Chapter 147

In the Sun Gongguan of the French Concession, inside a three-story Western-style building, the atmosphere was heavy.

"What?!" Sun Lingyun slammed his fist on the rosewood desk, the teacup jumped, tea spilled all over the table, "The whole army wiped out?!"

The aide who came to report knelt on one knee: "Young Commander, the First and Second Brigades were ambushed by the Fourth Bureau's Ghost Division, suffering heavy casualties. Chief of Staff Gu led fewer than three hundred men in a breakout, now retreating toward us."

"Eight thousand elite troops... just gone like that?" Sun Lingyun's voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot. These two brigades were his core forces, his most important chip in Shen City, yet they were crushed by the Fourth Bureau in less than two hours.

"Lin Yu!" Sun Lingyun gritted his teeth, his face ashen.

He picked up the phone on the desk and dialed the Fourth Bureau's number. A busy tone came from the other end, no one answered.

"Call again!"

The aide dialed again, but the result was still a busy tone.

"Damn it!" Sun Lingyun threw the phone to the floor, glass shards scattering.

Sun Lingyun paced to the window, clenching his fists. Outside, the French Concession's quiet streets formed a stark contrast to the storm inside him.

"Young Commander, what should we do next?"

Sun Lingyun turned: "Go fetch Chen Jisheng!"

A few minutes later, Chen Jisheng hurried over. This middle-aged staff officer had sweat beading on his forehead.

"Young Commander, I just learned the news..."

"Didn't you say Lin Yu had already agreed to our terms?" Sun Lingyun interrupted him, "Didn't you say he would let us go? What's going on now? My two main brigades have almost been wiped out!"

Chen Jisheng's forehead beaded with sweat: "Young Commander, I don't understand either. When I went to see Lin Yu, he neither clearly agreed nor refused. I thought..."

"You thought?" Sun Lingyun sneered, "Your 'thought' cost me eight thousand elite troops!"

He grabbed the teapot on the desk and hurled it at the wall. The teapot shattered, fragments flying.

Chen Jisheng knelt on the ground: "Young Commander, it's my dereliction of duty. I am willing to bear full responsibility."

Sun Lingyun took a deep breath: "Get up. Now is not the time to assign blame. I need you to go to the Fourth Bureau immediately and confront Lin Yu face to face to find out what he means."

Chen Jisheng rose: "Young Commander, forgive my frankness, but going to the Fourth Bureau now is likely dangerous. Since Lin Yu dared to strike at our forces, he won't care about an envoy's safety."

"Then what do you suggest?"

Chen Jisheng pondered for a moment: "We can use the French Concession's channels to ask the French consul to mediate. After all, the Fourth Bureau probably doesn't want to antagonize France either."

"Too late!" Sun Lingyun slammed his palm on the table, "I need to know Lin Yu's attitude right now! Go now!"

Chen Jisheng nodded: "Yes, Young Commander. I'm going now."

"Wait." Sun Lingyun took a letter from the drawer, "Hand-deliver this to Lin Yu. Tell him that if he wants to establish himself in Shen City, he shouldn't make an enemy of the Sun family."

Chen Jisheng took the letter and placed it in his inner pocket.

"Go, I need to know exactly what he means."

Chen Jisheng had just reached the door when Sun Lingyun called him back: "Remember, I want you to come back alive. If you don't return within three hours, I will make Lin Yu pay the price he deserves."

Chen Jisheng bowed, then turned and left.

Outside the Sun Gongguan, a black sedan had been waiting for a while. Chen Jisheng got into the car: "Go to 88 Xiafei Road, Fourth Bureau Headquarters."

The driver exclaimed: "Mr. Chen, are you sure? Going there now..."

"Drive!"

The car drove out of the Sun Gongguan and into the streets of the French Concession. Xiafei Road lies within the French Concession, only a ten-odd minute drive from the Sun Gongguan. This meant that Lin Yu's headquarters was right under their noses, yet they knew nothing of the Fourth Bureau's true strength.

Soon the car turned onto Xiafei Road; in the distance, Chen Jisheng saw the four-story office building at number 88. The guards stationed out front and the parked military vehicles revealed its true identity.

"Stop here." Chen Jisheng ordered, "Wait for me here. If I don't come out within three hours, go back and tell the Young Commander."

The driver nodded and parked the car about fifty meters from the building. Chen Jisheng straightened his suit and tie, then walked toward the Fourth Bureau Headquarters.

The two guards in front of the building immediately became alert, slightly raising their rifles.

"Halt! This is a military control zone, no entry for outsiders!"

Chen Jisheng stopped, took out a business card: "I am Chen Jisheng, envoy of Young Commander Sun Lingyun, and I have an urgent matter to see Director Lin."

The guard took the card, sized up Chen Jisheng from head to toe, then went inside the building.

A few minutes later, he returned, followed by a young man in a suit.

"Mr. Chen, I am Zhou Wei, Secretary to Director Lin. Please follow me."

Chen Jisheng followed Zhou Wei into the building. The lobby's decor was simple, with the flag of the Great Dry Dynasty and the emblem of the Fourth Bureau hanging on the walls.

Zhou Wei escorted Chen Jisheng up in the elevator to the fourth floor, arriving at a spacious office. He lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Zhou Wei pushed open the door: "Director Lin, Envoy Chen Jisheng of Young Commander Sun has arrived."

