Chapter 78: Transaction

Ling Wu followed suit, arms crossed over his chest: "Right, you say it."

The shop assistant felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

Damn it, are these two here to pick a fight?

Nothing better to do.

"Boss! Help... there are two idiots looking for trouble!"

After shouting a few times, a sturdy middle-aged man walked out from the back, wearing a simple sports jacket and jeans, his dark brown pupils revealing composure and seriousness: "What's wrong?"

"Yo."

Xi Huaizhi tossed the pack of cigarettes into his hand, strode over quickly, and grabbed his arm: "You're the boss?"

"The shop assistant in this dump of a store has no sense at all. I wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes and he dawdled for ages. Are you still doing business or not?!"

Huo Xi raised his eyes: "What do you want to do?"

The next moment, Huo Xi felt a hard object pressed against his lower back; Xi Huaizhi held the gun in his hand, leaned close to his ear, and lowered his voice, saying sinisterly: "What do you think? Admiral."

Xi Huaizhi's body leaned against the counter, his right hand gripping the man's arm to hide the gun; the shop assistant still didn't know what was happening.

Then he heard his boss call out to him: "Xiao Liu, you go out first."

"Huh?" The shop assistant was chilled by the look: "O-okay."

Huo Xi's gaze rested on Ling Wu: "What do you want to do?"

His tone was clearly somewhat disdainful; he caught Xi Huaizhi's hand, used force from his waist and abdomen to perform a shoulder throw, moving very quickly, and then drew his gun to aim at Ling Wu.

Xi Huaizhi patted the dust off and stood up, looking very casual: "Good eye, you can even tell who the boss is."

Huo Xi narrowed his eyes.

This reaction is very wrong?

Ling Wu remained calm even while being held hostage: "Admiral, let us go with you."

Huo Xi took the hostages into the back room; the room was not narrow, and as Ling Wu and Xi Huaizhi walked in, a dozen gun barrels were instantly aimed at them in unison.

Several men from the Imperial Army tied them to chairs.

Xi Huaizhi exclaimed: "Wow, how grand!"

Huo Xi naturally saw the clues: "You are not from the Yin Family."

He said it with absolute certainty.

Ganan is located in a remote area and is one of the Imperial Army's bases; Huo Xi has secretly cultivated many elites over the years, but unfortunately, he has yet to find the Crown Prince.

Ling Wu leaned back in his chair: "Admiral, that batch of arms you intercepted from the Yin Family must have been moved to a different location long ago. The reason you are still staying in Ganan is to create a false impression and divert the Yin Family's attention... but I suspect that batch of arms hasn't gone far."

Huo Xi's gaze was cold and heavy: "What are you trying to say?"

"Let's make a deal." Ling Wu's lips had no curve at all, looking so cold and stern that one dared not look directly at him: "I will tell you where His Highness the Crown Prince is."

The Crown Prince?!

Huo Xi's expression changed instantly; when the imperial power was overthrown back then, everyone thought the Crown Prince was dead, but in reality, he had been secretly sent out of the Imperial Capital. However, when he went to find the duke who escorted him, he discovered that the man was already dead.

And His Highness's whereabouts were unknown.

Huo Xi pressed his gun against him: "Where is he?!"

Ling Wu was unhurried and put forward his request: "But I hope the Imperial Army can do something like-minded for me in the future."

Something like-minded?

"Admiral, this is not the way to treat an ally."

Huo Xi gestured: "Untie them."

"Why should I trust you?"

Ling Wu rubbed his wrists, a few rays of light falling on his slender body, and said with hidden meaning: "The Admiral might want to look out the window; our snipers have long been lying in ambush in the buildings around the grocery store. If I have the intent to kill, no one can walk out of Ganan alive."

The people in the room looked out along the window.

Sure enough, they saw the muzzles of sniper rifles in the buildings.

Xi Huaizhi added casually: "Don't lump us in with that bunch of trash from the Yin Family."

He flicked a card from his pocket, crossed his legs, and said in a devil-may-care manner: "The fact that we could be 'held hostage' by you into this room already shows our sincerity."

Huo Xi caught the card out of thin air; after flipping it over, he saw a Fool card. He recognized this card, and understood even more that two people of such status had no need to lie to him.

He put the card into his pocket, stood up, and reached out to Ling Wu: "Happy cooperation."

"Mr. Magician."

Xi Huaizhi: "Hey! What about me?"

Huo Xi reluctantly shook hands with him as well.

Huo Xi asked: "Where is His Highness now?"

Ling Wu: "He is still in Beidu. Leave Ganan first, and I will be responsible for taking you to find him."

"Good."

Not long after, a burly man walked in and whispered into Huo Xi's ear.

His expression was slightly grave: "Ganan is under lockdown; it might be a bit difficult for us to get in or out now."

"It seems Yin Huaiyu has concluded that we are your people." Ling Wu stood up from the chair, reloaded his gun, and asked: "Can you leave?"

Huo Xi: "Yes."

They had stayed in Ganan for many years; even with the city under lockdown, they had other ways to get out.

It was just that the batch of arms hadn't been moved far, and they still needed to buy time.

Ling Wu saw his worries and handed him a note: "Admiral, leave Ganan and go to this place to wait for us."

The light from outside the window shone in from behind him, casting a shadow on his skin, while his eyes were exposed to the light, clear and cold: "Let's go. The thing I want you to do for me is not that simple."

This is a fair exchange.

From the tall and slender body of the young man before him, Huo Xi saw a powerful strength that was hard to ignore, like a volcano about to wake from its slumber, waiting for the right moment to erupt and flow slowly down the mountainside, turning everything in its path to ash.......

And that "not simple."

It really was not simple.

He patted Ling Wu on the shoulder: "I understand."

【Author's Note: I've read many comments and feel like banging my head against the keyboard; is my writing really that stifling? I truly can't write those stories where the moment someone offends you, you just stab them to death. I remember the first time Wei Ranxu pushed 05, 05 hit back on the spot. Later, Shen Zhaojue also got hit by 05, and Yin Huaiyu got hit too... There were also comments saying that Zhang Lijuan making 05 participate in the Art Association was stifling, that it was just bullying 05. But the Art Association is for bringing honor; teachers asking you to participate in the Art Association happens in real life too, right? I can't exactly have 05 stab Zhang Lijuan to death, and she even gave 5 credits. Yin Cilan is dead, Ming Tan is also about to be finished off by 05, and as for the part with Yang Wanyue, people say it's moral kidnapping. If you have good suggestions, feel free to offer them.】