VIP Volume Chapter 149: Golden Silk and Jade Brocade

"Boss!" The three young men stood frozen, looking at Ye Xiaoxuan through tear-blurred eyes. Suddenly, they dropped to their knees and choked out, "I'm sorry, Boss!"

Ye Xiaoxuan walked up to them, raised them to their feet one by one, and looking at their battered and bruised bodies, said with a heavy heart, "I am the one who should say sorry! I've let my brothers suffer! Anyone who wants to leave now is free to go. I will not stop you!"

Watching the group of subordinates stand with lowered heads and hesitant expressions, Ye Xiaoxuan raised his voice, "Whoever wants to leave can go as soon as I retrieve the money. You just need to sign out with Old Cucumber! I want you to make your own choice, because the days ahead will not be peaceful!"

One young man raised his head and said to Ye Xiaoxuan, "Boss, I'm not leaving! I was a good-for-nothing in the village, looked down upon by everyone. Ever since I came to the orchard, my life has had purpose! The orchard is my home, and every sapling in it has my sweat and blood. I can't leave them!"

Another chimed in loudly, "I'm not leaving either! If I go back, I'll just be a petty punk or a hoodlum. But here, we Bad Boys do honest work! I'm going to keep working right here!"

"I'm not leaving either!"

"None of us are leaving!"

"..."

Ye Xiaoxuan's eyes turned red. He threw his head back and laughed heartily at his men, then waved his right hand and declared, "Good! Those who stay with me, I welcome. Those who want to go, I bid farewell! We are brothers in this life, and we'll pick up the brotherhood in the next! Once this matter is settled, I'll drink three hundred cups with my brothers!"

"Agreed!" the crowd shouted in unison.

Emerging from the orchard and returning to his doorstep, Jiaruan wrapped her arms around Ye Xiaoxuan's sleeve, looking at him with deep concern. "Little Third..."

Ye Xiaoxuan turned and gently covered her mouth with his hand, shaking his head. "From now on, I am your and Yu'er's man, not your younger brother anymore. You can't call me Little Third!"

Jiaruan pouted slightly and asked, "Then what should I call you?"

Ye Xiaoxuan led her into the courtyard, knelt before the temporary bier supported by benches, and called Yu'er over as well. With reddened eyes, he said, "From now on, you should call me Husband! Dad and Mom always dreamed of me finding a wife!"

Naturally, Jiaruan understood this well. Though shy, her eyes still welled up as she hugged Ye Xiaoxuan's right arm, sobbing softly, "Husband!" Yu'er also embraced his left arm and echoed the address.

For three days the funeral was held. By the ancient tree forest on the northern side of the village, a new mound of earth rose. Father and Mother Ye were buried here.

In those three days, Ye Xiaoxuan lost a noticeable amount of weight, remaining silent and taciturn throughout. The pain of losing both parents was not something easily shaken off. Fortunately, Jiaruan and Yu'er accompanied him side by side, preventing him from sinking permanently into grief.

This battle was the very first fight since the founding of the Bad Boys, and the casualties were devastating! One dead, thirteen severely injured! Key commanders such as Ye Dajun, Hao the Six-Finger, Ironhead, and Chen Tianfang were all heavily wounded—to the point where the township hospital could not treat them, and they had to be rushed overnight to the county hospital!

Of course, bad luck favored the Bad Boys as well, for in their very first skirmish, they encountered the Wolf Pack assassins, whom everyone in the Central Nation avoided like the plague! This was an organization that even the regular army dreaded; though rarely deployed, they were notoriously infamous, and no one in the Central Nation was unaware of them—they simply dared not openly name them as the vassals of the Qitian Corporation!

Yet, the benefits this battle brought to the Bad Boys were numerous. Almost overnight, the entire Zhuangyuan Township and even Immortal Lake City were abuzz with the news that the Wolf Pack had launched a night raid on Reed Village, abducting a girl—and a simple-minded one at that—at the cost of fourteen werewolf lives! In the operational history of the Wolf Pack, this was nothing short of a supreme humiliation!

Thus, the Bad Boys became famous overnight! People came in droves wanting to join. However, Ye Xiaoxuan didn't take a single one. Now was not the time to expand the ranks; the top priority was to wait for his brothers to recover so they could participate in the rapidly approaching Martial Arts Tournament.

"Husband, do you really care about that one hundred thousand yuan?" Ye Xiaoxuan was lying on the grass outside the ancient tree forest. Little Yu'er lay on his left side, propping her chin with her small hand, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

The corner of Ye Xiaoxuan's mouth curled upward. Clenching a blade of grass between his teeth with a wicked smile, he turned to look at Jiaruan on his right and pinched her cheek. "Jiaruan, what do you think?"

Jiaruan sat up, tilted her head, and said to Yu'er, "I think Husband doesn't care about the one hundred thousand yuan for third place; he's after the Golden Silk Brocade of first place!"

Having the companionship of his two girlfriends recently, Ye Xiaoxuan had finally emerged from the grief of losing his parents. When he had free time, he would pay respects to his parents, then bring his girlfriends to the grass to chat, take a stroll around the orchard in the afternoon, and sleep in Ye Dajun's bed at night. His days were quite comfortable.

Hearing Jiaruan's analysis, he chuckled and said, "Jiaruan knows me best! Yu'er, of course I don't care about that hundred thousand yuan, but the Golden Silk Brocade is something I am determined to win!"

Yu'er asked curiously, "I heard the Old Goat Herder mention this thing yesterday too, but I didn't quite catch it. What on earth is it good for?"

Ye Xiaoxuan shrugged. "I have no idea!"

Even Jiaruan was baffled by this response and asked strangely, "Since you don't know, why do you want it?"

Ye Xiaoxuan smiled slightly and sat up as well, wrapping his left arm around Yu'er and his right around Jiaruan. He lowered his voice and told them, "Think about it. This Golden Silk Brocade is the prize for this Martial Champion tournament, rumored to be a manual of martial arts secrets. Whether it's true or false, nobody knows, but at least one thing is certain: everyone has come here for it!"

Yu'er pouted and shook her head. "Husband, I don't really understand!"

Ye Xiaoxuan chuckled, ticking off points on his fingers. "The disciples of ancient martial sects have come, representatives of the Qitian Corporation have participated, and mixed in with all sorts of other elements—how could a mere township-level martial arts tournament attract so much attention from so many people? Isn't it all for that Golden Silk Brocade?"

Jiaruan asked perplexedly, "Given the Qitian Corporation's style, they could easily just come and seize it. Why bother entering the competition?"

The Old Goat Herder walked over, holding his wine gourd, sat down directly opposite the three of them, and took a large swig of wine. He wiped his mouth and said, "Because this is the decision of the Council of Ten Elders!"

Yu'er was startled, her eyes widening as she asked the Old Goat Herder, "The Council of Ten Elders of Dragon Hidden Manor?"

The Old Goat Herder looked at Little Yu'er in astonishment as well. "I wouldn't have thought that a little girl like you would know about Dragon Hidden Manor!"

Little Yu'er proudly replied, "When I was little and my father stopped taking his boat out, he used to carry his box and take me through the alleys to give people haircuts. I heard plenty of folk tales and legends back then!"

The Old Goat Herder burst into laughter, tilted his head back for another gulp of wine, lay down on the ground, and told her, "Little girl, tell me what you know. Let's see how much you're aware of!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Little Yu'er began: "I don't know a whole lot, and I was pretty young at the time, just listening for fun. This Council of Ten Elders consists of ten old men. It seems that back when the Central Nation was just founded, they were already old men, and now, a hundred years later, they are still old men, and they're still alive!"