Chapter 351: From Wolves to Dogs
[Oh shit, those Wolfe Family guys are still alive?,] Hurricroak proclaimed in shock, [I figured they’d fall apart after their Grand Elder and their other elders got 86’d.]
[No no, remember that Jacob guy? I think he was still alive after the battle,] Nepherage added, [just horribly injured.]
[Oh shit, right…milord should have sent us to clean up after.]
[No…honor in…killing…injured…enemies…]
[Nah, he’s just too merciful.]
[Yeah…think we’ll have to get involved, or-]
[With how weak these guys are? Nah. Although, I am mildly worried about who they’re representing.]
[What you mean?]
[Check out their emblem.]
________________________________________________
‘Wait…right, that ledger!’
It had been weeks since Zhen Liu thought back to all the stuff that he had plunder from the Wolfe Family coffers, hell the clan got rid of most of it via liquidation, but there was one thing he remembered hanging onto: the business ledgers of the Wolfe Family.
Now the idea of holding onto the records of a fallen foe’s business dealings may seem weird in a world where cultivation was king and most policy was determined by the guy who had the biggest fist, but knowing who would be pissed off when a business partner suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet because of an unfortunate decision, was a good way of knowing who to avoid or plan to take care of later.
The Wolfe Family was a large blacksmithing family, so the amount of business relations they had were rather extensive, however, there was one name Zhen Liu saw that kept popping up in all of the books: The Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion.
Zhen Liu didn’t know who these guys were exactly, he never really thought to ask Logos and Pathos about these guys, but he did notice that they were one of the main customers for the Wolfe Family, at least that’s what he assumed based on the sheer amount of business transactions that involved these guys.
‘Well, at least now I know what happened to him after being ran out of town,’ Zhen Liu noted while staring at Donovan’s new clothes.
The man was wearing what appeared to be a fancier version of the uniforms that the rest of his posse was wearing, meaning that he must have had a decent position in the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion, or at least he was a step above peon.
Now, however, wasn’t the time to think about it.
________________________________________________
=Core condensation has been completed. [Core of Contemptuous Superiority] has been added. Please use at your earliest convenience.=
=I don’t think that’s the right word.=
=Maybe.=
________________________________________________
“What’s wrong Zhen Liu, shocked to hear the name of my faction?,” Donovan asked in a condescending tone.
Zhen Liu had gone silent after hearing the name of Donovan’s new faction, not because he was intimidated, but because he had no idea whom he was talking about.
Luckily for him, the people around them did.
“Wait…that guy just say they were part of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion? The one lead by Saint Bronze Claw?!”
“Wait, ain’t that one of the top three sects in the whole kingdom?!”
“Shit! We gotta get out of here!”
As soon as some of the bystanders heard the name “Bronze Claw”, a whole bunch of them begin to clear out or close out their stalls in fear.
‘Okay, so they’re probably bad news…and I’m ninety percent sure these motherfuckers came with someone…’
Thankfully, Zhen Liu wasn’t alone in dealing with these Bronze Claw guys.
“Xiao Liu! Xiao Feng! You guys okay?!”
“Fucking Donovan!”
Zhen Hai, Zhen Yue, Zhen Guo and Zhen Xing had initially wanted to cut in the moment that Zhen Tai got tossed through the table. Unfortunately, they were too far away and had a crowd of people blocking them, until the aforementioned crowd suddenly scattered out of fear.
Once they arrived, Zhen Hai, Zhen Guo and Zhen Xing immediately took up fighting positions next to Zhen Liu, while Zhen Yue went to go check on Zhen Tai. Zhen Feng had also managed to get up from the table at this point and also went to check on his battered cousin.
“Xiao Tai! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine Yue jiejie, I’m just getting started.”
“Dude you’re bleeding,” Zhen Feng noticed as he took out a jade bottle out of his pockets, “take this pill. It’s a Gut Mending Pill.”
“Thanks.”
“Well, well! Looks like the whole family is here!,” Donovan said with a hint of mirth, “what’s the occasion? Family vacation? Returning to the sea?”
“None of your business, mutt!,” Zhen Hai spat back, “what’s with the coat? Finally joined the circus?”
