Chapter 92: The Bald Man Escapes

Lillian Xu was busy celebrating in the hidden realm, while elsewhere someone was living in misery worse than death.

The clan head of the Sterling family had not even escaped through the secret tunnel with his sons and grandsons before they were captured. Men, women, young and old—more than three hundred members of the family were seized. It was, for all practical purposes, utter annihilation.

But that was not the worst of it.

The real calamity was that the mystics who had helped the Sterling family harm others suffered backlash of their own.

And not from one or two lives, but from more than a hundred—people blessed with strong fortunes and auspicious destinies, and some who might even have possessed great merit.

The mystic who had laid the formation died on the spot. The other mystics who had assisted were all struck to varying degrees as well.

At the same time, the retribution the Sterling family had sown was returning upon their own heads.

From this moment on, whether in the island nation or in Harbor City, every member of the Sterling family would be visited by backlash. That was the deadliest part of all.

Of course, the family had no idea yet how grave the consequences would be. That was a matter for later.

As for the bald man who had lost an entire warehouse full of treasures, he had originally wanted to seek advice from the clan head. But when he approached the Sterling family residence, he discovered someone keeping watch.

At such a critical moment, who would be watching the Sterlings? What sort of people could they be?

The bald man almost instinctively retreated, and kept retreating.

Only after he had put a safe distance between himself and the place did he turn and run, the fear on his face never once fading.

He did not know how far he had run before he finally sank weakly against a wall, his terror still undiminished, in fact even stronger than before.

It was over. It was all over.

That was the only thought in his head.

“Boss, what do we do now?” asked the long-faced underling, sitting down beside him in a hoarse whisper.

His heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it might burst from his throat. The long-faced man knew things had become serious; their situation was extremely dangerous.

“Boss, let’s run. Let’s get out of Wucheng, out of this country. Let’s flee as far as we can.”

The more he spoke, the firmer his voice grew. In his mind, there was only one path left: escape.

The county was full of soldiers now. If they did not seize the dark of night to flee, once dawn came, they would have no chance left.

No, they had to run. They must run. Right now. At once.

“Run?” The bald man wiped the sweat from his face, finally finding his voice again as his mind gradually steadied.

Yes. He had to run. He could not sit here and wait for death.

But where could he go? And how could he possibly get out of the country?

Without the proper papers, they would not be able to go anywhere.

Papers.

Yes, the papers.

The bald man looked at the long-faced underling and asked, “Where did you put the letters of authorization we got before? Are you carrying them with you?”

The long-faced man shook his head. “I didn’t bring them. Some are at my home, and the rest are at House Eleven.”

House Eleven was their stronghold, and also a place the bald man frequented often.

If this had been before, the long-faced underling would have been more than willing to go there and fetch things. But now, the long-faced man admitted that he was frightened too.

“Boss, let’s get out of the county first. Once we’re out, won’t it be easy enough to find papers?”

His eyes rolled as an idea struck him. “We can get them issued at the local production brigade office.”

Have them issued by the brigade office?

The bald man thought that might work. He had many underlings among the various brigades below.

Backed by the Sterling family, he had power and influence; whichever brigade he went to, he would be welcomed with enthusiasm. Those brigade leaders were all obedient.

Not to mention a few papers—getting them to hand over their official seal would be effortless.

The bald man looked around. There had originally been more than a dozen underlings following him, but now only the long-faced one remained.

Alas. Truly, how miserable.

He sighed inwardly and said nothing more. He would follow his underling’s advice and leave the county first.

The two of them moved furtively forward. Thanks to their familiarity with the terrain, they actually managed to slip out of the county town.

Once outside, they disguised themselves and entered the Liu Family Brigade not far away.

The Liu Family Brigade had once been Liu Family Village, where everyone bore the surname Liu and the whole village was tightly knit.

The brigade leader’s son, Liu Xiaohu, was one of the bald man’s underlings. He had not followed the bald man around the previous night and thus escaped disaster.

When he suddenly saw the bald man appear, Liu Xiaohu was quite surprised. In his mind, the bald man had always seemed imposing. When had he ever looked so wretched?

“Big brother, what happened to you?” Liu Xiaohu asked.

“Something came up. Xiaohu, first arrange a safe place for us to rest and send over some food, then get a few blank letters of authorization.”

The bald man yawned. He had been running all night in fear, tired and hungry, and all he wanted now was to eat something and rest for a while.

Liu Xiaohu answered and quickly brought them to his family’s old residence. It was remote and dilapidated, so under normal circumstances no one ever came there.

After settling them in, Liu Xiaohu returned home to get food. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He had the strong suspicion that something major had happened—something he did not know about.

Uneasy, he took the food to find his father, and the father and son muttered to each other for a while.

The brigade leader was an old hand at reading situations, and immediately thought of the gunfire that had come from the county seat. Could something have happened to the Sterling family?

Once that thought arose, he could no longer sit still.

But if he were to act against the bald man, he did not dare. He knew very well how much power the Sterling family wielded in Wucheng County.

This was not something a lowly brigade leader like him could get involved in, nor dared to.

After much consideration, the brigade leader brought his son back to the brigade office and, without another word, stamped more than a dozen blank letters of authorization and handed them over.

He then took out twenty yuan and instructed in a low voice, “Give these to him. If he doesn’t ask you for money, then don’t bring it up yourself. Understand?”

Seeing the pure, clear eyes of his son, which somehow still managed to radiate a strong and sincere stupidity, the brigade leader gritted his teeth and continued.

“The Sterling family must have run into trouble, and not a small one. At a time like this, if we go near them, we may drag the whole family down. Do you understand?”

Liu Xiaohu shook his head. When he saw his father glare, he hurriedly nodded, very much wanting to say, I am not stupid. How could I not understand?

But he did not dare say it, fearing his old man would beat him.

“If he tries to fish for information about what’s happening outside, you just say you saw soldiers passing along the road.

“If he asks you for money, give him all the cash on you. Don’t say anything else. Got it?”

Liu Xiaohu blinked a few times. He seemed to understand, yet also seemed not to. It made the brigade leader seethe with frustration.

This son of his was hopelessly stupid. From now on, he would have to keep him close and never let him run around with those loafers again.

If he kept mingling with them, he might not keep his life.

Still unaware that he had been marked, Liu Xiaohu nodded under the brigade leader’s murderous stare.

Enough said. He would just do as he was told, all right?

Sneaking into the old residence, Liu Xiaohu pushed open the door to the main room. Before he could even call out, a hand clamped over his mouth.

He was nearly scared out of his wits.

Good heavens. It looked like his father had been right. Something really had happened.

Steadying himself, Liu Xiaohu looked at the bald man with eyes bright and clear—and faintly stupid.

The bald man lifted his chin slightly, and the long-faced underling let go. Only then did the bald man ask in feigned irritation, “What took you so long?”