This display of shaking the tiger to frighten the mountain made many companies in Jinchuan feel even more wary of the Lan family.
In the past, although the Lan family had power and influence, they had always handled matters with moderation, never resorting to bullying others through sheer authority. This had caused some people to mistakenly believe they could walk all over the Lans.
Many had always looked down on that group of young elites, who wanted to maintain a facade of virtue while engaging in vice, fawning over their parents and older brothers while simultaneously venting their dissatisfaction and feelings of superiority on the younger brother.
It was just that these things used to happen behind closed doors. Now that the Lan family had brought everything out into the open, plenty of people were ready to kick them while they were down.
Soon enough, those bankrupt companies were carved up and devoured by various factions.
Following this incident, the entrance to the Lan estate enjoyed nearly a full month of peace before someone finally came to call.
As it happened, none of the family members were home today. The mother and sisters were out shopping, while the father and older brother had gone to the company for a meeting, leaving Aunt Wang to inform Lanting.
“Young master, there’s a young man visiting outside. He says he’s here to see you.”
Lanting was curled up on the sofa, cradling a cup of warmed milk provided by Aunt Wang, and let out a listless smile at the news.
Without even lifting his head, he said, “Let him in.”
Mu Chun always bombarded him with WeChat messages before coming over, and Gu Guixi had already been placed on the Lan family’s blacklist.
The original body’s social circle could be described as more barren than a vegetable plot treated with weed killer, meaning the only person who would show up today was Bai Heng.
Aunt Wang didn’t recognize Bai Heng and, assuming he was a new friend Lanting had recently made, even cheerfully poured him a cup of black tea.
“You two chat, I’m going out to buy some groceries.”
Lanting nodded. “Be careful on the way.”
After a brief pause, right before Aunt Wang stepped out, Lanting reminded her, “Take a different route this way. They’re repairing the road over by Water Street.”
Without thinking much of it, Aunt Wang smiled and said, “Alright, then I’ll detour past East Third Street instead.”
Lanting nodded, then went back to sipping his warm milk at a leisurely pace, completely immersed in his own world as he directly ignored the other person in the room.
Bai Heng had originally wanted Lanting to seek him out proactively, figuring that holding the initiative would allow him to manipulate the other person with just a few words.
However, after waiting a full month, the other party showed not the slightest intention of contacting him. Moreover, Gu Guixi had been up to his neck in panic over corporate troubles recently, leaving him with no bandwidth to care even when threatened with past events.
After all, Gu Guixi had always been proud. In his view, while the mistakes he made were indeed wrong, his family was wealthy and powerful, meaning there was nothing money couldn’t solve.
Everything Gu Guixi currently possessed stemmed from his family background; if his family fell, everything would truly be destroyed.
After being brushed off by Gu Guixi several times in a row, Bai Heng caught wind of rumors once again, claiming that Gu Guixi was attempting to reconcile with Lanting.
Bai Heng could never quite bring himself to ruin Gu Guixi completely, but the wait had worn his patience thin, finally driving him to seek out the Lan family in person.
In this first round, Lanting’s high-level strategy had won.
Lanting possessed extraordinary composure, acting as oblivious to Bai Heng’s presence as if the man didn’t even exist.
Since Bai Heng had initiated the visit, he naturally couldn’t hold back forever. After maintaining a standoff for just over ten minutes, he finally broke the silence.
His tone carried a trace of haughtiness. “Do you remember what I told you before?”
Only then did Lanting lazily raise his head. “What did you say?”
Bai Heng: “”
Bai Heng’s face turned livid. The hands clenched at his sides tightened into fists until he finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcing down the humiliation burning in his chest.
Moments later, regaining his composure, Bai Heng dropped a bombshell. “Do you know about the soul-replacement array?”
Lanting lowered his gaze, tapping his index finger against the rim of his cup.
He listened as Bai Heng continued, “A soul-replacement array, as the name implies, allows one person to transfer disaster and misfortune onto another.”
Watching Lanting, who appeared entirely unfazed, Bai Heng smiled. “Did you never wonder why, right after getting in touch with Ah Xi, you suddenly suffered severe, life-threatening injuries and almost didn’t make it?”
This remark finally seemed to capture Lanting’s attention. The youth set down his cup and slowly turned his head.
Lanting asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“No special meaning,” Bai Heng smiled. “I just wanted to let you know that the array Ah Xi used on you was taught to him by me. And it’s not just the soul-replacement array, I know plenty of powerful mystic arts and have countless ways to deal with you.”
He added, “I advise you to behave and not do anything foolish to provoke me.”
With that, Bai Heng extended a hand, and the next second, a ball of flames burst out of his palm.
Producing fire out of thin air in the palm of one’s hand, had anyone else witnessed this scene, they probably would have fainted from fright on the spot.
Bai Heng did this expressly to intimidate Lanting.
Yet the youth opposite him merely tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand as he looked on in confusion. “Did you forget that I’m blind?”
Bai Heng: “”
Putting on a show for a blind person was truly absurd and comical.
While the man across from him was fuming to high heaven, Lanting was quietly calculating his next move.
That fellow’s spiritual roots were so weak he could barely detect them; his natural talent was dull and his cultivation pitifully low, where on earth had he gotten hold of such powerful tricks?
Harboring doubts, Lanting decided to test the waters directly.
Without changing expression, he summoned Xu Xiaoyu. The moment the female ghost materialized, the temperature in the entire room plummeted.
To avoid alerting the enemy prematurely, Lanting flicked a finger, commanding her to display her state of death.
Her face was swollen, bruised, and blackened, blood leaking from her seven orifices, with disheveled black hair draped across her face obscuring her features.
As soon as Xu Xiaoyu appeared, Bai Heng’s expression shifted drastically.
Instead of suspecting the calm and collected Lanting, he guessed that this female ghost must be a creditor of the Lan family who had somehow appeared out of nowhere.
The sudden arrival of a malicious ghost left Bai Heng with no energy to continue confronting Lanting. He took the initiative to demand, “Who are you?”
Before he could finish speaking, the female ghost opposite him suddenly struck, lunging directly at him with pitch-black claws.
“!!”
With no time to react, Bai Heng instinctively raised his hands to block, but the very next second, the female ghost vanished right where she stood.
Lanting frowned as he watched the shaken Bai Heng.
This fellow understood absolutely nothing, yet presented such a glaring contradiction.
Just as Bai Heng looked back over, Lanting lowered his gaze, dutifully playing the part of a blind man.
“What were you doing just now? Even your breathing became hurried.”
With an ugly expression, Bai Heng fabricated a lie on the spot. “A malicious ghost just appeared in your house, but I’ve already subdued it.”
Lanting: “?”
Following Bai Heng’s lead, he asked, “Who on earth are you?”
Seeing that Lanting’s composure was finally broken, Bai Heng felt he had finally won a round.
With a lofty tone, he announced, “The 178th generation successor and sect master of Mount Mao.”
Before Bai Heng could even finish the sentence, he noticed Lanting fiddling with his phone again.
The last time the other party called the police, it had landed him in a detention center for two days and stripped him of every last shred of dignity. Bai Heng instantly turned defensive.
“Are you calling the police again?” Gripped by shock and anger, he lunged forward to grab the phone.
Lanting gracefully sidestepped the attempt and replied, “I didn’t call the police.”
Noticing that the screen didn’t display the emergency number 110, but rather a string of unfamiliar digits, Bai Heng remained intensely wary. “Who are you calling?”
The corners of Lanting’s lips curved upward. “Calling your Mount Mao grand disciple of some unknown generation.”