Chen Jisheng entered the office and saw Lin Yu sitting behind his desk, several documents spread out before him.

"Mr. Chen," Lin Yu lifted his head, "I suppose you've come because of today's fighting."

Chen Jisheng suppressed his anger: "Director Lin, Young Commander sent me to get a clear answer. We clearly had an understanding, so why did your forces launch a full-scale assault on us?"

Lin Yu set down his pen: "An understanding? I don't recall us having any such thing."

"The night before last, I came to see you," Chen Jisheng gritted his teeth, "I made it clear that the Young Commander's troops were just putting on a show and would not truly oppose the Fourth Bureau. You didn't explicitly agree then, but you also didn't refuse."

Lin Yu snorted, rose, and walked to the window: "Mr. Chen, your Young Commander's so-called 'gesture of goodwill' is merely because he saw the Fourth Bureau's strength and dared not confront it head-on, so he switched sides at the last moment."

He turned: "What does Sun Lingyun want? Nothing more than to have me deal with the court and Yang Chengdong, draining my strength, so he can reap the benefits. Such a clumsy trick—does he dare try it in front of me?"

Chen Jisheng's face changed: "Director Lin, you've misunderstood. The Young Commander genuinely wants to cooperate with the Fourth Bureau..."

"Cooperate?" Lin Yu interrupted him, "With just that bit of strength from the Sun family, do you even deserve to cooperate with me?"

He walked back to his desk: "Tell me, what do you think gives you the right to bargain with me? Those eight thousand rabble? Or the Sun family's paltry influence in Jiangnan?"

Chen Jisheng burst out laughing in anger: "Director Lin, what a big mouth! Do you think your troops alone can rule Shen City like kings? Don't forget, the Sun family has deep roots in Jiangnan, with enterprises spread everywhere. Offend the Sun family, and you won't be able to move an inch in Shen City!"

"The Sun family?" Lin Yu sneered, "Just a bunch of jumping clowns."

He stepped up to Chen Jisheng: "You local powers, taking advantage of the court's preoccupation, call yourselves kings on your own little plots. Now that you've met a true strongman, you just want to take shortcuts."

Chen Jisheng took out Sun Lingyun's letter from his inner pocket: "Young Commander ordered me to personally hand this letter to you."

Lin Yu took the letter and opened it in front of Chen Jisheng. The letter's content was elegant and restrained, yet between the lines it revealed a stern threat.

"Director Lin, please open: Today's matter is truly accidental. Sun has always respected heroes; Director Lin's talent and courage are admirable. However, the way of the martial world has advances and retreats. If Director Lin can give Sun a step down, there will surely be generous rewards later. If you insist on being an enemy, I fear it will be no good for either side. Please reconsider."

Lin Yu finished reading the letter, tore the paper into pieces, and the scraps floated down to the ground.

"What right do you have to question me?" Lin Yu said coldly. "What is the Sun family anyway? Just a bunch of jumping clowns."

Lin Yu took out a pistol from the drawer. Chen Jisheng saw the pistol, his face turned ashen, and he stepped back.

"Director Lin, what are you doing? I am an envoy, you cannot…"

"An envoy?" Lin Yu sneered. "In my eyes, you are merely a messenger begging for death."

Lin Yu raised the pistol, aiming at Chen Jisheng's chest: "Tell Sun Lingyun, Shen City does not welcome him. If he insists on coming, I will make him understand what it means to overreach."

Chen Jisheng's eyes filled with fear: "Director Lin, please reconsider! If you kill me, the Sun family will not let you off!"

"Let you off?" Lin Yu scoffed. "What is the Sun family? Some stray cats and dogs, daring to threaten me?"

"Bang!"

The first bullet struck Chen Jisheng's chest; he staggered back, his eyes full of disbelief. Blood welled from the wound, staining his white shirt red.

"Lin… Yu…" Chen Jisheng gasped out those two words with difficulty.

"Bang!"

The second bullet struck his head; Chen Jisheng's body collapsed heavily to the ground, motionless thereafter.

Lin Yu put down the pistol, pressed the communicator on the desk: "Zhou Wei, come in for a moment."

Zhou Wei pushed the door open, saw the corpse on the ground, his expression shifted slightly: "Chief, do you need me to handle this?"

"Send the corpse back to the Sun Gongguan," Lin Yu said. "Let Sun Lingyun know that this is the consequence of challenging the Fourth Bureau."

"Yes, Chief." Zhou Wei nodded and turned to leave.

Lin Yu walked to the window, gazing at the scenery of the French Concession. The sky over Shen City was overcast with dark clouds, as if a storm were about to break.

"Sun Lingyun," he muttered softly, "if you want to play with fire, don't blame me for letting you bury yourself in flames."

Three hours later, outside the gate of Sun Gongguan, a black car of the Fourth Bureau slowly pulled up. Two plainclothes agents of the Fourth Bureau threw a corpse at the door, then quickly drove away.

The guards of Sun Gongguan discovered Chen Jisheng's corpse and immediately reported it to Sun Lingyun.

Sun Lingyun looked at Chen Jisheng's corpse soaked in blood, his face dark as iron, his hands trembling. His trusted aide, thus executed on the spot by Lin Yu, was a naked provocation and humiliation to the Sun family.

"Lin Yu!" Sun Lingyun snarled through gritted teeth, "I will make you die without a burial place!"