Returning from the Immortal World

Song Guanghui’s eyes glinted in the dark. He had been concealing his identity in Saipan for 20 years and had severed nearly all contact with anyone he knew of in mainland China. He knew very few people who still remembered his real name—Song Guanghui.

Who is this young man, and how does he know my real name?

Shooting a deep look at Tang Xiu, he said, “Young man, are you not mistaking me with someone else? I’m indeed a senior official here in Saipan—you can call me Sen Hui. What’s your name?”

“I’m surnamed Tang,” answered Tang Xiu with a smile.

Family name of Tang?

Song Guanghui pondered for a short while. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat and his hands trembled. He rushed to grab the door’s handle and, while trying hard to restrain his emotions, he intentionally let out a relaxed smile and said, “I have a good impression of China as I once had a friend surnamed Tang there. So, what situation are you in right now, exactly?”

“Ah, we’re currently heading over to the Lao Bay Resort, but found that the road is blocked,” said Tang Xiu with a smile. “Uncle Song, could you help me by having these lawmen let us pass through?”

Eyes squinted, Song Guanghui carefully observed Tang Xiu before he shifted his sight to the policemen and said, “These people and I have met through fate. Make an exception and let them pass!”

“Yes yes yes…”

The police officers nodded hurriedly and complied.

Song Guanghui then closed the window, though his eyes were still trained on Tang Xiu. As the SUV began to move, he ordered, “Stop two kilometers ahead and wait for that taxi behind.”

“Understood!”

Several minutes later, the taxi zoomed along and Spectre, who still sat in the front seat, reported in a low voice, “Boss, those SUVs we just met are now parked in front of us.”

“Stop and park the car ahead.”

The cab driver turned to look at Tang Xiu with a curious look. But he still nodded and drove the car over to there. As Tang Xiu got out from the car, a middle-aged man came over and spoke to him, “Mr. Tang, the General wants to see you.”

General?

Nodding in response without speaking, Tang Xiu then headed over to the nearby beach where Song Guanghui was standing at.

“Uncle Song.”

Song Guanghui turned around and scrutinized Tang Xiu yet again. Then he silently nodded and said, “I guesstimate that you’ve already found out my real identity. However, those who still know of my real identity in this world amounts to less than 5 people.”

“Including a man surnamed Tang… who’s your life-and-death brother?” asked Tang Xiu with a smile.

“Yes. A friend in life-and-death and a sworn brother” answered Song Guanghui with a heavy voice.

“Uncle Song, my father is Tang Yunde, and I’ve seen Uncle Chen Anhu in Macao recently.” Tang Xiu smiled and said, “I’m sure you know both of them.”

“What did you say?” Song Guanghui trembled and hurriedly said, “Big Brother Yunde is still alive? Where’s he now and… are you… really his son?”

“Ehh? My Dad hasn’t contacted you yet?” asked Tang Xiu, confused.

“No.” Song Gonghui shook his head.

“No way!” exclaimed Tang Xiu, “It’s been half a year after Dad woke up, so he should’ve contacted you properly speaking. How can he…”

“I understand,” interjected Song Gonghui after being silent for a while. There was, however, a bitter smile on his face.

“What do you understand?” asked Tang Xiu.

“Your old man should’ve told you that we three brothers have very powerful enemies,” said Song Gonghui. “It must be the reason why he hasn’t contacted me yet. I presume that he doesn’t want to expose my identity.”

“Dad did say that you all have a very powerful enemy. So much so that Uncle Chen and you had to change your name for the sake of safety, as well as causing you to be unwilling to return to the mainland. Instead of coming home, you both respectively stayed in Macao and Saipan to develop your forces,” said Tang Xiu. “My Dad was found by the enemy about 21 years ago, which was probably caused by some factors that attracted their attention.”

“What exactly happened to your old man 21 years ago, Tang Xiu?” asked Song Guanghui rapidly. “I used to keep in touch with your father previously, but I couldn’t contact him all of a sudden one day. I’ve been to China dozens of times since then in an attempt to find his trace. Yet, every time I go there with hope, I always return with disappointment…”

“Dad was severely injured and went vegetative. My family elders in Beijing then found and received me from Star City,” answered Tang Xiu. “In actuality, I never once saw my Dad ever since I was born before I met him recently. I used to think that he was just a man who abandoned his wife and children; only last year did I finally learn the whole truth—that he had actually been in a comatose state in Beijing for years. Since I have some medical skills, I rescued him from that state a little more than 6 months ago.”

Turning vegetative and in a coma for more than 20 years?

Song Guanghui shivered and tears appeared in his eyes. He and Tang Yunde were life-and-death brothers. They were compatriots—comrades who had blocked hails of bullets for each other. He had no relatives when he enlisted into the army as an orphan, making his comrades in his platoon become closer than family to him since.

After years of duty and missions, they became brothers who had gone through thick and thin together for years.

In that battle, however, only the three brothers remained, scarred and wounded. The three of them stripped off their military uniforms to infiltrate the enemy’s base camp. There, they conducted sneak attacks and assassinations for several months, killing dozens of enemies before escaping under intense pursuit.

