The Rise of the White Lotus

Words were stuck in the man's throat as his sliver of foolish hopes instantly vanished into thin air. Yet, in that instant, the man instinctively began screaming "HELP!" even louder. He knew it was to no avail, but that was the least he could do as one after another, he turned into a punching bag. 

His whole body and face numbed, not feeling if he was hit once again or not. The same with his vision blurring as Ethan Lu's menacing front shook before him. He didn't know how long he was being used as an outlet to blow off some steam by Ethan Lu as he passed out in the middle of the merciless beating— he didn't even feel his loud crashing to the carpeted floor and the wooden chair breaking, freeing his hands and feet as he was badly beaten up.

Ethan Lu coldly stared down at the man's unconscious body, still wearing no remorse on his face for his violence as he deserved it. Placing his left foot over the man's body, he paused as if contemplating whether he should use more force to break a few of his ribs or let it go. After a beat, he retracted his foot away before stretching his neck and strode towards the nearby couch to sit on it.

"Speak," As Ethan Lu perched, he slightly raised his hands tainted with blood, indicating Lyrick Jiang to continue his report that he halted midway as they arrived at this private penthouse of his.

Clearing his throat, Lyrick Jiang mildly shook his head sideways as he stepped forward up to his master's side— granting him the opportunity to feel the stronger aura around Ethan Lu that spread across this whole place. "Master, the man's name is David Choi, 33, and a regular employee under the financing department in the Lu Corporation. However, we found out he has an alternative account that was transacting a huge amount of money. Even if his salary was considered a total to sustain a comfortable lifestyle, the money under his alternative account is twice his annual income." Lyrick Jiang mused as he gave further data of their fast investigations of the man's profile.

Earlier, when Lexi was talking to the man, Lyrick Jiang contacted their one contact to track the location of a call. Granted that the phone Lexi was using wasn't hers in the first place, but, having vast connections, it wasn't that hard since Ethan Lu had been buddy-buddy with the government body.

Hence, the reason why the man was dragged here under Jarred Guo's orders. This kind of violent scene wasn't new to them, however, it was the very first time Ethan Lu beat up a real person— excluding the time he assaulted Morris Liu. The reason why it felt more dreaded.

"Master, it seems that this man was paid for the call since his bank statement stated he received a huge amount just three hours ago." Ending his report, Lyrick Jiang managed to keep his wits intact as he gave his conclusions.

"Does it matter?" Not reacting to a single detail of the report, Ethan Lu emotionlessly uttered. His gaze glanced at the man's lying figure yet, his consciousness wasn't tugged— even one bit. To him, everyone whether they were paid or not, if they bore ill-intentions towards the people he cares for especially his own family, they'd get what they deserved.

The man's mistake was to take the job knowing Lexi was Ethan Lu's 'fiance'. After all, their marriage was only known to a very few but now, he was also uncertain who had the knowledge of that. It was not that they were entirely keeping it a secret, but the two were already in love with their private affairs— less intrigue and gossip. 

However, his engagement with Lexi was made known to the world. Therefore, coming at her was way down the bottom line. Whether the people were uncertain about the status of their relationship or not, one would think twice in offending Lexi. Needless to say, this man lying not far away from him must have known that fact as he worked in the Lu Corporation but he still accepted the deal given to him.

Now, he paid the huge price that was greater than the money he received from whoever it came from. What he received now was just the beginning of his misery and it won't stop till the end— that's his wrath. A very complete opposite of his simple pettiness because this would never end well; that's for sure.

"Red, wake him up. I don't have a whole day set aside to wait for him." With that said note, Ethan Lu lowly uttered which made Jarred Guo on the side nod his head once before he strode towards the man along with his underdogs to execute the command.

Meanwhile, since Lyrick Jiang's job was done, he searched for a tissue box that he found lying inside one of the cabinets before he returned to Ethan Lu's side and passed the box of tissues to wipe the blood off his knuckles. He then grabbed the small container of hand sanitizer that he always kept with him and lent it to his master.

Ethan Lu just received the box of tissue and hand sanitizer without a word as he began wiping his knuckles. His eyes still glued on the man as he was being carried before them perched in the chair they grabbed nearby. One of the bodyguards came into the scene carrying a bucket of cold water with ice before it was splashed to wake the man up.

Soon, after many attempts, the man finally woke up coughing as if the water went through his nostrils plus the striking pain seeping through his every muscle. This time, his hands and feet were free but, he was unable to move as much as he could before due to the pain all over his body.

He could not even feel his swollen face and touching it offered a great effort for his shoulders and arms. It was pure pain. Raising his gaze towards Ethan Lu who was sitting coldly while staring back at him gave him chills running down his spine.

"CEO Lu…" Through his shaking mouth, the man's eyes gradually welled up as that address sounded out thousands of repeated pleadings to have mercy. "I only did what I did because I was told to." Even without Ethan Lu asking, the man began defending himself for his life, hoping for a miracle to happen. Little did he know, what he thought for the reasons he was there was not the same reason that brought him in.

