Chapter 1174: Unexpected Gains

Afterward, the red-haired youth shot a serious look at Tang Xiu and said, “Got no Master, but a Boss—jobs and money-related.”

Tang Xiu’s interest was piqued and he asked again, “You know something else too, don’t you?”

“I overheard something from the Black Wolf Hall’s Master, Masa Osaka, when he got drunk. It was a name,” said the red-haired youth.

“Care to share it?” asked Tang Xiu seriously.

“Joyous Palace,” answered the youth. He then pulled out a black handkerchief and wiped the dagger. After putting it back into his waist, he said, “I’ve always wanted to make myself stronger. I don’t want to have muzzles pointed at my head, nor do I wanna see my relatives killed before my eyes.”

“You got a feud?” asked Tang Xiu.

“My enemies are dead already,” he replied in a cold voice.

“Great. That’s not bad.” Tang Xiu applauded. “You’re not born with innate traits to kill, but rather had it awakened due to the stimuli. How about becoming my underling? That is if you want it.”

The red-haired youth slightly trembled. He shot a deep look at Tang Xiu and asked, “Can you make me stronger?”

“I can make you 100 times stronger than the current you in the next few years,” said Tang Xiu.

“Master.”

In a very simple fashion, the youth directly knelt in front of Tang Xiu.

“You trust me just like that?” asked Tang Xiu with raised brows.

“I don’t, but I want to bet on you.” The youth shook his head.

Giving him a thumbs up, Tang Xiu praised him. “You’re really out of the ordinary. But I like you, so you’re now my subordinate starting today. Gong Wan’er, escort him back.”

“Please take me in, too.”

The wretched-looking woman crawled up from the ground seven-plus meters away staggeringly towards Tang Xiu. With a trembling body, she knelt and said, “I know not what it means to be stronger, but I only know that you’ve saved me. You just bought my life with your money and my life is yours for the rest of my life if you take me in.”

Tang Xiu was stunned and stared at her. Then, he squatted down to grab her wrist and checked her pulse. He found that she was only an ordinary woman without any signs of having any cultivation system whatsoever. Even her internal organs were seriously injured due to the severe beatings just now.

“Do you want to follow me, too?”

“You bought me, I’ll work for you. I’d have ended up with a tragic fate if you didn’t save me. I also know that you can make me very strong, so I no longer need to worry about relying on any men anymore.”

Tang Xiu was silent for a short while and then suddenly asked, “Do you dare to kill?”

The woman hesitated. But shortly after, she firmly nodded and said, “I’ll kill anyone you order me to.”

Tang Xiu turned to Gong Wan’er and asked her with a smile, “What do you think? Should I accept them?”

“I wouldn’t if it was me. They are just too appalling,” said Gong Wan’er.

Tang Xiu let out a mystifying and meaningful smile. He looked at the two-kneeling people in front of him and nodded. “I accept you since it’s your choice. I now bestow you a cultivation technique so as to make you stronger. Each of you will also receive a sum of money and some pills to assist your cultivation, but I’m giving you both half a month to sense the flow of qi or energy circulation in your body. I’ll entrust you some missions and responsibility should you succeed in this trial, but if you fail to sense it, you both will only become one of the countless people who just work for me, but find yourself nearly impossible to get my recognition.”

“May I ask what’s the meaning of sensing the energy circulation?” asked the youth.

“It’s described in the cultivation manual I taught you. Keep trying to sense the flow of energy in your body. When you can sense and circulate the energy in your system as well as being able to control it for a short time, that means you’ve succeeded, or failed otherwise,” said Tang Xiu lightly.

Tang Xiu took out his cell phone and dialed Tang Guang’s number to call him over. After the man came, he left a few orders to him and then left with Gong Wan’er.

Before leaving, however, he learned the real name of the red-haired youth and the woman. The former was Omedetou Ando and the latter was Meina Nomura.

****

Taiga Port.

The sun had set course to the west horizon, but the port was still bustling and busy with all kinds of ships setting sail or mooring along with lots of people shuttling back and forth.

HONK, HONK…

The sound of a ship’s horn sounded from the distant sea as a luxury liner slowly sailed towards the port. Those standing in the harbor were unable to see that five speedboats were cruising at a constant speed as the liner as they approached it. However, some figures on two speedboats flickered and bolted extremely fast onto the luxury liner.

A few minutes later, two sturdy men—Xue Sha and He Xiong—walked on the red-carpeted corridor on the third-floor cabin of the liner. Both men exchanged glances with happy smiles and quickly strode to the end of the corridor.

“We’re from the Tang Sect. This Hei Xiong humbly seeks a meeting with the masters here.”

As Hei Xiong halted his pace, he released his own aura and spoke clearly.

Creak…

Creak…

Nine cabin doors opened one after another. Eminent monks in Kasaya attire and each holding a stick walked out of their respective cabins. Jade Buddha observed Hei Xiong and Xue Sha for a while and his brows were slightly furrowed immediately. He joined his palms and greeted them. “Benefactor said you’re from the Tang Sect, may I see the sign of credential?”

