At Jing Hai Town’s Defence Prefecture’s backyard.

　　The bright moon was hanging in the sky, bathing the place in a gentle moonlight. The backyard was quiet and peaceful.

　　Gu Litong was sitting in the octagonal pagoda holding onto a cup of beer, slowly drinking it to keep him away from depression and his hopeless situation.

　　He was sitting alone, cold and quiet. There were no friends, no enemies. He had nowhere else to go other than the backyard.

　　Even if he left the backyard, there was nothing to see in Jing Hai Town. It was completely different from Chongming. It was like going to a poor village off the side of the countryside.

　　The public opinion had been very tight. Ren Public House was running riot all over, and Gu Litong would have been in danger if he ventured out of the backyard. He stayed inside the Town Defense Prefecture, living between life and death, without a purpose.

　　Cleaning up the plants was the only great talent that he could use to pass the time by. He took good care of the rare plants in the Public House, and tidying up the plants here was of no effort to him.

　　“Sigh…” He released a long, drawn breath.

　　Gu Litong felt that he had done enough this life. He had made Master Xiao angry, and as a result, was banished from the Public House. He stayed in the Town Defense Prefecture only because of the Third Lady’s kindness. Gu Litong did not want to put his own life in danger, of course. He also did not want to be used to as a pawn to attack the Public House.

　　He was no longer able to return, no matter what.

　　Gu Litong thought of the days when he was still in the Public House. He had nice clothes to wear and nice food to eat; finally overcoming all the obstacles and was able to enjoy this life, but now he lived his life in hiding. He felt really bored with staying alive.

　　“Looks like you’re in a good mood, Brother Gu Litong!” A green shadow flashed, and Chu Li appeared in the pagoda. He was wearing a green robe with a long sword hanging around his waist. He took his seat to the opposite of Gu Litong.

　　Gu Litong furrowed his brows and stared at him. “Why have you come over here?”

　　Chu Li smiled. “Have you been doing well these days, Brother Gu Litong?”

　　“Are you really worried about me?” Gu Litong laughed coldly. “You are just checking if I’ve escaped.”

　　“Where can you even go right now?” Chu Li could not control his laughter. “Brother Gu is a clever person. I’m not worried about that.”

　　“Here comes that someone who finds you when he needs something!” Gu Litong scoffed, “You’re now the Third Lady’s favorite toy. You must be very busy! How do you have the extra time to come and seek someone as useless as me!”

　　Chu Li smiled. “You looked kind of down. Did you feel that your life was hopeless?”

　　“What do you think?” Gu Litong scorned in response.

　　He was like a bottle being smashed into the ground, broken. Gu Litong had already given up on himself.

　　“Enough, stop acting. Just get to the point!” Gu Litong continued in his cold tone.

　　Chu Li, however, was unfazed. He smiled and said, “I have a small favor to ask and would like your help.”

　　“Just say it!” Gu Litong scoffed. “You think I’m in a position to refuse?”

　　“Help me plant a few types of herbs,” Chu Li proposed.

　　“Spirit herbs?” Gu Litong furrowed his brows and looked at him. “What do you want to do with it?”

　　Chu Li took out a white piece of paper and passed it to him. “I’ll go and have a talk with the Town Guards.”

　　Gu Litong flipped open the white paper and lowered his head to read. He then raised it back up and asked, “So many of them?”

　　“Most of them are normal herbs, and only a few of them are spirit herbs. Can you do it?” Chu Li asked.

　　“Who said I couldn’t!” Gu Litong proudly scoffed, “This is no problem!”

　　“Although, we don’t have blessed farmland here!”

　　“These spirit herbs don’t need blessed farmland!”

　　Gu Litong twitched his mouth and looked at Chu Li from top to bottom. “What’re you going to do with these herbs?”

　　Chu Li smiled and spread his hands.

　　Gu Litong sneered, “How many of them?”

　　“The more the better,” Chu Li replied. “But you need to keep this a secret. Plant them as fast as you can!”

　　“And what will I get?” Gu Litong scoffed again.

　　“One thousand taels.” Chu Li took out ten banknotes and passed it to him. “Is this enough?”

　　“That’s more like it!” Gu Litong smiled.

　　Even if Chu Li was an abhorrent person, Gu Litong still could not reject the taels just because of his hatred towards him. Furthermore, he knew that Chu Li had even saved his life.

　　However, even if he did, Gu Litong still felt animosity towards Chu Li whenever he looked at him, and yet he could not stop staying in contact with the man. Gu Litong still needed to rely on Chu Li, or else he would not be able to go anywhere.

　　Chu Li looked at the surroundings. “You didn’t find a woman to stay with you?”

　　“I don’t even have the mood to think about that.” Gu Litong folded the white paper and kept it neatly. “Nothing is as interesting around here.”

