"Brother Xu, how are your injuries?"

Qin Fang asked Xu Meng.

"I’m fine. Just a minor injury. I’ll be good as new in a couple of months..."

Xu Meng replied quickly, then looked at Qin Fang and said sincerely, "This is the second time you’ve saved me, Brother Qin... Words can’t express my gratitude. From now on, if you ever need anything from me, Xu Meng, just say the word. I’d go through hell and high water for you. If I so much as hesitate, I’m a son of a bitch!"

He cupped his fists toward Qin Fang, his voice solemn and sincere.

Qin Fang shook his head. "It was the right thing to do. If you hadn’t taken me in, Brother Xu, I wouldn’t even have a roof over my head."

But Xu Meng shook his head. "That’s a separate matter. You came here because I was entrusted by Master Zhou, but I ended up putting you in danger time and again. Instead, you’re the one who saved me twice... Sigh."

He smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Qin Fang didn’t say anything more.

Instead, he looked at the men around him and asked, "Brother Xu, how many men do you have left? What’s your next move?"

Xu Meng’s brow furrowed at the question.

He glanced around...

Including Monkey, his Fish Dragon Gang was down to six or seven men. The rest had all died in the recent ambush.

And nearly all the survivors were wounded.

But the Water Dragon Gang had clearly suffered a much heavier blow. Not only was Zhao Long dead, but almost all their men had been wiped out.

As for the various Hometown Associations gathered here, there had been nearly a hundred of them combined, but Qin Fang had killed at least sixty or seventy...

The rest had presumably already fled.

...Monkey had already told Xu Meng all this.

So, after a moment of thought, Xu Meng took a deep breath and said, "It’s okay. We can slowly recruit more men. With Zhao Cheng dead, no one from Fisherman City should be coming over anytime soon..."

Xu Meng could only sigh. ’It was a blessing in disguise.’

If it weren’t for the Demon disturbance causing Fisherman City’s population to drop, with no one daring to make a move at a time like this, then after this battle... Fisherman City would have, in all likelihood, been snatched up by someone else.

...There were plenty of roaming Water Pirates and other gangs, all wanting to establish a foothold on land.

The Demon disturbance had caused Fisherman City’s population—and thus its value—to plummet. He figured no one would be interested in it for the time being, giving him some breathing room.

...Otherwise, he never would have taken the risk of moving against the Water Dragon Gang in the first place.

At this thought, his expression suddenly darkened. "Monkey, have you seen Cheng Tuo?"

Cheng Tuo—the traitor who had goaded him into attacking the Water Dragon Gang, only to stab him in the back!

’Everything else is negotiable, but that traitor must die!’

Monkey snapped out of his daze, shaking his head and gritting his teeth. "I didn’t see him. He probably took off during the chaos..."

"Son of a bitch..."

Xu Meng gritted his teeth.

After the man had stabbed him, he’d managed a counterattack, but the traitor had been prepared and dodged it...

After all, even though the man hadn’t reached the Mingjin stage, he was on the very cusp of it.

He had already tried to break through to the Mingjin stage twice.

Though he had failed both times.

Still, he couldn’t be treated as an ordinary man.

He must have gotten something from the Water Dragon Gang for betraying the Fish Dragon Gang. It was only natural for him to run the moment things went south.

But regardless... the Water Dragon Gang was destroyed, so his objective was achieved.

’Though in the end... it was all thanks to Qin Fang.’

With this in mind, he looked at Qin Fang and asked in a low voice, "Brother Qin, have you any interest in joining the gang? If you do... the leader’s position..."

Before Xu Meng could finish, Qin Fang cut him off with a shake of his head. "Forget it. I’m not interested in the gang life."

He truly had no interest in the gang life.

’I had no choice but to act this time... If I hadn’t, Xu Meng would be dead, and Zhao Cheng’s men would have come after me anyway.’

’Even if I had just scared off Zhao Cheng... I would have been forced to leave afterward.’

’I wouldn’t have been able to stay here in peace otherwise.’

But as for joining a gang, he truly had no interest.

He was more interested in cultivating right now.

’I’m only at the Early Mingjin Stage.’

’This World is so dangerous, filled with powerful experts, and there’s even the threat of Demons...’

’Join a gang?’

’I can’t be bothered with the hassle.’

’Things are pretty good as they are now... With Xu Meng here, even though I haven’t joined the gang... what’s the difference?’

