Demon-Bodied Buddha

The documents are quite thick, and the content varies.

Hu Mang flipped to the very beginning and found that it was all related to him, such as the several thrilling assassinations five years ago, the timing, the location, who was behind it, what forces they were involved in, what kind of network of relationships they had, who they were close to in the gang, and speculations about who the mastermind was.

In the end, he was nothing more than a gang leader who lost a fight against himself.

But what's really strange is that every time he was assassinated, some of Liang Household Garden's men, who were responsible for his security, would mysteriously disappear.

Every time Liang Yanqiu investigated this place, she would often run out of information, either due to various coincidences or because the person who had disappeared had completely vanished.

However, the story at the end is not entirely about himself, but rather about Zheng Qingbo's rise to wealth. It tells the story of how he was tricked into working as a laborer by a smuggler, how he became rich, how he distinguished himself in the gang wars, how he was noticed by the Liang Household patriarch and married into the Liang Household, and how he established connections with some indigenous warlords on other islands and became a member of the Autonomous Association.

A classic tale of a powerful figure rising to power in the old days.

Of course, this process also involves gathering various pieces of evidence against the other party.

For example, after drowning the smuggler who had tricked him into coming, Zheng Qingbo started an even bigger smuggling business.

For example, they kidnapped and extorted some wealthy local businessmen in Java, even drowning them at sea, and then tried every means to steal their business.

This even includes the various overt and covert bribes he gave to other committee members in order to become a member of the Autonomous Association.

A year ago, Hu Mang certainly wouldn't have known these things.

He was just a thug; he wasn't even part of "Zheng Family Garden," so he was a labor dispatch worker in another sense.

If Boss Zheng's actions were carried out in Heavenly Gate, he would be a prime target for the campaign against evil.

But this is overseas, so it's hard to say.

After all, if local laws applied here, this person wouldn't have risen to such a high position.

Hu Mang flipped to the end, where he found Zheng's recent activities.

The Autonomous Association is the Java ruler of Java. Its business and trade cover a considerable part of Nanyang. It has a total of 25 seats, each representing a major local power. It is said that the earliest members can be traced back to the first group of Chinese immigrants from Heavenly Gate who went to Nanyang.

The Liang Household was among the first group of Nanyang Chinese to go to Southeast Asia. Each generation of the Liang Household inherited a quota, and Zheng Qingbo's business grew so quickly largely thanks to the channels of the Autonomous Association.

Now, with the reorganization of the Autonomous Association, the number of seats has increased from 25 to 30. Zheng Qingbo not only wants to secure a seat for himself, but also wants to grab a seat from the Liang Household.

"... So, not only does Boss Zheng want to obtain another committee member spot in his own name, but he also wants to take the Liang Household's spot. Under what pretext?"

Hu Mang finally understood why Liang Yanqiu had so resolutely turned against the other party.

The Liang Household's ancestral property was Liang Yanqiu's lifeblood.

"Back when the old man was alive, he raised a lot of adopted sons and daughters, some of whom were included in the Liang Household genealogy," Liang Yanqiu said softly.

"Oh, so this is a dispute over inheritance," Hu Mang, staring at the local Buddha statue not far away.

The local Buddhas come in all sorts of strange shapes, and they are all Demon-Body Buddha. For example, the one in front of us is actually a Pixiu Buddha.

This Pixiu Buddha is carved entirely from dark blue-green stone. It is enormous, about three zhang tall, and sits in a squatting posture with its mouth open and looking up at the sky, as if it is swallowing and exhaling the wealth between heaven and earth. Its body is covered with a thick layer of gold leaf, which shines in the sunlight, but the edges of the gold leaf have begun to peel off, revealing the dark blue-green stone underneath, which looks somewhat mottled.

"So, sister-in-law, what do you want me to do? I'm just an outsider with no connections. Do you expect me to bring down Boss Zheng for you?"

Hu Mang smiled and asked in return.

"Zheng Qingbo has always paid close attention to you, much more than you imagine," Liang Yanqiu said, stroking the gold leaf in her palm and smoothing out the gold leaf robe.

"Is it because I've taken a lot of territory for him, or because I'm an outsider who will leave sooner or later, so he doesn't have to worry about me entering the inner circle and fighting for power?"

"No, that's not the point," Liang Yanqiu shook her head, her almond-shaped eyes showing a thoughtful expression.

"When I investigated those things about you, I initially thought it was Zheng Qingbo's usual style—seizing territory and then betraying people to the other gang leaders to vent his anger, especially a hothead like you with no connections. But what I didn't expect was that after withdrawing one group of people, Zheng Qingbo added another. He doesn't want you to die."

"What does this mean?"

Hu Mang looked at the other person in surprise. According to the usual melodramatic plot, Zheng Qingbo couldn't possibly be his long-lost biological father, could he? Their ages don't match up.

"He wanted to hone your skills, to test your abilities on the brink of life and death, but he never truly intended to kill you, so there was always a backup plan after each assassination attempt."

