Mo Younian, the richest man in Shao City, had assets exceeding one billion. His businesses reached into every industry in Shao City. He held many titles, and everyone he dealt with in the city was either wealthy or influential. Even in the province, he was important enough to have a few words heard.
By rights, Mo Younian, who had risen from humble beginnings to his current position, could be considered a great success. At this point, he should have been basking in triumph. Yet when Zhou Hu saw Mo Younian step out of the car, all he saw was a worried old man beneath a cloud of gloom. There was not even a trace of the man who had once dominated the scene.
Zhou Hu was secretly astonished, and his initial intention of approaching Mo Younian to ingratiate himself immediately faded.
If something could make Mo Younian this troubled, then Zhou Hu had to think twice before getting involved and trying to show his worth.
Thus, after waiting outside the hotel for half an hour, Zhou Hu greeted Mo Younian and left. As it happened, Mo Younian had no time to concern himself with Zhou Hu’s little schemes either. He entered the hotel directly after getting out of the car, while the followers and subordinates he had brought with him dispersed in all directions.
Mo Younian’s purpose in coming to Dragon City was simple. The deaths of the two bodyguards he had hired at great expense were a minor matter. But Liu Junxian’s death was a major one.
He had originally thought he had established a connection with a martial arts expert. In the future, he might even have been able to rely on that favor to gain some assistance when the Mo Family expanded into the provincial capital. Who could have known that Liu Junxian would die at this moment?
He was dead!
After killing an ordinary family, he had died while kneeling before that family’s home.
When the photographs reached Mo Younian, he felt as though the sky itself were collapsing.
With Liu Junxian dead, Mo Younian could forget about clinging to a martial arts expert for protection. He was not even certain whether he could withstand the fury of the mysterious martial arts sect behind Liu Junxian.
Those martial arts sects hidden deep away from the knowledge of ordinary people were not forces a minor richest man of Shao City like Mo Younian could afford to offend. Even the province’s major tycoons would not dare antagonize them lightly. Otherwise, they might not even know how they had died.
At this thought, a sinister look briefly crossed Mo Younian’s face. “Mobilize everyone we have. Investigate at all costs. Before tomorrow morning, I want to know whom Liu Junxian came into contact with before his death. Investigate every single one of them thoroughly.”
Liu Junxian had met with disaster in Dragon City, and two of Mo Younian’s own bodyguards had been with him. Damn it, Mo Younian was grinding his teeth in hatred. He finally understood what it meant to make things worse while trying to be clever.
..
“Brother Hu, we showed Mo Younian our sincerity, so why did we leave in such a hurry?”
Zhou Hu led his people away from the hotel at a rapid pace, leaving his subordinates utterly baffled. Had they really waited outside the hotel for half an hour for nothing?
“What do you know?”
Zhou Hu let out a disdainful snort. “I only wanted to show my worth before Mo Younian. I never intended to throw my life away. Mo Younian can barely protect himself now, so there’s no need for us to keep approaching him.”
Zhou Hu had held a place in Dragon City for many years, so naturally, he was not lacking in common sense. For people like them, caution was essential. Otherwise, they might end up dying horribly in a filthy ditch without even knowing why.
“Pass down my orders. For the next few days, tell everyone to behave themselves. Don’t wander around without reason.”
“There’s a saying: when immortals fight, lesser demons suffer. Anyone who wants to die, I, Zhou Hu, won’t stop them.”
After speaking, Zhou Hu closed his eyes to rest. Just then, the vehicle reached an intersection, where a red light blocked their way, leaving the driver helpless.
Bang, bang!
Suddenly, a young man came to the front of Zhou Hu’s vehicle and gently knocked on the window.
The window rolled down. Zhou Hu frowned at the young man. In the past, he might have cursed him out, but Zhou Hu currently felt that a storm was brewing in Dragon City. Since he had already decided to keep a low profile, there was naturally no need to quarrel with a young man.
Moreover, Zhou Hu was very skilled at reading people’s expressions. This young man had calmly knocked on his window, yet he showed not the slightest panic when facing a group of passengers who were clearly no good.
“What is it?”
Zhou Hu asked indifferently.
After all, he was in front of his subordinates. Zhou Hu had no reason to wear too broad a smile at a young man.
“You suffer from a grave illness and do not have long to live. If you want to survive, call me when the time comes.”
The young man tossed in a note and then drifted away.
“What the hell? Where did this lunatic come from? He actually dared to curse Brother Hu. Do you want me to get out and beat him up?”
The burly man sitting beside Zhou Hu shouted angrily. After speaking, he even reached for the door to get out.
“Forget it.”
Zhou Hu glared at the excitable man. “You just said he’s a lunatic. Why bother arguing with one?”
..
“Drive.”
After the young man left, the light suddenly turned green. Zhou Hu shook his head and chuckled before ordering the driver to move. As for the note, he glanced at it once and then threw it out the window.
Fortunately, Zhou Hu had a good memory. Otherwise, he would have ended up crying his eyes out in the bathroom later.
In this world, if the Chu Emperor said someone would not live long, that person absolutely had no chance of longevity.
