Returning from the Immortal World

The saying went that collective power was like steel and the wisdom of all was like the sun and the moon. Tang Xiu had experienced thousands of years of life, so how could he not understand the meaning of this sentence? One individual was but solitary and two would be greatly empowered, but three people would be able to move a river. The enemies he needed to face in the future were all extremely powerful—some Supremes of the Immortal World who could summon a lot of experts at their beck and call. It was simply close to impossible to completely crush all the enemies if he were to face them alone even if he could regain his peak cultivation level.

However, if he had more subordinates and fostered a large number of powerhouses himself, his future revenge would be much easier. In other words, if his enemies had tens of thousands of powerhouses under their flags, then he must have tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of subordinates.

Ants may be small, but countless of them could still kill elephants.

The realization made Tang Xiu immediately adopt Wolf Head’s suggestion to recruit a group of subordinates with prominent identities. After all, money, power, and influence could not be discarded if one wanted to set up a secondary ring of ordinary members.

However, he needed to carefully consider the person who would carry out this mission. After all, this was a matter of secret wherein any trace of it could never be disclosed.

When Wolf Head saw Tang Xiu’s thoughtful expression, he knew that Tang Xiu was considering his suggestion. He hesitated for a while and went on in a low voice, “Sect Master, I think this matter doesn’t need to be rushed for the time being. You’ll need in-depth cooperation with our intel network if you want to pick up some people with a clean yet prominent identity. The intelligence network we’ve set up is but only at the embryonic form at this moment, and the most urgent task at hand is still building up our network. Only after our intel network has been completely set up will it be the best time to put this plan into motion.”

“What you said makes sense.” Tang Xiu nodded. “But you missed some issues. The intelligence network can’t just be established at the bottom of society only. We literally need people at all levels of society, all walks of life, and with distinct levels of identity. Otherwise, some information won’t be accessed, save for those illustrious and wealthy bigwigs with prominent identities. Alright, contact Jin Shi to immediately leave for Shanghai. I’ll assign him to manage this issue.”

After hearing the order, Wolf Head respectfully nodded. “I’ll contact him at once.”

At this moment, only then did Wolf Head thoroughly understand that his thoughts were too narrow and his perspective was flawed. Where did intelligence come from? It naturally came from the intel operatives, and the operatives were trained to blend in all levels of society, which had many levels and circles, many of whom could not have access to information nor be able to obtain it.

Early in the morning.

An ordinary Buick sedan drove into the Bluestar Villa Complex and two young men hurriedly rushed into Tang Xiu’s villa, where they soon saw him having his breakfast.

“Boss!”

The two youths glanced at Mu Wanying, who was accompanying Tang Xiu for breakfast, and one of them then respectfully called out.

Tang Xiu lightly said, “You can report anything in front of Wanying. There’s no need to hide anything from her. Tell me about the investigation I asked you to carry out last night. What’s the result?”

A young man took out a stack of documents from his briefcase and handed it to Tang Xiu. “Chang Guoxin is a Major General posted at the Southern Military Region. He’s also the most powerful person and the Head of the Changs from Beijing. His backer… House Tang of Beijing, who helped him win the power struggle in the Southern Army, which is also considered as the victory of the Tangs. Also, according to some reliable sources, Chang Guoxin is likely to go further in his military career with another star on his shoulder. As for Chang Zhao, he regarded and raised his nephew as his own son since he doesn’t have one. Pity for him that Chang Zhao doesn’t have what it takes to be a soldier and the latter has been relying on his relationship with his uncle and the support from his father’s company and taking advantage of this connection to commit some atrocities. But since…”

“Stop. I’ll read the documents myself later.” Tang Xiu interrupted him and said, “What I want to know is, where Li Yuquan’s wife and kids are being held now?”

“They are now in the Lotus Leaf Teahouse, Western suburb,” answered the young man.

Tang Xiu thought for a while and then shook his head. “A rat’s shit spoils the whole pot of soup. What a wake-up call this sentence is. Chang Guoxin has been fostered by House Tang, so he’s one of ours, yet his nephew is a waste. It seems to me that he needs to be cured.”

He waved to the two intel operatives, hinting for them to leave, and accompanied Mu Wanying to finish the rest of their breakfast. As he cleaned off the corner of his mouth, he smilingly said, “I got things to deal with today, so you can tend to yours too! Also, I’m afraid I can’t spend more time with you since I’m going to be very busy for some time which requires me to run about all over the country.”

“Hehe, I know you’re a busy man.” Mu Wanying chuckled and said, “No worries, I can take care of myself, so you can tend your things.”

Tang Xiu smiled in response and got up. He raised his hand and caressed her soft hair before he turned around and left. After he came to the living room, he looked at Wolf Head who was sitting on the sofa and spoke to him in a deep voice, “Take Li Yuquan. We’re heading to the Lotus Leaf Teahouse in the Western suburbs. Also, if Jin Shi has arrived, tell him to catch up with us there.”

“Understood!”

