Strongest Counterattack

The basement was behind the stairs and there was a secret door. After walking down a hallway, there was yet another secret door. Who built this manor house? Whoever it was, that person must be very wealthy to be able to build a manor house on Qiandao Lake. Thinking about it again, could a normal person become the enemy of Jiang Xianbang?

Hence, Zhao Quan, who had been in the basement waiting for Hong Xing to open up to him, could not hear the noises outside clearly. He could only hear some noisy movements and did not think too much about them since Ren Zhun and team was outside. Hence, he came out unprepared.

At this moment, both parties met each other. It became awkward instantly. Zhao Quan stood at the door with a lightning-struck face and his eyes could not stop blinking from feeling panicky. He did not expect Qin Sheng and the rest to find them. Now everything was brought to the surface.

Qin Sheng narrowed his eyes and his face was plastered with an angry color. If Bi Yong was a traitor, then Zhao Quan was the real boss hiding behind all this. He was the mastermind behind everything, including Hong Xing going missing and what happened that night in Meijiawu when Qin Sheng had just arrived in Hangzhou. But Qin Sheng still did not understand.

“Third Uncle, why are you here?” Zhao Song pulled himself together and asked with a confused look. He had not thought through the story behind all this.

Zhao Quan still did not give a damn about his image and was dressed like a refugee. He did not say anything. What else could he say at this point in time? All that he had done was going down the drain.

“Brother Zhao, I didn’t expect this. I really didn’t expect this,” Qin Sheng said with a tint of lament. He had been guessing these two days but those were just guesses, there were many things that did not make sense. But now, his guesses have become the reality. Even if there was still a gap in logic, that would not change the fact.

Zhao Quan gave up solemnly. He laughed bitterly, “Xiao Qin, there’s nothing to figure out, I’ve lost.”

“I just blamed someone else and turns out you’re the real traitor! Fuck!” Hong Tao had already understood what was going on and started venting his anger. Without hesitation, he ran towards Zhao Quan and kicked him in the abdomen, sending him flying into the air. Zhao Quan landed on the ground and looked very pitiful.

No matter how dumb Zhao Song was, he had already woken up. But Zhao Quan was his uncle after all. He ran up to Hong Tao in an attempt to stop him but was pulled away by Bi Yong who said to him coldly, “Zhao Song, you better calm down and think of the consequences.”

Zhao Song was in a dilemma. In this situation, if he wanted to side with Third Uncle, that would mean declaring war against Qin Sheng. It was impossible to save Third Uncle from so many people on his own. He would only end up risking his life. But he was his biological uncle after all… Zhao Song could only plead, “Brother Qin, Third Uncle has his difficulties.”

Qin Sheng waved his head and stopped him from continuing. He understood where he was coming from, but at this point in time, he did not have the luxury to think about all these. He turned towards Zhang Zibang, who was standing near him, and said, “Look after them, I’ll go down and take a look.”

“Go, I have it here,” Zhang Zibang replied faintly. He knew Zhao Quan, so when he saw him, he already knew what was going on. But this was between Qin Sheng and the rest, it had nothing to do with him, so he would not interfere in it.

Zhao Song was left behind in the living room while Qin Sheng walked towards the basement with Hong Tao and Bi Yong.

When the door to the basement was pushed open, there was a man keeping an eye on Hong Xing. At that moment, he was playing games on his phone. He looked up upon hearing the commotion and after looking at the few strangers, he frowned and asked, “Who are you guys?”

Hong Tao was all smiles as he walked toward him and said, “Boss made us come.”

The man did not think too much. He erupted into laughter and got up to welcome them. “Oh, you guys are our own people.”

After he got near Hong Tao, Hong Tao suddenly pulled him by his neck and gave him four to five vigorous kicks with his knee. Before the man had any time to react, his face was already covered in blood. He fell to the ground immediately.

By this time, Qin Sheng and the rest had already noticed Hong Xing who was tied to a pole. His flesh was exposed and blood was scattered all over his face. It was a terrible state to witness. Hong Tao and Bi Yong immediately rushed over and cried out with red eyes, “Brother, brother, how are you feeling?”

To some extent, Qin Sheng could not bring himself to look at Hong Xing’s terrible state. He did not expect that bunch of people to torture Hong Xing like this. Obviously, Hong Xing did not betray Jiang Xianbang, otherwise, he would not have received such treatment.

The apathetic Hong Xing seemed to hear someone call him ‘Brother’ and gradually opened his eyes. His eyes were already blurred by blood water. After much difficulties, he finally saw a clear image of his closed ones standing right in front of him. He became agitated immediately. “You guys…you guys are finally here! I knew it…I knew that Mr. Jiang would not give up on me.”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man started crying. They could tell that he had suffered too many hardships and distress.

“It’s over, it’s over, we’re going home, going home.” Hong Tao immediately untied Hong Xing.

At this moment, Qin Sheng walked over to them. He said with a calm expression, “Brother Hong, we’ve caused you to suffer.”

“You…” Hong Xing did not know Qin Sheng. His gaze was very doubtful.

Qin Sheng quickly explained, “Brother Hong, Mr. Jiang made me come to save you.”

Hong Xing wanted to say something but Qin Sheng saw how weak he was and felt like he could pass out anytime. He quickly said, “Brother Hong, let’s stop talking. You can continue when we get out.”

