Prelude to the Disturbance in Black Iron City

While most people were at peace, there were a few places without peace.

The Black Iron City, Apothecary.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY YOU DON'T KNOW! ARE YOU THE SHOPKEEPER, OR I AM!" Master Bai kicked the butt of the shopkeeper Ah Shu while unleashing his furry.

Master Bai's pair of eyes reddened while the wrinkles all over his face increased in number. If shopkeeper Ah Shu had to make a comparison, Master Bai's face was no different from the kettle which was used to boil some water.

Making a loud noise while steams appeared above the kettle.

But of course, shopkeeper Ah Shu wouldn't commit such suicide in front of Master Bai.

"I- I don't understand, Master Bai."

"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW? WHAT IS THE USE OF YOU? KEEP EVERYTHING IN ORDER! AND HOW CAN YOU NOT REALIZE SUCH BLATANT THING! ARE YOU BLIND? OR ARE YOU A DOG? OR PERHAPS, YOU ARE A BLIND DOG?" Master Bai kept on kicking the shopkeeper Ah Shu's butt even after the latter fell on the floor.

Mercy was not in Master Bai's dictionary.

"Ma- Master Bai, didn't you say that the Apothecary is closed for some time while we are removing every kind of cooperation with the Red Rage Bear Mercenary? The Apothecary is closed after Master made such remarks. Thus, it sure is impossible for someone to intrude this place. Ahn~. . ." The shopkeeper Ah Shu didn't care about his bullied butt while he hugged his head. Maybe it was his fetish to have his butt bullied, but no one knew, even he himself.

"How dare? How dare you? You talk back at me? How dare you?" Master Bai was painted in red as he made a strong kick toward the poor butt. "I DON'T CARE! WHAT I ASKED YOU IS WHO THE PEOPLE THAT CAME INSIDE THE APOTHECARY! WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE! WHAT IS THE FEATURE? IS THERE ANY KIND OF TRAIT OR DISTINCTION? WHO WERE THE CULPRITS! DON'T YOU DARE TO HIDE ANYTHING FROM ME!"

PA! PA PA PA PA!

"Ahnnn~. ah~ . ."

With one strong kick, the shopkeeper Ah Shu rolled forward. But even so, he still didn't dare to show his head, not to mention his face toward Master Bai.

"No, I don't dare, Master!"

Shopkeeper Ah Shu rubbed his delicate butt. Even though Master Bai was usually had a weird temper and short-fuse, it was the first time Master Bai into a physical thing.

[Pe- perhaps, Master Bai has some kind of. . .]

Not sparing any attention toward shopkeeper Ah Shu, Master Bai squatted in front of a budding leaf. It was a small green-coloured leaf, around 2-3 cm, and there was nothing outstanding or mysterious from the small leaf. But Master Bai never left his gaze. In fact, his expression was changed many times when he stared at the small leaf.

Startled, inconceivable, unbelievable, surprised, ecstasy, greed, desire, lust, gleeful, happiness, excited - all were mixed into Master Bai's stare.

Using his right hand, Master Bai stroke the wooden flooring around the young leaf. His movement was very gentle as if fearing that he would disturb the budding leaf, the exact opposite of what he had done toward shopkeeper Ah Shu.

As if seeing something precious, something priceless and rare.

It was faint, but around the young leaf, there were a few green lights gathered, akin to fireflies. The young leaf was dancing along with the green light which was around, making the budding leaf more vibrant and full of vigour. It was very faint that only Master Bai could see the beautiful scene before him.

It was harmony, it was the nature of nature.

Indeed. For Master Bai, it was something that much more precious than precious, priceless than priceless.

It might be his only chance in this life.

Seeing that, shopkeeper Ah Shu wanted to cry out of aggravation, but he held it back. It was already good that Master Bai's attention was directed toward the young leaf, why would he attract Master Bai's attention and let the latter violated him again? Hence, shopkeeper Ah Shu just kept his silence the whole time even if he didn't know what happened.

