"That means I'll cripple one of your arms and one of your legs," Li Yang sneered, his face contorted with rage. A murderous intent slowly emanated from him.
"Li Yang, you can't do this!" Wang Gui hurriedly called out.
“Yes, we’re all colleagues, you can’t do this. Things could easily escalate,” Shu Yi hurriedly advised.
“Li Yang, you weren’t colleagues before. Although what he did was unethical, it’s forgivable. The conditions you set were too harsh. Relax a little and take a step back,” Zhou Tong stepped in to smooth things over.
"Taking a step back is fine. One arm will do!" Li Yang sneered. He was about to attack when Fan Xian, startled, leaped back several meters. He was slammed against the wall of the private room.
"Fan Xian, don't get too agitated. Li Yang has already taken a step back, you should step forward and show some sincerity, otherwise Li Yang will think you're dishonest and trying to fool him. If he gets angry, there's nothing we can do to help him!" Zhou Tong said to Fan Xian, half threatening and half persuading.
Chapter 873: Holding the Blade in Hand
"Damn it, these three conditions are all deadly. Li Yang, can you... can you change the condition again?" Fan Xian said, his forehead covered in cold sweat and swallowing hard.
"Damn it, Fan Xian, are you deliberately picking a fight? I've already given you three conditions, and you're still not satisfied? You want a fourth? Do you think I'm easy to bully? Do you think that just because I joined the Security Bureau, I'm not the same Li Yang I used to be? Do you think I won't dare to lay a hand on you just because I won't abandon you? Let me tell you, that's under the condition that I consider you a colleague, and that's under the condition that you haven't hurt me. I will resolutely enforce these rules. If none of you follow the rules, and you still expect me to accept them, do you think I'm the idiot or you are?" Li Yang roared angrily, taking a step in front of Fan Xian.
“Li Yang is right. Since you’re unwilling to back down, there’s nothing we can do to help you. You can settle this yourselves!” Zhou Tong was also furious. Fan Xian, you idiot! I’ve already stepped in, and you still won’t give me any face. The first two conditions are difficult, but not impossible to fulfill. Moreover, fulfilling them will make you friends with Li Yang, and everyone will stop making things difficult for you. That would be a huge benefit to your Fan family! You idiot, if you won’t fight for it, fine, I don’t care anymore. You can fight it out yourselves! I wouldn’t care if you were destroyed; I’d be more than happy to see you suffer!
Seeing that Zhou Tong had given up and was not concerned, Shu Yi immediately said, "I'm not concerned either, you can do whatever you want!"
Wang Gui was fiercely opposed to evil and valued teamwork and mutual trust above all else in the army. Fan Xian's actions clearly put them at a disadvantage. She snorted coldly, ignored him, and stood up to walk towards the door. Shu Yi followed closely behind. Zhou Tong shook his head and was about to leave as well.
"Director Zhou, please don't leave! I... I promise, okay?" Fan Xian cried out in a panic. They were still there, and he thought he could persuade them to help him, but they were all gone. Fan Xian had no one to rely on. He cursed them in his heart, thinking they were unkind and didn't treat him like one of their own. Instead of helping him, they helped Li Yang, that gangster. They were scoundrels. But he was still loudly begging for mercy.
Zhou Tong breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, he didn't want to make a big fuss. After all, Fan Xian was a member of the National Security Bureau, and he would also bear responsibility if something happened. Faced with the Fan family's accusations, he was in a difficult position, even though he had the Shaolin Temple and Zhongnanhai as his backers.
“That’s right. We’re all on the same side. You did something like that, so you should back down when you need to. How can you expect to gain anything without putting in the effort?” Zhou Tong persuaded them to sit down. Shu Yi and Wang Gui, who had walked to the door, also came back and sat down again, but their expressions were not good. They didn’t even look at Fan Xian and were only focused on their cultivation.
"Did you agree to the first, the second, or the third?" Li Yang asked, squinting his eyes and glaring at Fan Xian relentlessly, putting pressure on him.
Fan Xian swallowed hard. Although his martial arts had reached the Transformation Realm under Ye Gucheng's guidance, he was only at the very beginning. Compared to Zhou Tong, he was insignificant, and compared to Li Yang, he was even less of a match. He had no intention of resisting.
"The second one!" Fan Xian thought for a moment. Only the second one was the easiest to achieve: help Li Yang deal with the Long Snake Chicken Head gang and subdue the underworld of Jiangnan City.
"How do you plan to help me?" Li Yang frowned. "You want to use your own kill quota?" Li Yang knew a lot about the National Security Bureau through Fan Xian's thoughts. They were high-ranking leaders with many lower-ranking members below them. Kill quotas for lower-ranking members were extremely rare. Leaders like them each had two quotas per year. Zhou Tong had three; as the director, he had more power.
"How...how do you know all this?" Fan Xian asked in astonishment. The others were also very surprised; they hadn't told Li Yang these things yet, and Li Yang shouldn't know them.
"How would I know? Heh, I have my own methods. But I won't tell you," Li Yang said mockingly. Turning back to Zhou Tong and the others, he winked and said, "It doesn't seem like a big secret that you have a quota for killing, does it? Is it strange that I know?"
Zhou Tong smiled wryly and said helplessly, "Yes, it's not a big secret. Anyone can find out by paying the price. With your background, you have the power to find out."
Wang Gui glared at Li Yang and said with a sneer, "You cunning fellow, have you been secretly investigating us?"
