Witch Wind

Chapter 36 Using Myself as Bait (Part )

When leaving Gray Magpie Street, Xing Tianli had another rose-red, lambskin-covered certificate in his sleeve - Second Lieutenant Intelligence Officer of the East Country Investigation Office, Special Military Investigation Bureau, Kingdom of Yingjishi!
Within one day, two second lieutenant rank were obtained!

Tsk!
Inside his sleeve was a calfskin wallet, which contained a thick stack of bearer personal promissory notes from the Royal Bank of England, which could be signed at will and cashed on sight.

Compared to Oger, Augustus's generosity was even greater. With this thick stack of personal promissory notes, if Xing Tianli was desperate enough and not afraid of official retaliation from England, he could even get tens of millions of taels of silver from the England Royal Bank at the International Concession headquarters in Pinghai City!

Augustus, that’s all I gave it to you!

"Absolutely confident, confident to the point of arrogance!" Xing Tianli drove a car with the British royal flag flying, slowly drove out of the consulate's gate. He gently patted the huge cowhide box on the passenger seat and said in his heart: "After all, they are rookies who have not experienced the beatings of society, but their terrifying power is enough to make them ignore everything!"

Thinking of the terrifying physical strength possessed by Augustus and the other two that was discovered by the power of his soul, Xing Tianli couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Even though he had cultivated the soul of a yang god and achieved the fruit of a celestial immortal in his previous life, Xing Tianli's physical strength was only that of ten people. Compared with ordinary people, thousands of pounds of physical strength was already terrifying.

But compared to Augustus and the other two... Xing Tianli, who was just a pure "law cultivator", would have had his body destroyed if he had met them in his previous life. This power was too terrifying.

Terrible power brings extreme self-confidence. Augustus and others gave such a personal promissory note without any care. The cowhide box beside Xing Tianli was filled with large gold bars, each weighing one pound, and there were a full three hundred bars in the box.

This 90% new car was also stolen by Xing Tianli from the consulate's car team.

It's stormy outside, and you want Xing Tianli to walk bare-legged? Xing Tianli won't torture himself!
Today’s cars have a simple structure, so it’s not difficult to drive as long as you are brave enough... Well, it’s a little difficult. The power steering system of today’s cars is a bit poor, and it takes a lot of effort to turn the steering wheel.

It's just a little big, not a big problem.

Driving a car and carrying a large amount of money, Xing Tianli whispered a few words to the two Yingji intelligence officers sitting in the back seat without even turning his head.

Two intelligence officers, a lieutenant named Jerry and a captain named Tom.

They are both intelligence officers of the East Country Investigation Office, and they are also friends of Joems.

"Tom and Jerry, a pair of good friends!" Xing Tianli murmured in a low voice. Following Jerry's instructions, he drove onto Yanjiang Avenue and headed west. After driving nearly a hundred miles in the wind and heavy rain, the terrain ahead was suddenly empty and they had already left the concession.

According to the "Concession Regulations" of the Great Yu Dynasty and the Far West Hundred Kingdoms, the directly controlled territory of the International Concession was only a piece of land 100 miles long and 20 miles wide. However, with the continuous influx of expatriates from various countries, with the connivance of the International Concession Board of Directors, the expatriates began to leave the concession and continuously encroach on large and small territories around, forming new settlements.

The officials of Dayu Dynasty were weak and turned a blind eye to this. In recent years, this situation has become more and more serious.

After struggling for more than ten miles on the bumpy sandy road, we saw a large area of ​​paddy fields and fish ponds in front of us, surrounded by mulberry fields and fruit orchards. On the east, west and north sides, there were undulating hills, like arms, embracing this fertile land that was seven or eight miles long and wide.

In the middle of the paddy fields, fish ponds, mulberry fields, and orchards, a circle of earthen brick walls encloses a village, which may have two to three thousand households. The crooked, roughly square wall has vaguely visible earth and wood structures at the four corners, and a thatched-roofed sentry tower. In the middle of the night, there are still sparks on the tower, and it is obvious that there are sentries on duty smoking on it.

"Shechuan Village." Tom pointed out, "Ten years ago, this was the estate of several big landowners from the East Country. Later, the proletarian ronin from the Dongyun Island Alliance continued to pour in. They first built shacks here, and later they started cutting down trees to build houses. There were several conflicts between those big landowners from the East Country and the Dongyun people, and suddenly one night, several big landowners were wiped out."

