The crying in the hospital room was intermittent, and it was hard to imagine that a man could make such a sound.

It sounded... pathetic.

The old man watched his son calmly.

There was no disappointment in his eyes.

Without hope, there would be no disappointment.

"I... I don't want to go to North Continent..."

Zhao Qi raised his head, his eyes filled with tears, and pleaded, "I want to stay in Da Du..."

Zhao Xilai's expression didn't change at all. He just silently answered the incoming call.

"Hello..."

The voice on the other end was trembling.

"Hello... Councilor, it's me."

It was Liu Yi's voice.

"I'm... at Madam's residence right now. But the situation might be a little different from what you expected."

A silver knife was drawn and hanging in front of Liu Yi's neck. Lu Nanjin stood with the knife, her expression indifferent, leaning against her back. The banyan tree leaves in the old mansion rustled, and there were no other sounds.

Inside the mansion, Madam was drinking tea, with Song Ci and Gu Shen standing quietly on either side.

Liu Yi could feel the cold light emanating from the silver knife in front of her neck... When she left Da Du, Lu Nanjin was just a little girl. Ten years later, she had returned and become one of the best of the younger generation in the Tribunal.

The faint murderous intent emanating from the knife made her scalp tingle.

"Is that so?"

There wasn't much surprise on the other end of the call.

Zhao Xilai spoke softly, "You've entered Lu Nanzhi's courtyard. That's good enough."

Liu Yi gave a wry smile and was about to speak.

"I guess there's a knife hanging in front of your neck right now." Zhao Xilai said lightly, "It's Nanjin's knife."

The voice echoed in the courtyard.

Madam's posture of drinking tea remained unchanged. Song Ci and Gu Shen exchanged a glance.

Lu Nanjin snorted coldly and gripped the knife even harder.

Liu Yi felt the knife's edge in front of her neck grow even colder. Zhao Xilai, who was far away in another part of Da Du, said gently, "I didn't have a chance to say hello at the last ball... It's been ten years. How are you?"

"Thanks to you, these ten years... I've had a very fulfilling life," Lu Nanjin said coldly.

"That knife should be aimed at my neck." Zhao Xilai said calmly, "Liu Yi is just acting on orders. There's no need to deliberately make things difficult for her... Why not let her go?"

"It's the time for the Councilor handover. At this juncture... you send transcendents to invade the residence. What do you want to do? Do you really think we're fools who can't guess?"

Song Ci stepped forward and came to the communicator, saying, "Old Man Zhao, it's not appropriate to say 'let her go' so lightly at this time, is it?"

"Liu Yi didn't come to kill anyone..."

The old man paused and said, "I've had another talk with Bright City in West Continent and the Lin family in North Continent about the bill... I have some new ideas."

Madam said calmly, "You can't back down."

"It's that the Zhao family can't back down." Zhao Xilai said slowly, "My reputation, my promises, the thousands of people who are working hard behind me, and the high-hanging banner of the Hua Zhi building... don't allow me to back down. But this time in the negotiations, Bright City and the Lin family are willing to give Hua Zhi more time."

"More... time?"

"The bill can be postponed, postponed again. This is the biggest concession I can make. I am still willing to reach this deal with you on the same terms as before..."

The word "deal" sounded cold.

"But the prerequisite is that you no longer express strong objections. You can declare neutrality like Changye City and abstain from voting. I have also prepared the text for changing your position for you." Zhao Xilai covered his lips and coughed hard. He suppressed his cough as much as possible, trying to cheer himself up and make sure that the other side of the communication couldn't hear his decline.

Change position?

From opposition to neutrality...

It sounded absurd, but in reality, it was completely feasible. On a major bill and an important vote, any Councilor had the right to make a more "prudent" decision after more "careful" consideration.

What's more, Madam no longer needed a position to fight for her own interests. The competition for alternate councilors was already beyond doubt.

"I refuse."

Still without the slightest hesitation, Lu Nanzhi refused directly.

"If you sent someone just to say this, I'm really disappointed." Madam said slowly, "At the end of this week, I will take over as the third Councilor of the Da Du District. My attitude will not change."

"..."

What came from the other end of the phone was more than just silence.

There was also a sigh, an old, long, and helpless sigh.

"The reason I sent Liu Yi to this residence is that... the Apostle of Central Continent has arrived in Da Du. The Apostle of the Dionysus Seat of the Source Tower issued an ultimatum this morning." Zhao Xilai said hoarsely, "In the last three days... if Hua Zhi can't change your attitude, he will use his own means to end all of this."

Madam's fingers holding the teacup hung in the air.

"In fact... from what I know about the Apostles, they will never really wait for three days. Once Hua Zhi doesn't take action, they may act immediately. That's why I sent Liu Yi."

Zhao Xilai said in a deep voice, "The old city is an old area where the Eye of Heaven is scarce. They may have already arrived."

"Even if there is an Eye of Heaven, it's useless. They can't capture the Apostles' traces... those people are extrajudicial ghosts allowed by the Federal Government." Liu Yi stretched out two fingers, gently pressed them against Lu Nanjin's blade, slowly pushing it away a little, and said cautiously, "Perhaps not far from this residence, the Apostles are watching us."

These words made everyone present break out in a cold sweat.

"Apostles... what is that?"

It was the first time Song Ci had heard of this thing. The Sincerity Society helped the two councilors deal with the tedious disputes of the underground transcendent world, but it didn't include events like the collapse of order. Rumors about black spots and related incidents were currently only circulating among the upper echelons of officially established institutions.

Lu Nanjin released the knife.

Liu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly lowered her body and moved away from Lu Nanjin, leaning against the gate of the residence, and said, "You don't need to know what the Apostles are. You just need to remember... this is not something we can fight against."

"Oh... is it really as powerful as you say?"

Song Ci rubbed his eyebrows. His intuition was extremely sharp.

"No wonder I always felt that something was wrong, that something was staring at me."

From the time night fell, he felt that there was a dark cloud in his heart, faintly pressing down.

The banyan tree in the old mansion of Lion Lane scattered golden light.

More than half of the inner core of the lantern remained, but the fire began to jump violently, as if something was accelerating the burning of the lantern...

This was a seal that shielded mental perception.

When mental power tried to peep in and sweep into the residence, this lantern would burn itself to resist the will and also serve as a warning.

The lantern fire was jumping so fiercely, what did it mean?

Liu Yi's expression was a little ugly.

"Councilor..."

As a transcendent of the mental system herself, she had vaguely sensed the danger, but the next conversation could no longer continue. The signal of the communicator seemed to be interfered with and was forced to hang up.