The Rise of the White Lotus

The sudden assault caused Morris Liu to lose his balance which made him took a staggering step back before he stumbled to the concrete ground. Momentarily, all he could hear was a flatline sound ringing in his head and a striking pain traveled to his mind.

Ethan Lu roughly loosened his tie. He grinded his teeth as his hands were still balled into a tight fist. A vein showed on his forehead and a dangerous glint flashed across his eyes as he looked down on his friend. 

Even though he punched his friend, it seemed like it didn't quench his anger - not a tad bit.

"Morris Liu!" Ethan Lu called his name through his gritted teeth. 

God knows how fast Ethan Lu drove just to get there much earlier instead of using his usual speed. He knew that Morris Liu would refuse to wait. Fortunately, the moment Ethan Lu arrived, Morris Liu just exited the establishment. 

"Master!!" Snapping from his shock, Morris Liu's assistant panicked and immediately squatted down to check his boss.

He then hastily slid his hand into his jacket suit to get his phone. After doing so, he didn't waste a second and dialed a number for some medical purposes. However, just before the assistant could press the green button, Morris Liu held on his arm to stop him.

"Master…"

Morris Liu didn't respond to his assistant as he wiped the blood on his cracked lips by his thumb. Surely, Ethan Lu got him real good with that punch as he made him dizzy for a minute.

Looking up to meet the pair of fiery eyes, Morris Liu's icy gaze turned freezing and the atmosphere around him dropped into negative zero degrees. On the other hand, Ethan Lu's vicinity was scorching with invincible wild flames that could burn anything down. 

If one was not cautious enough and accidentally intruded inside their vicinity, they could be caught up in the middle of this piercingly cold and searing air.

Just then, Chris Yu grumpily exited the establishment while scratching the back of his head in annoyance. Normally, he doesn't go after Morris Liu when he walked out because he was always like that. However, for some reason, his feet dragged him outside. 

"Man… that guy must have lost his mind. He knew that brother Mo hates wasting his time. We could just barge in his office -- why bother set an official business meeting if he's gonna be late. Tsk!" Chris Yu complained.

"Young master must have his reasons." Behind Chris Yu was Lyrick Jiang's composed stance. He knew for a fact that his boss's demands couldn't be met and there's no stopping Morris Liu, hence, Lyrick Jiang decided to wait for his young master to arrive and report that he failed to get stopped Morris Liu. 

The next second, what welcomed them outside was a mind-blowing scene. Both men darted their gaze from Morris Liu who was slowly standing from the ground to Ethan Lu who remained in his position. It only took them several seconds to discerned what was currently occurring.

Upon realizing it, Chris Yu and Lyrick Jiang's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Did they just conclude that Ethan Lu assaulted Morris Liu? Are they right? There's no way he'd do that, right? Then why the hell does it seemed he did exactly what's on their mind?!

"Holy mother of Christ…" Chris Yu murmured in disbelief as he could not swallow what was going on, or rather, the happenings before they came in.

Lyrick Jiang "..."

When Morris Liu successfully got back on his feet, he spat some blood that was filling up on his mouth before he returned his cold gaze back to Ethan Lu. "Why did you hold back?"

"I'm here to knock some senses into you, not murder you." 

"Huh… so, you want to meet me so you can 'knock' some sense into me?" Sneering, Morris Liu stressed the word 'knocked'. He then slid his hand into his pocket suit and grabbed a slim case containing cigarettes. Without a word, he clipped the cigarette butt in between his lips and lit it up with the lighter from his pocket. After a long drag, Morris Liu puffed the smoke that danced along in the air. He added,

"And why so? Who do you think you are?"

"Tch," Ethan Lu scoffed as he looked at the man in front of him with contempt. 

"Brother Mo, I don't care whatever affairs you have as it is your business, not mine. But, how can you peacefully sleep at night knowing you trampled someone else's life -- bring them despair and act as if nothing happened? WHO.DO.YOU.THINK.YOU. ARE?!" 

"So, you resort to violence because of them? Funny." Morris Liu smirked as he slightly shook his head in disappointment before taking another long drag and blew it in the air. 

He didn't need to ask who he was referring to as Ethan Lu had been hanging around with Lexi and was often spotted in the Yang mansion. How did he know? He had been keeping a close eye on them… ever since.

"Because of them? Ha, maybe… but the main reason why I resorted to this is that I am your friend before anything else." Indeed, although Ethan Lu was triggered after hearing the Yang parent's worries and what Lexi had gone through, what made him really mad was the fact that his friend was the root cause of it. 

He had always admired and looked up to Morris Liu as he was undoubtedly exceptional; especially how he played his cards with the Liu family and led the Liu Empire at his young age. However, Ethan Lu didn't appreciate his ways on how he dealt with Lexi.

It has always been a mystery to Ethan Lu, what's his friend's reasons why he didn't cut his ties with Lexi after finding the woman who he claimed he loves. Nonetheless, he didn't dwell on it as he regarded it with zero importance and must thank him instead because he got a chance to be with Lexi.

Still, after everything he heard and put more thought about it, Ethan Lu was left with a huge question mark on his head; WHY? Regardless of his reason, this is not the kind of person Ethan Lu wanted to be affiliated with -- trampling someone just to remain at the top.

"So, you're now saying it was for me? Should I thank you instead?" Morris Liu was on the last straw of his patience as he scorned.

"Yeah, you have to f*cking thank me!" Returning his sarcasm, Ethan Lu began taking large strides towards him as he wasn't done with him yet. Alas, just as he took two steps forward, Lyrick Jiang grabbed ahold of his waist while Chris Yu intervened in between them -- facing Morris Liu who seemed he was prepared put up a fight as well.

"What the f*ck are you two doing?!" Chris Yu bellowed as he stared at Morris Liu before he turned his head to Ethan Lu.

"Young master, young master, please stop!" Lyrick Jiang cracked his composed act as he panicked and tried to firmly hold Ethan's advances.

"Let me go! I'll beat this bastard to a pulp until he knows the word decency." Ethan Lu violently shrugged his assistant yet, Lyrick Jiang tightened his grip even more.

"Decency? Let him go and I'll educate him what's the real proper decency." Morris Liu's eyes sharpened as he clenched his teeth. 

"Woah, Woah, brothers! Chill! What the!" Seeing that Morris Liu's leniency ran out, Chris Yu stood firmly in front of Morris Liu with his hands raised halfway. He didn't want this to get out of hand than it already was.

"Young master, please calm down!" Lyrick Jiang desperately pleaded. 

"Brother Mo, please…" Chris Yu's tone turned solemn as he fixed his eyes on Morris Liu. He never saw this guy break his self-control like this. Regardless, it was easier to stop him than Ethan Lu.

Morris Liu stared at Chris Yu's eyes for a moment before he contemptuously scoffed before he cast his assistant a glance, "Let's go." He then strode towards his car parked on the side and wordlessly hitched inside.

By the time Morris Liu's car sped away, Lyrick Jiang finally let go of his boss.

"Tch, that arrogant jerk!" Ethan Lu clicked his tongue as dusted off his creased clothes.