RETURNING FROM THE IMMORTAL WORLD

Chapter 1031 - Chapter 1040

Chapter 1031: He's A Fearsome Man

 

While holding the phone in his hand, Tang Xiu's eyes were filled with sympathy. The pursuit and homicide scene on the streets of Beijing would surely attract the attention of countless people. More so that this incident was just the beginning, premediating the more horrible killings in the capital.

"There's one piece of advice for you, my friend. Cease all the business dealings you have with the Fans. You must come out clean no matter how big your losses are."

Tang Xiu immediately hung up after delivering this line. He didn't bother to think about any decisions Qin Shaoyang and his father would make.

He sensed Cadaver Qi at the scene of the murders and was sure that those who left this cadaveric energy were likely to be one of the Second Young Master's group. Should this be proven, the Fan Family could expect a calamity to befall upon them while dragging along all those who had a deep connection with them.

****

Beijing, Dragon Hamlet Villa Complex.

Of the most luxurious villa in this complex was a European-style Kingview villa boasting four floors with extravagant interior decoration. In the spacious study filled with poetry paintings, Qin Shaoyang hung up the phone. In front of him were a middle-aged man and another young man looking at him with a dissatisfied look.

The man with a thin figure and wisdom-filled eyes was Qin Xuefeng, the Big Boss of Qin Group with a net worth easily reaching 50 billion yuan and one of the top billionaires in China. Although he had some dissatisfaction with his son, Qin Shaoyan, for taking a call at this time, he lit a Cuban cigar and took a few deep puffs before speaking, "Shaozhi will serve as a government official as usual, but what about you, Shaoyang? Tell me your opinion about what we should do now."

"I think we must draw the line and cease all of our business partnerships with the Fan Family." Qin Shaoyang looked up and replied with a deep voice, "We must sever any future connections with them as well."

BAM...

"NONSENSE!" Qin Xuefeng yelled, "I thought you'd made great progress in these years, but to think that you're so dumb in this matter is too much! Don't you know our cooperation with the Fans is worth nearly 10 billion yuan? It's 10 billion, I tell you! And you want it to stop just like that? Our family will definitely suffer a great loss, don't you know that?"

Qin Shaozhi frowned and voiced his opinion afterward, "We have invested 10 billion yuan in this cooperation project, Shaoyang. It will be a big blow to us if we quit now. Even the board of directors will definitely be against it. Unless Father takes a hard stance, it will be hard to convince them otherwise if we don't give them a sound reason."

Qing Shaoyang raised his phone and bitterly said, "Dad, Big Brother, do you know who just called me?"

"Who?" asked Qin Shaozi curiously.

Qin Xuefeng likewise frowned, although he looked puzzled.

"Tang Xiu," answered Qin Shaoyang.

"Tang Xiu? Which Tang Xiu? I..." blurted Qin Xuefeng. But he didn't finish his line and abruptly stopped. A handsome face appeared in his mind and his heartbeat sped up. Then, he said, "Did you say he's the one from the Tang Family of Beijing? The owner of the Magnificent Tang Corporation, famously hailed as China's Young Divine Doctor?"

"That's him, indeed. My answer is actually his words," said Qin Shaoyang with a forced smile.

A solemn look now covered Qin Xuefeng's face and he said with a deep voice, "Can you repeat his words word-per-word, Shaoyang?"

After Qin Shaoyang repeated Tang Xiu's words verbatimly, he finally said, "Dad, I know about Tang Xiu's nature a bit since we're both friends and partners. He may be 21 years old this year, but he's very mature and steady. Everything he says is always through careful thinking. Calling me all of a sudden means that he knows that we have a deep cooperative relationship with the Fans, the reason why he disclosed some info to me."

Qin Xuefeng got up from his chair and paced back and forth in the study while smoking the cigar. Hesitation could be seen on his resolute face. From Tang Xiu's call just now, he could faintly notice something—the Fan Family would surely be in a big mess that would also drag the cooperation between the two families to the bottom. Should his family be dragged down due to a certain issue, then they would be in for quite a big trouble.

However, they had invested tens of billions of yuan! Even if they immediately issued an order to cease the cooperation and recovered some of the scraps as much as possible, a final loss of at least five billion yuan was still very likely.

What should I do?

Qin Xuefeng stopped by the window and watched the scenery outside. Then, he suddenly asked, "Can I talk to him in person?"

"That will be very difficult, Dad," replied Qin Shaoyang bitterly. "Tang Xiu hung up right after he told me that, meaning that he doesn't want to speak any longer. I'm afraid he won't tell you anything more even if you call him."

Sighing in response, Qin Xuefeng helplessly said, "There's no choice but dropping it, then. The Fans are definitely facing big trouble since he himself gave the news. We'll fully dissolve our cooperation with the Fans and withdraw all the capital we've invested as fast as possible no matter how big our losses."

"Don't you think the decision is too hasty, Dad?" Qin Shaozhi interjected quickly. "You made such a big decision just because of Tang Xiu's call? We'll be completely offending the Fan Family should nothing happen to them later."

"There are things you don't understand, Shaozhi." Qin Xuefeng said, "The Tangs of Beijing are one of the most powerful families in China. Be it their wealth, privileges, or network, it's easy for them to crush the Fan Family. It's best to have a deep relationship with such a colossus—something I've long been wanting to do, yet unable to achieve. But Shaoyang finally did.

"After I learned that Shaoyang became friends with Tang Xiu, I sent some people to investigate him in secret. The results were very shocking. Tang Xiu has become the most outstanding offspring of the Tangs. In particular was the fact that he cured his own father, Tang Yunde, which made his position in the Tang Family soar so high that even the Tang Family's patriarch cares a lot about him.

"Our family may have gambled too big and we lost the bet, though it isn't unrecoverable in the truest sense. We may lose five billion yuan, a blow that our family must admit. But it's much more worthwhile to deepen the relationship between Shaoyang and Tang Xiu."

The light of wisdom in Qin Xuefeng's eyes turned more intense. As he stopped talking, he took several puffs of his cigar and then sighed. "Regardless of the news Tang Xiu gave us being reliable or not, Shaoyang has unreserved trust in him, and so shall our family trust in Shaoyang since he can secure Tang Xiu's friendship. But if... the whole thing is proven true and the Fans fall to the bottom, our family can steer off of any connection with them. This will definitely be our wisest choice ever."

"Your analysis is sound, Dad. But I still have a few questions. Can Tang Xiu really inherit the seat of Tang Family's patriarch from the current old patriarch in the future?"

"Your vision is too narrow, son." Qin Xuefeng shook his head and said, "I don't think the patriarch seat enters Tang Xiu's eyes at all. Do you know how much wealth he has now?"

"How much is his wealth? Don't tell me his private property exceeds 10 billion yuan?" asked Qin Shaozhi with a confused look.

"You gotta update yourself faster if you wanna go further in the future, Shaozi." Qin Xuefeng derided him. "From my previous investigation, Tang Xiu has tens of billions of yuan in private property. In just the recent half-year, his company, the Magnificent Tang Corporation keeps moving upward. Not to mention the lucrative profits from this company's extremely popular products, just the revenue from the New Metro development project in the Star City has raked in so much fun from the sale of its internal purchase."

"How is this possible?" asked the shocked Qin Shaozhi.

"Why impossible?" Qing Xuefeng sighed. "The demands for the Magnificent Tang Corporation's products far outstrip the supply in the market. However many they can produce, the market is still starving for their products. Such an enormous lucrative situation is something that all the businesspeople are very jealous of. Also, do you even know how many parties are partnering with the Magnificent Tang Corporation in the Star City's New Metro development project?"

"I dunno about that either." Qin Shaozhi shook his head.

"I'll give you the rundown about it, Big Brother!" Qin Shaoyang interjected. "The Star City's New Metro construction project is being developed by a total of seven powers: The Bai and Chu Houses of Beijing, Star City's Long Family, Jingmen Island's Ouyang Family, Haiqing Province's Miao Family, and a mysterious man with unknown origin, Shao Mingzhen. The wealth and power of each of these seven parties are in the billions of yuan. There's also one thing that I don't think Dad is aware of."

"Ah, what is it?" asked Qin Shaozhi with a puzzled look.

"Back when these seven forces joined to develop the Star City's New Metro, Tang Xiu still wasn't considered as a member of Beijing's Tang Family. He didn't know that he was an offspring of the Tang Family at that time, yet he could still collaborate with the other six parties relying only on his own personal abilities and even took the leadership role."

Gasp...

Qin Shaozhi was so shocked and awed by his younger brother's explanation that he couldn't help but gasp. He had heard that some people had fearsome talent, but one with such terrifying talent was something he had never heard of. This was simply... too fearsome.

Qin Xuefeng himself was a bit shocked and sighed after a long while. "Tang Xiu's power is more than that. Rumors have it that the Amur Tiger, Dongbei Hu was killed by him. Words flying around said that the Tang Family was able to defeat the Yaos, also due to Tang Xiu's involvement. You know Zhang Yueming, right? He's an old buddy of mine for many years, and even he said when I was drinking with him that the future world will definitely belong to Tang Xiu."

Qin Shaozhi fell into silence. He may not buy the words of his younger brother, Qin Shaoyang, but it was a different case with his own father. Both of them saying all these only meant that Tang Xiu was truly fearsome and terrifying.

After putting off the cigar, Qin Xuefeng waved and said, "Alright then. Shaoyang, you're to help me cease all the business partnership with the Fans. Also, see if you can contact Tang Xiu and get more useful info from him. And Shaozi, you can go back first since you don't know how to run the business!"

Chapter 1032: Heroes

The bustling block was filled with high-rise buildings and rows of shops with many goods in displays. But the place was now filled with the sounds of gunfire as well as the smell of blood wafting in the air.

The nearer Tang Xiu approached this block along with Tang 28's group of five, the clearer the gunshots sounded. As they eventually appeared at the crossroads, a tragic scene greeted them with dozens of cars in a series of crashes and a lot of victims everywhere.

"What a mess."

He saw more than a dozen police cars blocking the streets in the surroundings, while tens of armed policemen were engaged in an intense gunfight with a dozen bad guys. A look of helplessness appeared on his handsome face and he could sense cadaveric energy again from those dozen men.

"You guys deal with those people," said Tang Xiu calmly.

Tang 28 nodded. Just as he walked a few steps forward, he suddenly stopped as he saw his companions standing still. He immediately looked at Tang Xiu and shifted again to the four children, stating. "I picked you guys before, so if you want to follow Sect Master, then you're to obey his command."

"But we haven't killed people before," one of the boys hesitantly replied.

Tang 28 looked at Tang Xiu again with hesitation on his face since he never killed anyone either. And, though he used to have a bitter and rough life, was homeless and had no one to depend on, and fighting with other children and getting bullied by people was a common thing, yet he still had inexplicable fear when it came to killing.

While looking at the five children, Tang Xiu sneered. "I told you to deal with them, but I didn't say that you must kill them, did I? This situation is not suitable for killing, so you just need to discard their ability and stun them. But I just found quite a serious issue today, really. Your hands have yet to be stained by blood and you've never killed the enemy until now. It seems that you still have things to work with, given your ability to put the experience and the mental state you've transformed in that illusion into practice."

Tang 28 was shaken and quickly said, "We'll leave immediately, Sect Master!"

As his voice faded away, he and his four companions ran into the distance. At their speed, even those who had their eyes trained on them would only see their afterimages, while those who didn't pay attention wouldn't even notice them brushing past.

Tang Xiu then glanced around to the dead bodies at the crossroads before his sight eventually fell to a wounded man curled up on the ground whining in pain.

'It's time to save people!'

