Chapter 31: Kill, Confronting the Qiangsheng Group

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“Oh? Gao Qisheng really intends to have that many people buried with his son?” After hearing Gao Lan describe Gao Qisheng’s plans, Yan Tian felt a chill in his heart. He had never imagined that Gao Qisheng could lose his reason to such an extent. Unable to find the killer, he actually intended to wipe out everyone who might possibly be suspected of the murder.

Gao Lan nodded. “My father—”

She shook her head, banishing those two words from her mind completely, then continued, “Gao Qisheng may look refined on the surface, but he is actually a scoundrel. His elder brother, Gao Qiang, handles legitimate business, while he is in charge of the underworld’s affairs. Over the years, his hands have been stained with plenty of blood. To him, human lives all have a price. He has always believed that every person’s life can be measured in money. As long as he throws out enough cash, he believes he can buy anyone’s life.”

Yan Tian frowned. Stroking the space between his brows, he said slowly, “Even people in the underworld do not all deserve death… Let alone those merchants who merely had business disputes with Gao Qisheng, or the students at our school. Believe me, Gao Qisheng will find out about my conflict with Gao Qianduo sooner or later. In that case, I should also be one of his targets for elimination. Still, he truly should not drag so many innocent people into this.”

He shook his head and said to Gao Lan, “Xiaolan, call Gao Qisheng and tell him that the killer has been caught, but there is still a mastermind behind him whom we have not yet identified. Tell Gao Qisheng to choose a place and take me there so I can negotiate with him.”

“You—you intend to kill him?” Gao Lan’s voice trembled slightly.

Yan Tian gave a dark smile. “I can’t let so many innocent people take the blame for me, can I? All right, call him at once. I still want to sit the entrance exam for Peking University. With the Gao family stirring up so much trouble, how am I supposed to concentrate on my studies? Though I am somewhat reluctant to admit it, my greatest weakness happens to be gone now. I can finally fight them without restraint.”

“Your greatest weakness? That girl named Shi Kexin? She has indeed left, but what about your other four girlfriends? The Gao family has tremendous wealth and influence. If they mobilize both the underworld and legitimate forces against you, no matter how capable you are, you still will not be able to protect them…”

“My other four girlfriends?” Yan Tian burst out laughing. “They are not my girlfriends. They are my employers, and I am their bodyguard. Besides, those four female tyrants are so formidable that everyone else ought to thank heaven they have not gone looking for trouble. Anyone who picks a fight with them is simply courting death.”

“Really?” Gao Lan looked unconvinced. “They look so delicate…”

“Do not be fooled by appearances.” Yan Tian smiled mysteriously, raised his right index finger, and wagged it. “Those who underestimate them may not even know how they died. All right, let us go back. Call that Gao fellow.”

“Do—you really have to kill Gao Qisheng?” Although Gao Lan had a vicious temperament and had killed countless people, she was not bad at heart. Above all, she understood gratitude and repaid kindness. Though she had now broken with Gao Qisheng and had become utterly disillusioned with him, she still felt uneasy upon hearing that Yan Tian intended to kill him.

Yan Tian looked deeply at Gao Lan. “I do not know exactly what sort of relationship exists between you and Gao Qisheng, but I also know that you suffered terribly last night. Let me put it this way: Gao Qisheng must die by my hand. Who told him to provoke me? Provoking me would have been bad enough, but he even dragged so many innocent people into the water. I, Yan Tian, am no saint, but I know the difference between gratitude and grievance. If I do not kill him, many innocent people will die because of him. Therefore, he must die.”

Gao Lan asked, “Then, after you kill Gao Qisheng, what will you do if his elder brother, Gao Qiang, tries to kill you?”

Without hesitation, Yan Tian replied, “Kill him.”

“And if someone wants revenge for the Gao family?”

“Kill them too.”

“Can you think of anything besides killing?”

“I cannot help it. I only want to live a quiet life.”

“What if everyone in the world comes to trouble you? Can you kill every single person on earth? Please, killing is not the only way to solve a problem.”

