CHAPTER 504: CHAPTER 504. FIRST TRIBUTE

"This... This can’t be!" Gao Dingbu exclaimed. "There must have been a mistake!"

Amon wasn’t surprised by Gao Dingbu’s reaction. Denial was often the first response in such situations. He let Gao Dingbu slowly accept reality.

Gao Dingbu walked closer to the corpses. He wasn’t mistaken. It was truly Gao Tien.

"No! there must be a mistake!" He repeated.

"Hundreds of soldiers saw eight people with black suits save the rebel elder. One corpse is with the army, the other seven are with me," Amon said. "They might be masked when they committed the deed, but the suits are unmistakable. Experts can check and see if the wounds in his body match the damage in the suit. This will prove that the suit was not placed on him post-mortem. Plus, the court will have my testimony as the one who unmasked him when I chased his party and the rebel elder."

Gao Dingbu slowly backed away from the corpse. He dispiritedly sat back in his chair. His pose was like something heavy was weighing his back. His head was drooped when he spoke, "What will you do with his corpse?"

"That will depend on you," Amon replied. "If I present him to the court, the Gao Clan will no doubt be identified as a rebel sympathizer. With the rebels eradicated everywhere, the kingdom would not risk another clan revitalizing the rebellion. The Gao Clan will be wiped out, even if it cannot be proven that Gao Tien acted on the Gao Clan’s behalf."

"He did not do it on Gao Clan’s behalf!" Gao Dingbu exclaimed.

"I know. Gao Tien did it because he is following someone’s order," Amon said.

"Who?" Gao Dingbu asked.

"That is my secret," Amon answered. "However, the court might not see it that way. As I said, the kingdom will not take the risk when the country is still celebrating the victory against the rebels. In other words, if Gao Tien’s corpse reaches the court, Gao Clan will be done for."

Gao Dingbu didn’t respond for quite a while. Amon let him ponder in silence. It was Gao Lan who spoke next. She sat in Amon’s chair and gently placed a hand on Gao Dingbu.

"Uncle, though I hate most people in the clan for expelling me, You are one of the few who I still have respect for. You are always kind to me. I no longer care if the Gao Clan rises or falls, but I will be sad seeing you suffer like this. I know the well-being of the Gao Clan is important to you. Why not take a step back? I promise you. We will not take advantage of the Gao Clan. If you treat us well, we will treat you well."

Gao Dingbu lifted his head and looked at Gao Lan. He looked even older than when Amon and Gao Lan entered this hall. He didn’t say anything. He just stared at Gao Lan in silence.

Finally, he let out the longest sigh any human could do and asked Amon, "What do you want from us?"

"I’ve said it before. Submit to the Lin Hei Sect," Amon replied.

Gao Dingbu’s long face returned, but it didn’t last long. His expression softened, and said, "I guess I don’t have a choice in this matter."

"You don’t," Amon stated. "It’s either submission or the annihilation of your entire clan."

Gao Lan pressed Gao Dingbu’s hand and said, "Don’t worry, uncle. I promise you, as long as you willingly work with us, we will help Gao Clan grow even better than before."

"I can promise you that as well," Amon added. "If you don’t try anything funny, I promise your clan will be number one in this capital. The Xian Clan will only be hoping to catch your dust."

Gao Dingbu looked at Amon upon that statement.

Amon responded, "Your expression says you are not convinced. I do not blame you, but ask yourself, can you ever imagine the Lin Hei Sect and the Demon Gang growing to this extent four years ago? This fact is your assurance to my promise."

Gao Dingbu let out a sigh again. "All right. I submit to the Lin Hei Sect. I will gather all the clan elders to convey my decision. There will be oppositions, but I will make them yield to this decision."

"I hope for Gao Clan’s sake you have no problem persuading them," Amon said. He stored the corpses in his black space ring. "There is one other thing. Take this demand as your first tribute to the Lin Hei Sect."

"What do you mean?" Gao Dingbu asked.

"I want ten million aer stones," Amon stated.

