Chapter 39 - 36-2: Real Skill and a Swindler

Chapter 39: Chapter 36-2: Real Skill and a Swindler

South Sea, Green Horse Manor.

Masters from the southern Mystical Realm filed into the banquet hall one after another.

With ten people per table, nearly a hundred guests arrived, filling a total of ten tables.

Bai Litang sat at the main table, warmly inviting Xia Li to take the seat of honor.

"President Xia, please, take the head of the table."

Bai Litang was already surprised and excited that Xia Li was willing to come to Green Horse Manor.

It wasn’t because Xia Li was a beautiful woman, but because she was the president of the World Dream Group.

An underground kingpin might seem glamorous, but in reality, they were just opportunistic businessmen who operated in the shadows.

They could never compare to Xia Li, who held the economic lifeline of the South Sea Economic Development Zone in her hands.

So what if an underground boss had a bunch of desperate thugs?

If Xia Li wanted, she could hire professional mercenaries from all over the world.

Money is king!

Originally, Bai Litang had arranged for Xia Li to stay in a guest room.

He planned to wait until after the banquet to pick a few people with genuine talent from the crowd to give her a proper fate reading.

Now that Xia Li was actually willing to join the bustling banquet hall and even sit at his table, Bai Litang was beyond flattered.

After all, just trying to invite Xia Li for a meal in the past required pulling some strings.

Xia Li gracefully sat in a secondary seat of honor, casually crossing her long, slender legs, and chuckled lightly.

"This is your event, so you’re the host. Let’s get started."

Bai Litang nodded repeatedly.

He began to speculate. ’Does Xia Li want to do business with me? A deep partnership, perhaps? Is she thinking of supporting me to expand my influence in the South Sea? Other than that, Bai Litang couldn’t think of any other reason for her unusual behavior.’

In truth, Bai Litang wasn’t keen on letting outsiders know his purpose for inviting all these Jianghu Sorcerers.

After all, having offended a supernatural entity sounded pretty ridiculous.

But since Xia Li might be considering a deep partnership, perhaps he should be more open about his troubles. It could be seen as a show of loyalty.

With that, Bai Litang stopped holding back. He raised his wine glass from the main seat and scanned the crowd.

Basically, everyone who was supposed to come had arrived.

The only one missing was an East Sakura Yin Yang Master he had invited by pulling some strings.

No matter. With so many masters present, one missing fortune-teller from East Sakura wouldn’t make a difference.

He tipped his head back and drained his glass in one go, displaying the bold air of a grassroots kingpin.

The masters dared not be disrespectful, quickly raising their own glasses and drinking.

A middle-aged man in a long gown and sunglasses, clearly intending to curry favor with Bai Litang, spoke up.

"Mr. Bai, please tell us, what kind of trouble have you encountered?"

Bai Litang sighed, clasped his fists in a gesture to the crowd, and said:

"My family has indeed run into some strange business."

The middle-aged man in the long gown immediately perked up.

He was originally a fortune-teller who worked under a pedestrian overpass.

He was completely illiterate.

His fortune-telling "technique" consisted entirely of reading people’s expressions and then spouting nonsense based on their zodiac signs.

After twenty years in the game, he had managed to get a few predictions right by sheer luck.

Some of those people had become big bosses, while others saw their businesses flourish, and they would visit him every New Year and holiday.

And that was how he made his name.

However, the yearly gifts from those few bosses were no longer enough to satisfy his material desires.

He dreamed of becoming an advisor to a powerful family, like in ancient times. Becoming Bai Litang’s personal consultant would be the ultimate prize.

So, naturally, he had to put in some extra effort right now.

The middle-aged man put on a show, pinching his fingers together as if calculating. After a long moment, he said in a deep voice:

"Sir, I have looked into it. You are indeed burdened by something."

Bai Litang paused for a second, then quickly asked:

"What do you mean?"

The man in the long gown took a deep breath, his eyes blazing.

"In your past life, you were a Daoist priest. Because you stole a Buddhist scripture from an altar, you became entangled in karma."

"In this life, though your business is flourishing, you are destined for endless disaster after middle age!"

Hearing this, a flicker of disappointment appeared in Bai Litang’s eyes.

A fat man with large ears, draped in a kasaya, clearly caught Bai Litang’s disappointment and immediately shouted angrily:

"Nonsense! I’ve looked into it, and Mr. Bai is merely being haunted by a vengeful spirit!"

"We just need to perform a ritual to appease his ancestors and exorcise the evil entity, and all will be well!"

The fat man in the kasaya looked at Bai Litang and said earnestly:

"It is your daughter who did not pass on peacefully. That is why she is causing trouble at home and affecting your career fortune."

Bai Litang’s daughter had died; anyone could find that out with a simple internet search.

After all, his daughter, Bai Shasha, was a popular actress in the Xia Kingdom.

Bai Litang sighed.

"Do I look too friendly?"

"Or do you think I built my fortune by winning the lottery?"

The man in the long gown and the fat man in the kasaya froze.

Bai Litang suddenly slammed his hand on the table and snarled viciously:

"Take these two out and break their legs."

Fear appeared on both the long-gowned man’s and the fat man’s faces.

Several waiters, who had been completely respectful just moments before, now turned menacing, grabbing the two men and dragging them out.

The two were dragged out of the banquet hall, screaming and crying for their mothers.

Witnessing this scene, everyone shrank back in their seats, silent as cicadas in winter.