He no longer hesitated and ran to the crossroad even though he had to brave the hail of bullets. He used the colliding cars as shields to avoid the bullets and successfully came to a nearly crushed car.

"Help me! My legs are stuck."

A Buick sedan's driver door was opened and a fat middle-aged man whose face full of blood and looked in pain pleaded to Tang Xiu when he squatted outside his car's door.

Tang Xiu spread out his perception to cover hundreds of meters in a circle. He could even capture the trajectories of the bullets flying around in the covered area. He then looked at the pained middle-aged man before him, quickly stood up and entered the car. Exerting his strength, he easily pushed away from the object that made the fat man's leg stuck.

Puff, puff...

He quickly took out the silver needles and pierced the acupoints around the two serious wounds on the fat middle-aged man's body before carefully pulling him out of the car. He then spoke to him in a low voice, "Don't worry. I'm a Chinese medicine doctor. You have serious injuries and your legs are broken. I've already sealed up your wounds, so you won't lose too much blood and it won't endanger your life. Just sit still here and don't move. Wait for the bad guys to be subdued by the cops and the medics will come here to treat you."

The fat middle-aged man grabbed Tang Xiu's hand and hurried asked, "Can my legs be cured later, Doc? I..."

Patting his shoulder, Tang Xiu nodded and said, "No worries! I'll go to the hospital to find you myself once all this is over. You can be sure that I can cure your legs then. I still need to find and treat the others, so pay attention to your own safety now."

"You're going to save more people, Doc? God! Are you crazy? Those villains are trading bullets with the cops. If you walk around now... bullets have no eyes, Doc! W-what if you get shot?"

"Don't worry!" Tang Xiu gave him a calm smile and said, "I can snatch people's life from the King of Hell, so I have my ways to protect my own life."

Seeing that Tang Xiu had made up his mind and seemed about to move, the fat middle-aged man immediately asked, "What's your name, Doc? You saved me, so please gimme your name."

"My name's Tang Xiu."

Tang Xiu replied without turning back. He then used another car as cover and ran towards the wounded who fell to the ground seven-plus meters away. Bullets flew around him and the police nearby shouted at him, though he ignored everything. Several times the bullets came his way, but he avoided them all without anyone noticing.

After a short while, Tang Xiu was holding a severely wounded person. After picking him up, he rushed towards a crashed SUV a few meters away. Yet, those few seconds still made the dozens of policemen full of cold sweat in worry and some people hiding in some hidden spots felt their hearts tighten.

At the northeast corner from the crossroads.

A building with 30 floors, the Big Golden Eagle Store, had its first to twelfth floors full of a variety of expensive goods for sale. The sixth floor was a clothing area, full of all kinds of famous women's foreign clothing brands. Yet, by a certain window, Tian Xiaomeng was sweating profusely while nervously holding the display case and pointing the camera at the fierce gun battle below.

"Guys, I'm very vexed, sad, and angry. My grieving is for those innocents who have fallen in their own pool of blood. Yet, I feel so angry... so damn angry at myself that I can't do anything at all and just watch them lose their lives. Those fucking damn villains are truly so heartless and cruel. They dare to kill people in this bustling block full of people in Beijing!

"All dear fans, Little Meng really didn't expect to encounter this horrible incident! I was just going to Beijing to attend an entertainment program, yet I must see such a hell loose on earth now. Dear fans and all the friends who are now watching this live broadcast platform and seeing all those innocent victims below, please join me and pray for their survival..."

At this moment, the number of people across the country watching Tian Xiaomen's live channel had reached over a hundred thousand. As time passed by, the number of viewers flocking in and the number of subscribers also increased at an incredibly fast rate. In just five-odd minutes, the number of subscribers watching the live channel had exceeded 300,000.

And yet, none of them talked nor sent gifts!

Each pair of shocked and sympathetic viewer eyes only stared at the tragic scene playing on the screen. Many timid girls and kind boys even covered their mouths and burst into tears.

Suddenly, Tian Xiaomeng slightly shivered and disbelief appeared in her bright, big eyes. Although the hands that held the camera were shaking, she still exclaimed in alarm, "Who is he? It's very dangerous over there, yet... w-why did he rush over there?"

"Who?"

Her voice that was now heard by hundreds of thousands of people led to an intense curiosity. At this moment, some people among the hundreds of thousands had identified the figure in the footage. The footage itself was bit blurred, but some were still able to recognize that person's face.

"Tang Xiu."

It was unknown who the person that typed the two words in the comment section was.

Suddenly, the hundreds of thousands of viewers were pulled by the scene where a figure ran to a smashed SUV and quickly recognized him as Tang Xiu, a well-known small business owner and a kind, good doctor with a golden heart.

"That's Tang Xiu!"

"Tang Xiu!"

"Tang Xiu!"

"..."

Numerous viewers began typing these two words in the commentary box and the name made the commentary box crazily scroll downward.

Eyes fixedly staring at Tang Xiu's figure, Tian Xiaomeng's breathing turned faster while worry and restlessness filled her eyes. Tears even burst out from her eye sockets as they quickly slipped down a delicate and lovely face.

"He... he's saving them!"

Muttering in a sob and mixed emotions filling her heart, Tian Xiaomeng watched as Tang Xiu rescued the pained and whining injured man curled up on the ground. He picked him up and sprinted to the side of the SUV to avoid the bullets flying around him.

Suddenly, she seemed to recall something. Even though her face didn't appear in the footage, her voice was spread to the hundreds of thousands of viewers:

"Dear friends, you are all not mistaken! He's indeed Tang Xiu. The brother I respect the most and the most famous Young Divine Doctor in our country! It's really him who is now rushing out into the rain of bullets to save the lives of the injured. I'm pleading to Heaven and to the Gods... please bless him. Please let him be safe and bless him in his endeavor to save that injured man..."

"Bless him."

"Bless and protect him."

"..."

The "Bless and protect" words replaced Tang Xiu's name in the commentary box. The deep worry and concern they had for Tang Xiu and their blessing and prayers for him filled the commentary box. Tang Xiu's name had been etched deep inside their hearts and they remembered his face all along deeply.

What was bravery? What was a hero?

Prior to this, they knew that the existence of a hero was very difficult to find nowadays. But now they just saw what a hero was. They watched as someone ignored his own safety and braved the dangers under the hail of bullets where he could possibly be shot and die at any time, yet still rushed forward to save people.

Time fleeted by and the number of viewers watching Tian Xiaomeng's live channel had increased more and more and exceeded 1.5 million in just ten minutes. However, everyone who got shocked by the footage had now sobered up and could see clearly the figure that kept running to save the victims under the rain of bullets.

"The eighth one! He has treated eight injured victims and also brought them to a temporary safe place. This man is my idol. A man I deeply respect. Please be safe." With tears on her face, Tian Xiaomeng's voice passed into the ears of more than 1.5 million people.

Chapter 1033: Bizarre Ending

The dangerous situation with bullets flying around at the crossroads didn't affect Tang Xiu whatsoever. Relying only on his perception to avoid the bullets unnoticed, he kept rescuing the injured victims. Aside from the more than a million viewers who were watching Tian Xiaomeng's live channel, there were also thousands of people hiding in spots in the nearby streets with eyes trained on him.

These eyes were full of worry and concern, yet also filled with respect!

These were the true expressions that came from their inner hearts.

In the meantime, there was also Wang Hai, a Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau of Jinfan District of Beijing. He also once served in the professional army for four-odd years as a special soldier of a special task force and possessed extraordinary skills. After receiving the alarm he led the police force of his department and a small SWAT team there.

However, it was beyond his expectation that these murderers would be this difficult to deal with. Despite being a skilled gunman and being able to kill several murderers, the battle was still in a deadlock. He already asked for reinforcement from his superiors, but the number of the policeman who arrived in the last few minutes was not many, totaling only a little over forty.

"Who is he?"

While leaning behind a police car and watching Tang Xiu hide behind the crashed car, Wang Hai's face was that of respect and yet puzzlement upon seeing the young man treating many seriously injured victims. To encounter such a doctor that was even braver than the field doctors back when he was in the army was something he never dreamed of.

Next to him was another policeman who was also hiding behind the police car. He replied, "Chief Wang, his name is Tang Xiu, a very famous Chinese medicine doctor in our country. He's also hailed as a Divine Doctor by ordinary people. I just didn't expect that he isn't afraid to rush to save people amid this intense gun battle, ignoring the danger."

Sure enough. He's a doctor!

The respect Wang Hai felt inside deepened and he said with a deep voice, "It would be a blessing to our people if all the doctors in China were like him. Let's not speak about him now and just hope that he can ensure his own safety. Hurry up and contact our superiors and ask for more reinforcement!"

"Roger!"

The policeman replied. But just as he touched the comms, he suddenly looked puzzled because he was keenly aware that the number of bullets fired from the opposite side was decreasing, thus the sound of gunfire reduced a lot.

'What's going on? Could it be that they run out of ammo?'

At this moment, Wang Hai could also sense the situation. He carefully poked his head out to observe the surroundings for a while, doubt and suspicion arising inside him. Aside from the last man of the opposite side who still kept shooting, the rest of them were all silent.

'This is bad! Are they running away?'

As he thought to this point, Wang Hai suddenly shouted, "Some of you come with me! Follow me over there. This incident is already so damn shitty, we must not let any of these murderers run away!"

Four armed policemen immediately followed Wang Hai and quickly circled around in another direction. A few minutes later, they appeared behind the murderers' position. But at this time, the last gunshots had already ended.

'What exactly is going on?'

With a head full of suspicions and puzzlement, Wang Hai quickly sprinted forward. When he saw the murderers' cars, each of the men had fallen to the ground and it was unknown whether they still lived or died. With disbelief and incredulity in his eyes, he carried out a fast check and found no more murderers resisting.

"Go go go!"

Wang Hai took the lead and quickly sprinted to the murderers' car. He grabbed the handcuffs lightning-fast and quickly cuffed them. Further, he called the rest of the policemen on the opposite side to move over quickly, causing more than a dozen murderers to be apprehended in just a few minutes.

However, all the murderers had fainted by the time they caught them. Aside from one man whose arms were pierced by a dagger, no one else had even a single injury.

'This... is too bizarre.'

After falling into silence for a long while, only then did Wang Hai walk towards Tang Xiu. Although he admired Tang Xiu very much, he still shouted at him angrily, "You're Doctor Tang, right? What you did was really reckless! Don't you know you just took a big risk by rushing into danger while saving the injured?"

At this time, Tang Xiu was still treating a seriously injured man. Upon hearing Wang Hai's angry shout, a smile appeared on his handsome face. He looked up, shook his head and then continued treating the gravely injured man.

Seeing Tang Xiu's response, Wang Hai immediately frowned and said in dissatisfaction, "I know that you're a brave man and also have a good heart. But you must know that you can't make fun of your own life. You would have died already under the murderers' guns if you got unlucky. You... you're just acting willfully and making a scene."

This time, Tang Xiu slightly furrowed his brows in response and then treated the seriously injured man at his fastest speed. After stabilizing his wounds, he quickly went towards Wang Hai, then took out the green book and shook it before his face. Then, he quickly put it away and said, "It's my duty to save lives and the injured, and it's also my responsibility to defuse the crisis. Those murderers have been dealt with and it's now your turn to hurry up and take care of the aftermath. Also, I have a piece of advice for you if this place is under your jurisdiction: immediately seal this place and stop all the residents from taking photos and videos. If this incident were to spread out throughout the country, then I'm afraid those at the top will be very furious."

Wang Hai looked at Tang Xiu with incredulity. The green book Tang Xiu just took out made his heart thump faster.

"Yes, Sir! Consider it done, Sir!"

