The Long Family was indeed powerful. Within a week, it conquered the underground world of several cities. Although Xiao Bing was in the hospital every day, all the information was relayed to him by Master Hou anytime and anywhere.
The Long Family adopted the strategy of Blitzkrieg warfare, and sent lobbyists to coerce and lure the leaders of the underground world in big cities. A martial arts master was sent to raid the underground world to force them to submit. The lobbyists sent by the Long Family was Poisonous Fox, one of Zhuge Jiangnan’s disciples.
Zhuge Jiangnan accepted two disciples in his later years. Both of them carried on his wisdom. Jiang Wu possessed his skills of stratagem in the open, and Poisonous Fox carried on his skills of conspiracy. Hence Jiang Wu and Poisonous Fox represented both Yin and Yang, complementing each other.
Jiang Wu was good at controlling the general orientation, and Poisonous Fox was good at conspiracy and trickery. They had their own advantages and distinctiveness.
This act of coercion and lure was very suitable for Poisonous Fox.
Strangely, Master Hou was the backbone of the underground world in Hei Province. The Long Family had a huge influence. The reason why the leaders of the underground world in other cities hadn’t been subdued under high pressure was Master Hou’s existence in Hei Province. This time, Master Hou’s response was so slow that he did not openly declare war on the Long Family until a week later. In addition, Master Hou also sent a large number of masters to gather in the remaining cities.
Besides this, there was a saying in the underground world that Master Hou became afraid after the war started. Master Hou talked with his military adviser Mu Tingchuan. Mu Tingchuan asked Master Hou why he didn’t take action and whether he was afraid. Master Hou said that he was afraid, but he was not afraid of Lord Long. Although Lord Long was strong, he was also a man who had a strong body and a simple mind. The person he really feared was Zhuge Jiangnan.
Master Hou said that it was because of the existence of Zhuge Jiangnan that the Long Family had broken through all the way. This time, Poisonous Fox, Zhuge Jiangnan’s disciple, made the first move in conquering several cities in Hei Province.
Therefore, who Master Hou really feared was Zhuge Jiangnan, not the Long Family.
When these words spread, Zhuge Jiangnan gained great reputation. Originally, he lived in secrecy and many people did not know his existence, but now he was exposed.
Since then, it was widely rumored that Lord Long respected Zhuge Jiangnan as his teacher and listened to the latter’s advice. That’s why Lord Long is so successful today.
But now Zhuge Jiangnan was not in a very good mood, because he just talked with Lord Long about how to deal with Master Hou’s declaration of war against them. Zhuge Jiangnan’s plan was not to use force, but to send Poisonous Fox directly to exert pressure on the leaders of the underground world in other cities. With the strength of the Long Family, those leaders will quickly submit. But Lord Long made light of it, saying that Zhuge Jiangnan must be overtired lately and asked him to take a good rest.
Not only that, Lord Long also recalled Poisonous Fox from Hei Province.
Zhuge Jiangnan was sullen and asked Jiang Wu to help him out of the room. When pacing in the courtyard, suddenly Zhuge Jiangnan sighed and said, “What a cruel move Jiang Zihou made.”
Jiang Wu was surprised and said, “Which tactic did Jiang Zihou adopt?”
Zhuge Jiangnan laughed and said, “Can’t you understand that? Jiang Zihou thoroughly understood Lord Long’s self-righteousness and specially sent people to spread all kinds of rumors giving me the merit of contributing fully to the development of the Long Family. It’s a pity an old man like me can’t take credit for it.”
Jiang Wu frowned and said, “Knowing what Mr. Long is like, he won’t stand for this. Even if he doesn’t conspire against you, I’m afraid he won’t take heed to your plans from now. This tactic is really vicious.”
Zhuge Jiangnan laughed and said, “Lord Long is just like Xiang Yu in ancient times. Although he is brave enough but he is too conceited. He is powerful now and has many martial arts masters, so unifying the underground world of Hei Province will be as simple as crushing ants with car tyres. Otherwise, he will surely suffer great losses. Since he’s suspicious of me, I won’t contribute any suggestion. Let him conquer Hei Province on his own.”
Jiang Wu nodded and said, “You are right. Jiang Zihou is crafty. Jiang Zihou may be crafty, but even if he set Mr. Long against you so that Mr. Long doesn’t follow your advice, Mr. Long can still defeat Jiang Zihou by strength alone. Sometimes, all schemes and conspiracies are useless compared with strength.”
Zhuge Jiangnan sighed deeply. “In that case, you accompany me to move to other villa. Just tell him that I want to live quietly. I don’t want to stay here to bother Lord Long.”
“I understand, Master.”
In the residence of Master Hou, Mu Tingchuan came into the hall and said excitedly when he saw Master Hou, “Master Hou, I just heard from our informer that Lord Long was in conflict with Zhuge Jiangnan. Now Zhuge Jiangnan has moved to another villa.”
