However, Chen Fengxiao’s gaze immediately withdrew from the glittering golden leaf because he sensed the faintly mocking look in Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes.

“Yes, mocking. This brat actually tried to set a trap for me. Do you think I’m a fool like Cheng Shi, who would reach out the moment he sees a gold leaf? Do you think I’m a coward like Ma Xu, who only knows how to spit on newcomers? If I want it, then you must present it to me with both hands. Hmph, you’d better even kneel on the ground and offer it with both hands. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even bother taking it.”

Chen Fengxiao swallowed a mouthful of saliva, raised his eyes to look at Zhang Xiaohua—whose gaze was now “filled with the utmost ridicule”—and stretched out a thumb. “Brother Ren, good! As your elder brother, I’ve got nothing more to say. Just one word—well done.”

Afterward, he looked at Ma Xu and Cheng Shi and said: “A true hero must clearly distinguish gratitude and grudges—repaying virtue with virtue and grievance with grievance. If others respect me a foot, I respect them a yard. If others do not respect me, why should I respect them? Ma Xu is a disciple of our Herb Division; the matter between you two can be discussed later. But Cheng Shi is a disciple of the Pill Division. We can’t refuse to give this good friend and good brother, who lives alongside us day and night, a bit of face. Don’t you agree?”

Then he walked to Zhang Xiaohua, warmly grasped his hand, and said: “Brother Ren, I know this is your first time coming to Tianmu Peak, and also your first time meeting the brothers of our Herb Division—hmm, perhaps also your first time meeting the brothers of our Pill Expansion Hall. The Pill Division is also part of the Pill Expansion Hall. That slap of yours just now can be considered venting the resentment in your heart. I know little brother is a hero—a man whose spit makes a pit, whose word carries… well, carries weight.”

“But these fifty taels of gold—this old brother isn’t bragging, but on this entire Tianmu Peak, there really isn’t anyone who could take out that much. However you calculate it, even if you chopped all the flesh off Cheng Shi’s body and sold it, it might not be worth that much gold. How about this—since it’s your first time on Tianmu Peak and your first time entering Pill Expansion Hall, give this big brother some face and let Cheng Shi off this once?”

When Zhang Xiaohua heard this, he grinned and was just about to speak when a loud bang suddenly sounded from outside. Someone shouted: “Boss Chen, what are you saying? What is there that our Pill Division can’t produce? Even if Cheng Shi can’t take it out, can’t I take it out?”

“Wu Dalang?” Chen Fengxiao gave a bitter smile and called out, “You really came at just the right time.”

“Wu Dalang??” Zhang Xiaohua was also surprised.

That’s quite a name!

Afterward, with a “bitter smile”, he shrugged toward Chen Fengxiao, showing endless helplessness. Yet in his heart, he was blooming with joy. He had finally found a chance to extort someone—how could he simply let it go just to give Boss Chen some face? That would truly be unwilling. This fellow called Wu Dalang was really quite a lovable figure.

But when Wu Dalang entered the hall, Zhang Xiaohua almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. From the explosive shout just now, he had thought this fellow would be an even more burly and imposing man than Chen Fengxiao. Yet when he stepped through the door, he turned out to be a short, squat fellow not even five feet tall.

The short, squat Wu Dalang walked up to Chen Fengxiao and sneered: “I didn’t quite hear what Boss Chen was saying just now. What is it that our Pill Division can’t produce? Isn’t it just fifty taels worth of gold leaves? I can take it out!”

Chen Fengxiao looked at the arrogant Wu Dalang, his eyes narrowing. Cupping his hands, he said: “Since Brother Dalang can produce it, then just pretend this brother of yours said nothing.”

Then he turned to Zhang Xiaohua and said politely: “Little brother, this big brother’s face has been thrown to the ground and shattered. But brother, you needn’t be afraid. Since you’ve come to Tianmu Peak, you are my brother, Chen Fengxiao’s brother. If I don’t look after you, who else will?”

