Stranger Danger

He neither pushed Tang Shi too far nor tried to kill him mainly because the fatty had proven himself to be a wise man. Some people would’ve given him trash, but Tang Shi knew that he was paying the price of his own life and so didn’t try to cheat him. Ye Qing wouldn’t mind creating another body otherwise.

“Thank you for your kindness and generosity, my lord!”

Tang Shi let out a sigh of relief. Although his heart was bleeding on the inside, he still smiled from ear to ear. After all, losses could be recouped in the future, but the same couldn’t be said for one’s life.

“Alright. Now that that is behind us, let’s talk about business!” Ye Qing dropped his smile and said seriously.

Tang Shi also turned serious. He had been expecting this. “Please, tell me!”

Ye Qing asked, “Would you like to get rich?”

What? Did he suddenly find his conscience or something? Is he going to give back what he extorted from me?

Tang Shi asked, puzzled. “Can you clarify, my lord?”

Ye Qing answered, “You’re spying on me because you collect information on me and sell that intel to my attackers, am I right?”

Tang Shi’s heart skipped a beat. Was that what the Patrolman meant? Their old debts were settled, but not the present?

“Forgive me, my lord. I was blinded by greed when I first made the decision, but now that I had witnessed your glorious power, I had realized the error of my ways,” Tang Shi said with a regretful expression, “In the name of my grandmother, I solemnly swear that I will never leak your intel to anyone starting today. If I do, may the heavens smite me with its righteous lightning!”

But to Tang Shi’s surprise, Ye Qing shook his head and said, “You misunderstand me. I want you to sell my intel to my attackers. I will even tell you my skills, tactics, habits and so on.”

“What?” Tang Shi couldn’t believe his ears. “Have you gotten tired of living, my lord?”

Ye Qing’s face darkened in an instant. Are you trying to provoke me?

Noticing his slip of the tongue, Tang Shi hurriedly corrected himself, “I mean, why would you want to do this, my lord?”

“To play the fisherman, of course.” Ye Qing chuckled. “Right now, I am out in the open, and the jianghu warriors are in the dark. Not only do I have to watch out for them day and night, I will always be playing their game. Although I’m strong enough to handle anything they throw at me, reacting passively to my attackers’ schemes is hardly a permanent solution.”

“That is why I’m going to turn the tables on them. I’m going to use myself as bait and let them come to me instead.”

“That’s a great idea!” Tang Shi’s eyes lit up. “This would allow you to take control of the situation and their possessions. These jianghu warriors have a lot of good stuff. I can only imagine the amount of riches you’ll gain from their deaths, my lord!”

“Ahem… What are you talking about? I’m not that kind of person,” Ye Qing denied the allegations smoothly. He was mainly doing this to solve his troubles. Getting rich was just a side benefit.

Tang Shi asked in a greedy tone, “What do you need me to do, my lord?”

Ye Qing answered, “Your job is very simple. I want you to sell my information to my attackers. However, I don’t want you to sell to those who are too powerful, nor should you sell my information to too many people at once. Otherwise, the situation might spiral out of control.”

“Also, I want you to look into my attackers’ backgrounds, strengths, martial arts and more as well. You will tell me exactly what these people are capable of.”

Tang Shi scoffed internally when he heard this. If Ye Qing really wanted to stem the flow, he would have rounded up the strongest warriors in town and murdered them all. That was the best way to intimidate the small fries. Instead, he wanted Tang Shi to round up the weaklings. Clearly, it was because he wanted to profit from their deaths.

He wasn’t going to point this out, of course. A wise man knows when to keep his mouth shut.

Ye Qing smiled. “Granny Xiong’s scheme should only be known to herself and cohort, and yet you somehow managed to find out about it. I’m sure you’d be able to pull this off perfectly.”

Tang Shi immediately forgot himself when he heard the compliment. “Hahaha! I’m not bragging, but I know exactly how many jianghu warriors had entered Luo Shui, what their names, cultivation levels, and skills are, how many wives they have and what even undergarments their wives are wearing! This is easy peasy, so just leave it to me!”

Tang Shi then rubbed his hands together. “There is just one tiny problem. How are we going to split the profits?”

Ye Qing pretended not to get his meaning. “What profit?”

Tang Shi explained, “The loot you\'ll get after killing your wrongdoers, of course! How are we going to split them?”

“And why should I give you anything?” Ye Qing scoffed. “I’m the one who came up with the idea, and I’m the one who would be risking my life to kill these people. Do you seriously think you deserve a portion of the loot?”

“Also, I’m already giving you my information for free, so what else can you possibly want? You shouldn’t be too greedy, Brother Tang!”

Tang Shi: “...” I have never met such a shameless person in my life!

The stall owner argued, “But I am doing something, my lord! It takes effort to look into the attackers’ background, and if I slip up it’s entirely possible that I might die in the process! Plus, if someone finds out that we are working together, then I will be targeted by the jianghu warriors as well! In that sense, the risk I would be shouldering is no less smaller than yours! You can’t do this to your business partner, my lord!”

Ye Qing smirked. “Didn’t you say that it would be ‘easy peasy’ for you to pull this off? If it’s that easy, then surely there is no risk?”

Tang Shi: “...” Why did you have to go and say that, mouth?

