Death… and me

All three thug leaders thought that they were doomed for sure.

"King of Hell Chu, please spare our pathetic lowly lives!" Golden Dragon Sect's leader knelt down and begged profusely, his head continuously hitting the ground. He was in such a great torture that he was bawling his eyes out. He came to a sudden realization that he had addressed King of Hell Chu with the moniker that everyone given him. He froze in fear as he thought that King of Hell Chu would now behead him for sure.

"Official Chu… I mean Minister Chu… please show mercy and forgive us… Please…" Golden Dragon Sect leader wailed, as he pleaded almost inaudibly while he continued to hurl his head to the ground, refusing to stop till King of Hell Chu gave him an answer. Within minutes, his head was already swollen and bruised, with multiple abrasions all over. His face was bleeding profusely and he still refused to back down.

The sight was so gory that the other two leaders felt nauseous. They trembled in fear and kept mum as they thought that the leader of Golden Dragon sect was informed about something they did not know.

This sight was unusual as no one had seen the leader of Heavenly Cloud Gate in so much consternation and discomposure. The leader of Magical Teachings Sect was also rendered powerless as he too, fell flat to the ground, desperately begging King of hell Chu for his life. "Please spare my life, Official Chu! I have a ninety-nine-year-old mother and my youngest child is less than a month old. Please!" Chu Yang was astounded at how much fear he had instilled in all of them.

Cheng Zi Ang and Chen Yu Tong's faces were flushed from stifling their laughter. They could not believe that these people were leaders of their own sects, given that they were scared out of their wits over such a small encounter. They were all unnerved by the minister before he could even say a word.

Out of a sudden, a loud booming voice reverberated through the air.

"Sit down, all of you! If you cannot control yourself, then get out of my sight and I will proceed to kill all nine generations of your family." King of Hell Chu shouted, while he was irritated and confused simultaneously.

Heavenly Cloud Sect's leader was so nervous that he almost lost control of his bladder. King of Hell Chu had a sudden epiphany that being nice and kind to the three sect leaders would only give them the green light to take him for granted. He realized that it would be so much more effective for him to raise his voice and be in control of the situation. "Go back to your seats and stop crying! I do not want to hear another word or I will kill you and the nine generations of your family!" King of Hell Chu yelled at the top of his voice. The phrase 'kill nine generations' was the most commonly heard phrase when it came to punishment by King of Hell Chu although, in reality, he did not even keep track of who those people were.

Without a word, the three sect leaders went back to their seats at that instant and even sat up straight without retorting. They looked down while trembling in fear and their lips quivered non-stop. Their subordinates would definitely be confounded at the sight of their vulnerable leaders at the mercy of King of Hell Chu.

At first, Chu Yang wanted to coax them and talk to them nicely. On second thought, he changed his mind when he realized that there was no need to persuade them when they were already this afraid of him. He could just order them to do anything he wanted them to do.

"So I heard that all three of you have each a few thousands of subordinates under you and all of them are gangsters. On top of that, you still can carry out tasks an official can and cannot do. Is that true?" King of Hell looked them in the eye and shouted. All three of them avoided his stare and were so afraid that they almost wet their pants. They kept silent as they shook their heads vigorously and continued, "Why do I feel that my power is not as significant in comparison to all of you even though I am the one that is in charge of Bu Tian Pavillion?" These words of King of Hell Chu were filled with a very strong killing aura and his voice resounded in their heads that they shuddered in fear instantly.

"No no! We do not dare!" The three sect leaders said in unison and they immediately bowed their heads down, pleading for forgiveness.

"I don't think so. That does not seem to be the case!" King of Hell Chu scoffed and fell silent in deep thought. The three sect leaders felt as if their spirits had already left them for heaven and were so fear-stricken that they did not dare to even move an inch.

Prince Tie Bu Tian of Iron Cloud was inferior to King of Hell Chu when it came to disciplining men. While Prince Tie Bu Tian was respected, King of Hell Chu was feared instead. For the first time in their lives, they understood how it felt to be knocking at death's front door.

Prince Tie Bu Tian was affluent and a very powerful person while King of Hell Chu, on the other hand, was fallacious and very erratic.

King of Hell Chu felt that he should intimidate them even more and proceeded to threaten them, saying, "Do you know that I had plans to remove all of you? I have already wiped out the royal court and turned countless officials and royal family members into nothing but a pile of bones. What makes you think I cannot do it to a bunch of gangsters like you?" Their mouths dropped wide open, terrified at the thought of what they had just heard. Their faces turned as pale as a sheet of paper. The eyes of Magical Teachings Sext's leader rolled up with beads of perspiration rolling down his forehead profusely. He was breathless and even showed signs of fainting.

"You know that I have always been a very big-hearted man and I really do not like killing people." The words that came from King of Hell Chu were a huge ironic joke to these people but they could not bring themselves to laugh at this point, with their lives on the line.

"Since you have asked for a chance, I will present you with one. It is totally fine by me if you were to turn down this opportunity." King of Hell Chu explained sincerely.