That was right—the person who had knocked on Zhou Hu’s car window was Fan Xiwen, who had left the school.
After leaving the school, Fan Xiwen first made a circuit around Dragon City, but he did not find a City God Temple, an Earth God Temple, or anything similar. The reason he was searching for City God Temples and Earth God Temples was that, although the Heavenly Dao of Unnamed Star was damaged, countless Myths and Legends had been passed down. In the eyes of ordinary people, these legends might be nothing more than stories. But in Fan Xiwen’s eyes, they were far from being mere tales fabricated by those who came before.
Even a branch of cultivators such as qi-gazing masters existed, so cultivators must certainly have existed in the past.
As long as cultivators had existed, there must have been complete inheritances, providing some confirmation for those Myths and Legends.
If there had been an Immortal Palace or a Daoist Court, then deities such as Mountain Gods, Earth Gods, and City Gods must have existed as well.
In his previous life, Fan Xiwen had only left Hu Province a few times, and he had gone to cities farther south. He had never seen the magnificent mountains and rivers to the north. The several Paradisiacal Grottoes described in the Myths and Legends were even more beyond his experience. Thus, Fan Xiwen hoped to try his luck. If beings like Earth Gods had somehow managed to linger on in this world, he could naturally question them carefully.
However, the result left Fan Xiwen extremely disappointed.
After returning to the city, Fan Xiwen wandered around the Sunshine Hotel because he knew Mo Younian would come.
Liu Junxian had died in Dragon City, and under such bizarre circumstances. Mo Younian had to come and investigate. Otherwise, once the sect behind Liu Junxian began its investigation, Mo Younian would be placed in a completely passive position.
Therefore, Mo Younian would come, and Fan Xiwen had deliberately waited for him here.
Although the matter involving his own orchard had little to do with Mo Younian, Mo Younian had taken part in it. That alone was enough.
As for Zhou Hu, Fan Xiwen had merely acted on a whim.
He had left a strand of divine sense within Zhou Hu. As for what he might later obtain from Zhou Hu, that would depend on Fan Xiwen’s mood.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Fan Xiwen slowly entered the Sunshine Hotel. His divine sense spread outward, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he took the elevator to the hotel’s seventh floor.
“Stop. We don’t need room service here. You can leave.”
Mo Younian had quite a presence when he came to Dragon City. There were even two bodyguards in black standing outside the door.
When the bodyguards in black saw Fan Xiwen, they immediately reached out to stop him. The mention of room service was simply a way of telling Fan Xiwen that he was not allowed inside; they did not actually mistake him for a hotel employee.
“Tell Mo Younian that the person he’s looking for has arrived.”
Fan Xiwen spoke indifferently.
The two bodyguards’ expressions changed drastically at his words. Just as they were about to act, Fan Xiwen swept them with a single glance, and the two of them immediately fell silent as though facing a tiger.
“Sigh.”
Fan Xiwen did not know what he was sighing about either. He gently knocked on the door.
Someone looked through the peephole. After a long while, the door was finally opened.
Mo Younian sat leisurely on the sofa. When he saw Fan Xiwen walk in, a trace of astonishment appeared in his eyes.
Although Fan Xiwen’s earlier words had been calm, they possessed extraordinary penetrating power. Mo Younian had been able to hear them clearly from inside the room.
Whom was Mo Younian looking for?
The murderer who had killed Liu Junxian, of course!
But Mo Younian had never imagined that Liu Junxian’s killer would be so young. Judging by his age, he even seemed to be a student.
“Mo Younian.”
Fan Xiwen leisurely entered the room. Suddenly, the door slammed shut without anyone pushing it.
This abnormal occurrence made Mo Younian, who had been pretending to remain calm, regret his arrogance. That was right—he had been overconfident. Although this person was young, he was still someone who could kill a martial arts expert like Liu Junxian on a whim. The people in this room had all been hired by Mo Younian at great expense, but even combined, they would not have been enough to fight Liu Junxian.
“Who are you?”
Mo Younian was, after all, the richest man in Shao City. His years of experience weathering the business world were not for show, and he quickly calmed down.
Yet that calm was utterly insignificant before Fan Xiwen.
“Kneel and answer.”
Fan Xiwen sat directly on the sofa. Then Mo Younian really did kneel.
Of course, he had certainly not done so willingly.
But before the Chu Emperor, did Mo Younian’s willingness make any difference?
“Who are you, really?”
Mo Younian’s mind trembled violently. Just now, he had clearly sensed his own condition. The other party was like a monarch gazing down upon all living beings from Above the Nine Heavens. With a single sentence, no matter how unwilling he was, Mo Younian’s body had knelt of its own accord.
His mouth said no, but his body was honest. Nothing described Mo Younian better.
“I’m the person you were looking for.”
Fan Xiwen flashed Mo Younian a broad row of white teeth, smiling brightly.
“You killed Liu Junxian?”
Mo Younian forced out a pointless question. After witnessing the power of this young man who still looked like a student, Mo Younian did not dare say anything else. Trouble came from careless words.