Lying quietly in the spring water, his whole body was enveloped in a faint halo of light, and it appeared that he was breathing underwater without any difficulties. The numerous jade stones that he had collected surrounded him, exuding a radiant luster, as if he was lying on a jade mountain. The charred skin began to fade from his body, and blood no longer flowed out of his wounds. He began to heal under the gentle soothing water.
He looked like a fairy sleeping at the bottom of the spring, and even the newly healed skin glowed with the brilliance of jade.
At that time, Bai Jing was unaware of the fact that Xiao Sa had just been overthrown from his position as Head of the gang.
****
At midnight, Xiao Sa was still awake. He was in a large hall that was brightly lit, and full of people. Xiao Sa sat in the most central place, while the elders of the six houses sat on both sides of him. In front of him sat was a middle-aged man of about thirty years or so, his face clearly expressing his happy mood. Behind them, almost three feet away, stood all the gang members.
The actual situation was indeed like this: Xiao Sa had sent Bai Jing back to the hotel, and had just arrived back home, only to find a trial awaiting him. Out of the six elders, there were only two neutral ones, while the remaining four supported Cheng Shaoxin. The people in the room were divided into three factions: one was his, one was Cheng Shaoxin’s and the third faction was only there to observe the trial.
Xiao Sa felt a cold chill run through him. In the past few months, he hadn’t had to deal with many of these kinds of conflicts, but he was aware that these old guys hadn’t given up yet. Last year he had reorganized and stabilized the gang, but his hold on the family was still not absolute, and so it appears that today things have finally fallen apart.
Recently, knowing that the end of the world was around the corner, and that he had to make preparations for the sake of his brothers, he had ended up spending a large sum of money to purchase various materials. Since in the past if he spent money on himself no one would dare to say anything, for the past two weeks he had been spending money like running water.
He had no expectations that they would excuse his behavior, and anyway it was better for him if they didn’t waste his time by trying to save him.
Zhou Ji had a guilty look on his face. It was only because he hadn’t handled matters well that his brother had ended up in this situation.
Han Yan’s heart was full of resentment. If his brother hadn’t fallen in love, then would they have still ended up in this situation? He knew that Cheng Shaoxin was not a good person, but he also believed that Bai Jing was a scourge.
After he was confronted by this situation, Xiao Sa did not bother to offer any explanations for his actions. Instead, he honestly admitted that he had spent the money and only asked who would be willing to leave the gang and follow him.
Cheng Shaoxin was insatiable, as he arrogantly asked if Xiao Sa would also be willing to give up the main house. This house, even a small area of it, without considering anything else, had an estimated value of over five hundred million.
Since Cheng Shaoxin was an extremely proud man, Xiao Sa readily agreed to his request. Furthermore, in order to express his generosity, Xiao Sa also said to those members who were reluctant to leave, that he could arrange a job post for them and provide an allowance of 100,000.
The crowd erupted into frenzy, making Xiao Sa nervous for a moment. But then almost immediately, several people started going to stand behind the faction they had chosen to support.
Han Yan was so angry he was spewing curses in his head. But was there anyone who would care about his feelings at that moment?
At first, people felt too guilty to leave Xiao Sa’s faction, but after thinking about the future of their gang or after hardening their hearts, one by one they started going to stand behind Cheng Shaoxin. Before long, more and more people started moving to Cheng Shaoxin’s side. Members who had previously hesitated, seeing that people were beginning to choose sides, also decided to do the same; from time to time moving in groups of twos and threes.
Cheng Shaoxin laughed out loud like a mad man as he proceeded to add fuel to the fire. He stared at Xiao Sa and said: “Our brother Xiao Sa does not care about the clan, he only cares about himself. You have to choose wisely and rest assured that brother Sa will always be generous and will not retaliate. Isn’t that right?”
Xiao Sa did not pay attention to what was being said, only lightly nodding his head. Actually, he didn’t need to create a big commotion today; he had simply wanted to take this opportunity to make it clear to everyone exactly where he stands. That was why he had called on the gang members to choose a side. In other words, he had purposely done this in order to reduce the weight of his responsibilities. Even though the situation had now become heated, everyone still had free rein to make their choice. They could not hold him responsible for their own choices; he would only take care of those who decided to follow him.