"Then according to what you said, sister-in-law, there's even less reason for me to betray Boss Zheng and join your side," Hu Mang laughed. The two got closer, and Hu Mang could even smell the orchid fragrance on the other person. It was a special local orchid variety that smelled faintly of sandalwood.

"No, you don't understand. Zheng Qingbo is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Inside, he's a wolf with ambitions. For you to make him do this, there must be something he's after, something even more important than your life."

"Is there something on me that he's after?"

Hu Mang frowned, thinking hard. Before he went to collect Old Daoist Shen's inheritance, he was just a plain-looking construction worker. What could he possibly have to be interested in?

Demon bloodline? In Nanyang, there are many half-human, half-demon creatures, and there's an old custom that considers obtaining demon bloodline a commendable thing, commonly known as "borrowing a divine seed."

Aside from the Crimson Moon Fox bloodline, what else is worth coveting... the Seven Absolutes Devil Meridians?

But I hadn't activated my demonic veins yet at that time.

Hu Mang was taken aback, then realized: It was precisely because his demonic veins hadn't been activated that he needed to be stimulated on the brink of life and death to activate them, right?

But how did they know?

"Besides his overt business dealings, what other forces has Boss Zheng been in contact with?"

Liang Yanqiu shook her head.

"His business has grown bigger and bigger over the years, and there are some things that even with the Liang Household's connections, we can no longer find out about."

"Understood."

Hu Mang looked at his beautiful sister-in-law and laughed.

"Alright, since we just got back and don't have anywhere to stay, let's rest at Liang Household Garden for a few days."

The next day, at Zheng Family Garden, a garden owned by a wealthy Chinese merchant that rivaled the Liang family mansion.

In a small circle

"So, he stayed at his sister-in-law's place all night?"

Is there some misunderstanding?

"No matter how much of a misunderstanding there is, one shouldn't be so oblivious to the need to avoid suspicion. The Heavenly Blood Python isn't blind; doesn't he know that the Liang Household Garden is the only one left in the Liang Household compound now?"

"That's a bit much, can someone remind him?"

This is a small, mid-level circle, where all the roles are frontline managers: shopkeepers, instructors, alleyway owners, and stall owners.

The gang structure in the local culture is not like that of a typical gang, which uses some cool names. Instead, it is more like a rural culture.

And these names basically tell you what they do just by looking at them.

But being called a "country bumpkin" doesn't mean he's weak. For example, this stall may look like a small vendor's stall, but it's actually responsible for collecting Java fees from nearly half of Java's docks and managing all the informants at those docks. So, he was the first to receive the news the moment the Hu Mang came ashore.

"Why didn't you stop him!" a lane owner complained.

The so-called alley master is someone who leads a team to do private work. They have the strength of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage and a strong smell of blood on their body.

"I thought that since Sun Hu had already picked him up, I wouldn't have to go pick him up myself. Who knew Sun Hu would take him straight to Liang Household Garden? He's really damned!"

Where is Sun Hu? Didn't you have someone kill him?

"They've long since disappeared, including his wife, children, Liang Household. Although the Liang family's power has diminished considerably in recent years, protecting one person is still not a problem."

"So what do we do now? Should we just storm Liang Household Garden and rescue him?"

"If he doesn't want to come out, did you really fight him? That's a Heavenly Blood Python!"

As a former Foundation Establishment Great Perfection contestant, and bearing the halos of Heavenly Gate genius and top-tier half-demon bloodline, along with a bunch of impressive achievements, even after disappearing for half a year, the name of the Heavenly Blood Python is still infamous in Zheng Family Garden, especially among frontline personnel like them.

Soon, the back gate of the Zheng residence opened, but it wasn't Zheng Qingbo who came out; instead, it was his secretary, a barbarian secretary named Jiacha.

In the Aboriginal language, Jiacha means "wisdom giant elephant," and his position as secretary would be called "white paper fan" in a typical gang.

When they saw that it was Jiacha instead of Zheng Qingbo, the middle-level cadres were taken aback. One of the instructors couldn't help but ask:

"Jiacha, where's the boss?"

"The boss went to a committee member's birthday party; it was the committee member's daughter's birthday, and the boss said he'd take this opportunity to have a good chat with the committee member."

Jiacha speaks a fairly fluent Heavenly Gate language.

"What should we do about the Heavenly Blood Python?" the instructor asked, taken aback.

Although Hu Mang was not a member of the inner circle, he undoubtedly held a pivotal position in the hearts of those on the front lines.

"The boss means that he can do whatever he wants; it's his freedom, and we shouldn't interfere."

Does this include having an ambiguous relationship with his sister-in-law?

These people were taken aback. Was their boss really that magnanimous?

At that moment, a cold snort rang out.

"Are you all that afraid of the Heavenly Blood Python? He's just a washed-up old man. If you're afraid, I'll take care of him."

Everyone turned around and saw a giant leaning against the corner of the wall, whose head alone was taller than the top of the wall.

The instructor tried to speak, but was stopped by the leader's gaze.

Recently, Boss Zheng recruited a group of new people to join Zheng Family Garden. According to his intelligence, these people are not only powerful, but also quite dangerous.