The phone connected, and Xiao Tianci's grim voice immediately boomed through the receiver.
"Chen Xiang, I trust you've received the first 'surprise' I sent you? Tell me... are you satisfied?"
Hearing Xiao Tianci's words, I stood frozen, my pupils dilating instantly.
At the same time, I could feel my face turning pale, as a cold sweat broke out across my forehead.
The reason I felt fear wasn't for any other reason than Xiao Tianci's mention of the "first surprise."
If the first "surprise" was this chilling and terrifying, what about the second, the third...
With Xiao Tianci's ability to control both the underworld and legitimate businesses, he had undoubtedly uncovered every detail about me.
My network and connections were all within his grasp.
If Mu Haitang was the first, then it was highly probable that everyone connected to me would not escape!
Especially Cheng Minglang and Zhu Wenjing; even though they had successfully escaped Longxi, Xiao Tianci would certainly not let it go!
...
After regaining my senses, I asked Xiao Tianci on the phone, "Boss Xiao, what exactly do you mean by this!?"
"Heh heh~" Xiao Tianci chuckled inexplicably, then replied with a cold tone, "It means nothing! Since nine o'clock has passed, I naturally have to show my attitude!"
"Your attitude? What do you want?" I asked, frowning, suppressing the unease and fear churning within me.
"Getting anxious now?" Xiao Tianci paused, then said in a playful tone, "Do you still remember what I told you at the guesthouse?"
"Following the principle of courtesy before force, I spoke to you kindly twice!"
"Since you've clenched your teeth and refused to budge, treating my words as if they were blown by the wind, then I have no reason to be polite anymore!"
"From this moment on, anyone who has any connection with you, Chen Xiang, will be considered... an accomplice in my brother's murder!"
"Until the principal culprit, Cheng Minglang, appears and is brought to justice, I guarantee... their fate will be exactly the same as that Mu Haitang!"
"Better to kill three thousand wrongly than to let one go!!!"
"Don't blame me for being ruthless, because since ancient times, blood debts can only be repaid with blood!"
"Blame yourself for putting others who are connected to you in harm's way just to protect Cheng Minglang!"
"Chen Xiang, this is an official notification!"
"From now on, remember, remember to keep that Cheng Minglang hidden well!"
"If I find him too quickly, then this revenge game that has begun will lose its meaning!"
After speaking, Xiao Tianci hung up the phone.
Staring blankly, recalling Xiao Tianci's last words, my entire being turned ashen.
It was only at this moment that I truly understood how terrifying Xiao Tianci, this businessman who had gone legitimate, truly was!
A cold-faced Shura!
To avenge his brother Xiao Tianyu, Xiao Tianci was so cruel and malicious that he intended to make everyone connected to me suffer his retribution!
He hadn't targeted me first, not only because he saw my hidden value but also because he likely wanted to save me for last, to let me witness this slaughter feast initiated by revenge!
So many lives, all about to be extinguished because of my single thought!
If it truly came to this, what difference would there be between me and Xiao Tianci, the butcher wielding the cleaver?
Did I make a mistake? Can what is about to happen still be stopped?
I had no answers to these two questions, nor did I know the answers.
If I chose to save Cheng Minglang, others would suffer; if I chose to give up, Cheng Minglang would surely die!
No matter what I chose, someone would die.
All I could do for now was to pray in secret, praying that Xiao Tianci's personal influence was limited to the Longxi region.
His claim of killing everyone connected to me was merely a tactic to create immense fear and pressure on me after failing to find Cheng Minglang, forcing me to hand him over.
This was a gamble not played on a gambling table, with me and Xiao Tianci as the players.
The stakes we each bet were not about winning or losing... but about life and death!
And so, in a state of deep fear and unease, I endured from past nine o'clock until past midnight.
During this time, my phone did not vibrate again.
The continuous lack of sleep left me in a poor mental state with a scattered focus. In my daze, I drifted off to sleep, and I had a dream.
This dream left a very, very deep impression on me.
In an unknown setting, Cheng Minglang was caught by Xiao Tianci and dragged away by his men.
When they threw him back, he was, like Mu Haitang, on the verge of death.
His eyes were swollen shut, and a large gash had opened on his sharply chiseled brow. His entire face was soaked in blood from this wound, making him look bloody and ferocious.
As he breathed, blood continuously bubbled out of his mouth, forming bloody foam.
Even so, Cheng Minglang still mustered all his strength and said, "Xiang... Xiang Ge."
Hearing this, I immediately, with red eyes, grabbed his hand and responded, "I'm here! Speak!"
Although beaten to the point of not being able to open his eyes, Cheng Minglang knew I was looking at him.
"Xiang Ge, I... I feel like I'm... I'm not going to make it. I want... I want to ask you for one thing."
I wiped my red-rimmed eyes with my sleeve and choked out, "Tell me!"
Cheng Minglang's voice grew weaker as he spoke, until I had to lean in to hear him clearly.
Cheng Minglang said there was something he couldn't let go of.
Zhu Wenjing!
He asked me to find Zhu Wenjing no matter what and to make sure she was settled, as it was his greatest wish before dying.
When he heard me agree, Cheng Minglang immediately let out a sigh of relief, and then... he never drew another breath!
As the dream reached this point, Cheng Minglang suddenly died in my dream, and I jolted awake.
Truly, what occupies your thoughts by day fills your dreams by night!
Fortunately, as the elders often say, dreams are the opposite of reality.
If you dream that someone is in trouble, it's highly likely that in reality, nothing has happened to that person.
But what I didn't expect was that a message Cheng Minglang sent me in the dead of night made me anticipate that the dream I just had... might very well come true!
The message Cheng Minglang sent me was very short, just one sentence.
Zhu Wenjing has been taken!