Chapter 149 Hand in Glove

"President He, it's just the two of us now. I want you to be straight with me: if that young man somehow manages to win against the odds, what will you do?" Zhou Dongcheng asked.

He Yuan sneered. "What else is there to do? Every single thing I promised him earlier will be honored in full."

Zhou Dongcheng gave a light chuckle. "Forgive me for being blunt, President He, but knowing you as I do, I'm afraid you aren't quite that generous."

"Hahaha!"

He Yuan suddenly burst into laughter. "Brother Zhou knows me well indeed. You're right, I am a petty man at heart, and I never engage in losing ventures."

Zhou Dongcheng joined in with a hearty laugh. "We are alike in that regard, for I, too, never touch a losing deal. President He, a certain idiom has just come to mind."

"Which idiom?"

Zhou Dongcheng smiled. "Jackals with the same lair—birds of a feather."

Hearing this, He Yuan laughed heartily. "An apt comparison indeed, but between the two of us, who is the jackal and who is the wolf?"

Zhou Dongcheng pointed first at himself, then at He Yuan, and a chilling, vicious glint flashed simultaneously in both men's eyes.

Meanwhile, at the riverside food stalls, Yang Jiekai and the others were still drinking and chatting away.

"Brother Yang, Miss Long, I have some matters to attend to and must take my leave. Please enjoy yourselves."

Chen Peifeng operated several establishments, so his time was naturally tight. After drinking for a while, he stood up to bid farewell.

"Go ahead and take care of your business. We'll get in touch when you're free," Yang Jiekai said with a wave of his hand.

Chen Peifeng rose and let out a sigh. After taking just two steps forward, he suddenly paused. As if making a momentous decision, he turned his head and uttered a rather peculiar remark to Yang Jiekai: "Brother Yang, let this old brother leave you with a word of advice. Sometimes, pressing forward with the current may not be wisdom, because no one can ever tell whether beneath the whirlpools lie even greater vortices."

Without looking back, Chen Peifeng strode swiftly away.

Long Xiaoman glanced sideways at Chen Peifeng's retreating figure. As she peeled a small crayfish, she turned to Yang Jiekai and asked, "What did he mean by that?"

Yang Jiekai laughed heartily. "A good man, well worth befriending. If you have free time in the future, you should keep in touch with him more often. He makes a fine partner."

In truth, how could Yang Jiekai fail to understand the underlying meaning of Chen Peifeng's parting words?

Chen Peifeng was considered a minor player in Anhai City; characters like He Yuan and Zhou Dongcheng were figures he dared not offend. Naturally, he could not spell things out too bluntly.

Put simply, his message conveyed just one piece of information to Yang Jiekai: be wary of those two men.

Even without Chen Peifeng's warning, Yang Jiekai understood. Bigwigs like He Yuan and Zhou Dongcheng were not sitting down to drink and chat at a roadside food stall out of any sense of "brotherly affection," especially since there was no common ground of interest between them yet.

The main reason those two were acting this way was that Yang Jiekai currently served a vital purpose for them—someone had to play the role of the vanguard taking the initial blows.

Yang Jiekai knew that even if he defeated Wu Lianhai, those two would never genuinely or warmly welcome him. They might even resort to any means necessary to deal with him. The underworld of Anhai City was a place of scarce resources and too many contenders; these two major factions would never sit idly by and watch a new force rise.

"Xiaoman, tell me about the Kaixuan Group and the Ten Sharp Blades under its command," Yang Jiekai asked. Until now, he still didn't know much about the Kaixuan Group.

Long Xiaoman was in the middle of peeling a crayfish. She pulled out a tissue, wiped her mouth, and said, "Leaving aside the Kaixuan Group's overall strength, which easily ranks in the top three across the entire province, the Ten Sharp Blades under them are actually the leaders of ten major branch divisions. Every single one of them is the elite of the elite. Pull out any random one, and you'll find a ruthless character capable of dominating a territory entirely on his own."

"Then tell me, if all the underworld forces in Anhai City joined hands to take down Wu Lianhai together, whose chances of winning would be higher?" Yang Jiekai asked again.

Long Xiaoman replied, "That would undoubtedly be the local forces of Anhai City. No matter how powerful the Kaixuan Group is, they are ultimately outsiders, and Wu Lianhai is merely one of the Ten Sharp Blades. However, it is simply impossible for the underworld factions of Anhai City to unite against Wu Lianhai."

"You must understand that while dealing with a single Wu Lianhai might be relatively easy, standing behind him is the formidable Kaixuan Group. Under such circumstances, no one—not even He Yuan or Zhou Dongcheng—dares to rashly declare war on Wu Lianhai. No one dares to offend the Kaixuan Group. That is precisely why Wu Lianhai was able to rise so rapidly and expand his influence in Anhai City in such a short period of time."

Yang Jiekai nodded; Long Xiaoman's perspective matched his own. There was an old saying: "To beat a dog, you must look at its master." Behind Wu Lianhai stood the Kaixuan Group, and Wu Lianhai was far from a mere dog. Whoever stepped up to be the vanguard would be directly challenging the Kaixuan Group face-to-face.

Yet, despite understanding these truths, Yang Jiekai had no other choice this time. For the Dragon Hall, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once victorious, they would instantly establish their reputation. If the Dragon Hall wanted to carve out a foothold in Anhai City's underworld, this brutal battle was one they had to face.

Early the next morning, Yang Jiekai summoned the key core members of the Dragon Hall to a meeting at the Dragon Palace Bar, primarily to discuss how to deal with Wu Lianhai.

After undergoing over three months of demonic training, the morale of the Dragon Hall was soaring, and their combat effectiveness had skyrocketed like a rocket. Eager to flex their muscles and thrilled at the prospect of taking on Wu Lianhai, everyone was raring to go.

