Chapter 237: Recognition

~~~

As soon as Liu Jin enters Rainstorm City, it becomes obvious Leader Liu and the men of the Brotherhood have been hard at work. The area devastated by Liu Jin’s battle with Han has already been cleared. All the material from the ruined houses and damaged city walls has been repurposed to create big, sturdy shelters. Liu Jin doesn’t imagine they offer much in the way of privacy, but it is much better than living in the streets.

The City Lord’s lazy soldiers are nowhere to be seen. Rainstorm City is now diligently patrolled by the men of the Brotherhood. If any soldiers were allowed to switch sides, they have clearly shaped up.

Most of the casinos have been shut down, and the smell of alcohol is nowhere near as prominent as before. However, that doesn’t mean Rainstorm City is fixed. Not at all. The people are still poor, the outskirts are still horrible, and without a primary source of revenue, the city will end up wasting away.

All the same…

“You have done an admirable job, Leader Liu,” Liu Jin says when he greets the man.

Leader Liu snorts.

“Spare me the flattery.”

“It is not flattery,” Liu Jin says, frowning. “ I am sincerely grateful to you and the Brotherhood of Thunder. I don’t think anyone else could have done this much in such a short amount of time.”

“How grateful I am that royalty has such a high opinion of me.”

It takes Liu Jin five seconds to find his voice again.

“Ah.” Liu Jin grimaces. “You know about that.”

“Know about it?” Leader Liu asks him. He spits to the side. “Half the damn city is talking about it! They’re whispering your name! The people are saying you’re going to free them from Murong Bang!”

Liu Jin winces. While manifesting purple lightning was bound to make people talk, for his name to be on everyone’s lips already, and for the rumors to have taken that direction…

He definitely senses Lu Mei’s influence there.

“Now, you show up here with a bunch of kids from the Lei Clan! How am I supposed to interpret that?”

“They’re necessary to make the Lei Clan listen to me,” Liu Jin explains. “The leader of the Lei Clan and their elders are dead, and my servant is now in charge. That should make things simpler–”

“Simpler?!” Leader Liu shouts. He throws his hands up. “Simpler, he says. What sort of game are you playing?”

“There are no games. You have my word on that,” Liu Jin says.

Leader Liu crosses his arms. “Is that worth much?”

Liu Jin goes still. Indignation flares in his eyes.

“Have I not kept your secrets? Did I not help depose the City Lord? Have I not done my best for your father?” Liu Jin asks. He never raises his voice, yet his anger is nearly palpable. “Now, I return with the Lei Clan defeated, and if all goes well, their slave trade will be no more. Your people will be safe from their abuses! Is that not worth anything to you?”

Leader Liu frowns.

“Fair enough,” he says, albeit reluctantly. “However, I am still angry at you for forcing this position on me.”

“I understand, but it would be shameless of me to apologize.”

Leader Liu scoffs. “I was under the impression shamelessness came naturally to you. Why shy away from it now?

“Have you thought about moving your refugees here?” Liu Jin asks, ignoring Leader Liu’s taunt.

“The opposite,” Leader Liu says. “Our hidden city is in a far better state than this place. I was discussing with my men about moving all the people there. Or maybe even build a new city entirely in a place with more fertile land.”

“Perhaps that would be for the best,” Liu Jin admits. “Maybe Rainstorm City has already lived too long. However, before doing that, you might wish to send some men to Port Blue. Big Sister Bai has departed for it. I suspect she’s going to destroy the place very thoroughly.”

She had announced her intention to go to the port from which the Lei Clan shipped out their slaves once they were a few miles away from Rainstorm City, and Liu Jin had enough sense to recognize it would be foolish to try to stop her. He should count himself lucky that Big Sister Bai managed to hold herself back this much.

“What?” Leader Liu asks. “Who the hell is…?”

He never gets to finish. A member of the Brotherhood comes running in.

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“Leader Liu!” the man yells. “It’s Elder Liu! He is coming here!”

“What sort of nonsense are you saying?!” Leader Liu asks him. “My father is in no condition to–!”

“It’s true!” The soldier says desperately. “One of the scouts spotted his transport. He’s been sighted just a few mi-”

Leader Liu is gone before the man finishes talking. He takes off running so quickly that the air cracks in his wake.

“Don’t worry,” Liu Jin tells the man of the Brotherhood. Like Leader Liu, Liu Jin has already detected Elder Liu’s Qi about two miles away from Rainstorm City. “I will go with him to make sure Elder Liu makes it here safely.”

Once again, the soldier is not given any time to speak.

~~~

Nearly two hours later, Elder Liu has been safely moved to Rainstorm City and now rests in one of the rooms of the former City Lord’s mansion.

“You gave your son quite a scare,” Liu Jin says, sitting by Elder Liu’s bedside.

Being a cultivator in the True Realm, Leader Liu had no problems reaching his father. However, it was no happy reunion between the two. The argument that followed was so loud Liu Jin wouldn’t be surprised if every person in Rainstorm City managed to hear it.