Way of the Devil

“Look at the leader! Look at the emblem on their clothes! That’s Crimson Whale Sect!”

Who’re you kidding! A feud with Crimson Whale Sect… who dared to start it? Even if it’s the son of the Deputy Army Superintendent, even if he’s being assaulted, who would dare to go against Crimson Whale Sect? Wouldn’t that be courting death?

“This… this… this!” Seeing that young master Wang was struck mute, Chen Daozao hurriedly asked for help to break them apart. But nobody responded even after he had shouted himself hoarse. Immediately, he was filled with panic.

At the thought of the trouble Chen Family would suffer under the hands of the Army Superintendent in the future, his heart turned cold and he collapsed as he fainted.

“Dad!” Chen Yunxi dashed up to support him, frightened.

Only after Wang Shunyong was beaten till an inch from death did the man with the green dragon tattoo stop the men somewhat pretentiously.

Then he pretended to notice the people around.

“Aiyo! Isn’t this Miss Chen? How rude of me! Never did I imagine I would land up catching this adulterer in Miss Chen’s manor, I beg your pardon please! We’ll leave immediately!”

The man apologized profusely, his manners frighteningly impeccable compared to his previous posture when he barged in and immediately ordered the assault.

The contrast was so stark that Chen Yunxi was at a loss for words.

The man bothered to be polite only to her, sparing not even a single glance for her father on the side. After a series of niceties and compliments, he quickly pulled his men out, dragging the unconscious young master Wang Shunyong behind him like a dead dog.

Before she could regain her wits, the entire gang of men had vanished without a trace, leaving behind a garden of mess and her fainted old dad.

Chen Yunxi stood in blank shock, her mind a muddle. Up till the very end, she had no idea at all what on earth had happened.

In actual fact, she had been kept in the dark about what had been going on behind the scenes.

The story begins from the time when Soaring Eagle Squad was attempting to form their own faction in Crimson Whale Sect.

Because of their going rogue and attempting to become independent from Crimson Whale Sect, they had incurred Lu Sheng’s displeasure. Ever since then, the various experts of Soaring Eagle Squad had been filled with anxiety and uneasiness and had been searching for opportunities to improve Lu Sheng’s impression of them.

But Lu Sheng’s martial arts prowess was off the charts and he occupied a lofty position. Too many people would kill for the chance to curry favor with him. They really could not find much of an opportunity to perform at all.

Hence, after discussing among themselves, they began working on Lu Sheng’s friends.

Because Chen Yunxi had been spotted having several one-to-one moments with Lu Sheng previously, she had long since entered their field of vision.

Add to that Jade Lotus’ confidential instruction to protect this lady as well as Lu Sheng’s family, and she made it to the top of Soaring Eagle Squad’s list of must-watch targets.

One of Soaring Eagle Squad’s experts was Zhao Ziyang, nicknamed Green Dragon. Being already at the pinnacle of Strength Proficiency, he had maxed out all his potential for growth and had merely been trying to fight for some status and name for his family. But he quickly realized that if that incurred his boss’ displeasure, there would be no need to talk about achieving anything for his family. Whether or not he could stay alive would be questionable as well.

After some struggle, he placed his stakes on Chen Yunxi and partnered with some of the others to insert his men around her. He ran all sorts of checks and investigations on her and kept her under close monitoring. Finally, the opportunity to improve boss’ impression of him came.

Hence, after some planning, young master Wang of the Deputy Army Superintendent’s family became his stepping stone. As for the issue of offending the Deputy Army Superintendent?

Given Crimson Whale Sect’s power and influence in Mountain-Edge City, as long as it wasn’t some earth-shaking case like murdering the Prefect or the like, who would dare defy them over any other small matter? Anyway, even if the heavens were to collapse, the sect’s upper echelons would hold it up. What’s there to fear!?

And that was how this ruffian came barging in all of a sudden and walloping young master Wang out of the blue.

Pity for young master Wang, who had come filled with excitement and seeking fun, yet ended up suffering a beating for no reason. Dragged out of the house unconscious, he still remained clueless about why he had been beaten. Truly, this was a calamity he did not ask for!

If the fainted Chen Daozao understood what had just happened, he would probably faint from anger again after waking up. Crimson Whale Sect might be fearless, but disaster was about to fall on his Chen Family!

