"I'm just an accountant."

It was a raw account etched in bitterness and the weight of a thousand tears. With that one line, An Jing understood why Huo Qing had been singled out for such relentless persecution.

He said pointedly, "Tell me, did a fire swallow up the warehouse or is there cash missing? Or perhaps you've signed off on phantom supplies that don't even exist?"

"All of it." Hearing this only intensified Huo Qing's mortification. "I also serve as Uncle Gunner's..." He glanced sideways at the burly man under An Jing's feet, "...finance and inventory manager."

"You're quite remarkable indeed." An Jing couldn't help but feel a twinge of respect for the man. "So, what exactly happened?"

It wasn't complicated. Any gang member who didn't skim off the top was an idiot. Within the Noontigers, any mid-to-upper-level member with a shred of authority was exploiting the gang to line their own pockets, Gunner and his men included. This crew managed several of the Noontigers' weapons warehouses while secretly reselling the inventory, and Huo Qing was the one cooking the books.

Gunner was one of the uncles who took Huo Qing in after he was orphaned and initiated him into the Noontigers. Driven by a sense of gratitude, Huo Qing was more than willing to handle these complications for Gunner. By underreporting the intake of one of their off-the-books liquidations and padding the inventory costs for operations, they could eventually balance the ledgers without raising any flags.

Though Huo Qing was entangled in this mess, he was no fool. He knew he was inextricably bound to Gunner and his crew, so when his neighbors urged him to walk away, he could only offer a bitter, helpless smile. But this time...

"We could easily make the numbers work if it were just a grand or two missing. We could fake a hijack and claim that a rival gang hit the transport, and that we had to destroy the goods to make sure they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. The boss would certainly reprimand us, and our reputation would take a hit, but it's nothing we can't weather."

After helping the injured Boss Liu into the inner shed, Huo Qing confided in An Jing. "But this time, Gunner and his crew got too greedy. They siphoned off almost ten thousand merits' worth of stock. Their usual play would be to torch the warehouse, along with the surrounding living quarters and the whole base, and make it look like it was the Flameclaws.

"They would be investigated for their incompetence, but at least they would keep their heads. But this time, out of nowhere, the gangs erupted into all-out war. The higher-ups will definitely come down to inspect our readiness."

Huo Qing's smile faltered. "I was still trying to find a solution, but it's too late now. The higher-ups have almost certainly checked the inventory. While I was still figuring out how to balance the books... Uncle Gunner had already plotted his own way out."

"That means eliminating you," An Jing said with a slight nod. "And then they'll pin everything on your head."

Huo Qing remained silent. It had already occurred to him how suspicious it was for a clerk like himself to be thrown onto the front lines so abruptly. Even the mystery of who had actually taken him out was highly questionable at best. But that was all irrelevant. Gunner and his men hadn't come looking for a dead man. They were there to raid Huo Qing's place and "happen upon" some incriminating ledgers.

"I can't stay in the Noontigers," Huo Qing muttered, his voice hollow with despair. "Even if I manage to take down Uncle Gunner, I've tampered with the ledgers for far too long. The boss won't let me live."

It was indeed a problem. At the end of the day, Huo Qing had played his part in bleeding the gang's assets dry. Sure, it was common practice. Even the Noontigers' big boss was likely misappropriating the funds provided by the firms, which was essentially the same as what they were doing.

But there was a line between an unspoken open secret and a spoken one. If someone wanted to make an example out of this as a matter of principle, a simple death wouldn't nearly be enough.

It was especially unfortunate for Gunner and his men to get caught up in a full-scale gang war. The higher-ups had ordered that anyone who compromised collective interests for private gain during an active conflict would be nailed to a pillar and bled dry. The most desperate part about Huo Qing's situation was that taking care of Gunner offered no real salvation. All it did was lighten the blame and delay the inevitable.

In all likelihood, the Noontigers' boss had kept Gunner's crew alive for one reason; he needed them to take the fall for something much bigger. While Huo Qing and Gunner were still sweating over a few thousand merits, the boss was probably preparing to pin a loss of a hundred thousand merits on their heads. They were doomed from the start.

"If staying isn't an option, then leave." An Jing appeared confused. "Just grab your things and go. What's there to hesitate for?"

"Brother An, you're a badlander. You wouldn't understand." Huo Qing's expression soured even further. "The corporations behind the Noontigers have forces in all seventeen towns and even Deepnight City. Where am I supposed to go? The only place left is the badlands, but that's basically giving up civilization for good. Some people might be able pull off a fresh start, but let's be real. How many days would I even last out there?"

Huo Qing's personality was his own undoing. He had knowingly participated in these illegal and treasonous schemes out of a deep-seated sense of gratitude. To Huo Qing, Gunner's recent attempt on his life didn't change the fact that the man was the only reason he hadn't starved to death long ago. He was even willing to compromise on his morals and risk his life to repay this debt.

In fact, Huo Qing had always intended to repay Gunner with his life if it came to that, but An Jing's sudden intervention upended everything. Before he could even process the situation, Gunner had been defeated while he had been robbed of the chance to act. It was this very trait that compelled Huo Qing to pass on his family's legacy to An Jing as a way to repay his new debt of gratitude.

This guy's clearly starving for some affection. Even a shred of kindness would be enough to buy his absolute trust.

"What about your other uncles?" An Jing couldn't stand to watch any longer, so he urged him. "There's no time to waste. Get out of town for a few days. Grab Gunner and go. The patrol guards are already on their way!"

Right then, the rhythmic thud of footsteps echoed from the distance. That kind of training meant only one thing. The patrol guards were closing in.

"Okay!"

The noise snapped Huo Qing back to reality. He and An Jing gave Gunner's men one last, hurried search before they bolted from the scene, with the latter slinging the unconscious man over his shoulder.

"I do have a few uncles... and they're reliable!" Huo Qing gasped as he ran. "In fact, one of them is the guy I was just telling you about, Brother An, the one who runs the recycling house! But he's not in town. He's out on the edge of Deepnight City... at the waste-disposal facility!"

An Jing urged, "Just get us out of here! Then you can tell me where we're going!"

They fled the scene quickly, and within moments, a neatly organized unit reached the front of Boss Liu's stall.