Yan Tian gave a contemptuous laugh. “Are you an idiot? How could everyone in the world possibly come looking for trouble with me? Do you think they have nothing better to do than watch me all day? Use some common sense. Yes, killing is not the only way to solve a problem, but it is the most effective and thorough method. If I kill everyone who harbors ill intentions toward me, I can sleep peacefully at night. Enough. There is no need to persuade me anymore. Make the call. I truly want to meet this tycoon who dominates both the legitimate world and the underworld. Do not worry—I will not ask you to help me.”

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The Yan Tian of today did not exactly treat human life as worthless, but an increasingly self-centered and domineering nature had gradually begun to take root in his heart.

Gao Lan sighed. “Can you keep me company and talk for a while? There is no need to make the call immediately. Although Gao Qisheng has gone mad, he cannot possibly begin taking revenge today. Today he will only gather information, and even after he has collected everything, he will not act at once. After all, he wants so many people dead. If he killed them all within a few days, the consequences would be enormous. Judging by his usual methods, aside from underworld figures and habitual criminals on the run, he will deal with everyone else slowly, arranging accidents that appear reasonable and legally explicable.”

For some reason, Gao Lan was astonishingly certain that if Yan Tian said Gao Qisheng would die, then Gao Qisheng would certainly die. No matter how much money he possessed or how great his influence was, it seemed that the moment Yan Tian declared he wanted his life, his death was inevitable. She knew that Yan Tian had made up his mind and that trying to dissuade him would be useless.

She was deeply conflicted. On the one hand, she believed Gao Qisheng deserved to die. On the other, she felt that luring him out to his death should not be something she did. Driven by this subtle turmoil, she wanted to talk with Yan Tian about anything unrelated, if only to let Gao Qisheng live a little longer.

How could Yan Tian fail to understand her thoughts? After a moment’s consideration, he decided to indulge her.

“All right. Let us run a little longer.”

The two of them silently circled the old family residence twice more. Then Gao Lan suddenly asked, “Yan Tian, do you have any dreams?”

“Why do you ask?” Yan Tian replied. “What about you? What is your dream?”

“My dream used to be helping Gao Qisheng eliminate all his enemies, so that whenever he saw me, he would praise me. Do you know what my greatest happiness once was? After I killed one of his enemies for him, he would pat me on the head and praise me again and again for being capable.” Gao Lan’s voice was filled with unbearable bitterness. “But now… my dream can never come true.”

“That is a very simple dream.”

Gao Lan shook her head. “Even such a simple dream is now impossible. Gao Qisheng… He only ever regarded me as a tool. He merely saw me as a loyal dog that happened to be better at biting than most.”

“Would you mind telling me your story?” Yan Tian suddenly found the girl’s words rather intriguing.

“I…” Gao Lan shook her head and forced a smile. “What good would it do to tell you? It no longer means anything. What about you? What is your dream?”

“Me?” Yan Tian chuckled. “To live my life quietly and peacefully. That is my greatest dream.”

“Impossible,” Gao Lan said with certainty. “A man as powerful as you cannot possibly have such an insignificant dream. I think your dream must be to conquer the world.”

“Who told you that every powerful man has to conquer the world?” Yan Tian said disdainfully. “As far as I am concerned, the greatest achievement is watching other people show off.”

“Heh heh.” After being miserable for so long, Gao Lan finally laughed. She raised her small fist and lightly punched Yan Tian on the shoulder. “Yan Tian, stop telling me things like that.”

“I am telling the truth…” Yan Tian’s gaze suddenly became extraordinarily deep. He stared intently at the distant, flawless blue sky. After a long while, he slowly exhaled and said, “Transformers… When I was a child, my dream was to become a Transformer.”

Gao Lan’s eyes widened. She stopped walking and stared at Yan Tian for a while before finally squatting down, clutching her stomach, and bursting into hysterical laughter.

“Heh, women are all like this.” Yan Tian shook his head helplessly. “You do not believe lies, and you do not believe the truth either. I am not deceiving you. When I was little, I really did want to become a Transformer.”