After seeing Xiao Sa’s position, a group of more than 300 members who had been backing him left to go to the other side. Just a little over a hundred members remained on his side. Xiao Sa nodded, he was satisfied with the remaining number of members.
Even the two neutral elders did not expect Xiao Sa would give up so easily, thus sparing them from having to choose between one side or the other. So they naturally turned to give their support to Cheng Shaoxin.
Cheng Shaoxin then aggressively asked Xiao Sa when he planned to leave.
Xiao Sa looked at the rest of the brothers, then thought about the kitten he had left at the hotel. Without wasting any more time, he immediately ordered a few of his people to pack up all their belongings and prepare to leave at that exact moment.
His cold and brisk orders stunned everyone and they couldn’t help but ponder over the events that had just taken place. Today’s event did not make any sense; Xiao Sa’s surrender was too strange.
Cheng Shaoxin’s heart suddenly became tense, and so he was unwilling to let him leave that easily: “Brother Sa, slow down. Aren’t you going to offer any explanations to the family?”
Xiao Sa looked at Zhou Ji: “Go and hand over all the money to him. From here on, I have nothing to do with the family.”
Zhou Ji’s complexion suddenly became poor. The man who had always been calm was now clearly showing his emotions on his face. Although Brother Sa had surrendered so easily, Zhou Ji could only blame himself for this loss. After all, Brother Sa had left the running of the gang to him before he left.
“I don’t care about your business, all I want is to go to D City with little Jing. Are you willing to follow me? After little Jing becomes your sister-in-law, are you ready to also show him respect. If you are not willing, then speak up now and I will no longer require you to follow me.” Xiao Sa said blankly, as his cold eyes swept across the crowd behind him. He was pleased to see each one of them avert their eyes and that no one dared to speak up to disagree with him. Only then did he release them from his gaze.
However, Han Yan couldn’t accept this. Xiao Sa was the brother he had grown up with. Han Yan’s heart was filled with monstrous rage. He hated that damn Bai Jing so much. If it wasn’t for him, how could his brother have found himself in this predicament? To give up this great family business then move with only a few brothers to a strange city will be extremely difficult. He hated Bai Jing and it was too late to make him respect him, pei!
“No matter how great he is, he is still just a bastard (illegitimate child). You love to play around, and we normally don’t say anything. But what do you mean by your actions now? Is that bitch so attractive to you that you don’t even care about your brothers’ situation anymore?”
Xiao Sa’s expression hardened as he looked at Han Yan with a cold look in his eyes. He thought to himself: even if it was one of his brothers who – without ill intentions – wanted to insult his kitten, there was absolutely no way he could allow that. It seems that he has been too lenient to this group of people standing around him.
“Big brother, Han Yan’s words are being influenced by his anger please do not take them to heart.” Zhou Ji did not blame Han Yan for his words, but sensing that things were heading in a dangerous direction, he quickly came to his defense.
Xiao Sa’s expression suddenly morphed into one of disinterested before turning to face away from them: “All those who did not want to leave have already gone to the other side, you don’t have to follow me either.”
Han Yan was stunned and felt like he had been wronged. He did not expect that his brother would be so decisive, not even caring about their history together.
Cheng Shaoxin laughed. He was enjoying watching this show, his mind suddenly at ease. Who knew that Xiao Sa who appeared to be extremely shrewd and intelligent, was actually still just a passionate youth: “How nice. So what will it be? Is little brother Yan willing to follow me? I actually really like you.”
“Pei!” Han Yan spat, as he glared at Xiao Sa: “What do you mean? You would forsake your brothers for a man?”
“My personal affairs have nothing to do with outsiders.” Xiao Sa said coolly. He tilted his head to look up at the sky, while thinking about how he couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that something bad was going to happen today.
Han Yan was dumbfounded. Zhou Ji also had nothing to say. It was true that Han Yan was wrong. Even if he was family, he couldn’t dictate what could or couldn’t happen in other people’s personal life.