“Stockade Master Chen, what is the meaning of this?” Zheng Dan’s face was as dark as a thunderhead. This request was too disrespectful! She had to know why he would ask such a thing of her.

Chen Xuan laughed. “It’s exactly what I said! I can tell that the gang boss is an extraordinary beauty just from your figure alone, so I’m dying to see that exceptional face behind the veil as well!”

“Stockade Master Chen, I’ve treated you as a guest all along, yet you insist on pushing things too far! From today on, all agreements between the Whale Gang and the Blackwind Stockade are invalid.” Zheng Dan was now completely angered. “Someone see this man out!”

She considered using their home field advantage to kill him outright, but decided otherwise in the end. Chen Xuan’s cultivation level was just too high. Moreover he’d been able to survive being pursued by many powerful experts over the years, so he definitely had some trump cards up his sleeve.

Since she had no confidence in being able to kill him, the only thing left to her was to chase him off the island.

This really was a headache. What was she to do if this fellow grew angry because of this embarrassment, and decided to storm to the island one day and kick up a fuss?

However, the strange silence that followed her command cleared her head immediately. She straightened. “Did you not hear what I said?” she said to Liu Chan.

Liu Chan snickered. “Of course I heard you. However, the rest of us want to see what the gang boss looks like as well.”

Zheng Dan’s eyes narrowed. So this was the source of the strange feeling she’d gotten when she had first arrived on the island. This man already had an ulterior motive.

Ya Xiao, who had followed Zheng Dan back, suddenly slammed his palm on the table. “Mister Liu, what is the meaning of this? How dare you disrespect the gang boss?”

“Ya Xiao, please calm down. Everyone knows that you admire the gang boss, but have you ever seen her face, even though you’ve served as her henchman for so many years?” Liu Chan sneered coldly.

“I…” Ya Xiao’s breath caught. Indeed he hadn’t! To be honest, this had left him quite sad as well.

“Bootlicking won’t get you anywhere in the end. You might as well go for broke like the rest of us. Of course, if you join us, we’ll let you have your share of the pie,” Liu Chan said, laughing.

“Shut your mouth!” Ya Xiao’s entire body was shaking. He just couldn’t stand his goddess being humiliated.

Zheng Dan spoke up at this time. “Liu Chan, I don’t believe I’ve treated any of you poorly. Why have you betrayed me?”

“Poorly?” Liu Chan sneered. “Objectively speaking, you haven’t treated us poorly. However, you’re still a woman, after all. You rarely appear on this island, and even when you do, you’re masked. Having a woman be the gang boss is already quite absurd in itself, yet you still have to shroud yourself in mystery. How can any of us not harbor suspicions? We might end up being betrayed without even knowing it.”

“That’s all?” Zheng Dan frowned. In truth, she was aware that it was easy for the situation to get out of hand if an enemy invaded the island while she was away. However, she was the first miss of the Zheng Clan, after all, so there was no way she could always remain on the island. There was nothing she could do about this situation.

Despite this, she tried her best to mitigate these feelings of unease. She’d employed both grace and force when necessary, and she felt like she had done quite well. However, reality had now given her a slap to the face.

“Of course not,” Liu Chan continued. “Our illicit salt business has only gotten better and better over the years, yet for some strange reason, you’ve deliberately restricted the amount we could sell! There’s money there to be earned, yet we’re not allowed to go after it. What can we say about that, other than that women are too cowardly? It’s fine if you want to be a coward, but you’re deliberately making it hard for all of us brothers, obstructing our path to greater riches! Since that’s the case, we’re left with no choice but to look for a more competent boss!”

“What do you know about any of this? All this is because… because…” Zheng Dan was utterly furious, yet there was no way she could finish her sentence.

There were some things she just couldn’t say.

The reason she had created the Whale Gang was to generate extra income for the Zheng clan. However, the Zheng clan was involved in the legal salt trade, so she couldn’t take risks that were too great, for fear of personal exposure.

On top of that, the Sang clan was in charge of the River Patrol Army. If the illicit salt smuggling got too out of hand, they would be caught in a bind as to whether or not to crack down.

It was only because the Sang clan wanted to deal with the Chu clan that they loosened the restrictions on illicit salt these past two years.

However, Sang Hong wasn’t a court governor, so there was a limit as to how far he could go. That was why they couldn’t fully abolish all of their restrictions on the sale of illicit salt.

There were all sorts of reasons for why she had chosen for them to operate the way they did. However, there was no way for her to tell them all these reasons.

Those Whale Gang leaders all snickered inside. They thought that she had run out of words to rebut them.

Chen Xuan chose this moment to speak. “Boss Guan, there is no need for you to get angry. It’s quite tiring for a woman to run around all over the place. Why not choose to be my housewife instead? You’ll still get whatever you want, and all of these men will still be your subordinates. Leaving these people aside, even the Blackwind Stockade’s members must respectfully call you elder sister! Your status will be way higher than what you currently have here.”

“You want me to become your housewife? You’re just another toad lusting after a swan!” Zheng Dan scoffed. Her tone was full of disdain.

She came from a rich and influential clan, and the patriarch of her fiancé’s clan was the governor. She had such an illustrious background—how could she possibly wish to become the partner of a bandit?

No matter how great his reputation was, Chen Xuan was still a bandit in the end.

He’d meet his end sooner or later at the hands of the authorities.

“A toad lusting after a swan…” Chen Xuan’s face turned cold, his tone also changed. “Miss Guan, do you think you’re so special? Being a housewife in our stockade is already a huge blessing for you! Otherwise, once the drugs begin to take effect and I’ve had my fun with you, I’ll toss you over to these subordinates. I'm sure they’ll be ecstatic to have their former boss serve them.”

Liu Chan and his group of conspirators were all looking at her with blazing desire in their hungry eyes.

Their beautiful gang boss stood on such a high and unreachable perch, and always shrouded herself in mystery. Which of these men hadn’t fantasized about ravaging her body at night?

All this while, they could only rely on their imaginations. Now, however, they had a real chance.

“Drugs? What drugs?!” Zheng Dan’s mind was thrown into a panic.

Chen Xuan roared with laughter. “I’ve always been a careful person. Even though I don’t believe that your cultivation is higher than mine, you are still a gang boss, after all. I was afraid that you might pull out some weird tricks, so I had these guys put some stuff in your tea earlier.”

Zheng Dan hadn’t gotten too flustered even after learning of her subordinates’ betrayal earlier. Now, however, her expression grew dark. She looked at her teacup.

How could she have predicted that she would be poisoned by her own people?

She hurriedly tried to force the poison from her body. Off to the side, Chen Xuan shook his head. “It’s useless. This drug is called ‘Eighteen Spring Winds’. The effects are rather peculiar. Most people are satisfied after one round, but those under the effects of this drug need to do it at least eighteen times before the effects are eliminated. Otherwise, you’ll be set aflame with sexual desire and implode.”[1]

He paused for a while, then continued, “Honestly speaking, I’m not even sure if I have the ability to go eighteen rounds. Luckily, I have the help of all your lackeys here with me today. Hahaha!”

“Despicable!” Zheng Dan was furious and humiliated. She discovered that she couldn’t force out the poison at all! Moreover, her body was growing hotter and hotter. She made up her mind to attack Chen Xuan before the drugs took full effect. At the very least, she would take him down with her.

1. The Chinese phrase used here to refer to sexual intercourse (春風一度) can be literally translated as ‘[to experience the] spring winds once’. That’s why the name of the drug is ‘Eighteen Spring Winds’.