated. "This is Eighth Brother’s knife! He carried it ever since the day he started following the Shopkeeper! This knife is stained with the blood of those bastards from the Geng Family!"
Li Banfeng looked at the small red specks on the knife. "This isn’t blood; it’s watermelon juice. This knife must have been used to cut watermelons all day!"
Yu Nan was stunned. Wang Xuejiao cursed at Li Banfeng furiously, "Who the hell do you think you are, slandering my brother like that!"
Li Banfeng looked at the young woman without offering any explanation.
Yu Nan had someone calm Wang Xuejiao down and lead her away, then picked up the knife to smell it herself.
There was a bloody smell, but Yu Nan couldn’t distinguish whether it was blood or watermelon juice.
Li Banfeng said to Yu Nan, "Bring a few more weapons here. We’ll know once we examine them one by one."
Soon after, one of the men brought over a dozen or so weapons. Li Banfeng sniffed each one and confirmed his judgment. "This is watermelon juice. Although there’s a bloody smell, it can’t mask the sweetness of watermelon."
Yu Nan was skeptical. "I can’t smell it."
Li Banfeng picked up an axe from among the weapons and peeled off a piece of debris from a rusty spot on the axe head.
Anyone else might have mistaken this for a piece of rust, or perhaps even a shred of flesh from one of the Geng Family members.
But Li Banfeng, relying on his sense of smell, had been able to distinguish it.
Li Banfeng cleaned the piece and broke it open to reveal a black shell with a white center. "Look closely. This is a watermelon seed."
Yu Nan scrutinized it for a moment, her pupils shrinking.
This time she could see it clearly; it truly was a watermelon seed.
PS: Dear readers, although some Taoist Sect paths are difficult, it doesn’t mean they aren’t powerful. Please leave messages and vote for Shala.