You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Ding Yan waved his hand, and two black-clad disciples escorted a person into the house, one on each side.

This was an elderly woman, around fifty years old, whose eyes were blindfolded with a black cloth. After she was pushed into the private room, her knees buckled, and she was forced to kneel on the ground by the black-clad disciples.

"Spare me... Third Master, please spare me!"

The old woman trembled violently as she pleaded:

"I truly didn't know the consequences would be so severe... I beg you, Third Master, have mercy and spare my worthless life..."

Ding Yan picked at his ear, turned his head, and smiled at his two subordinates, saying:

"What are you two standing there for? Don't you have any sense? Tell her to shut up! She's been wailing like that, how am I supposed to say anything?"

Before he finished speaking, a disciple in black grabbed a short stick and struck the old woman hard on the back of the neck.

Snapped.

With a muffled thud, the old woman didn't even utter a sound before her head lolled to the side and she fainted.

Seeing this, Ding Yan closed his folding fan with satisfaction, cupped his hands in a respectful bow to the crowd, and spoke with utmost sincerity:

"Second Brother, Lord Huang, and Brother Baili, please allow me to introduce you all. The old woman lying on the ground is none other than the biological mother of that traitor Huanhuan."

Ding Yan sighed deeply, his face filled with heartache and indignation:

"After a thorough investigation today, I found that Huanhuan had already been bribed by Wugendu with a large sum of money! Those bastards from Wugendu believe that my son, Ding Sinan, is an important candidate for our Cao Gang to send to the Chaosheng Society. So, they sent Huanhuan to seduce my son Sinan, and then sent her old mother to my Ding family as a cook to gather information."

"They went through all this trouble just to use my son as a connection to gradually uncover the secrets of the Chaosheng Society!"

At this point, Ding Yan walked straight to the round table, pulled out a chair, and sat down casually.

"Now, the truth is out. My son Si Nan was useless and failed to implant the gas furnace... while Brother Baili has become the genius of our Cao Gang. Seeing that their plan had failed, Huanhuan and her daughter decided to go all out and leaked the news about Brother Baili to Wugendu. Wugendu was furious and sent Wu Yan'an to kill him, while also trying to sow discord between the Chaosheng Society and our Cao Gang... That's how clear the whole story is."

Baili Jing listened coldly, his heart filled with sneers.

This explanation is full of holes.

Moreover, Wu Yan'an had already explained that Wugendu's surprise attack on Chaoshenghui's large ship was all aimed at Xuanji Sanyou. Wugendu had no idea who Baili Jing was from beginning to end.

It seems that before the news even reached Ding Yan's ears, he had already prepared his own script.

However, Huang Qixiu and Zhou Erquan's expressions became extremely serious.

The two looked at each other and then nodded.

The next second, Huang Qixiu slammed his hand on the table, his face filled with righteous indignation:

"So that's how it is?! These pirates from Wugendu are utterly audacious and lawless!"

Zhou Erquan nodded in agreement, his cold expression softening slightly as he looked at Ding Yan:

"Third brother, it's commendable that you've put in the effort to investigate the whole story. I'll speak to eldest sister myself. We did misunderstand you before, so please don't take it to heart."

Baili Jing raised an eyebrow.

He understood.

The fact that the Canal Gang wanted to join the Chaosheng Society was a secret even within the Canal Gang, but Huang Qixiu was not surprised at all, which shows that he was very clear about the inside story and may even have been involved.

This only shows that Prefect Huang and the canal gang had long been closely intertwined.

That's why this dignified prefect was so polite to Baili Jing... because if he became a big shot in the canal gang in the future, Huang Qixiu would most likely have to rely on him to do something.

As for Zhou Erquan... it's obvious that he never intended to really fall out with Ding Yan.

With the Grand Canal Gang facing a formidable enemy, merging the two factions would only benefit outsiders.

Therefore, as long as Ding Yan comes up with such a passable "explanation", Zhou Erquan will not hesitate to take the opportunity to back down and completely turn the page on this matter.

On the table, the adults had already completed their exchange of interests, and no one cared about the old woman on the ground.

