noffsinger Chapter 59 Helper
Chapter 59 Helper
The dungeon door slowly closed behind Tie Qianshan.
He didn't go far, but leaned against the cold wall outside the cell.
He heard Tie Heng's calm questioning voice coming from inside.
Then came silence.
Then came Han Tieshan's deafening scream.
The screams were continuous.
Tie Qianshan listened to the voice, but his expression did not change.
After an incense stick had burned, the dungeon door was reopened.
Tie Heng walked out, a few drops of dark red blood splattered on his sleeve.
He wiped his fingers with a coarse cloth and shook his head at Tie Qianshan.
"He only acknowledged Zhao Tianxiong... He said that Zhao Tianxiong came to him one night and gave him those things. He accepted them all and then tampered with the testing and lottery according to Zhao Tianxiong's instructions."
Tie Heng paused for a moment.
"Also, the Chen brothers, Da Gou and Er Gou, who were planning to take action against Lu Yuan, have already been wiped out at Four Sacred Mountains. It seems that the Blood Wolf Gang was afraid that we would trace it back to them, so they took matters into their own hands."
Tie Qianshan turned around and looked at Tie Heng thoughtfully.
At that moment, a violent coughing sound came from inside the dungeon.
Han Tieshan lay on the straw mat, his mouth full of blood and foam.
The torture he had just endured had caused him to bite the edge of his tongue to pieces.
But his ears were still sharp, and he heard Tie Heng's last few words.
He suddenly laughed.
The laughter wasn't loud; it sounded more like a pitiful mockery.
"metropolitan,"
His voice was so hoarse it sounded like something a human could make.
"You really think... even if I tell you that the Zhao family contacted me, you'll dare to take action against them?"
He struggled to lift his head, his cloudy eyes staring intently at Tie Qianshan.
A strange smile appeared on his face.
"What do you mean?"
"Heh, it's nothing... I wonder if the sect leader still remembers the day the Duan family of Nanzhao was massacred?"
Tie Qianshan turned around.
His face was expressionless, but Tie Heng noticed that his right hand clenched slightly.
It only lasted for a moment, and then it loosened again.
"Go on."
"I'm not stupid. I can't afford to offend the power behind this person. Nor can you, Sect Master Tie."
"We can't afford to offend them right now. If you mess with the Zhao family, they'll trace it back to you and find out your identity from back then."
Tie Qianshan remained silent for a long time.
Only Han Tieshan's heavy breathing and the dripping sound of water seeping from the stone wall remained in the dungeon.
"you're right."
Tie Qianshan finally spoke, his voice unusually calm, "This sect master cannot touch the Zhao family right now. This sect master's identity cannot be revealed yet."
He walked up to Han Tieshan, bent down, and said something in a voice that only the two of them could hear.
"But I can touch you."
Tie Qianshan straightened up, turned around and walked towards the prison gate.
He didn't stop walking as he passed by Tie Heng.
"Clean it up."
Tie Heng bowed his head in response.
......
The inner hall of the Zhao family.
The candle on the candlestick had burned down to only a small portion, and the burnt wax had piled up in the copper dish.
Zhao Tianxiong sat in the armchair, holding a teacup in his hand, but did not drink.
The tea had long since gone cold.
His fingers tapped lightly on the rim of the cup, the rhythm slow, yet each tap felt like a blow to the back of the head to Blood Wolf standing opposite him.
"Chen Da Gou, Chen Er Gou".
Zhao Tianxiong finally spoke, his voice not loud, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
"You personally picked these people, you personally brought them into the gang. One of them went easy on Lu Yuan in the election, and the other followed suit... Is this all you're capable of when it comes to judging, investigating, and using people?"
Blood Wolf's pupils contracted slightly.
He did not argue, but simply lowered his head slightly.
"It was my oversight. These two have been in the gang for many years, have a clean record, and have never made a mistake. This time..."
"This time they almost got the entire Zhao family caught in the crossfire."
Zhao Tianxiong placed the teacup on the table, the bottom of the cup making a crisp sound as it hit the table.
"Damn, it's so obviously dry!"
"Tell me, what if the Iron Bone Sect takes Han Tieshan... and then, in a fit of rage, wipes out my Zhao family and your Blood Wolf Gang?"
"It's been fixed."
Blood Wolf raised his head, his eyes flickering in the candlelight.
"I sent Han Bao to lead a team to the Four Sacred Mountains. There were twelve people, including two in the mid-stage of Blood Coagulation and one in the late-stage. The entire Chen family..." He paused, "was dealt with cleanly."
"As long as the Iron Bone Sect can't find those two, they won't have direct evidence to attack us."
"No matter how powerful a sect is, it can't surpass the government!"
Zhao Tianxiong's finger stopped. "Are you sure?"
"Han Bao never leaves anyone alive when he does things."
Zhao Tianxiong leaned back in his chair, his anger subsiding somewhat, but his brows remained furrowed.
He picked up the cold tea, took a sip, and then put it down.
"Where is Han Baoren?"
"He's not back yet," Blood Wolf said. "Four Sacred Mountains are a bit of a distance from the city, and it will take time to dispose of the bodies and clean up the traces. He'll be back to report by tomorrow morning at the latest."
Zhao Tianxiong did not ask any further questions.
He stirred the tea foam with the cup lid, then changed the subject.
"You know about the Qingzhou Festival, right?"
Blood Wolf nodded.
The right to host the Qingzhou Festival fell to the Lu family this year... This would have been unimaginable in previous years.
The Qingzhou Festival has been held for so many years, and the right to host it has always been in the hands of the Zhao family.
What is the Lu family?
A second-rate family that made its fortune through trading companies was not even worthy of having an offering table outside the altar in previous years.
So what if they've latched onto the Iron Bone Sect?
The job assigned to the Zhao family was security.
To put it bluntly, he was just a bodyguard for the Lu family.
"Qin Lie's move is clearly a warning to us."
Blood Wolf's voice was low, but it couldn't hide the ferocity within it.
"Leave the security to us, and if anything goes wrong, we'll take the blame; if nothing goes wrong, all the credit goes to the Lu family."
"Qin Lie is using the Lu family to pressure the Zhao family."
Zhao Tianxiong snorted coldly.
"He thinks that... will make the Zhao family behave? He's wrong."
He leaned forward slightly.
"I've found a new ally in Wuyun County. This force is more reliable than the Iron Bone Sect."
Blood Wolf raised his eyelids: "Who?"
"The Duan family."
Zhao Tianxiong's voice was very low, but when he said those two words, there was an undisguised sense of pleasure in his tone.
"It's not those remnants of the restoration faction hiding in the mountains... but the Duan family member who is now sitting on the throne of Nanzhao."
Blood Wolf fell silent.
He certainly knew what the Duan family of Nanzhao meant.
Sixteen years ago, the Daqian dynasty destroyed the Nanzhao kingdom and supported a collateral branch of the Duan family to take power.
It was this group of people.
For the past sixteen years, the Duan family of Nanzhao outwardly submitted to and paid tribute to the Daqian, but in secret they were constantly eliminating the remaining forces of the restoration faction.
They feared the reappearance of the direct descendants of the Duan family more than anyone else... because once a true direct descendant of the Duan family appeared, the throne of the Nanzhao Duan family would no longer be legitimate.
Why should they help us?
"They're not helping us," Zhao Tianxiong corrected, "they're helping themselves."
"Help them themselves?" Blood Wolf asked, puzzled.