After Wang Hai saluted, he immediately summoned the policemen under his command and sealed off all the neighborhood around as per Tang Xiu's instructions, and prohibited everyone from taking photos and videos. He was also perfectly aware of one thing. This incident was so big that even if they went all out to block the news, suppressing it was nigh on impossible since today was, after all, the age of media where anything could be spread out through the Internet in no time.

Tang Xiu then looked around and found several people injured in the crashed cars. He stopped paying attention to everything else and began treating the victims as quickly as possible.

Inside the Big Golden Eagle Store.

Standing by the window on the sixth floor, Tian Xiaomeng's face was full of excitement. Tears were still seen on her face, but her face was beaming with a smile as she continued the live broadcast. "Dear friends, the gun battle is over. Although I still don't know how those villains were dealt with, the police force has arrested them. This is definitely a happy event for all of us. My idol, Mr. Tang, is also safe and sound. He has saved so many wounded people under the rain of bullets, but he didn't get injured at all. I think God must have pitied his endeavor and blessed him."

As of now, the number of viewers watching her live broadcast had exceeded two million. Every one of them typed their admiration for Tang Xiu and expressed their anger and hatred towards the murderers while listening to Tian Xiaomeng.

However, during the live broadcasting, a hazy figure appeared behind Tian Xiaomeng and a sharp dagger suddenly pierced the mobile phone in her hand. Tang 28 stomped the phone right as it fell on the floor.

Tian Xiaomeng instantly turned around and looked at Tang 28 with a horrified look. However, when he saw that the person was only an eight-plus-years-old child, her horrified look was instantly gone and she scolded a bit angrily. "Hey, what are you doing? You're still a child yet you pierced my phone with a dagger? You... where are your parents, kid? I'll take you to your parents and ask for their explanation!"

"My Sovereign has a lot to deal with and he asked me to tell you that he has no time to deal with you for the time being," said Tang 28 with a cold voice. "He said that you'll be in trouble for your live broadcast, and told you to shape up!"

Tian Xiaomeng caught up with him in a few steps, blocked his way, and angrily said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Did your head got screwed up or something? Who's your Sovereign? Why does he have things to do about me and my live broadcast, huh? Take me to your parents and pay for my phone!"

Tang 28 was silent for a moment and then took out a stack of hundred-yuan bills from his pocket. He threw them to Tian Xiaomeng and said, "10,000 yuan should be enough to compensate for your loss. I don't feel like telling you who my Sovereign is. Just wait here and you'll be fine after some troubles."

Having said that, he brushed past Tian Xiaomeng and ran away quickly. Tian Xiaomeng was unable to stop him even though she wanted to. She just stood in the corridor, looking at the stack of hundred-yuan bills in her hand with twitching lips. She felt like she wanted to cry hard yet the tears wouldn't come out of her eyes.

She didn't care about the money. What she cared about was her live broadcast. Yet, she got interrupted all of a sudden. She could tell that the two million viewers in her live broadcast channel must be going ballistic now.

At the crossroads.

As an ambulance arrived, Tang Xiu, who had stabilized all the injuries of the gravely injured victims, walked to Wang Hai under the gaze of countless people and calmly said, "I have some private matters to talk to you about."

"Okay," replied Wang Hai hurriedly.

After a short while, the two of them came to a secluded spot a dozen meters away. Wang Hai curiously looked at Tang Xiu and said, "What do you want to talk to me about, Divine Doctor Tang?"

"You already know my identity, but I want you to not publicize it," said Tang Xiu. "Also, the people who neutralized those murderers are my men. If those at the top want to conduct a thorough investigation, tell them to come to me. I'll be at the Tang Family's ancestral residence for the next few days."

Wang Hai was truly shocked deep down since he didn't expect that the people who solved more than a dozen of those murderers turned out to be Tang Xiu's men. He didn't even notice nor see their shadows at all. However, upon noticing that Tang Xiu didn't want to explain further, he forced himself to ask again, "May I ask which Tang Family's residence you just told me about, Divine Doctor Tang?"

"Huh? How many Tang Families are there in the capital?" asked Tang Xiu with a light smile.

"Tang..." Wang Hai opened his mouth as his pupils suddenly contracted. With a shocked face, he asked again, "You... you're from that Tang House?"

"My surname is Tang, so of course, I'm a member of the Tang House." Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "Anyways, I already told you everything I needed to say. There are things you can say and things you cannot. Shortly put, just deal with things here. I can't stay any longer since I gotta get back to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday."

Chapter 1034: The Second In Command

 

The incident in Beijing had garnered the attention of the people in the whole country. It was all due to Tian Xiaomeng's live broadcast that led all the bigshots to finally realize one thing—no matter how hard they tried to suppress it, this information was already spread wide and was impossible to suppress. Therefore, the major media also began to report it after gaining a high-level authorization.

And thus, public opinion was created! And the wind blew toward the expected "healthy and upward" direction. Despite the violent incidents, the intentional directions of the media led the public of the whole country to turn their anger on the murderers.

However, Tang Xiu didn't bother to pay attention to these things at all. What concerned him at this time was Tian Xiaomeng's live broadcast since he thought he must not be famous and to be in the limelight again, else it would be very inconvenient for him later.

At the Tang Family's ancestral residence.

Tang Guosheng was sitting calmly in the courtyard, watching the scene play on the projector. A happy and satisfied smile vaguely appeared on his ruddy, aged face, while Qin Changyue, his spouse beside him, however, looked extremely nervous and worried.

Next to them also sat Tang Guoxing and Tang Guoshou, the two elders of the Tangs, while Tang Yunpeng, Tang Yunde, Tang Min, Tang Dong, Tang Yan, and Tang Yunqing were behind these elders. Even the juniors such as Tang Ning, Tang Ying, Tang Wei, Tang Tang, Tang Ji, and the rest, all had their attention focused on the screen with both nervousness and admiration visible on their faces. All their eyes were focused on a certain figure—Tang Xiu.

Finally, as the live broadcast stopped playing on the screen, Tang Guosheng burst into laughter and happily said, "That's my Tang Guosheng's good grandson, you see! He deserves to be my grandson! Rushing forward at the critical moment and treating the wounded just relying on his own strength! I dare say that my grandson's name will be known to all the people in the country by tomorrow—the young hero of the Tang House, my family!"

"That brat is a hero?!" said Tang Yunde smilingly. "You're praising him too much, Dad."

"Xiu'er is a hero, Yunde. He's our Tang House's hero and he's a hero in the hearts of the people of this country." Tang Guoxing shook his head and continued, "Even old geezers like us won't dare to rush into a hail of bullets just to save strangers' lives. This boy is our lucky star and the hope of our Tang House!"

"Haih, not you too, Second Uncle." Tang Yunde helplessly sighed. "On the contrary to your opinion, I don't think he's doing it right this time. We all know Xiu'er's power, and that he didn't deal with those villains and saved people instead. I'd have dealt with the former if I were in his shoes."

Tang Guosheng squinted his eyes as a ray of wisdom flashed across his eyes. He shook his head and said, "Xiu'er must have something else in mind, Yunde. He must have his reason for not taking the initiative to deal with these evil guys. Well, he's come to the capital, so he'll be here soon. We'll know it soon once he comes."

"Hahaha, Grandpa misses me, ehh?!"

Clear laughter came from outside the courtyard. Then, Tang Xiu, leading Tang 28's group of five, came inside. Everyone in the courtyard instantly turned around and their eyes fell on them.

Tang Guosheng stood up from the wicker chair with a happy face. He smiled and said with a crisp voice, "You just did such a great deed, Xiu'er! Grandpa rarely admires people in this life, but you're definitely on the list!"

"Haha, that's overpraising, Grandpa," said Tang Xiu with a chuckle. "If anything, I learned of your 80th birthday a few days ago, so I made a special trip to congratulate you and wish you good health and long life."

"Nah, living a long life for hundreds of years is not something I dare imagine." Tang Guosheng waved and smilingly said, "I'm already content if I can live a happy life until 100. Anyways, all the members of our family are here, Xiu'er. Care to tell us why you chose not to deal with those villains but saved and treated the seriously injured victims instead? Also, how can those evils be dealt with so inexplicably? Did you order some people to deal with them?"

Tang Xiu pointed to Tang 28's group of five and lightly smiled. "Well, these are Tang 28 and his four companions, Grandpa. And they are the ones who neutralized those bad guys. I may be a bit powerful, but I didn't wish to be recognized by outsiders. Hence, doing the saving was the best choice."

Tang Guosheng understood instantly and stared at Tang 28's group of five with a surprised face. "Xiu'er, they are..."

"They are all orphans I've adopted and trained to be excellent cultivators," said Tang Xiu. "They are the best among the tens of thousands of children and are qualified to be by my side."

It was really a shock for Tang Guosheng. He knew that his grandson, Tang Xiu, had secretly adopted homeless children a while back, but he didn't expect that he would teach these children cultivation arts and turned them into cultivators. What shocked him the most, however, was that he knew that those murderers were by no means weak. Judging from their marksmanship skill, speed, and strength, they were definitely first-class experts. But these children had only been cultivating for at most a year. How could they have such powerful strength?

Tang Xiu didn't bother to explain the cultivation level of Tang 28's group of five. He just greeted the other elders in the courtyard and smilingly said afterward, "I think the Fan Family will be hit by bad luck this time. The leader of those murderers is the second son of the Fan Family's Head. With them making such a big mess, the Fan Family's Head won't be able to cover it up."

As someone who understood politics, Tang Guosheng naturally understood his grandson's words. He then nodded and sighed. "That's true. The Fans will be in for big trouble and no one can save them this time. But that girl who did the live broadcast just is like pouring salt on their wounds this time!"

"Well, I don't think that Xiaomeng girl was even aware of how much influence her live broadcast would create before she did it, though." Tang Xiu smiled and said, "The Fan House can be said to be very unlucky for having such an offspring that courts calamity to the whole family."

"Ehh? You know that little broadcaster?" asked Tang Guosheng in surprise.

"I know her and we're kinda related way back, Grandpa." Tang Xiu smiled and said, "I wouldn't have become so famous if it weren't for her. Back when I was at Star City Chinese Medical Hospital, she just took footage and publicized what I was doing in a live broadcast. Later on, it was due to her scoop on the condition of the Star City's Welfare House that made me face the public. I never thought that it would be so coincidental that she actually came to the capital and happened to be at the incident site, though."

"This incident will likely be blown up big time, Xiu'er." Tang Guosheng nodded and smiled. "So, I want you to partake in dealing with something."

"Ehh? On what matter?" Tang Xiu was confused.

Tang Min walked out of the crowd and forced a smile. "It is I, your aunt, who needs your help this time, Xiu'er. The Chus and Fans were going to cooperate in certain businesses. and the Chus will inevitably be affected once the Fans collapse. I'm the daughter of the Tangs, yet I'm married to the Chus. As the daughter-in-law of the Chu Family, I need you to help the Chu Family in this matter!"

Tang Xiu looked dull for a moment and forced a bitter smile. "Uh, then what can I do, Auntie?"

An astute light flashed in Tang Min's eyes as she said, "The Fans' businesses will be seized when they collapse. At that time, if you were to meet some people, their seized businesses will also fall into the hands of the Chu Family. The Chus will, of course, take over them on the surface, but half of the benefits will be obtained by our House."

Tang Xiu raised a thumbs up to express his approval and admiration. "I'm really still far from you in creating such a script, Auntie. I originally thought it would be better for the other families to stay clear of any connections with the Fans, but I didn't think there's still a huge interest in it. Alright, just leave it to me and cousin Chu Yi, then! I think we can work it out."

"Well, Auntie promises you that you won't work for nothing, Xiu'er," said Tang Min in satisfaction.

