Distinguished Gathering.

“Hahaha...” Gu Ke-Wu put his phone down and laughed happily, “He thinks he’s smart, eh? He’s a stupid pig in my eyes. He wants to fight Shentu Tian-Yin with that level of intelligence? What makes him so confident, I wonder.”

Gu Ke-Wen wrinkled her brows. “Who’s this ‘he’ you’re talking about, Big Brother?”

“Who else could I be other than Shentu Tian-Feng? He just called to tell me that Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei went to Tian-Ci Sanatorium. His grandfather is gravely ill and he’d like me to go pay him a visit,” said Gu Ke-Wu laughingly.

“Isn’t it normal, Shentu Tian-Yin taking Xia Lei with her to visit Shentu Wei-Ye when he’s ill? What’s so wrong about that?” asked Gu Ke-Wen.

“Remember last time? Would I have been kicked by that punk if that Shentu Tian-Feng did not tell me that Shentu Tian-Yin and Xia Lei are dating?”

Gu Ke-Wen paused. “He’s trying to get you to do his dirty work for him. What an asshole.”

Qin Qi, who was also in the living room, asked, “What do you plan to do, Young Master Wu?”

“Need you ask? I’ve accompanied Master to that place before. It’s just that one hospital on the island and it’s all forest and sea beyond its walls. That island is a good place to hide a body. This is a great opportunity we have to take - let’s go settle the score with that punk!” said Dong Wu.

Dong Wu had a bone-deep hatred for Xia Lei because of his ancient family heirloom sword.

Qin Qi looked at Gu Ke-Wu, as if waiting for his decision.

Gu Ke-Wu spoke evenly, “Don’t go to that island for now. I’ll send people to keep an eye on Xia Lei and Shentu Tian-Yin. I’ll let you guys take action when an opportunity presents itself.”

“Young Master Wu, there is an old saying - opportunity knocks but once. I know the layout of that island and there are many ways to kill someone and take care of it there, like the beach, the fishes and so on. It won’t be traceable and we won’t have any trouble after finishing that punk off. I’m afraid this opportunity will not come again if we let it go,” said Dong Wu.

Gu Ke-Wu laughed. “Uncle Dong, I know Xia Lei ruined your family heirloom and you’re just itching to settle the score with him but this is no trivial matter. We have to make sure that what you plan is foolproof.”

“You must already have a plan, Young Master Wu. Tell me, what are you planning?” said Dong Wu.

Gu Ke-Wu did not speak of any plan but clapped. A bodyguard came forward with a brocade box resting on his hands. He brought it to Dong Wu and stood at attention.

Dong Wu did not reach to receive the box. “What is this?” he asked suspiciously.

Gu Ke-Wu smiled. “Uncle Dong, your old sword was made in ancient times; it only has historical use and not much of practical use. This is a sword I’ve specially asked the Japanese sword-smith Rokushin Takuya to make. It looks exactly the same as your family heirloom but the craftsmanship put into it is of the current best in this world. Take a look - I think this is the sword you should use.”

Dong Wu opened the brocade box. Inside rested a sword which looked just like his family heirloom, as Gu Ke-Wu had said. He took the sword out and unsheathed it. The sinister blue-green blade gleamed with a cold aura.

“A good sword!” Dong Wu suddenly waved his arm swiftly at a standing lamp next to him.

Crash! The lamp’s metal bracket was shorn in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror. He looked at the sword - there were no flaws on the blade!

“Haha! Excellent sword!” said Dong Wu in admiration.

“This sword was made by combining five different types of steel. It is an alloy sword not just in name but in reality; it cuts through metal like butter and is robust. I spent a million to get Rokushin Takuya to make it.”

“A million?” Dong Wu drew in a breath, then smiled. “Young Master Wu, for gifting me this sword, I will definitely cut off that punk’s legs and present them to you as a present.”

Qin Qi looked at the sword in Dong Wu’s hand and looked at Gu Ke-Wu. He did not say anything but there was a look of expectation in his eyes.

“Big Brother, since you have a gift for Uncle Dong you must have one prepared for Big Brother Qi, don’t you?” said Gu Ke-Wen.

Gu Ke-Wu smiled. “That goes without saying.” He clapped again and another bodyguard walked forward with a brocade box to stand before Qin Qi.

“Young Master Wu, you shouldn’t have. What is it?” said Qin Qi with a smile.

“Open it up and you’ll know,” said Gu Ke-Wu.

Qin Qi opened the box. A set of keys lay in the box - keys with a Harley Davidson logo on them. There was also a Beretta 92F handgun in the box.

Qin Qi could not contain the smile on his face when he saw the items in the brocade box. “Young Master Wu, this is...”

Gu Ke-Wu laughed. “I know you like motorcycles. This is the best Night Rod of the range from Harley Davidson, modified. Add this handgun and it’s also worth one million.”

“I won’t hold back since it is your good intentions, Young Master Wu.” Qin Qi put away the Harley Davidson keys and handgun and said, “Young Master Wu, old man Dong is definitely going after Xia Lei so I’ll bring Shentu Tian-Yin to you. Count that as a repayment.”

