Chapter 138: The Pessimism of Xiang Zuxing
The actions of Xiang Zuxing and Guo Hao had come to a successful conclusion, leaving a few knights to tally the spoils while they hurried to the Hongtian Entertainment Center.
Although there were no smuggled goods stored in the intelligence reports about the Hongtian Entertainment Center, it was evident that there were still many valuable items within its countless rooms on seven floors.
Xiang Zuxing was tactful and did not engage in extensive looting. Even when he did make a few gains, he clearly piled everything in a private box on the second floor, waiting for Wan Yue to review personally. He himself boldly set a chair and positioned himself at the entrance of the entertainment center.
After four in the morning, a group of terrified people gradually arrived at the Hongtian Entertainment Center. First, they stared in shock at the horrifying scenes behind the shattered glass walls, and then they began to ingratiate themselves with the strange, muscular man at the door, including several local officials and members of the security forces.
The atmosphere in the old street changed again. Although they didn’t know who the formidable figure before them was, it was just like when Zhu Bixian single-handedly charged into the old street; all the local strongmen naturally began to prepare to acknowledge the new ruler here.
The rules of the open world remained unchanged; the outcome of gang violence did not shake the societal order that people were familiar with, nor did it change the character of the Hongtian Entertainment Center. The local strongmen managing Hongtian for Zhu Bixian gladly accepted the new behind-the-scenes boss.
After dawn, people would only learn that the Hongtian Entertainment Center ran into trouble due to uneven distribution of spoils, without discovering anything unusually amiss. Business continued as usual, songs were sung, and dances were danced.
As for the Luo family, they only sent a knight for negotiations before dawn, and the heavyweight figures had yet to make an appearance.
This time, the Luo family reaped the greatest benefits. In the following days, the people of the Luo family would continue to sweep through the surrounding areas, dividing all the underground world profits in and around Cangbei with Xiang Zuxing, reconstructing the relevant interests.
As for Zhu Bixian, who was lucky enough to be absent, in the eyes of the Luo family, after losing the majority of his core team, he would not pose a threat to them for at least twenty years.
…
Xiang Zuxing was still entertaining the local strongmen in the lobby when Wan Yue quietly made her way to the top level of the Hongtian Entertainment Center, breaching Zhu Bixian’s private room.
Strolling casually around the living room, Wan Yue appeared utterly at ease.
Skipping over the so-called vulgar collectibles, she picked up a piece of almost transparent jade rough material, smiled, and set it down, then grabbed a several-kilogram heavy golden Buddha statue, chuckled, and continued to set it down as well.
After pulling open several drawers and cabinets, her demeanor finally turned serious when an alloy box appeared before her.
Gently opening it, she found a few tubes of strange potions inside, unfortunately with no explanations. Wan Yue contemplated for a moment before tucking them into her waist.
Entering Zhu Bixian’s study, she encountered an even more chaotic array of collectibles, but her pupils constricted as she focused intensely on a peculiar phone on a shelf behind the desk.
Hastily walking to the desk, she grabbed the strange phone, her body slightly trembling.
Old, simplistic, sturdy, with no screen, yet like new, and the protective sliding cover still intact.
She had a similar phone, which had been sealed for twenty years.
A minute later, Wan Yue snapped back to her senses and continued her search.
Opening the desk drawer, she found nothing of interest apart from a handgun, bullets, and a jumble of bank cards. Closing the drawer and lowering her head, she finally spotted an empty space underneath the desk containing a travel bag.
Taking out the travel bag, she opened it to find a few ordinary men’s clothes, some cash, a few secret blood clan medicines, a passport, a border resident ID, and a completely broken ordinary phone.
“Li Huai… a Myanmarese.”
Looking at the familiar face on the passport and the formal identity information lines, Wan Yue couldn’t help but smile: “Interesting… Many people have never seen someone so well-prepared before a blood invasion.”
At last, in the travel bag’s compartment, she found a power cable with a unique interface, perfectly matching the peculiar phone.