"The government of the East Country is unwilling to deal with this matter, so this piece of land is tacitly accepted as belonging to the people of Dongyun."

"As the number of Dongyun people increased, they built a village here. They named it 'Shechuan'. In the board of directors of the concession, it was labeled 'Dongyun Settlement No. 3'. According to the information updated a year ago, there are about 30,000 Dongyun people stationed here."

"The first Dongyun people who came occupied these lands and were considered property owners. There are only about a thousand of them. The remaining more than 30,000 Dongyun people do everything." Jerry sneered: "Women go to the concessions to work part-time as low-end street prostitutes. As for the men, the young ones steal, cheat, and blackmail. The older ones just go out to fight and kill, and kidnap and extort."

"They even formed a gang and fought with the local gangs in the East Country. On average, dozens of Dongyun people's bodies are cleared from the back alleys of the concession every month." Jerry sneered and shook his head: "This is a race that is despicable to the core and as disgusting as wild dogs."

Xing Tianli shook his head: "But I saw that there seemed to be a lot of Dongyun patrol officers in the police station?"

"Cheap!" Tom sighed. "The annual budget of the police station is fixed. On this basis, the number of police officers to be hired and which country to hire are all decided by the police station. Patrolman Dongyun only needs 30% of the normal salary!"

"Employ the same number of people, but only pay 30% of the salary." Tom licked his lips and muttered in a low voice: "If I were the director of the police station, I would do the same!"

Xing Tianli smiled: "The people of Dongyun are small, and their appetite may be even smaller than that of a dog. Thirty percent of the salary is enough to support themselves!"

Tom and Jerry also laughed, and their laughter even drowned out the sound of wind and rain outside. The carriage was filled with a joyful atmosphere. The relationship between Xing Tianli and his two new colleagues suddenly became closer - at least when it came to mocking the Dongyun people, everyone shared the same bad taste!

The car stopped outside the gate of Shechuan Village.

These Dongyun people actually dug a "moat" more than ten feet wide outside the wall surrounding the village. Outside the crude village gate made of logs, a crooked suspension bridge was suspended by hemp ropes.

Just as the car stopped, two Dongyun men wearing straw raincoats and holding iron knives swooped out from a wooden gatehouse at the entrance of the village like two rat spirits.

There was a faint smell of bad alcohol in the air. When we were approaching Shechuan Village, Jerry had already gotten out of the car and put away the English royal flag on the small flagpole on the front of the car.

A Dongyun man tilted his head and stared at the car, especially noting the foot-long flagpole on the front of the car that was not on ordinary cars. It was used to hang small flags. He bowed respectfully at a 90-degree angle and said, "Excuse me, sir, what can I do for you?"

The wind and rain were too strong, and the Dongyun man shouted at the top of his lungs.

Tom and Jerry sat in the car without moving. Xing Tianli took out a few large gold bars from the cowhide box and stuffed them into his sleeves. He held up an umbrella with one hand and a bamboo stick with the other. He got out of the car and walked to the river bank. He said in a stern voice, "Lower the drawbridge and open the gate. Damn bastard, I'm going to find that bastard Xiong Shan Ji Lang."

Without the slightest doubt, the two Dongyun men roared madly, and hurried footsteps were heard from behind the village gate. The heavy wooden village gate opened quickly, and the suspension bridge was lowered with a creaking sound. A group of Dongyun men wearing straw raincoats and bamboo hats knelt respectfully in the mud and water to welcome Xing Tianli into the village.

No one asked him his name, no one asked him what he was doing, these lower-class Dongyun people behaved as docilely as tamed dogs.

Xing Tianli entered Shechuan Village.

From the outside, the village seems to be quite large and has a rather atmospheric appearance.

But after entering the village, Xing Tianli couldn't help but grin. With the help of lightning, he could see rows of simple wooden houses in large and small open spaces. The structure of these houses was extremely simple, with a foot-high foundation made of wooden piles and a layer of wooden boards on top. The four walls were also crooked, leaky wooden walls, and the roof was a thick thatched roof.

Long rows of wooden houses were crowded together. The strong wind and heavy rain lashed them fiercely, and many of the wooden houses made creaking sounds and could fall apart at any time.

