Chapter 498 - Hunting (Part 2) (1/2)

“Third…”

Solomon no longer looked at the Lion King, instead, he looked around repeatedly, as if he was looking for something, “Have they arrived?”

Deng deng deng…

There was a knock on the Lion King’s door, followed by the steely voice of a soldier reporting. Zuo Dongting pressed the button beside his hand to allow the soldiers entry. A middle-aged man with the lieutenant colonel pin, who was as strong as a metal tower, walked in with a three-foot-long box and stopped in front of Zuo Dongting.

“General, this is your personal parcel.”

The well-sealed box was gently placed on the desk in front of Zuo Dongting. The martial dao grandmasters could easily smell a whiff of pungent blood from the perfectly sealed box without even opening it.

The smell of blood comes in many forms, but it was very easy to distinguish this particular smell from the others. It was human blood! More importantly, the blood was still very fresh.

“Aren’t they supposed to arrive by now?” Solomon seemed to be talking to himself. He looked to the front again and said, “Did you receive a long box? Please take a look at it if you did, the parts of your grandson are inside. We were concerned that you missed your grandson too much, so we took special care and sent you one of his parts. If you still miss your grandson in the next few days, I could send another part to you again, for example…”

One minute wasn’t considered short nor long. Zuo Dongting sat on the sofa and felt like he was going through the longest minute of his life as he watched his grandson’s arm being chopped off with a blade by an angry man.

Zuo Dongting realized that the young man who swung the blade said nothing throughout the process of swinging the blade to leaving after the arm was chopped off. He was silent, and remained silent from the beginning till the end; silently chopped the arm, silently sheathed his blade, and silently left. The compelling silence that was projected through the screen felt as if there was an actual mountain crashing down on him.

Zuo Dongting could feel the anger of Qin Fen, the young man on the projection screen, at that very moment.

“Dear General Zuo.”

Xing Wuyi’s image replaced Qin Fen, that contempt pair of gold-rimmed spectacles shone brightly like the sun, which gave everyone the urge to smash it to pieces.

“You are a veteran of the battlefield. I am just a young inexperienced little fox. Any tricks that were used in front of you would just be like a children’s toy. It would be an insult to both your wisdom and my wisdom.”

Zuo Dongting’s eyebrows inadvertently frowned. He hated how this young man looked as if everything was taken for granted whenever he spoke. He hated himself more that he agreed with what the young man said.

“You killed two of Qin Fen’s masters, I’m sure you won’t deny that.” Xing Wuyi found a chair and sat down. He placed his right leg on top of his left leg and gently swaying his toes. He leaned back slightly into his chair, subtly emanating the aura befitting a member of an influential family, “We are young men, it is natural that there might be a lack of consideration, and we do not know how to look at the big picture most of the time. Take the mutiny of the Asian Military Region for example. The consumption of too much personal powers let armies from other states seize the opportunity to expand further; something that we would’ve never considered. As such, I shall just cut straight to my purpose of sending you this video.”

Xing Wuyi habitually pushed the frame of his glasses and his body that was leaning backward slowly leaned forwards. The lens reflected two rays of icy light that was as cold as the snake. Words as cold as winter came out from his red lips and white teeth, “We are going to kill you.”

Zuo Dongting observed every movement of Xin Wuyi and was slightly shocked, his stern face turned into a smile. This was the most arrogant sentence that I’ve heard since I sat on this chair today! Even the Snake King carried subtlety in his words when speaking to me. None had ever dared to speak boldly like that to me.

“Are you smiling?” Xing Wuyi pointed at his handsome face, “I am smiling too. Isn’t that ridiculous to hear? However, this is the truth, we are just more honest than others by telling you our plans. Of course, even if we don’t, you would still know about it one way or another. I’m doing all these just to make you angry, violent, and unable to maintain your composure, only to kill you in the end.”

Zuo Dongting looked at Xing Wuyi in the projection and applauded gently, he raised up his chin slightly and praised, “Congratulations, you did it.”

“You’re welcome, thank you for your compliment.”

Xing Wuyi nodded politely, it felt more like a video conversation rather than a pre-recorded video.

Zuo Dongting sneered, with slight disdain in his tone, “Petty tricks.”

“Petty tricks.”

Xing Wuyi also muttered the same words from his smiling mouth. He smiled and looked at Zuo Dongting who was obviously in shock, “Wasn’t that interesting? I love to guess the thoughts of people through the information I can get my hands on. From the information I got about you, you had a sixteen point three one percent chance to utter ‘petty tricks’. Although the chances are slim, I’d like to bet on this phrase.”

Zuo Dongting felt chills on his cheeks. As a leader, he enjoyed controlling others the most, but this nasty young man had been always been displaying his manipulative abilities since his appearance. He even gambled on something with such a slim chance.

“Okay! Back to the main point!” Xing Wuyi sat up straight, “You would actually be able to see through my tricks no matter how I arrange your assassination.”

Zuo Dongting was sure that he really hated this young man named Xing Wuyi to the bone. The only undefeatable speech in the world was a speech with complete truth and honesty. It would naturally be better for both sides to be honest when dealing with business, but it was clear that they were not talking business right now. The nonchalant conversation revealed a sharp intent of murder. With the whole situation being controlled by Xing Wuyi’s words, he held the initiative firmly in his hands.

As the leader of one of the strongest factions of the East Asian Military, Zuo Dongting did not like the feeling of being controlled.

“Temptation, anti-temptation, saving the hostage, leaving the hostage…” Xing Wuyi shrugged his shoulders and opened his arms, “Everything was useless! After knowing the opponent’s true intentions, I could even think about the possible tricks they would use by calculating their base cards. In such a situation, the more complex my planning is, the more flaws can be found in it due to its complexity.”