"If I can get benefits from this, then why not?" Tang Xiu grinningly said, "Besides, I heard that the Fans have a notorious reputation in the capital. Since they deserve this tribulation, then we might as well let them fall either way!"

At this moment, all the Tang Family members in the courtyard were perfectly aware of one thing. Although the current patriarch of the Tang House was Tang Guosheng and he was the one who had the say, the second person who had the right turned out to be not the other elders but Tang Xiu. It meant that his conduct and abilities would directly affect the future and destiny of all the Tang Family members.

As the next day came, Tang Xiu finally got precise and positive news that the patriarch of the Fan Family was now under control by the authorities of the state under the pretext that he had been indulging his son, who then caused such a huge bloody incident. As a result, all the Fan Family members were now under scrutiny by the state, and all their businesses had been ordered to suspend their operation for rectification.

The next story after the tree fell was the scene where the monkeys scattered about and everyone else joined the fray to kick the newly collapsed giant.

In just one day, the Fan Family had been reduced from the second-tier family of Beijing to the existence everyone avoided and scorned at. Nearly all the prominent families and people who had a friendship with them had begun to do everything they could to steer off of their relationship with them, while all the families and those who had enmity with them added fuel to the flames and begun to act in attempts to ruin the Fan Family completely.

However, none of these pieces of news had any significance to Tang Xiu. He neither cared about the fate of the Fans or what kind of miserable ending they would end up with. The one thing he had been concerned about to figure out at present was why would someone among criminals under the Fan Family have Cadaveric Qi.

Cadaveric energy could affect humans' mental state that, in turn, would transform them into demon spawns who would kill people without batting an eye. That Second Young Master Fan was born in a prominent family, so he must know what kind of fate would befall upon them if he created such a bloody incident in the capital. However, he still did it, which meant that his consciousness had been affected by Cadaveric Qi.

****

At Northmoon Restaurant.

Tang Xiu had an appointment to meet the Special Abilities Bureau's Chief, Duanmu Lin. As he saw his frowning and worried look, Tang Xiu secretly sighed inwardly and walked to the opposite side of him and took a seat. Then, he let out a smile and asked, "What kind of annoying thing is making you look so upset, Senior Duanmu? Is it because of yesterday's incident?"

Duanmu Lin raised his head and suddenly forced a bitter smile upon seeing Tang Xiu. "What else? My hair is nearly turning white worrying about it."

"Hahaha, no way!" Tang Xiu couldn't help laughing and then said, "You're the Head of the Special Abilities Bureau, so there's no way you need to worry about this kind of trouble, no? Some people will naturally clean up the incidents caused by the Fan Family members, right?"

Duanmu Lin's face turned solemn as he shook his head and sighed. "It would have been very easy to solve if the case was really just caused by average people. But things have changed since an unforeseen accident just cropped up!"

Chapter 1035: The Bounty Hunters

 

Tang Xiu's face shifted and he asked, "What happened?"

"You're also a member of my agency, so it's fine telling you." Duanmu Lin forced a smile and said, "But it's a confidential case, so you can't disclose it. Two core members of the Fans have shown inhuman power and killed more than a dozen intelligence personnel who were keeping an eye on them before escaping. We investigated the scene of the massacre and discovered that the killing method was very bizarre."

With a slightly changed expression, Tang Xiu asked, "You should have the photos of the murder scene, right? Please show them to me."

Duanmu Lin pushed the paper bag on the table in front of him to Tang Xiu. As Tang Xiu grabbed it, he spoke, "Shouldn't you give me an explanation for yesterday's incident?"

After opening the paper bag, Tang Xiu looked at the photos while speaking, "I just arrived at the capital yesterday and happened to encounter this incident, so I took action. However, it wasn't me who discarded the criminals, but some of my men. You also know that it'd be very troublesome if I took action personally and exposed my identity in that situation."

A smile finally appeared on Duanmu Lin's face. He nodded and said, "I know that it was your men's doing, else it'd be absolutely impossible to neutralize those people so silently. Those criminals under the Fan Family all have been secretly detained in the prison of the Special Abilities Bureau's HQ. It's just a pity that we have no means to pry anything from them."

"They've lost their minds, haven't they?" asked Tang Xiu.

"Huh? How do you know?" Duanmu Lin stared blankly and asked with a confused face, "Did your men do something that made them lose their minds?"

"No, it wasn't because of my men. They've lost their sanity even before they committed crimes." Tang Xiu shook his head and explained, "Although I met them by chance yesterday, I sensed Cadaveric Qi from them. They were under the influence of cadaveric energy and thus led to this bloody incident. I'm now even more certain of it after seeing these photos."

The dozens of photos showed the scene of the two core members of the Fan Family killing the intelligence personnel last night. The dead in the photos had wounds left by the claws and teeth. If those weren't caused by beasts' teeth, it was very likely caused by humans who got affected by cadaveric energy—these kinds of people were called half-ghouls.

Eyes lit up, Duanmu shot a deep gaze at Tang Xiu and asked, "Do you have any way to find those two running Fan House's members?"

"I'll need the blood of the Fan Family's member. It's better if it's fresh blood," said Tang Xiu.

"Then come with me to the prison of the Special Abilities Bureau," said Duanmu Lin.

"Let's eat and head there afterward." Tang Xiu nodded. "It's rather improper for me for not having been to the Special Abilities Bureau's HQ in the capital as its member, no? That's right. I also need to borrow something from you."

"What is it you want to borrow?" asked Duanmu Lin.

"The Subaquatic Corvette," said Tang Xiu.

"Huh? What do you wanna do with that submarine?" asked Duanmu Lin, frowning.

"I have conflicts with some foreign forces and kinda got struck from the dark," said Tang Xiu helplessly. "My men are currently fighting these foreign cultivators in the Pacific Ocean, so the Subaquatic Corvette can help me deploy manpower as well as eliminate the enemy."

"Foreign cultivator forces? What do you mean by that and who are they?" asked Duanmu Lin with knitted brows.

"There are a lot of them. My side is likely fighting the world's top three powers, and there are also other powers. In brief, the enemies are very strong. Additionally, the culprit is the Celestial Wizard Clan—a clan you must have heard of, Senior Duanmu," explained Tang Xiu with a forced smile.

Duanmu Lin shook and nodded with a solemn face. "Not only have I heard of them, but I also clashed with them. Unfortunately, it has been our Special Abilities Bureau who lost some manpower and some more fell. Those Celestial Wizard clansmen got some mysterious wizardry arts and they are very powerful, Tang Xiu. And you... you're fighting them?"

"I have the confidence to destroy this clan completely if it's only them," said Tang Xiu. "But victory is a very tall order with a lot of cultivator forces intervening now, especially with the Big Three around. That's why I want to borrow the Subaquatic Corvette from you."

Duanmu Lin pondered for a moment and asked, "Can you guarantee its safety? You also know this submarine is from a more technologically advanced civilization. Once it falls into the hands of other countries, we can expect huge threats to our country in the future."

"I can guarantee that." Tang Xiu nodded.

"Then I'll file the request to the top authority." Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "But I don't have a 100% guarantee of approbation."

"Then pass my message to the top authority. I'll make a deal with the military if they lend me the Subaquatic Corvette," said Tang Xiu. "I have a brand-new tech product which functions will greatly help the military."

Duanmu Lin's mind shook and he hurriedly asked, "Can you disclose what product is it?"

"I can only say that it's a kind of aviation product," said Tang Xiu with a mystifying smile.

Aviation?

A solemn look appeared on Duanmu Lin's face. Then, he got up and said, "Let's arrange the meal in the Bureau and not waste time here, shall we? Let's hurry up and find the Fan Family clansmen and resolve the matter of borrowing the Subaquatic Corvette."

Tang Xiu had no choice but to leave with Duanmu Lin after hearing this. Just as the two of them left the restaurant's entrance, however, Aquababe hurriedly got off from a car nearby and ran toward Duanmu Lin and Tang Xiu. After nodding to the latter, she quickly said, "We have a situation, Chief."

"What situation?" asked Duanmu Lin.

Aquababe glanced at Tang Xiu and hesitated.

"You don't need to hide anything from Tang Xiu. He's also a member of our Special Abilities Bureau. Speak, what is the situation?" ordered Duanmu Lin.

"We just received news that the two fleeing members of the Fan Family appeared in Lianggang City. They took a cab and then killed its driver, whose body was then found in the remote seaside with his taxi. However, we got news from our men who are tracking them that there's also another group of people chasing them."

"How is this possible?" Duanmu Lin's face changed and he quickly said, "Chasing them is the jurisdiction the state has given us, there's no way other forces can get involved! Is this new group the enemy of Fan Family?"

"The footage showed three people; one old man, and two other–middle-aged men, and a woman. I've assigned our bureau's intel operatives to search the databank for them and they inferred that those people are not Chinese nationals." Aquababe shook his head.

"Can you find their traces?" asked Duanmu Lin.

"We have yet to find the two members of the Fans. They just disappeared," said Aquababe. "But we have those three people under surveillance. We may be able to see them if we rush to Lianggang City as fast as possible."

Duanmu Lin turned to Tang Xiu and asked, "What do you think?"

"Let's just head there. Also, send some men to bring one Fan family member to Lianggang City," said Tang Xiu. "It'd be best if we can find those people right away. But if we can't find them, we still need the Fan family's blood."

"We'll move as such then." Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "Aquababe, go fetch a member of the Fans and bring him to Lianggang City."

****

Lianggang City. It was a coastal city, the southernmost city in the three northern provinces. The rapid development of this place made the city the most prosperous metropolis in the three northern provinces.

North Hamlet Fishery. The establishment was surrounded by hills and beautiful scenery with lakeside stretched far and vast with the sparkling surface under the sunlight. On a certain fishing boat, a conversation using fluent English was heard.

"Master, the tracking disc has shown the direction of those two half-ghouls. They are running toward the Lushunkou region. Are we going after them?" asked the blonde middle-aged man with black sunglasses as he looked at the old man sitting at the opposite side.

The old man shook his head and slowly said, "No. They'll be back secretly since they're hiding their corpse container here. They will need the cadaveric qi in that corpse container to be powerful half-ghouls. They will definitely come back here within three days."

The blonde middle-aged man furrowed his brows and said, "But what if they have more corpse containers and deliberately hide one of it here to confuse us?"

A chilling light flashed across the old man's eyes before he nodded and said, "It's possible. But we don't know much about the cities in China and it will be much worse for us compared to those two half-ghouls. If you follow their tracks with the tracking disc, it's very easy for us to get rid of them by taking a detour to confuse and appear behind them. We've locked them with the tracking device, so, as long as they are not more than 300km away from us in these three days, we can judge their orientation."

The blonde middle-aged man said, "But we'll lose their tracks if they go more than 300km away, Master. It won't be easy to find them again by then."

"Not really. We've determined the direction of their escape. We can immediately track them toward Lushunkou once the tracking devices stop. It's easy to keep them within the range of 300km with our speed." The old man sneered.

Whoosh!

A figure flickered lightning-fast from the shore into the fishing boat. A middle-aged female in black leather attire and killing intent on her face reported in a deep voice. "We got company around keeping an eye on us. They should be officials of Chinese authority."

The old man's face shifted, but then he sneered. "Heh, we found those two half-ghouls. No need to act reserved if they want to compete with us for the spoils. Those two half-ghouls will fetch a fortune in the black market. There's no way bounty hunters like us would miss this chance."

Chapter 1036: Transaction

 

Bounty hunters were a legendary group of people who possessed mysterious and unpredictable abilities and often hovered on the edge of life and death in pursuit of their prey. The evil races in the world were their targets, including the Bloodkin, demi-humans, zombies, and fierce beasts.