The muddy road passed through these simple wooden houses. Xing Tianli concentrated his mind and heard the crying of babies, the moaning of women, the gasping of men, the clash of coins... Well, a little further away, in the wind and rain, he even heard the sound of a sharp dagger piercing flesh again and again.

In some of the wooden houses that were closer, through the cracks in the doors and walls, there were extremely restless eyes full of animality, with extremely fierce gazes falling on Xing Tianli. Someone whispered behind the wooden door, asking the Dongyun man who led the way about Xing Tianli's identity.

Walking in front of Xing Tianli, the Dongyun man holding a simple lantern said arrogantly: "It's the noble who drove here to find the big boss of Xiongshan. Car, idiot, do you know how many of your cheap lives a car is worth?"

Suddenly, clear sounds of people gasping for air were heard from the simple wooden houses.

Several wooden doors suddenly opened, and a topless Dongyun woman stood in front of the door with a flattering smile, holding a candle. She deliberately used the candle to illuminate her body and cast a seductive look at Xing Tianli.

Xing Tianli narrowed his eyes, and his cold gaze slowly swept over the village in front of him that looked like a doghouse, and the Dongyun people who exuded wildness and bestiality.

He laughed sarcastically and threw out a handful of gold coins.

There was a sudden silence all around. In at least dozens of simple wooden houses in all directions, hundreds of Dongyun men and women could see the golden light emitted by Xing Tianli with the help of lamplight, candlelight and the flash of lightning in the sky.

Xing Tianli followed the Dongyun man who led the way and walked away quickly. After he walked several dozen feet, he suddenly heard a low roar behind him. A large group of Dongyun men rushed out like mad beasts, rushed into the mud and water, and scrambled frantically for the gold coins he had scattered.

There were flashes of knives and axes, cold lights flickering in the light of lightning, the sharp blades sank deep into the flesh, cutting through bones, making terrible "crackling" sounds. Some Dongyun women clapped and stamped their feet in excitement, cheering for the fighting men - they knew that no matter who got the gold coins in the end, they would eventually flow into their bodies' middle!
Walking past these extremely simple and surprisingly dense wooden houses, a neat courtyard with white walls and black tiles with typical Jiangnan style appeared in front of us. The courtyard covers an area of ​​4 to 5 mu, with a small river flowing in front of the door, and willow trees as thick as a man's embrace planted around the courtyard.

The wind whistled past, and the long willow branches danced wildly in the wind. Amid the flashes of lightning, the shadows of the willow branches were projected onto the white wall, inexplicably adding a bit of gloomy atmosphere to the yard.

Xing Tianli released his spirit and soul, then retracted it in an instant, and his face became as ugly as a ghost.

There are piles of bones under these big willow trees.

There were men, women, young and old, all of them, and their bones were covered with scars, clearly they had experienced extremely cruel torture before death. What was even more infuriating was that among these bones, the skeletons of adults, both men and women, were far more than four feet and seven inches, clearly the remains of the people of the East Country.

Within the thirty-meter area covered by Xing Tianli's soul, there were more than eight hundred bones under dozens of large willow trees.
Xing Tianli tightened the Tongtian Magic Bamboo with his right hand, and his stern expression disappeared. He looked up at the sky, and then smiled brilliantly.

The courtyard with white walls and black tiles was originally a typical residential structure in the Jiangnan area of ​​the Dayu Dynasty. After falling into the hands of these Dongyun people, the appearance of the building remained unchanged, but the facilities inside all became out of place.

All the oriental-style tables and chairs were gone.

The door was turned into a sliding door with wooden lattice and mulberry paper. The ground blue brick floor was covered with a half-foot thick straw mat. One-foot-high low tables with futons were neatly placed on the floor. In the corner of the reception hall, there were two sets of Dongyun-style large ghost-faced armor.

Along the walls on both sides, there were two rows of more than a dozen knife racks, on which dozens of long and short katanas were displayed. Each of them was cold and chilling, and under the light, blood stains could be faintly seen on the blades.

Xing Tianli was sitting cross-legged behind a low table. The current owner of the house, one of the largest landlords in Shechuan Village and the leader of the largest ronin gang in Shechuan Village, Xiongshan Jiro, was sitting cross-legged opposite Xing Tianli. He looked as rough as a wild boar and looked Xing Tianli up and down very rudely.

