Returning from the Immortal World

Yao Xinhua’s expression drastically changed as he stepped back. His eyes were suffused with coldness as he stared at Tang Xiu. His vigilance toward Tang Xiu had reached an extreme point after what happened at the charity party.

“Did you come to make trouble?” Asked Yao Xinhua in a sank voice.

“Did you not hear what I just said?” Tang Xiu waved his hand and smiled. “If you didn’t hear it clearly, then I’ll say it again. You shouldn’t have forgotten our bet, right? You fainted and were carried out of Sheraton Hotel, hence you lost. Thus, you must pay me the 1 billion RMB of our gambling. My purpose in visiting you this time is very simple. Firstly, I wanted to see whether you had woken up; and secondly, to demand the money. Don’t tell me a respectable Young Master of the Yao Family can’t even get a trivial amount of 1 billion RMB?”

Yao Xinhua glared at Tang Xiu for ten plus seconds before the turbid look on his face suddenly vanished. Then, a bright smile appeared on his handsome face as he pushed the stalwart man and grinned, “What you said is correct, Tang Xiu. I accept my defeat. Gimme your account number and I’ll instruct someone to transfer you the money.”

Raising his hand to touch his chin, Tang Xiu suddenly grinned, “Young Master Yao really is a forthright man. Maybe we would be good friends if it wasn’t because of our identities. Well, we can appreciate each other’s abilities though this is the second time we meet. Since it’s not easy for us to see each other, I’ll stay here and wait while having a chat with you. Once the money has been transferred, I’ll have a feast and invite you to celebrate your waking up.”

“Young Master Tang seems afraid that I won’t pay the debt, eh?!” Yao Xinhua smilingly replied. “That’s fine. Since you’re going to throw a banquet for me then I won’t hesitate.”

Having said that, he spoke something to the middle-aged big man next to him. After receiving Tang Xiu’s account number, the man walked out of the ward despite hesitating.

Following that, Tang Xiu took a seat on a chair, as he pointed to the sickbed and smilingly said, “You just fainted for two days, and your body and bones must be quite stiff. Young Master Yao, please sit on the sickbed and rest a little. Anyhow, how are those two foreign experts under your command? Aren’t they supposed to accompany you in the Eastern campaign and help you fight for power?”

A glint flashed in Yao Xinhua’s eyes. He looked tranquil and composed on the surface, yet he turned more vigilant inside, since he didn’t expect that Tang Xiu knew the existence of Ai Murui and Topherson.

“Young Master Tang really knows a lot about me! On the contrary, I know very little about you. it seems like we must get much closer to understand each other more.”

Tang Xiu couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “My, my… why is Young Master Yao acting so modest? I’m sure everything about me is going to be turned inside out by you, no? Anyhow, I just recalled something. I heard that Young Master Yao had been abroad for a few years, so you should have met Yao Qinglong often, right?”

The Fourth Uncle?

Yao Xinhua was startled, yet he couldn’t make heads or tails as to why Tang Xiu suddenly mentioned his Fourth Uncle, Yao Qinglong. However, he still smiled lightly, shook his head and he said, “Young Master Tang is kidding me. My Fourth Uncle is responsible to manage the family’s business, whereas I myself am rarely managed them, so I almost never see him.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I think you must have seen him often.” Tang Xiu shook his head. “Yao Qinglong is the first disciple of the Thief Branch and he has certainly done quite a lot of work to manage your family’s businesses abroad, though there has been no significant track of him in normal times. A friend of mine mentioned him a couple days ago; he holds your uncle in high esteem!”

Yao Xinhua’s complexion changed. The smile on his face receded like a tidal wave, as he stared at Tang Xiu with a face full of vigilance, “How did you know that my Fourth Uncle is the first disciple of the Thief Branch?”

Pretending to look curious, Tang Xiu replied, “Oh, my guess turns out to be correct, huh? Tsk, tsk… I gotta admit that I must admire my own IQ. I heard that the first disciple of the Thief Branch is called Yao Qinglong, and I suddenly recalled that your Yao Family’s members also have the same surname, hence I disclose it to you casually. Never thought that it was really spot on, though.”

Instantly, Yao Xinhua’s expression turned extremely unsightly. He stared at Tang Xiu and angrily replied, “Are you deceiving me?”

“No no no, I have always heard that Young Master Yao is a man whose intelligent surpasses others, so how could I be able to deceive you?” Tang Xiu waved his hand and chuckled. “I just spoke without thinking. By the way… is your staff working inefficiently or something? We’ve been sitting and chatting for most of the day, but why hasn’t he finished the job yet? Don’t tell me you can’t fork out 1 billion RMB, Young Master Yao? Could it be that your men is scraping things up together?”

“You…” Yao Xinhua just realized that he, who was always able to keep his composure and act deceitful, suddenly felt that his IQ was not enough when facing Tang Xiu.

“Come on, don’t call out you—you, and me—me, will you?” Tang Xiu chuckled. “If you tell me that you’re really unable to fork out such a trivial amount, then I’ll give you a discount. Besides, I’m not that unreasonable. How about I give you a 10% discount? If you think it’s still too much, I can give you a 20% discount!”

