With the covert support of a large batch of healing medicines from Xiao Yan, the Xiao Clan made no outward show of strength. On the surface, everything remained quiet and unremarkable, yet behind closed doors, preparations for a counterattack against the Jie Lie family were already proceeding with urgent, meticulous intensity.
What had been witnessed in the family hall that day was placed under the strictest gag order by Xiao Zhan and the three elders. All matters concerning the healing medicine were classified as a top-level prohibition. No clan member was permitted to breathe a word of it to the outside world, on pain of severe punishment according to clan law.
As the Xiao Clan maintained its silence over the next two days, the Jie Lie family grew increasingly rampant. No longer bothering with any pretense of restraint, they employed every means at their disposal to poach the remaining merchants from the Xiao Clan's Market Stalls, intent on draining their rival dry.
To all of this, the Xiao Clan remained silent.
That silence, which looked so much like weakness, began to disappoint even those smaller factions that had stood on the same side as the Xiao Clan. Secretly, they too began to make their own arrangements for self-preservation, ready to cut ties the moment the wind shifted decisively.
In this strange, stifling atmosphere, two days slipped by unnoticed.
Another bright morning dawned, sunlight spilling generously over Wutan City. The Jie Lie family's Market Stalls were as explosively busy as they had been in recent weeks. The main street was a surging sea of heads. At the Rejuvenation Powder sales counter, the crowd was packed shoulder to shoulder, a seething mass of humanity. Shouts, curses, and the dull thuds of scuffles merged into a deafening roar that seemed to pierce the very clouds.
Behind the sales counter, the Jie Lie clansmen in charge of dispensing medicine wore faces full of mocking amusement as they watched the mercenaries outside brawl and shove for the right to buy. Their smiles carried the unmistakable smugness of men who knew they held the only supply.
Jie Lie Ku was a core member of the Jie Lie family, a man of considerable status who controlled the most lucrative and heavily trafficked Market Stall under the clan's name.
Standing on the balcony of the second floor, Jie Lie Ku looked down upon the dense, jostling crowd below. His greasy, pudgy face was stretched wide with self-satisfaction.
During this period, the sales volume of Rejuvenation Powder had far exceeded the clan's internal projections. Intoxicated by such immense profits, the Jie Lie family had grown insatiable. Without hesitation, they had raised the price from the original one hundred gold coins per box to a staggering three hundred. In one leap, the price had tripled.
When the price hike was first announced, it had provoked fierce resentment among the mercenaries. Yet Rejuvenation Powder could be found nowhere else but with the Jie Lie family. After a bout of furious protest, most mercenaries had no choice but to grit their teeth and accept being fleeced. There was simply no alternative.
Humming a little tune under his breath, Jie Lie Ku narrowed his tiny eyes into gleeful slits and muttered with smug complacency, "If you won't buy it, someone else will..."
Raising a short, fleshy hand to shield his eyes from the blazing sun, he wiped the sweat from his brow impatiently and grumbled, "Damn it, the heat is unbearable today. Looks like I'll need to cool off tonight. Heh, that little girl from last time was truly exquisite— that slender waist of hers, the way it moved, could take a man's life away." At the memory of that den of indulgence and its pleasures, Jie Lie Ku felt a restless heat surge through his entire body. He wiped away another sheen of sweat and then his brow furrowed. From the corner of his eye, he caught a disturbance at the far end of the street, where the flow of people seemed to churn and ripple.
"Damn it, fighting again? These mercenaries have muscles where their brains should be. If they damage the property, who is going to pay for it?" Scowling at the commotion, Jie Lie Ku cursed under his breath.
Just as he was about to dispatch guards to quell the disturbance, a thunderous shout cut through the air and echoed down the street with startling clarity.
"The Xiao Clan's Market Stalls have healing medicine for sale now!!"
At that sudden bellow, Jie Lie Ku's entire mountain of fat quivered like a wave. His expression shifted sharply, but after a moment he let out a cold sneer. "It seems the Xiao Clan is truly at its wits' end, resorting to such a crude trick. They're simply digging their own grave."