Wolf Head knew that Tang Xiu had taken an action and immediately ran to another villa outside.

Soon after, two cars quickly left the Bluestar Villa Complex under Mu Wanying’s gaze.

****

Western suburbs of Shanghai, at the Lotus Leaf Teahouse.

The three-floored antique teahouse was a richly ornamented building with an elegant and classic atmosphere. A rockery was laid out in the hall of the first floor with a pruned ingenious old tree next to it with a few birds chirping on its lush branches.

The second floor was a private dining box area. Each room was quite spacious and the classical interior design and decoration were full of charm, much like the ancient study room. In the middle of the third floor was the office area where the general manager’s office was located, surrounded by a scenic viewing tearoom used to sit to enjoy the beautiful scenery outside.

Inside the hundred-square-meter general manager’s office, a graceful woman dressed in a qipao sat lazily on the sofa with a woman’s cigarette clamped between her fingers. Her strikingly sensual red lips that decorated her oval face breathed out spiraling smoke upward as she spoke to the young man in front her with a slightly hoarse voice, “Chang Zhao, you know what Big Sis is always wary and afraid of, don’t you? It’s troublesome things. Yet you actually brought those two seeds of disasters to me. What do you think you’re doing? This place is not some den to hide filth.”

With his back facing the woman, Chang Zhao was watching the lake scenery outside the window. He slowly shook his head and a smile appeared on his handsome face after he turned around. “Such a serious remark, Sis Xue. This mother and son are just pitiful people, chess pieces in the game I’m playing. No worries, though! It won’t take long before someone redeems them.”

The belle elegantly drew out the smoke as she shook her head and rebuked. “A kidnapping is not a minor crime. If the other party calls the police, even your uncle will face some troubles to protect you. Just tell me one thing, why can’t you just stay peaceful for a while and make less trouble for your uncle?”

Chang Zhao shrugged and said, “My uncle has been very busy recently. If this minor issue can cause trouble for him, I’m all happy about that. Besides, he’s gonna lose his spirit if he got too idle. What’s more, Li Yuquan’s life is already miserable, to begin with, since the chief reason behind it was my uncle, no? Well, since uncle also doesn’t want him to have an easy time, then why should I be kind to him?”

The woman forced a smile and shook her head. “Your social bond principle truly is different from everyone else, kiddo. Let’s cut the crap. Take it slow since you took this game on. But bear in mind to never touch that woman nor injure that kid, got it?”

Chang Zhao’s smiling face receded and he coldly replied, “That woman may be a beauty, but don’t think she can enter this young master’s eyes. But that kid must be punished since he nearly made my legs break. Xiao Hu has already taken action since he gave that boy a lesson. Just hope he can still stand perfectly now.”

The lazy look on the woman’s face gradually disappeared, and she looked to have a bit of a headache and rubbed her temples. Then, she forced a wry smile and said, “An anxious rabbit may bite, I’m sure you know that too. Li Yuquan is the captain of the Blue Eagle special force. I believe you’re also perfectly aware of what he’s capable of. If you got his son beaten so badly, he’ll likely crush you all when he can.”

“Heh, just him alone?” Chang Zhao jeered. “Hmph… he’s even lower than a rabbit in my eyes. At best, he’s just a trampled soft shrimp. I’ll make him taste what true despair is if he dares to go ballistic at me.”

“Alas…”

The woman shook her head yet again and closed her eyes. Facing such broken stuff like this Chang Zhao guy was truly too much for her to bear. In any case, she had already advised and persuaded this fella, so it would be left to his own uncle to wipe off the filth he created once an accident happened. It was truly regrettable… for such a heroic man that hadn’t been blessed by a son until now. Otherwise, how could he treat such a bastard like this fella as a treasure?

Ring, ring, ring…

A phone on the table suddenly rang.

The female opened her eyes again and reluctantly grabbed the phone. She looked at the caller displayed on the screen and lightly said, “Haven’t I just told you that you’re to take care of everything, Manager Bai? I just came back from another region and am so dead tired that I don’t have the strength to speak!”

“Someone is inciting trouble here, Boss.” Manager Bai’s voice was heard from the phone.

The woman stared blankly with slightly furrowed brows and then asked, “Who is it? Don’t we have security guards in our teahouse? They can’t deal with it?”

“These people’s skills are very powerful and the four security guards on duty can’t fight them back at all and got knocked out,” said Manager Bai. “They… they are already on the second floor. I’m afraid they’ll be on the third floor soon. Would you like to hide first, Boss?”

“Who are these people, exactly?” asked the woman in a heavy voice.

“I don’t know who they are, but the young man leading them looks kinda familiar.” Manager Bai shook his head.

The woman was silent for a short while and then indifferently said, “Notify the security team and tell them to rush over as fast as possible. They dare to make trouble in my own place, yet I must hide from them? I’d be a worm if I don’t throw that man out!”

After hanging up, she looked at the curious Chang Zhao as she sat up straight and said, “Call your men at once. Someone is here to make trouble and will arrive here very soon!”

“Got it!”