In addition to hatred, Zuo Dongting admired Xing Wuyi, albeit begrudgingly. It was not an easy feat for him to get on the same level as Zuo Lin with only two years of military experience. Perhaps it could be said that his grandson wasn’t comparable to Xing Wuyi in many aspects; perhaps Zuo Lin would not lose to Xing Wuyi in strategy calculations, but having full control of the bigger picture and the sense of magnanimity wasn’t something Zuo Lin could possess.

“If Du Zhanpeng was still alive…” Zuo Dongting sighed. If Du Zhanpeng was still alive, things might’ve been better. At least Du Zhanpeng with the help of Xing Wuyi would not give Zuo Lin any chance to prove his worth. That way Zuo Lin would not end up being taken as a hostage.

“After so many words and actions, all I wanted to tell you was to bring Mourad along to the Sahara Desert if you want your grandson alive, we will set up the ambush there. Of course…” Xing Wuyi pushed the glasses up behind his ears, “I will also be awaiting your arrival there, hope to see you after seven days at exactly thirteen o’clock. As for the coordinates, it’s listed in the subtitles below. Oh! Yes, we will only accept your and Mourad’s arrival. If we find out that you brought along other people, don’t blame us for killing the hostage and defecting to Du Hen.”

Zuo Dongting looked at the eyes of Xing Wuyi on the screen for a few seconds, knowing that this young man wouldn’t stoop that far to lie or change his plans spontaneously. That was exactly what he thought and said.

“Seven days… seven days…”

Zuo Dongting trod around his office with his hands behind him. This was obviously a poorly-made old fashion trick to use the hostage as a lure for the rescuers. In fact, a lot of police soap operas featured such daring criminals pulling off similar tricks to trick the agents of justice.

There weren’t many technicalities involved in this trick. However, due to its lack of technicalities, it was also difficult to be solved by others with high technology content.

Zuo Dongting had to admire Xing Wuyi for knowing when to switch and use direct confrontational tactics at a young age.

In front of a renowned military strategist and one of East Asia’s highest commanding officers possessing infinite resources, the more complex the plan, the easier it will fail. Zuo Dongting just needed to simply open one of the rings and everything would be finished.

Xing Wuyi abandoned all intrigues and tricks in favor of direct confrontation! If one cannot use cunning tricks against their enemies, why not confront them directly? Does it matter if they know? Could they do anything even if they knew?

Zuo Dongting knew that he must go personally! The main purpose of this trip was not to save the grandson Zuo Lin, but to kill someone — Xing Wuyi!

Within the short duration of the video, Xing Wuyi calculated the reactions of the viewer many times, even to the point where the time taken for the viewers to receive the parcel was calculated. That was the most terrifying part.

A group of young people engulfed four families in a short period of time and successfully conquered them all. Although it was surprising and something to be envious about, this wasn’t a matter to lose sleep over, as more people were amazed that the new generation could defeat the older ones.

With the appearance of Xing Wuyi, Zuo Dongting has an instinctive intuition that the group of young people who bravely swept across two continents with bloodshed possessed strong intelligence. Everything he did was to tell Zuo Dongting that if he didn’t go, they will kill his grandson. Beyond the surface of the kidnapping was actually a protest!

“If you don’t come, then I will survive! If I survive, what will happen? I think you should be very clear about that.”

A bait! Everything Xing Wuyi did was to show his calculations skills to Zuo Dongting, he even dared to gamble only with a sixteen percent chance. Cooperating with this group of brave and ferocious young men, it couldn’t be sure that he would not make a name for himself in the future. If he doesn’t kill Xing Wuyi now, then the Zuo Clan would never have a day of peace! To the point where sect-annihilation was a possibility!

Losing Zuo Lin? Zuo Dongting could afford the loss! He wasn’t the only grandson of Zuo Dongting, Zuo Lin was just the favorite and the most promising one for Zuo Dongting.

However, Xing Wuyi must die! The final sentence of the projection was also a signal sent to Zuo Dongting! If you don’t kill me after seven days, I will defect to Du Hen. By that time, killing me will be an even harder task! Don’t forget the value of I, Xing Wuyi in the eyes of the Snake King — it is incomparable to the likes of Lier Hao! By then, you can only dream of killing me. As long as I live for another day, you will have to worry for another day! I need not worry, I am younger than you, I can await your death! After your death, sect-annihilation will be the next and final chapter for the Zuo Clan.

After seven days would be the best chance to kill Xing Wuyi! Zuo Dongting took a deep breath and quickly dialed a series of phone numbers, “Strengthen the defenses and be on the lookout for attacks anytime soon.”

The same order was quickly spread across a huge network that was invisible to the naked eye. At the same time, the personnel of the major families was mobilizing quickly. The international weapons smuggling cartel became active once again.

Shenjing Military Headquarters.

Zhao Huzi stood in the office of the Snake King, facing Du Hen, who was sitting in the office chair and resting with his eyes closed.

The sun shone through the big window of the room onto Du Hen’s face. However, it gave people the feeling that they couldn’t see through his true feelings. Even though Zhao Huzi’s appearance was crystal clear, there was no warmth to be felt from him even under the hot sun.

“You have been standing for a long time.” Snake King closed his eyes and broke the silence.

“General.” Zhao Huzi stared at Du Hen puzzled, “Why wasn’t I informed about Lier Hao going to Saturn for a mission?? Why did you approve the military order from Zuo Dongting? Those are your men! This mission was obviously a deathtrap.”