Chapter 1859 — Returning the Assets

Wei Zhao left with an easy mind. The news had surely spread by now; anyone with the nerve to come troubling Gu Pengzhan and the young lady after this would have to be brain-damaged—or courting death.

Of course, Wei Zhao never imagined that a single strike would make every hidden family lie down and fall silent; that was hardly realistic. Once they gradually realized that he was still only an early Earth-rank expert, they would bare their fangs again. But for the moment they did not dare, and a stretch of time was all Wei Zhao needed.

If he could only press on with the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, Wei Zhao was confident he could raise his strength to another level entirely.

The An family—this was An Jianwen's villa. Yet An Mingyue, An Mingri, An Jiande and An Jianwen were all seated in the living room.

Something momentous had happened today; as members of the Fire Wolf Gang, once one of the five minor clans, they had naturally gotten word at the first moment.

"Wei Zhao didn't suffer qi deviation after all—instead he unleashed his might and killed three Earth-rank experts in one move, and one of them was late Earth-rank. This time... our An family is in danger..." As he spoke, An Mingri's eyes slid toward An Jianwen. Back when they had swallowed up Gu Pengzhan's assets, he had been more eager than anyone; now that trouble had come, he was the first to jump out: "Jianwen, I'm not blaming you, but striking before we had a clear picture of the situation—that's what's brought trouble down on the An family..."

"Hah. If we're talking trouble, then our eldest brother here arranging for someone to run Gu Pengzhan down—isn't that a bigger trouble? Property is a small thing; a human life is another matter entirely. Do you think Wei Zhao will simply let it go once he learns of it?" An Jianwen gave An Jiande a cold smile. "This is the An family's business—we all carry it together. Deny it to the death, and Wei Zhao has no proof! But if anyone lets a whisper slip... heh, then we all go down together!"

An Jiande's body gave a violent shudder. He had never dealt with Wei Zhao, but hearing that Wei Zhao had wiped out three Earth-rank experts in a single move—such methods and such strength were beyond anything An Jiande could match. So after An Jianwen said his piece, a flicker of worry passed through An Jiande's eyes, and he looked to his father.

An Mingri sighed. He had meant to seize the chance to attack An Jianwen, but it seemed that everyone was in on this now. Besides, An Jianwen was held in high regard by the Fire Wolf Gang; even if they tore away all pretense with Wei Zhao, with the gang's protection An Jianwen would likely come to no great harm—the Fire Wolf Gang did, after all, have Heaven-rank experts, and at the very worst they could preserve An Jianwen's life.

The others were a different matter. An Jiande was the mastermind behind the car crash; if Wei Zhao learned of that, he would likely take his knife to An Jiande first.

"All right, we all keep our mouths shut and don't say anything careless. Do what needs doing and don't let Wei Zhao see through us!" An Mingri said. "Jianwen is right—as long as there's no evidence, he can't touch us!"

"Who says that without evidence, no one can touch you?" A voice came from behind them all, and everyone in the room started in alarm.

They had shut every door and window before holding this discussion—so how could another person have appeared in this living room without a sound?

And the voice was familiar. An Jianwen knew at once who it was; a flash of terror crossed his face, but then he laughed. "Ha, if it isn't my brother Wei Zhao!"

"Uncle Chu's car crash—was that your doing?" Wei Zhao ignored An Jianwen entirely and strode toward An Jiande.

Terror flickered in An Jiande's eyes and he shook his head again and again. "N-no... not me... Everyone knows he crashed the car himself... and there's the dashcam and witnesses to prove it..."

"He said it—that it was you. I heard it all." Wei Zhao lifted his chin toward An Jianwen.

"Don't listen to his nonsense... no—he was the one behind it, he's the mastermind, he schemed to swallow the Gu family's assets..." An Jiande was a cowardly man; otherwise he could never have spent all these years quietly running an organ trade, while An Jianwen went so far as to have people kidnapped and their kidneys cut out.

"Oh, he won't get away either." Wei Zhao slapped An Jiande across the face. "You know what? I can't stand men like you, with no spine. If you did it, then you did it—and you'd pin it on someone else?"

An Jiande's face swelled up at once. He was an ordinary man—how could he be a match for an Earth-rank expert like Wei Zhao? If Wei Zhao wished to kill him, one move would be enough. But Wei Zhao did not; he was torturing him, repaying An Jiande one by one for every bit of suffering Gu Pengzhan had endured.

So before An Jiande could open his mouth, Wei Zhao drove his foot into the man's crotch. An Jiande's eyes bulged, a howl tore from him, and his body curled up like a boiled lobster.

The Heirless Groin Kick—his master's wife's signature move. She had once tried it out on Wei Zhao's master, though without success; Wei Zhao, however, had learned it all the same.

It was a rather vicious, underhanded move, one Wei Zhao normally did not use. But against a man like An Jiande, Wei Zhao wanted only to make him suffer more, so as to pay back everything he had done to Gu Pengzhan.

"You... what are you doing!" A flash of fury passed through An Mingri's eyes, but when he thought of Wei Zhao's dazzling exploits that day, he dared not act against him. "What do you mean by this? Trespassing on private property? If you don't stop, I'll call the police!"

"Oh, go ahead. As it happens, I recorded everything you just said." Wei Zhao spoke lightly, but his hands never paused; another heavy punch lashed out, slamming An Jiande to the floor.

An Mingri had not expected Wei Zhao to have recorded them, and for a moment he was caught in a bind. Calling the police had been only a bluff to frighten Wei Zhao—but what Wei Zhao held in his hands was deeply damaging to the An family. If they called the police, the ones who suffered would only be the An family.

"Let him go, and I'll return all of the Gu Group's assets to you!" An Mingyue sighed inwardly. The tide had turned; all the An family's scheming had been for nothing.

It was not that An Mingyue pitied An Jiande. The crux was that once Wei Zhao finished with An Jiande, he would surely turn to deal with the others. Better to make a show of goodwill than to let Wei Zhao act.

"The matter of the assets can be settled later." Wei Zhao planted his foot on An Jiande's spine, and there came a crisp crack. Even if the man did not die from that kick, he would be crippled for life.

"Awooo..." An Jiande howled in agony.

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