After some time of serenity inside the Apothecary, Master Bai only sighed.

Unlike the usual Master Bai, his body exuded the aura of gentleness, which was impossible. It was the opposite of Master Bai's daily temper, and it was the first time for shopkeeper Ah Shu.

Realized that shopkeeper Ah Shu stared unbelievably toward him along with his wide mouth, in a split of a second, Master Bai's fierceness returned as he snorted, "SCRAM!"

Batta batta batta batta. . .

And in no time, the Apothecary regained its serenity.

Master Bai closed both of his eyes as if enjoying the night without disturbance. After some time, he opened his eyes and sighed, "It should be that crafty little girl."

Recalling the usual practice of the Apothecary, not many people came into the Apothecary, except for the usual patrons.

And today, except for the stupid fatty from the Red Rage Bear Mercenary along with the mischievous lady, there was only a little girl (Mingyue) that extorted him some Blood Rose Grass.

The stupid fatty was too useless, making him out of question. For the mischievous lady, Master Bai was acquaintanced with her. Hence, she also was out of the question.

And with that, the only possibility was. . .

Recalling the unreasonable demand from the little girl, a crafty smile appeared on Master Bai's old face.

[You want to be unreasonable? Then I will become one too.]

[Let's see what I will do after I catch you.]

[You want me to teach you?]

[Fine. You win, little girl.]

[My inheritor. . .]

"EVEN IF YOU WANT TO REFUSE, I WILL NEVER LET YOU GO! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

Master Bai's thunderous laugh scared out of Shopkeeper Ah Shu.

[F**k! Who the hell is the one that offended my master!] Shopkeeper Ah Shu wanted to cry, but no tears came out. The only thing he could do was hiding from Master Bai until the latter's matter was resolved.

While rubbing his already-swollen delicate butts, shopkeeper Ah Shu hide in a corner without much illumination.

…

Inside the Red Rage Bear Mercenary's headquarter.

BAM!

"Zhangjin!" Chen Lao came inside Mo Zhangjin's place in hurry, even he didn't realize that the door was broken by his casual swing. "There is a big problem! I need your help to remedy this thing!"

There was some trace of old wound all over his body, but most of it was covered with his own mercenary gear. The most conspicuous place was the big wound on his head. But even so, his posture was strong as if he was not wounded at all.

Along with Chen Lao, there was also fatty Zhang with him.

It was the same fatty Zhang who was thrown out of the Apothecary forcefully. His whole body was bandaged from top to bottom, except for his face. His limp legs had to be supported by a pair of crutches at his left and right.

All in all, fatty Zhang's appearance was miserable - no different from a mummy, the exact opposite of the haughtiness that he had shown back in the Apothecary.

Moreover, fatty Zhang didn't dare to show his haughtiness in front of the two people in front of him. Hence, he kept his silence,

". . . Can you not add anymore headache for me?" Veins bulged on Mo Zhangjin's temple as he balled his fist. He swept his gaze toward fatty Zhang, but he disregarded the latter. "And can you not bring some clown inside? It is not funny." scoffed Mo Zhangjin.

"I know that you are busy, but this matter is also not small. Apothecary, they had completely cut their supplies for our place!"

"Wha- what!" Mo Zhangjin stood up in surprise, making a bunch of stacked papers from the desk flying around the room. "F**k! In this kind of timing!"

As the supplier of various concocted medicine, Apothecary had a big reputation in addition of the only existence of 1-star herbalist in the Black Iron City.

Even though the Apothecary supplied various concocted medicine for various big power like the Red Rage Bear Mercenary, the Lin Family, or even the City Governor itself, Apothecary never involved itself in the power struggle. Master Bai always kept the policy of never interfering with anything as long as the Apothecary wasn't disturbed.

And of course, no one dared to make a problem for Master Bai himself since many would step forward to offer support for Master Bai.