“Well… I’ve encountered another one, and it’s fresh out of the oven; just unlucky.”
Wan Yue sat down in a chair, lit a cigarette, and, with a peculiar smile, played with the strange phone, repeatedly opening and closing its sliding cover.
“Wan Da Mei, this time you even decisively dealt with Zhu Bixian’s trusted subordinate; if he had any brains at all, he wouldn’t dare return.”
At some point, Xiang Zuxing walked in.
With his left hand holding a golden Buddha statue found outside, and his right hand a bottle of liquor from the casino, he naively sat down in front of Wan Yue, glancing around with contempt: “Heh, even more vulgar than my room. Zhu Bixian, this nouveau riche, has nothing better in taste than this in the old street.”
“Brother Xiang, once we process the spoils here, I’ll head back. What are your plans?”
Wan Yue casually set her organized travel bag at her feet, looking at Xiang Zuxing with a mysterious smile.
“I plan to keep Guo Hao and the others here to manage things for a while.”
Xiang Zuxing cast a glance at Wan Yue’s actions and didn’t mind her pocketing some spoils. Instead, he pushed the golden Buddha statue closer to her with a smile and took a sip of liquor: “This place is great, the Luo family also agreed beforehand that half of the old street belongs to me.”
“A great place to stake a claim; you didn’t just think of this today.”
Wan Yue didn’t even glance at the golden Buddha statue, instead staring intently at Xiang Zuxing’s face: “You control the power, and you’re still running away; aren’t you afraid of Old Chu being left alone to guard the center?”
Xiang Zuxing’s smile gradually faded, and he sighed deeply, his tone somber: “Wan Yue, Wan Da Mei, you know I am the external nephew of Elder Gao. Although Old Chu brought me in back then, many still do not see me as part of the Chu family. The Gao family is still a minority in the Ba Mansion…”
“As for Elder Shen, although he also comes from the Ba Mansion, he’s only been a central elder for about thirty years. His foundation in comparison to Old Chu and Elder Gao is completely insignificant. Even his niece, Wu Yuqing, has amassed more over the years than he has; ultimately, he’s someone who cannot influence the bigger picture.”
“The fairness Old Chu maintained has certainly earned him respect, but ever since your incident occurred, I’ve felt something was off. Old Chu’s leniency towards Zhuang Jianfei has perhaps gone a bit too far… Elder Shen initially wouldn’t let me interfere in the pursuit of Cheng Yue Shan, which raised suspicions about Chu family jokes.”
“The Liang family split not long ago, unrest in the south. Regardless of who’s behind the scenes causing trouble, after the Wang family intervened, it was not suppressed immediately. A runaway viscount from a count family, leading a small group of people, could actually hold their ground; don’t you find that strange?”
At this point, Xiang Zuxing’s face grew more ominous, his voice trembling slightly. “I suspect Old Feng from Guangxi and Sister Deng are secretly supporting those traitors behind the scenes… Moreover, Old Feng had long set his sights on replacing Old Chu as a central elder!”
Wan Yue remained silent, quietly watching, her hand gently caressing the surface of the golden Buddha statue, a hint of shock appearing on her face.
“I am loyal to the League of Recluses, but even more so to the previous recluses and Ba Mansion… The domestic winds have turned unfavorable, and there are increasingly more monsters within the League. What you said twenty years ago upon your departure was spot on; the League of Recluses is ultimately a loose association, and it will continue to be a mess in the future…”
“I have completely seen through this now, but I do not wish to establish a separate faction; I only want to leave a route for the recluses and the Ba Mansion!”
Xiang Zuxing downed another big gulp of liquor, blood vessels slowly surfacing in his eyes, as if certain thoughts had been bottled up in his heart for a long time.
“Haha, you think the League of Recluses will completely collapse, and you plan to reserve a territory here for the Ba Mansion. Have you considered whether Elder Gao, your great-grandfather, would agree? He is Old Chu’s sworn brother… He is the League of Recluses’ most conservative elder, and he would see you as the first unfilial son to divide the Ba Mansion.”
