Chapter 3: My Sister-in-Law, Su Wanqing!

Qin Tian had no desire to explain. He waved a hand. “Get lost! And take those three pieces of trash with you!”

Suppressing the sudden, intense unease in his heart, Liu Dongsheng dragged the three men away and fled.

Qin Tian returned to his grandfather, who was still staring in shock. He crouched beside him, his voice trembling. “Grandpa, let me help you up.”

“All right…” It took Qin Yuanming a long moment to recover. He grasped Qin Tian’s hand and asked shakily, “Xiaotian, how did you become so powerful?”

It was hard to reconcile this strong, decisive young man with the pampered Second Young Master Qin he remembered.

As Qin Tian helped him into the empty villa, he answered, “During the past five years, I became the disciple of a great master and learned a few things.”

Qin Yuanming burst out laughing, tears of joy in his eyes. “Heaven has blessed the Qin family! Heaven has blessed us!”

Qin Tian’s eyes reddened. “Grandpa, if you survived, why did our family still end up like this?”

Qin Yuanming sighed. “After the massacre, I woke up consumed by grief. My elder brother took the opportunity to join forces with the other three great families and seize the Qin Group for himself. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.”

Murderous intent flashed in Qin Tian’s eyes, then vanished. “Grandpa, do you know who those people were? The ones from that night?”

Qin Yuanming shook his head, his eyes bloodshot. “No. I’ve been investigating all these years, but I haven’t found a thing. It’s as though they vanished into thin air.”

Qin Tian unclenched his fists. “Grandpa, get some rest. I’ll find us something to eat.”

“That can wait, Xiaotian.”

“What’s wrong?”

Qin Yuanming checked the time. “It’s getting late. Go to the hospital and see what’s keeping your sister-in-law. She’s usually home on time.”

“My sister-in-law?”

Qin Tian froze. A graceful figure appeared in his mind: Su Wanqing, his brother Qin Hao’s fiancée, a woman once famous throughout Jiangcheng for her beauty.

The marriage had been arranged between the Qin and Su families, and Su Wanqing had moved into the ancestral home at eighteen. Everyone in Jiangcheng had said the Qin family’s eldest young master was lucky to have such a beautiful wife.

But Qin Tian knew his brother loved someone else. The engagement served the families’ interests, and Qin Hao had always been cold toward her.

Qin Tian had spent more time with his would-be sister-in-law than his brother had. She was gentle, her eyes curving when she smiled, and the two of them had shared everything. That year, Qin Tian was eighteen and Su Wanqing was twenty.

He came back to himself, astonished. “She’s alive too?”

Qin Yuanming nodded. “Of course! Don’t you remember? She was on duty at the hospital the night of your birthday.”

Qin Tian remembered. He had even complained that she cared only about work and hadn’t come home to celebrate with him. Now he was grateful she hadn’t been there.

“Has she lived here all these years?” he asked.

“Yes.” Gratitude filled the old man’s face. “Poor Wanqing. Her family was afraid of being dragged into trouble, so they threw her out. She’s been looking after me ever since. Five years, just like that.”

Five years ago, she had been a wealthy young lady who wanted for nothing. Now she cared for his elderly grandfather. Only she could know what that change had cost her.

Qin Tian’s heart trembled. “Grandpa, which hospital is she at?”

“Jiangcheng Central Hospital.”

“I’ll go check on her. I’ll be back soon.”

“Go on. Be careful.”

Qin Tian walked out of the villa, but he didn’t leave immediately. His hands flashed, runic marks dancing at his fingertips before joining into a formation that enveloped the entire building. Even Xie Tianlang himself wouldn’t be able to break through it.

Only then did Qin Tian leave the residence, satisfied that his grandfather was safe.

…

Meanwhile, Heavenly Wolf Entertainment, headquarters of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, was Jiangcheng’s most popular bar, without rival. Every night it filled with people looking to let loose. Deafening heavy metal whipped the crowd into a frenzy, and bodies thrashed on the dance floor.