Bai Litang clasped his fists toward Xia Li.

"My apologies, President Xia. I’m afraid I’ve made a fool of myself."

Xia Li shook her head nonchalantly, picking up a piece of fruit, looking as if she were just watching a play.

This cool and composed reaction made Wang Lei, who was also in attendance, stare in awe.

’Now that’s the kind of woman a protagonist in an urban power-fantasy novel should have!’

’Maybe I can let her manage my harem in the future?’

’Just thinking about it is exciting!’

Bai Litang straightened his back and addressed the crowd:

"I have indeed encountered a strange problem, which is why I’ve invited all of you renowned individuals to gather here."

"Some of you have real talent, but there are also some charlatans who are famous for nothing."

"From now on, please choose your words carefully. I don’t like hearing lies."

The crowd fell silent, no one daring to speak carelessly anymore.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Wang Lei stood up.

Everyone turned to look at him.

’This kid is in his early twenties, right?’

’How could someone in their twenties possibly understand fate and Yin Yang? Impossible!’

’He’s got some nerve, daring to stand up at a time like this!’

Xia Li also raised her beautiful eyes to look at Wang Lei.

Or more accurately, she was looking at the Crow on Wang Lei’s shoulder.

Wang Lei felt the beautiful woman’s gaze on him and, mistaking it for favor, a confident smile played on his lips. He clasped his fists and said:

"Mr. Bai, why don’t you let me take a look at what has been happening in your household recently."

Bai Litang nodded.

"Fine."

Wang Lei glanced at the Crow on his shoulder.

The Crow understood, leaning its head toward Wang Lei’s ear.

As Wang Lei listened, astonishment filled his eyes.

"So, something strange really did happen in your family?"

Bai Litang frowned.

"No shit! Why else would I have gathered all of you here?"

"Kid, if you dare spout nonsense, your fate will be even worse than theirs."

Wang Lei gave a couple of sheepish laughs and said:

"Quite a few people have died at Green Horse Manor recently, haven’t they?"

A hint of surprise showed in Bai Litang’s eyes.

His daughter’s death had been in the news, but he had never told anyone about the deaths of his other subordinates.

Because those subordinates were not clean and couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

Bai Litang quickly asked:

"Can you find the killer?"

A slight smile appeared in Wang Lei’s eyes.

"This matter is very strange. The strange part is how coincidental it all is."

Bai Litang didn’t understand. He frowned and asked:

"What do you mean?"

Wang Lei rubbed his nose, organized his thoughts, and said:

"There is no killer."

Bai Litang’s frown deepened.

"No killer?"

Wang Lei spread his hands, his face full of confidence.

"None of the deceased died an unnatural death. Their lifespans simply came to a natural end."

"That’s why I say this is so strange. They all died of natural causes at the same time!"

The Crow had told him this.

The Crow said the cause of death for every single one of them was the exhaustion of their lifespan.

Wang Lei trusted the Crow’s judgment.

For as long as he could remember, the Crow had said many unbelievable things, and all of them had eventually been proven true.

Therefore, no matter how absurd the things that came out of the Crow’s mouth were, he could take them as the truth.

Wang Lei believed the Crow was right this time, too.

He didn’t know that a scythe once used by the Death God existed in this world.

To have your life reaped by the Death God could not be considered an unnatural or violent death.

All the other masters present thought Wang Lei had a death wish.

’Several people all dying of natural causes at the same time?’

’How could there be such a coincidence?’

But these words made Bai Litang’s eyes light up.

The way his daughter and those subordinates had died was very strange.

There were no wounds on any of their bodies, nor were there any signs of poisoning.

If their lifespans had simply run out, that would be a perfectly reasonable explanation!

’After all, his opponent was a bizarre entity who very likely possessed such sinister Magic!’

’This young man has real abilities.’

’At the very least, he can see the cause of my daughter’s and my subordinates’ deaths.’

Bai Litang said in a deep voice:

"Mr. Wang, please join me elsewhere in a moment to discuss this in detail."

Everyone stared at Wang Lei in disbelief.

’He was actually right?!’

Wang Lei shot a smug glance at Yang Xiao, who was seated nearby, then let his gaze linger on Sun Jie next to him. He chuckled and said:

"I told you, I have real skills."

Yang Xiao, currently stuffing his face with two chicken legs in a very ungraceful manner, didn’t even lift his head as he spoke.

"President Bai, how about you let me take another look for you?"

Bai Litang looked at Yang Xiao with surprise and suspicion.

’This unimpressive-looking fellow is also a master with real skills?’

Bai Litang nodded.

"Alright."

Yang Xiao put down the chicken legs, and with his greasy hands, he began to make a show of pinching his fingers in a messy calculation.

"Hiss! Your family has provoked someone you shouldn’t have provoked!"

Wang Lei sneered.

"Are you saying I was wrong?"

"I said the deceased were not murdered. They all died naturally."

"And yet you claim Mr. Bai offended someone?"

"Are you deliberately contradicting me?"

"I’ve said it before, I’m not like you. I have real skills."

After speaking, Wang Lei looked at Bai Litang and said earnestly:

"Believe me, the people who passed away here recently all died of natural causes. There was no murder."

Yang Xiao glanced at Bai Litang.

"Oh, I’ve figured it out."

"Your daughter was too greedy. She tried to take something that didn’t belong to her."

Hearing this, Bai Litang’s whole body trembled!