Stealing The Heavens
chapter-22

On the evening of the same day, Wu Qi left the Mayor’s Mansion, alone.

The Mayor, Yi Yan, was still weeping and wailing. He really felt a deep heartache for his losses. Yi Xing and the other were puzzled by this wild burglary as well. Therefore, they didn’t have any reaction to Lu Chengfeng’s decisions. With the exception of the fact that the number of guards on duty at night was doubled, the Mayor’s Mansion was no different than before.

He walked across the two main streets of Little Meng City, then through many alleys and backstreet. From the experience inherited from Wu Wang, Wu Qi made sure there was no one following him. Only then did he go back to the main street and found a restaurant, and bought two jars of best wine - ‘Yellow Jelly’, together with three roast chickens and a bunch of delicious stewed meat. He didn’t know what the meat actually was, but he did know it is tasty.

Wu Qi had quite a bit of money with him, and before he came out, Lu Chengfeng had also given him ten gold coins. That was why he only bought the most expensive stuff. Just this wine and food alone had cost him twenty-five silver coins, making the owner of the restaurant a very happy man.

After getting a wooden stick from the owner of the restaurant, Wu Qi carried the food and wine on his shoulders, walking slowly toward the Vigorous Tiger Residence, the home base for Zhang Hu and his men.

The sun was quickly falling beneath the horizon and wisps of smoke rose continuously from the chimneys in Little Meng City. This world was full of rich energies. Therefore, rice and grains grew extremely well. When they were cooked, the aroma of rice filled the air of Little Meng City. Wu Qi walked along the main street while carrying those wines and dishes. The aroma of rice stimulated his appetite and made him feel comfortable, relaxed, and peaceful.

A tune was coming from afar; a girl was singing in one of the houses somewhere. Although it was a simple melody, the girl had a beautiful and sweet voice. The tune was carried by the breeze and reached afar, just like the taste of a refreshing and sweet side dish, adding an exotic touch to the aroma of rice.

"Perfect, perfect!"

Wu Qi narrowed his eyes and gazed around like a thief. He saw quite a lot of tradesmen walking by with pretty women by their sides, either going home or to an inn. The rich energy in this world had made the ladies really pretty and sexy. In Le Xiaobai’s experience, these ladies were the best of the best, and would have scored at least 95 out of 100 points back on Earth.

Staring at these attractive ladies, Wu Qi suddenly breathed out a long sigh. If Le Xiaobai could have followed him, would that sex maniac faint because of extreme happiness? The ladies here were so much better than those girls back on Earth.

Wu Qi smacked his lips and murmured, "I’ll take revenge for you all, trust me! I’ll definitely destroy the whole clan of Green City!"

Little Meng City was not that big. After fifteen minutes of walking, Wu Qi had arrived at the Ferocious Tiger Residence located at the east side of the city.

This was a building with a front and back yard, and an acre wide field right in front of it. A yellow flag painted with a black tiger was waving in the breeze, hanging high up on a pole that stood right in front of the field. A few men with blades at their waists were sitting on the stone steps in front of the entrance, chit chatting while throwing a stern glance over to those who passed by.

When they saw Wu Qi was coming to their way, these men stood up and cupped their fists out towards him. Showing them the same gesture, Wu Qi carried the wines and dishes and entered into the front yard. Those men were the barbarian hunters Wu Qi had met in Meng village, and they considered him a friend.

When he entered the front yard, he saw a big stone slab in the middle of the field. Zhang Hu and few other men were sitting on the ground beside the stone slab. There were few jars of liquor at the side, and a lot of roast meat and vegetables on the slab. On both sides of the field were two rows of rooms, and the atmosphere was pretty noisy too. Those barbarian hunters were having fun while eating inside the rooms.

The sound of women moaning with pleasure could be heard from a few rooms, Wu Qi even saw some sexy ladies laughing while being carried by these barbarian hunters into their rooms, then the same moaning sound started to resound from within those rooms.