The killing was just basic means to make a living for these people. Only by killing their prey could they sell them on the black market and obtain the things they wanted. The Bounty Hunters' only code was that they weren't allowed to kill the average people.

"What are we gonna do now, Master?" the slender middle-aged female who wore black sunglasses asked in a low voice.

"Heh, I once clashed with Chinese ability users. They are just a bunch of weak people." The old man snorted. "We'll ignore them if they don't annoy us when catching our prey. But if they get in our way, kill them without mercy!"

"But this is Chinese territory, Master," the middle-aged female said in a low voice. "I'm afraid we'll attract quite the trouble if we rashly kill their people. We may be lions, but the bites of a wolf pack are unbearable regardless."

The old man pondered for a moment before nodding. "You're right. But my injuries have yet to heal, and continue chasing those two half-ghouls will affect my healing rate. Alright, go find the people who are monitoring us. Tell them I want to meet their leader."

The middle-aged female replied. But as she was about to leave the cabin of the fishing boat, the old man's face suddenly shifted and he floated outside, appearing on the fishing boat deck.

"They are coming."

A solemn look was cast on his face. He considered himself very strong, but it was just against some weak ability users of China's Special Abilities Bureau. Yet, he dared not guarantee that he could win the director of this bureau—the powerful Duanmu Lin. More so that he had yet to heal from his injuries.

After half a minute, Duanmu Lin came to the shore with more than ten ability users of the Special Abilities Bureau. Tang Xiu stood next to him with hands crossed behind his back, looking at that old man. He learned from Duanmu Lin on their way here the true identity of these three people. They were Bounty Hunters.

"We meet again, geezer Zhong!"

A faint and vague smile appearing on his face, Duanmu Lin greeted.

"I never thought you would still be alive after our last meeting a couple of years ago, Duanmu Lin." The old man knitted his brows and said, "Are those around you the ability users from China's Special Abilities Bureau? They look like trash!"

"How can I die if you're not dead yourself, geezer?" Duanmu Lin smilingly said, "They are indeed ability users from my Bureau, but do I need your comment or something? Well, those two brats you saved the other day have grown this old now, huh? It seems like they also got your inheritance, no? How about a contest between my trash men with yours?"

"I know this place is your country's territory, Duanmu Lin. But Bounty Hunters like us are not restricted to any international treaty. We can appear anywhere when hunting any irregularities and divergent races," said the old man indifferently. "Further, I didn't come here to be your bureau's enemy, but chasing those dreadful sinners of prey."

"You're right. I don't mean that I don't welcome you to China." Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "It's just that your prey this time is related to a big incident in China, so I hope you can stop and let us clean our own courtyard."

"Heh, do you think it's possible?" The old man coldly replied, "We killed a dozen half-ghouls abroad just to clarify the info of our prey here and I got injured in the process. You tell me why, should we just give up after working our ass off for a few months, huh?"

Duanmu Lin was silent. He was well aware of the code and morality of the Bounty Hunters. The old fella before him was even more paranoid and he would disregard any extreme danger if he was about to succeed in nailing his prey.

"How much for those two half-ghouls, then?" Tang Xiu stepped forward by half a step, looked at the old man and asked. "We can cooperate if they are cheap enough."

The old man knitted his brows and a mocking look appeared on his face. "I didn't think someone from your Special Abilities Bureaus would be this unruly, Duanmu Lin. Since when a subordinate can make decisions for you, huh? Are you perhaps going to retire soon and give your position to this brat?"

Duanmu Lin turned to look at Tang Xiu, shaking his head and smilingly saying, "Geezer Zhong, if this kid wants to take over the director position of my bureau, I won't hesitate to give it to him at once. I don't mind being a small soldier under his command."

"What did you say?"

The old man's face changed and he shot a disbelieving look at Duanmu Lin and Tang Xiu. He knew Duanmu Lin's personality—a man so loyal that he dedicated everything to his country and cared about the director position of the Special Abilities Bureau very much. How could he be so willing to let it go now?

A smile crept up on Tang Xiu's face as he let out a light smile and said, "I have not the slightest bit of interest in becoming the Director of Special Abilities Bureau. No need to sow any dissent, Senior Zhong. Just tell me how much is the price for two half-ghouls in the black market."

The old man shot a deep look at Tang Xiu and stretched out a finger. "10 million dollars."

Tang Xiu gave him an OK sign and lightly smiled. "Rather than slaying those two half-ghouls yourself and then selling them in the black market, I think it's better to sell them to us, no? Certainly, we can still help you to find those two half-ghouls and you can even join us in killing them."

The old man narrowed his eyes. The proposal from the other party made him interested. Moreover, he was the least afraid that the Special Abilities Bureau wouldn't keep their promise. At this moment, however, he was much more interested in learning Tang Xiu's identity. "What's your name, young man?"

"Tang Xiu," answered Tang Xiu with a smile.

"You're good, kid. This old man likes a young talent like you," said the old man with a nod. "Alright. I agree with the deal, but I need you to wait for me to heal up."

Tang Xiu flipped his hand and a jade bottle appeared on his hand. Looking at him, he said, "Senior Zhong, Bounty Hunters like you do business with blade and blood, right? Injuries, more so the serious ones, should affect you greatly, right? I have some medicinal pills here and I want you to see whether they're useful to you. We can discuss the price!"

"Medicinal pill? As in the likes of healing pills?" said the old man with a strange face. "Aren't you an ability user, or are you an oriental cultivator—one that can concoct medicinal pills?"

Tang Xiu didn't try to hide it and smilingly said, "That's right. I'm a cultivator who can refine medicinal pills. So, are you interested in this transaction?"

"I need to inspect it first," said the old man. "If the efficacy of the medicinal pill you refined is really great, I'll buy it. But if the effect is negligible, forget mentioning it ever again."

Tang Xiu opened the jade bottle and sucked out a Holy Healing pill from the inside. He immediately flicked it and it instantly floated in front of the old man's face. Then, he said with a smile, "This Holy Healing pill is priced at 20 million USD. If you want to try it and the efficacy is good, you must pay me 20 million dollars. But I won't take a dime if the effect isn't good."

"Isn't your asking price just extorting me?" yelled the old man. "20 million dollars? Why don't just rob me straight?"

The smile on Tang Xiu's face receded and was replaced by a bit of indifference. "If you are to get seriously injured during a fight and it affects your combat effectiveness, you can expect to meet your demise. But taking the Holy Healing pill I refined will heal you quickly and is equal to having half a life. Tell me which is more important, 20 million dollars or half a life?"

"This..."

The old man was unable to retort. No matter how much money one had, it was useless if one died! However, a 20-million-dollar pill was too expensive! He may be rich, but buying a dozen Holy Healing pills and got fleeced like that would still make him distressed.

"Well, the call is yours," said Tang Xiu. "You decide whether you'll take the deal."

The old man sensed his internal injury and looked at the pill floating in front of his eyes. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally compromised and grabbed the pill, tore off the wax paper and directly swallowed it.

"Be careful of poison, Master!" The blonde man hurriedly called out with a change in his complexion.

"I'll be wary and worrying about that if it was someone else." The old man shook his head and said, "But I can feel at ease if he's Duanmu Lin's man."

A smile outlined on the corner of Duanmu Lin's mouth. With a pale smile, he cupped his fists and said, "I never thought a sharp-tongued man like you could speak such warm words, Old Zhong. That's so rare coming from you! Well, I know Tang Xiu's character. He won't harm you."

Tang Xiu didn't speak, but Duanmu Lin was correct. After learning the existence of Bounty Hunters, he wouldn't harm such a professional old man. Bounty Hunters may rely on killings to make a living, yet all their targets were irregularities and divergent races. But they also never easily killed the divergent races that didn't do evil deeds when they encountered them either.

In other words, the vast majority of bounty hunters could be considered as good people.

After the old man took the Holy Healing pill, he felt a heat rushing out of the pill. It flowed into his chest through his throat and then poured into his abdomen. Ultimately, the huge medicinal efficacy dispersed and spread out into his limbs and five internal organs.

"Huh?"

The old man's complexion shifted and he immediately sat cross-legged.

Duanmu Lin turned to glance at Tang Xiu and smilingly said, "I never knew that you're able to refine medicinal pills prior to this. I think 20 million dollars is a cost-effective price for your Holy Healing pill, Tang Xiu. How many of them you have? I want to buy them too."

Tang Xiu thought for a while and transmitted his reply, "I can sell 100 pills for 10 million dollars each annually. That's... the limit of Holy Healing pill I can produce."

Duanmu Lin raised his thumbs up and praised. "You truly deserve being one of our people. That's a good preferential offer. The deal will be as you said. The Special Abilities Bureau will buy 100 Holy Healing pills from you annually."

Chapter 1037: Trapped

 

Time quickly passed by and ten minutes were gone in a flash. As the old man sitting cross-legged on the fishing boat's deck sobered up, his eyes gleamed with an excited look. His figure floated and came before Tang Xiu. Looking at him fixedly, he said, "I need 10 Holy Healing pills with the same effect."

A smile outlined on the corner of Tang Xiu's face as he nodded and said, "No problem. I still have nine pills left in this jade bottle. You just need to transfer 200 million dollars to my account."

"Deal!"

The old man nodded without hesitation. After receiving Tang Xiu's account number, he immediately transferred the money to that account.

An incredulous look appeared on the blonde man's and the female's faces. They watched as their Master received the jade bottle and looked satisfied. The former then immediately asked, "How's your injury now, Master?"

"It's almost healed," said the old man happily. "I only need to adjust my breathing later to return to my peak state. This Holy Healing pill has much better efficacy than I thought. This Little Brother Tang is correct, having such Holy Healing pill is equal to having half a life during the fighting with enemies."

The blonde male and female exchanged glances and they also looked eager, unable to remove their eyes from the jade bottle in their Master's hand. The duo quickly conversed in whispers, then the female immediately looked at Tang Xiu and asked with a smile, "Can you sell us some more Holy Healing pills, Mr. Tang? My Senior Brother and I want to buy five pills for 100 million dollars."

Tang Xiu let out an odd smile and said, "That's OK! You got better luck since I still have ten of them. To prevent you from dying first from your predecessor, I'll sell you five pills."

Having said that, he took out another jade bottle and took five Holy Healing pills from it. After giving it to them, he said, "Pay me 100 million dollars now!"

"Please wait a bit!" The duo quickly transferred the money to Tang Xiu with happy faces.

As the transaction was completed, Tang Xiu looked at the old man again and said, "Senior Zhong, what do you think of joining hands to chase those two half-ghouls since you've healed now? I'm sure you can track them easily since a Bounty Hunter has the means to do so."

"That's right, those two half-ghouls have already fled to the direction of Lushunkou about less than 200km from us. However, we'll need transportation, else we can't chase them in a short time if they keep running away."

Duanmu Lin nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll get it arranged at once."

Ten minutes later, two military helicopters quickly arrived as the group floated up to the cabin without the helicopter landing. Duanmu Lin issued an order and the two choppers then flew towards Lushunkou's direction.

On the way there, Duanmu Lin received another message: A homicide case happened in Lushunkou and the bodies of the victims lost half of the blood in their bodies, allegedly from having their blood sucked out.

"It's really abominable!"

Killing intent overflowed from Duanmu Lin's eyes as he hung up. He had encountered the likes of half-ghouls in the past. This irregularity had spiritual wisdom similar to that of cultivators and also boasted formidable force that made killing an easy job for them.

Half an hour passed by as the old man sitting next to Duanmu Lin suddenly spoke, "They're nearby. The tracking disc traced their position in the forested mountain southeastward about five kilometers ahead."

