“Perhaps, I should thank Grandma Yuan first.” Jin thought to himself and walked towards Grandma Yuan’s car. Her face did not look particularly pleased with Jin. He could hear that the engine started the moment Jin walked towards the vehicle.
“Thank you, Grandma Yuan. I heard that you -” Before Jin could finish his sentence, Grandma Yuan lifted her hand to stop him from saying any more.
“Do not give me any bullshit. Clear your shop for two hours from 10 am to 12 pm. Two weeks from now. I will be there with a couple of friends.” Grandma Yuan rolled the car side window up and signalled her driver to start driving, leaving Jin behind.
“Okay, guess I do not have any say in that nor can I reject it.” Jin had an awkward smile before he walked towards Yang Ling’s car and the reaction he received from her was slightly more pleasant.
“Come in.” Yang Ling smiled gently at Jin, and he entered the car willingly. Only then did he realise that he forgot to wait for Zhen Qing. Seemingly as if Yang Ling had read his mind, she informed him that Zhen Qing was required to stay in the station for a while longer to assist the police with some investigation. “If you want, I can send you back first and later have my guards send her home.”
“It’s okay, I do not mind waiting for her, but before anything else, I heard that you aided me in my release. You have my sincere gratitude, Yang Ling.” Jin thanked Yang Ling, but instead of replying, she simply passed him a black folder and asked him to open it up in a bit. Suddenly, Jin could see that she started to cast a few spells and the entire cabin of hers was covered with a sort magical barrier which Jin could temporarily feel after she cast it.
Ku Wai, who was still at her side started to paste a few rather expensive looking charms on the car doors. “Please, pass me your phone for a while.” Ku Wai requested politely and Jin handed it to him, only to notice that he had placed the phone in a rather heavy looking box. Yang Ling and Ku Wai had put their phones in that box too, and later Ku Wai closed it. After which, Ku Wai pressed a button in the car and Jin could feel a kind of force that pulled and pushed him around for a while.
“It’s a small burst EMP, also designed by Princess.” Ku Wai felt proud upon explaining this invention of hers.
“We could never be careful enough. You can now take a look at the folder.” Yang Ling looked dead serious.
“The Ruby Rat is targeting you. What you experienced was not a random incident.” Yang Ling moved closer to Jin to elaborate on the contents inside the black folder.
“This…” Jin saw photographs of a person trying to break into his shop, but his efforts were futile because the lock was System-made. He was given the assurances that no one could break it.
“This guy is known in the underworld as the Door Wizard. He can unlock any door for a price but this is the first time he had so much trouble trying to open a door. Your shop’s door.” Yang Ling said as Jin took a look at the next photograph and saw that he was carrying a large, complicated modern drill. However, the picture was somewhat blurry.
“That was his most recent attempt against your shop. The picture is this blurry most likely because of the fact that he had utilised a one time inscription scroll that produced an illusion, combined with minor invisibility. We managed to take this picture when the spell effects had expired. He realised the spell effect was gone and he used another scroll to get away.” Yang Ling explained to Jin about the photograph.
“Based on my contacts, they assume that the device he was using was a customised high quality door breaker, used by some of the special forces in the world. However, the picture was too blurry, so that was only a conjecture. Look at the next photograph.” Yang Ling prodded him.
“Oh god…” Jin looked at the next photograph and saw that this Door Wizard was brutally chopped up into parts and left in a trash bag.
“Sources are sure that the Ruby Rat Triad hired him, and by the Triad Boss no less. This is because his fees are exorbitant, not everyone has the kind of influence and money to hire him.” Yang Ling said in a depressing tone.
“Then Zhen Qing…” Jin looked at her, and she nodded her head.
“Her father was targeted by Ruby Rat Triad. They might have been trying this angle the moment they found out that Lynn’s father was a compulsive gambling addict in case this Door Wizard is not able to break in? I guess?” Yang Ling was not completely sure too as she passed him another folder to preview the contents.