With a smile on his face, Wu Qi walked to the side of the stone slab, holding his fist toward Zhang Hu and bowing deeply as he said, "Big brother Zhang Hu, you guys really know how to enjoy life!"

Zhang Hu tilted up his head and drank a bowl of liquor, then slammed the bowl onto the stone slab and said with a dark face, "Bullshit! Before you came along, we were enjoying our life here, eating, drinking, and banging women. Now that is the life! But, now that you’re here, how can we continue this pleasure?"

Taking out the Green Flame Skeleton from his sleeve, Zhang Hu threw the skeleton with a talisman on it at Wu Qi.

"I suppose the Bursary Office is under the control of that young master from Lu family? According to the market price of a lower tier magical item, just pay me one hundred gold coins for it! And this is because this is Little Meng City. If I bring it to other bigger city, a lower tier magical item won’t just get me this little amount of money, right?"

Grabbing the Green Flame Skeleton and putting it into his sleeve, Wu Qi placed the wines and dishes he bought onto the stone slab, then broke the clay seal of the wine jar with his palm.

A rich aroma burst out from the wine jar. Zhang Hu and the other men stood up together with their eyes glowing immediately.

"What? ‘Yellow Jelly’? Twenty years Yellow Jelly which costs ten silver coins a jar… Damn, it’s been a long time since I drank it!"

While looking at these wines, these few adults started to fight for the wine jar. In the end, Zhuang Hu, who had the biggest muscles, defeated his opponents, getting to enjoy a half jar of this fine wine alone. The rest of five men could only share the remaining one and a half jar of wine. These men were good drinkers, and the two big jars of wine were gone in less than fifteen minutes.

Letting out a satisfied burp, Zhang Hu stared straight at Wu Qi with a smile, "Because of these two jars of fine wine, you got yourself fifteen minutes of time to say anything you want, so you better be quick. If you can’t finish in fifteen minutes, then don’t waste your time!"

Sitting beside the stone slab with his legs crossed and facing toward Zhang Hu, Wu Qi said indifferently, "You’re happy now, really happy… But, when you get older and your body becomes weaker and weaker, can you still be happy like now? There is nothing you can depend on when you get old. No one will support you when you get old, either. Will you still be able to be happy at that time?"

The men’s expressions changed. The wine bowl in Zhang Hu’s palm cracked and shattered.

"When I become older and weaker, there is nothing I can depend on… no one will support me."

Zhang Hu repeated what Wu Qi said with a thoughtful eye, and his body started to tremble. The other men who heard Wu Qi also had their faces darkened; they were demoralized by the heavy speech.

Barbarian hunters, their life seemed free and happy, but the money they earned was all from fights of life and death. Every time these barbarian hunters went into the mountains to hunt for barbarians, some of their brothers would be gone forever. Which guy here didn’t have a single scar or injury on them? How long could they continue working this risky career? Would they still have the strength and spirit to fight with those barbarians after they had reached the point where their bodies started to deteriorate?

There were so many famous barbarian hunters whose final destination was either death or to wane away into nothingness.

What Wu Qi said was cruel. It was like a sharp dagger which ripped away the last line of defense in these men’s mind, stabbing right into their hearts.

Grabbing a jar of wine beside him, Zhang Hu drank up half a jar of hard liquor and, with a bitter smile, looked at Wu Qi and said, "Brother Wu Qi, you really know how to talk!"

Throwing the wine jar onto the ground, Zhang Hu became agitated. Then he snapped, "But, even if we want to work for a young master from a wealthy family, there are so many of them to choose from. Lu Chengfeng, the eldest son of the Liyang Lu family, was banished to the outlands; he is just a broken-down young master. What advantages can we get if we work for him?"

Wu Qi folded his arms and stared at Zhang Hu, who was just blowing off steam, and said with a playful laugh, "Helping one when they have nothing means much, helping one when they have everything means little. If we work for Lu Chengfeng now, we can work together and either kill the current Mayor, or chase him out of here. After that, Little Meng City will be in our hands!"