Tang Xiu glanced at the tracking disc in the old man's hands and said, "Can you tell me the principle of this tracking disc? How can it lock the target and what is the longest distance it can track?"

"This thing is the lifeline of Bounty Hunters and each of us just can't live without it," said the old man smilingly. "In actuality, it's very simple to use it. As long as you encounter the target and collect a drop of their blood, you can track them as long as their position is no more than 300km away."

"Ah, so you have fought these two-ghouls previously?" asked Tang Xiu in surprise.

"They were threatening a taxi driver when we bumped into them," said the old man with a bit of a solemn face. When we intercepted them, they killed the cab driver and we got into a brief clash with them. I would never have let them escape if it wasn't because of my injury. Luckily, I injured one of them, and used his blood on this tracking disc."

Tang Xiu looked a bit enthusiastic and asked, "Can you sell it to me? Or if you have an extra, I'm willing to buy it."

The old man shook his head and said, "I only have this one. We even spent quite an effort to buy this from the black market since my previous tracking disc was ruined during the fight. If you wanna buy it, you can go to the black market. To my knowledge, however, there are better tracking discs than mine there."

'The black market?' Tang Xiu thought for a moment and asked again, "Where is this black market you're talking about?"

At the side, Duanmu Lin looked amazed as he asked, "Ehh? You never knew the existence of the cultivation world's black market all this while, Tang Xiu?"

"I really had no idea." Tang Xiu shook his head.

"I thought you knew about it, so I never told you." Duanmu Lin was at a loss of whether to cry or laugh. "In fact, the cultivation world's black market is established in Philadelphia, United States. The place wasn't in that city originally, but since there was a need for resource exchange between cultivators and other practitioners, the market for practitioners all over the world was gradually formed there. The development scale then got faster and bigger over the past decades and now it can be compared with a medium-sized city."

"The world has so many practitioners and they also formed a medium-sized city?" asked Tang Xiu with a strange expression.

"There are a lot of cultivators as well as different races over there," added Duanmu Lin with a smile. "But most of the inhabitants are average people who moved due to the gradual development. Whether they are cultivators or divergent races, they are blending among ordinary people. They only reveal their identities when needed and during the transaction with others."

Tang Xiu suddenly understood and nodded. "I see. It seems I'll need to find time to visit Philadelphia later. Anyways, let's get down and deal with those two half-ghouls since they're nearby."

****

In the depths of a vibrant and lush forested mountain, two runaway clansmen of the Fan Family looked a bit dark and distressed—the result of being covered by cadaveric qi.

"Where do we go now, Fourth Brother? Those three Bounty Hunters are just like dogskin plaster that can't be shaken off. We'll be in trouble if we don't kill them." Thick killing intent filled Fan Jinzhong's eyes. There was still a bloodstain in the corner of his mouth.

"Those three Bounty Hunters are indeed quite a bit skilled, though I'm not that worried about them," replied Fan Jinxing coldly. "It's those Chinese ability users I'm concerned about. The fucking thing is those bastards who were unable to control their cadaveric energy. They even got affected by it and killed people wantonly and brought calamity to our family. Do you think such a big incident in the capital won't make those people from the Special Abilities Bureau to appear?"

"That Second Fan brat is really a motherfucker!" Fan Jinzhong exclaimed angrily. "Our family spent so much to obtain this cultivation art. Even though we got it from unearthing a cultivator's corpse from an ancient tomb, it does give us formidable power. It would've taken us a few decades before our family can have a huge powerful army and scheme against the country according to our original plan. But ultimately... everything is for naught in the hands of that bastard!"

Fan Jinxing strongly suppressed his anger inside and coldly said, "We've escaped for the time being, but the rest of our family members are still in the capital. I can tell they are all likely under control now. However, there's no way to save them in our present situation either. Our only option is to flee China first before coming back later to save the rest."

"Our family has arranged a retreat route more than a decade ago, Fourth Brother." Fan Jinzhong nodded. "We can escape quickly once the matter that we're cultivating in a ghoul cultivation art is exposed. We still have dozens of kilometers to go before arriving at the concealed ship, and our men over there are at the ready too."

"Uncle's arrangement is wise indeed," said Fan Jinxing. "Those damn Bounty Hunters and Chinese officials—just wait! We, brothers, will soon kill you all!"

Suddenly, Fan Jinxing's complexion changed and his slightly grayish pupils shrunk all of a sudden. His body instantly bounced off the ground as he grabbed Fan Jinzhong's hand and quickly fled towards the distance.

"They caught up this quickly?"

Fan Jinzhong loosened his hand from Fan Jinxing's with a disbelieving look while running.

"Those fucking bounty hunters must have some way to track us," replied Fan Jinxing. "Let's speed up running. Otherwise..."

He abruptly stopped speaking as his heart shuddered upon seeing dozens of figures blocking their path ahead. The brothers were top members of the Fans and naturally knew about China's Special Abilities Bureau. They also knew the person in charge of the bureau, Duanmu Lin. Yet, they didn't expect that Duanmu Lin would actually lead his men to block their path in advance, and even the bounty hunters who had been chasing them were just a few hundred meters away from them.

"They are... cooperating?"

At the scene, Fan Jinzhong couldn't help but feel despair. No matter how powerful he was, the people from the Special Abilities Bureau were not weak either. More so that they were collaborating with the bounty hunters—a force that they wouldn't be able to face against.

'What should we do? Are we really going to die here?'

Fan Jinzhong clenched his fists and grabbed a rusty bronze sword, then he immediately rushed leftwards to escape.

Chapter 1038: Truly Rich

 

Everyone present smirked upon seeing the Fan Brothers' attempt to escape. The net had been laid, preventing them from any chance of escaping. They wouldn't be able to escape their doom even if they were twice as strong.

"Dragon Trap!"

"Lightning Grid!"

Two ability users of the Special Abilities Bureau flashed like shadows while unleashing their special abilities as they pursued the Fan Brothers. The soft soil beneath floated up and turned into two long clay dragons that instantly wrapped their legs, while electric sparks appeared out of the blue to form a big net to cover them.

Fan Jinzhong's eyes turned around and fury burst out from them. As his arms fiercely waved forward, the bronze sword in his hand burst out into greyish rays and, in nearly in a flash, cut off the earthen dragons and the lightning grid. Taking advantage of this gap, the two brothers frantically ran away again.

Duanmu Lin's complexion changed and he coldly said, "I didn't expect them to have such a magical weapon. But they must die today no matter what."

"No. The weapon in his hand is not a magic weapon, but a ghost one." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "This Fan clansman does have a bit of ability to be able to obtain such a rare ghost weapon."

"Ghost weapon? What is that?" asked Duanmu Lin, confused.

"It's a weapon refined by zombies and half-ghouls, nourished and refined by their death energy that ultimately formed after they tempered it," explained Tang Xiu. "The cultivation of this Fan clansman, however, is not enough to refine such ghost weapon, so that rusty bronze sword in his hand must have been obtained from somewhere else."

The old man floated over and interjected. "Tang Xiu is right. Although ghost weapons are rare, some places have them. For instance, in the black market. But this weapon is very evil and nobody but those cultivating in the ghost cultivation system can buy them."

"Ah, there seem to be a lot of good things in the black market for it to even have ghost weapons?" replied Tang Xiu with amazement.

"The black market indeed has things that you can't imagine, things you can hardly find anywhere else." The old man let out a smile and said, "You can get them as long as you're rich. But that Holy Healing medicine you refined will sell like crazy if you were to sell them in the black market. Some people will buy them even if the price is higher."

"That makes sense." Tang Xiu thought about it and nodded. "It seems that I must visit this black market in the near future."

"If you do plan to visit it, then we can go together, Tang Xiu." The old man's face shifted and he smilingly said, "I'm planning to deal with these two half-ghouls and then leave for the black market afterward. Though it isn't to sell these two half-ghouls, I still have some half-ghouls I need to sell there."

After pondering for a moment, Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "We have each other's contact number, Senior Zhong. I don't think I'll be able to go with you since I still have things to tend to in the near future. I'll contact you when I'm free and we can go together if you're available."

"That's fine with me!"

The old man nodded. Then, his body instantly flashed toward the Fan Brothers. His speed was very fast and a few silver spikes shot out from his fingers in a flash, piercing the Fan Brothers' backs in just a few seconds.

"Demon-Lock Shackle!"

The blonde man's figure moved like an arrow and appeared behind the Fan Brothers who had fallen to the ground in the blink of an eye. He wrapped the two brothers with a dark chain while four wind belts came the moment after and bound their limbs.

"BREAK!!!"

The two Fan Brothers roared. But right as the dark chain and four wind belts that bound them were about to break, the old man pulled out a steel ring and directly wrapped their necks.

"GET AWAY FROM US AND DIE!!!"

A gust of suffocating aura burst out from Fan Jinxing as he broke free from the chain and wind belts, rushing to the old man in an instant. He unleashed the rope with a golden hook from his waist and swept it at the latter's forehead.

"You're courting death!"

As the old man shouted and avoided the golden hook, a yellowish sword emerged from the scabbard on his back. Just as he was ready to launch a counterattack, the bound Fan Jinzhong suddenly flicked his finger and shot a black needle at him.

"You wanna trick me, huh?"

The old man was full of energy and used his sword to sweep away the black needle instantly. At this moment, however, Fan Jinxing flicked the rope and the golden hook moved lightning-fast and instantly tore open a bloody wound on the old man's left arm.

Not far away from them, Tang Xiu slightly furrowed his brows as he faintly noticed that something not right was occurring with the Fan Jinzhong and Fan Jinxing. Although these two men were frantically fighting back in madness, their eyes were now filled with greyish qi while the horrifying aura of darkness being emitted by them gave a sign that something evil was going to burst out.

"I'm going to kill them."

Tang Xiu's toes flicked, lunging his body upward, and dashed toward the Fan Brothers like a cannonball. As he unleashed the divine sword, layers of sword lights swept forward in a flash.

Puff, puff, puff...

Fan Jinzhong and Fan Jinxing's souls screamed as fearful looks appeared on their faces. Despite their desperate resistance, layers of swords kept inundating them and bloody wounds appeared on their bodies.

"Die!"

Tang Xiu flicked his wrist and the overlapping sword images instantly condensed into one. A violent aura burst out as the two men were slashed.

Duanmu Lin, who saw the whole scene, shuddered, for he never thought that Tang Xiu would actually be this powerful and just need one strike to kill the Fan Brothers. The aura and power Tang Xiu emitted out made him realize that the gap between him and the current Tang Xiu was huge.

It wasn't only Duanmu Lin who was shocked at this time, even more than a dozen Elementalists from the Special Abilities Bureau gaped with slack jaws. The old man Zhong was especially surprised with disbelief in his eyes and face, staring Tang Xiu just like he was looking at a monster.

It was an insta-kill!

Tang Xiu just needed one blow to kill two very powerful half-ghouls. It was simply unthinkable. He was crystal clear that he was very powerful himself, yet it would take everything he had to kill these two half-ghouls.

'He's a cultivator! But what cultivation level has he reached now? Has he broken through to the Golden Core Stage?'

The old man was someone who revered power, and such a powerful expert was naturally someone who deserved respect, regardless of gender and age. Although Tang Xiu seemed to be in his early twenties, the strength he just displayed deserved his respect. As he took back the silver spike from the Fan Brothers' backs, he looked at Tang Xiu and said, "You're very strong, Mr. Tang."

"It was they who were too weak, actually." Tang Xiu calmly smiled and said, "Had they been stronger, it would not have been so easy to kill them."

