Genshin Impact: The Sage's Disciple Doesn't Want Fame

"Do not believe."

"That's settled then? Honestly, I should have checked the sign beforehand. Who sets up a Seven Stars stall on the roadside?"

Ji Ming resigned himself to his fate, downed the water in his cup in one gulp, and shrugged, saying with a smile, "Lord Yuheng Star, could you please not tell my senior sister?"

Ke Qing crossed her arms, tilted her head back to reveal her snow-white neck, and said seriously, "Let's see if you're being sincere."

Concealing his identity as a partner of the Fools, Ji Ming chose to tell Ke Qing the whole truth, claiming that he had earned a huge sum of money to bail out his sworn brother, without arousing any suspicion from her.

Ke Qing remained expressionless. Her initial impression of Ji Ming was rather poor, especially after learning about his gang affiliation, which made her impression of him even worse.

These are no ordinary citizens of Liyue; we must take strong measures!

It's not like she's without hands or feet; she could do anything else. Why does she have to rely on her words to deceive others? Moreover, she even killed someone in the wild years ago. She's lawless and disregards the laws of Liyue.

Although they did not harm ordinary people, those bandits, thieves, and gang members should be punished by the law, not by Ji Ming, who is also a criminal.

Does this guy think he's a great hero who rids the people of thieves?

Keqing stared at Ji Ming with a serious expression and said angrily, "I proposed abolishing the bail system a long time ago. This system will destroy Liyue sooner or later. Gangs like your Nine Gates are parasites on Liyue."

Unfortunately, Ningguang rejected it at the Seven Stars Conference, saying that it could increase the legitimate income of Liyue Harbor. She's really obsessed with making money. Keqing and Ningguang have never gotten along very well.

"Really? When I was ten years old, I and several sworn brothers established the Nine Gates. When I was sixteen, several of my sworn brothers went to prison one after another. These six years were the most active period of the Nine Gates."

Ke Qing raised an eyebrow and pressed, "Mr. Ji Ming, what are you trying to prove? Is it the duration of the Nine Gates' existence, or their various heinous acts?"

"Neither. If Lord Yuhengxing had paid attention to the case files of the General Affairs Department, then you would have come to a conclusion."

"What conclusion?"

To be honest, Keqing is mostly in charge of civil engineering and construction work in Liyue, and rarely pays attention to criminal law issues such as case files. These issues should be handled by Tianxuanxing.

However, this did not stop Ke Qing from listening attentively; she was eager to hear what kind of twisted logic Gan Yu's junior brother would come up with.

Ji Ming didn't keep them in suspense. He crossed his legs, clasped his hands together in front of his abdomen, and put on an extremely relaxed look. He slowly said, "In the past six years, there have been almost no cases related to gangs in Liyue Harbor. I'm eighteen years old this year, and it's been two years since my sworn brothers went to prison. Gangs of all sizes have started to appear in Liyue Harbor, and the number of cases has increased."

The meaning is clear: during the period when the Nine Gates were active, no gang dared to show their faces and court death. Even gangs that were kept and funded by those famous families did not dare to be the first to stand out, because if they did, they would be wiped out by the Nine Gates.

After the Nine Gates lost power, gangs of all sizes sprang up like mushrooms after rain, causing great suffering to the people of Liyue. Robbers, murderers, and massacres were commonplace, and almost all of them had gang backgrounds.

The Liyue government has done nothing in the past two years, allowing these gangs to run rampant, simply because these gangs belong to a certain family. Nepotism prevents the Liyue government, which values ​​personal relationships, from taking strong action.

Ke Qing fell silent. Even though she hadn't seen the General Affairs Department's files, she had heard her subordinates and the common people occasionally discuss these matters, such as a certain gang committing evil again, or a certain official's relative abusing their power to collect protection money.

This is an indisputable fact. Even Ke Qing herself cannot guarantee that the Li family has not been harboring and funding a certain gang, because she is not the clan leader and has no right to know these things.

Of course, Keqing wouldn't easily believe the words of a gang member. Didn't Ji Ming in front of her also oppress innocent people of Liyue?

Ji Ming saw distrust and suspicion in Ke Qing's eyes, and couldn't help but smile sarcastically: "What? Does that mean gang members should oppress the people and commit all kinds of evil?"

Picking up the machete from the table, before Keqing could speak, Ji Ming continued, "The Nine Gates is indeed a Jianghu gang. Perhaps the Nine Gates will commit evil, kill people, or even wipe out entire families, but the Nine Gates will never lay a hand on the people of Liyue."

"Words alone are not enough. Are you all heroes?"