Wu Qi extended his hand and pointed around while laughing aloud, "As long as we have Little Meng City in our control, we’ll control the eight thousand City Guards as well. Then, we’ll train a few hundred death sworn. With all of this, even though he was a broken-down young master, we can still make him into something big!"

Zhang Hu and few of his brothers looked at each other, seeming to be tempted.

Wu Qi let out a loud laugh, "Think of it this way… With all the materials and resources produced in Little Meng City, what is the amount of money we can collect each year? In this outland, we can easily build an army, consisting of thirty thousand to fifty thousand soldiers, without anyone knowing."

Zhang Hu took a deep breath, stared at Wu Qi and said with a deep voice, "What you just said was a bold statement. How dare you!"

Wu Qi didn’t stare back at Zhang Hu. He just leisurely raised his head and stared at the moon high up in the sky while smiling, and said, "The higher of risk, the greater the reward. If big brother Zhang Hu decides he wants to spend the rest of his life as an ordinary man, then just forget that I was even here today."

Reaching his hand to the Green Flame Skeleton in his sleeve, Wu Qi simply threw it on the ground, stepping on it and crushing it into ashes.

"A lower-tier magical item? This is nothing!"

Wu Qi took out few egg-sized pearls which he had stolen from Yi Yan’s secret chamber, then he threw them onto the stone slab. The pearls were spinning and reflecting the moonlight, creating series of light gleams that looked magnificent.

"Just these few pearls alone are each worth more than ten thousand gold coins. A lower-tier magical item, is it really worth the time and effort of a hero like you, brother Zhang Hu, to fight with those bastards? That Huo Biao, and the Bursary Officer of the Yi family… in my mind, they are no better than pigs and dogs. Big brother, are you really willing to fight with those foolish bastards over such worthless things?"

Zhang Hu took a deep breath, then roared deeply from his chest. He stood up suddenly, stared into Wu Qi’s eyes and yelled out, "Wu Qi, I am convinced by you! Fine, fine, fine… Let me, Zhang Hu, have another bet, giving myself a chance to win a prosperous future. You better not let my brothers and me down!"

As Wu Qi turned around and left Vigorous Tiger Residence, he smiled and said, "I never let down any of my friends and brothers! Big brother Zhang Hu, the new Recruitment Officer, please report yourself to the General’s Office tomorrow morning!"

Throwing backhandedly, the official memo signed by Lu Chengfu, that appointed Zhang Hu as Recruitment Officer, feathered through the distance of over hundred feet and dropped in front of Zhang Hu.

After having a great drinking session with Zhang Hu and spending some time on talking them into joining him, Wu Qi left the Vigorous Tiger Residence only to find that it was already midnight. There was barely anybody on the streets now. Wu Qi staggered back to the Mayor’s Mansion, pretending he was drunk and bumping into things here and there. He stumbled back to his room with the smell of alcohol all over his body.

After taking a bath under the serving of his two serving ladies, Wu Qi lay on his bed and fell asleep.

After waiting for both the serving ladies to fall asleep and the surroundings to become completely silent, Wu Qi sneaked out from his bed just like last night, and pushed the acupuncture points on the serving ladies to make sure they wouldn’t wake up when he was not there.

Just like the night before, Wu Qi covered himself in mist with the Innate Water Energy Shift, then went into the residence of Yi Xing and the other siblings of Yi Yan.

The Officer of Records, the Officer of Internal Affairs, and the Officer of Security, all the money and valuables in their residences were not even half of what Yi Yan had. It only took Wu Qi around an hour to steal everything from their storehouses, together with all the jewelry of their wives.

After some restless hours, Wu Qi had buried all the stolen money and valuables in the same hole in the woods. He carefully covered the hole with some dried leaves and wooden sticks, and only then did he happily return to the Mayor’s Mansion. None of the guards even noticed him, and the dozens of fierce dogs on guard never let out a single bark.

Early the next morning, three extremely loud screams burst out from the backyard of the Mayor’s Mansion.

"My money, my money, my money!"