Zhang Xiaohua cupped his hands and said: “Many thanks to Boss Chen. But… you’re not going to make me eat some dish, are you?”

Chen Fengxiao burst into loud laughter. “Little brother truly has a sense of humor! Come, come, come—before dealing with outsiders, we must first settle matters within. Since Wu Dalang of the Pill Division has come, the matter between our Herb Division and the Pill Division can be discussed later. Come over and give Brother Ma Xu a toast. The grievances between brothers can be written off with this single stroke. What do you think?”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “It’s better to resolve enmity than to create it. We’re all brothers of the Herb Division. Just now, your little brother lost control of his hand. I truly ought to apologize to Brother Ma.”

Seeing this, Chen Fengxiao was overjoyed. This was someone who understood how to follow the current and step down the ladder when given one. Just as he was about to speak, Ma Xu refused to accept it. Looking toward Chen Fengxiao, he said: “Boss Chen, my nose…”

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua walked over to Ma Xu, smiling as he picked up a cup of wine and held it to Ma Xu’s mouth with one hand. “Brother Ma, will you drink this wine yourself, or shall your little brother feed it to you? Or rather—would you like the wine of respect… or the wine of punishment?”

This was exactly what Ma Xu had said to Zhang Xiaohua at the very beginning. Now Zhang Xiaohua returned the original words to him. At first, Ma Xu still wanted to shirk it. Looking at Chen Fengxiao, he felt extremely unwilling. But when Zhang Xiaohua saw this, he snorted through his nose. Ma Xu’s legs immediately went almost weak. He quickly took the cup with both hands and said in a trembling voice: “I’ll drink, I’ll drink. We’re all brothers—how could I hold a grudge?”

After speaking, he tilted his head back and drank it down in one gulp, then immediately choked on it, coughing repeatedly.

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said: “Brother Ma truly is an impatient man. Just now you were eager to teach your little brother a lesson, and now you’re eager to drink wine. But haste makes waste.”

Under the gaze of the Herb Division disciples, Chen Fengxiao perfectly mediated the grievance between Zhang Xiaohua and Ma Xu, achieving the goal of “settling matters within”. At this moment, he turned his gaze toward Wu Dalang, who was listening as the Pill Division disciples carefully explained the entire course of events.

As Wu Dalang listened, he cast nakedly greedy glances toward the glittering gold leaves inside the large bundle. When the disciple finished speaking, Wu Dalang threw his head back and laughed loudly, pointing at Cheng Shi. “You idiot! If you were going to take something, why didn’t you take the whole bundle? Taking only fifty taels of gold— would that even be enough to divide?”

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua slowly walked to the bundle, gradually gathered it together, and carefully packed away the gold leaves. Just as he was about to pick it up, Wu Dalang shouted: “Wait!”

Zhang Xiaohua did not stop what he was doing. Instead, he asked, “Is this your bundle?”

Wu Dalang was taken aback. “No.”

Zhang Xiaohua laughed loudly as well. “Since it’s not yours, I’m simply packing up my own bundle. What business is it of anyone else’s? If you have something to say, just say it.”

After speaking, he ignored him completely. With a flick of his hand, he tossed the bundle, and it landed squarely on the table beside Chen Fengxiao.

Wu Dalang’s eyes followed the bundle as it traced a parabola through the air. Feeling extremely frustrated, he glared at Zhang Xiaohua for a moment and said: “No matter who was right or wrong earlier, little brother, you injured my men just now. If I don’t vent this anger for my brothers, how could I continue being their big brother in the future?”

When Zhang Xiaohua heard this, he glanced at Chen Fengxiao and said: “Hmm, that’s perfectly reasonable. But before you vent your anger, shouldn’t you also let me vent mine? My fifty taels of gold still haven’t been settled yet.”