While Baili Jing was still pondering, Ding Yan stood up with a smile and bowed to Baili Jing:

"Brother Baili, although the events behind this were orchestrated by Wugendu and Huanhuan and her daughter, it was ultimately my fault for neglecting my family's discipline and for being old and blind, which allowed the thieves to take advantage of the situation and nearly cause Brother Baili to suffer a great calamity. I, Ding Yan, cannot shirk my responsibility for this!"

After saying that, Ding Yan straightened up, picked up the white porcelain wine pot on the table, and filled the wine cup.

He raised his hand towards Baili Jing and said in a long voice:

"Today, with my second brother and Lord Huang as witnesses, I, Ding, will punish myself with three cups of wine as an apology to Brother Baili!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he downed three glasses of strong liquor in a row with a "glug, glug, glug" sound. At the end, he even turned the glass upside down to check the contents, and not a drop was spilled.

After he finished his drink, the private room was quiet for a moment.

Everyone was watching Baili Jing's reaction.

Baili Jing finally smiled.

He leaned back in his chair and began jokingly:

"Fatty, you think you can just let this go after three drinks? We're not done with the thing about you chasing me before..."

Upon hearing this, Ding Yan's smile deepened:

"Oh, Brother Baili, what are you saying? All our previous unpleasantness was settled after the bet, wasn't it? Now, my poor son is dead, and you, Brother Baili, have benefited from this misfortune and stepped into the threshold of cultivation. The past should be wiped clean."

"As for what happened today..."

As Ding Yan spoke, he suddenly bent down.

He reached out, grabbed the old woman's hair, yanked her head up, and slammed it against the edge of the round table!

The old woman was still unconscious, and unconsciously let out two miserable groans.

Then, Ding Yan reached out with his other hand and pulled a chopstick from the chopstick holder on the table.

He squinted at Baili Jing, his voice so gentle it was almost unsettling:

"...Three cups of strong liquor are naturally a bit too little and not enough to apologize to Brother Baili. Since Brother Baili is not satisfied, then I, Ding, will never resort to such empty formalities again."

With that, he raised his hand and plunged the chopsticks into the old woman's temple!

boom! !

Almost at the same time, Baili Jing suddenly raised his leg and kicked the edge of the round table!

He didn't use much power in that kick, but the force was definitely not light.

The entire large round table shifted abruptly under his foot, crashing straight towards Ding Yan's location!

As the tabletop was about to hit him, Ding Yan's expression finally changed slightly.

He had to put down his chopsticks, and the hand that had been holding the old woman's hair instantly let go. He pushed forward with both hands, bracing against the edge of the round table.

Crunch!

The round table came to a stop.

No runes lit up, and no mechanisms roared, yet Ding Yan's hands still managed to stabilize the table.

However, the old woman was also thrown off the table by the violent tremor and fell to the ground.

Ding Yan slowly raised his head and asked with a smile:

"Brother Baili, what...does this mean?"

Baili Jing withdrew his right leg and said lazily:

"We're here to eat today. If you make a mess of the table with a stench of blood and filth, how are we supposed to eat? How disgusting!"

"oh?"

Ding Yan raised an eyebrow slightly:

"In your wise opinion, Brother Baili, what should I do about this matter?"

Bai Lijing crossed his arms and slumped back in his chair, looking utterly helpless.

"Sigh, you all come here to apologize or talk about murder. I'm completely confused and my head hurts."

"You just said that this old woman colluded with pirates to murder for money. Well, if you ask me, our Prefect Huang is right here. Just have him send the constables to handcuff her and take her to the prefectural jail for a thorough interrogation."

Bai Lijing grinned:

"As for what apologies or explanations you want to give me... what's the rush? I'm starving. Let's calm down and finish this meal first. We can talk about these things later, Lord Huang, am I right?"

The private room fell into an eerie, deathly silence.

Ding Yan remained silent, while Huang Qixiu observed Zhou Erquan's expression.

Zhou Erquan gave Baili Jing a meaningful look, then picked up his teacup and said calmly:

"Third brother, I think Brother Baili makes a lot of sense. We're here to eat, so let's not spoil our appetites."

He raised his head and said loudly:

"Pass the dishes and serve!"