Editor:

Hmm~ Something's Strange

They refused to speak, at first. However, after three of them turned into puff pastry and another four turned into Indian naan bread, I began searching for a wooden rod to prepare to make chrysanthemum lamb skewers. Finally, they submitted.

It turned out that they were just a band of thugs that were bullying people in the Capital. In particular here in Bright.

I can't say that there was no evil they didn't commit, but they scammed people, and merchants, every day and bullied the simple people.

After doing it for a long time, they became a famous band of thugs in this place, known as the Contribution Gang. However, the name was too hard to pronounce, so they called them the Salted Fish Gang.

I demanded that they removed the black cloth covering their faces.

All of them were pale and thin. It was as though they lived from meal to meal. I also discerned that their internal energy was very poor early on. They were virtually the same as the average man.

It appears they were just ordinary thugs.

It's too conspicuous with this many of them, so I arrested just their leader and had the rest of them run along.

I sat in front of the building they had hidden in before and made their leader my leg rest, like a big boss. Owing to my legs being relatively long and heavy, the fatty's head kept dropping down after I put my legs up.

It wasn't very long before his face went red since he couldn't handle it.

"I ask one question; you reply with one sentence. What's your name?"

"My surname is Yan. My family used to sell vegetables at a stall. I studied for two years, and the teacher gave me my name Xianyu."

"Your name is Pickled Salted Fish?!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The fatty was elated, "That was my name. My family used to sell salted fish!"

Only now did I finally scan this guy properly. His voice sounded like he was a forty or fifty-year-old man, when I last heard it. However, now that I've seen him, he looks like he's in his mid-thirties. He's fat, but not the type of rich fatty who ate his way to a white plump body. This guy is relatively more similar to the type of fatty butchering pork in the markets. It makes sense, for a fatty like him to be the leader of an underground gang.

'I'm just surprised that you dare to play gangster when your name is so tragic. No wonder why you're still a small-time gang.'

He titled his thick neck and laughed, "Sir, Sir, place it well. Please do not kick me. I am fine with being hurt, but it would be bad if you got tired."

"I won't kick you or turn you into a chrysanthemum lamb skewer, as long as you answer my questions properly." I then narrowed my eyes and supported my chin with one hand. I put on the terrifying face of an antagonist and asked, "Who order you to come after me?"

"Oh, man. It angers me whenever I think about it!" Pickled Salted Fish almost leapt up when I mentioned it, but since my legs were on his head, he couldn't do so much as budge. He revealed an even more frightened look.

He gulped his saliva and explained, "Somebody came to me last night and gave me ten silver ingots. He said he wanted my gang to go and capture someone for him, and that he would pay over ten times the amount if we succeeded. I thought that we'd be able to find the target for sure, because we know Bright Lane best. Hence, I accepted the job. But I never expected I'd be capturing you! If I had known you were a hero, I wouldn't have done it even if he paid ten times the amount!"

"Piss off! That's because you can't beat me!"

'If there really was a hundred times the original amount to make, I'd just cooperate with you and then we'd split among ourselves after.'

He sobbed as he said, "We were just doing what we were paid to do. We never planned to harm you. Look at us, Sir; none of us were armed. We all came empty-handed."

That was true. The gang was so poor that they couldn't afford food, so, naturally, they couldn't afford weapons. But…

"You think I didn't see you holding bricks?!" I gave him a kick.

He cried out loudly in pain. I then asked, "Do you know who he was or his background?"

"No!" After having his head kicked, he shouted as if he was wronged, "Hero, if I knew who he was, I'd gather my men and go settle this score with him! The man played me. Ten silver ingots to die?!"

I could understand that…

I kept asking, but I couldn't get any clues. The person who gave him the job was very careful and didn't leave any clues which would expose him. I couldn't find any clues.

After some careful deliberation, I thought of one more question worth asking.

"Oh, right, have you seen this thing?"

I took out the painting of Lord San Shen I took from the book before.

The fatty got frightened. He shouted as if he was butchering pork, "Motherfucker! Is that Zhong Kui thrown into a small oven?!"

'Fuck… He wouldn't be that dark, would he?!!'

"Think carefully. Have you seen this before?"

"No!