Chapter 130

Wang Yan's goal was to throw Jinmen Group into chaos, while his opponents wanted to unite Jinmen Group to crush him—someone had likely already contacted Ding Qing, Li Zhongjiu, and others to start pressuring and bribing them.

Whether or not they acted didn't matter to Wang Yan, but they absolutely could not unite. If Jinmen Group became fully united and launched a full-scale attack on World Alliance, then Shi Dongchu's death would've been meaningless.

After thinking for a while, Wang Yan picked up the phone beside him and called one of his operatives.

Nothing special—just tell him to take advantage of the fact that Shi Dongchu hasn't been buried yet and kill one of Li Zhongjiu's old bastards.

He already knew the details of last night's car crash. Compared to Ding Qing, Li Zhongjiu was more extreme. Once biased, Ding Qing could talk till he was blue in the face—it wouldn't matter; Li Zhongjiu wouldn't believe a word of it.

Besides, whether he believed it or not didn't matter, because it served his interests—he'd make the right choice.

…………

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

To the left lay Jiahe Airport, to the right the Huangquan Expressway, with three sides of mountains forming a "U" shape around a large cemetery nestled in the shaded hollow—a perfect geomancy site, brimming with fortune for descendants.

The only problem was how many tombstones stood upright—so many people wanted fortune for their descendants, and those dead must've fought daily over just three percent of luck, probably leaving none of them intact.

This was Shou'er's best cemetery, where only those with status, position, and most importantly, money, were buried.

From the cemetery entrance to the main funeral hall, young men in black suits and black leather shoes stood rigidly along both sides of the path.

Inside and outside the hall, wreaths adorned with funeral banners filled the space; in the center, surrounded by chrysanthemums, hung Shi Dongchu's portrait.

On one side stood Shi Dongchu's family and Jinmen Group's senior executives, thanking friends from all walks of life who came to pay their respects.

At that moment, a commotion erupted at the entrance, and one of his men entered, whispering something to Ding Qing.

Li Zhongjiu, standing beside him, noticed his furrowed brows and asked: "Hey, what's going on?"

"World Alliance's here."

Saying that, Ding Qing walked out.

"World Alliance?" Li Zhongjiu froze, then immediately stepped after Ding Qing: "Son of a bitch, they dare show up?"

Outside the funeral hall, a group of Jinmen Group thugs had surrounded three men, while other mourners who hadn't left stood quietly watching the spectacle—daring not to point or whisper, even if they had eight pairs of balls.

The three men in the center were shielded by two thugs, their lips curled in a mocking smile as they looked down contemptuously at the surrounding crowd.

Ding Qing stepped onto the steps and shouted at the rowdy thugs below: "Break it up! What the hell are you doing crowding like this?"

The thugs turned around, saw both bosses had arrived, and quickly stepped aside, clearing a path.

The man in the center patted the two thugs shielding him, signaling them to step back, calmly smoothed out the wrinkles on his jacket from the shoving, then stepped forward to shake Ding Qing's hand, laughing: "Hello, Director Ding. Jinmen Group's hospitality is truly warm, haha."

After the sarcasm, the man continued: "Let me introduce myself—I'm An Shijie, vice-chairman of World Alliance. Our chairman couldn't come in person due to business, so he sent me to pay respects to Chairman Shi."

Before Ding Qing could speak, Li Zhongjiu sneered from the side: "Don't tell me you had nothing to do with Chairman Shi's death? Come here pretending to mourn? Don't you think you'll never walk out of here?"

An Shijie didn't care, smiling warmly at Li Zhongjiu: "Where did you get that idea, Councilor Li? After all this time, you should know World Alliance operates with integrity—we never play dirty. And I must remind you: just now at the gate, I ran into police officers. Please watch your words, Councilor Li. Otherwise, something unfortunate might happen. Don't you agree, Director Ding?"

Li Zhongjiu's face remained expressionless—he didn't like verbal sparring. If they dared come, they had backing—even here in Shou'er.

Ding Qing patted Li Zhongjiu's shoulder and laughed: "Of course. We're all law-abiding, respectable businessmen—what trouble could possibly arise? Guests are guests. Mr. An, please."

An Shijie chuckled and followed Ding Qing into the funeral hall.

