"The corpse?" Yang Xiao was taken aback. He had thought it was so treasure. "What do they want with a corpse?"
"Don’t ask for now. In short, this matter is very complicated and can’t be explained in a few words. Don’t co back yet, wait for my news," Nalan Shuo said hurriedly before hanging up the phone.
Yang Xiao slowly put down his phone, not expecting that this report seed to have uncovered sothing remarkable.
The truck was loaded with corpses, ones that ca from the Yin Temple lineage. Even the Netherworld-level masters were wary of those guys, personally stating that their malevolence was unmatched in the world.
Yet for Yang Xiao, this raid by the Patrol Defense Office was fruitful. The Marquis Zhenbei was dead, the Marquis Zhengdong and An Nan Marquis were captured. Given what they had done over the years, the consequences seed dire. Now, of the Four Major Families once entrenched in Xiang Ma Town, only his family remained.
The main branches of the other three were mostly cleared out during last night’s operation. Tong Han and Granny Jin each led a team to raid the residences of the Marquis Zhengdong and An Nan Marquis, taking almost all of their savings accumulated over the years back ho.
The three families had conspired to set a trap for Yang Xiao, but only ended up losing instead of gaining, not only wiping out their fortunes but losing their lives in the process. This wasn’t entirely due to Yang Xiao’s cunning, but primarily because he held the Deputy Director’s position at the Patrol Defense Office.
He was organized and had backing. Like this ti, when he received the ssage, Nalan Shuo called in many big figures with a single phone call. Even the Deputy Director from the Provincial Bureau ca to the scene to command, and for precaution, a top-level expert was summoned overnight from the General Bureau to oversee the operation.
With such a disposition and expert configuration, it’s unlikely even the three of the Marquis Zhengdong would escape, much less if a master were present.
This is the confidence of the Patrol Defense Office, one of the three major forces in the country. Yang Xiao couldn’t help but feel a sense of shared pride.
Now that only one of the Four Major Families remains, the eting organized by the Peace Hotel was no longer necessary. On a clear morning two days later, two distinguished guests arrived. One was Yang Xiao’s senior brother, Daoist Qingfeng, and the other was a familiar face, the elder who hosted the auction, who if mory served was called Gu Shoudao.
After inviting them in and seating them, Yang Xiao could discern from their seating arrangent that today’s main event concerned Gu Shoudao.
Indeed, after so pleasantries, the kindly-faced Gu Shoudao got straight to the point. Though his words were tactful, Yang Xiao understood. The hotel had discovered that the three marquises of Zhengdong were betrayed by an insider and that the operation was led by the Patrol Defense Office. Nalan Shuo from the Rongcheng Lin’an Office had appeared at the scene and persuaded Marquis Zhengdong and An Nan Marquis to surrender. It almost seed like he was pointing fingers, saying they were sold out by their own people.
With the hotel’s intelligence capabilities, Yang Xiao was not surprised they found this out. Ultimately, it was the other three families who plotted against him first. If they hadn’t targeted him, things wouldn’t have ended this way.
To be precise, their downfall was entirely their own doing—it was like lifting a rock only to drop it on their own feet.
Yang Xiao felt no guilt over this and made no effort to hide; he directly admitted that he was the one who leaked the information.
"Pingxi Marquis, don’t misinterpret the hotel’s intentions. Mr. Gu isn’t here to confront you; otherwise, there would be more than just the two of us here."
In front of the Peace Hotel’s emissary, Daoist Qingfeng put on a stern face, appearing to admonish Yang Xiao, but in reality, he was revealing a crucial piece of information, letting Yang Xiao know the hotel wasn’t planning to make things difficult for him this ti, suggesting he should know when to stop.
Indeed, with Daoist Qingfeng playing the stern role, Gu Shoudao, representing the hotel, proposed conditions, asking Yang Xiao to hand over the benefits obtained from last night’s raid of the Marquis Zhengdong and An Nan Marquis’s residences.
But not all of it—just part of it. Gu Shoudao conveniently took out a portfolio from his jacket, containing drawings of over a dozen Resentful Eyes, with illustrations and clearly marked annotations beneath. These valuable items are currently stored in Yang Xiao’s warehouse.
These dozen or so Resentful Eyes are quite valuable, indicating the hotel had thoroughly investigated each family’s background. If he continued to operate in Xiang Ma Town, offending the Peace Hotel was not an option. In any case, Yang Xiao had achieved his goals this ti and his demand for Resentful Eyes wasn’t high, so he agreed to the conditions.
As a return, Gu Shoudao promised on the spot that the hotel wouldn’t bring up this matter again, or hold him accountable in the future. As for the war booty beyond those dozen Resentful Eyes, all of it would belong to Yang Xiao.
Moreover, the hotel transferred a few scarce shops that originally belonged to the other three families over to Yang Xiao.
After seeing off his senior brother and Gu Shoudao, Yang Xiao imdiately called Ling Yanyu, handed the portfolio to him, and instructed him to take a team to the warehouse to pack and box up the Resentful Eyes, to be delivered to the hotel tonight.
After a restful afternoon nap, Yang Xiao had just awoken when Ling Yanyu rushed in excitedly, telling him that two items from the portfolio were missing. Despite checking the warehouse thoroughly, they weren’t found. The staff claid they had never seen those two Resentful Eyes.
Yang Xiao had Ling Yanyu point out the two missing items on the portfolio—a black cloak and a pair of won’s embroidered shoes, both highly prized items in the portfolio.
"Whose items are these?"
"They belonged to the An Nan Marquis; last night’s raid on them was initiated by Granny Jin." Ling Yanyu replied.
Yang Xiao could certainly hear the underlying ssage in his half-apprentice’s words, and he trusted the hotel’s intelligence. The items on the portfolio should theoretically be in his possession.
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