Chapter 127: Chapter 125: Turning the Hand to Form Clouds

The thousands of people at the scene fell into a dead silence!

Those who had been captivated by the spectacular fight between the two of them suddenly snapped back to their senses. It turned out... the Dragon Head of Cyan Dragon City’s underground forces, Flame Sword Leng Ping... was dead!

A low whimper rose from among the men of the Daqing Gang, gradually swelling into a unified cry of grief.

Seven or eight people walked out from the memorial hall. They stared at Qin Li, their eyes filled with complex emotions. Seeing Leng Ping lying on the ground, every one of them felt their eyes redden.

"Dragon Head!"

The men scrambled to Leng Ping’s side in just a few steps, dropping to their knees and weeping bitterly.

Meanwhile, the gazes of all the various gang leaders of Cyan Dragon City, big and small, were now fixed on Qin Li, filled with awe.

"Carry your Dragon Head inside. I have something to say in a moment," Qin Li said in a low voice to the men kneeling and weeping on the ground.

The men were stunned for a moment, then nodded. They all knew what Qin Li was going to talk about: the future ownership of the Daqing Gang! But this was their leader’s dying wish. Regardless of his reasons for this decision, they, as his brothers, had to carry it out faithfully!

Because they were a gang, and they believed in a single word: Honor!

Leng Ping had said those words in front of all the leaders of Cyan Dragon City’s various gangs. This meant that even if they hated Qin Li to the bone, they could not change the fact that he was to become the new Gang Leader of the Daqing Gang! As for whether he would become the Dragon Head of Cyan Dragon City’s underworld... that would depend on Qin Li’s own abilities!

As a so-called gang, they might commit evil acts, and they never considered themselves good people, but they absolutely had to be true to their word!

Because they were all real, stand-up men!

"Everyone, disperse," Qin Li said coolly, looking at the onlookers. "The feud between myself and the Daqing Gang ends here!"

Watermelon was also standing in the crowd. One of his underlings sighed emotionally, "Now that’s a true expert, Marquis Qin!"

Another underling added with envy, "In his eyes, the Daqing Gang is nothing! He’s incredible!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Watermelon glared at his two underlings, who he felt were embarrassing him. His heart burned with excitement as he thought, ’Martial Uncle is so powerful, so incredible! The Daqing Gang just became his, just like that. I wonder... will I ever get a chance to become the Dragon Head of the Daqing Gang?’

But when he remembered his Martial Uncle’s words—to wait until he became a Celestial Level Martial Artist—Watermelon immediately felt deflated. He snapped at the underling beside him, "Let’s go! We’re heading back!"

"Aren’t... aren’t we going to watch a little longer?" one underling asked hesitantly, seeing that most of the crowd had yet to leave.

"Watch what? The fight’s over! You think this is a show?" Watermelon shot his trusted underling a look and turned to leave.

At that, the crowd began to disperse. Even for those who were reluctant to leave, the elite, foul-tempered members of the Daqing Gang began to clear the area.

After Leng Ping was carried into a room inside the Daqing Gang’s headquarters, Qin Li first closed his eyes and focused his senses. Within a radius of two to three hundred meters, there were no suspicious auras.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the grief-stricken Vice Gang Leaders and Elders of the Daqing Gang and suddenly asked in a heavy voice, "Can I trust you?"

The men were all stunned. One of them, a somewhat portly elder in his fifties, spoke with a sorrowful expression, "I’m sorry, Marquis Qin. Our Dragon Head is dead. Sun Liu and our brothers from the Battle Blade Hall also died at the Marquis’s hand. Though the feud has been settled, a knot of resentment has already formed in our hearts. You don’t need to trust us, Marquis Qin. Within two months, we will hand over all of the Daqing Gang’s affairs to you. We hope to help you through the transition. This is all we can do, because this was also the Dragon Head’s wish. He did not want the Daqing Gang to fall back into the hands of the Crown Prince!"

As the portly elder mentioned the Crown Prince, the hatred in his eyes was impossible to hide. If not for Crown Prince Zhao Xinghe, even if the Daqing Gang had never reached its current heights, they would all be together, happy and harmonious. Sun Liu wouldn’t be dead, the forty-five brothers of the Battle Blade Hall wouldn’t be dead, and the Dragon Head... would most certainly not be dead!

Qin Li couldn’t help but be taken aback. He had assumed that with the Daqing Gang’s Dragon Head dead, the entire organization would immediately fall apart as everyone scrambled to secure their own futures. He never expected the gang’s cohesiveness to be so strong!

His original plan now took a slight, unexpected turn.

Qin Li asked in a heavy voice, "Do all of you feel the same way?"

A tall, thin man in his forties with a chilling look in his eyes, pale skin, and a wisp of a goatee, spoke in a soft, somewhat eerie voice. "Marquis Qin, you needn’t worry. For all these years, the Dragon Head treated us like blood brothers. We each have our own considerable fortunes; we would never scheme to take any of the Daqing Gang’s assets. Though we do not understand why the Dragon Head insisted on handing the gang over to an enemy, we will absolutely abide by his wish." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"That’s right. We only ask that Marquis Qin treats the Dragon Head’s family with kindness," another sturdily-built elder in his fifties added gravely.