"No! We are a gang of villains. Years ago, a few of us swore a blood oath in the freezing snow. Guess whose blood it was?"

"Who...whose?"

"The blood of a wealthy merchant from Liyue. He maliciously inflated grain prices, and his chain of grain shops bought grain at low prices but sold it at extremely high prices. In that kind of weather, eight poor people who came to Liyue to work starved to death."

Ke Qing had never heard of this matter. Back then, the position of Yuheng Star was vacant, and she was busy participating in the Seven Star Selection, so she was oblivious to what was happening around her.

Just moments ago, Ji Ming was quite casual, but now he became serious. He felt a pang of heartache when he thought about what had happened back then. If it weren't for his sworn brothers' help, he probably would have become the ninth poor soul to starve to death.

It's said that he has a special connection with the number "nine." Instead of becoming the ninth person to starve to death, he became the ninth member of the gang.

“We kidnapped him in a secluded place and took him to the Bronze Sparrow Temple in the suburbs. Since Mora used all his money to buy knives and bowls, he couldn’t afford the rock statue, so he had to make do here.”

“We, the nine sworn brothers, from the eldest to myself, each took a knife, mixed that rich scoundrel’s blood with water and wine, and drank it all down in one gulp in front of the bronze sparrow statue.”

"The blood oath of the Nine Gates is the reason why the Nine Gates have never harmed the people of Liyue."

"Kill the rich and heartless, drink the blood of high-ranking officials and nobles, destroy the gates of aristocratic families, and trample the Jade Terrace on the Heavenly Street."

Hearing this, Ke Qing's thoughts were completely in disarray. She had never imagined that there were such crazy gangs in the city. Whether it was ambition or bloodlust, each of the Nine Gates was terrifyingly powerful.

The boy in front of her seemed quite easygoing, showing no signs of such murderous intent or ambition. If he were to become arrogant, he might overturn the current state of Liyue.

Ji Ming was unwilling to say more. He tucked the machete back into his waistband and put on a casual smile again: "Lord Yuheng Star, please do not tell my senior sister about these matters. As for other things, you may do as you please."

Among the seven stars of Liyue, Ji Ming only acknowledges Ningguang of Tianquan. He greatly admires this self-made man, but unfortunately, this man has forgotten the small fry in Liyue Harbor after he rose to power.

As for Yuhengxing and the Li family behind her, Ji Ming had not forgotten the grudge that the Li family had suppressed the Nine Gates back then, and his first impression of Ke Qing was equally bad.

An extremely naive young lady, who unintentionally borrowed the power of her family, insisted on believing it was due to her own strength, even though her strength was indeed remarkable.

In short, there's no point in arguing when you can't see eye to eye. As long as Ke Qing doesn't reveal any information to Gan Yu, Ji Ming is too lazy to get entangled with her and leaves on his own.

If we meet again in the future, let's treat each other as strangers.

Chapter 21 Gangs are just tools

In Liyue Harbor, within the Jade Pavilion high above the sky, Ningguang, one of the seven stars of Liyue, looks down upon the entire Liyue Harbor.

At this moment, Liyue Harbor was like a sand table in the eyes of this Tianquan Star. With so many spies, she could know everything that happened on the sand table without leaving the Jade Pavilion.

Recently, Ye Lan brought her some interesting information: the reason why the once famous Old Nine Gates was able to be rebuilt was because it was backed by the financial support of the Fools.

I thought the Fools' Clan's partner was Liu Muzhi, the founder of the Nine Gates, but it turned out to be Ji Ming from the least conspicuous gang.

The first eight members of the Nine Gates were Liyue people of roughly the same era and age as Ningguang. She had heard of their deeds to some extent, but the ninth member was just an ordinary person.

Ningguang had her secretary Baixiao investigate the General Affairs Department's files. In the two years that the Nine Gates lost power, the name "Ji Ming" appeared many times, but the crimes he committed were almost all fraud or smuggling, unlike his eight sworn brothers who were vicious criminals.

How could a nobody like him become a collaborator with the Fools?

Is he a pawn, cannon fodder, or the real mastermind?

The Fatui faction has begun cooperating with Liyue, ostensibly as allies and partners, but each has its own agenda, leading to constant behind-the-scenes struggles. The Fatui's reputation in Liyue is not good.

Recently, Winter has requested to develop the Stranded Rock Abyss with Liyue, as mineral resources are the lifeblood of any nation, and Ningguang has been considering this matter recently.

Let's find an opportunity to test Ji Ming first. If he's not considered cannon fodder in the eyes of the Fools, then we can definitely get information on this. We can consider using him to test the attitude of the Winter.