This guy is nearly five feet tall (about 1.65 meters). In the words of the Dongyun people - "This is a hero as majestic as a god!"
A dozen leaders of the Xiongshan Group, who were a little over four feet tall, lined up and knelt behind Xiongshan Jilang.

When their eyes fell on Xing Tianli, they all had scattered and wandering eyes, and seemed extremely guilty. They didn't even dare to look Xing Tianli in the face... But as long as their eyes glanced at Xiongshan Jilang's back, they seemed to have gained tremendous courage. They blew their noses and glared, looking at Xing Tianli fiercely like evil spirits.

But every time they mustered up the courage to fiercely "glare" at Xing Tianli, as soon as their eyes met Xing Tianli's gaze, which was as cold and deep as a deep pool, they would become confused and lower their heads in a hurry.

Then, they looked at Xiongshan Jilang's back again, and then endless courage emerged from their hearts again. They clenched their fists again and looked at Xing Tianli fiercely!
This situation has been repeated dozens of times since Xing Tianli sat down.

Seeing the changes in the expressions of these Xiongshan Group leaders, Xing Tianli just found it very funny.

These guys fear power but not virtue, are mean and despicable by nature, and are a group of unevolved beasts at heart. But as long as they are led by a sufficiently fierce and crazy leader, they will do the most inhumane things in the world!
This is roughly the national character of the frog people on the island!

Xing Tianli's fingers were itching. In his heart and liver, two large cauldrons were vibrating. Wisps of colorful magic power were reverberating in the cauldrons. The two golden lights couldn't help but want to burn and vent. He swung out dozens of "Sword Eighteen" and slaughtered all the Dongyun people in the house.

But they are still useful!
Xing Tianli smiled and took out four large gold bars weighing one pound from his sleeve. With a "pa, pa" sound, he placed the four large gold bars on the low table in front of him, just like he was lining up copper coins to buy wontons at the firewood wonton stall at the entrance of the alley in Xiaolongqiu Town.

There was no electricity in Shechuan Village, and the wind blew in through the cracks in the door. The lights of dozens of oil lamps and candles flickered, and four large gold bars reflected a blurry light.

"Wow!" The leaders behind Jiro Kumayama exclaimed in unison, and like ducks in a slaughterhouse, they all stretched their necks and stared at the gold bars.

One pound of gold bars is sixteen taels, four gold bars are sixty-four taels, and according to the official exchange rate, it can be exchanged for six hundred and forty taels of official silver. In fact, on the black market, one tael of gold can always be exchanged for fifteen or sixteen taels of silver!
If these four small gold bars were used to buy lives, they would be enough for these Dongyun people to wantonly slaughter hundreds of innocent souls!
Jiro Kumayama was obviously a man who had seen the world. His pupils shrank slightly, and he stared at the four large gold bars with interest. He suddenly raised his right fist and shouted in a low voice.

A dozen or so small leaders of the Xiongshan Group shouted "Ha" in unison with great momentum, put their hands on their knees, shortened their necks, straightened their waists, and assumed a dignified appearance of sitting upright and showing that "wealth and honor cannot lead to debauchery."

"The nobleman's visit on a rainy night must be for something important." Jiro Kumayama clapped his hands, and several half-dressed, almost naked girls from Dongyun opened the door, holding teacups, and walked in lightly.

A most beautiful girl placed tea and fruit in front of Xing Tianli, and her watery almond eyes instantly cast dozens of glances at him.

Xing Tianli drooped his eyelids and did not respond to the girl's seductive glance.

Although the marks are very slight, the girl's hands, legs, waist, abdomen, and buttocks all have very clear muscle lines, making her body look quite agile. In the eyes of some old perverts, such a body shape is very "delicate" and is a rouge horse worth conquering.

In Xing Tianli's opinion, this girl had received some assassination training, and the muscle lines on her body were all for the ultimate instantaneous explosive power. There were traces of very thin callouses on her fingers. Looking at the position and size of the callouses, combined with the muscle lines on the girl's body, Xing Tianli could even imagine the scene of her pulling out her hairpin and piercing her benefactor's temple with one blow!
"I have something to ask you guys!" Xing Tianli pointed at four gold bars and said, "Do you want more gold? One hundred? Two hundred? Or even more!"

(End of this chapter)