Wan Yue’s gaze fell on the glass surface of the desk, beneath which lay a large map marking divisions of the world understood only by the blood clan.
“I don’t even know when he’ll exit his retreat. Perhaps when he does, he’ll find the League of Recluses have long scattered and the Ba Mansion split apart… In just ten years, it’s come to this. Why has it turned out this way?”
Xiang Zuxing suddenly threw down the bottle in his hand, clenching his fists, unable to hide his anger.
“So, Brother Xiang, do you need me to do anything?”
Wan Yue sighed and grasped Xiang Zuxing’s hand.
Xiang Zuxing moved his mouth several times without speaking, gradually revealing a vacant expression. Perhaps in his heart, he only had the worst calculations but lacked a solution to the problem.
Wan Yue let out a bitter laugh, grabbing the travel bag and standing up to walk toward the door.
“Wan Da Mei, I will persist in the League and safeguard the Ba Mansion. Here is merely one of the fallback plans I envision for it… If one day it truly becomes unmanageable, I hope you can, considering the bond we shared in the Ba Mansion years ago, give the brothers and sisters some way out.”
“Guo Hao is a hothead; he is a disciple of Chu Songming and has looked up to you since childhood. He now regards you as an elder sister. Back then, he only stayed in the Ba Mansion out of respect for Old Chu and me. If possible in the future, let him follow you like Zhao Peng, provide him with a living…”
As Wan Yue reached the staircase exit, Xiang Zuxing’s mumble followed behind her, sounding like instructions for a deceased matter.
“Ah, such a fool. Are all men like this…”
Wan Yue gently shook her head, tightened her grip on the travel bag, and descended the stairs, though her expression grew increasingly somber.
The fall of the Hongtian Entertainment Center and the three core strongholds instantly caused the Black Dragon Society’s influence and underground hegemony in the old street to collapse.
Shortly after dawn, the second group from the Luo family arrived in the old street, comprising a knight and eight attendants, joining the previously present mid-level baron and six knights in a massive cleansing of the local Blood Clan.
For the entire day that followed, apart from Wan Yue and Jiang Yan remaining at the Hongtian Entertainment Center, Xiang Zuxing and the Luo family’s people were busy exterminating the fleeing remnants of the Black Dragon Society and some small gangs that couldn’t grasp the situation.
In an instant, the entire old street and its surrounding Blood Clan were panic-stricken, running like headless chickens, either burrowing into the depths of the mountains and forests or fleeing hurriedly, fearful that they would be completely uprooted at any moment.
However, some homeless Blood Clan members, after trembling with fear, chose to meekly attach themselves to the Luo family or Xiang Zuxing. For them, at least the next twenty years would be better than when Zhu Bixian was around.
The surface-level official rule did not see any significant changes, as a deal among local strongmen ensured that the power dynamics remained stable, with some losing their clout overnight while others rose again; this was commonplace in the old street.
The heads of various gray industries were lining up to privately meet with the brokers or agents sent by the Luo family, renegotiating their shares of business.
As for the lives of ordinary people at the lower levels, there was no real fluctuation. Commoners remained commoners, and thugs remained thugs; they didn’t care too much who held the power here.
In certain hidden corners, some encrypted communication signals quietly transmitted trivial information to the capital Naypyidaw of Myanmar or certain agencies of China, almost like routine formalities.
However, the shocking changes in a remote small town in northern Myanmar, compared to the upheaval of the entire world, simply couldn’t attract much attention.
As night fell again, the second large-scale cleansing of the underground world in the old street had barely concluded, with all resistance now reduced to dust that would undoubtedly be forgotten.
As the legitimate Blood Clan family, the Luo family was clearly more invested in reestablishing order than Zhu Bixian had been, proving even more ruthless. Even Xiang Zuxing, who often navigated large scenes, found it enlightening.