“You even know her real name?” Jin was surprised by her information gathering as he looked through the photographs and transcript of Lynn’s father and the Ruby Rat gangsters.
“It was part of the results of the investigations, or else, I would not have known her real name too.” Yang Ling organised her side of items.
“I did not offend them in any way. Why would they target me?” Jin was confused by their objective.
“You are in the entertainment industry right? I mean, you are providing fun and cultivation training.” Yang Ling asked.
“Well, yes, what does that have to do with me? I mind my own business.” Jin still could not see the link and Yang Ling sighed.
“King’s Monster. The largest and the most successful dungeon supplier store in Shenzhen. One of the main sponsors or you could technically say their boss. It’s the Ruby Rat’s Triad leader.” Yang Ling explained.
“I still…oh…okay, wait a minute. So he wants to snuff out the competition? But there are other dungeon suppliers too. Why would he be so obsessed with me?” Jin asked.
“Didn’t you know? Within a month, King’s Monsters’ revenue dropped by five percent? That was an unprecedented loss. A fresh new face in the dungeon supplier industry, by right would not have made such a dent in their revenue. But you did.” Yang Ling said as she showed him the statistics of King’s Monsters profit on paper.
“Five percent? That was enough for me to be a threat to them?” Jin then realised that five per cent they were talking about was hundreds of thousands of Yuan. “Did we really earn that much in the first month?” Jin tried to communicate with Yun, and surprisingly it went through.
“Yea, more than three hundred thousand Yuan in net revenue. (~40,000 USD)” Yun said, and suddenly Yang Ling noticed that something was amiss.
“Hmm, we have to keep our conversation short, looks like there was a disruption in my barrier despite all the preparation I have made.” Yang Ling said, and Jin realised it could be his communication with Yun that appears that way.
“The point I am driving towards is this. Join us, the Royal Zodiac Tiger clan. My contacts informed me what you did in Wanhua district, and I myself had known about your talent. We can protect you from any imminent threats from the Royal Zodiac Rat clan.” Yang Ling finally showed her true colours. Jin knew that all this information gathering would have cost a lot and releasing him from jail was for Jin to repay the debt to Yang Ling.
However, Jin deduced that if not for the interference of Grandma Yuan, he would more or less not be in this position where he was being requested to join, but instead forced to join. “Looks like I owe Grandma Yuan more than I can repay.” Jin thought to himself.
Jin looked at Yang Ling in her eyes and shook his head adamantly. “I am sorry. I do not think I can join your clan. I like to be free from associating with the Royal Zodiacs. However, I will not forget your kindness, and I shall repay my gratitude in another way. Please, tell me the details of the dungeon that you wish to make. It will be free of charge.”
Yang Ling sighed upon hearing Jin’s answer. “I somehow expected that you would reject my request. Well, I guess that’s what propelled people like you and your store to the point you even had customers willing to risk their life for you. Not to mention, you had that one heck of a lawyer at your side.”
“Xiong Da? I thought he said you were the one who pulled the strings.” Jin was a little perplexed.
“Me? Pulling strings? Hahaha, he is selling himself short.” Yang Ling took the entire black folder and threw them in the box where they kept their phones. Ku Wai helped to retrieve those phones before he threw some oil in there and lit a fire.
“I will send you details of the dungeon that I want via mail. I will send you the decryption code via Ku Wai when you receive the package. Thank you Jin, for being alive.” Yang Ling smiled before she released all the magical barriers and let Jin off the car to wait for Zhen Qing to be released.
Suddenly, two notifications appeared. One was to notify that he had completed Zhen Qing’s mission and the other informing about a new mission on his phone logs. Jin was not surprised that it was phrased that way. “Haha, looks like someone wants to take revenge badly.”
“Long term mission: Eliminate the largest competition in Shenzhen to be one step closer to become the Number One Dungeon Supplier.”
