Just days ago, Li Feipeng had been riding high, certain he'd soon be trampling the Xu Group underfoot. Now he was terrified—utterly cracking under the pressure.
He had no mood for research briefs; he just gripped his phone and frantically searched for news. Every short video he scrolled past showed refund lines. Sales counters across the country were jam-packed—not with buyers, but with people returning the product.
Suddenly, another bombshell dropped: a former senior executive at Fengwei Foods exposed Li Feipeng's tax evasion, claiming to hold proof.
The entire internet jolted.
Shen Wanning's fans mobilized. Many who'd called her brainless now admitted she'd been the sensible one. Soon, passersby also flocked over to her ad spot, and that piano piece shot up the trending list again.
Shen Family, Yang City.
Staring at the news, Shen Hong's eyes turned grave. No wonder Xu Shou had been so calm at the banquet—he'd had the board laid out from the start.
"Dad! Did you see the trending topics?" In pajamas and clutching her phone, Shen Wanning ran downstairs, face alight with excitement. Her inbox had exploded—countless people were apologizing to her.
Shen Hong looked at her evenly. The Fengs had teamed up with Fengwei Foods; even he'd been troubled by that. If things had continued smoothly, the Fengs might have overtaken the Shens at any moment. But now Fengwei Foods was in trouble—and his daughter, by happy accident, had endorsed the Xu family's product. Perhaps this could be the opening for cooperation—provided the Xu Group's slimming pill truly worked.
"I saw it. Wanning, I owe you an apology—you've got sharper eyes than I do." He smiled.
She puffed her cheeks, then smiled as well. So Xu Mu hadn't lied to her after all.
Aside from Li Feipeng and Lin Yan, the angriest house in the province belonged to the Fengs.
"Damn it!" Feng Kang hurled an ashtray into the giant TV.
5 billion invested, plus a fifty-billion wager—55 billion in all! That was real cash, not paper valuation.
Worse, most of it would be donated under the Xu family's name. The humiliation choked him more than a mouthful of sewage.
"Useless! Why did you bet with Xu Mu?" Feng Kang's eyes were like knives as he glared at Feng Jian.
Feng Jian mumbled with his head down, "Dad, in the end you agreed to it…"
"You dare talk back?" Feng Kang smashed his wine glass at him. "You walked right into their trap! That old fox Xu Shou—damn him!"
Feng Yue sat stunned. Only after watching the whole drama unfold did she realize she'd been just a chess piece. She could now guess that the dossier Chen Bei had first handed her was fake. If Xu Shou could plant a bug on Chen Bei, why wouldn't he also feed him false data?
No wonder Xu Mu had brushed off her warnings—he'd known all along the pill she coveted was a dud.
"This Xu Shou… really is something else—"
Crash!
Before she could finish, the newly replaced small window shattered again. Out of the darkness, Lin Yan stepped through.
"Lin Yan, do you not know how to use a door?" Feng Yue said coolly.
"Use your damn—door!"
Lin Yan strode forward and slapped her so hard she flew off the sofa, landing face-down on the carpet, lip bleeding and swelling at once.
"Feng Yue! You lied to me! You and the Xu family set me up!"
Murderous intent flashed in his eyes. Years abroad as a mercenary had earned him billions, and all of it had gone up in smoke. It wasn't the money that enraged him—it was that the King of Mercenaries had been humbled again and again.
This was an insult to his very person.
"Lin Yan, I was deceived too. Xu Shou predicted I'd steal the data. What I got was fake from the start."
Clutching her face, Feng Yue's eyes filled with tears, yet her expression was vicious.
Lin Yan grabbed a fistful of her hair and lifted her face. "I don't believe you."
He dragged her to the window.
"Lin Yan! What are you doing?" Feng Yue cried, terror rising.
"Xu Mu throws money around in your bar—you two are anything but simple," he said icily. "I wanted to take him down the proper way. He's the one who forced this. I'll show him exactly who he provoked."
With that, Lin Yan pitched her out the window.
Below, a middle-aged man caught her neatly, taped her mouth over a dozen times, and tossed her into a black van.
Lin Yan vaulted down from the second floor and slipped into the passenger seat. At the wheel sat a young man—the same tech who'd once "fixed the router" at Xu Mu's villa.
"What's the plan, boss?" the driver asked with a grin.
"I'm pissed. I want somebody dead," Lin Yan said, eyes cold.
"I get it. Leave it to me."
"No. This is the Dragon Nation. I don't want you attracting the Cleaners." Lin Yan's voice was flat.
At the mention of the Cleaners, the young man blanched. He'd nearly forgotten—this wasn't the Middle East or Africa. In the Dragon Nation, if a martial artist killed openly, the consequences were unimaginable.
"I'll contact Nine-Fingers. He owes me a favor," Lin Yan said. "That scum has done every evil under the sun. If the Cleaners erase him, he deserves it."
"Number Eighteen on the Death List—Nine-Fingers?" The young man gaped. "Isn't that overkill just to kill Xu Mu?"
The Death List ranked the underworld's assassins—eighteen in total, known as the Eighteen Hells. Nine-Fingers sat at No. 18, an elite position by any measure. Setting aside the hidden top killers, he was publicly among the very best in the Dragon Nation.
"Xu Mu is still a rich scion. The risk is high. I want zero mistakes." Lin Yan's fists clenched. "Go."
As for Xu Mu, he barely paid attention to the day's storms—he was still focused on cultivating. The slimming-pill situation was already nailed down. Fengwei Foods was finished, and he'd win the wager.
He could leave the follow-through to Xu Shou and Xu Ningbing. His priority was still earning Fate Points and growing stronger.
After steady grinding, he'd saved up 3,000 Fate Points. He planned to try a bit of mystic timing—wait until dawn to draw. Maybe he'd hit another jackpot.
Early the next morning, Xu Mu woke and reached for the draw—but his phone buzzed.
He frowned. Who'd call this early—his old man again?
He glanced at the screen and frowned deeper. Feng Yue.
He was about to reject the call when Ye Tong opened her eyes."Is it Dad?"
"No. The bar owner from before," Xu Mu said, showing her the contact name.
"Pick it up. It could be important," Ye Tong whispered.
"…Alright."
Since Ye Tong had said so, Xu Mu answered and turned on speaker. "You're calling at the crack of dawn. Can a guy sleep?"
"Xu Mu! Your little lover Feng Yue is in my hands. Do you want to save her?" came a low voice over the line.