Yao Xinhua sneered, “Young Master Tang sure is impressive, huh? But my answer is no. In my eyes, 1 billion yuan is nothing but a trivial amount of money. Besides, unlike someone, this money was not obtained from my family. Of course, each bill is stained with blood, so I don’t know whether the one using my money won’t end up having the same fate as their previous owners.”

“Amazing!” Tang Xiu gave him a thumbs up. “My money was indeed given by my family members; I don’t have such good abilities. I’m so timid that I don’t even dare to kill a chicken, and only have the balls to stun a few swine and dogs once in a while.”

“You…” Yao Xinhua was incensed and furious. The reason why he ended up in the hospital was because Tang Xiu stunned him, which meant that Tang Xiu’s remark was akin to calling him a swine or a dog!

Knock, knock…

The ward’s door was knocked, and the middle-aged big man returned. He came to Yao Xinhua’s side and whispered something to his ear. Then, Yao Xinhua raised his head to look at Tang Xiu and said, “The money has just been transferred to your account. May I ask what kind of dishes Young Master Tang wants me to eat today?”

“I just met a butcher, and two days ago, he said that he’s going to put down his butcher knife and open a restaurant.” Tang Xiu let out a faint smile. “When I went to visit him, he served me a few pufferfishes. So, we’ll have blowfish meat today.” [1]

Pufferfish?

Yao Xinhua shuddered inwardly. He suddenly turned his head to the middle-aged big man next to him and angrily said, “What did you just say? You want me to go back and deal with something important? Did you not hear that Young Master Tang has just invited me to eat pufferfish meat?”

At first, the middle-aged big man stared blankly, before replying quickly, “Young Master, it’s not that I have to take you back, but we indeed have something urgent to deal with! How about you invite Young Master Tang some other day? I remember an old carpenter who used to sell coffins, he also opened a restaurant recently, and has learned how to cook pufferfish in a few days!”

Yao Xinhua nodded in satisfaction. A grin appeared on his face as he looked at Tang Xiu and said, “You heard that, Young Master Tang? I’m afraid I’m unable to accept your invitation today. But I’ll invite you some other day, and I’ll do that personally.”

Tang Xiu let out a smile and glanced at the middle-aged big man. He then got up and walked to him, patted his shoulder while gently smiling and said, “You’re great; a very loyal and faithful dog. Because Young Master Yao has some matters to deal with today, then I won’t insist. I’ll take my leave, then.”

After saying that, he turned to leave along with the two big men. When he was about to walk through the door, he suddenly stopped, turned around and smilingly said, “Young Master Yao, since your Fourth Uncle is the first disciple of the Thief Sect, help me convey a message when you meet him. Tell him that I’m hoping to cooperate with him if there’s a chance in the future given the business in his hand.”

“Sure! I won’t see you out,” replied Yao Xinhua with a foxy smile.

After Tang Xiu left, only then did Yao Xinhua grimaced. He fiercely punched the sickbed before taking his mobile phone and dialing the number of an elder of his family.

A few minutes later, as Tang Xiu left Jingmen Island’s First Public Hospital, he comfortably sat on the back seat of the sedan and asked, “What the two of you think, was it I who had the upper hand, or was it that Yao fella?”

The big man on the front seat turned his head and smilingly said, “Of course it was you who won, Boss. Your momentum and imposing manner were very intimidating, and you kept pressing that Yao guy.”

“However imposing a momentum it may have been, it’s just an empty thing.” Tang Xiu chuckled. “But today, at least the goal has been achieved. 1 billion, eh? Tsk, tsk… Even if Yao Xinhua does have quite some money, I think it’s enough for him to be in pain for quite a while. Also, I just found an interesting thing today that made me decide to let this guy live longer.”

“What interesting thing, Boss?” The big man on the front seat asked with a puzzled expression.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t noticed that Yao Xinhua is very afraid of me?” Asked Tang Xiu.

The stalwart man dazed for a moment before he immediately nodded and smilingly said, “True that. His eyes were full of vigilance ever since he saw you. Like he was guarding against all possible dangers from an enemy. Only, his man didn’t understand him. Anyhow, he’s an enemy, and it’s better to kill him directly. Why should we allow him to live longer, Boss?”

“We and the Yao Family are bound to have a fierce battle in the future; a struggle between two evenly matched mortal enemies.” Tang Xiu smiled. “Though Yao Xinhua is quite shrewd and deep and is considered as the best in the younger generation, I have already planted the seed of fear in his heart. It will be quite difficult for him to remain composed and natural whenever he confronts me in the future. Don’t you think that such an enemy will be easy deal with? If the enemy changed to a new one, do you think we can still easily cope with this new adversary we’re unfamiliar with?”

The stalwart man was silent for a moment before slowly nodding, “I get you, Boss.”

Tang Xiu smiled faintly and turned to look out of the window, and no longer talked.

Ring, ring, ring…

A mobile ringtone sounded. Tang Xiu took his mobile phone out and looked at the number displayed on the screen. It was a call from Kang Xia. After connecting the phone, he smiled and said, “Hello, Kang Xia. Is something up?”

“Boss, the second-in-charge figure of the Italian mafia’s Cubo Clan wants to see you.” Kang Xia’s voice came from the phone and her tone was especially serious.

Tang Xiu was silent for a moment before asking, “Where is he now?”

“Star City!” Answered Kang Xia.