Wu Youren had to admit he was somewhat taken aback. "You know about the Life-and-Death Knot too?"
This piece of news truly baffled him.
It wasn't particularly strange that they knew of the Life-and-Death Knot; what was strange was that even after knowing he was covered by them, they still dared to come looking for him.
Yet the male martial artist gave quite an outrageous reply. "If the Life-and-Death Knot can collect protection money from you, so can we!"
*You're really courting your own death!* Wu Youren shook his head speechlessly. "You don't dare wager on hunting the Guizu?"
The male martial artist gave a contemptuous smirk. "How could the life of a mere man of Jin even compare to that of a noble citizen of Great Liang?"
*You truly have a knack for courting death!* Wu Youren was completely at a loss for words, simply pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
It wasn't as if he had never experienced regional prejudice or personal insults before, but someone deranged to this extent was genuinely rare.
Cynthia felt that his words were rather inappropriate as well, yet she herself was a native of Liang.
What made her even more curious was, "How do you know about the Life-and-Death Knot?"
That was a power that didn't even put the Mirage Sea League in its eyes!
If they really could confirm that Wu Youren was under the wing of the Life-and-Death Knot, how would they dare be so provocative?
The male martial artist cast a sidelong glance at her. "Didn't you say so yourself?"
He wasn't making things up; Cynthia truly had mentioned it herself. That was because the last time, the Life-and-Death Knot had refused to give any face to the Mirage Sea League.
She had heard of the Life-and-Death Knot before, but wasn't certain of their true strength, so she had asked around among her friends in the league.
Hearing him answer like this, realization dawned on her, yet she couldn't help but stare in astonishment. "Knowing it's the Life-and-Death Knot, you're still demanding protection money?"
"What's so shocking about that?" the male martial artist snorted coldly. "If others can take it, why can't we?"
He truly wasn't trying to pick a fight with anyone; rather, he had done this more than once and had long formed his own way of thinking.
Sally was exceptionally close to grand knights—one was her father, and the other was her second elder brother!
Even if there was a grand knight backing the Life-and-Death Knot, so what? Would they really come to blows over such a trifling matter?
They were only targeting Wu Youren as an individual and weren't forbidding anyone else from collecting protection fees from him—it was purely a matter of each taking their own share!
As such, these people couldn't even be bothered to look into what kind of organization the Life-and-Death Knot actually was!
They had merely confirmed that, yes, they had heard the name before, and it was definitely not some blazing, unfathomably massive powerhouse!
Visible astonishment showed on Cynthia's face. "You're just going to double-charge him like this?"
This somewhat broke the bottom line of what was acceptable for a martial artist.
"That's not for you to manage!" The male martial artist paid her no further heed, looking instead toward Wu Youren. "You have three days!"
"When the time comes, if you can't hand over the protection money, face the consequences yourself!"
Having said that, he turned and led his people away, not bothering in the slightest to see Wu Youren's reaction.
Cynthia let out a worried sigh. "What should we do now? How about you follow me and hide for a couple of days?"
"No need to worry about it," Wu Youren replied casually, his face showing no sign of distress.
At this moment, he was turning a thought over in his mind: *Why does trouble find me every single time Cynthia is present?*
Once or twice could be called a coincidence. If it happened every time, would he still be a normal person if he didn't harbor some suspicion?
"Then go find the Life-and-Death Knot," Cynthia said, unsure of how else to handle the situation.
However, she had looked into that faction quite seriously.
The organization's background was far more terrifying than ordinary students could imagine. At one point, she had even begun to wonder if she had misunderstood something.
Bluntly speaking, she didn't believe that Sally, even with two grand knights as relatives, could withstand the Life-and-Death Knot.
It was just that she had no dealings with them, so she could only leave it to the youth of Jin to handle.
Wu Youren gave a slight nod, unable to keep from murmuring inwardly, *Is she... pushing the situation forward?*
It truly wasn't a matter of seeing danger behind every bush. In an environment like this, he had no right to let down his guard. The slightest carelessness could land him in an inescapable abyss.
That evening, he used his wrist-com to call the burly man—a contact he had only added the last time.
He didn't ask for help, merely asking, "If someone comes to my door deliberately picking a fight, do I have the right to fight back?"
The thickset man was clearly caught off guard. After asking a couple of questions, he finally got the general gist of the matter.
Once it clicked, he asked with no small amount of astonishment, "Do you really think Great Liang will tolerate a man of Jin resorting to violence within the Martial Academy?"
"At worst, it's a life for a life," Wu Youren answered without a second thought. "At least I won't bring shame to Jin."
That male martial artist today had indeed provoked him. But as for trading a life for a life... he wasn't that naive either!
The thickset man paused for a moment, then actually laughed. "Is this supposed to be a threat?"
"Where would I get the right to threaten you?" Wu Youren replied calmly. "Mainly, I just can't produce this sum of money."
The other man was quite right; Wu Youren truly held that line of thought. If a foreign hostage's safety could not be guaranteed in Great Liang, what would other nations think?
It wasn't that hostages couldn't be killed. Dying at the hands of the Liang government was as simple as pinning any random crime on them.
Yet losing his life to a local street gang—wouldn't that show that the order of Great Liang was somewhat unraveling?
Of course, the Liang government might not necessarily care about such a reputation—no one should think too highly of themselves.
