Chapter 25: The Xiang Family Makes a Move

Xiang Yan sat behind a sandalwood office desk, a cigar pinched between his fingers; amid the curling smoke, his gaze was dark and unsettled. Xiang Qiang and Xiang Sheng stood before the desk, their expressions grave.

"Big Brother," Xiang Sheng spoke first, "that Wu Xiang Qian's skills are terrifying—he took on our Kowloon branch single-handed."

Xiang Qiang added, "And he looks... too much like you."

Xiang Yan's fingers paused for a beat, and cigar ash fell. He raised his eyes: "How much alike?"

"He's practically a copy of you in your younger days," Xiang Sheng lowered his voice, "especially those eyes."

Xiang Yan pinched out the cigar and pressed the communicator on the desk: "Ah Zhong, come in."

A lean, middle-aged man pushed the door open and entered: "Brother Yan."

"Go investigate one person," Xiang Yan's voice was hoarse, "Wu Xiang Qian—I want everything about him, every experience from childhood to now."

Ah Zhong nodded: "Understood."

After Ah Zhong left, Xiang Qiang couldn't help asking: "Big Brother, you suspect he's..."

"Ah Fei." Xiang Yan closed his eyes briefly, "Ah Fei, who disappeared ten years ago."

Xiang Sheng drew a sharp breath: "It can't be that much of a coincidence, can it?"

"Ten years ago," Xiang Yan stood up and walked to the window, "a servant took Ah Fei to Causeway Bay to buy something, and in the blink of an eye he was gone."

Xiang Qiang recalled: "The old master was furious back then, and had that servant..."

"Drowned in the sea." Xiang Yan said coldly, "Father mobilized every connection on the whole island to search for three full years, and not a single trace turned up."

Xiang Sheng said thoughtfully: "If Wu Xiang Qian really is Ah Fei, then why would he show up at the Kowloon branch? And why would he hit our people so hard?"

Meanwhile, Xiang Qian was sleeping at the hotel. Zhang Guorong and the others had all gone back, and Zhou Huimin's family as well as Xiang Qian's parents had all returned to their own homes.

Sun Li and Zhou Huimin also came to the hotel where Xiang Qian was staying, sitting on the sofa the whole time, waiting for Xiang Qian to wake up.

"Sister Li, you said someone took down Xin Yi'an's branch single-handed—is that true or not?" Zhou Huimin tilted her little head as she looked at Sun Li.

"It should be true. That kind of person must have had training, but it's also good that he took down Xin Yi'an—gangsters like that, keeping them around is just a plague," Sun Li said solemnly.

"Fair point," Zhou Huimin nodded, "I wonder how much liquor Qian-zai and the big brothers drank last night, getting this drunk."

"Those few of them, really." Sun Li shook her head. She knew the one who took down Xin Yi'an's branch last night was Xiang Qian, but she could only marvel that he would go this far for Zhou Huimin, then glanced at Zhou Huimin and nodded.

Xiang Yan's old master, Xiang Butong, was in the courtyard feeding the koi in the pond.

Upon learning that the Kowloon branch had been taken down, Xiang Butong was furious, but also very curious, so he ordered his subordinates to go find out.

Holding Xiang Qian's photograph, Xiang Butong's eyes instantly reddened, and he muttered, "Ah Fei, Ah Fei, little Fei has come back."

He then clapped his hands, and two people instantly appeared behind him.

"White Dragon, Black Tiger, you two go secretly protect the person in the photograph. Not a single hair on his head can be harmed," Xiang Butong said in a low, grave voice.

After he finished speaking, the two behind him glanced at the photograph and vanished from the courtyard in an instant.

It seems Xin Yi'an has worms rotting it from within, so he called his eldest son Xiang Yan.

"Yan-er, Xin Yi'an has worms rotting it from within—remember to clean them out." The old master didn't even open his eyes, speaking in a completely indifferent manner.

"Got it, Daddy!" After Xiang Yan hung up the phone,

he looked at his subordinates and immediately carried out a thorough purge.