“Will you insolent yokels stop insulting the uniform of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion,” another of Donovan’s allies shouted in response.
“Easy, Harold.”
“But, brother!”
“Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion? Who the heck are they?”
“Don’t know,” Zhen Guo answered, “but their outfits are rather interesting.”
“Man, y’all need to keep your ears on the ground more,” Zhen Xing chided, “the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion is one of the three great sects in the Iron Heart Kingdom. Right next to the Golden Sutra Sect and the Cloudy Blade Pagoda.”
“Wait, what?,” Zhen Hai questioned,”How the hell did someone like Donovan end up working with them, better yet, how’d he end up as a ‘big brother’?”
“Hah! Like I would tell you lot how I rose to prominence. You’d have better luck teaching a monkey how to speak Omni-tongue before getting me to talk” Donovan mocked.
“Well if you’re not gonna tell us,” Zhen Liu interjected, “I could just assumed you showed the Pavilion leadership, oral skills that would put most ladies of the night and/or dogs to shame?”
Stunned silence formed between both the Zhen Clan scions and these so-called Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion disciples.
The former was shocked that Zhen Liu would suggest something so lewd while the latter looked digusted, with Donovan Wolfe having the most hateful look on his face.
“… alright you piss drinkers, I’ll regale with my story of work and renewal.”
‘Works everytime.’
________________________________________________
After you lot so rudely rejected my grandfather’s offer and unjustly ran my family out of town, the remnants of my family and I wandered the frontier for a spell before heading back to the heartland of the kingdom.
With our Grand Elder gone, most of our other warriors gone, and my father horribly injured, the Wolfe Family was on it’s last legs and we could have very much have been wiped out at any moment.
Many times we had been besieged by bandits and aether beasts, looking to devour the lot of us whole.
But then, a miracle happened.
A representative of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion, a close business partner of ours, happened upon our sorry state and decided to give us a helping hand.
Under his guidance, we traveled to the home base of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion and from there, our luck turned around.
It was a long journey, but by the end of it, my father had made a full recovery and then some,becoming one of the Pavilion’s elite enforcers, the Wolfe Family had decided to swore fealty to the Pavilion in gratitude for saving us in our darkest hour, and us members of the younger generation becoming inner and outer disciples of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion, with yours truly becoming an inner disciple of course.
________________________________________________
“And that, leads us to now,” Donovan finished, “proud disciples of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion, facing off against a lowly clan of yokels.”
Zhen Hai and the others looked a bit shock at these revelations.
Jacob Wolfe had fully recovered and was now stronger than ever?
The Wolfe Family had survived and were now members of one of the top three factions in all of the kingdom?
Donovan Wolfe, arguably one of the most distastefully arrogant people they had ever known, had become an elite inner disciple of one of these three big factions?
The only word that they could find to describe this situation was just…absurd.
The Zhen Clan scions would have been downright intimidated by such revelations, but then…Zhen Liu started laughing.
“Huh?”
This action confused everyone present, but it confused his cousins moreso than anyone else.
“Xiao Liu? Are you okay?,” Zhen Xing asked with concerned curiosity.
Zhen Liu laughed a couple more seconds before waving his hand to indicate he was okay.
“Yeah, no no, I’m totally fine,” Zhen Liu managed to say between bouts of laughter, “I just find it funny how the oh-so proud Wolfe Family, who tried to make a city bow to it’s knees in fealty to them and we’re once a hegemonic existence in the aforementioned city, is now saying they have become oh-so proud attack dogs of somebody else. It’s just…ironic to me. Wait, does that mean that funny little badge on your uniform is a dog tag?”
Surprisingly, none of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion disciples present decided to retort that statement, but that’s because the recipient of that statement was radiating so much anger that they decided it would be best for him to address the insult directly.
“Alright you lousy piss drinker, if you really wanted to die so bad, you could have just asked politely.”
“Hah!,” Zhen Liu laughed ,”Manners are for gentlemen and ladies, not puppy dogs.”
As soon as that insult left Zhen Liu’s lips, Donovan Wolfe rushed forward.
“I’ll rip out your insolent tongue!”