In the owner’s office on the third floor, a burly, fearsome man sprawled on a leather sofa. Two meters tall, he seemed about to burst out of his suit. A lifelike, snarling wolf’s head was tattooed across his exposed chest, adding to his oppressive presence.

He was Xie Tianlang, leader of the Heavenly Wolf Gang.

Liu Dongsheng knelt before him, terror in his eyes. “Brother Wolf, I’m sorry. I failed you.”

Xie Tianlang smiled with interest. “You said the Qin family’s second young master isn’t dead, and he’s become a Grandmaster?”

Liu Dongsheng nodded vigorously. “That’s right! And he told me to bring… bring you a message.”

“What message? Let’s hear it.”

“He… he said…”

Xie Tianlang knocked twice on the coffee table. “What did he say?” His tone was measured, but Liu Dongsheng flinched.

“He said the Qin ancestral home is beyond your reach, and you should get ready to die and wait for him!”

Xie Tianlang stared for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed. “Well, well, Second Young Master Qin! Nobody in Jiangcheng has ever dared speak to me like that. Interesting. He wants to make an example of me!”

His eyes filled with killing intent. The office seemed to turn cold, and Liu Dongsheng and the others struggled to breathe under the pressure of a Grandmaster.

“Let’s see what that spoiled Qin brat can do. I’m taking the ancestral home, no matter what!”

Still kneeling, Liu Dongsheng glanced anxiously at his watch and muttered to himself, “Half an hour’s almost up. What did that bastard mean?”

Xie Tianlang frowned. “What are you mumbling about? Speak up!”

Liu Dongsheng looked up. “Qin Tian said I only had half an hour. I don’t know what he meant—”

His chest suddenly tightened. He couldn’t breathe. It felt as if a huge hand had clamped around his heart. His face turned a dark purplish black, and his eyes bulged.

Startled, Xie Tianlang sprang to his feet. “Liu Dongsheng, what’s happening to you?”

“B-Brother Wolf… save… me…”

Before he could finish, a muffled boom rang out. Liu Dongsheng’s body exploded into a cloud of bloody mist, leaving nothing behind.

Xie Tianlang stared. Then he wiped the blood from his face and bared bloodstained teeth in a chilling grin. “It seems the Qin family’s second young master, who disappeared for five years, is more formidable than I thought.”

“Brother Wolf, what do we do now?”

A small, thin man stood in the doorway. His name was Skinny Ghost, one of Xie Tianlang’s trusted lieutenants and a fighter at the peak of the Transformative Force realm.

“What do we do?” Xie Tianlang smiled grimly, killing intent surging around him. “We make sure we handle this well. Word of Qin Tian’s return will soon spread across Jiangcheng, and a lot of eyes will be on us.”

He picked up a crimson bead from the table. His qi began to circulate of its own accord, and a vast wave of pure yang energy swept through his body, evaporating the blood on him.

Skinny Ghost watched enviously. “Brother Wolf, where did that bead come from? It’s incredible!”

Xie Tianlang let out a breath and put it away. “A gambler gave it to me against a debt. All right, leave me. Wait for my orders.”

“Yes, Brother Wolf!” Skinny Ghost bowed and withdrew.

Xie Tianlang took out the crimson bead again, greed shining in his eyes. “You’re my most precious possession.”

…

At Jiangcheng Central Hospital, Su Wanqing sat at a desk in the fifth-floor cardiology doctors’ duty room, exhaustion written all over her face.

A critically ill patient had arrived at the hospital several hours earlier. After a whole night of emergency treatment, they had finally managed to keep the patient alive, though the danger had not passed.

“I’m so tired,” she murmured. She took off her white coat and stretched. Her white blouse and jeans outlined her figure. She had an oval face, bright eyes, white teeth, and a gentle beauty.

Suddenly, someone knocked urgently at the door.