Li Zhongjiu narrowed his eyes at their backs and followed behind—he wanted to see what this World Alliance vice-chairman intended. These past two days, he'd indeed received pressure from above to stop infighting and unite against World Alliance.

He didn't believe World Alliance didn't know what was happening here—after all, they had their own group, just as they had theirs. The reason no large-scale clashes had erupted yet was simply because they were using the chairman's funeral to gather strength—this was the calm before the storm. Now, with this situation, they still dared send someone? That demanded serious thought.

The entire mourning ceremony passed smoothly. An Shijie bowed respectfully, mumbled a few unintelligible words, then shook hands symbolically with Shi Dongchu's family and Jinmen Group's senior executives before leaving.

Due to his status, Ding Qing sent Li Zicheng to politely see An Shijie off. During the departure, An Shijie and Li Zicheng exchanged polite small talk and then parted ways…

After a while, one of the thugs came to whisper something to Li Zhongjiu.

After hearing it, Li Zhongjiu barely held back the urge to curse, stepped outside, and lit a cigarette.

That fucking bastard An Shijie brought a convoy—over twenty vehicles. How little did he trust Jinmen Group? Of course, mistrust was justified—he'd indeed sent people to ambush An Shijie…

But that wasn't the main point. What was An Shijie's real purpose? As vice-chairman of World Alliance, he wasn't just some guy who drank and chased women—especially now, when daily tasks piled up endlessly. Why, as an enemy faction leader, would he take time out of his packed schedule to mourn their dead chairman? It was absurd.

People like them always acted with clear intent—so what was his intent? Li Zhongjiu couldn't figure it out.

Night. The clubhouse of the North Gate Sect.

Amid swirling smoke, Ding Qing frowned: "What do you think An Shijie's purpose was today? Did he really come just to mourn Chairman Shi?"

Ding Qing's lawyer and strategist, Wu Liang, glanced at Li Zicheng and said: "World Alliance always acts unpredictably. Maybe they consider Shi Dongchu a worthy opponent and came to pay respects out of respect."

"Son of a bitch, is Wang Yan insane?" Ding Qing rubbed his hair irritably: "Shouldn't he be preparing to fight us right now?"

Li Zicheng smoked silently, saying nothing.

Han Yongzheng, the newly promoted core member, scanned the room, thought for a moment, and said: "Big Brother, I think Mr. Wu is right—they may have genuinely come to mourn Shi Dongchu. I've fought World Alliance on the front lines—I know them a bit. Regardless of other things, they take rules very seriously."

"Forget it," Ding Qing waved his hand. "The politician we've always worked with called—he wants us to cooperate with Li Zhongjiu and…"

As he spoke, a knock came at the door. Ding Qing stopped, giving Han Yongzheng a look.

As the lowest-ranking person present, Han Yongzheng promptly stood and opened the door: "Didn't I say? No unnecessary interruptions."

The man didn't care—he rushed in and said to Ding Qing: "Big Brother, we just got word—Councilor Quan died in a car crash. Drunk driver."

"What?" Ding Qing froze, exchanged glances with those present, and waved: "Understood. Go. Keep close watch on Li Zhongjiu's movements."

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"Yes, Big Brother." The thug bowed and turned to leave—he knew the gravity of the situation.

After Han Yongzheng closed the door, Li Zicheng said: "It's definitely World Alliance. They're trying to provoke a fight between us and Li Zhongjiu."

"Then it follows Shi Dongchu was also killed by them," Wu Liang clapped his hands. "Same killing method twice—that's a direct provocation."

"That's clearly the case," Ding Qing nodded. "Just as I said earlier, a politician contacted us—someone must've contacted Wang Yan too. But that doesn't make sense. As Zicheng analyzed before, even if we fought head-on, we're no match for them. So why go through this extra step?"

Han Yongzheng knew the real issue lay with Li Zhongjiu. But since Ding Qing was suspicious, he went along: "If not World Alliance, then it's Li Zhongjiu—he's using today's opportunity to pin the blame on us or World Alliance, then exploit it?"

Wu Liang thought: "That's possible, but doesn't he fear they'll kill him? The power those people control isn't comparable to our small gang. If this backfires, he won't just anger one or two—he'll anger a whole group of powerholders. Is he mad?"

Ding Qing lit a cigarette, drew a long drag, and exhaled: "What if he already made a deal with Wang Yan?"

