His unconcerned tone set Bai Xiaosheng’s heart trembling, but he’d been a scam artist for a long time now. If he wasn’t shrewd enough to handle this, he’d never earn enough to put food on the table.
“You’ve met the Literati Star? That’s the biggest joke I’ve ever heard.”
Bai Xiaosheng cackled wildly, using laughter to disguise his discomfort, as well as test the veracity of Ye Zichen’s words.
But what astonished him was that throughout this entire process, Ye Zichen’s soft smile never once wavered.
No way! Has he really met the Literati Star?
Bai Xiaosheng couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. Then he grit his teeth, his beady blue eyes darting about. “Is what you just said true?”
“What, didn’t you say you were the Literati Star?”
Ye Zichen smiled amicably. His calm confidence left Bai Xiaosheng feeling somewhat uncertain.
What kind of luck did he have to run into someone who’d really met the Literati Star? Didn’t that mean this guy hosted a star as well?
“Ah, I’m not not feeling so good. I’ll answer your questions next time.”
With that, Bai Xiaosheng frantically scurried out of the private room. When they saw him, the other customers grimaced in disgust. Clearly, Bai Xiaosheng was infamous in Raging Flame City. It looked like someone had seen through his scams and he was trying to escape.
However, although they detested him, no one tried to stop him. It wasn’t because they were unwilling to get involved in others’ business. Rather, it was because although Bai Xiaosheng wasn’t particularly strong, he was a master escape artist.
He’d once scammed a human immortal expert. The expert had tried to catch him, but failed. Most of them had only just entered immortality. They couldn’t catch Bai Xiaosheng even if they wanted to.
A moment later, they glanced at Ye Zichen’s private room, their gaze someone pitying.
But at that very moment, Ye Zichen said calmly, “Did I say you could run?” Shortly after, he hooked his finger in Bai Xiaosheng’s direction.
Bai Xiaosheng had almost reached the door when his body flew back uncontrollably.
“An expert.” The other guests couldn’t help but murmur. They couldn’t tell how strong this expert was, but he’d caught Bai Xiaosheng, someone not even a human immortal could handle. Furthermore, he’d done so with no apparent effort. He was likely at least a sky immortal expert.
It was very rare to see this kind of master in Raging Flame City. When they considered Ye Zichen’s strength, several of them felt a sudden urge to see if they could become his subordinates.
Bang.
I was in the middle of running away, thought Bai Xiaosheng. Why am I back in my original seat?
When he realized he was back in Ye Zichen’s private room, Bai Xiaosheng instantly drooped.
“Boss, I was wrong,” he said.
Ye Zichen only smiled tightly at him. “Tell me: which star are you really?”
Although stories of the Emperor and Auxiliary stars had spread to the God Realm, countless time had passed since then. Almost no one knew the stories anymore.
Bai Xiaosheng said he was one of the Emperor Star’s Auxiliary Stars, and even specifically brought up the Literati Star.
Either he’d really done a lot of research, or he really was an Auxiliary Star.
If it was the former, it didn’t matter, but if it were the latter, Ye Zichen couldn’t let him just run away.
Bai Xiaosheng’s expression was bitter. He faced Ye Zichen and said grudgingly, “Sir, you must be one of the stars as well. This humble one truly is one of the Emperor Stars Auxiliary Stars, but I’m not one of the Four Great auxiliary stars. Instead, I’m the Subordinate Star who serves the Minister of the Left. A few years ago, a star suddenly descended into my body, and said it was a Subordinate Star. At the time, I was baffled and did some research into the history of the stars. The Subordinate Stars serve the Auxiliary Stars. I thought I was destined for good fortune; I was so happy, I could fart for joy. But then I only became poorer and poorer until finally, I couldn’t even afford to buy food. I had no choice but to earn a living scamming people.”
In order to win Ye Zichen’s trust, he rolled up his sleeves. There was a star imprint smack-dab in the middle of his arm.
“Not bad.”
Ye Zichen examined the star imprint and smiled in satisfaction. He never would have guessed this kid was Yin Shang’s assistant. Thing is, he still had no idea which Divine Mountain Yin Shang was on.
“Sir, your food is here.”
The clerk returned with food and drinks. Soon, the table was full of their inn’s signature dishes. When he left, he glared warningly at Bai Xiaosheng, who only laughed bitterly in response. By now, it was no longer a matter of pulling off a scam or not. It was a matter of survival.
He carefully evaluated Ye Zichen’s expression, then heard….
“Eat up!”
“Ah?” Bai Xiaosheng froze in astonishment.
“I ordered this food for you. Once you’ve eaten, you can stick with me. Didn’t you say you hosted a Subordinate Star? Well, good for you! Your good fortune has arrived!”
“Re….really?”
“Of course! Now hurry up and eat before the food gets cold.”
As a Subordinate Star, he was destined to serve the Auxiliary Stars wholeheartedly. When Bai Xiaosheng’s star descended, this was the only information he received.
He’d waited for many bitter years, yet never found the Minister of the Left. Instead, he’d practically starved to death.
In his heart, he snorted coldly. Why wait for some “Minister of the Left?” That was no way near as good as working for this powerful expert!
When he considered this, he cursed inwardly, Who cares about ‘Subordinate Stars?’ or some ‘Minister of the Left?’ I want nothing to do with any of it!
……
In the Axe Gang’s main hall, there were two crossed, enormous axes carved into the wall.
Beneath them was a throne with the same symbol carved into its back. A tall and stalwart man sat atop it.
“I called you here because there’s something we need to discuss,” said the man. This was none other than the leader of the Axe Gang’s base in Raging Flame City, Base Leader Huang Aogu. Zhao Ye and the other captains and vice-captains were there as well.
“A few days ago, our base’s Captain Zhao and Scarface were robbed. Have you heard about this?”
When he heard this, Zhao Ye’s expression grew incomparably dark. He’d stolen from others all his life. Now someone had stolen from him instead! To him, this was an unerasable shame.
The other captains nodded. Zhao Ye had made quite a fuss; they’d all heard about this situation.
“Since you all know already, there’s no need to repeat myself. However, I’m sure we all already know our gang’s core tenets: we can rob others, but they can never rob us. Now two of our captains have been robbed. They’re clearly provoking our Axe Gang. We must avenge Captain Zhao Ye and Vice-Captain Scar. As a result, I’ve called you all back to base. Who among you are willing to follow me into battle?”