"Not really." The old man shook his head and said, "They would only likely be on par with me had they been stronger. I don't think I could last even a few moves if I faced you. Can you tell me whether your cultivation has reached the Golden Core Stage?"

'The Golden Core Stage?'

Tang Xiu felt amused inwardly. Even if his current strength was to be compared to those experts at the early-stage of Nascent Soul, the gap wasn't much. He could even slay those at the late-stage of Nascent Soul with the endless means he had at hand.

However, it was necessary to hide it so as to preserve some people's faces! On the other hand, he didn't want to expose his strength too much either, so he nodded and smilingly said, "Yeah, I'm indeed at the Golden Core Stage!"

The old man gave a thumbs up and praised. "I'm afraid us the bounty hunters will get a huge blow if you become a bounty hunter, Mr. Tang. You can even make us lose our jobs."

"Please don't worry about that, Senior." Tang Xiu was at a loss whether he had to cry or laugh. "I have no interest in becoming a bounty hunter. I'm even more lazy to chase down those evil creatures who harm ordinary people. In actuality, my real identity is a businessman whose main job is to make money."

"A businessman?" The old man sounded surprised and asked, "What is your business, Mr. Tang?"

Tang Xiu let out a faint smile and flicked his finger. A box of Gods Nectar then appeared in his hand. After sending it before the old man, he smiled lightly and said, "It's our first meeting and we also just faced a common enemy, so we can be considered friends. Thus, I'd like to gift you this box of wine for this first meeting!"

"The Gods Nectar?" The old man's eyes lit up and his throat suddenly squirmed.

"That's right. It's a wine produced by my company." Tang Xiu smilingly said, "I hope Senior Zhong likes it."

The old man raised his head suddenly and said incredulously, "Your company is that Magnificent Tang Corporation?"

"That's right. I'm the owner of the Magnificent Tang Corporation." Tang Xiu nodded.

The old man shot a deep look at Tang Xiu. He just got acquainted with Tang Xiu, but the longer he knew him, the more shocked he became. From knowing his identity as a cultivator at first to the medicinal pill he refined, to the killing of two half-ghouls just now, and now he found out that he was the Magnificent Tang Corp.'s owner. The old man suddenly realized that he, who had encountered and figure out countless people in his life, had been unexpectedly unable to see through Tang Xiu, and even got shocked by him the first time they met.

'The new generation is truly replacing the old and is even much stronger!'

Sighing deeply in his heart, the only man then let out a serious expression for the first time and said, "Mr. Tang, this old man is called Zhong Zhicheng. I'm also a Chinese national who was fated with a chance to learn under a bounty hunter—my teacher. It's really a blessing and fortune that I can get acquainted with you this time, Mr. Tang. I hope that we can cooperate more in the future."

"You're overpraising me, Senior Zhong." Tang Xiu cupped his fist and smilingly said, "I'm sure that there will be many chances for us to cooperate later. However, since we've solved these two half-ghouls, then I'll transfer 10 million dollars to your account!"

"You don't need to pay it yourself, Tang Xiu." Duanmu Lin stopped Tang Xiu and said, "Killing these two half-ghouls is the duty of Special Abilities Bureau and the responsibility of the country. Hey, geezer Zhong, you haven't changed your previous account, right? Should I transfer the money to that account?"

The old man, Zhong Zhicheng, nodded and said, "Yeah. I haven't changed it. It's still the old one."

Tang Xiu didn't refute Duanmu Lin. He was naturally happy to see Duanmu Lin rush to pay the bill since his money didn't come because the wind blew it to him.

Chapter 1039: Saving The Little Girl

 

Beijing, at a seemingly ordinary building.

Soldiers in camouflage uniforms and armed with rifles were standing guard, while many men and women with solemn expressions came in and out with documents. Inside the innermost room, two rows of LCD screens displayed various patterns and data with many people stroking the keyboards in front of them and occasionally engaging in conversations.

Wei Changsheng was sitting on the sofa in the corner while quietly reading the information in his hand. As one of the heads of the intelligence department, the recent troublesome case had caused him quite a headache. Even though most of the Fan Family members were now under custody, the progress of the interrogations was very difficult.

"Chief."

A burly man came towards him in big strides. On his cold face was a bit of a helpless look, and his voice seemed a bit different.

"What's up?" asked Wei Changsheng as he looked up and frowned.

"That girl has been crying for a day and hasn't touched any food and drink. She doesn't have any sleep either," said the burly man helplessly. "What should we do? Should we just send her to the detention center, or..."

At his report, Wei Changsheng slammed the documents in his hand on the table and yelled, "If it wasn't for that wench, the major case in the capital wouldn't have been exposed! No matter how it looks, I'll never believe that such a coincidence can happen in the world. There's no way she can be at such an excellent position when the Fan clansmen committed the massacre in the downtown area."

"We've checked out everything. She hails from an ordinary family and her profession is an anchor of a live broadcast platform, no less. I believe you're also crystal clear with our interrogation methods, Chief. It's simply impossible for her to hide any secrets with her personality." The big man said, "It's very likely that she was at the spot by chance and began her live broadcast directly."

"I don't give a fuck about that!" Wei Changsheng angrily said, "Even if she was there by chance, we must still detain her! This is a big and sensational case, and yet she spread it out on the Internet! Do you know how much impact and troubles she has caused us? Later on, I'll assign some people to scrutinize all those broadcasting platforms carefully, and block them if there are any violations!"

"About that..."

The big man hesitated and finally nodded with a bitter smile. The Chief's command in this place held much more say than even the Heaven's. It was useless to argue with him since he had already made up his mind. If there was somebody to blame, it was that wench herself. Broadcasting many things were not wrong, but why must she broadcast such a serious case on the Internet? One must know that even the state had blocked news of this case, yet she just planted the bomb and pushed it up to cause such a big mess.

Suddenly, the intercom in the big man's hand rang. A voice of a soldier who was in charge to block the road was then heard. "Captain, we got a comrade requesting to see to Chief Wei."

The stalwart man was stunned. He glanced at Wei Changsheng and asked, "Which comrade?"

"He claims to be Tang Xiu and he has a credential of our Security Department."

"Tang Xiu?" The man slightly furrowed his brows since the name sounded familiar to him.

Wei Changsheng, who was still sitting on the sofa, looked surprised. He immediately got up and said, "Our great hero turns out to be here! He belongs to our department, but it's his first time reporting here. Let him in."

"Understood!"

After five-odd minutes, Tang Xiu came into the backyard of the quadrangle building. As he saw Wei Changsheng greet him with a beaming face and extended his hand cordially, he let out a smile and said, "You're Chief Wei, right? Tang Xiu is reporting to you."

"I've long heard about you, Tang Xiu." We Changsheng chuckled and said, "I know all members of our security department, but you're the only one I'm not acquainted with."

"Well, Chief Wei must forgive me about that." Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "I have too many things at hand, so that's why I've never reported here."

"A man with great talent and abilities in the country such as you must be very busy. Let's spare the small talk, shall we? It's great that you can come here at this time." Wei Changsheng laughed and said again, "Anyways, it was very fortunate that you were present when that big case occurred, though. I already learned from our superiors that it was your men that dealt with those murderers, right? That's great. You all deserve to be the people of our security department!"

"That's pretty much overpraising, Chief Wei. It's nothing but my duty and responsibility," said Tang Xiu with a smile.

"No arrogance and modest without being servile. That's great," said Wei Changsheng with a nod. "Anyways, Tang Xiu. If memory serves, today is the 80th birthday of Elderly Tang, right? I got too many things at hand recently, so I can't attend and congratulate Senior Tang in person. I can only assign some men to send my regards. Well, why did you come here today though? Is there something else you have in mind?"

"Frankly speaking, I have two main purposes in coming here today, Chief Wei," replied Tang Xiu smilingly. "Firstly, is to meet you and report to you. Secondly, is about that rash girl. I hope you can give her some leniency. I'll educate her well so she won't cause such trouble ever again."

Wei Changsheng stared blankly for a moment before he instantly understood the purpose of Tang Xiu's arrival today. Still, there was a bit of a strange look on his face as he inquired, "You know this Tian Xiaomeng lass?"

"To my bad luck, I'm indeed acquainted with her, I guess." Tang Xiu forced a smile and said, "She was the one who reported several matters I did before. I wouldn't have been exposed to the public eyes otherwise."

"Huh?" Wei Changsheng was surprised and said, "The way I get it, you don't want to be famous?"

"Just like pigs dread being fat, fame will only portend trouble for me," said Tang Xiu with a helpless face. "I've always intended to keep a low-profile, but who would've thought that this girl had secretly made her scoop about me without my permission. I know that she had no bad intentions. What she has been promoting is all the positive energy she could broadcast all the time, so I can't blame her even if it's against my will."

Wei Changsheng nodded. After pondering for a while, he then said, "I was going to give that lass a lesson, at least shut her in detention for 15 days, so that she can take the lesson well. However, since you're advocating for her, then I'll drop it. You can take her away, but keep in mind to educate her well to let her know what can be reported and what cannot."

With a face full of assurance, Tang Xiu complied. "No worries. I'll educate her well about that. That's right, Chief Wei. Do you like to drink? I got a nice wine here, would you like me to sell you two bottles of it?"

Staring blankly for a moment, Wei Changsheng immediately smiled and said, "Is it the Gods Nectar?"

Tang Xiu took out the Gods Nectar from the interspatial ring and handed it over to Wei Changsheng with a smile. "That will be two yuan. I hope Chief Wei doesn't mind me collecting the money."

'Two yuan? That's funny!'

Wei Changsheng's lips curled upward and a smile crept up his face. He slipped his hand into his pocket and found some money. But the smallest bill was five yuan, so he just gave it to Tang Xiu and grinningly said, "Well, I don't mind buying three more if you have it. Our security department has many people who love drinking you know."

Tang Xiu grinned back and took out three more bottles of God's Nectar from the interspatial ring. Then, he said, "Well, since Chief Wei and the other comrades like the Gods Nectar, just directly contact Kang Xia. I'll tell her about it in advance."

Wei Changsheng squinted his eyes, watching Tang Xiu take out the Gods Nectar out of thin air. He had faintly noticed something. To verify upon his guess, he asked in a whisper, "Hey, Tang Xiu. Duanmu Lin told me that you're a cultivator. So, the thing you used to store these Gods Nectar must be an object unique to cultivators like you, right?"

"Yeah, it's an interspatial ring," answered Tang Xiu without hesitation. "The space is not bad and it can store some Gods Nectar. Pity that the country has regulations that we can't gift presents to superiors, though. I would've gifted you ten boxes of God's Nectar otherwise as a show of filial piety, Chief Wei!"

"Bwahaha..." Wei Changsheng burst into laughter and said, "No need for ten boxes. One or two boxes are enough for me. You're great, Tang Xiu! I like you even though this is our first meeting, young man! I believe you got a great future ahead of you."

"I take your words as a blessing and I'll surely work hard for it," said Tang Xiu with a smile.

Nodding with a smile in response, Wei Changsheng asked again, "Are you ready to take the girl away now, or..."

"I'll take her away now since I'm going home to congratulate Grandpa on his birthday," Tang Xiu said. "Also, I'll be sure to invite you to drink and report my work to you whenever I got some spare time, Chief Wei."

"Okay! Senior Tang's birthday cannot be held without the presence of his cherished grandson now, can it? Be sure to come here more often," Wei Changsheng smilingly said.

"Got it!"

Tang Xiu replied and followed the burly man towards the partial room in the front courtyard. When the door was pushed away from the outside, sobbing was heard from the inside. Tang Xiu let out a smile and came inside as he saw the single bed in the corner and Tian Xiaomeng shrinking in the corner of the bed, crying.

"Well, have you learned your lesson now, girl?"

