Page 30

Li Cunzhou took two deep breaths and forced a smile. "Boss Wang went to great lengths to dig up this information for us. We're deeply grateful. Of course, we'll keep our word."

With that, he took a black canvas bag from the cabinet in the hotel room and placed it before Wang Zhaoyi. "Just a small token of appreciation. Please accept it."

Wang Zhaoyi unzipped the canvas bag, casually pulled out several bundles of cash and counted them. Satisfied, he said, "Just as expected of people from a big city. You handle things generously. Since you're so straightforward, I won't waste words. If you need anything in the future, come find me."

After saying that, he called for one of the underlings waiting outside to come in and take the bag of money. Rising to his feet, he said, "It's getting late. I won't disturb you any longer."

Watching Wang Zhaoyi leave through the staff passage at the back with his underling, the Li father and sons' expressions darkened. Wang Zhaoyi looked bold and unrestrained, but he was actually greedy and arrogant. In just a few months of dealing with him, he had extorted nearly two million from the Li Family. The Li Family was wealthy enough not to care about that little money, but they had spent it without seeing the slightest progress. Anyone would feel sick about that.

It was as though they had been slaughtered like fat sheep.

Li Mobei was the first to recover. Shaking his head lightly, he said, "Wang Zhaoyi can't be trusted. All we can do now is wait for news from the Gu Family. Once we compare the two sets of information, we won't have to worry about missing anything suspicious."

Li Cunzhou nodded without speaking. Things had already reached this point, and there was no better option.

A few days later, Gu Zhaohuan indeed sent word. The information revealed between his lines was largely the same as what Wang Zhaoyi had told them, and the Li Family finally relaxed a little.

In their minds, Wang Zhaoyi belonged to the Old District, while the Gu Family was from the capital. Neither family necessarily meant them well in this cooperation, but Wang Zhaoyi and Gu Zhaohuan had no contact with one another. Thus, the Li Family compared the information obtained from Wang Zhaoyi and the Gu Family. If there were major discrepancies, they discarded it immediately. If the meaning was roughly the same, they investigated further with caution, and then they would have a general idea of the truth.

Now that the two men's information was nearly identical, the Li Family believed it seventy or eighty percent. They also secretly asked around the Old District—though they knew the Old District was highly hostile to outsiders and that the Zhang Family had eyes and ears everywhere, so they did not dare directly ask about the location of the secret passage. They only claimed to be interested in the Old District's history, especially what had happened during the war of invasion.

The Old District had always been backward and isolated. Because its people rarely interacted with the outside world, they still retained the most primitive habit of communicating face-to-face. Old people loved telling stories of the past, while the younger generation had to memorize their family genealogies as soon as they could speak, to show they had not forgotten their ancestors. When people gathered, they liked to boast that their family had once produced some great official, or that they were descended from some famous figure from a certain dynasty... In such a social environment, even though they had internet and television like the outside world, their limited energy meant they did not receive information as varied and overwhelming as outsiders did. Their memories of history were therefore even deeper. It might not have been like reciting treasures from memory, but they were certainly well versed in it.

When they heard that outsiders wanted to ask about the Old District's history—and that they had come from the capital, Yanjing—the Old District residents, who had always enjoyed flaunting their family heritage, immediately began talking endlessly. None of it violated the gag order imposed by the local gangs, so they said whatever they pleased. Instead, the Li Family obtained quite a bit of useful information. Of course, there were also people from various gangs muddying the waters and spreading misinformation. In the end, the conclusion the Li Family reached was—

West. West. Keep going west.

Feeling they had found the right direction and only needed to push through, the Li Family immediately organized two action teams. Under Wang Zhaoyi's cover, they entered the fog-shrouded woods of the West District beneath the vast night sky, and then...

Zhang Muyang received Wang Zhaoyi's call at three-thirty in the morning. The shrill ringtone cut through the silent night and woke the two young men who had been sleeping soundly. As for Zhang Xianyang, who slept in the middle bed—he was busy receiving Brain AI's training in virtual space and did not hear the phone at all.

Still half-asleep, Zhang Muyang rubbed his face and lifted the phone to his ear. Wang Zhaoyi's gloating laughter came clearly through the receiver, carrying an illusion of brutal eeriness against the backdrop of the night.

"This time, they really got wiped out. Including Li Cunzhou and his sons, thirteen members of the Li Family went into the secret passage. Seven died inside, three were seriously injured, and three were lightly injured. Not one of them came out unscathed. The city hospital will be busy tonight."

The corner of Zhang Muyang's mouth lifted instinctively. "How are the three Li Family members?"

"They're damn lucky. The three with light injuries are those three." Wang Zhaoyi clicked his tongue in amazement. "Li Cunzhou sprained his ankle. The Li Family's eldest took an arrow in the arm, and the second son was bitten on the leg by a venomous snake. He's already been given antivenom, so he'll be fine. Evil people really do live a thousand years!"

Zhang Muyang frowned slightly. "What are you doing now?"

"As agreed, I'm supposed to meet them outside the woods. I'm sending people to take them to the hospital. After that, I'm done."

"Don't send anyone to take them. The Old District is full of informants. If you make moves under the table, everyone can pretend not to see. But if you openly send them to the hospital, you won't escape the charge of colluding with outsiders."

Wang Zhaoyi froze at those words. Zhang Muyang continued, "Leave them outside the woods and call Gu Zhaohuan. He's from the city government. He's the most suitable person to handle this."

Wang Zhaoyi immediately agreed. "All right, then. I won't keep chatting."

After hanging up, Zhang Xiyang grinned slyly. "The Li Family really lost both their wife and their army this time!"

"They were too greedy. No one held a gun to their heads and forced them into that secret passage," Zhang Muyang said coldly. "They brought this outcome upon themselves."