***

In the study within the casino.

“Ah?” Jade Lotus stood up quickly, staring blankly at Green Dragon and two other tall and muscular men before him.

“You beat up the son of the Deputy Army Superintendent? Just because he visited Miss Chen Yunxi’s manor as guest?”

“Of course not!” Green Dragon licked his lips and drew nearer, “Boss Lotus, you don’t know that…”

“I’m not Lotus! It’s Jade Lotus!!” Jade Lotus corrected him in anger, his face twitching.

“Oh, Boss Jade Lotus! Isn’t that still Lotus…? My bad, my bad! Your subordinate knows his error. I deserve a slap!” Seeing Jade Lotus’ ugly expression, Green Dragon quickly corrected himself and slapped himself lightly on his face.

“Alright, let this old man handle the explanation,” an elder from Soaring Eagle Squad stepped forward. He was one of those who had collaborated with Green Dragon. In fact, he was the main mastermind behind Green Dragon’s blackmail, extortion, and bribery plans, enabling him to discover Chen Daozao’s intentions and come up with his plan in secrecy.

The elder explained the flow of events from start to finish in detail.

After listening, Jade Lotus’ jaw dropped. Chen Daozao was truly a poor judge of character—and a myopic at that—to push away someone as powerful as his External Head in exchange for some young master, the only son of the Wang Family.

It was just a mere Deputy Army Superintendent. Given the scale of Mountain-Edge City, there were at least three Deputy Army Superintendents in control over the army. Even the Army Superintendent himself had only roughly about the same status and influence as an Elder in Crimson Whale Sect.

Such a character wasn’t even in the same league as Lu Sheng, a big shot who was the third-in-command of Crimson Whale Sect.

“This old fogey is really… how dare he try to sell Miss Yunxi off to be someone else’s concubine,” Jade Lotus shook his head, speechless.

“So, Lord Jade Lotus, what should we do now?” The elder asked softly, swiftly stuffing a roll of silver notes into Jade Lotus’ hand discreetly.

Jade Lotus glanced at the amount on the silver notes discreetly. The corners of his lips curved upward in a slight smile as he quickly kept the notes silently.

“Let’s go. Follow me to the courtyard where External Head has secluded himself. He said that he may be coming out around noon today. This incident with the Deputy Army Superintendent involves the court after all. External Head’s got to give the personal go-ahead for us to handle the matter.”

“Many thanks to Lord Jade Lotus!” The three Soaring Eagle Squad experts hurriedly clasped their hands together in salute.

“Don’t mention it. We’ll have to depend much on the three of you from now on too,” Jade Lotus returned the salute. Although he outranked them, these experts were in charge of various branches of the sect and hence held some degree of autonomy and influence in their hands. There was bound to be matters that required their assistance in the future.

The few of them quickly left the study and walked to the entrance of the closed courtyard and waited silently.

The scorching sun hung high up in the sky above their heads, but none of them complained. They stood pencil-straight outside the courtyard as they waited.

Time flowed by. Only when the sun had nearly sunk into the horizon in the evening and the men’s legs were stiff and numb did the creak of a door echo from inside the courtyard. The room’s door seemed to have opened.

“Didn’t I say not to disturb me if there’s nothing important? Jade Lotus, why have you brought these three here?” Lu Sheng’s unique deep voice rang out from within.

Hearing his voice, Jade Lotus’ face changed. He could tell that Lu Sheng’s status in that moment was different from usual. A suppressed, pent-up emotion seemed to permeate his present voice, as if something was building up in him.

“It’s concerning Miss Chen Yunxi,” he detailed Green Dragon and company’s various methods and the results of their investigation to Lu Sheng.

After finishing, they continued standing still silently in front of the entrance.

Seconds later, the doors to the courtyard creaked open slowly.

A strapping hunk with a savage look and bald head walked out slowly.

His fierce, penetrating gaze swept across the men like how a lion eyes its prey. Goosebumps popped out all over Jade Lotus and the three men instantly.

Even the burliest and tallest among them, Green Dragon Zhao Ziyang, was as weak as a beansprout compared to the man before them.

External Head’s cultivation base was getting stronger and stronger!

Eyed by him, the men’s hair stood on ends and cold sweat broke out all over them.