“Stop—stop saying that! Hahaha… You are killing me… Hahahaha…”

Gao Lan laughed without the slightest trace of feminine decorum. Yan Tian squatted in front of her with an innocent expression, shaking his head repeatedly.

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“At nine tomorrow night, at the abandoned chemical plant in the southern suburbs. I will bring you alone.”

After returning to Gao Lan’s room and making the call to Gao Qisheng, Gao Lan told Yan Tian about the arrangement.

“Oh? Zhengnan Coal Chemical Plant? That is an excellent place for silencing someone and making a corpse disappear!” Yan Tian laughed.

The abandoned chemical plant in the southern suburbs was notorious. It lay a full fifteen kilometers from the city, with a small mountain more than two hundred meters high separating it from the urban district. Even if someone opened fire with a machine gun there, the disturbance would hardly be noticed. In the past, many gang battles in Crane City had been arranged at that location. It was said that the chemical pools at the abandoned plant had dissolved no fewer than a thousand corpses.

“It seems Gao Qisheng takes you very seriously,” Gao Lan said worriedly. “To deal with a killer—especially one I have already captured—he could have chosen any place for the meeting. Yet he arranged it at the chemical plant. That shows he no longer trusts me in the slightest.”

Yan Tian nodded. “He may station a large number of men there. Xiaolan, you have already lost Gao Qisheng’s trust, so taking you along will not serve to confuse the enemy. You should stay behind. It may be extremely dangerous. I can go alone; I know the place.”

Gao Lan shook her head, biting her lip. “No. I have to go with you. This may be the last time I ever see Gao Qisheng. No matter what, I must go.”

“All right. In any case, you are one of the finest killers in Asia. Just be careful and protect yourself.”

The two of them discussed the matter for a while longer and settled on a plan. Yan Tian knew that Gao Lan had deep feelings for Gao Qisheng, and he did not expect her to help him. He only told her that once they arrived, she should find a safe place to hide and make sure she herself was not injured.

Yan Tian returned to his room, changed clothes, and went to the main hall. There he found Leng Bingtong and the other three women playing mahjong. He could not help asking in bewilderment, “I say, do none of you have work or school?”

Sun Shangxiang gazed at Yan Tian and smiled sweetly. “It is the weekend! A day off!”

“It is the weekend today? I have been away from school so long that I completely forgot.” Yan Tian smiled sheepishly, then pointed at Leng Bingtong. “How can a police officer have days off too?”

Leng Bingtong rolled her eyes at him. “Police officers are people too, you know.”

“By the way, shall we go shopping?” Sun Shangxiang suddenly suggested. “Wasting a day off at the mahjong table is such a shame!”

“Sure! We happen to have a strong pair of arms available,” Leng Bingtong said, casting Yan Tian an ill-intentioned glance.

“You girls take your time. I have something to do, so I will be leaving first.” Yan Tian prepared to make his escape.

A man accompanying women while shopping—now that was one of the most agonizing experiences imaginable. The last time he had spent an entire afternoon accompanying Shi Kexin, he had been exhausted to the point of nearly falling apart. And now he was expected to accompany four women? No, wait—Gao Lan would certainly be dragged along too. Five women shopping together would surely wear him to death.

The torment of shopping with women was entirely psychological. No matter how skilled Yan Tian was in martial arts, he still feared this particular ordeal.

“Stop!” Seeing that Yan Tian was trying to slip away, Leng Bingtong shouted, “If you refuse to go shopping with us, hmph, I will expose the fact that you killed someone. By then, you will be a wanted criminal fleeing across the country. I doubt that will be a pleasant experience, will it?”

“Ladies, you want to go shopping? I wonder how this humble fellow might be of service!” Yan Tian rubbed his hands together, smiling ingratiatingly. The speed with which he changed his attitude was astonishing.

What Yan Tian did not know was that this coerced shopping trip would lead him to meet the person who would have the greatest influence on his life. Whether in the past, the present, or the future, that person’s influence over him would never cease.

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