"Leng Ping is truly lucky to have brothers like you!" Qin Li couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. Gangs, honor... in the world Qin Li originally came from, such things were considered obsolete by many. To them, being a man of honor was synonymous with being a fool.

"In that case..." Qin Li said as he placed a hand on Leng Ping’s wrist, over his pulse point. "I will return your Dragon Head to you!"

Everyone in the room froze, staring at Qin Li, completely dumbfounded. They had just checked themselves—the Dragon Head was as dead as one could be. This Marquis Qin... what on earth did he mean by that?

Their minds were in turmoil. The tall, thin middle-aged man was the first to react. He quickly pushed the door open and ordered, "Lock this place down! No one enters without my explicit command!"

Qin Li clearly heard someone ask in a low voice, "What if it’s men from His Highness?"

"Then you stop them outside too!" After giving the order, the tall, thin man returned and shut the door, only to witness a sight he would never forget for as long as he lived.

Marquis Qin’s hand was resting on Leng Ping’s wrist. After a moment, a white vapor began to rise from the Dragon Head’s head. He was lying bare-chested on the bed, and the wound on his chest, as thick as a child’s arm, actually began to scab over. Then, Leng Ping’s heart slowly began to beat again, one pump at a time!

"What... What is happening?" The muscles on the portly elder’s face twitched violently. Though he had seen his share of life and death over the years and had grown indifferent to it, the scene before him was enough to shake this gang lord—a man who wouldn’t so much as blink if a mountain crumbled before him—to his very core!

"Are we dreaming?" the tall, thin middle-aged man muttered.

Watching the large beads of sweat roll down Qin Li’s forehead, the men finally understood. This Marquis Qin was clearly a supreme expert in possession of a peerless Divine Skill! And to save their Dragon Head, he was paying a heavy price!

This was precisely the effect Qin Li wanted. ’I had never actually intended to kill Leng Ping, a man I had come to admire. During my final, killing blow, I had deliberately avoided his heart, then sealed his meridians and acupoints. To any outsider, Leng Ping would appear to be a dead man!’

’My original plan was to wait for the Cyan Dragon Gang to bury Leng Ping before secretly retrieving his body. For one, I admire him as a man of character. For another, I know full well that you can’t manage a gang with brute force alone. For instance, if your subordinates feigned compliance while secretly lining their own pockets, you couldn’t just go on a killing spree, could you?’

’And while I myself have the ability to manage a gang, I not only have many other things to do—like going to Profound Island to retrieve my woman—but my very status is an issue. I’m a proper Marquis of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom, after all!’

’A Marquis acting as a gang leader? That would be the biggest joke in the world! So, who would run it? Watermelon? That kid might be clever and ruthless, but an organization like the Daqing Gang is far beyond what the current Watermelon could ever hope to manage. It’s not that I doubt his ability, but a behemoth of this scale is simply something he cannot yet handle.’

’And a behemoth like the Daqing Gang is of incalculable value! Never mind the immense wealth it could generate each year; its members, spread throughout the entire Cyan Dragon Kingdom, form a massive intelligence network!’

’Even the Royal Family’s intelligence network might not be any better!’

’Because many things always start circulating among the common folk first!’

’So, Leng Ping couldn’t die! That was my initial plan. But from another angle, he *had* to die! The feud between myself and the Daqing Gang was, frankly, a feud between myself and the Crown Prince!’

’The current situation doesn’t allow me to completely tear away all pretenses and openly oppose the Crown Prince. If I did that, my only choice would be to flee. After all, the Royal Family’s many Tributors aren’t just for show.’

’I can handle a single Chen Yihan, but I can’t emerge unscathed from an attack by numerous Celestial Level Martial Artists.’

’Forget me—even a true Martial Artist at the Celestial Shattering Realm probably wouldn’t dare provoke a whole crowd of Celestial Level ones.’

’Therefore, having Leng Ping reappear in this world under a different identity is the most suitable solution. My Disguise skills might not be the best in the world, but they’re not far off.’

’When the time comes, I’ll push Watermelon to the forefront with Leng Ping pulling the strings from behind. Even if their management doesn’t reach the standard of Leng Ping operating openly, ensuring the Daqing Gang continues to run smoothly and remains in my grasp will be no problem!’

But today, the attitude of Leng Ping’s brothers—the leaders of the Daqing Gang—made Qin Li change his mind. Under the perception of his Innate Purple Qi, good and evil could not hide.

Qin Li could sense that these men were genuinely grieving for Leng Ping. They were also truly disheartened and intended to step away.

It was for this very reason that Qin Li chose to revive Leng Ping in front of them. He believed this single act would go a long way toward dispelling the hatred caused by Sun Liu’s death.

Leng Ping’s eyes slowly fluttered open. The light was piercing, and he squinted, a slight smile on his lips. "Am I dead? This Underworld... why the hell is it just like the world of the living?"

Qin Li smiled. "That’s right. The original Leng Ping is indeed dead. From now on, the one who is alive will certainly not be Leng Ping."