The shout did make the noisy street fall quiet for a heartbeat. People exchanged bewildered glances, and then a chorus of furious curses erupted.
"Damn it, don't think you can use that stale trick to steal the spot I've waited half a day for!"
Clearly, most took the cry for just another shameless ploy by someone trying to squeeze to the front of the queue to snatch medicine— a trick that had become all too common during this period.
After cursing, they went right back to scrambling for Rejuvenation Powder.
Not everyone, however, shared that dismissal. A small number of mercenaries who had already grown sick of the Jie Lie family's extortionate profiteering hesitated, glancing at one another with doubt and curiosity. After a brief inner struggle, they pushed their way out of the crowd and broke into a run toward the Xiao Clan's Market Stalls, half-believing and half-hopeful.
Up on the balcony, Jie Lie Ku watched the street remain overwhelmingly packed and could not help but burst into triumphant laughter. He said darkly, "Xiao Clan? Heh, how much longer can you hold out? Soon, Wutan City will belong to the Jie Lie family alone. Three great clans standing side by side? Heh, those days are gone forever!"
That initial shout landed like a single leaf drifting onto the ocean, causing not the slightest ripple. The Jie Lie family's Market Stalls lost no real traffic.
That, however, was only temporary.
About half an hour after the shout, the entrance to the Jie Lie family's Market Stall was suddenly thrown into chaos. Dozens of burly men dressed in mercenary garb barged in with overbearing force, knocking aside the guards at the gate. Their faces were flushed with wild elation. Rushing into the market, they raised high a collection of small green jade bottles, and in ragged unison their voices thundered over the din.
"The Xiao Clan has healing medicine for sale!!!"
The coordinated roar brought the entire Market Stall to an abrupt, stunned silence. Every gaze snapped toward the source of the shouting.
One of the mercenaries vaulted onto a large rock at the side of the street. With a sharp clang he drew the broad blade at his waist, gritted his teeth, and slashed a bloody gash across his own arm.
Holding his dripping arm aloft, the big man tilted one of the green bottles. A thick, dark-red viscous liquid oozed out slowly and spread to cover the fresh wound.
As the crimson ointment seeped into the cut, the blood that had been pouring freely began to thin under the watchful eyes of the crowd. In mere moments, the flow staunched, and a thin crust of clotted blood formed over the gash, sealing it.
Witnessing this with their own eyes, every mercenary on the street felt their gaze turn searingly hot. Such rapid staunching was precisely the life-saving treasure one needed when out on dangerous missions.
"This is the Xiao Clan's newest product— Blood-Staunching Powder! Not only is its potency superior, but the price is less than half that of Rejuvenation Powder! What are you all waiting for? Do you enjoy being treated like fools and extorted? Why haven't you left already?" the mercenary roared, holding the jade bottle high with a wild, triumphant grin.
The street fell into a brief, heavy silence.
A mercenary who had just entered the Market Stall stared dumbly at the green bottle in the big man's hand. An instant later, he spun on his heel and bolted.
Watching that figure sprint out of the market as if his life depended on it, the crowd— after a moment of stunned stillness— erupted. The ground trembled as a tidal wave of people surged toward the exit, rushing out of the Jie Lie family's Market Stall like a bursting dam.
Still standing atop the rock, the wounded mercenary watched the frenzied exodus, a strange, knowing smile spreading across his face. A breeze tugged at his collar, revealing just beneath it the faint emblem of the Xiao Clan...
The bustling, overcrowded Market Stall, after such a seismic shock, became empty in the blink of an eye. Apart from the dumbstruck merchants staring in disbelief, the broad street was left desolate and almost deserted.
"The Xiao Clan... has begun its counterattack."
Gazing at the empty street, the same thought flashed through the minds of every merchant present.
They looked at one another, then collectively lifted their heads toward the balcony above. There, the once-smug, fat figure of Jie Lie Ku had at some unknown moment gone deathly pale and collapsed into a trembling heap.
At the same time, in every other Market Stall owned by the Jie Lie family, the very same scene was playing out...