Chapter 15: I Want Jiangcheng's Entire Underworld

Qin Tian paused to consider. He couldn’t uncover the truth behind his family’s massacre five years ago alone. However strong he was, his time and energy were limited. Xie Tianlang would make a useful blade: intelligent, capable, and meticulous.

A faint smile appeared on Qin Tian’s face. Cannon shivered at the sight; that smile frightened him.

“Lead the way,” Qin Tian said.

Cannon scrambled up and gestured toward the car. “This… this way, Second Young Master Qin… ah-choo!”

Qin Tian climbed into the stretched Land Rover, and the convoy drove away.

…

At Heavenly Wolf Entertainment, heavy metal thundered as usual while men and women danced without restraint. But the atmosphere in the top-floor office was heavy.

Xie Tianlang sat on a leather sofa, an ashtray full of cigarette butts before him. He kept glancing toward the door. In more than twenty years in Jiangcheng, he had never felt so restless.

“Brother Wolf, Cannon’s been gone a long time. Could something have happened?” a trusted subordinate asked cautiously.

Xie didn’t answer. He rubbed the wolf-head tattoo on his chest, a habit he had developed whenever he couldn’t make up his mind.

A knock came. “Come in,” he called reflexively.

Cannon entered, dripping wet, followed by Qin Tian with a faint smile. Xie’s pupils contracted. He sprang up. “Second Young Master Qin, welcome to Heavenly Wolf Entertainment!”

Qin Tian dispensed with pleasantries. “Boss Xie, what did you want to discuss at this hour?”

Xie’s smile stiffened. “Everyone out!”

Cannon and the others filed out with relief, closing the door behind them. Alone with Qin Tian, Xie took a deep breath, cupped his hands, and bowed. “Please, sit.”

Qin Tian sat opposite him, crossed his legs, and smiled. “Well?”

After a pause, Xie lowered his voice. “Qin Zhenghao has taken Qin Song’s body.”

“I know. Is that all you brought me here to say?”

“No. I want to discuss a partnership.”

“Oh? What kind?”

Xie’s eyes gleamed. “That old bastard Qin Yuankun seized the Qin family’s assets. Don’t you want back what’s yours?”

“I do. But I don’t need your help to get it.”

Xie smiled confidently. “I know you’re powerful. Perhaps no one in Jiangcheng can match you. But as I said, this isn’t the Jiangcheng of five years ago.”

Qin Tian raised a brow and gestured for him to continue.

Xie picked up a cigar and turned it between his fingers without lighting it. “On the surface, Qin Yuankun and the other three families control most of the city’s businesses. But each has powerful backing. Their interests are entangled; pull one thread and the whole web moves.

“Strong as you are, you can’t kill everyone who stands in your way. If you go too far and draw the attention of those above them, you’ll be at a disadvantage.”

Qin Tian said nothing, taking a casual sip of water. Xie quietly relaxed and continued.

“I’ve spent over twenty years working my way through Jiangcheng. My greatest strength is information. If you need me, I’ll be the blade in your hand. Point me at a target and I’ll strike.”

He stood and bowed deeply. “I ask only that you give me a way to live.”

The office fell silent. After a while, Qin Tian put down his glass. “What do you want from me?”

Xie looked up. “A backer.”

“You? The leader of the Heavenly Wolf Gang needs me to back him?”

Xie laughed at himself. “We look successful, but every step is difficult. You remember Jiangcheng’s one house, two associations, three families, and four gangs from five years ago?”

Qin Tian nodded. He knew them well. The one house was the Chen family, Jiangcheng’s preeminent century-old house and the only one considered truly great. Its patriarch was rumored to be over a hundred, a master beyond the Innate realm who remained in seclusion.

The two associations were the Jiangcheng Chamber of Commerce and the Martial Arts Association. Part official and part private, they held little direct power but could influence every faction in the city.

The three families were the Qin, Song, and Wang families. The four gangs were the Heavenly Wolf Gang, the Qingfeng Gang, the Black Tiger Gang, and the Bald Gang.

“Why do you ask?” Qin Tian said.

Xie drank some water. “The three families have become four. The Qin family is now the one Qin Yuankun belongs to, and the Li family joined them. And now there’s someone who stands above the one house, two associations, four families, and four gangs.”

Interested, Qin Tian said, “Let’s hear it,” then took another sip.

Rare caution showed in Xie’s eyes. “Lin Mengxi.”

Qin Tian sprayed water all over Xie’s face and coughed violently. Xie’s mouth twitched. Bewildered, he used a tissue to wipe the unwanted mouthful off his face. “Why such a reaction?”

Qin Tian recovered. “Nothing. Why does she stand above them?”

Xie rubbed his fingers together in a money-counting gesture, greed in his eyes. “Because she’s a walking cash machine. In three years she built a commercial empire with a market value of a hundred billion. The Mengxi Group covers clothing, food, housing, and transportation in Jiangcheng. The city can’t do without it.”

Qin Tian drank more water to steady himself.

Xie sighed. “I wonder which lucky bastard will end up with that ice-cold goddess of wealth.”

Qin Tian grabbed a solid-gold backscratcher from the coffee table and tapped Xie’s forehead. “You talk too much.”

Xie rubbed his head, baffled. Qin Tian snorted. “What does any of this have to do with wanting me as your backer?”

“The four gangs fight constantly, and the four families use us to do their dirty work.”

Qin Tian narrowed his eyes. “And what do you want?”

Xie stood, ambition blazing in his eyes. “Jiangcheng’s entire underworld!”