Hua Chin had never been so aggrieved in his life by his "important standing" than he was now. He was afraid that he might even lose his ability to stand because of his status.
The look Hua Yan was giving him was really frightening to say the least.
"I-I gave you everything you wanted… what else is there for us to talk about?" Hua Chin blurted out.
Hua Yan looked over to the distance.
As a member of the Hua Clan for 15 something years now, Hua Yan knew that there were existences that were far scarier than the guards. A guard captain like Hua Chin only represented the very tip of the Hua Clan's prowess.
There were still numerous other forces within the clan that could completely eradicate Hua Yan before he even moved a muscle.
If not for the fact that it was hard to move these forces over petty matters, such as the murder of unimportant clan members, Hua Yan would have long since become a corpse.
But, at the rate at which Hua Yan was taking things, it was only a matter of time before the clan sent out such people after him. The murder of 5 guards and the injury of 2 others was no small matter.
The clan would definitely send some very capable experts to take him down. They were more than capable of mustering up such a force.
Before things escalated to that point, Hua Yan wanted more information to work with. He wanted to know who his enemy was going to be. After all, going into a battle blind was not a very wise choice.
Hence, Hua Yan wanted to be a bit more astute.
Though Hua Chin would not be able to tell him much, the man definitely knew more about the clan's strength distribution than Hua Yan did.
As such, Hua Chin was Hua Yan's best bet to work with for the moment.
Furthermore, Hua Yan was also in need of money. He would no longer be able to live within the Hua Clan after what had just happened today, so he needed to pack his bags and leave the town.
And to find residence somewhere else, the most important thing that Hua Yan needed was money.
To get this money, Hua Yan had plans with Hua Chin. Even if the latter party did not want to help, Hua Yan would force him to do so anyway. Hua Chin obviously valued his life, so Hua Yan did not believe that he would be unable to coerce Hua Chin into doing his bidding.
Sure, these kinds of methods to exploit Hua Chin and blackmail him would be looked down upon by others, and it could even be argued that Hua Yan was committing the exact same crime that the four fatties were guilty of, but Hua Yan didn't have the leisure to care about all of this.
He didn't care about his reputation.
He had his own principles in life.
He didn't naively believe that he was a selfless person. He knew and acknowledged that all of his goals were extremely egocentric.
To achieve them, he would not stop short of anything. This was how dedicated and ambitious he was.
And so, regardless of what he did in the future, if it helped him to get closer to accomplishing his goals, he would not hesitate to do whatever it took.
He would kill all reluctance and move with a singletrack mindset.
He could only be apologetic to those he harmed, but in the moments when things actually mattered, he would not let his pity towards them hold him down.
He was prepared to give away anything.
For now, to accomplish his goals, he needed to use Hua Chin.
"Which gate are you from?" Hua Yan asked.
The reason why he asked this was because he wanted to plan out his escape route. There were a total of 5 gates in Hua Ding Manor. Four of these gates were solely for the side branch members that lived within the numerous numbered courtyards.
The last gate was the one that led to the heart of the manor. Only the main branch members and a select few servants could access this gate.
As for the other gates, they were spread apart by physical location. The gates were divided up into northern, eastern, southern and western denominations. The courtyards in the manor were numbered based on which gate they lied closest to.
Courtyards 13 to 22 belonged to the Northern Gate, courtyards 23 to 32 belonged to the Eastern Gate, courtyards 33 to 42 belonged to the Southern Gate and courtyards 43 to 52 belonged to the Western Gate.
As for courtyards 1 to 12, they belonged to the main gate. Those that lived in these courtyards were servants with a certain status higher than the rest.
They worked closely with the main branch members, hence they were given special privileges which others were not. Rarely did they ever get menial labour jobs. Those jobs were all left to the lower ranked servants like Hua Yan who lived in the outer courtyards.
Ignoring all of this, each gate had guard barracks. Most of the guards that were tasked with maintaining order in the manor were stationed in these barracks.
As such, Hua Yan asked Hua Chin which barracks he was from. Knowing this information would help him in getting a better understanding of which kind of assistance Hua Chin could provide him with.
"Northern Gate." Hua Chin replied nervously, worrying about what Hua Yan had in mind.
"Northern Gate?" Hua Yan asked confusedly, "What the hell are you doing here then? Your men shouldn't be patrolling this area… why did you show up here?"
"Ahhh, ummm, you see, the thing is… actually—"
"Spit it out," Hua Yan threatened impatiently.
"I… someone here offended someone who they shouldn't have. I came here under orders to teach that person a lesson, and perhaps even hit them with the law…"
"So you're here to frame someone?" Hua Yan asked.
Hua Yan somewhat understood the situation now.
Hua Chin was ordered to bully someone that lived near the Eastern Gate. That was the reason why he had come here. Him running into Hua Yan along the way was completely coincidental.
But Hua Yan wanted to make sure.
What if Hua Chin was lying, and was after him all along?
Though Hua Yan didn't think that such a thing would be the case, because he really had no deep enmity with anyone, he couldn't help but be careful. His sister's life was also hanging on this matter.
"Who were you after?" he asked.
"Ah… that's confidential information." Hua Chin replied.
Hua Yan brandished his blade again.
"Is it more costly than your life?"
Hua Chin almost bit his tongue in fear at those words.
"No, no, haha, of course not," Hua Chin laughed anxiously, "I was after Hua Po from Courtyard 29. He was truly out of his mind for daring to step beyond his place and going after something that he wasn't qualified to possess."
"Thievery?"
"I… I guess it can be considered that?"
"What did he do?"
"He dared to spar against his better and steal a win."
Hua Yan was truly speechless at Hua Chin's words.
"D-Don't look at me like that! H-His role was to be beaten up. Yet, he had the gall to fight back!"
"It was a spar, wasn't it?" Hua Yan asked patiently.
"Bahahaha," Hua Chin laughed crazily. His previous fears were forgotten.
"That's only what they call it on the surface, but, in reality, that match was only for the young lord to vent." Hua Chin explained, "The young lord was already angry over other matters. And this cocky brat further worsened the young lord's mood by giving him a tight slap in the face. Literally!"
"So," Hua Yan reasoned, "that's why you went after this Hua Po?"
"Exactly!"
"Heh," Hua Yan displayed his disdain with a smile, "What a loyal dog you are…"
"It's fine! Even if you call me a dog, at least I'm the dog of the Northern Gate commander's only son! Haha, many would vie for my role."
Hua Chin's words were indeed the truth. Being a servant to someone wasn't a problem, as long as that someone was someone that was important.
The Northern Gate commander was an important person in Hua Ding manner, and lowly branch members couldn't afford to disrespect him. Riding his coattails and rising to success was something that many dreamed about.
For Hua Chin to align himself with the commander's son was the same as aligning with the commander himself. If he proved to be a loyal dog, his future would be much brighter than all the other guards that he worked with.
"Too bad you crossed paths with me though," Hua Yan said, giving Hua Chin a pat on the back and dragging him along, "You can kiss that future goodbye."