"..." Scrutinizing the man's ugly countenance— Ethan Lu's work of art— he didn't open his mouth while letting the man tattle. To him, he didn't need to interrogate and waste his saliva asking questions as the man realized what Ethan Lu wanted. 

"Please, give me a chance. I am willing to cooperate— just please…" Breaking down, the man disregarded the pain striking him from all directions of his body as he crashed to his knees to the floor and kowtowed.

"It was Director Fei! He was using my name to transact the money he was embezzling in the company! I have evidence and conversations just in case I'd get caught. Please give me a chance, please CEO Lu! I am telling the truth." Despite his shaking voice and body, the man unhesitatingly dropped the name of the corruptor who was causing the corruption occurring in the financing department. 

Indeed, this was what he thought the current subject was; Ethan Lu found out his involvement in this scheme. Hence, with the impression he has for their present head of the company that was proven for his merciless beating, David Choi was scared out of his wits that he'd literally lose his life today.

"Oh? Director Fei?" Sounding uninterested, Ethan Lu slightly arched his brows. "He's probably twice as bad as your situation right now. But, that's not what you're here for— you just saved Lyrick some time to investigate you further." Ethan Lu nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he'd been eyeing on the said man and found the rightful evidence to ensure the family rules.

After all, Mr. Fei was one of the core members in the Lu Family and was now stripped of his powers while being interrogated. Still, the people involved were still free just like David Choi— though they wouldn't retain their freedom too long.

"Mr. Choi, who ordered you to blindly threaten my wife?" Ethan Lu's voice was akin to the sound of thunder; strong and firm, intimidating and terrifying. 

"What…" Stunned by hearing the news about diretor Fei, David Choi was more confused on his latter statement. 

Threaten? His wife? Who…?

David Choi was baffled as he stared at Ethan Lu for a good several seconds like a fool. Just then, he was reminded of the conversation he had earlier that day. 

"Mr. Lu…!" Bearing an aghast, mortified front, David Choi slammed his head back to the floor, disregarding the unremarkable thud sound of his forehead touching the floor as he kowtowed. 

"I didn't know it was your wife— I swear! I was only paid to make a phone call to a woman they address as Miss Yang so I did." David Choi desperately defended himself. To him, his involvement in the corruption in the company wasn't as bad as his 'prank' call earlier. 

Indeed, he was unaware of the fact that the woman he was told to scare a little by using a psychotic mentality and reasoning was none other than Lexi Yang. After all, there were a lot of Yang's surnames in this country.

Not to mention, the hefty amount of money had blinded his critical thinking hence, he accepted the offer. Who would have thought that his greed for money would put him in a much more dire position?

"I am repeating it just once, who ordered you to threaten my wife?" Ignoring all the pleas and explanations from the man, Ethan Lu inexpressibly repeated which he wouldn't do again. 

"I—" David Choi suddenly choked on his words as he halted for a second. Alas, his hesitation to tattle caused Ethan Lu to avert his eyes towards Jarred Guo before giving him a nod. 

Upon seeing the gesture from his master, Jarred Guo was momentarily stunned but recovered within the next beat. Without further ado, he strode near the man and slid his hand inside his pocket— where his handguns were hiding beneath, awaiting for the moment they would be released from their bindings. 

The very next moment, Jarred Guo had a gun in his hand and its muzzle pointing at the man's head, waiting for the green light before blowing his head off. David Choi was shaken to the core as he literally pissed himself. 

'He will kill me.' Were his thoughts that instantly struck inside his heart, causing his heart to race and his body uncontrollably trembled. 

"It's Sir Lu's assistant! Sir Dennis Lu's assistant!" Instinctively, David Choi just shouted the name of the person behind it. "Mr. Lu, please don't kill me! I don't want to die…" At this point, the man broke down even more as he pleaded for his mercy. 

"Dennis Lu…" As if not hearing the latter statement, a malicious glint flashed across Ethan Lu's pair of dark eyes. "Now, you've done it." He added as his threat level skyrocketed, sending unsettling vibes to everyone present. 

"Red, you know what to do." Glancing up, Ethan Lu turned to Jarred Guo's direction which, made him slightly bowed on cue. On the other hand, David Choi's fear crept up from his heart and appeared on his face as his mangled lips paled.

"No, no, please! Mr. Lu!" Panicking, David Choi desperately pleaded as he assumed Jarred Guo would kill him. Alas, the next second, his eyes dimmed as his consciousness left him once again. Unlike his expectation, Jarred Guo just hit him on the side of his nape using the pistol's hand in his hand.

"We are not murderers that blindly kill." Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Jarred Guo spat in disdain as the man sounded as if they were some kind of gangster. Well, Ethan Lu did beat him up pretty badly but that was because he touched his bottom line. However, that doesn't mean he'd kill. They were just merely scaring him that led him to piss his pants.