Tian Xiaomeng looked up with a teary face. She was stunned upon seeing Tang Xiu, crying out "WOW" and cried again as though venting all the grievances. At the same time, she struggled to stand up from the corner of the bed and jumped out to rush into Tang Xiu's arms.

The burly man just stood at the door, looking at Tang Xiu and Tian Xiaomeng with a strange expression. At this moment, he straightly misunderstood Tian Xiaomeng as Tang Xiu's girlfriend after seeing how close the relationship between the two was.

Tang Xiu himself could feel Tian Xiaomeng's emotions. He hugged and patted her back and smilingly said, "Hey, aren't you a big girl already? Stop crying so bitterly, would you? I told you before that you know nothing about how serious the matter is, didn't I? Yet you still dared to broadcast that kind of scene. It doesn't matter how many years you have, you won't be let off lightly for it."

Tian Xiaomeng slightly shuddered. She tried hard to stop her crying and her face was ghastly pale. With a stuttering voice, she asked, "I... I-I'm g-gonna b-be j-jailed?"

Inwardly, Tang Xiu felt so funny and pinched her nose hard, saying, "You should've been sent to prison for a few years to renovate yourself already. But since I'm here, I can naturally save you. But you're forbidden from carelessly making any rash live broadcasts in the future. I will no longer be able to save you even if I sell my face again, you got that?"

Tian Xiaomeng understood Tang Xiu's meaning and gratefully nodded, but her eyes still couldn't stop the tears from coming out.

At this moment, in Tian Xiaomeng's heart, Tang Xiu was not only her idol but was elevated to her patron saint that could give her a sense of security.

Chapter 1040: A Distinct Status

The sight of a long queue of flowing vehicles on the wide road was like a dragon—a display of the capital's elegance and prosperity. Riding on a BMW sedan, a smile was cast on Tang Xiu's handsome face, whereas Tian Xiaomeng was sitting in the co-pilot seat, still unable to fully cast away the lingering fear and yet able to fully calm down.

"Do you want me to send you to the airport or to the hotel?"

After a long while, as Tian Xiaomeng's face turned a bit rosy, Tang Xiu asked with a smile.

"Where are you going?" asked Tian Xiaomeng hurriedly.

"Me? I'm going home!" answered Tang Xiu.

"Isn't your home in Star City?" asked Tian Xiaomeng, looking confused.

"My family does live in Star City, but I also have a home in the capital!" said Tang Xiu with a smile. "There's no law that forbids someone from having a house both in Star City and Beijing, is there?"

Tian Xiaomeng quickly realized as she recalled Tang Xiu's identity and his ability to make money. Let alone buying a house in the capital, even buying several big villas wouldn't be a problem for him. She was still afraid that the department would be looking for her for being accountable, so she said with a restless face, "I'm going with you wherever you go."

Cough, cough...

At her statement, Tang Xiu was at a loss whether he had to cry or laugh. While looking at her, he said, "Are you afraid that they will find trouble with you again?"

"I'm not afraid as long as I'm with you," replied Tian Xiaomeng plausibly.

Tang Xiu was stunned. 'This lass should have the nerve and boldness, no? Why does she sound like she's relying on me?' After thinking about it, he positively replied, "Tian Xiaomeng, those people before are all special people who are responsible for the stability of the country. I brought you out, so they won't find you again as long as you stop reporting that kind of news. If you're worried, of course, you can follow me to my home. I can take you back with me when I return to Star City."

"Then I'm going with you to your home," said Tian Xiaomeng without thinking.

Secretly feeling helpless inside, Tang Xiu still nodded and said, "Alright then! It just happens that today is the 80th birthday of my grandpa, so you'll follow me to join the party! However, you're not allowed to perform any live broadcasts for these two days, and neither can you expose my private information."

"I promise you. I absolutely won't do that," replied Tian Xiaomeng while making a vowing gesture.

In the alleys surrounding the Tang Family's ancestral home, several soldiers had been standing guard, while numerous others in plain clothes patrolled the vicinity to prevent any unforeseen event and anyone who could cause trouble for the 80th birthday of Senior Tang.

Despite so, however, many people were still coming from all over the country to celebrate and congratulate him. All of them brought invitations they received in advance and had prepared a variety of gifts, causing the surrounding alleys to be livelier than ever. Tang Guosheng himself wasn't concerned about these gifts since he had spoken that he wouldn't especially hold a big celebration. He was no longer holding any public office seat whatsoever, so didn't need to worry about anything affecting him. Further, the Tang Family had unofficially become the strongest prominent family in Beijing, so no one would attack them because of such a minor matter that even the top leaders would turn a blind eye to.

Creak...

As the white BMW sedan stopped at the outer alley, Tang Xiu took Tian Xiaomeng off the car and casually threw the key to a young man who came over half-running.

"Is this your home, Tang Xiu?"

Just like a curious baby, Tian Xiaomeng glanced around and asked while pressing her voice. She had seen the soldiers who were standing guard on both sides of the alley, while some men in casual clothes were seen patrolling the vicinity and looked to be bodyguards.

"That's correct," said Tang Xiu smilingly.

Noticing that many eyes were on her, Tian Xiaomeng suddenly grabbed Tang Xiu and nervously said, "What does your family do, though? How can you have soldiers serve your family as guards? Also, looking at those around you, they are like those who caught me before... a bit fearsome..."

Tang Xiu couldn't help but laugh. It was indeed like people said: once bitten twice shy. This girl was just apprehended by people of the Security Department previously, leaving her with trauma and shadows.

"Don't worry! They are all good people. You'll see," replied Tang Xiu with a vague smile. Suddenly, he remembered something and curiously asked, "Anyways, that reminds me of something. I forgot to ask you, why did you come to the capital at this time?"

Tian Xiaomeng looked blank for a moment, then she immediately patted her forehead and answered, "Aargh, I'm done! No, I'm dead! A TV station invited me to Beijing to participate in their program. The session of the program will be recorded this afternoon."

"Ehh? What program?" asked Tang Xiu.

"It's a talk show," answered Tian Xiaomeng. "It was because the number of my subscribers dramatically increased recently, and I got hundreds of thousands of viewers watching every time I went live. Sometimes my viewers surpassed a million, hence why I got invited."

"I didn't expect you to become such a big star, though." Tang Xiu smilingly said, "Anyways, we'll attend my grandpa's birthday banquet first. If I got some time to go out in the afternoon, I'll send you to attend the program myself, else I'll tell someone to send you there if there's no time."

"But still, I gotta contact the TV station first," said Tian Xiaomeng with some hesitation.

"That's fine."

While talking with her, Tang Xiu soon entered the end-point of the alley. Tens of guests were being checked by security personnel there and most of them were people Tang Xiu never got acquainted with, although he had seen some familiar faces from the news programs of some TV stations.

"Hey, Dude. Can I borrow a lighter?"

When the duo arrived behind these people, a handsome young man in his 23-odd-years turned and greeted him, accompanied by a middle-aged man in his 40s.

"You also got addicted to smoking, eh?" Tang Xiu took out a lighter and smilingly asked.

"Well, it's not like I got that addicted to smoking. Either that or because of my old man who always sermons me—'Don't make trouble! Be polite'. Well, things that kinda make me vexed, you know. Frankly speaking, if it wasn't for my old man forcing me to come, I really wouldn't have come to this occasion, though."

"My thoughts exactly," said Tang Xiu smilingly. "I don't like these kinds of occasions either, though I had no choice but to come."

The young man nodded in agreement and handed over a cigarette as he asked, "What's your name, Brother? Mine is Qin Ling from the Wu City of the Beihu Province. My old man is the second man in command there."

The second man in command of Beihu Province?

Tang Xiu understood in a flash. Instead of igniting the cigarette, he smilingly said, "My name is Tang Xiu, Star City's local. Anyways, we're going forward. Let's chat again later."

Qin Ling stared blankly before bursting into laughter. "Hahaha, are you joking me, dude? I've been lining up for a few minutes here. I guess I still have to wait for 10 minutes more to get in. You came later than us, how can you just go in? Let's just smoke here. We're of the same age as well. Rather than stay idle, let's just chat here!"

"I really can't stop here for long, though. So, I'll be waiting for you inside," said Tang Xiu with a smile.

Having said that, he led Tian Xiaomeng toward the people in charge of security inspection. He nodded at them and went straight inside.

"... Eh... he passed just like that? The security didn't even inspect him?"

Those in the queue behind, including Qin Ling, were all stunned and wore looks of incredulity. Everyone knew that this place belonged to the Tang Family! The super-powerful prominent family of Beijing! Yet that young man just went inside with his female companion?

After Tang Xiu entered, he walked along the other alley for dozens of meters before he saw Tang Wei standing outside the courtyard of the Tang Family's residence, along with his uncles, Tang Yunpeng and Tang Yunqing, to receive the guests.

"You're back, Xiu'er?"

Tang Yunpeng, who was greeting several guests, called out to Tang Xiu while smiling. However, his eyes were that of curiosity, as they glanced at Tian Xiaomeng a few times.

"I just tended to some issues and hurried back, First Uncle." Tang Xiu smiled and said, "Let me introduce you to a friend of mine. She's Tian Xiaomeng. Xiaomeng, this is Uncle Yunqing, and that kid over there is my brother, Tang Wei."

After seeing Tang Yunpeng, a nervous look was cast on Tian Xiaomeng's face. She was shocked since she knew who Tang Yunpeng was. She had seen him in the news more than once. This... man... was a big figure in the country!

Tang Wei came over and looked highly spirited. He squeezed his eyes and cast a meaningful glance at Tang Xiu. "Tang Xiu, Wanying came early in the morning, and she's chatting with and keeping Grandma accompany!"

"Well, then I'm going inside to see her and the rest. I've been too busy recently, so I haven't seen her for a long time," replied Tang Xiu with a smile. "Anyways, First Uncle, Uncle Yunqing, I'll take my leave first."

"Go inside, kid! But we got quite a lot of guests today so remember to come over and greet the guests after you meet your Grandpa and Wanying, got it?" said Tang Yunpeng smilingly.

"Okay!"

Tang Xiu replied and entered the front door of the courtyard with Tian Xiaomeng, whose nervous face looked evident. On the contrary, Tang Wei's face, who followed them, was full of curiosity.

"Tang Xiu, is this the new sis-in-law? Tell me, how many wives do you have now?" Tang Wei was smiling, and his eyes kept glancing at Tian Xiaomeng secretly.

"Haven't you got beaten up recently, Brat? I heard you just stirred up trouble again, no?" Tang Xiu berated him. "I tell you, Tian Xiaomeng is my friend, not my girlfriend. Just be careful to run all baloney off your mouth again, else I'll pack you up later, got it?"

Tang Wei shrunk and touched his bottom without realizing it. Then, he forced a wry smile and said, "Goddammit. The good news goes on crutches and bad news does travel on wings. To think that even a busy man like you heard about it. Okay, okay. I'll just move my ass to find Chu Yi and the rest then!"

"Hey, wait up!" Tang Xiu called out and said, "There are things that will make me busy soon, so take Xiaomeng with you. Do take care of her and don't bully her, alright!"

Tang Wei looked black for a second before immediately nodding and saying, "Well then, follow me, beauty! I'll introduce a few friends to you."

Tian Xiaomeng shot a nervous look at Tang Xiu and whispered, "I... can I go with you? I... I'm a bit... scared..."

"Don't be afraid. This place is my home, no one dares to bully you here," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "Besides, this Tang Wei fella is a devilish superhero, he'll guarantee that nobody dares to bully you. I'll look for you after I'm done with some things."

Tian Xiaomeng hesitated for a moment and then nodded wordlessly.