Tang Shi immediately tried to fix his mistake, “I was just bragging, my lord! You shouldn’t take it seriously!”

“I’m not kidding, the risk I shoulder when looking into these jianghu warriors is no joke. After all, it’s not like these people are small fries. I would be in deep shit if they found out what I was doing.”

“Of course, my safety is none of your concern, but if I have to be excessively cautious to preserve my own life, and as a result give you inaccurate information that might put you in danger, that would be terrible, wouldn’t it?”

“Hoh? Are you threatening me?” Ye Qing raised an eyebrow.

Tang Shi didn’t say anything, but it was clear that that was exactly what he meant. There’s no way I’m going to work for free, bud! Even slaves get paid a meal a day!

Ye Qing gave it some thought and acquiesced, “Very well. Since your work is so risky, I suppose I won’t ask for a share of the profits you’ll get for selling my information.”

Tang Shi: “...” This guy is totally fucking with me. The profit I make from selling his intel is already pitiful, and he was going to ask for a share? Plus, I’m talking about the loot he’s going to get from his kills, dammit! The loot!

“Relax, bud. It’s just a joke,” Ye Qing clarified before Tang Shi could say something. “We’ll split the profits seventy-thirty.”

Tang Shi instinctively asked, “The seventy goes to me, right?”

“Hahaha… You must be dreaming.” Ye Qing side-eyed him and clarified again, “I’ll get seventy percent of the profits, and you thirty.”

“That’s too little! Too little!” Tang Shi started bargaining, “How about a fifty-fifty split? We’re business partners, aren’t we?”

“Fine,” Ye Qing nodded, “We’ll do a eighty-twenty split in my favor.”

“What?” Tang Shi wasn’t expecting this. This was the opposite of a compromise, wasn’t it?

“My lord—”

Before Tang Shi could finish, Ye Qing interrupted him rudely. “What a greedy man you are. Fine, we’ll do a ninety-ten split in my favor!”

Tang Shi was just about ready to blow his top. “This is absurd, my lord! Do you really think you can screw me over like this… without…”

Tang Shi was about halfway through his rant when suddenly, he noticed the cold, unfeeling smile on Ye Qing’s face. His voice grew smaller and smaller until he could continue no more.

Ye Qing slowly dropped his smile. “I think you’ve forgotten something, but this is not a negotiation. This is charity. When I offer you something, you best accept it. If not, then you can have nothing at all—not even your life.”

Tang Shi blanched as a bead of cold sweat formed on his forehead. It was only now he recalled that he was a prisoner, not a guest. He didn’t have the right to negotiate any terms.

I can’t believe I forgot myself, again!

Tang Shi wiped away the sweat and forced out a chuckle. “Hahaha… you’re too serious, my lord. It was just a joke. As you say, we’ll split the profits ninety-ten in your favor.”

Ye Qing kept quiet, and another bead of cold sweat slid down Tang Shi’s nose. In fact, his back was rapidly becoming drenched in cold sweat. He was so afraid for his life that he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly for fear that the bogeyman would send him flying all the way to the afterlife in one punch.

Greed without strength truly was a sin

Just when Tang Shi was getting ready to drop to his knees and beg for his life, Ye Qing suddenly broke into a smile. “You’re a wise man, and I’m a generous soul, so we won’t be doing a ninety-ten split. A seventy-thirty split as we discussed before is just fine.”

“Ah?” Tang Shi replied dumbly. When his brain finally processed the information, he blurted out in gratitude and joy, “Thank you, my lord, thank you! You truly are a magnanimous person! Don’t worry, my lord! I swear on my life I’ll perform the job you requested perfectly!”

“You’re welcome, Brother Tang.” Ye Qing said with a smile. Some people were like this. When you gave them a fair offer, they would think you were a bitch and try to take advantage of you. When you put your foot down, they would suddenly do a one-eighty and beg you to cut them an unfair deal.

“A pleasure to cooperate with you, Brother Tang.”

“Same here, my lord.”

The duo would spend the next moment discussing details such as how they should communicate with each other, where they should meet to exchange the intel and so on. A short while later, when Ye Qing noticed that Ugly Monk and the others were about to awaken, Ye Qing finally said, “If there’s nothing else, you may take your leave. My colleagues will be waking up any moment now!”

“Understood, my lord. I’ll see you soon.”

Tang Shi saluted Ye Qing and got ready to leave, but at the last moment he turned back around and asked, “My lord, I have a question. You’re letting me go without putting a curse on me or anything. Aren’t you afraid that I would try to cheat you and leak your information to those who could really do you harm?”

Ye Qing smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. “You’re a wise man, Brother Tang. A wise man isn’t immune to stupidity, but they would never intentionally make a stupid choice.”

“If you cooperate with me, it’s a win-win scenario. If you screw me over, then it’s a lose-lose scenario. Also, do you believe me when I say I have a million ways to drag you out of your hidey-hole and make you regret ever betraying me?”

Tang Shi laughed. “I’m just kidding. Don’t worry, I never go back on my word when doing business with others. I’m called Tang Shi after all. I’m as honest as you can be!”

The stall owner then slipped into the underground and disappeared just like that.

Ye Qing scoffed disdainfully as he stared in the direction Tang Shi had disappeared to. “Heh. Even until the end, he couldn’t help but lie through his teeth.”