　　“Well, don’t be desperate. Just wait until the public outrage dies down. The Third Lady will help you plea for leniency, and Master Xiao may change his mind.”

　　“It won’t happen!” Gu Litong shook his head.

　　He knew Master Xiao’s personality very well. He did not accept other people’s mistakes, and Gu Litong had made a grave one. Master Xiao would not consider using him again.

　　Chu Li smiled. “You’re a genius. Master Xiao might cherish you yet.”

　　“There are a lot of geniuses in the Public House. There’d be no difference with or without me,” Gu Litong answered. “I’m not thinking about anything right now. I just want to lead a peaceful life.”

　　Chu Li looked at him from top to bottom. “With your ability and talent, staying in the Town Defense Prefecture won’t be a problem.”

　　Gu Litong scoffed proudly.

　　Chu Li said, “Ren Public House is very powerful, you need to be careful.”

　　“Don’t worry, I won’t leave the Public House,” replied Gu Litong.

　　Chu Li smiled. “If you do this well, I’ll find a way to get you to the other side so the Ren Public House can’t find you.”

　　“You—?” Gu Litong cast a sidelong glance at Chu Li as he disdainfully said, “It’s still too early for you to be waving around your power!”

　　He knew what the situation was in the Public House. It did not matter how good Chu Li was, age and experience were his two bars to progress. Both these bars prevented him from becoming a truly powerful figure.

　　Chu Li had joined the Public House for only two years. He was still young and his experience was shallow.

　　How did two years of relationship surpass ten or twenty years of partnership? He easily betrayed them. The youngsters were especially unstable mind wise. Once they had power and were not controlled, a lot of people’s lives would be in danger. They needed to be careful about this.

　　“There’s no need to hurry, we’re still young,” said Chu Li.

　　“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure these herbs grow nicely.” Gu Litong patted the place where he kept the white paper. “I won’t delay your work.”

　　Chu Li smiled and nodded. Gu Litong was a clever person, he was able to get the hint easily.

　　Chen Jiudeng returned to his study room after dinner.

　　He lit up three tallow candles. The room was as bright as daytime, but it did not hurt his eyes.

　　Even though he was a Master of the martial arts world, Chen Jiudeng still liked to read so that he could widen his horizons and also to understand people’s thoughts. It was useful for him to improve himself for a better position. He was already the leader of the Shang Yi Clan, but he still was not satisfied.

　　Chen Jiudeng sat in front of the table. He had a square face and straight, vertical line running down between his eyebrows. His gaze was fierce and sometimes a deadly look flashed within them. There was a grandeur within that made the Master formidable without him needing to make a move.

　　He suddenly turned over and saw Chu Li standing behind him in a green robe.

　　Chen Jiudeng gently stood up and calmly looked at Chu Li. “Who’s this respectable person standing right in front of me?”

　　“You must be Clan Leader Chen, Chen Jiudeng?” asked Chu Li.

　　“Yes, I am.” Chen Jiudeng nodded. “You came over here at midnight just to meet me? Is there anything you want to grant or share with me?”

　　“I’m from the Startling Cloud Association, Chen Li,” replied Chu Li.

　　Chen Jiudeng’s expression did not waver. “Startling Cloud Association? I don’t recall having conflicts between our clans?” He calmly said.

　　“Chen Xuefeng.” Chu Li looked at Chen Jiudeng from top to bottom.

　　He was an insightful and knowledgeable person, as well as a powerful figure. Chen Jiudeng had reached the innate mastery’s boundary. If he never had help from an external force, he would probably have stayed.

　　Chen Jiudeng smiled. “Chen Xuefeng what? Who is he?”

　　Chu Li smiled. “You’re his brother-in-law. Don’t you know who he is?”

　　Chen Jiudeng shook his head and smiled. “I believe that I’m not the one you’re looking for. I don’t know who this ‘Chen Xuefeng’ is, and I’m not his brother-in-law.”

　　Chu Li smiled. “If that’s the case, then I’ll just go ahead and kill him.”

　　Chen Jiudeng stared at him and attempted to see through Chu Li’s thoughts. He finally gave in and sighed. “Fine. I’m his brother-in-law, what do you want from me?”

　　“Let’s make a deal, shall we?” Chu Li smiled. “We, the Startling Cloud Association will help you get the position of the faction leader.”

　　“And in return?” Chen Jiudeng scoffed.

　　“Thirty percent tax,” answered Chu Li.

　　“Not a chance!” Chen Jiudeng rejected immediately.

　　Chu Li smiled. “Don’t be such a spoilsport. You can take your time to contemplate. Once you become faction leader, we could combine our factions! We can take down the whole town together like that, maybe even more!”