Xu Yue watched Zhang Xiaolin and the others perform, tapping his fingers against the armrest with a thoughtful look.
Then he raised a hand to stop Jiumozhi from continuing and said softly,
"I heard Mr. Zhang has been doing business with the Japanese quite often lately? So you're planning to make another deal this time..."
According to the intelligence gathered by the Penguin Merchant Guild, Zhang Xiaolin had been quite active recently. Relying on his standing in the Green Gang and his own strength, he had accepted many benefits from the Japanese and helped them threaten and turn quite a few people.
He used every means at his disposal—kidnapping wives and daughters, intimidation, coercion. His methods were varied.
On the surface, he still maintained "neutrality" and had not involved himself in this major conflict. Yet when it came to "doing business," he could be said to have no scruples at all. When explaining it to his subordinates, he kept insisting that he was merely doing business and was not targeting anyone.
When Zhang Xiaolin saw that the formidable monk had been silenced with a mere raised hand from Xu Yue, he was somewhat surprised.
He did not have connections like the Qing Court or the Shogunate. Though he knew Xu Yue was a promising new Intruder, he still lacked a true "understanding" of him.
Still, even if he had known the information the Qing Court possessed, he would not have cared much.
His surprise now was simply because he had not expected this newly risen big shot to be the implicit leader among the group.
He could understand Beiyang and Taiping Dao forming a temporary alliance. After all, the Qing Court's alliance was powerful enough to force them into cooperation.
But an old hand like Chen Youdao was actually willing