Chapter 569: Ruthless
In a stark contrast to the joyous Tang Family, the Yao Family was clouded by a gloomy atmosphere. After Yao Qingzun sent his son, Yao Chengqing, he thought that the Tang Family would end up miserable since the strong expert Amur Tiger followed him there. However, a piece of intelligence was sent to him as he waited for the news:
“A fire broke out at Jiabaole Playground in Qiaotou District…”
Originally, given his capacity, a fire breaking out in a certain area of the capital wouldn’t have attracted his attention at all. But today was different, because Jiabaole Playground was the site where the Yao and Tang Families were at. Yao Qingzun immediately called his son—Yao Chengqing, but restlessness unceasingly inundated his heart upon finding that his son’s mobile phone was turned off, and the cell phones of those who followed him were also shut down.
He would not care if it was only one person’s mobile phone that was turned off, but for tens of people’s mobile phones to be all turned off meant that it was a huge problem.
Hence, he immediately ordered the members of the Yao Family to focus their attention on investigating that place. The result was that his son—Yao Chengqing and Dongbei Hu took dozens of experts of the Yao Family and entered the haunted house in the Jiabaole Playground, yet they didn’t come out of the haunted house when it caught on fire.
All of them died!
This was the conclusion from the people sent by the Yao Family, yet such a result made all the senior members of the Yao Family flabbergasted and drowning in fear.
“What should we do now, Father?”
Yao Chengdong, who had just returned from out of town, heard the bad news. He looked at his father, who seemed to have turned older. Despite himself being a senior member of the family he still felt a chill down his spine.
Although Yao Qingzun had experienced countless storms and hards.h.i.+ps in life, such a huge loss and the death of his son and grandson were very hard for him to bear. He looked at his second son whose face was restless and tense, yet he didn’t speak for a long period of time.
What should they do? What else can they do right now?
Dongbei Hu was practically a celestial-like powerhouse, and even if he died in the hands of the Tang Family, that meant the Tang Family must have a very terrifying figure; someone the Yao Family would never be able to oppose to. Furthermore, he hadn’t yet been able to figure out what the true capital the Tang Family really possessed. In the case that the Tang Family had been strengthening and developing themselves all these years in secret, and they had now developed to the point where they could drive away the Yao Family, then… the future of his family was simply… worrying!!!
After a long period of time, Yao Qingzun sighed and bitterly said, “Firstly, investigating what is happening in the Jiabaole Playground is a must. Whoever does it must thoroughly be found out!”
“Understood, I’ll handle it!” Yao Chengdong had no other good idea, so he could only nod.
****
At the Tang Family’s ancestral residence.
After Tang Guosheng had made several phone calls, his face looked somewhat unsightly when he returned to the courtyard. He directly sat on a chair and fell into deep thought with his brows tightly knitted for a long time. The dozens core members of the Tang Family exchanged looks in dismay for they didn’t know what kind of difficult problem the old Head of the family had encountered.
“Did you meet some difficulties, Grandpa?” In the end, Tang Xiu broke the silence and inquired.
Tang Guosheng raised his head and looked at Tang Xiu, whose expression was tranquil, and then bitterly said, “There is indeed a problem. Everyone normally turns a blind eye whenever top families in the capital are in dispute; even those neutral forces would only slightly poke their noses to meddle in the disputes. I was in communication with those people above, and they don’t want our Tang Family to make big moves that will cause great turmoil in the country. I can even sense a threat in their words. If our family is going to unleash h.e.l.l on the Yao Family, we will probably encounter a lot of resistance.”
Tang Xiu slightly frowned and then said after a long silence, “Grandpa, should I visit those people myself?”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Asked Tang Guosheng with a moved expression.
“I recalled an old adage that those who submit will prosper and those who resist shall perish,” said Tang Xiu calmly. “If they don’t want to accept the benefits offered by our family, let them know that we will use force to resolve it.”
Tang Guosheng waved his hand and said, “Xiu’er, we can’t do so unless we are forced to do so as a last resort. The number one leader has done a lot of colossal achievements since he a.s.sumed his office. Furthermore, he also puts the country as the first priority. The struggles between families are nothing but only trivial matters to him, so we must not make things difficult for him. Furthermore, with the influence and status possessed by the Yao Family, full action will inevitably create a great turmoil in the country. This is also the very reason why the Yao Family has been reluctant to fully lose all decorum with our family for so many years, the cause that both of us only had some constant small frictions behind our backs.”
As he spoke up to there, he sighed, “Also, Yao Qingzun has been my opponent for a lifetime. Both of us know each other inside out. It’s just that, the older he gets, the more muddleheaded he becomes. As a matter of fact, even if you didn’t take your men into action today, the Yao Family had no way to completely eradicate our family. The most he can do is only give us a severe blow because… ‘he’ will never allow it to happen.”
Tang Xiu stared blankly and asked with a puzzled expression, “But, the Amur Tiger intervened and acted, does ‘he’ really have a way to contain him?”
There were hints of meaningful information in Tang Guosheng’s reply, “Over the pa.s.sage of time, the vast China country never lacked any kind of strange people with extraordinary talents; it’s not rare when a generation of formidable groups of people springs up here. Only, those people who are either won over by the country or just hide won’t show up their faces in public. When I first took office to manage the national secret database, I secretly inspected several special top-secret information that even Yao Qingzun is unaware of. I dare say that only three or four people are aware of this top-secret information, and those three or four people are all figures who have also served as the number one figure of the country.”