The room fell silent. Some smoked, some drank, each thinking how they'd act if they were in Li Zhongjiu's position.

After a long pause, Li Zicheng spoke: "We considered this possibility when Shi Dongchu died. Now, it seems highly likely. But…"

He glanced at the few of them and said, "Have we overlooked anyone else?"

"Anyone else?"

Ding Qing frowned, thought for a moment, glanced at Wu Liang, and the two locked eyes before speaking in unison: "Zhang Xiuji!"

"That's right—it's him," Li Zicheng said. "Ever since our three families merged and formed Jinmen Group, we, along with Shi Dongchu and Li Zhongjiu, long ago carved up his Diri Sect, leaving him nothing but a powerless figurehead. How could he possibly accept that?"

"And this time, it's definitely a good opportunity. He's already nominally acting as chairman. If he takes advantage of the World Association as an external enemy, slowly winning over allies and sowing division, then eliminates us, he might just end up the ultimate winner."

Ding Qing seemed to agree, letting out a long sigh: "We were too careless—we overlooked such an important person. Whether or not it's Zhang Xiuji, we can't let our guard down. He's still useful; we must keep him around for now. Send people to thoroughly investigate his background and find out how much power he really has."

Han Yongzheng, who had known the truth all along, stared in shock—from suspecting World Association, to suspecting Li Zhongjiu, now suspecting Zhang Xiuji? All he could say was, Big Bro, you're amazing—though this big bro was Wang Mou.

They just sent someone over to stroll around, killed another old Wang Ba, and made an already chaotic situation even messier.

He silently warned himself: no matter who ultimately became big bro—whether it was him or Li Zhongjiu's side— he had to stay humble, or he'd die too foolishly.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Li Zhongjiu also received the news of the full council's deaths.

Li Zhongjiu kicked over the low table in front of him: "Damn it, Ding Qing, you're pushing too far."

Without hesitation, his first thought was that Ding Qing had done it. After all, he'd just had a friendly chat with Quan Lishi yesterday—how could he be dead today? And killed in the same car accident as Shi Dongchu? Was this some kind of joke for a fool?

When Li Zhongjiu calmed down, one of his trusted subordinates said, "Big Bro, could it have been World Association?"

Li Zhongjiu gave no answer, glancing coolly at the other two men present: "What do you think?"

One subordinate thought for a moment: "It could be World Association—or Ding Qing might be in league with them." He knew well that Ding Qing had once sent assassins to kill World Association members, but interests were eternal—what did a puppet chairman matter?

The newly promoted core subordinate Lin Minzhe said: "Big Bro, I think World Association is unlikely. Today their vice-chairman came to pay respects to our chairman, and the same day one of our elders dies—it doesn't add up. Of course, they might be doing the opposite, but that possibility is too slim."

"So I believe there are only two possibilities. First, Ding Qing wants to frame World Association to weaken our strength. Though we've held back for other reasons, we've long been as hostile as water and fire. Eventually, we'll have to settle this with victory or death—he's just trying to make early moves, which makes perfect sense."

"The other possibility is…" Lin Minzhe glanced around at everyone present: "a third force is trying to take advantage of this chaos."

None in the room were fools—even without Lin Minzhe, they'd have figured this out themselves after a little more thought.

"You mean Zhang Xiuji?" Lin Minzhe had barely finished speaking when Li Zhongjiu frowned: "He's not impossible either. The situation is complicated—we're too close to see clearly who the real hunter is. Keep watch. Send people to monitor Ding Qing, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xiuji. Especially Zhang Xiuji—investigate him thoroughly."

"Yes, Big Bro."

Li Zhongjiu paused, then said: "As for Quan Lishi's death, we can't let it go unpunished. But we'll settle this account later—this is an opportunity for us."

Li Zhongjiu had spent years in the underworld—he used his brain, not brute force. Such a perfect opportunity handed to him? He had to seize it.

So whether or not Ding Qing did it, it had to look like Ding Qing did it. This blame must be pinned on him. For a gang that prides itself on righteousness, killing a fellow member is a grave taboo—this is the perfect leverage to control Ding Qing. It doesn't matter if others believe it; just creating doubt and suspicion is enough.

"Alright, go do your jobs."

"Yes, Big Bro."