Qin Feng gesticulated wildly as he suggested, "Let's send someone to deliver a formal challenge to Wu Lianhai, set a time and place, and go head-to-head with them in a real, bare-knuckle fight!"

Yang Jiekai listened in speechlessness, wondering if Qin Feng's brain had been fried by the recent demonic training. A formal challenge? Did he think this was ancient warfare between two imperial armies?

Gongsun Tiedan chimed in, "I think it's better to play dirty. I refuse to believe Wu Lianhai never goes anywhere alone. We can assign people to monitor him twenty-four hours a day. The moment he's unaccompanied, we rush in and take him out."

Old Gun nodded in agreement. "I'm with Tiedan on this—let's play dirty."

Red Boy, Wang Sankui, and Yuan Datou also offered their respective suggestions. Yang Jiekai rested his chin in his hand, gently tapping a finger against the tabletop. After a moment of deep contemplation, he said, "Taking down a single Wu Lianhai is simple enough, but the adversary we face this time is not just Wu Lianhai himself, but the Kaixuan Group standing behind him. Therefore, the focus of our discussion today shouldn't be how to deal with Wu Lianhai, but rather how to ensure that once Wu Lianhai is eliminated, the resulting fire from the Kaixuan Group doesn't burn us."

As soon as these words were spoken, the previously lively and boisterous crowd instantly fell silent.

The difficulty was simply too high. The eyes and ears of the Kaixuan Group were everywhere. To silently eliminate Wu Lianhai without arousing the suspicion of the Kaixuan Group was indeed a formidable challenge.

In the end, the meeting yielded no feasible plan, leaving Yang Jiekai with a massive headache.

"Department Head Zhang, what are your thoughts?"

Finally, Yang Jiekai had to pin his hopes on the military strategist, Zhang Hua.

Zhang Hua sighed as well, gently shaking his head. "This seems rather difficult. Trying to completely pull the wool over the Kaixuan Group's eyes feels like an impossible mission."

Yang Jiekai paused for a moment, then stretched his arms and let out a yawn. "Since that's the case, let's wrap things up for today. We'll discuss it another day. Meeting adjourned."

After leaving the Dragon Palace Bar, Yang Jiekai did not return to the eastern suburbs with the others. Instead, he rented a private room in a teahouse all by himself, ordered a pot of Longjing tea, and reclined lazily on a comfortable sofa with his eyes half-closed, as if waiting for something.

A short while later, the door to the private room was pushed open, and a scholarly-looking man walked in from outside.

Yang Jiekai opened his eyes, poured two cups of tea, and smiled at the man. "Department Head Zhang, please have some tea."

The newcomer was none other than Zhang Hua. Although he had claimed to have no solutions during the meeting earlier, he had secretly given Yang Jiekai a subtle signal behind the scenes.

After gesturing for Zhang Hua to sit down, Yang Jiekai asked, "Department Head Zhang, it's just the two of us now. Speak your mind freely."

Zhang Hua nodded. "Please forgive me. I do have a plan this time, but it must be kept strictly confidential. If even a whisper of it leaks out, the entire endeavor will fail completely. That is why I remained silent during the meeting earlier."

Yang Jiekai nodded. Having noticed Zhang Hua's hesitant expression during the meeting, he had already guessed that a scheme was brewing.

Without beating around the bush, Zhang Hua went straight to the point. "My plan consists of two steps. First, we must put on a show and manufacture a few incidents to make it look like the Dragon Hall is descending into internal strife."

"Internal strife?" Yang Jiekai frowned slightly.

Zhang Hua nodded and continued, "Correct, internal strife—though a fabricated one. We will use internal conflict as a smokescreen so that everyone believes our organization is experiencing severe internal problems."

Yang Jiekai nodded. "Go on."

Zhang Hua proceeded, "We will make a big commotion out of it—the bigger, the better—so that everyone knows we are in trouble. Then, we will move on to the second step."

Pausing briefly, Zhang Hua continued, "The second step is relatively straightforward. I know Brother Yang possesses extraordinary martial prowess. When the time comes, you will seize an opportunity to silently eliminate Wu Lianhai. With the smokescreen of our internal fighting as cover, once Wu Lianhai dies, no one will suspect us. In this way, we can completely distance ourselves from the entire affair."

Following that, Zhang Hua elaborated on several intricate details regarding these two steps, presenting a plan that was remarkably well-organized and airtight.

Yang Jiekai stared intently at Zhang Hua, patiently waiting for him to finish. He then picked up his teacup, took a gentle sip, and looked at Zhang Hua with a serious expression. "Department Head Zhang, your plan is brilliantly conceived, but I have a digression to make."

"Please go ahead, Brother Yang," Zhang Hua said respectfully.

Yang Jiekai looked straight at him. "There is an old saying: 'If you employ someone, do not doubt them; if you doubt them, do not employ them.' While your plan indeed requires confidentiality, your distrust runs far too deep. Qin Feng, Old Gun, Gongsun, and even Red Boy, Yuan Datou, and Wang Sankui—they are all our own brothers. There was no need for you to keep secrets from them."

"And what about Long Xiaoman? Don't forget, she is currently the head of the Dragon Hall. Coming to me with this matter while intentionally keeping it from Long Xiaoman crosses a major boundary. I say this not to scold you, but you must remember: what is a brother? A brother is someone whose back you can safely entrust to your own once a bond is forged. Next time, please present such ideas openly in front of everyone. Never let our brothers feel alienated. Just think, if word of our secret private meeting today were to leak out, what would Old Gun and the others think?"

Though Yang Jiekai spoke in an even, gentle tone, Zhang Hua felt beads of sweat the size of soybeans breaking out all over his forehead.