Gao Dingbu frowned. "... In case you haven’t noticed, our clan has undergone a difficult time. We don’t have that many aer stones."

Amon smiled. He said, "I believe that is true for your coffers. However, the Gao Clan is a clan that has flourished for a long time. You should have a reserved fund stored for emergencies. I don’t believe you if you said the emergency fund doesn’t contain at least ten million aer stones."

Gao Dingbu’s frown turned deeper. He exclaimed, "That reserve is for emergency only!"

"Which is precisely what this is," Amon returned. "You pay the tribute, or I hand over Gao Tien’s body to the court. If preventing your clan from perishing is not considered an emergency, I don’t know what is."

"Ugh... This is robbery!" Gao Dingbu exclaimed.

"As long as the Gao Clan cooperates, you will get that amount back from the profits of doing business with us," Amon said. "If considering it tribute makes your stomach turn, then look at it as an investment."

Gao Dingbu leaned back in his chair. He felt so helpless. It felt so unreal. The man before him was just a Mystic Stage cultivator. As a Peak Spirit Stage cultivator, he could easily kill someone like Amon. Upon that thought, he eyed Amon. If he could slay Amon and take his ring, he could eliminate the proof of Gao Tien’s involvement in rescuing the rebel elder.

Amon detected his killing intent. He said, "I advise you, don’t try anything funny. I’ve reported this visit. Everyone knows I’m here. Slaying a colonel of the kingdom will similarly subject your clan to annihilation. You don’t want to go down that path."

Hearing that, Gao Dingbu’s momentary thought disappeared. His helplessness returned.

"... I will give you your damn aer stones," Gao Dingbu said weakly.

"Good," Amon said. "Gao Lan will stay here and discuss the details of our cooperation. You can pass her the aer stones when she leaves."

Finished speaking, Amon left.

"Gao Lan, where did you find that man?" Gao Dingbu asked after Amon walked out of the hall.

"If you believe me, he and I used to be enemies," Gao Lan said. "Now, I willingly work for him, and I don’t regret it. Without him, I would have remained a small-time crook in Qishurg City and probably among those who perished during the spirit beast invasion. Under him, I can’t help the feeling that the sky is the limit. Dominating the underworld of this city is no longer a dream. I believe we might even take over the entire underworld of the kingdom. As for him, I believe he will be the right-hand man for the king by the time the Ancient Ascension Trial is over."

"You have that much confidence in him?" Gao Dingbu asked.

"I do," Gao Lan replied without hesitation.

"Do you truly think he will treat the Gao Clan well?"

"He treats his followers fairly. As long as we contribute and don’t slack off, he will reward us. On the contrary, if we try to screw him over, he will show us no mercy. Everything considered, I would rather be on his side rather than against."

Gao Dingbu went into a period of silence. When he spoke next, he didn’t sound as uncertain as before. "All right, Gao Lan. I will take your word for it. I will gamble my clan’s future on this man. I hope I don’t make a mistake."

"Don’t worry, uncle. You won’t regret this," Gao Lan assured.

*

Amon went to the Grand Barrack after leaving Gao Clan’s estate. The army that brought the prisoners had arrived there. The prisoners were being recorded and placed inside the jail under the Grand Barrack. They were too high-profile to be kept inside the common jail of the capital. Not to mention, the common jail had a reputation of being broken into a few years ago.

Lao Zen met with First Class General Jiang Tong to process the prisoner transfer. Huang San and Prime Minister Zhu Yao were also there to ensure everything proceeded smoothly.

Amon joined them. He handed over the corpses of the black-suited intruders except for Gao Tien’s corpse. Jiang Tong demanded a full debriefing from Amon. Amon was the one who orchestrated everything. He was also the one who chased after the mysterious intruders. Amon agreed and played along. He only provided them with the necessary information. In some cases, he made things up to avoid telling others his secrets.

After all the formalities, Amon left the Grand Barrack with a scowl from Jiang Tong and a pat from Zhu Yao.