Chapter 41

The Chang Le Gang was one of the top 10 gangs in the Jade Capital, but even though they were near the bottom of the list, they were still huge in the eyes of the common people. Unfortunately, only the common people thought so.

The executives who had called back the head of the Chang Le Gang exploded in the HQ.

“Boss, surely we cannot just give them our years of hard work just because they said it caught their eye?”

“Is there no one else besides the five family clans? Just because of their words the thousands of members of the Chang Le Gang will lose their livelihood.”

“Stop spouting nonsense, did you not hear what boss said? We’re only selling the estates of the Chang Le Casino, but with the manpower and clients in our hands, we can start over anytime.”

“This might not be a bad thing. Even though the Fangs may be the major shareholder, at least this means that we are firmly on their side.”

“Nonsense. Why would those family clans care about us? Just because a young family head said so we had to give up our years of hard work today. Work with them? If they were to take control of everything, then we will have nothing left!”

“Damn it, what can we do other than to work together? Can you defeat them?”

“Who’s afraid of them? Let’s fight it out!”

“That’s right. So what if they’re the five family clans? The worst they can do is kill us!”

The Chang Le Gang started from gambling, and at the start, they secretly operated gambling dens on the streets before gradually expanding their business. Their boss was nicknamed the Fourth Finger; it was said that he had lost his finger from gambling in the past, while some said that he was born without one. This was a hot topic amongst the gangs in the Jade Capital.

The head of Chang Le Gang was only in his early forties, and he did not become soft just because he was rich now. Instead, he was still lean and in great form. The Chang Le Gang started out from their casino and now operated a few dozen other businesses. However, more than half of their earnings still came from gambling, and the rest only made up slightly more than 40%. Hence, when the Chang Le Casino was forcefully taken from them, he was angrier than anybody else. This was something that he had built up from scratch, and even though he could still do it again, but from now on…

Alas, he could not escape fate. Even though the Chang Le Gang had been gradually expanding and got some attention, he had thought that there would not be problems because he managed to get on good terms with the Fangs. Chang Le Gang solely relied on him to support it, unlike the other gangs which had hundreds of years of history and a firm background.

He did not mind these. What really upset him was that the Chang Le Casino was his dream. If he refused, he would not even have the chance to continue building his dream and accomplish his goals.

Life was different in the Jade Capital. It was harder as the gang could not survive without a powerful force as a backing. They either had to tap on some powerful nobles or have a powerful leader in the Yin Yang Realm. Even though being in the Divine Power Realm made him considerably powerful, it was not enough for the five family clans to take him seriously. Once they had no use for him, they would spare him no mercy and get rid of him. While he was powerful enough amongst the gangs in the Jade Capital as a ninth level Divine Power Realm expert, he was not formidable enough to take on the five family clans…

Things would be different if they had a leader in the Yin Yang Realm. Even if the royal family and the four other family clans wanted to do anything to them, they would still ponder over it for a long time. Unfortunately, the Chang Le Gang neither had a powerful noble backing them nor a powerful person as a leader.

“Who’s that, stop now.”

“Stop him, hmph…”

“Oh no, I can’t stop him…”

Just as the Chang Le Gang was in a mess and the head was having a headache trying to settle all the issues, a flurry of action came from outside. Before he could use his divine sense to find out what was going on, a series of crashing sounds could be heard.

The doors, walls and everything else in the way was sent flying as a spiritual beast carriage came charging into the great hall of the Chang Le Gang’s HQ.

The guards who tried to stop the spiritual beast carriage were all sent flying, as the walls and doors were crushed as well.

“How dare you charge into the great hall of the Chang Le Gang like that, you’re asking for death!” Some of those in the True Qi Realm jumped up at once as they got ready to attack the spiritual beast carriage.

Spiritual beast carriage, the Ren’s crest, this…

This was the Ren Family Head’s spiritual beast carriage!

“Stop.” The head was observant and immediately realized something was wrong, so he immediately commanded his subordinates to stop.

He knew how scary the family clans were better than anyone else, or he would not have acceded to Fang Yan’s request after merely an hour. He could not bear to part with his hard work, but he could not bear to see Chang Le Gang dissolve even more.

While the Chang Le Gang looked impressive, they were no more than a small fry in the eyes of the five family clans. The difference was too great, there was no way they stood a chance against the family clans.

