"Please, everyone. The leader invites you." A woman dressed as a beggar stepped forward and addressed Fourth Master and the others. Her features were striking, and although her clothes were tattered, her face was remarkably clean, creating a stark contrast with her attire.
Fourth Master and the others followed the female disciple into the house. The furnishings of the main hall were no different from those of a typical wealthy family's main hall. The only difference was that a man in his thirties or forties sat in the main seat. He had sharply defined eyebrows, bright eyes, a slightly wide nose, and a very well-proportioned mouth, making him quite distinguished. However, he wore an indeterminate color of clothing and a headscarf made of several different colored fabrics.
"Chief Guo, it's been a long time! Your heroic spirit remains undiminished today." Constable Zhang stepped forward, cupped his hands, and greeted Chief Guo. Fourth Master and the others, not recognizing him, all stood behind Constable Zhang.
Guo, the gang leader, stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Officer Zhang, it's been a long time." As he spoke, he was already sizing up Fourth Master.
"Chief Guo, come, let me introduce you. This is a friend of mine who has long admired you, Chief Guo. He specifically asked me to introduce him to you." Constable Zhang stepped aside and introduced Fourth Master to Chief Guo.
At this moment, Fourth Master and Chief Guo bowed to each other face to face, their eyes darting back and forth.
"Please have a seat, everyone. We are all friends here. I, Guo, love making friends the most." Chief Guo magnanimously stretched out his hand, gesturing for Fourth Master and the others to take their seats.
After everyone was seated, Cui Da and Cui Er, along with the yamen runners, stood behind Fourth Master and his entourage. The female disciple who had just announced their arrival at the door, along with two other female disciples, began serving tea to Fourth Master and his companions.
Fourth Master glanced down and saw that the teacup was quite nice; the tea leaves floating inside were a light, emerald green, likely from the Yangzhou or Hangzhou area. Everyone picked up their teacups and took a few sips before beginning their formal conversation.
"Chief Guo, my friend heard that you love wine, so he specially brought you Thousand Cups of Red from Zui Bai Lou, all of which are the finest wines." Constable Zhang gestured to several constables to place the wine jars they were carrying in front of Chief Guo.
Sure enough, although Chief Guo was a handsome man, his eyes lit up immediately when he heard there was good wine. He stared at the wine jar intently, which made Thirteen chuckle to himself.
"What's this friend laughing at?" Chief Guo's ears were quite sharp; he actually heard Thirteen's low laughter.
"Guo, the gang leader, loves wine to this extent. He seems to be a man of strong emotions. I wonder how he can manage the number one gang in the world?" Thirteen was a free spirit and a man who said what he thought.
Guo, the gang leader, raised an eyebrow and then looked at Thirteen. He had been so focused on Fourth Master that he hadn't realized that the young man behind him was quite interesting.
"Men love wine just as much as men love beautiful women. I, Guo, do not love beautiful women, but I love wine. This has no contradiction with managing the number one gang in the world. I wonder what this young man means?" Gang Leader Guo said, looking at the thirteen-year-old.
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master smiled and patted Thirteen, who was sitting to his left, before saying, "I was being reckless, please forgive me, Chief Guo. I've heard that some people can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. I wonder if Chief Guo is such a remarkable person?"
Upon hearing this, Chief Guo became excited and hurriedly said, "Is there really such a person? I've never seen him, but these five jars of wine might not be enough to get me drunk."
Upon hearing this, Thirteen was filled with surprise. These five jars of wine were all pure high-proof liquor. Let alone five jars, even one jar could have gotten him and Fourth Master drunk.
A hint of surprise flashed in Fourth Master's eyes. He cupped his hands and said, "Chief Guo has a good capacity for alcohol. I am ashamed to admit that I am no match for him. I have come here today because I would like to ask Chief Guo for a small favor. Is that alright?"
Thirteen was stunned when he heard Fourth Master refer to himself as "Ai Mou" repeatedly. After a moment of thought, he came to his senses. It turned out that Fourth Master's self-proclaimed "Ai Mou" was actually "Ai Mou". After all, "Aisin Gioro" is "Ai"!
Seeing that Fourth Master spoke politely and showed no discomfort at all that he was asking for help from a beggar leader, Chief Guo immediately said magnanimously, "As long as Brother Ai can have a few drinks with me, we'll be friends. When friends need help, I, Guo, never hesitate to help." Although Fourth Master didn't say much at first, and his last few words were quite appropriate, Chief Guo could still tell that this man's identity was definitely not certain. Just from the aura he exuded, Chief Guo felt that he was unfathomable.
“Alright, since things are urgent, why don’t we drink now?” Fourth Master said, pressing his advantage.
"Alright, Xiaolian, go get the bowl. I want to drink with Brother Ai." When it came to wine, Chief Guo could no longer hide his joy.
The woman named Xiaolian lowered her head and went to get the bowl. Upon seeing this, Thirteen immediately became worried about Fourth Master, because if he ate just one bowl of that, he might not be able to move much.
"Pour it up." Chief Guo instructed Xiao Lian to pour the wine that Fourth Master had brought for both himself and Fourth Master.
The Fourth Master saw that this bowl was indeed several times larger than the wine cup he usually drank from. He had never drunk wine like this before. However, the matter at hand was urgent and he could not hesitate for a moment. Geng's life or death was unknown, and he had to find her as soon as possible.
When Chief Guo saw Fourth Master pick up his bowl and drink the wine in one gulp, he was immediately excited and also picked up his bowl and drank it all in one go.
"Good wine. Brother Ai, is there anything I can help you with?" Chief Guo said, wiping the wine from his lips.
Fourth Master suddenly felt a little dizzy. Before he could speak, Constable Zhang quickly recounted what Fourth Master had instructed him to do: two women had disappeared in a certain area. Fourth Master hoped that Chief Guo could gather all the beggars from all the gangs in Jinan City and ask them to help him find the women he was looking for.
When Chief Guo saw this, he readily agreed, as finding people was their specialty. Fourth Master was also pleased to see that he didn't hesitate at all, and pulled Cui Da out to drink with Chief Guo, while he himself was a bit too tired and needed to sit for a while.
Chief Guo summoned his elders and gave them a few instructions, roughly to immediately inform all Beggars' Sect disciples to search for two women who had disappeared at a certain time and place that day. Upon hearing this, an elder immediately said, "Chief, there's no need to inform all the branches; just inform a few branches of that generation."
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