The Heir to the Seven Killers in the City

Chapter 41: The War Begins

Lin Hao sat in his office, gazing into the distance as his mind wandered. He couldn’t believe that the daughter he’d raised for so many years was now willing to risk her very life for a man. In his view, this was all the result of irrational, impulsive behavior. If anyone else had threatened him this way—even if that person didn’t want to die—Lin Hao would have made them die. But he couldn’t do that to Lin Xiaorui—not because of the bond they’d shared over the years, but simply because Lin Xiaorui was useful to him—and extremely so. Lin Hao heard a knock at the door. He remembered instructing his staff not to disturb him unless it was urgent; no one would dare defy his orders unless they were utterly reckless, so this must be something important. His assistant walked in and said to Lin Hao, “Mr. Lin, we just received word that after Miss Lin left the city, she was kidnapped by a group of thugs. But rest assured, she’s managed to escape. When we arrived at the scene, we found only seven or eight bodies.” Lin Hao raised an eyebrow and said, “Wasn’t Lin Hao supposed to have been seriously injured? Otherwise, given Lin Xiaorui’s abilities, there’s no way she could have pulled this off.” “Well… I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Lin. We’re still investigating,” the assistant replied cautiously, afraid that a single wrong word might prompt Lin Hao to have him fired. Clearly, Lin Hao had a lot on his mind and simply didn’t have time to deal with this assistant. He dismissed him, his mind filled with uncertainty. Lin Hao had always been curious about Qin Yu. His physical prowess was clearly far superior to that of an ordinary person, and that was just the beginning—if we were to consider business in Jiangcheng alone, Qin Yu’s operations were far larger than Yang Yong’s. Yang Yong often told Luo Jiang that this man was short-sighted. “Brother Miao, you’re really putting me on the spot—what are you saying?” Although Yang Yong had secretly spoken ill of Miaojiang behind his back, he still had to save face, so he spoke insincerely. And so Yang Yong ushered Miaojiang inside, and the two appeared to be chatting and laughing together. “Brother Yang, I’ll get straight to the point. As you know, several serious incidents have recently occurred in Jiangcheng that are somewhat related to your Fire Scorpion Gang. The police have suddenly gotten involved, but as you know, in situations like this, we usually just lie low for a while. Once this period passes, everything will return to normal. After all, the power structures in Jiangcheng are so deeply intertwined and complex that sometimes even we don’t fully understand them,” Miaojiang said. “But for some reason, this guy named Lin Hao has shown up. He doesn’t look like a good guy to me. He suddenly carried out a massacre at one of my underground casinos. I think he just assumed we wouldn’t dare touch him during this sensitive period,” Miaojiang said angrily. “Brother Miao, I’m not quite following what you’re getting at,” Yang Yong said with a smile as he looked at Miaojiang. “Well, since we’re brothers, I’ll be honest. This Lin Hao is indeed infuriating, but he’s no pushover. If I tried to take him on head-on, I’d probably suffer some heavy losses. I wonder if you’d be willing to join forces with me?” “Brother Miao, you really think highly of me. You know I’d help you with my Fire Scorpion Gang—but after what happened a while back, it’s practically a shell of its former self now. I’d love to help, but there’s just nothing I can do.” Seeing Yang Yong beating around the bush—pushing and dodging without revealing his true intentions—Miaojiang grew a bit annoyed. But when asking for a favor, it’s all about attitude, so he kept smiling as he said, “Come on, Brother Yang, you’re in the international business—how could you possibly have so few men under your command? Just name your terms, and I’ll agree to them all. Besides, I’ve heard you have some personal beef with Lin Hao.” Yang Yong finally got serious and said, “All right, since Brother Miao has called me with such sincerity, let’s work together on this.” Seeing that Yang Yong had agreed, Miaojiang was overjoyed—but his joy lasted only a few minutes before Yang Yong continued, “Brother Miao, you asked for my terms. I have only one: I want all your men.” “Come on, Brother Yang, at a time like this, why are you making a joke like that?” “Does this look like a joke? Do I ever make jokes like this?” “Yang Yong, don’t go too far. I invited you here because I respect you. Do you believe—” Yang Yong lifted Miaojiang up with one hand and said, “Believe what? Do you believe that if you say two more words, you and all your men lying in ambush will die right here?”