Chapter 247: Despicable Tactics

Chapter 247: Chapter 247: Despicable Tactics

Ghost Hand Sword King, Li Xianqun.

His swordsmanship was breathtaking. Over the decades since his debut, countless people had fallen to his blade. It was only upon the sincere request of the Lu Family Patriarch that he agreed to lower himself to protect a junior, Lu Rugao.

Upon receiving the news, Lu Rugao immediately made her way to Yuncheng Airport to personally welcome the esteemed senior. She had not been at the airport long when she spotted an elder with the air of an immortal walking out from within.

The elder was dressed in a simple gray robe, but the aura emanating from him demanded respect, and no one dared to approach within several meters. A black sword hung at his waist as he moved with the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger, projecting an awe-inspiring presence without a hint of anger.

"Senior Sword King," Lu Rugao greeted respectfully with a bow.

"Hmph." Li Xianqun glanced at Lu Rugao indifferently. "Ruge, take me to deal with that boy directly. There’s no need for all this fuss."

Hearing this, Lu Rugao replied, "Senior Li, I invited you here not to kill him outright, but merely to keep him in check. In this commercial war, I want to shatter their backbone so completely that they have nothing left to say!"

As the Heaven’s Chosen One of the Lu Family, Lu Rugao naturally had her own pride. She intended to claim this victory fair and square, not through fighting and killing. If Li Xianqun were to kill Chen Xiao now, word would spread that Lu Rugao lacked ability and had to resort to underhanded tactics. Proud as she was, she could never accept such an outcome. She had the confidence and the backing to crush Chen Xiao and his associates in the world of business.

Li Xianqun frowned, showing some displeasure. But since Lu Rugao had made her stance clear, he had no choice but to comply. However, the thought of a great swordsman like himself, renowned throughout the Divine Land, being assigned to merely keep a young whelp in check still left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Senior Sword King, allow me to take you to freshen up after your journey. A banquet has already been prepared in your honor," Lu Rugao said quickly, sensing his displeasure.

"Good." Li Xianqun’s expression softened slightly. Although he felt the task was somewhat beneath him, Lu Rugao had shown him complete respect and propriety, which soothed some of his discontent.

Just then, another car sped toward them, coming to a stop nearby. Jin Zilong stepped out with a beaming smile.

Lu Rugao’s brow furrowed.

What is this guy doing here?

Jin Zilong spoke up cheerfully, "Ruge, I heard that Senior Li was coming to Yuncheng City today, so I came specially to join you in welcoming him. I’ve long admired Senior Li. This small request shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?"

Li Xianqun looked at Jin Zilong with a hint of appreciation, clapping him on the shoulder. "You’re the Jin Family’s boy? Not bad, not bad at all! A commander in the Feather Forest Army at such a young age. You have the air of my younger self!"

"Senior Li, you flatter me!" Jin Zilong replied, feigning humility, but he couldn’t hide the smugness on his face.

Unable to resist, Li Xianqun turned to Lu Rugao and said, "Ruge, with Zi Long here in Yuncheng City, you could have let him deal with that boy. Why go to the trouble of having me come? With Zi Long’s abilities, dealing with that young upstart should have been an easy task."

"Young people like you should interact more. Don’t be afraid of troubling each other!"

Jin Zilong’s face flushed with embarrassment at these words.

Lu Rugao inwardly scorned him.

If this clinging pest actually had such skill, she wouldn’t have had to go to so much trouble. Unfortunately, Jin Zilong was a disappointment.

Jin Zilong’s face turned red, and he mustered up his courage to say, "Senior, you may not be aware, but I’ve been in the process of breaking through a bottleneck recently. As a result, my aura has been unstable, and that individual took advantage to score a narrow victory. It is truly... shameful."

Li Xianqun was slightly taken aback. Looking at Jin Zilong, he didn’t seem to show any signs of an unstable aura. As a man of the world, he immediately understood. Jin Zilong couldn’t defeat his opponent but was too proud to admit it, so he was using this as an excuse to save face. Being considerate, he didn’t expose the lie. He coughed lightly and said, "It’s alright. Once you break through, that kid won’t even be qualified to be your opponent."

"Let’s go, Senior Li." Lu Rugao smiled at Li Xianqun, deliberately ignoring Jin Zilong. Losing was losing, yet he was still desperately trying to save face. She was too embarrassed for him to even point out his petty-mindedness.

Seeing Lu Rugao’s dismissiveness, Jin Zilong’s face flushed, but he shamelessly followed them.

In the car, he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and began to flatter Lu Rugao. "Ruge, I know you’ve been wronged a lot recently. I’ve always hated seeing you wronged, so I had my men go settle the score with them."

Lu Rugao replied disdainfully, "Even you are not his match. What kind of trouble can your men possibly stir up? Save your energy!"

Jin Zilong said arrogantly, "Rest assured, I’m not that brainless. Of course, I’m not going to confront him head-on, but I can still trip them up a bit. After a thorough investigation, I had my men go to the Zongheng Chamber of Commerce and the Luo Group’s establishments to cause trouble. Afterward, even if they report it to the authorities, it’ll be useless. After all, our Feather Forest Army isn’t an organization that just anyone can discipline. In the end, they can only swallow their anger. Doesn’t that count as getting some revenge for you?"

Seeing the smug smile on Jin Zilong’s face, Lu Rugao was even more speechless.

Is the commander of the renowned Feather Forest Army really this foolish? This act is so beneath his station. What’s the difference between him and a common hoodlum?

Thinking this, her disdain for Jin Zilong grew even deeper.

She couldn’t understand what on earth those elders in the Lu Family had in their heads, trying to arrange a marriage for her with such an idiot. Did they think she, Lu Rugao, was a fool as well?

The atmosphere in the car grew tense.

Jin Zilong asked cautiously, "Ruge, I helped you get revenge. Aren’t you happy?"

"What you’ve done is meaningless and, frankly, quite foolish," Lu Rugao retorted. "How much of a loss can those small storefronts possibly cause them? On the other hand, your subordinates in the Feather Forest Army are the Capital City’s guard troops, yet you ordered them to do something like this. It’s incredibly demeaning."

Li Xianqun coughed lightly and said, "Ruge, Zi Long was just trying to stand up for you. Although his actions weren’t entirely proper, his intentions were good."

Lu Rugao fell silent, simply stepping on the gas pedal and accelerating the car.

「On the other side.」

Luo Qingli and Zhang Yaqing had both returned to the villa after work. However, neither of the women looked pleased.

Xu Yanran, wearing a loose-fitting casual robe, came downstairs and poured them each a cup of tea. "Why do you both look so unhappy?"

Luo Qingli shook her head. "These past few days, several properties under the Luo Group have been sabotaged. It’s caused quite a stir, and business has plummeted."

"People have been stirring up trouble in my Zongheng Chamber of Commerce’s casinos too," Zhang Yaqing added through gritted teeth. "It must be the work of that wretched woman, Lu Rugao! After we win this stock market war, we have to let Chen Xiao teach her a proper lesson with a club! These petty moves don’t cause major losses, but they’re so infuriating!"

Hearing this, Luo Qingli and Xu Yanran both blushed in realization.

Chen Xiao, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, came down from upstairs. "Sending people to cause trouble at your businesses? That’s such a low-class tactic. Given that woman’s arrogant nature, I doubt she’d stoop to that."

"We’ve checked the surveillance footage. It was definitely the work of that troop from the Feather Forest Army that Jin Zilong brought. What’s more, reporting it is useless; they simply can’t be sanctioned," Luo Qingli said, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Jin Zilong?" Chen Xiao narrowed his eyes. "That damn sycophant ordered this?"