Master Hou played with the teacup in his hand and laughed. “Xiao Bing is indeed wise and brave, and the strategy of sowing discord was given by him. Now it has worked.”
Mu Tingchuan laughed and said, “It’s also thanks to Master Hou’s trust in him, but Master Hou, why did you voluntarily give up several provincial powers? All in exchange for the strategy of sowing discord? The Long Family has oppressed everyone till they can hardly breathe. His followers and masters are several times that of ours. Even if they don’t have Zhuge Jiangnan’s help, we definitely can’t overcome him. Giving several cities to him will only help him reach the pinnacle of arrogance. I think the loss would outweigh the gain.”
Master Hou smiled and said, “If this is the end of the plot, it’s certainly not worth it.”
Mu Tingchuan’s eyes lit up and he asked, “Could there be a follow-up plan?”
“Hm.” Master Hou nodded and then sighed deeply. “Xiao Bing should have left for Shangyang City, which is also very important. In addition, we have another step to go. Call Qin San here in a moment.”
“Qin San?” Mu Tingchuan’s face showed some fear. Qin San was one of Master Hou’s secret weapons and controlled Master Hou’s Black Crow Army, and Qin San himself was called “Black Crow”.
“Black Crow” was like his name, representing death and bad luck. When Master Hou sent him, it usually meant imminent death.
The Black Crow Army controlled by Qin San was responsible for spying, intelligence and assassination. Each member was skilled in killing, well-trained and invincible. Even Master Hou’s subordinates were extremely afraid of Black Crow, so it was better not to meet him.
Mu Tingchuan acknowledged, and then cautiously asked, “Who will you send him to kill?”
Master Hou whispered a few words, which brought surprise to Mu Tingchuan’s face.
Daqing City was one of the most developed cities in Hei Province. Because of its economic status, the powerful people here are very rich. In addition, it is closest to City H, the capital of Hei Province, which was first conquered by the Long Family. So, after the declaration of war, the Long Family naturally conquered the city first.
Wang Fujun, the powerful man of Daqing City, was a sheeple. In fact, that’s not his fault. Although Hei Province has always been under the charge of Master Hou, City H had already been the domain of the Long Family. His city was so close to City H, so he was obviously the first to suffer losses after the Long Family took action. Therefore, although he didn’t seek refuge with the Long Family, he dared not offend the Long Family too much and tried not to make his stand.
But after the Long Family took action, people were sent to attack Daqing City immediately, and Wang Fujun’s trusted followers were killed. And with Poisonous Fox’s silver tongue added into the mix, Wang Fujun soon submitted to the Long Family.
Originally he was a leader, but now he had to obey the orders of the Long Family, and even the people protecting him were already belonged to the Long Family. If it hadn’t been for fear of arousing fierce resistance from his loyal followers, the Long Family would have replaced him long ago. Now, Wang Fujun was just a puppet.
Wang Fujun spent the last few days drinking to relieve his worries. At this time, he was singing songs in KTV with several girls in his arms. He was drunk and shouted that Master Hou and Lord Long were no good. No matter who won, they would seize his power.
The two girls in his arms did not understand this and naturally did not dare to answer. They just kept smiling and pouring wine.
At this time, a beautiful woman wearing a low cut dress and black silk stockings walked to the door of the box with a tray of fruit. Outside Wang Fujun’s box stood two people, both of whom were sent by the Long Family to monitor Wang Fujun and be responsible for Wang Fujun’s safety. When the two men saw the beauty in the low cut suit, their eyes immediately lit up. Her cleavage was obvious and her soft, white chests were tempting.
This woman looked very young and beautiful, and wore such sexy clothes.
Remembering that they were on duty, the two men quickly restrained themselves as they looked the beautiful woman up and down. The man on the left asked, “Who are you?”
“The manager asked me to come over and give the boss a free tray of fruit.”
The man coughed and said, “A fruit tray? We’ll have to do a body-search.”
The beautiful woman wrinkled her beautiful eyebrows and said delicately. “A body-search just to send a fruit tray? Is he the emperor? Or the president?”
“Neither, but it’s our duty. I’m sorry.”
The beauty came close to the two men, her waist swaying very seductively, “Okay. Go ahead and search…”
The beauty came very close to them, and her voice was sensuous. Both bodyguards swallowed. One of them subconsciously touched her buttocks and she fell into his arms. With a soft woman in his arms, his whole body too became soft. Right at this time, he only felt a pain in his heart. His eyes widened but before he could speak, the beautiful woman pulled the dagger out of his heart and sliced the other man’s throat with it. Then she opened the door and went in.
Looking at the beautiful woman appearing suddenly, Wang Fujun’s eyes lit up. He swallowed, stood up and laughed, “Little beauty, what are you doing here? You’re so beautiful…”
The beautiful woman smiled coldly, and the dagger was taken out. She pierced Wang Fujun’s heart directly. At the same time, she said in a cold voice, “I want your life!”