“You mentioned earlier that Chen Yunxi’s dad made her drug someone and even tried to force her to become his concubine?” He growled. The pent-up and suppressed emotions in his voice were like a lake before high tide. Any moment and it might burst forth in a tidal wave.

“That’s… that’s what happened!” Green Dragon fought hard to keep his voice still as he answered, ignoring the cold beads of perspiration breaking out all over his forehead.

“External Head, this subordinate thinks that if you’re unwilling to have Miss Chen Yunxi, then it’s better not to interfere in this matter lest you give her misplaced hopes. Given Chen Daozao’s personality, since he’s willing to do such a thing once, he’ll do it a second time and even a third time,” Jade Lotus advised. He was often in Lu Sheng’s presence and was slightly more used to the immense pressure emanating from Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng fell silent for a moment, then said, “You will handle this matter personally. Go tell Chen Yunxi this: if everything goes smoothly and she’s willing, then… a year. Let her wait for me for a year. After a year, I’ll visit her.” In his mind, he added, ‘…if I’m not dead yet by then.’

Jade Lotus knew about what was going on between Chen Yunxi and Lu Sheng. Hearing Lu Sheng’s words, he too felt happy for the lady. He turned around and glanced at the rest,

“About External Head’s matter, not a single word must be leaked.”

“Your subordinates swear to keep the secret. If any of us were to leak it, may we suffer a horrible death!” The three of them swore decisively. Despite the severe oath on their lips, they were overjoyed in their hearts to be involved in External Head’s private affairs. They knew that their wager had paid off.

As subordinates, not only did they know their superior’s secrets, they’ve also made a significant contribution. Those were signs of becoming his trusted confidants!!!

External Head Lu had entered the pinnacle of the Spirit Focus realm at such a young age. Such strength almost guaranteed that he would be the future Number One Expert of the Northern Lands. After all, the old Sect Master was getting on in his years. His energy would decline as the years go by.

“Alright, dismissed,” Lu Sheng said calmly.

“Yes, sir!” Jade Lotus and the rest took their leave.

Lu Sheng stood in the courtyard, his countenance as still as water. He finally saw clearly that the long-legged Chen Yunxi was truly despised like an ugly lady in Mountain-Edge City. Or perhaps, in most of the Northern Lands.

Most people perceived it as a deformity.

Still, he was sure that in Nine Links City, as long as a lady had legs which were long but not excessively so, she would still be wooed. Duanmu Wan was a case in point. However, Mountain-Edge City seemed to judge short legs to be more beautiful. After all, even Duanmu Wan’s legs weren’t as long as Chen Yunxi’s.

“Oh, yes,” Jade Lotus quickly returned. “External Head, what do we do with the young master of the Deputy Army Superintendent’s Wang Family?”

“Deputy Army Superintendent?” Lu Sheng was surprised. Then he shook his head, “This lad is really unfortunate. But since it concerns the reputation of my woman, break one of his legs. Then spread the rumor that he attempted to molest Chen Yunxi in vain but was struck unconscious by a passer-by with a strong sense of justice. As for the drugging attempt, if anyone dares to bring it up, then deal with him or her likewise.”

Cold sweat broke out on Jade Lotus’ back.

How partisan must one be to do such a thing…

Wang Shunyong was truly down on his luck. Not only was he attacked out of the blue, his name was smeared. In the end, all he could do was to swallow his grievances and keep mum. If he truly dared to resist, even his dad would not be able to save him. If a mere Deputy Army Superintendent angered Lu Sheng, his rank would not stop Lu Sheng from wiping out his entire family. At the very most, he might be chided by the court and forced to pay some financial compensation. The court would not truly take him to task, just like how they closed their eyes previously when the Red Decks pleasure boat kidnapped people on the lake.

“Remember to make sure the testimonies match. Alright, don’t bother me with this trivial stuff. You can handle it yourself,” Lu Sheng waved his hand.

“Yes sir,” Jade Lotus left. Neither of them even mentioned the Army Superintendent’s backing.

To the present Crimson Whale Sect, the power of mortal factions was perhaps of some use. But compared to Scarlet District, it was nothing.

Once a Spirit Focus expert made his move, eighty or even one hundred men could not stop him without powerful weapons like military-grade crossbows. Not to mention a Crimson Whale Sect big shot like Lu Sheng, who commanded thousands of military-trained disciples and was backed by a Noble Family.