Gu Ke-Wu looked like he had one more card up his sleeve. “Shentu Tian-Feng wants to use me to do his dirty work for him. Let’s see him pursue a narrow gain while he neglects a greater danger.”

“Hahaha...”

The living room filled with laughter.

Meanwhile, at the pier of a fishing village...

A small yacht moored quietly at the pier; no lights came from it and no one could be seen. The surroundings were quiet too, as if the whole world were asleep.

A silver Rolls Royce Phantom came to a stop on the road beside the pier. Shentu Tian-Yin flashed the car lights twice and light suddenly came from the yacht. The Jin Da-Hu and Jin Zhen-Huan brothers appeared on the deck of the yacht.

“Get out of the car. They’re already here,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.

Xia Lei grabbed Shentu Tian-Yin’s hand. “Wait. Let’s wait and see.”

Shentu Tian-Yin looked about while seated in the driver’s seat but it was dark everywhere and there wasn’t much she could see clearly.

Xia Lei looked about too; he could watch everything closely in the radius of hundreds of metres, be it the closest weeds or the fishing village residents in the distance. This was the zoom-in and night-vision aspect of his eye, as well as experience he’d got from Long Bing.

“I don’t see anything,” said Shentu Tian-Yin, “Jin Da-Hu and Jin Zheng-Huan are seasoned mercenaries with a lot of experience. They were here first too so they should have scouted out the area. They wouldn’t just sit in the yacht if there’s a problem.”

Xia Lei stopped using his eye. “Nn, let’s get out of the car. Better to be careful.”

The two of them alighted and got on the yacht.

“Milady, Mr Fu and the Pak brothers have gone to deal with Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng. We will take care of things here,” said Jin Da-Hu.

Shentu Tian-Yin had actually driven in a big circle around Hai-Zhu City after calling Fu Chuan-Fu and only come to the pier when Fu Chuan-Fu was done with the preparations.

“Let’s set out,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.

The yacht left the pier.

Xia Lei went to the tail-end of the yacht’s deck and held onto the rails with both hands, pretending to admire the sea view while keeping an eye on the situation around the pier close to the fishing village.

At that moment, a woman appeared on the pier without a sound.

She had a mobile phone in her hand and was talking to someone.

Xia Lei locked his gaze on that woman and recognised her immediately - she was the woman who had installed the bomb on Shentu Tian-Yin’s Rolls Royce Phantom at Far East Heavy Industries. Unfortunately, the yacht was too quick and her face became blurry as the distance between them increased. He could not see her lips and decode her conversation via lip-reading.

‘I actually missed her in my earlier scan - where was she hiding?’ Xia Lei was surprised.

Shentu Tian-Yin walked up from behind him, her voice gentle, “What are you looking at, Lei?”

Xia Lei thought for a bit before he said, “I think I saw the woman who tried to assassinate you the last time.”

Shentu Tian-Yin looked in the direction of the pier but she could not even see the pier anymore, much less any supposed woman on it. “How did you see her? Are you sure? If you’re sure, let’s go back and catch her!” she said in surprise.

“She’d have escaped by the time we get back and we would not only fail to catch her but also arouse the suspicion of Shentu Yi and Shentu Tian-Feng. She should be confirming that we’d left for Tian-Ci Sanatorium. She’ll follow, don’t worry. We’ll have a chance to catch her,” said Xia Lei.

“You’re right, now’s not the time to catch her and it won’t be much use if we did anyway.” Shentu Tian-Yin suddenly remembered something, “That’s right, you haven’t told me how you were able to see that woman when it’s so dark and the pier’s so far away.”

“That...” Xia Lei smiled, “Was something my Master taught me.”

The corner of Shentu Tian-Yin’s cherry lips turned up in a smile. “He really isn’t holding back and teaching you everything, huh. Really, why didn’t he look for someone else to be his son-in-law; did it have to be you?”

Xia Lei was speechless.

“Right, if you miss Miss Liang you should quickly give her a call. There won’t be any phone signals after a while so you won’t be able to call,” said Shentu Tian-Yin.

“I’ll call her then,” said Xia Lei with a smile.

“You’re really going to call her?” Shentu Tian-Yin turned around and walked towards the cabin. “Take your time. I don’t want to hear your mushy conversation.”

Xia Lei did not chase after her. He knew that Shentu Tian-Yin and himself were just fake lovers. He would return to Liang Si-Yao’s side when the matters on this end were all settled and getting too entangled with her would only invite trouble. He wasn’t afraid of any trouble save the trouble of relationships.

Thinking of Liang Si-Yao made him recall her excuse of the natural functions of her body while wantonly teasing him and he couldn’t help the smile on his face. ‘That girl! She teased me and made me suffer but says she’s on her period. I don’t believe that you have your period every day. I’ll make sure you pay me back one day!’

Thinking of sweet delicious things put Xia Lei in a good mood. He took out his phone to call Liang SI-Yao, only to discover that there was no phone signal.

Shentu Tian-Yin poked her head out from the cabin door at that moment. “I lied. There’s been no signal since we left the pier. You’re so naive - no wonder you’re easily taken in. Come in, quick, I’ve prepared something for you to eat. We haven’t had dinner yet so let’s all gather and eat.”

Xia Lei smiled wryly and walked to the cabin.