Chapter 45: Threats and Coercion

After returning to her apartment, Mianmian Ruan received a call from her aunt. She hesitated to answer, but couldn’t bring herself to ignore it either. Her aunt was surely calling to question her. The moment she picked up, her aunt’s voice came through the line:
“Mianmian, where are you?”
“Auntie, I’m at home. I’ve come back.”
Her aunt didn’t scold her?
Was she overthinking things?
“Mianmian, about today’s matchmaking...
I feel stifled. It’s such a frustrating feeling, being forced to give someone something they don’t deserve, even though there’s nothing between you.”
“To be killed by someone using a sharp weapon, but before dying, it seems he was tortured so severely that he was left unrecognizable.” Wu Mei spoke without reserve, coming straight to the point.

At first, Jiang Nan was suspicious—why would the Soul-stealing Black Mamba deliberately reveal his hiding place to him?
Lin Muyao raised her hand; the playing card had vanished. “Where is it?” She searched around but couldn’t find it anywhere.
As soon as Ye Xunhuan finished speaking, the onlookers all widened their eyes in disbelief, staring at him as if he’d just uttered the most astonishing thing.
“Master Xuanxu, what brings you here?” I saw Master Xuanxu sitting cross-legged, while Ai Tangtang and Miaofa stood not far behind him.
Now, with Shagen’s support, Quanyangzi could confidently choose a few apprentices to train, passing down his skills in crafting artifacts.
“Perhaps,” Guo Jia nodded. “Of all the places on the route, this is the best for an ambush. If I were making the choice, I’d set the trap here too.”
With that, he let go, as if everything could be given away, all gifts from the Lord.
The horse, clearly possessing a spirit of its own, nodded at the Dragon King’s words and trotted briskly out of the palace.
“Lord Tan, we’ve arrived at the inn,” Lin Yi announced from a respectful distance, his voice neither intrusive nor too soft, ensuring Tan Zong could hear him clearly.
Four bottles of XO had already been opened at the table, and Abu was feeling the effects. He looked in disbelief at Tang Yulong, who remained calm and smiling, showing no sign of intoxication. Abu finally gave up trying to get him drunk and set down his glass.
Ye Wudao shrugged; he knew that even if he didn’t say a word, Li Kaize would spare no effort to promote him in Hong Kong, and Li Kaize knew equally well that, without any prompting, two of the best properties in the Sky Garden would belong to him.

Ye Wudao’s smile slowly broadened; meeting an old acquaintance in an unfamiliar city was a delight in itself.
“So you’re Wei Yang? You don’t seem nearly as mysterious as Lord Sakunta claimed,” said Hei Fu, his face as grim as ever, pale lips twitching.
“Very well! As long as our side is prepared, what does it matter if we lose in the end? When the time comes, we’ll drag that old devil, the God of Chaos, down with us!” The God of Conspiracy grinned sinisterly, a chilling undertone in his expression.
Qin Yu, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, saw the commander attack in fury. He snorted and fired an arrow of his own, intercepting the other in midair and snapping it in two.
Xia Shijun, her cheeks flushed, had no idea how alluring she looked in that moment. So lost in thought, she almost forgot what Ye Wudao was about to do next.
Ye Wudao’s expression was as serious as a superior inspecting his subordinates, prompting Zhao Baokun to give a strange laugh at the awkward looks on Xu Yuanqing and the others’ faces.
“An age of war and fire, a life of wandering, a country in ruins, families destroyed. I may not be a fish, but I know the people of those eras could not have found joy,” Ye Qingge said, shaking her head.
Zhao Guodong placed the cheongsam on the table and thought carefully about what Aunt Mei had just told him. The more he mulled it over, the more fear crept into his heart.