Still, it wasn't a good thing after all. If it could be avoided, who would willingly invite trouble for no reason?
"Heh, no money?" The thickset man let out a cold laugh. "Your money... the lion's share is in the hands of your prince!"
Every hostage had to surrender sixty percent of their household allowance. Eight years had passed; did they really think the guards of Great Liang were sitting around doing nothing?
Yet this man's words carried an ulterior motive, mainly aimed at pointing out where the true debt lay—Liang wasn't the one screwing him over the hardest!
Wu Youren did not take the bait. "I just want to ask, if I encounter an attack, can I strike back?"
Instead of answering, the thickset man countered, "Are you asking us to step in and handle it?"
*Isn't that obvious?* Wu Youren could naturally make such a demand—*I paid protection money, did you take it for nothing?*
Yet he was well aware that even for such a just and reasonable demand, he had no standing to raise it.
The other party was not an organization that reasoned with people, and he himself lacked the qualifications to demand reason from them!
In fact, the moment he opened his mouth, there was a high likelihood it would spawn new complications.
Therefore, he replied, "Whether your side intends to act will not be swayed by me. I am not worthy!"
"However, the name of the Life-and-Death Knot truly doesn't seem to command much respect... My apologies, I meant no offense!"
These words carried considerable weight. No matter what kind of powerful agency it was, who could tolerate being looked down upon by others?
*What a sharp tongue...* Even the thickset man found it somewhat hard to bear. "Asking for help, and you don't even know how to say something soft?"
Wu Youren refused to follow his lead. "I am merely consulting you on a question. I have no standing to beg for favors."
"Fine, I've got it." Faced with someone who offered neither compromise nor opening, the thickset man felt somewhat helpless. "I'll get back to you later."
Wu Youren was somewhat surprised. "You can't give an answer right now?"
He truly couldn't! The thickset man understood very well that the nature of his profession did not allow for such operations.
Every hostage who held the potential to be turned was a precious resource. Even though his authority was great enough, he could not recklessly make a final decision!
The human heart was the hardest thing in the world to fathom; even a seasoned hand might overlook certain angles.
Therefore, this matter had to go through internal procedures.
Of course, he would never explain it that way. "I've only heard your side of the story. Shouldn't I investigate the specifics of the situation?"
Wu Youren figured that now that he had brought the matter to light, he could simply wait quietly for the outcome.
Sally's people had given him three days. Such a window should be more than enough for the Life-and-Death Knot to conduct a thorough investigation.
Yet facts proved that he had oversimplified things once again. By the night of the third day, there was still no word back.
*Still trying to break me like a hawk?* Wu Youren was at a loss for words. These people were truly utterly unscrupulous in their dealings!
Fortunately, he hadn't placed all his hopes on them. Around his living quarters, he had set up a large number of mechanisms meant for early warning and ensnaring enemies.
Even if the Life-and-Death Knot gave no response, his previous actions counted as filing a report, allowing him to consider his defense justified.
Of course, whether it was justified or not wasn't up to him to decide, but he had fulfilled his obligation to notify them after all.
On the morning of the fourth day, the male martial artist appeared again with his men, arriving right on schedule to collect the fee.
This was a tactic in itself, meant to apply immense pressure—*we're watching you.*
Wu Youren's reply was simply, "I gave the money to the Life-and-Death Knot. Go ask them for it."
Yet this kind of deflection truly didn't work. For people who collected protection money, who didn't know this trick?
The male martial artist made it starkly clear that they would not go asking anyone else.
Since you gave our money to someone else, say no more—hope you can get a good night's sleep tonight!
They could have struck right then, but doing so in broad daylight would somewhat damage Red Pine's reputation.
The other fellow also had a decent relationship with the area administrator. A viscount's daughter might not care about an academy odd-job laborer, but... why make a scene?
Waiting until nightfall to make a move showed consideration for everyone's face!
In the afternoon, the administrator came by to announce that vegetable deliveries could resume, starting tomorrow!
He even inquired curiously, "Those people who came this morning—what kind of deal did you reach with them?"
Wu Youren was entirely certain that the man's question was born purely of idle curiosity, without the slightest intention of lending a hand.
If the man wanted to help him, this wouldn't have been his reaction.
Wu Youren replied offhandedly, "We didn't reach any agreement. I'm not so easily frightened by such trivial matters."
"Then you'd better be careful," the administrator warned after all.
"Try not to go out anytime soon. Nearby, I can at least look out for you... That's better than nothing."
He still possessed a shred of responsibility, even if it wasn't much.
However, considering the "Jin" label stamped on Wu Youren, such a shred of responsibility was already hard to come by.
"Understood. Thank you very much," the youth of Jin replied, showing that he truly appreciated the gesture.
Night eventually arrived, indifferent to human will.
Just as dusk fell, Wu Youren raised an eyebrow inside the house, and with a flick of his hands, he hurled two small daggers.
Whoever arrived at this hour could only be an enemy; he didn't even need to ask who it was!
The next instant, several jets of liquid sprayed out—not water, but oil!
"Wait!" a woman's voice called out. It was Cynthia's voice. "It's me!"
"Leave!" Wu Youren's voice was exceptionally icy. "Otherwise, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
"Are you trying to commit arson?" a cold voice rang out. "You're courting death!"
Chapter 43