"And that's not all!" Zhang Xiyang said as he got out of bed, took a drink of water, and toyed with the cup in his hand. "I heard the Li Family brought special forces soldiers from the military with them this time. Now seven have died for no clear reason, and no one even knows what happened to the other three. Do you think the people at the Military Headquarters will let this go?"

"I don't know whether the Military Headquarters will let the private use of public resources slide, but the Li Family's political enemies will definitely seize this chance to kick them while they're down." As he spoke, Zhang Muyang called his subordinate A-Qiang and instructed, "Spread the news that the Li Family was completely wiped out and that seven special forces soldiers died outside the West District as soon as possible. By tomorrow morning, I want everyone in Guandong Province to know about it. It would be best if the newspapers reported it too."

Chapter 32

Under Zhang Muyang's careful arrangements, news of the Li Family losing seven special forces soldiers spread throughout Guandong Province early the next morning. Under A-Qiang's threats and inducements, a Guandong Daily reporter interviewed Li Cunzhou at the city hospital. Li Cunzhou avoided answering the reporter's question about whether the construction crew that had come to the Old District for renovation and development consisted of personnel from Yanjing Military Headquarters. He could not explain why seven workers from a construction team formerly under the Yanjing Li Group had mysteriously disappeared, with three others seriously injured and unconscious. Nor could he explain the reporter's accusation that the Li Family had used public resources for private purposes.

In short, throughout the interview, Li Cunzhou remained silent and refused to speak. But his silence did nothing to contain the development of events. After returning to the newspaper office, the reporter wrote an entire page-long article titled "Whom Do the People's Servants Serve, and for Whom Do the People's Soldiers Fight?" Its language was sharp and ruthless, subtly accusing descendants of the nation's founding heroes of using public resources for private purposes and turning the people's soldiers into accomplices of evil. It also addressed the Old District's historical problems and its current division of power, openly expressing concern over whether, after the Old District "opened up," there would be "drastic policy changes" and whether "the region's original stability and unity would be destroyed." For a time, the atmosphere was as tense as it had been before Hong Kong Island's return.

As soon as the report was published, it caused an enormous impact on society. The Old District's historical problems were simply too complicated, and the local people were connected to local forces in one way or another. In the past, it had been one thing when powerful outsiders could not overpower the local snakes, but now that Yanjing had intervened so forcefully, would they settle old scores after gaining a foothold?

For a time, everyone was on edge. Newspapers, television, and online forums openly or covertly discussed these issues. Within days, the uproar had even reached Yanjing. For various reasons, the Military Headquarters leaders naturally had to send people to investigate. But as soon as the special envoys from the capital arrived in the Old District, Zhang Muyang's prepared men took them away.

Inside a private room at an elegant teahouse, with the sound of traditional music drifting through the air, Zhang Muyang rose and smiled at the special envoys from Yanjing. "Hello, gentlemen. I'm Zhang Muyang of the Old District Zhang Family. My father, Zhang Linmo, is the person responsible for cooperating with the government's renovation of the Old District. Welcome to the Old District. I hope you'll honor me by allowing me to play host."

The two envoys exchanged looks and could only offer polite greetings. "Hello. I'm Jiang Peize."

"Hello. I'm Fang Zhixin."

Zhang Muyang smiled faintly and introduced the others. "This is my second brother, Zhang Xiyang, and my third brother, Zhang Xianyang."

At the name "Zhang Xianyang," Jiang Peize and Fang Zhixin looked at him a few more times in mild surprise. The boy was delicate in appearance and well behaved in manner, completely unlike the crude, arrogant, and disrespectful youth described in the rumors. They had harbored some doubts, but recalling the uproar from a while ago regarding the Li Family's true purpose in coming to the Old District, they put on looks of understanding.

Zhang Xianyang did not mind. He simply looked up and gave the two men a warm smile.

After the formalities, everyone took their seats according to host and guest. Zhang Muyang got straight to the point. "Since I rashly invited you here, I'm sure that with your intelligence, you can guess my purpose. First of all, setting everything else aside, I offer my deepest regret and apologies for the seven special forces soldiers who lost their lives in the Old District."

At the word "lost their lives," Jiang Peize and Fang Zhixin felt their faces grow slightly warm.

Dying in someone else's secret passage was hardly glorious, especially when that person was not a clear-cut enemy but an ordinary civilian who, to a certain extent, obeyed the law and actively cooperated. One careless move could even provoke dissatisfaction and rejection among the Old District's local residents. It was precisely because of these concerns that their superiors had sent the two of them to investigate.

In truth, everyone already knew more or less what had happened. The investigation was merely an attempt to find a respectable excuse and give everyone an acceptable explanation.

Jiang Peize said, "As for this matter... we've only just arrived from Yanjing, so we don't know much about it. We'll need to ask Minister Li about the specifics."

That was merely a delaying tactic.

Zhang Muyang smiled and followed Jiang Peize's lead. "Naturally. Though they have remained silent from the beginning until now, Li Cunzhou understands the entire matter better than anyone."

Jiang Peize and Fang Zhixin's faces warmed again. But looking at the obviously young Zhang Muyang, they could not say much. Fang Zhixin changed the subject. "Why isn't Mr. Zhang Linmo here?"

Zhang Muyang smiled faintly and said casually, "My father is busy working with Mayor Gu on the Old District's renovation. You know how conservative and isolated people in a small place like ours can be. They always have all sorts of worries and concerns about new things from outside. Someone has to keep an eye on them."

Hearing that, Jiang Peize and Fang Zhixin felt awkward once again. The Zhang Family was running around trying to help straighten out the Old District for them, while their people had secretly gone poking around someone else's secret passage. Sneaking in would have been one thing, but they had found nothing and left behind seven corpses instead...