Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Ouyang Junwei was Ouyang Kanqi's elder son. The murders were initially classified as a vendetta killing. But cracking the case would prove extraordinarily difficult—after all, the identities of the three were highly sensitive, and a killer organization is an organization that makes enemies of countless people. With so many deaths on their hands, who could say whom they had offended?

Moreover, all three had entered the country illegally, which made it all the harder to determine their purpose in coming. It was quite possible that the three had come to carry out an assassination and, having failed, had instead been assassinated themselves.

And so the matter had to be shelved. As the only partial insiders, Wang Mei's parents had believed Yang Juehuan's story at the time: that underworld figures had been shooting it out upstairs, and that Yang Ce had seized the chaos to rescue them. So they felt little surprise at the deaths of Liu Jihao and those three strangers.

A shootout—what good could come of it? Still, they had not gone to the police about anything. The old couple did not want any trouble, and besides, it was all for the better that Liu Jihao was dead. The man had dared to kidnap them—scum like that was better off dead.

Far away in P Province, Ouyang Junyuan sat haggard on the sofa. His father's and elder brother's bodies had already been brought back. Though there was no evidence, Ouyang Junyuan was certain that Yang Ce had done this.

Because his father and elder brother had gone to avenge him. Ouyang Junyuan was filled with regret; he should never have let his father and brother take up the fight. But who could have foreseen that Yang Cenbin would be so formidable?

Though Ouyang Junyuan was the legal heir of the Ouyang family and now held the entire Ouyang fortune in his hands, and had taken over his father's Eagle Eye assassin squad, he was not happy in the least. Ouyang Junyuan had no interest in any of it; all he wanted was to be a pampered young master—when he made a mess of things, his elder brother and father would clean it up, and he could live a carefree life.

But now all of that had been shattered. Overnight, he had lost every one of his kin. Earlier, when he had called and could not reach his father and brother, Ouyang Junyuan had not thought much of it—after all, his father and brother had entered Macau illegally, and it was only natural that they could not freely contact the outside world. But the news he received was that his father and elder brother had died at the same time.

To be honest, Ouyang Junyuan had no head for business. The Ouyang family holdings had passed into his hands, and he could not run them, but fortunately there were still professional managers.

These past two days had left Ouyang Junyuan utterly drained. But what could he do? His hollow eyes stared out the window; he truly did not know what he should do.

He loathed Yang Ce with all his heart—the man who had killed his father and murdered his brother; how could Ouyang Junyuan ever forget such a grudge? Slamming his fist savagely into the sofa, Ouyang Junyuan shouted, "Yang Ce, you and I are sworn enemies!"

"Young Master Ouyang, give but the word, and I will lead every man in the assassin squad and see to it that Yang Ce is killed, and quickly," said a middle-aged man seated across from Ouyang Junyuan, his voice equally full of hatred.

This man was the steward of the Eagle Eye assassin squad, and in life he had been Ouyang Kanqi's most loyal servant. With Ouyang Kanqi dead, he too was overcome with grief and indignation, and longed to do away with Yang Ce and avenge Ouyang Kanqi.

"Kill him quickly?" Ouyang Junyuan shook his head and gave a bitter laugh. "That fellow called Yanchixia 001 is formidable, isn't he? And what came of it?"

The deaths of his father and brother together had, in these few days, abruptly matured Ouyang Junyuan; he was no longer as impetuous as before, and had grown much more cautious in his dealings.

The Eagle Eye steward was taken aback, then lowered his head dejectedly. Yes—among the assassin squad, Yanchixia 001 had been the most formidable of all, and he too had been wiped out all the same.

Much as the Eagle Eye steward wished to avenge Ouyang Kanqi, Ouyang Junyuan was right: they were no match for Yang Juehuan. Their strength was inferior to his, and going after him would only mean taking a beating.

"The young master speaks truly. I was too rash." The Eagle Eye steward spoke somewhat dejectedly. "But to let that Yang Ce off just like that—I truly cannot accept it."

"Let him off?" Ouyang Junyuan gave a cold snort. He had no intention of letting Yang Ce off. He shook his head and said, "I have never once thought of letting Yang Cenbin off. This grudge must be avenged."

"How about we go to the police?" The steward of the assassin squad had thought for a long while without hitting upon any good way to deal with Yang Juehuan, and so he suggested that Ouyang Junyuan report the matter to the police.

"Go to the police, old steward? What kind of joke is that?" Ouyang Junyuan shook his head. "If the police really do get involved, we're in trouble. Never mind whether there's evidence—if our assassin squad, the white powder in our venues, and everything else get dragged into the light, any one of those is a capital offense. The police had already set their sights on the Ouyang family's drug trafficking; they just never had the chance to move. Then my brother died.

So when the police came to me, I played the fool—claimed I knew nothing about my brother or my father. Getting tangled up in it now would be unwise. Better safe than sorry."

The Eagle Eye Group steward nodded. It seemed Ouyang Junyuan had thought it through more carefully after all.

"By the way, old steward, do you know what level our Eagle Eye assassin squad ranks at compared to the other squads?" Ouyang Junyuan asked.

"Bottom of the barrel, I'd say," the Eagle Eye steward answered honestly. "But even bottom of the barrel is more than enough for ordinary people. Who'd have guessed this Yang Ce would..."

"Bottom of the barrel." Ouyang Junyuan murmured to himself. "Say, old steward, if we hired a world-class assassin organization to kill Yang Ce, how much would it cost? We don't have to do it ourselves—we can just pay someone, can't we?"

"A first-rate assassin organization?" The Eagle Eye steward was taken aback, then said, "Organizations like that don't just take any job, and besides—" Here he paused.

"And besides what?" Ouyang Junyuan pressed. "Old steward, you're in the assassin world too. You should be able to find them and ask for help, right?"

"And besides, their prices are outrageously high," the Eagle Eye steward said. "The jobs those people take are all top-tier. Small jobs like assassinating a political rival or an international underworld boss—they won't even touch them, because there's not enough money in it."

"Money's no problem. We're not short on cash," Ouyang Junyuan said without hesitation. "Old steward, can you find them? As long as Yang Ce dies, I'd smash the pot and sell the iron—I'd sell the whole company if I had to."

Ouyang Junyuan had never been good at running a company, and on that point he was clear-eyed. The professional managers might not dare to hoodwink him now, but that could change.

Those people were all old foxes. If they discovered what a greenhorn he was at business, they would absolutely cook the company's books behind his back. And then he'd be ruined.

So Ouyang Junyuan would rather just sell the company and be done with it. He had never been ambitious; chasing women and enjoying life was already wonderful enough. As long as he kept enough money to live the high life, that was plenty.

"Finding them should be possible. There's a global platform for exchanging assassin contracts. Even though we're bottom-tier, we still have access—we just can't take high-level jobs," the Eagle Eye steward explained.