Demonic King of the Metropolis

“Um, can I leave now?” the skinny man cautiously asked Tang Jie, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched the two men deep in thought.

“Go ahead,” Tang Jie said with a wave of his hand, his face returning to a friendly demeanor.

Hearing this, the skinny man seemed as if he had received a pardon. Mustering unknown strength, he spun around and sprinted away like a rabbit on the prairie, quickly disappearing from Tang Jie and Uncle Zhao’s sight.

“Uncle Zhao, let’s go.” With the situation resolved, Tang Jie didn’t plan to linger in the abandoned construction site any longer and decided to leave.

Uncle Zhao nodded, and the two headed towards the Lincoln stretch limousine. Uncle Zhao got behind the wheel and drove slowly towards the Chen Group.

On the way, Tang Jie asked, “Uncle Zhao, what did you mean by Viper? And what about the Lifedeath Cliff duel that the scarred man mentioned?”

Having entered the secular world, Tang Jie’s curiosity was piqued by the scarred man’s mention of a Lifedeath Cliff duel among secular strongmen.

Uncle Zhao’s face grew pensive as he recalled events from seven years ago. After a while, he slowly said, “Viper is a significant organization in the secular ancient martial arts world, comprising elite ancient martial arts masters. The man you just killed was a hall master of one of Viper’s branches.”

Tang Jie listened without speaking, his face showing no emotion, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Pausing for a moment, Uncle Zhao continued, “Lifedeath Cliff is located in a high mountain near the East Sea. Only ancient martial arts masters can reach it; ordinary people can’t climb it. It’s where duels occur when conflicts arise among ancient martial arts masters in the secular world. Seven years ago, one night, Lifedeath Cliff suddenly exhibited unusual phenomena-a burst of red light reaching the sky. This anomaly caught the attention of masters from all sides. It’s said that where there’s red light, there must be treasures. Overnight, word spread, and masters hurried over, including the scarred man we saw earlier. I was also among those who went treasure hunting back then.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Jie couldn’t help but feel puzzled and slowly asked, “Uncle Zhao, you mentioned an unusual treasure appearing on Lifedeath Cliff. Did anyone manage to find it back then?”

Uncle Zhao responded with a bitter smile, shaking his head, “I don’t know. So many masters from the secular ancient martial arts world went treasure hunting that year. Due to the treasure, many conflicts broke out among the masters, and the cliff became a field of corpses overnight. Many masters fell. If it weren’t for a mysterious person injuring me, causing me to give up my search, I might have also perished in that battle.”

“Oh!” Tang Jie immediately understood and then said, “So, because of those fights, it’s quite possible that none of them actually found the treasure?”

“That, I can’t say for sure,” Uncle Zhao replied, still feeling a lingering fear from the battle seven years ago.

“I just never expected that the hall master of Viper would serve the Qin Family. If I hadn’t seen him today, I would’ve thought he died in that battle,” Uncle Zhao remarked with a sigh, thinking about the scarred man.

His former rival, now dead before his eyes-not by his own hand, but it nonetheless brought him a sense of satisfaction.

Seeing the satisfaction on Uncle Zhao’s face, Tang Jie could easily guess that Uncle Zhao’s mood had improved with the scarred man’s death.

…

The battered Lincoln stretch limousine sped along, drawing curious looks from passersby as it headed towards the Chen Group.

“What a shame that such a luxurious car ended up looking like this.”

“You don’t get it. That’s a Lincoln stretch. No matter how worn out it is, a single screw from it could pay your salary for months!”

“What good is a fancy car if it ends up as a pile of scrap metal?”

Uncle Zhao drove while Tang Jie sat inside, watching the onlookers point and whisper. Though he couldn’t hear what they were saying, he could guess it was about the condition of the Lincoln stretch limousine.

“Those bastards ruined a perfectly good car. It’s infuriating!” Tang Jie said through gritted teeth, full of resentment.

“Tang, don’t worry. The car is insured. Someone will handle it later,” Uncle Zhao said with a smile.

“That’s easy to say, but how much will it cost to fix it?” Tang Jie replied, visibly distressed.

“Heh,” Uncle Zhao chuckled, not responding further, just finding the young man in front of him increasingly interesting, always doing things that were hard to predict.

The drive was silent, and the battered Lincoln stretch limousine drew curious stares as it arrived at the Chen Group building.

After parking the car steadily in front of the building and handing the keys to a security guard, Uncle Zhao accompanied Tang Jie to Chen Jiankai’s office.

“Mr. Tang, you’re here. Please, have a seat,” Chen Jiankai greeted warmly, having been waiting for Tang Jie’s arrival in his office.

“Mr. Chen, you can just call me Tang. No need to be so formal!” Tang Jie replied. Having met Chen Jiankai twice now, he felt a growing fondness for him, noticing his lack of airs.

“Alright, alright, haha, Tang, you shouldn’t keep calling me Mr. Chen either. Just call me Uncle Chen,” Chen Jiankai responded cheerfully. “Tang, I asked you here because I wanted to discuss something with you.”

“Sure, Uncle Chen, go ahead,” Tang Jie said as he took a seat across from Chen Jiankai.

“I already heard about what happened last night with Shuran. What are your thoughts on Zhu Nan?” Chen Jiankai asked directly without beating around the bush.

Hearing this, Tang Jie smiled slightly and said, “Uncle Chen, this matter involves Miss Chen, and as her father, I’m sure you have your own thoughts on it. As an outsider, it’s not really my place to say much.”

“This Zhu Nan hides behind his father’s position as the deputy director of the police station, throwing his weight around. Now, he’s dared to bully my daughter. If I don’t do something about this, he’ll think the Chen family’s daughter is easy prey,” Chen Jiankai stated, exuding an unapologetic authority.

“If it weren’t for you, Shuran would have suffered that night. Tang, just tell me what you need, and I’ll do everything I can to fulfill it,” Chen Jiankai continued, looking at Tang Jie.

Tang Jie was momentarily taken aback by this offer. What did he need? The question left him speechless momentarily.