Then his tone suddenly changed. “Unfortunately, I already promised Boss Chen just now that I wouldn’t pursue the matter of the fifty taels of gold anymore. If you act like this, wouldn’t that put me in a very difficult position?”

When Chen Fengxiao heard this, he secretly thought to himself: “There it is—this fellow is trying to drag me into the mess. Sigh… being the boss really isn’t easy.”

Then he stepped out from the crowd and said: “Wu Dalang, what my brother says is very reasonable. If you want to vent your anger for Cheng Shi, you’d best first take out the fifty taels of gold my brother asked for.”

Wu Dalang was furious. He said angrily: “My brother merely reached out and touched those fifty taels of gold leaves. Before the gold had even warmed in his hands, you people took it back. Not only that, you knocked the teeth out of his mouth and kicked him out the door! We haven’t even demanded any compensation yet, and you villains accuse us first, asking us for fifty taels of gold. What kind of bandit logic is that? Do you people have any reason at all?”

Hearing Wu Dalang trying to reason with him, Chen Fengxiao was already laughing wildly inside, but he forced himself not to laugh out loud. He said: “Cheng Shi offended this little brother of mine first, so things should first be handled according to my little brother’s rules. Once their matter is settled, we can proceed to the next step. What do you think, Wu Dalang?”

Wu Dalang raised his head and said: “Fine. Do it your way—so what? If we didn’t, your Herb Division would again say our Pill Division is coveting something. Heh, that’s always been your usual trick.”

When Zhang Xiaohua heard this, he was delighted. Stretching out his hand, he said: “Then please hand over the gold first.”

Wu Dalang waved his hand. “This little brother doesn’t seem to be a disciple of our Tuodan Hall, does he? Hmm—first time coming to our Incense Spreading Sect, perhaps? Most likely so. These past few days seem to be the biennial day for entering the mountains. Little brother must have come from outside.” [TL_Note: Tuodan = Pill Expansion]

Without waiting for Zhang Xiaohua to answer, he continued: “Inside the Incense Spreading Sect, what use is gold? Who would carry such things that look nice but are useless? Whose money pouch would contain gold?”

Zhang Xiaohua asked curiously: “Since you don’t have gold, how will you compensate me?”

Wu Dalang said disdainfully: “This gold is owed to you by our Pill Division. Just remember that. And only after you allow us to owe you this gold can we compensate you, so that we can proceed to the next step of discussion.”

“Isn’t this just catching a wolf with empty hands?” Zhang Xiaohua suddenly understood. [TL_Note: Getting something from nothing]

However, what did he have to fear? Raising his hand, he gestured and said: “I understand now. Very well, I’ll remember this debt. As for the next matter, let Boss Chen and this Wu Dalang discuss it. Presumably, the two of you are quite familiar with such things.”

Chen Fengxiao smiled. What a marvelous fellow—also a clever one. Dealing with such a person was truly effortless. So he asked: “Brother Wu, you see—this little brother has entrusted the matter to me. Can I represent him?”

Wu Dalang didn’t care in the slightest who represented whom. As long as that large pile of gold leaves was there, even if he himself had to represent the Herb Division, so what?

Sure enough, after the two of them whispered for a while, they came to a conclusion. Chen Fengxiao walked over to Zhang Xiaohua and said with a smile: “Little brother, just now I made a decision on your behalf. Actually, the key point was to curb the Pill Division’s arrogance. Don’t blame me.”

Zhang Xiaohua waved his hand. “It’s nothing. Boss Chen, please go ahead.”

Chen Fengxiao said: “It’s nothing much. The Pill Division wants to regain face, so as before, they want to make a wager with our Herb Division—ten matches in total. The stake for each match will be fifty taels of gold.”

Zhang Xiaohua asked in surprise: “But didn’t Wu Dalang just say they don’t have gold?”

Chen Fengxiao smiled mysteriously. “Although they don’t have gold, they do have something equivalent in value to gold!”