“Yeah, I know Director Wang’s measurements too…” Li Yang couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark.
"What? What did you say?" Wang Gui jumped up immediately, glaring angrily at Li Yang with a flushed face.
"I didn't say anything. I was just talking nonsense~" Li Yang hurriedly tried to clear himself up. Damn, he really has a sharp tongue.
"No, you have to explain yourself!" Wang Gui persisted.
Shu Yi pretended not to see it. Zhou Tong looked at Li Yang with amusement, as if to say, "Brother, good luck to you."
Li Yang felt a headache coming on. Damn it, he hadn't even resolved Fan Xian's matter yet, and he'd already provoked this tyrannical girl. He explained, "I was really just talking nonsense. You know I like to brag. What I said just now was just bragging, don't mind it~"
"Let me tell you, this is defamation of my reputation, I can sue you!" Wang Gui said angrily. He was clearly still very angry.
"Yes, it's my fault. Sister, please forgive me~" Li Yang said. He secretly glanced at Wang Gui's chest, estimating it to be at least a 36D—a busty tyrannosaurus rex girl, too much to handle~
"Hmph~ Be careful next time~" Wang Gui gritted his teeth and sat back down, not pursuing the matter further. Li Yang breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Fan Xian, saying, "Damn, the show's over, have you figured out how to solve the problem yet?"
"Since you've already said it, I guess I'll just have to help you this way: take them out!" Fan Xian said, utterly frustrated. This meant he'd be restricted in his missions from now on. Without his kill quota, he couldn't attack at will, and if he accidentally killed someone, he wouldn't be able to report it. That would mean he couldn't unleash his full power, and his strength would be significantly diminished in combat, putting him in danger. What a failure.
"You're smart enough to know what's good for you. Alright then, but I have one condition!" Li Yang nodded slightly and said. Once he took down the snake and the chicken head, wouldn't their territory all be his? Without the leader, those subordinates would definitely be blindly panicked, and with the crackdown underway, wouldn't his own men sweep them away like autumn leaves, utterly destroying them?
"What are your requirements?" Fan Xian asked helplessly. "Things have come to this, so please feel free to make any requests you may have."
"I want to personally monitor them and confirm that they are both dead!" Li Yang said. He absolutely would not allow Fan Xian to let them off the hook.
"Is that so? It's not impossible." Fan Xian thought for a moment and nodded. Anyway, it's just that Li Yang is watching when he kills someone, so what?
"Director Zhou, is everything alright?" Li Yang asked Zhou Tong.
“Although this doesn’t comply with regulations, regulations are rules, but people are flexible. You can’t keep making a fuss about this; it’s not good for any of us. Now that we’ve reached this solution, it’s a pretty good outcome, right? It’s just that we shouldn’t publicize it; it’s not good for the reputation of our National Security Bureau,” Zhou Tong reminded him.
"Don't worry," Li Yang nodded.
“I’m fine with it too,” Fan Xian said.
"Alright, you two go ahead and get busy. I'll hand over Li Yang's information," Zhou Tong said. The two left the private room.
"Director Zhou, is it okay for them to do this?" Shu Yi asked, frowning.
"It's not a big problem, but what Fan Xian did was illegal. If we arrest him later, this will be a handle against him. The Fan family won't be able to say anything. As long as we stick to a unified story, they can't cause any trouble. Besides, getting a powerful figure like Li Yang is the most important thing for us. We don't expect him to teach us cultivation techniques, but having someone like him will give us more confidence when carrying out missions in the future. And when facing the Dragon Group, we won't be too suppressed!" Zhou Tong explained to them.
"Director Zhou's considerations are very thorough," Wang Gui nodded in agreement. Although she had a fiery temper, she had a clear understanding of the situation and certain power struggles. After all, she had grown up in a large family and was used to political infighting.
Shu Yi had no choice but to nod. His political acumen was not as good as Wang Gui's. After all, he was just an ordinary citizen who had worked his way up from the bottom after joining the army. Although he had some understanding of struggle, it was still not as profound and unique as what Wang Gui had been exposed to since childhood.
"Okay. Good that you understand. Let's go, I still need to handle the formalities for Li Yang." Zhou Tong got up and left, the two following him. Actually, there was another reason Zhou Tong didn't tell them: Shaolin Temple had recently felt pressure from the cultivation world and hoped to get some help through Zhou Tong. Zhou Tong naturally spared no effort, because everything he had was given to him by Shaolin. It was like his home.
At the same time, Zhou Tong had another expectation: that Shaolin Temple, recognizing his contributions and hard work, would truly impart to him the authentic Buddhist teachings. He had reached his current position and knew about the affairs of the cultivation world. He was also aware of the connections between Shaolin Temple and Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. They also possessed profound cultivation techniques, but they wouldn't easily pass them on. Even Zhou Tong couldn't do that.
Zhou Tong's application was quickly approved, and Li Yang officially became a member of the National Security Bureau, a special national personnel with a license to kill. In reality, in the face of absolute power, human life is often worthless.
However, the moment his materials were submitted, they immediately attracted the attention of those above him. Many high-ranking leaders became interested in Li Yang, as having connections with the renowned international conglomerate, the World Hongmen, was a significant asset. After all, the World Hongmen was a Chinese organization that secretly supported the Chinese government, maintained good relations with it, and possessed considerable power. This was one of the key reasons why Li Yang's qualification review was so straightforward.