The scenes of the past kept appearing in his mind as he recollected all those memories. The episodes of his life-and-death struggles, those brothers, the rain of blood that was shed by his brothers as they braved the hail of bullets… all of which was vividly being replayed again in his head.

“Uncle Song, Dad told me that he only has very few brothers left,” Tang Xiu spoke again, “Excluding those in the Tang Family, there are only two others left—Uncle Chen and you. I presume that your guess is correct—that the reason my Dad hasn’t yet contacted you these past six months is that he doesn’t want to bring any dangers to you. I presume he and Uncle Chen must still remember the hatreds of the past since they are currently training experts and developing their forces.”

Song Guanghui tightly clenched his fists, while blazing killing intent shrouded in his eyes as he replied with a deep and heavy voice, “He’s right. The hatred of the past is too deep of a debt of blood and must be paid off. The lives of so many brothers of ours are something that can never be ignored. I have a recurring nightmare that has haunted me all these years, waking me up in tears with a drenched pillow. Those damned bastards will have to pay a terrible price sooner or later. Tang Xiu, give me your father’s number. I’ve been secretly training a lot of experts here while I’ve been in control of the Saipan garrison myself. I’ve also been supporting some mercenary companies in Africa, so I need his number to exact our revenge together.”

Tang Xiu gave his father’s cell number to him and said, “Uncle Song, we’ll never give up on this hatred from the past. But give me some time. I promise that half a year later at most, I’ll become your sharp blade that will mercilessly exterminate all of your enemies.”

Song Guanghui patted Tang Xiu’s shoulder in response and happily said, “Brother Yunde truly gave birth to a good son! Alright, let’s head off to my house. I’ll introduce you to my two boys.”

“There’s an urgent matter I need to tend to first, Uncle Song. So I must set sail early in the morning.” Tang Xiu hesitated and said, “How about I visit later after I’m done with everything?”

“You’re going out to sea?” Song Guanghui was confused and asked, “What matter are you dealing with, exactly?”

“About this…” Tang Xiu hesitated again. He was unsure whether he should tell Song Guanghui about Nine Dragons Island.

Song Guanghui furrowed his brows and said in a deep voice, “Tang Xiu, I really wish that you can regard me as your relative since I and your old man are sworn brothers in life-and-death. You’re his son, meaning that you’re my nephew. I can’t say that I’m a very powerful man, but there’s nothing I cannot do in Saipan.”

“I’m really happy hearing it straight from you, Uncle Song. But to be honest you, it’s not too important of an issue, so dealing with it won’t require your assistance at all. I can deal with it myself,” said Tang Xiu. “If anything, it’s regarding an island I bought last year. On it, I have a construction project going on to rebuild it. There was an accident recently, so I must hurry to get there.”

“An island?” Song Guanghui zoned out and his complexion suddenly changed as he asked with a deep voice, “Are you talking about Nine Dragons Island?”

“Yeah. It’s exactly that Nine Dragons Island,” answered Tang Xiu.

“That means… you know Tom Reggie?” asked Song Guanghui. “From the men I sent to investigate it, there are two people in charge of Nine Dragons Island’s construction project, one of which is Long Zhengyu from Star City’s Long Group, while the other is Tom Reggie.”

“Tom Reggie is a close friend of one of my men,” said Tang Xiu. “However, judging from your attitude, then the relationship between you and Tom Reggie…”

“Tom Reggie is the right hand of my political opponent here and has been at odds with me for years,” said Song Guanghui, “Especially recently, as he has been recruiting many experts. He has even taken over several of my industries. I would’ve completely had Saipan under my control if not for this guy.”

Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and suddenly asked, “May I ask whether you have some time to spare now, Uncle Song?”

“Yeah. What do you want me to do?” asked Song Guanghui.

“Come with me to see Tom Reggie if you have the time,” said Tang Xiu. “I assure you that he’ll never be at odds with you again from today henceforth.”

“There’s no need to boast like that, Tang Xiu.” Song Guanghui shook his head. “I’m perfectly aware of the nature of this fella because I’m his enemy. He’s very loyal to my political adversary. The very reason why he can paint anything black or white in Saipan is all because of Tom Reggie.”

“You’ll know soon whether or not I can achieve what I say if you come with me, Uncle Song,” said Tang Xiu confidently. “Alright, I’ll give him a call now.”

Song Guanghui raised his hand and was about to stop Tang Xiu when he recalled something all of a sudden, causing him to give up on preventing Tang Xiu from making the call.

4 AM at the gate of the Lao Bay Resort.

Tom Reggie took his two confidants to wait here while he quietly watched the distant road under the surprised gaze of the dozen security guards on duty.

“When will Mr. Tang arrive, Boss?”

A stalwart strongman asked with expectation and eagerness.

“Just be patient and tell the others to wait. He should be here soon,” replied Tom Reggie. “That’s right, what about the accommodation I told you to prepare? Are you done arranging everything?”

“Everything’s been prepared, Boss!” the middle-aged man respectfully replied.

Suddenly, his expression changed as he pointed to the taxi and three SUVs coming over, saying, “Boss, that should be Mr. Tang. But something is strange. Why are those three SUVs heading here too? And the license plate of those cars…”

Tom Reggie also knew the license plates of those three SUVs and his complexion changed.

“Sen Hui? How come Tang Xiu is arriving with him?!