The head’s words still held much weight since he was the one who started the Chang Le Gang and held the most power. He was also the only one in the Divine Power Realm. Hence, his words held absolute authority. The chaos earlier only happened because he was still undecided, but now that he had given a command, nobody dared to move and scrambled aside quickly.

“The Chang Le Gang sends its greetings. I wonder if this is the Ren Family Head.” The Gang Leader was secretly frustrated as well and even pondered leaving the Jade Capital. He had been on the streets for so many years and fought fearlessly, building a massive empire with his gambling skills.

What’s more, he was at the ninth level of the Divine Power Realm and was considered one of the most powerful in the Jade Capital. On other days, nobody would dare disregard his existence. Yet, he had to entertain a pampered child at the Body Refinement Realm who was also on the verge of repeating a year in school.

But this was the Jade Capital where one could only afford to be haughty if they reached the Yin Yang Realm. Even those at the Divine Power Realm did not dare to act carelessly as the five family clans all had their own army and many powerful people as well. One could not afford to offend them!

“Get up here.” The spiritual beast carriage was especially intimidating after it had knocked down a couple of walls before charging into the great hall. Hence, even though Ren Jie merely said a few words casually, those at the scene still felt their weight and looked at the head with concern.

Some of them had even retrieved their weapons, ready to fight to the death. The others who were closer to their boss also used their divine sense to speak to him.

“Boss, they’re being unreasonable. Let’s fight it out with them.”

“Boss, you can’t go up there. Who knows what they’re trying to do?”

“Boss, give the word and we’ll fight it out with them.”

“Don’t do anything rashly. If they wanted to exterminate the Chang Le Gang, then he wouldn’t have come. I’ll go take a look first. None of you are to do anything without my order.” He did not wish to take it so far unless he really was left without a choice.

He was nonchalant towards what happened with the Emperor or the four family clans.

They were not afraid of fights between gangs, but since they were at the peak of the Clear Jade Dynasty, not many were willing to commit treason. Only the gangs at the borders or rural areas did that. Thus, treason was not an option at all unless he was really left with no choice.

After exchanging a few words with his subordinates, the head steadied his breathing before channeling his Dharmic powers to his hands so he could strike anytime. Then, he walked over to get on Ren Jie’s spiritual beast carriage.

When he entered, he could not help but raise his guard again as his divine sense was cut off from the outside and everything became silent at once. What surprised him more was that the two people sitting in front of him were young, and from their looks, this was the pampered family head while the fatty was probably his lackey.

“Greetings to the Ren Family Head. We have done everything as you have requested, I wonder what else is there for us to do?” The head of the Chang Le Gang bowed as he wondered what was going on. His words were clear: You may be the Ren Family Head, but I have done whatever you have asked of me. Don’t force me to fight it out with you.

The five family clans were powerful, but they were past the years of chaos as they now had proper rules. While they were still fighting for power, it was all done discreetly. What happened today was basically robbery and not common. Hence, it was impossible for the head of Chang Le Gang to not be upset at all. If he did not have this bit of anger and rashness in him he would not have survived the streets all these years.

But he knew that he had to consider the big picture and that it was hard to maneuver his way around the Jade Capital. Hence, he was not as rash as his men and controlled himself. However, when he met Ren Jie, he still could not suppress the slight disdain that came out with his voice.

This was already very nice of him as he had exploded in anger when he spoke to Fang Yan. In the end, he only succumbed because Fang Yan had repeatedly persuaded him and he did not wish to harm their relationship.

“No need to be so formal, just tell me all your unhappiness. I shall pretend that I did not hear your accusing tone,” Ren Jie said with a wave of his hand as he smiled and pointed at the seat next to him, indicating for him to take a sit.

“I wouldn’t dare…”

“Nonsense. Who are you fooling?” Ren Jie said with a glare. “Someone snatched your hard work of 20 years and yet you say you’re not angry? That there is no hatred in your heart? Did you not curse at me in your mind?”

“…” The head of Chang Le Gang was stunned by Ren Jie’s questions. He had cursed everyone there was in the Ren and Fang families. None of them were good people, so he had called them every name there was out there. Only, it was something else to say it out loud. Hence, when Ren Jie asked him that, he did not know how to answer him.

“Too damn horrible, unbelievably horrible!” Fatty glanced at Ren Jie as he felt his boss becoming more and more impressive. How satisfying! He merely learned a little from him and managed to drive Fang Yan against the wall.