Chapter 11: Now I Know Who You Are

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“Hello, officer. This whole thing was actually just a misunderstanding. Yes, yes, it was only my nephew throwing a tantrum. There was no disturbance of the peace.”

“All right, I’ll make sure to educate him properly. Yes, yes, sorry to trouble you.”

Tang Wei saw the police off with a beaming smile. Then, swallowing the pain, he scattered money to buy everyone’s silence. Finally, he thoroughly erased the hidden surveillance footage before letting out a sigh of relief.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and returned to the office, which no longer had a door. The boy was sitting quietly inside, looking almost a little ill at ease.

He appeared to be very young—he was even still wearing a school uniform. At a glance, he looked like a polite, well-behaved student. Tang Wei found it utterly impossible to associate him with the monster who had taken on dozens of grown men single-handedly.

Then again, ordinary good students generally did not carry knives around with them.

Tang Wei sat down opposite the boy and spoke wearily. “All right, it’s taken care of. What exactly did you want to discuss with me?”

“A partnership,” Chu Zihang said. “I want to establish an organization, and I hope you’ll join.”

A question mark slowly appeared above Tang Wei’s head.

Was this a recruitment attempt? A fifteen-year-old boy was trying to recruit him?

An indescribably absurd feeling welled up inside Tang Wei.

“Kid, you’re joking, right?” His face was full of disbelief. “If you want to start a club, do it at school. Do you need your uncle to sponsor you with a little money?”

If he were not worried that he could not beat the boy, Tang Wei would have thrown him out already. He felt that the boy had come purely to amuse himself, and his tone grew increasingly stiff.

“Don’t even think about it. I’d sooner jump from this building and let you stab me to death than agree to this.”

Chu Zihang frowned. He was not particularly good at negotiating with people, much less persuading them. Just as he was struggling to figure out how to continue, Tang Xi spoke.

“Say what I tell you. First, look him in the eye.”

Chu Zihang gave an almost imperceptible nod. Then he lifted his face and stared at Tang Wei without expression.

Tang Wei began to feel uncomfortable under that gaze. He shifted in his seat, trying to avoid the boy’s eyes, only to hear him say:

“You wouldn’t want other people to find out that your company is actually involved in shady business, would you?”

Tang Wei froze. Something felt wrong. How had the mood changed so suddenly? A moment ago, the boy had seemed like an innocent middle-school student. How had he suddenly turned into such a seasoned operator?

“How many people’s ancestral graves have you dug up over the years? How many cultural relics have you stolen because you didn’t dare hand them over? Your cars and houses—where do you think they came from? Don’t you know?”

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Sweat began to bead on Tang Wei’s forehead.

“And, as I recall, you have an old father, don’t you?” Chu Zihang paused at that point, as though he had remembered something unpleasant, but he quickly concealed it.

Tang Wei noticed nothing unusual. He only felt as if something had exploded inside his head. Along with his panic, anger surged up from the depths of his heart.

Before he could say anything, however, the boy continued in an icy, emotionless voice:

“You can choose between jumping from this building and being stabbed to death.”

“Or you can have both.”

It was as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. The anger that had not yet fully ignited vanished instantly, replaced by a bone-deep chill that left his hands and feet cold.

Wait, I was only saying that. You’re actually serious?

The fear of death seized him once more. The boy’s utterly emotionless gaze terrified him. It was practically as though the Grim Reaper himself had descended. Tang Wei stammered helplessly, unable to get a single coherent sentence out.

When he remained silent for a long time, Chu Zihang asked in confusion, “Wasn’t that what you said? That you would rather jump from this building and be stabbed to death than agree?”

Tang Wei collapsed to the floor with a thud, his face filled with terror.

“No, no, I was joking! I agree—I agree to everything!”

“From now on, I’ll follow your lead, boss. I’ll do whatever you tell me. As long as you don’t lay a hand on me, everything can be discussed!”

Almost the instant he finished speaking, Tang Xi, who had been watching the status panel intently, saw a new line appear.

[Lord skill activated. Seven half-bloods recruited. Experience +10. Gun Lord bloodline slightly enhanced. Durability +1.]

Tang Xi’s eyes lit up.

Wonderful! She had become a one-minute battle goddess again. She could take over and play for him again.

Recruiting Tang Wei had actually added seven half-bloods. Did that mean there were seven half-bloods in his organization? Since they were all Tang Wei’s subordinates, recruiting Tang Wei meant recruiting them as well?

What an unexpected bonus.

Tang Xi was delighted. Her emotions infected Chu Zihang, and the boy’s icy expression softened slightly. The gaze that had seemed to regard Tang Wei as a corpse also disappeared.

Tang Wei felt an enormous weight lift from his shoulders. It was as though he had just made a complete circuit around the gates of hell. Cold sweat soaked his back, and his mind was filled with the relief of having survived a disaster.

After taking a long while to recover, he finally managed to compose himself and asked, “So, boss, what do I need to do? Do you have any other instructions?”

Money was precious, but life was worth even more. Tang Wei was a man with flexible principles. As long as he stayed alive, anything was acceptable. For now, he just wanted to send this walking calamity away. Even if the boy made outrageous demands, he would endure them.

That was a good question. Chu Zihang did not know either. To this day, he still had no idea what Tang Xi’s purpose was, so he decisively asked her.

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Tang Xi, however, merely said indifferently, “Nothing else. Tell him to stay out of the way.”

Chu Zihang nodded and answered truthfully, “Nothing else. I have something to take care of, so I’ll be going.”

Tang Wei: “?”

Tang Wei, who had already prepared himself to suffer a massive financial loss, was completely stunned. He had never imagined that this boy would make such a spectacular entrance—fighting his way from the first floor to the twenty-first, even kicking his office door away, practically holding a knife to his throat—only for the entire affair to end with a single sentence.

Couldn’t you have said from the beginning that all I had to do was admit defeat? What was the point of terrifying me like that? Anyone watching would have thought you were plotting something enormous.

And in the end, that was it?

Tang Wei—

Without paying the utterly bewildered Tang Wei any attention, Chu Zihang left as soon as he said he would. He even took the time to bid Tang Wei a very polite farewell.

By the time he walked out of Runder Building, it was completely dark. Rain was still falling outside. Chu Zihang took out his phone and tried to book a ride home, but no driver accepted the order even after a long wait. He was about to take the subway instead and was preparing to close the app when he noticed a friend request.

The profile picture showed an exceptionally beautiful girl. Her large, mischievous eyes stared straight into the camera, and she wore a radiant smile. Chu Zihang’s expression changed, however, because he recognized her.

She was the woman who called herself Xia Mi. On the surface, she looked utterly ordinary, but the pressure she exuded was no less formidable than Odin’s.

Tang Xi saw the request as well. Feeling irritated, she could not help muttering, “She really is persistent.”

“Should I accept?” Chu Zihang asked quietly.

“Mm. Ignore it.”

Chu Zihang nodded. But the moment he tapped Ignore, another request appeared. The girl seemed to be repeatedly sending requests to add him, causing new ones to pop up without end.

This time, there was an additional line in the reason for the request:

—I know who you are now.

Tang Xi’s eyelid twitched. An ominous premonition suddenly rose in her heart.

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