But Chen Lao's sentence jolted Mo Zhangjin's mind, adding another burden on his shoulder.

His expression darkened while the atmosphere around him turned grim. With calmed voice, Mo Zhangjin asked, "Explain it."

After receiving the side-glance from Chen Lao, fatty Zhang who was disregarded earlier moved forward and lowered his head. But because of his body condition, his movement was awkward and disgustingly weird, making Mo Zhangjin felt repulsed.

But Mo Zhangjin didn't interject.

With a flattering expression, fatty Zhang opened his flabby lips, "Nice to meet you, Vice Leader Mo. I am Zhang Zhenyang, one of the people under big boss Lao. In this meeting-"

"Cut the crap and get to the point."

Mo Zhangjin grew annoyed by the useless greeting from fatty Zhang. If it was the usual day, he would enjoy the respectful greeting. But in this kind of situation, his mood was already the worst, also adding the matter of the Apothecary.

"Ye- yes! So, it is like this, Vice Leader Mo. . . ."

After telling some bull to the sh*t story, Mo Zhangjin and Chen Lao's face grew red and redder.

"Good. . . good. . . Lin Family? They are daring enough. . ." Mo Zhangjin sat back while tapping the desk many times. He was collected, but it was different with Chen Lao.

"F**K! SCREW THOSE LIN FAMILY! HOW DARE THEY MAKE A TROUBLE FOR US! LET'S TAKE CARE OF THEM NOW!"

But before Chen Lao left the room, he was stopped by Mo Zhangjin.

"Wait, muscle-head."

"WHY ARE YOU SITTING LIKE A DUCK? ARE YOU SCARED?"

". . . Remember our leader's word. Don't make any trouble. Not to mention that I am in charge of this place. And with my authority, I forbid you to do anything."

Even though Lian Luoyang didn't ask them to not make trouble, Mo Zhangjin's stance was the same. He couldn't possibly make a suicide move.

Based on fatty Zhang's story, Master Bai was siding with the Lin Family and planned for something. But because of some bad luck, fatty Zhang arrived at that time.

And because of that, Master Bai kicked fatty Zhang out while ruthlessly cutting all supplies for the Red Rage Bear Mercenary.

There were a few suspicious points, but Mo Zhangjin fully believed these bullsh*ts because of another big trouble. Or more exactly, he believed that there was a relationship between the two matters.

The death of a huge number of spies from the Red Rage Bear Mercenary. In fact, the Red Rage Bear Mercenary was blamed for the death of a large number of the Lin Family's people.

Mo Zhangjin was in stress because of that. Not only the Lin Family was angered, even the City Governor made a move toward the Red Rage Bear Mercenary.

The death of the Lin Family's people wouldn't disturb the Lin Family, but it was considered a big slap toward them. Not only that, but also someone who bore a Lin surname was killed while the corpse was thrown right into the gate of Lin Family's headquarter.

Not only a big slap, but also the hard one.

The furious Lin Pinghan ordered all Lin Family's personnel to make a move toward the Red Rage Bear Mercenary

But what Mo Zhangjin feared was all of this was only a ruse, little trickery from the alliance of the Lin Family and the City Governor. And from fatty Zhang's story, there was a high possibility that even Master Bai agreed for the Apothecaries to be in part of the alliance.

If that really happened, there would be a never-ending headache.

And most importantly, all of this happened only a day after Lian Luoyang left this place.

Mo Zhangjin's capability would be questioned if Lian Luoyang heard the news about it. Not only that, but also he would have to say goodbye toward his own head.

But seeing the red-faced Chen Lao, Mo Zhangjin's mood worsened. It was clear that Chen Lao was being stupid and didn't understand their predicament, the incoming tempest for the Red Rage Bear Mercenary.

In the end, Mo Zhangjin covered his face.

[F**k! Is there someone screwing with us? Why? Why us!]

And while the Red Rage Bear Mercenary was in peril, the main culprit was enjoying her beauty sleep.

…