"We want this opportunity! We would never turn it down!" The three leaders answered promptly in unison. They knew that turning down the opportunity would mean death for all of them. King of Hell Chu was merciless when it came to such inhumane punishments and would not hesitate for a moment to give the slightest hint of sympathy. Giving the order to kill nine generations was effortless for King of Hell Chu as he was menacingly cold and he also had the manpower to carry a huge feat like this.

King of Hell Chu maintained his composure and replied, "There are many peculiar external forces in Iron Cloud Citadel at the moment and I want you to find every single one of them. I am looking for these traitors and spies that entered a fortnight ago. I would require information about them as well. I am sure that three days enough for you." King of Hell Chu said in a somber tone.

The three sect leaders looked at each other, bewildered. However, they knew that King of Hell Chu would not take 'no' for an answer.

"If you cannot find them in three days, I would suggest all of you leave this place on the third day. I do not want to come to a situation whereby I have to negotiate conditions and make things complicated. All I want is results, do you hear what I say?" King of Hell Chu continued seriously.

"Although I might not be rewarding you with anything great, you can continue to live and there might even be a chance for us to work together again in Bu Tian Pavilion. You and your subordinates will have a good chance to be prosperous as long as you finish your task in three days. On the other hand, if you do not…" King of Hell Chu trailed off and did not complete his sentence as he knew that the three sect leaders were smart enough to infer what he meant.

Chu Yang had a sudden epiphany on something that would motivate the three sect leaders to work harder than before. He proceeded to say warmly, " All of you will go down in three pages in history for the first time in eighteen years. Have a good thought about it! Goodbye!" He waved them off early as he sauntered away.

As the three gangsters walked away, they felt as if their legs had become jelly. Streams of perspiration were emphasized as dark patches formed on their clothing. Suddenly, a gust of cold wind ruffled their hair and caressed their cheeks and they woke up to reality.

All three of them looked as if they had just experienced a near brush against death. Although they were all afraid, the thought of being able to be part of Bu Tian Pavilion, if they succeeded, was deeply etched in their head. They wanted to prosper very badly.

King of Hell Chu might have threatened them, but all they could recall were the promises that he had given them and they were ready to work for the glory and prosperity.

King of Hell Chu promised the three sect leaders who were lowlifes at the very bottom of the society a chance to rise up. There was no way these leaders would turn down such an opportunity and remain as thugs for the rest of their lives. They were very determined and persistent to bring glory to their family name.

Chu Yang understood their mentality well and made use of their 'weakness'. He gave them plenty of opportunities to succeed while using intimidation tactics at the same time. Although this way of negotiation was not initially intended, he had decided to go with it since it was the best methodology available.

In fact, all of the people in Jiang Hu wanted to be valiant regardless of whichever of the three heavens they came from. After all, they were the ones who made the legends in the Nine Heavens.

"Being generous is only what ruffians would do while on the other hand, ingratitude is common with scholars!" Chu Yang could relate to these words as he felt that they were extremely true. He felt that the gangsters were uneducated and they only relied on one basic principle, 'I will be good to you so long as you are good to me. I will return you three times as much as you have given me. However, if you were to treat me badly or have schemed against me, you will definitely die in my hands."

King of Hell Chu felt that those who were educated and well brought up would be able to have broader perspectives and think about the benefits and disadvantages they would face in any situation. He had the thought that they would calculate every risk taken in every situation and lending a helping hand to others in need would result in them returning the favor in kind.

He came to a deduction that was probably the reason why people in Jiang Hu placed their trust on others. On the other hand, people higher in ranks in the political arena tended to betray each other and plan evil schemes against their benefactors in order to advance faster than them.

Back in Lower Three Heavens, there was an inauspicious tale. It was said that if one was traveling on a road and happened to bump into an injured butcher and brought him to consult a physician, he would feel indebted to you all his life. On the other hand, if the person happened to be a scholar, it would be best to leave him alone as he would not only be ungrateful, but he would also push the blame to you and fault you for his injuries. Since the scholar's family was already going through a tough time having financial strains, he would try his best to make you pay for his injuries instead. Although one might be doing a good deed, Samaritans would often be used.

Chu Yang did not bear any grudges towards the gangsters but he wanted to know if they were worth his effort. They had to put in a substantial effort too as nothing was free in this world.

Although it had barely been an hour, all the thugs in Iron Citadel were already up hustling and bustling. It was as if they were under the influence of aphrodisiac as their eyes beamed more than ever. They were so eager to search for information on the strangers that they were tasked with.

Everyone in Bu Tian Pavilion was searching high and low, even the children and the inspectors from the court. It was a big manhunt in all of Iron Cloud Citadel.

Within minutes, Bu Tian Pavilion spy network was flooded with information that had to be screened intensively.

As usual, Minister Chu was seen with a book titled 'Innocent Dog and Rogue Pig'.

While reading, he even giggled every now and then and paid no heed to anything that was happening around him. He persisted on his 'scholarly pursuit' and had no intention to change his mind.

Wu Qian Qian had no other choice but to stare at him while she sat by his side.