The Zhang Family resided in the plot of land located in the northern section of Shengluo Avenue. There were many residential complexes in the area but they were all upscale ones. The Zhang Family"s land covered an area of more than ten acres between two upscale villa complexes. Its gate was red painted with a high stone wall that covered the entire courtyard, and was regarded as a very upscale mansion that gave off an imposing grandeur.

"I"ll take my leave."

At the entrance of the Zhang Family residence, Tang Yunde, whose complexion was a bit ugly, just nodded to the person who walked him outside as he hurried to enter his car and beckoned to the driver to start and drive the car away.

Shortly after, two Audi cars drove towards the distance.

At this time, two figures appeared at the gate of the Zhang Family residence, one of whom was an old man and the other young. Both of them had straight tall statures. The youth, who was wearing black training suit with long loose hair, watched the two cars leaving with frigid eyes. Then he said with contempt, "The garbage of the Tang Family who had been in comatose for so many years dares to come to our Zhang Family and act so arrogant, huh? Truly unaware what"s good and bad when acting recklessly. I"d have definitely killed him if he didn"t have the Tang Family behind his back."

The old man whose hands were folded behind his back shook his head and said, "Jian"er, this Tang Yunde is indeed a waste and is relying on the protection of the Tang Family, yet his luck is not bad since his family is the top family in Beijing; even our Zhang Family may be unable to contend with them. There"s also his son, who is despite his young age and his lack of involvement in politics, was able to establish the Magnificent Tang Corporation. He is someone who we can"t underestimate in the slightest."

"You don"t have to play down our own means and praise others. It"s disheartening, Grandpa," sneered Zhang Jian. "Besides, our Zhang Family has been growing up until the present day since we have a powerful heritage ourselves. We also have two reliable and powerful allies. Even if the Tang Family is a top giant in Beijing, what can they do to us? They"ve provoked my anger, and I"ll ma.s.sacre all of their arms here. As for his son with that small company of his, do you think he"s really that amazing? I wanna have a good look at his Magnificent Tang company after idling for some time. If it"s really a chicken that can lay golden eggs, then I"ll take it from him."

"You had better not act rashly, Jian"er," the old man narrowed his eyes and silently shook his head and continued, "While we"re not afraid of his Tang Family, we cannot afford to contend with them for now. The fact that the Tang Family was able to destroy the Yao Family is evident that they hide a lot of armed forces. You also know that only by understanding our opponent will we be able to blaze through hundreds of battles and secure victory; otherwise, we"ll only court crisis and disaster to befall upon our family."

"I have discretion about that well, Grandpa," replied Zhang Jian.

The old man nodded and said, "You"ll go and see Kutu tonight; let his men seize the time and act. We must s.n.a.t.c.h those two ports as fast as possible as it will be more convenient for the import and export of s.h.i.+pments."

"Alright!"

****

Macao, the Island Palace Garden in the Tangxia District.

A-058 villa.

Tang Yunde had just entered the villa when he saw his brother Chen Anhu who came to greet him. With a bit of a nasty expression, he shook his head and said, "They are very polite on the surface, but I wasn"t able to meet the Zhang Family"s patriarch. They literally sent out someone insignificant and irrelevant to entertain me. Truly reflecting the play of sending a heavy blow but wrapping it up smoothly."

Chen Anhu was silent for a moment and produced a wry smile, "If it doesn"t work, then we don"t have a choice but to give them those two ports! It"s a great loss to us indeed, but it"s better than being uprooted by the Zhangs."

"They will never be able to uproot us, even if we don"t have to give them these two ports. Just wait! My son happened to be in Macao. I"ll ask him to find a way out."

"That"s right, what does Tang Xiu wanna do by coming to Macao? Also, he asked me to find some people before. Who are they and what exactly is their background?" asked Chen Anhu.

"He"s looking for the zodiac jade carvings, but the seller turned out to be very greedy and demanded an exorbitant price, so he had to come to Macao in person," explained Tang Yunde. "The person he asked you to find was exactly the one who had that zodiac jade carving."

"The zodiac jade carvings?" Chen Anhu was astonished. "The ones that have been causing a huge commotion recently and are being bought at a high price by Grand Fortune Jewelry?"

"Anhu, we"re comrades who have sworn to live and die together—I won"t hide anything from you," said Tang Yunde smilingly. " Grand Fortune Jewelry is actually an industry owned by my son. In fact, he"s the main character behind the seeking and purchasing of those zodiac jade carvings at a sky-high price. Though I dunno his real purpose of the zodiac jade carvings, he"s always doing things prudently and those objects should be of great use to him."

"The Grand Fortune Jewelry turned out to be Tang Xiu"s?" Chen Anhu was shocked. "How could that be? You must know that the company has been operating in Hong Kong for decades. It has been developing rapidly in the past ten years, but I don"t think its total a.s.sets have reached ten billion yuan yet. I"m afraid the number is even lower than that. Besides, how old is your son? This is simply…"

"Anhu, there are tons of things you don"t know about," said Tang Yunde with a forced smile. "In fact, I don"t know much about his affairs either. But you"ll probably know some facts about him soon, though."

"What facts?" asked Chen Anhu curiously.

"Let"s save it for later, shall we?" Tang Yunded mystifyingly smiled and said, "You"ll know when the time comes."

Ten minutes later, a middle-aged man strode quickly to the hall on the first floor. He looked at Chen Anhu and said, "There"s a guest coming, Boss. He said he"s Tang Xiu, the son of Mr. Tang."