Hei Xiong took out an Elder token of the Tang Sect and said, “Our Sect Master learned from Mr. Miao about the liner the honorable Masters have taken a ride in, so he commanded us to rush over to escort you in advance. Japan is in a chaotic situation at the present, and be it the Joyous Palace people or the force under Japanese authority are on high alert and ready for battle. If all Masters here were to enter Japan openly, you all would be discovered by anyone from these two forces, thus barring you from moving freely in Japan.”

Jade Buddha and Blackface Buddha exchanged glances and both spoke at the same time, “We’ll have to trouble you, then.”

“Our speedboats are waiting at the stern. I’d like to ask the Masters here to come with us,” said Hei Xiong.

Quickly after, the five speedboats pierced through the waves and disappeared into the distant sea after they left the luxury liner that kept sailing towards the port. After half an hour of cruising, they quickly docked at another small port tens of kilometers away. There was no liner or cargo ships docked here aside from several fishing boats and only a few people were seen in the port.

Tang Xiu led Gong Wan’er and calmly stood on the shore while watching the five speedboats. As Hei Xiong and Xue Sha brought the 18 Eminent Monks of the Buddhist Sect ashore, he quickly came forward to greet them with a smile. “It’s been quite laborious for you all, Masters.”

Blackface Buddha slightly furrowed his brows as he observed Gong Wan’er behind Tang Xiu. He immediately looked at Tang Xiu and asked, “May I know who this benefactor is?”

Tang Xiu lightly smiled and quickly changed back his facial muscles to the original. Then, he smilingly said, “We haven’t seen each other for some time. Have you been well, Master Blackface Buddha?”

Blackface Buddha looked happily surprised and joined his palms in a salute. “Ah, it turns out to be Sect Master Tang. This monk has been well and sound. The others and I came to Japan this time due to you, so I’d like to thank Sect Master Tang as well for informing us about the remnants of Joyous Sect here.”

Tang Xiu waved and said, “We’re all straightforward people, so there’s no need to hide anything, Blackface Buddha. To be honest, it was also mainly due to my selfishness. The remnants of the Joyous Sect have been similarly acting like cancer cells in Japan and have become a huge threat to my subordinates here. That’s why I deemed it necessary to remove this cancer. Further, I also learned the deep enmity between the Joyous Sect and Buddhist Sect, so I asked you to come here to help me.”

“Sect Master Tang also has vassals in Japan?” Blackface Buddha blurted out in surprise.

“Lacking on cultivation resources is just a natural occurrence for us, cultivators, while Japan is rich with these resources. It’s just reasonable that I sent my people to gather cultivation resources here,” said Tang Xiu smilingly.

Blackface Buddha immediately understood and smilingly replied, “Amitabha. Sect Master Tang is still young yet very promising. I can expect to see the Tang Sect shake the cultivation world in the future. This is truly a blessing for me and the rest to fight side-by-side with you this time.”

“Let’s spare ourselves from the pleasantries, shall we? I’d like to ask all the masters here to get on the bus, please. We’ve provided many clothes on the bus and I’d like the Masters to get changed so we can avoid the eyes and ears of Joyous Palace and Japanese authority.”

Changing clothes?

The 18 Eminent Monks exchanged looks and all of them suddenly wore strange expressions after Hei Xiong led them to the mid-sized bus parked on the shore and saw the prepared fine clothes inside.

“Are we going to wear these… clothes?”

Blackface Buddha looked at Hei Xiong and asked while pointing at the clothes on the seat.

“Time was too tight, so we could only prepare these clothes, Master. I hope they are acceptable enough, and please refrain from refusing it.” Hei Xiong explained.

“Amitabha…”

In all honesty, each and every one of the 18 Eminent Monks was truly unwilling, yet they still cooperated and wore the clothes. The monks now were all covered in all brand-new suit, tie, and leather shoes. Hei Xiong and Xue Sha also prepared hats and sunglasses for them.

Tang Xiu and Gong Wan’er also followed and entered the bus. A happy smile suddenly sported on his face upon seeing the 18 Eminent Monks’ new appearances and sighed as he spoke, “Masters, let us all head to a safe place first. We’ll then discuss how to deal with the Joyous Palace and my subordinate will provide you a brief explanation about them.”

“Amitabha.”

The 18 Eminent Monks joined their palms and nodded.

And thus, the journey was filled with Gong Wan’er’s explanation session about the Joyous Palace, but the result made all the 18 monks dumbfounded and shocked.

“This is unbelievable.” Jade Buddha was the first to sober up and commented with a wry smile.

“It was a bit hard for me to accept, too.” Tang Xiu sighed. “I came to admit it after understanding some facts that these Joyous Sect’s remnants have indeed done unexpected things here. Also, I have met some of you back in the Himalayas and only now met the rest, and I believe it’s just impossible for us to get rid of the Joyous Palace with just the strength of 18 people.”

Jade Buddha nodded and said, “If Lady Benefactor’s description is true, then we wouldn’t be able to accomplish this mission indeed. However, Sect Master Tang has deep cultivation and unfathomable strength. Added those with your resourcefulness, I’m certain we can work together and remove this cancer.”