Tang Xiu’s complexion changed and he instantly understood the meaning in Tang Guosheng’s explanation.
After a short period of time, Tang Xiu then said, “Such being the case, then things will be a bit more uncomplicated, I think! Grandpa, announce to the outside that your health has deteriorated and that you will retire and stay at home starting today. As for what the Tang Family should do next, I’ll handle the problem with the Yao Family.”
“How will you solve it, exactly?” Asked Tang Guosheng quickly.
“If I remember correctly, Yao Qingzun has turned 83 this year, yes?” Asked Tang Xiu with a chuckle. “Since he has lived to such an old age, it can be said that his life has been worth the time.”
What?
Tang Guosheng’s expression changed, and a disbelieving expression cast on his face. Even the other members of the Tang Family in the surrounding were all dumbfounded as they stared at Tang Xiu.
Killing Yao Qingzun?
The smile on Tang Xiu’s face disappeared and was replaced by a ruthlessness as he said in a heavy voice, “Yao Qingzun is the pillar of the Yao Family. If he is gone then this pillar will be lost as well. Yao Chengqing and Yao Chengdong are the successors from the next generation since the both of them are the ones who are really in charge of the power of the family. With Yao Chengqing having met his demise, then there’s only Yao Chengdong left. With that said, it’s difficult to make a boat from a single piece of wood, thus the Yao Family is not far from decline.”
Tang Guosheng was silent before slowly nodding, “You can do it, but you must carry it out with neither the G.o.ds nor ghosts aware of it. Are you sure you have the confidence to do it?”
“No problem.” Tang Xiu nodded without a shred of hesitation.
In the dim moonlight of the night, two ghostly figures silently appeared in the Yao Family’s ancestral residence. Hardly with any effort, Tang Xiu and Dark had appeared outside the house where Yao Qingzun lived.
Pu! Pu!
A sharp dagger tore the throats of two experts of the Yao Family hidden outside the house, as Dark then put their bodies in a dark corner.
Cough! Cough!
Inside the house, the sounds of the coughing indicated that Yao Qingzun had not gone to sleep yet.
"Enter!"
Tang Xiu nodded slightly and opened the door. In no time, Tang Xiu and Dark had appeared before Yao Qingzun’s bedside.
“If you are not asleep yet, get up and let’s have a talk!”
Tang Xiu’s voice was very calm. The moment Yao Qingzun opened his eyes, he had already walked to the rattan chair across the bed and lit up a cigarette for himself.
Yao Qingzun abruptly jumped up and sat as a horrified expression filled his eyes. He turned on the light on the bedside and sternly shouted after seeing Tang Xiu and Dark, “WHO ARE YOU, PEOPLE?”
Tang Xiu pointed his own cheek and lightly smiled, “You should have seen this face of mine, no? The person you hate the most should be me, am I right?”
Yao Qingzun’s pupils flickered and then coldly said after seeing Tang Xiu’s face, “Are you Tang Xiu?”
“That’s right, it’s me!” A smile outlined on the corner of Tang Xiu’s mouth as he smoked his cigarette.
Yao Qingzun was silent for more than ten seconds before he slowly closed his eyes with a despairing expression within. After a while, he opened his eyes and bitterly said, “Can you tell me something? Who was it that killed my son and my grandson, and… also the Amur Tiger?”
“Who do you think?” Replied Tang Xiu with a chuckle. “Who else could it be in the Tang Family who has that ability except me?”
“You’re right. There’s no one among the Tang Family who has this kind of ability.” Yao Qingzun nodded. “Tell me! Do you want to claim my life for coming here this late?”
“Old but not dying, you should really die as soon as possible rather than staying alive.” Tang Xiu sighed. “You’ve lived for more than 80 years, and though sometimes you’re very muddleheaded, yet you can be very smart other times as well. That’s right, today next year will be the anniversary of your death. This is indeed the purpose of me coming here.”
“Then kill me if you want to!” Yao Qingzun let out a mirthless smile as he straightened up his chest and replied.
“Do you have any last wishes?” Asked Tang Xiu. “You can tell me and I’ll help you achieve them. Of course, my grandfather also said that, although you’re his lifetime adversary, he does not wish for you to die without dignity. Hence, I won’t make you suffer before dying.”
Yao Qingzun was silent for a moment before replying, “I can die, but can you spare the rest of my family?”
“Of course. I don’t have a problem with that. But I also have a condition,” said Tang Xiu.
“What condition?” Asked Yao Qingzun.
“Order Yao Chengdong to resign from his position,” answered Tang Xiu.
“Are you trying to push my family to the end of our only line with nowhere to go?” Shouted Yao Qingzun angrily.
“Hmph, can this be counted as pus.h.i.+ng your family to a situation where you have nowhere else to go?” Tang Xiu coldly snorted. “You yourself have employed everything including inviting the Amur Tiger in an attempt to drive away the Tang Family from China! Don’t tell me it’s not that extreme already, huh?”
Upon hearing this, Yao Qingzun’s breath paused. What Tang Xiu said was true. For the Tang Family, who possessed great a.s.sets and enterprises in China, driving them away from the country was akin to making them struggle and fend for themselves and perish abroad, and it was highly likely that their fate would not be good as well.
“I’ll call him!”