Mo Tie felt equally enraged, but he hadn't lost his reason. He took several silver notes from his chest and spoke with sincere earnestness, "Here are silver notes for one hundred taels, consider it a drink on me for the three heroes. Let's leave today's matter at that."
Upon hearing this, the fat man with a face full of crosswise flesh finished gnawing off the meat from the chicken leg in two or three bites, tossed away the remaining bones, carelessly wiped his hands on his clothes, stood up, approached Mo Tie, and unceremoniously took the silver notes, counted them, and stuffed them into his chest.
Then the fat man turned his head to look at an elderly man among the three, who was the leader of them.
The elder's hair was peppered with white, but his stature was very tall, even more robust than young men, and he exuded an extremely cold aura, much like a ferocious wolf.
The elder spoke indifferently, "You think you can dismiss Yan with one hundred taels of silver? I see that your Black Iron Manor is quite wealthy. Three thousand taels of silver, and we'll call it a day!"
"What?"
At the revelation, even Mo Tie's face changed, and his accompanying people showed anger in their eyes.
This elder was even greedier than the Black Cavalry Gang! His demand was three thousand taels of silver right off the bat!
This was undoubtedly a huge sum, even if Mo Tie spent all his savings he might not have enough. He would need to borrow from some well-acquainted friends, which would empty all the savings he had worked hard to accumulate over the years.
"Attack! Slaughter them! Avenge Li Erlang!"
Zhang Qian, who had a fiery temper, could no longer contain himself and roared.
These people with the surname Yan had cruelly killed Li Erlang, and now they were brazenly demanding extortion from Black Iron Manor. They had come with knives, intending to fight if they couldn't reach an agreement!
"Hmph!"
A cold snort sounded, and before Zhang Qian and the others could make a move, one of the three men sitting by the fire, who hadn't spoken, abruptly stood up. His body moved as swiftly as a whirlwind, and a curved saber at his waist suddenly unsheathed; the man moved with the blade, and in a flash, he had passed by!
"Tss tss tss!"
A succession of sounds of flesh tearing was followed by groans. Before Zhang Qian and the others could draw their swords, they felt a pain in their wrists, a fine line of blood appeared, and drops of fresh blood came dripping down, leaving them unable to hold onto the handles of their knives.
And the man in the blue clothes had returned to his original place, slowly sheathing his saber as if he had never moved!
The elder nodded in satisfaction, "Lin Yu, your 'Return Swallow Body Method' is well practiced!"
The man referred to as Lin Yu smiled faintly, "Master's guidance is appreciated."
"These three ... are all strong martial artists!"
Mo Tie, clutching his wrist that was bleeding profusely, felt a chill rise in his heart.
If Lin Yu hadn't held back just now, at least one of their arms would have been chopped off cleanly at the wrist!
They were all members of the Black Iron Manor, usually working at the forge and possessing considerable strength. However, when compared to true martial artists, they were still lacking.
"Did you hear what my master said? Three thousand taels of silver, and today's affair will be settled, our grievances written off," said the fat man with a laugh, tauntingly.
Yan and his two disciples were all notorious villains known for their ruthlessness, who happened to pass by Clearwater City and learned of Black Iron Manor's wealth, thus they seized Yang Chao and Li Erlang, aiming to make a fortune off of Black Iron Manor!
Mo Tie's expression changed, three thousand taels of silver could bring all his years of effort to naught, and if he didn't agree, considering how these three had killed Li Erlang, they had no chance of leaving safely today.
In Yan and his disciples' eyes, Mo Tie was undoubtedly a fat sheep, one lucrative job could keep them living leisurely for a good while.
Zhang Qian and the others, clutching their bleeding wrists, felt an icy chill all over. Just the man in blue clothes had easily sliced their wrists with speed so fast they could not react. Even if they fought desperately, they would only be sending themselves to their deaths!
"Three thousand taels... I can't come up with that amount for now," Mo Tie said through clenched teeth.