’Plus, I have a special status.’

’And I don’t have any responsibilities to the gang.’

’...Only an idiot would want to be the boss.’

Xu Meng was stunned for a moment. After a brief thought, he nodded. "You’re right... You’re Master Zhou’s junior martial brother. You have a great future ahead of you. It really isn’t right for you to be slumming it with us..."

’Qin Fang will leave eventually, after all.’

’He can’t possibly stay here forever.’

Qin Fang nodded and said, "Alright, you guys go ahead and discuss your plans."

With that, Qin Fang walked to the side and began looting the bodies.

Everyone stared, stunned by his actions.

Xu Meng quickly shouted, "What are you gaping at? Go help him! But don’t you dare pocket anything for yourselves, or else..."

A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he glared at his men.

The men shivered and frantically shook their heads...

’Are you kidding me? This guy is a god of death who killed dozens of men by himself!’

’Trying to hide something right under his nose?’

’You’d have to have a death wish.’

At Xu Meng’s command, Monkey and the other five men also began to help loot the bodies.

Qin Fang saw them but said nothing.

There were over forty bodies. It sounded like a lot, but with six people helping, the work went quickly.

"Master Qin, I found thirteen taels of silver in total... and some copper coins..."

"Master Qin, I found fifteen taels!"

"Master Qin, these guys were dirt poor. Only eight taels..."

Soon, they had gone through all the bodies and came over one by one to hand their findings to Qin Fang.

Following Monkey’s lead, they also began to call Qin Fang "Master Qin."

The men hadn’t been carrying much money. From over forty people, they had collected just over sixty taels in total...

After all, they had come out to fight, unlike the group at Zhao Cheng’s House who had been preparing to flee.

They wouldn’t have brought all their valuables with them.

Sixty taels... That was actually more than Qin Fang had expected.

But Qin Fang wasn’t about to turn his nose up at it.

He didn’t stand on ceremony, taking the silver and then handing one tael to each of the men.

"Ah, Master Qin, this..."

"We couldn’t..."

They waved their hands in refusal, not daring to accept it.

"Just take it," Qin Fang said. "I can’t have you working for nothing."

The men instinctively looked to Xu Meng.

Xu Meng nodded. "Master Qin is giving it to you. Take it."

Only then did they dare to accept, their faces filled with gratitude as they thanked him respectfully.

"Thank you, Master Qin!"

"Thank you, Master Qin!"

Their hearts filled with even greater awe and admiration for Qin Fang.

Qin Fang, meanwhile, did a quick mental calculation...

The biggest haul had been from Zhao Cheng’s House. Besides a dozen or so Qi Blood Pills and some scattered gold and silver, Monkey had also found over a hundred taels in Silver Notes.

Adding that to the total from looting the bodies...

’In a single night, I’ve actually made off with over three hundred taels of silver!’

’And that’s not even counting the Qi Blood Pills!’

’It’s true what they say: murder and arson line your pockets with gold.’

’These gang members are so much wealthier than ordinary people...’

’My once-empty pockets were suddenly full.’

Xu Meng watched this unfold, then let out a soft breath and called out, "Monkey."

"Here, Boss!" Monkey quickly answered.

"Take some men to the market. Get the merchants to come out and help dispose of these bodies."

Xu Meng said in a low voice.

The bodies couldn’t just be left there, of course.

But with the gang so short-staffed, they had no choice but to round up some help.

Fortunately, there were plenty of merchants in the market who were more or less permanent residents.

They would just have to make them come out and help move and dispose of the bodies.

"Yes!"

Monkey acknowledged the order and left with the men.

Qin Fang glanced at the sky. It was nearly dawn.

He said to Xu Meng, "Brother Xu, want to come in and sit for a while?"

But Xu Meng shook his head. "No, I need to stay out here and keep an eye on things..."

"But your injuries..."

"It’s just a minor wound, nothing vital was hit. It’s no big deal... You’ve been up all night. Go get some rest. I can handle the rest," Xu Meng said.

Qin Fang didn’t insist. He just nodded and went back into his courtyard.

Back in his room, he laid out the night’s spoils on his bed, his eyes glinting.

’The rewards were great, but they came with hidden dangers...’

His use of Hidden Weapons had been exposed, and with so many people having escaped, the destruction of an entire gang wasn’t likely to be a small matter.

So Qin Fang was worried...

’Would word of this reach Wang Hu’s ears?’