Shipan, the famous commercial street, was located in the Beiwan District of Macao. It was a shopperâs paradise and very close to the coastal expressway. Visitors and tourists that were familiar with Macao were well aware that this place was a must-see venue on their trip there.
"So happy and feeling good now, buddies?"
Yue Kai drove an Audi as they sped on the coastal expressway. He looked cheerful and happy amid the heavy metal music as he shouted at Hu Qingsong sitting shotgun.
Hu Qingsongâs eyes were currently fixed on the shorelineâs beach not far away, looking at a group of beautiful women in bikinis. His eyes seemed to have turned into two big bulbs that fully lit brightly. Especially when he caught sight of several speedboats in the distant sea that gave him the urge to drive one of them to cruise freely across the sea.
"This is coolâso fucking damn cool!"
Yue Kai laughed loudly and shouted, "Wait a bit more. Your good buddy will take you to the beach to play. I know a place with many hot chicks. You got the money, you can have âem do some "tricks" and theyâll treat you as a prince!"
"No shit..."
Hu Qingsongâs expression suddenly froze and then turned to look at Yue Kai who was still beaming with a cheerful smile. He helplessly replied, "How the heck do we got the money for that, man? Goddammit. Had I known such a good place existed, I wouldnât have gambled with that bunch of fucking assholes in the casino yesterday. I bet 100,000 yuan, you know. A whole fucking 100,000! Iâve worked hard with great pains to save that money and lost 80,000 yuan there. Iâm fucked up. I wonât have enough for next semesterâs tuition as well as my living expenses."
Yue Kai patted the steering wheel hard. His face seemed like he couldnât care less about the issue, and he said, "Itâs alright, buddy! I got money and I can ask my old man for some more. If he wonât give me, Iâll just sell my car and go back. Besides, this holiday is hard to come by and we already came to Macao, the dazzling world with a myriad of temptations. How can we be worthy of ourselves if we donât have a good fucking time playing here, man?"
"True that." Hu Qingsong put his depressing feeling to the back of his mind and urged, "Hurry, speed up faster, man. I canât wait to pick up some hot chicks here."
"Sex maniac!"
"You are no better, shithead!"
"HAHAHA..."
In Shipan Street, in a building more than 20 stories high, the white-haired youth looked at the seascape outside with a grim expression. Killing intent flashed in his eyes from time to time.
"Young Master, we just received the news: The Eldest Young Master just had a clash with the Black Wizard Ailo. Also, the two sides have been vying and fighting in secret recently and he has never left Thailand since," reported the petite female while taking a stack of documents which he handed to the white-haired youth.
The youth frowned and skimmed it. He looked confused after that and muttered, "If those people are not my older brotherâs men, whose men could they be?"
The petite womanâs expression changed and she suddenly interjected, "Could it be that they are the Grand Fortune Jewelryâs men, Young Master?"
The silver-haired youth turned to her and sneered, "Do you think a mere jewelry company can have a bunch of experts with powerful combat prowess?"
"Everything is possible, I think. Even if they are not from Grand Fortune Jewelry, they may be the people they hired," said the petite female. "Young Master, havenât we had investigated this company previously and they only have assets of less than ten billion? They probably have the money to hire, but where did they get the money to buy that many zodiac jade carvings? If they were to purchase all of the ten zodiac jade carvings, the total they would spend would be at least equal to their total assets, no?"
The white-haired youthâs face slightly changed and he said in a heavy tone, "You mean... this Grand Fortune Jewelry has been hiding some secrets, and the one whoâs buying the zodiac jade carvings this time is not the company?"
"I think it should be so, otherwise Grand Fortune Jewelry would never burn their wealth only to buy the ten jade carvings," said the petite woman. "Perhaps, thereâs someone who has commissioned this company to buy them. Shortly put, the real buyer is someone else."
The white-haired youth finally looked wary and vigilant. If that was the case, it meant that he just pushed himself into great trouble. After all, those who could spend billions of US dollars to buy zodiac jade carvings were highly likely to be people who had a very deep background.
At this moment, one of the five black-robed old men who was sitting cross-legged on the floor suddenly floated and came to the youth and said, "I need to remind you of something, Young Master."
"What is it?" asked the youth with a frown.
"The Chinese have a long history and have given birth to countless terrifying forces," said the black-robed old man. "The western world thought that China is very mystical and mysterious, but I know a lot about this country. If possible, we must not provoke some Chinese powers unless itâs absolutely necessary; otherwise, weâll be in for great troubles."
"Elaborate in detail," said the silver-haired youth.
"Many families in China have a very strong force, some of whom even have ancient heritages with immeasurably deep origins," said the black-robed old man. "Also, according to my knowledge, China used to be advocating martial strength over others with countless of people practicing martial arts. There have been many schools and sects in China, but the most mystical and terrifying one was represented by Daoist cultivators. It was them, the oriental hermits, who had defeated the invasion of the Dark World of the West during the crusades era."