"No matter, I can give you two days. I'll contact you again in two days, and you can also report to the officials... However, if you do that, I will kill your entire family."
The man surnamed Yan did not force Mo Tie to produce the three thousand tailes right then, he slowly continued.
Those words made Mo Tie's heart sink; the man surnamed Yan was extremely confident, allowing him to go and raise the money and even blatantly saying he could report to the officials. As for the consequences, naturally, it would involve the suffering of relatives and friends!
"May I take Yang Chao with me? He needs medical treatment..." Mo Tie glanced at Yang Chao, who was tied to a pillar, and requested. Yang Chao's condition was very bad, and he needed medical treatment.
"Tsk!"
The man in green swung his curved blade, cutting off the ropes that bound Yang Chao. Without the restraints, Yang Chao staggered almost collapsing to the ground, having been previously tormented by these men, exhausted and injured.
"Go, remember, you have two days! I hate people who are not punctual the most!"
The indifferent voice of the man surnamed Yan rang out.
"Let's go... let's get out of here first."
Two people helped Yang Chao up, and Mo Tie lowered his voice, determined to leave this place no matter what.
A group of five or six people headed for the outside of the dilapidated temple; the man surnamed Yan and his two disciples did not stop them.
Only after they were dozens of meters away from the temple did they all breathe a sigh of relief, saving their lives for the moment. Zhang Qian said with a worried look, "Manor Lord, what should we do now?"
Mo Tie remained silent. Reporting to the officials was an option, but there was no guarantee they would intervene. And even if they did, the three men surnamed Yan could simply hide for a while to avoid the sharp edge. The officials couldn't protect Black Iron Manor all the time. Once their concern waned, the man surnamed Yan would certainly seek savage revenge!
From the way they killed Li Erlang, it was clear that the three men surnamed Yan were a group of desperados with high martial arts skills! Such desperados were the most troublesome!
"How about... asking the Black Cavalry Gang for help? We did pay the protection money to them," someone tentatively suggested, thinking of the Black Cavalry Gang to which Black Iron Manor had also paid protection money.
"Heh... Those bandits will, at most, not bully you if you pay them. How could they possibly protect you?" one man scoffed, not believing that the Black Cavalry Gang would take notice of this matter.
"It's all my fault..." Yang Chao said guiltily, battered and bruised.
In fact, Yang Chao and Li Erlang couldn't be blamed at all; the three men surnamed Yan had targeted Black Iron Manor to make a fortune by kidnapping them. It was purely bad luck for them to be implicated, with Li Erlang even being made into an example by getting beheaded.
"Let's head back first and plan in the long term," Mo Tie sighed. At the moment, he did not know what to do; all he could do was return to Black Iron Manor and then find a solution.
"Heh heh! This area around Gentle Wind City really is a paradise! A bunch of blacksmiths from Black Iron Manor with hardly any armed force, if we don't rob them, who will we rob?"
Inside the temple, the man surnamed Yan and his two disciples were drinking, and the chubby man chuckled.
This routine of kidnapping and extorting money was not their first; they specialized in targeting wealthy merchants with weak guard forces. Killing a few people to threaten the rest, most would choose to comply quietly. After all, wealth is not as important as life!
"Senior brother, close the door, would you?" The man in green sitting by the fire felt the cold wind blowing into the hall. He felt slightly chilled and spoke up.
"Hmm." The chubby man acknowledged and got up to close the door of the temple's main hall, but suddenly froze in his tracks.
Outside the temple, amidst the snowstorm, a figure in black was walking towards the temple. Footprints were left in the snow, steady and unhurried. Oddly, the person's face was covered with a comical ape mask, adding an eerie touch to this snowy and windy night.
"The snow is heavy outside; may I come in for a drink to warm up?" The man in the black mask stared at the chubby man, his raspy voice sounding.
The newcomer was naturally Su Changkong, who had been following all along!