The three secret warehouses of the Black Dragon Society, along with the Hongtian Entertainment Center, all fell into Xiang Zuxing’s hands according to the initial distribution plan. Moreover, a certain small cold storage was now filled with the bodies of Blood Clan members, a number so large it was perhaps the most exaggerated scene Wan Yue had witnessed since becoming a Blood Clan member.
The spoils included not just high-value smuggled goods from the ordinary world but also a vast amount of blood, Blood Clan secret medicines, weapons, etc., from the underground world, leaving Xiang Zuxing thoroughly satisfied.
A rough estimate revealed that the gains from Xiang Zuxing’s southern operation, even if all were handed over to the Luo family for liquidation, would still exceed 300 million.
At the southernmost end of S Province, in P City—the only city named after a flower—this wondrous tropical region in China’s geography with its rare dry and hot valley geographical features made it famous for producing tropical cash crops nationwide.
Yet its true essence lies in being one of China’s critically important bases for mineral extraction and metal smelting heavy industry.
Cao Kuang also set up his safe house in P City, or rather, one of the few places that the Black Dragon Society could generate cash flow—a large KTV entertainment center.
Though this place belonged to Qian Guilong, the big boss of the Black Dragon Society, it had become a minor gold mine for Cao Kuang nearly ten years after Qian Guilong’s disappearance.
The largest private room was still hosting the gathering for Zhu Bixian, with several of Cao Kuang’s trusted subordinates present, and naturally, there were also seven or eight entertainers to drink, sing, and play with, alongside absurd entertainment shows that were overly risqué.
To say it was a completely unrestricted gathering would be an exaggeration, but to claim it was half a one would be absolutely no stretch at all. Zhu Bixian and two accompanying knights were undoubtedly enjoying a feast for the eyes, mouth, and hands, partaking in marvelous revelry.
In just two days since they set off, Zhu Bixian had enjoyed a life of luxury far surpassing the quality of life of the local monarch he had been back in the old street, allowing him to experience Cao Kuang’s willingness to collaborate in a much more tangible way.
Puffing on a cigar, holding the beauty beside him whose entire outfit amounted to less than 0.1 square meters of fabric, Zhu Bixian felt relaxed, not noticing the changes occurring with the mobile phone on the table.
“Brother Zhu, don’t you want to take that call?”
Cao Kuang, with two women beside him, was now staring at the mobile phone on the table that had been vibrating incessantly, quietly reminding him with a smile.
“Hmm?”
Zhu Bixian came back to his senses, reaching for the phone, staring at several missed calls, with his brow gradually furrowing.
It wasn’t from Pang Yun; rather, it was a minor local security team leader he had a relatively good relationship with. Glancing at the text notification icon, the double-digit unread messages sent a jolt of alarm through Zhu Bixian.
“Cao Kuang, there’s some business at home… I have to step out for a moment.”
Zhu Bixian’s expression darkened as he avoided Cao Kuang’s gaze, pushing away the beauty clinging to him, and strode into the private room’s restroom, clutching the phone.
One by one, the texts resembling funeral notices arrived from local strongmen or key position confidants, with varied details but the same nature, pointing to an unbelievable result: the old home had been raided by a joint operation of the League of Recluses and the Luo family.
Zhu Bixian’s temples throbbed, and with a clenched jaw, he began dialing Pang Yun’s number, only to receive the constant message that the phone was off.
“Just cut to the chase! No nonsense!”
Dialing one of his missed calls, Zhu Bixian’s teeth almost crunched together as the signal connected.
There was no sliver of luck; the sobbing voice of his subordinate lingering far outside the old street sent Zhu Bixian’s face paling, sending chills throughout his body.
“Why didn’t you contact me last night… No connection? Was the communication station in the old street disabled?”
“The Luo family, and the League of Recluses… how many of you are left… get them to hide, I’ll send someone back to pick you up… counterattack? What a joke!”
Just ten seconds later, furious roars and the sounds of smashing objects could be heard from the restroom of the private room.
On the sofa, Cao Kuang released the woman beside him and involuntarily turned his head, staring in the direction of the restroom. A few seconds later, a smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.