Qin Sheng then turned to Bi Yong and Hong Tao and ordered, “The two of you take turns to carry Brother Hong out. We’ll talk after we get on the boat and leave this place.”

Without saying anything, the duo immediately carried Hong Xing on their backs and headed out.

When they reached the living room, Zhang Zibang saw Hong Xing being carried out and asked in a low voice, “You’ve found him?”

“Hmm,” Qin Sheng nodded and said, “We can retreat now.”

“What about them?” Zhang Zibang pointed towards Zhao Song and Zhao Quan.

Qin Sheng said with seemingly much thought, “Bring them along first, we’ll take care of them later. We don’t have time for them now.”

Zhang Zibang agreed with Qin Sheng’s idea and let his subordinates tie him up. He wanted to tie up Zhao Song but was stopped by Qin Sheng. After all, Zhao Song was not involved in this. Otherwise, they would not have found this place. Qin Sheng still believed in him. As for the other people, they did not bother to take care of them. Their boss would naturally send people here when he loses contact with them.

The group of people left the manor house. Two boats were already waiting by the lake and Zhang Ziyu was also on the boat. The crowd did not stop at all; they left the place immediately. After arriving at Chun’an county, they got into cars and headed to Hangzhou right away.

There were only three people remaining in Qin Sheng’s car at this moment. Zhao Quan and Zhao Song were held in the two cars behind. Bi Yong was driving and Hong Tao was at the back taking care of Hong Xing. Qin Sheng sat at the passenger seat and reported back to Jiang Xianbang immediately.

It was late at night and Jiang Xianbang was still awake. He was cleaning his bottles and cans in his collection room. During this time, he was thinking about one thing; which was to prepare to donate all of his collections to a few bigger museums, including the Shaanxi History Museum, Nanjing Museum, National Museum, and National Palace Museum. No one knew how much he had collected over the past few years, and it had not included those that he traded or gave away. Now and then, someone would recommend him to set up a personal museum, like the female tyrant’s Red Sandalwood Museum, or the private museum of Ma Weidu and others. However, Jiang Xianbang took no notice of it, because he knew that once these things are shown to the public, it could cause a commotion. By then, those curious would dig behind the truth of his possession. He would die a terrible death and cause trouble to many others.

For ordinary people, these were extremely valuable antique artifacts. But for Jiang Xianbang, these items are the epitomes of his entire life. From the first item he got right up to the latest one, they could all tell a chronicle. But Jiang Xianbang did not bear to seal these things here forever, especially after the incident this time around. He noticed that things were not going in the right direction and people were starting to trace back to his first crime. Hence, he wanted to donate these things as soon as possible.

For the past few days, Jiang Xianbang had not been sleeping well. He was always worried about the things happening in Hangzhou. He did not know if Qin Sheng could handle it well. If he fail, Jiang Xianbang would really have to go there himself. This would expose him, cause him to owe others some favors, or even require him to make some deals. But it was inevitable.

The phone beside him started to vibrate out of a sudden, causing him to jump and almost drop the jade in his hands. He scolded himself for not being peaceful recently and only picked up the phone after he had calmed down. He did not say a word and waited for Qin Sheng to say something.

“We found Brother Hong,” Qin Sheng said in a low voice.

Jiang Xianbang heaved out a long sigh after hearing it. He finally let down the weight in his heart. He asked, “How is he?”

“Still alive, but was tortured until he doesn’t even look like a man anymore. We need to bring him to a hospital. Should we stay in Hangzhou or return to Shanghai directly?” Qin Sheng inquired.

Jiang Xianbang thought for a moment and said, “Stay in Hangzhou. I’ll make the calls now, wait for my news.”

“Okay, I still have some stuff to settle, I’ll report back to you later,” Qin Sheng said with deep thoughts. He did not rush to talk about the twist in the story.

Qin Sheng and the rest finally made it back to Hangzhou at 1 am. Jiang Xianbang had already contacted a private hospital and Hong Xing was sent to receive treatment immediately.

Zhao Quan and Zhao Song were taken away by Zhang Zibang. Qin Sheng was unable to care about them. He only left the hospital when Jiang Xianbang’s men came to take over.

After a night’s torture, Qin Sheng and the rest were exhausted. They checked-in at a hotel near the hospital and had a good night’s rest.

At this moment, in Jiuxi Rose Garden, an over-60 elderly was waiting for news very anxiously. The elderly was annoyed that the contact in Qiandao Lake had been lost.

“Foster Father, don’t worry, I’ve already sent people over,” a man in tuxedo said in a low voice.

The old man was wearing a Tang suit. He howled, “What do you guys for a living? You guys can’t even settle a small thing like this, what else can you guys do?”

The man dared not make a sound while he was being scolded. He was in charge of this matter; if something were to happen, he would not be able to escape the responsibility.

After a while, a subordinate came in and whispered something into the man’s ear. The man’s expression became unnatural. He waited for the subordinate to leave before saying between gritted teeth, “Foster Father, we have news.”

“How is it?” The old man asked immediately. Hong Xing played a crucial part in deciding whether he could defeat Jiang Xianbang and the influence behind him. He could not treat this matter lightly.

The man answered hopelessly, “Hong Xing was taken away.”

After hearing the news, the old man crushed the pair of upper-class antique walnut in his hands into pieces. He roared, “Go find out! I want to see who’s capable of doing this!”

The man was scared that Foster Father would continue doing things out of anger, so he nodded and left quickly…