Chen Anhu immediately got up and smilingly said, "Let"s go there and meet him."

Tang Yunde waved his hand said, "Just tell your men to take him inside, Anhu. We don"t need to go out and greet him personally."

"Ugh!" When Chen Anhu thought about it, he immediately smiled and said, "Since you insist, then tell Tang Xiu to come inside."

Shortly after, Tang Xiu came into the room with Mo Awu and saw his father sitting on the sofa. He hadn"t yet acquainted with Chen Anhu, so he let up a faint smile and said, "Dad, is this the Uncle Chen you often mention to me?"

Chen Anhu observed Tang Xiu before he got up and smilingly said, "Well, well. What an energetic young man: a handsome, intelligent, and talented youth, worthy as Big Brother Yunde"s son. Yeah, I"m Chen Anhu, your father"s friend who has sworn to be brothers with him in life and death."

"Have you been well, Uncle Chen? Well, Dad often mentions you since he woke up from his comatose state and it"s great that I can see you today since you"re the real hero. Also, I have to thank you for your help in finding the Dark Shaman clan."

Chen Anhu waved his hand and said, "It"s just a minor matter."

After greeting each other, they took a seat and Tang Xiu heard the whole cause of their issue. He himself had never heard of the Zhang Family in Macao, but he knew some information about them from the Zhao Family in Beijing. After all, the Tang Family would have been slightly inferior to them if not for his existence.

"You mean, the main guy related to the current issue is a man called Kutu from Thailand?"

"That"s right, this Kutu guy is indeed from Thailand, though I heard that this man was actually not the real leader since there"s someone bigger behind him." Chen Anhu nodded and explained, "I"ve contacted some friends in Thailand about it, yet they weren"t able to find out the big tree that Kutu is leaning on."

Tang Xiu squinted and took his phone out to dial a cell number. After his call was picked up, he spoke, "There are some issues I need your help with. I"m waiting for you in the Island Palace Garden in the Tangxia District…"

"Alright!"

After he hung up, Tang Xiu then looked at Chen Anhu and his father and smiled, "Well, it"s rather coincidental that the target I was looking for is someone from Thailand too. He seems to have quite a deep background there, so he may be able to tell us some answers."

An hour later, the white-haired young man, Singluen, came with the pet.i.te woman and five black-robed old men. Tang Xiu briefly introduced them and, after everyone took a seat, he then asked, "There"s someone called Kutu from Thailand—do you know him?"

"Kutu? Which Kutu is it?" asked Singluen with raised brows, looking surprised.

"We can"t fully investigate his ident.i.ty in detail, but he has a deep connection with Macao"s Zhang Family and he"s also here now," said Tang Xiu. "Ah, that"s right, Uncle Anhu has his photo here. Take a look at it."

Chen Anhu immediately took his phone out and transferred Kutu"s photo to Singluen. The latter then looked at it and a strange expression immediately appeared on his face. "I know him; I even know a lot about him. He… well, he"s also a clansman of my Dark Shaman clan with a different surname, as well as the right arm of my father"s."

"So the people who work with the Zhang Family in Macao are also from your Dark Shaman clan?" sneered Tang Xiu.

Singluen quickly waved and replied, "I really don"t know about this matter, Mr. Tang. Kutu is my father"s close confidant and he doesn"t give me face normally. I have nothing to do with all the issues here in Macao."

Suddenly, the pet.i.te female at his side interjected in a whisper, "This is an opportunity, Young Master."

Singluen blanked out and his expression slightly changed. He stared deeply at her and then turned to look at Tang Xiu and said, "Mr. Tang, would you like me to buy Kutu"s life for that one billion US dollars?"

"Well, are you perhaps wanting to remove him with a borrowed knife?" asked Tang Xiu with a smile.

"I think this is a fair trade," said Singluen. "Of course, if you can help me take the patriarch seat of the Dark Shaman clan, I"m willing to pay you a fortune as well."

A smile outlined on the corner of Tang Xiu"s mouth as he asked, "And how much exactly is that fortune?"

"I don"t have money; there"s not even a hundred million dollars that I can take out now," said Singluen. "But I have some treasures, while the vault of my clan also has a lot. As long as you can help me take the patriarch seat of my clan, I"m willing to pay you fifty… a hundred Sorcerer Stones."

"What stuff is this Sorcerer Stone?" asked Tang Xiu, looking puzzled.

Singluen turned over and took out a piece of coal-like ore. He handed it to Tang Xiu and said, "This is the Sorcerer Stone. It is the most needed item for every member of my Dark Shaman clan who is proficient in witchcraft. Each stone contains a lot of sorcery energy which you can absorb for yourself as long as you know how to extract it."

The moment Tang Xiu received the Sorcerer Stone, he could clearly feel the power contained in it. His eyes instantly lit up at this moment and he was ecstatic inwardly.

"Sorcerer Stone? What nonsense. This is exactly Demon Stone."

Tang Xiu gripped the Demon Stone and absorbed a very minute fraction of demonic force contained within it a few minutes later. His eyes then s.h.i.+fted to Singluen as he said, "There"s a condition I have for you. If you agree to it, we can conclude this deal."

"What conditions?" asked Singluen quickly.

"I need this Demon Stone which you call Sorcerer Stone," said Tang Xiu with a deep voice. "I will buy this from you henceforth every year; the more there is, the better."