Sensing someone standing behind her for a long time, Ningguang narrowed her eyes slightly and said with a pleasant smile, "Miss Yuhengxing, what brings you to this humble abode?"

"In your eyes, is Qunyu Pavilion a humble abode?" Ke Qing had no time to argue with Ning Guang and stepped forward to stand beside her. "Ning Guang, do you know about the Nine Gates?"

Ningguang's eyes turned serious, but her smile remained unchanged as she said, "Oh? I have occasionally heard why Keqing is interested in these street gangs?"

Ke Qing shook her head, her mood heavy: "The Nine Gates have been released on bail. There's one person among them who's quite peculiar. I just chatted with him for a while."

It's hard to imagine that Yuhengxing, who has always been resolute, would be so confused by the words of a street thug that he actually went to talk to a colleague he didn't get along with about the matter. This would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

Keqing thought her Liyue Harbor was the Liyue Harbor of the Liyue people, but she didn't expect that Ji Ming's Liyue Harbor was the most authentic Liyue Harbor.

Indeed, warmth still exists in Liyue, but Ji Ming has always lived in the dark side of Liyue. The reason he cherishes Gan Yu so much is because he received the purest care from Gan Yu.

Those who have been caught in the rain long for a place to stay. I heard that there was a housewarming celebration near the Hall of Rebirth a couple of days ago, probably organized by Jiming, to celebrate having a place to stay in Liyue Harbor.

Seeing Ke Qing's low spirits, Ning Guang became curious and approached to ask, "Who could make Yu Heng Xing so sad? Could it be that you were rejected by your ideal man and have come to me for comfort?"

"What are you saying?! I'm not joking with you. As a representative of self-made success, has Ningguang ever been in contact with gangs?"

Ningguang was silent for a moment, then finally nodded: "I have had contact with them, and for quite some time, but I have never joined a gang."

As the wealthiest woman in Liyue and the star of Tianquan, Ningguang disdains to hide her past. The more difficult her past is, the more the people of Liyue can recognize her strength.

What is your attitude towards gangs?

"Use tools when they are handy, discard them when they are troublesome."

Keqing pursed her lips and hesitated, "Then why can't we wipe out all the gangs and completely solve the security problem in Liyue Harbor?"

"I've already said, gangs are tools. If there's no substitute, gangs are necessary, and..."

Keqing clenched her fist quietly, her eyes widening: "What about the people of Liyue?"

Ningguang pressed her temples, ignoring Keqing's questioning, her tone somewhat impatient: "Moreover, gangs have an even more important purpose, which is to disrupt the existing order."

Listening to Ningguang's words, Ji Ming's figure seemed to appear out of thin air in front of Keqing. She felt that this guy's words were just nonsense, but she did not expect that Tianquan Star would have such thoughts.

The existence of the Nine Gates seems to be for the purpose of disrupting the existing order. Unlike other gangs that target ordinary people, they set their sights on the wealthy and powerful. If it weren't for the overwhelming power of these prestigious families, they might have been wiped out long ago.

Ke Qing thought both of them were crazy. Did all self-made people have this kind of thinking?

In her own opinion, it would be better to wipe out all the gangs, big and small, in Liyue Harbor, including those kept by their families, so that the people of Liyue would no longer suffer.

Ningguang noticed Keqing's confusion and couldn't help but sigh: "So, who exactly is she?"

"Ji Ming of the Nine Gates, this is Gan Yu's junior brother."

Oh? There's such a thing. I didn't expect Ji Ming to have a background in the immortal realm. It seems we can't treat him as an unknown nobody. Perhaps this person will make a big move in the future.

I'm getting more and more interested. Judging from Keqing's behavior, this person might be one of her kind?

Ningguang felt a surge of pleasure. It had been a long time since she had paid such close attention to anyone. If this person was capable, she might consider bringing him under her wing.

After all, people die for money and birds die for food. Ji Ming would certainly not refuse the temptation of a huge amount of Mora. He still owes the Fatui a favor and Mora. If he is smart enough, he will definitely join Ningguang's ranks to avoid becoming a puppet of the Fatui.

Of course, Ningguang couldn't guarantee that Ji Ming wouldn't become her puppet. Having a good master was very important, and she was confident that she could give Ji Ming more benefits.

The premise is that Ji Ming has enough ability, at least stronger than Ning Guang's three subordinates, otherwise wouldn't it be like raising a good-for-nothing who eats for free?

Losing money is a minor issue. If Ji Ming's abilities don't match Ning Guang's interests, she will be very disappointed, just like when she was a child and found a rag doll she had been longing for on the street, but the rag doll had been torn and dirty.