"Cultivators?" The white-haired youth also had heard that such people existed in China. But he thought that they were nothing but a mythâan existence in legend. Little did he think that they truly existed.
"Thatâs right. They are Daoist cultivators," affirmed the black-robed old man. "You should also know that the worldâs top three largest organizations have only a handful of people dare to set foot in China. One of the reason is the China Special Ability Bureau has a lot of ability users, while another reason is that they dread the Chinese cultivators. It can be said that there are countless crouching tigers and hidden dragonsâthose types of hidden powerhouses in this country."
The white-haired youth squinted his eyes and coldly asked, "So, you mean that the person whoâs looking for the zodiac jade carvings should likely be a Chinese cultivator?"
"Thereâs a very frightening energy contained within the jade rat," continued the black-robed old man. "We have been trying everything possible to absorb that energy inside, yet we can barely achieve it and are only able to extract a very minute part of it. Itâs likely that some Chinese cultivators are aware of it; thus, they spent a lot of money to look for it everywhere."
"Hmph. No wonder those people can easily find the hotel we stayed at yesterday," snorted the youth. "Itâs also no surprise that they can keep track of us to the No.2 safe house. Money is indeed good stuff, but we can only give up here if Chinese cultivators are in this shitty business deal. We must leave this place and go back to Thailand."
"They will come knocking on our door if they are really cultivators," the black-robed old man shook his head and said, "Iâm sure that our photos have already appeared in their hands."
The silver-haired youth opened his mouth and was about to talk when the petite woman suddenly had her expression slightly altered and quickly interjected, "Iâm afraid that trouble is now coming to us, Young Master."
"Whatâs the situation?" asked the youth.
She pointed to the ground outside the big window and said quickly, "Iâve been seeing the same bunch of people coming inside from below in just two hours. Their actions are very obvious. They are looking for someone. But these people are not those who had tracked and monitored us yesterday since they are seemingly just ordinary people. But itâs very likely the one theyâre looking for is us."
"Thatâs impossible," said the youth coldly. "Even if those people have great power in China, their tentacles shouldnât have reached Macao yet, should they have?"
"No, itâs actually very easy for them," the petite female shook her head and said, "Macao is part of Chinese territory now."
The white-haired youth thought about it and quickly took out a mobile phone to dial Hao Leiâs number. After his call was picked up, however, a male voice came speaking from the phone:
"Well, well... Iâm so glad to have you called again."
The silver-haired youthâs expression slightly changed and he asked in a heavy voice, "Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important an issue. Whatâs more significant is you, the Dark Shaman clansmen who really have such big guts and greed. You see, I honestly feel that you should be very glad that I only have a few of my men to manage business here and the fact that Macao is not my turf; otherwise, you would have been kneeling before me, begging for your life by now."
The youthâs heart thumped loudly. He didnât expect that the other party knew his true identity. "Who exactly are you?"
"Worry not, buddy. You already chose to play a cat-and-mouse game with me, so Iâll accompany you to play it," said Tang Xiu. "The Dark Shaman clan, eh? Hehehe... well, I can tell you with sincerity, though. The clan with such a name will cease to exist in Thailand this evening at the latest. As for you, a poor worm who dares not to poke your head out and runs with your tail in between your legs, youâll become a stray dog that mourns and flees to the end of the horizon. Of course, the premise is that you can escape the net I have laid for you in Macao and avoid all the informers Iâve sent toward you."
The white-haired youthâs pupil shrunk and he growled, "Are you a Chinese cultivator?"
"Well, well. You guessed it right. But thereâs no reward for you, unfortunately." Tang Xiu chuckled and said, "Well, I wish you good luck. Try to strive and live until tomorrow."
With that said, the call was ended.
The white-haired youth heard the beeping sound from the mobile phone and his handsome face turned extremely nasty. Never once had he ever dreamed that he actually would provoke Chinese cultivators, nor did he expect the other party to be so arrogant, daring to speak like that through a phone call even when he hadnât yet obtained the jade rat.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and the turned to look at the petite female and quickly said, "Contact the Thailand Air and Oceanic Bureau. Report to me clearly if some Chinese foreigners have entered Thailand from yesterday till today!"
"Got it!" replied the petite woman as she walked to the side and made some phone calls.
Half an hour later, she received a call and after talking for half a minute, she hung up and came to the white-haired youth, saying, "Our men have already investigated it. They found that a tourist group from Jingmen Island entered Thailand about three hours ago. They reported that those people are very strange and unlike ordinary tourists; more like... soldiers or bodyguards instead. Also, some people in Thailand who monitored them secretly, eventually lost their trail not long after they were tracked."
The white-haired youth trembled and he hurriedly asked, "How many people in number?"
"Thereâs only a few of them, only 20-plus people," answered the petite woman.
Only more than 20 people?