Chapter 1051: A Gentle Conspiracy

He Yuzhu said, "General Milai, since you have spoken to this extent, you must clearly understand what I have come for."

Milai nodded repeatedly, his face piled with smiles: "I know, I know, you are here for the jade. To tell you the truth, I have several mineral veins in my hands; you may choose as you please, take as much as you want!"

Hearing how sensible he was, the bit of anger in He Yuzhu's heart dissipated by more than half. He nodded and said, "What you lack most right now is weaponry. If you are willing to use American-made weapons, I can help you arm one or two thousand men. However—that brother-in-law of yours still cannot be kept."

After listening, Milai said without a second thought, "Fair enough! My brother-in-law is yours to dispose of."

He Yuzhu did not dawdle and directly extended his palm.

Milai understood, raised his hand, and struck it heavily against his.

"Snap!" A crisp sound, sharp and decisive.

He Yuzhu laughed: "A gentleman's word is as good as a team of four horses."

Milai waved his hand, turned to open the car door, led He Yuzhu to a military truck, and nudged his chin toward the truck bed: "The person is right inside, do it yourself."

He Yuzhu did not stand on ceremony; he braced one hand on the side of the truck and vaulted up.

In the corner of the truck bed huddled a man in his early thirties, as thin as a Maguan, with high cheekbones and bulging eyeballs, his complexion sallow and greenish—one look and it was clear he had been hollowed out by drugs.

He Yuzhu sized him up for a moment and asked expressionlessly, "Was it you who planned the whole thing to lure us here for kidnapping?"

The young man spat, stiffened his neck, and let out a burst of bravado from his throat: "I did it, so what? Are you going to eat me?"

He Yuzhu chuckled inwardly; even at this point, he was still as stubborn as a dead duck. Where did he get the confidence?

"Your brother-in-law has handed you over to me; whether you live or die is up to me."

Upon hearing this, the young man's face changed abruptly, and he immediately bristled, cursing wildly: "Bah! That old bastard! When he was dirt poor, wasn't it our family that helped him out? Now he's acting all high and mighty, full of benevolence and morality—he's really not a human being! You can't kill me; if you kill me, you'll be making an enemy of my family. Do you know what kind of family we are?"

He Yuzhu was amused and scolded: "I don't care what kind of family you are; in my eyes, you're all just a bunch of things that can't be brought out into the light!"

The young man shouted: "You dare to insult my family? You, you, you will die!"

He Yuzhu stared at him for a few seconds and mocked: "You are just a frog in a well, never knowing how big the sky is."

The young man was very stubborn, his eyes flashing with a vicious light: "I'm telling you, if you kill me today, our family will hunt you to the ends of the earth, and it will never end!"

He Yuzhu smiled lightly, but there was no warmth in his eyes, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather: "Are you more formidable than the CIA? Even they couldn't do anything to me; what do you count for?"

Only then did the young man belatedly smell the scent of death.

His throat bobbed, and his voice suddenly softened: "Don't... don't be in such a hurry to act. Aren't you very capable? Milai has ill intentions; he wants you to kill me so that my family will fight you, and he can sit back and reap the benefits. Don't be fooled by him; he is a smiling tiger. Don't you want jade? Our family has it too. Really, our family has several mines; you, you can have as much as you want!"

He Yuzhu looked down at him and said, "No matter what tricks Milai uses, he is still better than you."

Before the words had faded, he twisted his hands sharply—with a crisp "Crack!", the young man's neck bent at a strange angle, his head hung limply, and he made no more sound.

He Yuzhu clapped his hands, leaped down from the truck, and nodded to General Milai: "General, I've taken care of him. Let's go, take me to see those treasures of yours."

General Milai didn't even lift an eyelid; he gave a casual wave, and an Adjutant hurried to his ear and whispered a few words.

The Adjutant then jumped onto the truck, the engine roared, and the vehicle drove off, kicking up dust.

Only then did Milai laugh heartily and wave his hand: "Mr. He, call all your brothers; I'll set up a banquet for you to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey."

Xu Damao was pacing back and forth in the room, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. When he looked up and saw He Yuzhu walk in unscathed, he immediately asked: "Zhuzi, how did it go?"

He Yuzhu didn't answer, but simply raised his Pistol and fired several shots in quick succession at the figures tied up on the floor.

The gunshots exploded dully in the room, and before the smell of gunpowder had dissipated, he turned to look at everyone, his expression calm: "General Milai is inviting us to dinner."

A few gunshots came from the courtyard; General Milai's brows furrowed slightly, as if pricked by a needle, but they quickly smoothed out.

He knew clearly in his heart—this was He Yuzhu using the gunshots to tell him: those who deceive me, He Yuzhu, have only one path: death.

He shook his head slightly, but the corner of his mouth hooked into an almost imperceptible arc; he understood that he had bet correctly on this step.

Xu Damao smelled the fishy, sweet scent of blood filling the room, his stomach churning, and he immediately ran to the corner of the room, leaning against the wall and vomiting uncontrollably.

Wang Pangzi suppressed the churning in his stomach and leaned in to ask He Yuzhu: "Master He, so the people who kidnapped us weren't him?"

He Yuzhu nodded: "It was his brother-in-law. General Milai brought him over, and I twisted his neck myself."

Hu Bayi listened and nodded thoughtfully: "This man is quite worldly; he knows when to bend and when to stretch. He's someone who can get things done."

Upon hearing this, the wrinkles on Dajinya's face bloomed into a smile, and he rubbed his hands together: "Great! This time I must get a few pieces of glass-grade jade, make a few tables, and give a set to each of my granddaughters!"

He Yuzhu laughed and scanned everyone: "You can take as much jade as you want, it won't cost a cent!"

Hu Bayi, however, kept his guard up, stepped closer, and asked in a low voice: "Master He, you promised him some conditions, didn't you?"

He Yuzhu said candidly: "I have a batch of American equipment on hand that I'm prepared to share with him. They are about to have a civil war here, and I actually hope Milai wins—if he wins, our border side will be much more peaceful."

Upon hearing this, Pangzi gave a thumbs up and shouted in a booming voice: "See that? I said that when Master He takes action, one is worth three! Hey!"

He Yuzhu led Hu Bayi and the others out. Milai took the initiative to step forward, personally opened the door of the black Cadillac, and shook hands with everyone one by one, greeting them with a face full of smiles: "Come, come, come, all get into my car—a Cadillac, bulletproof, I captured it!"

The group filed into the gleaming black sedan. The car drove along the winding mountain road for about twenty minutes and finally stopped in front of a villa built by the water. The entire villa was in a French style, snow-white, three stories high, with a staggered and well-proportioned structure, surrounded by a circle of supporting buildings, reflecting on the water, with quite a bit of the flavor of a European manor.

He Yuzhu got out of the car, his gaze sweeping around calmly, and he secretly took note—the defenses here were not ordinarily tight.

Just from what he could see with the naked eye, there were several firing ports for Dark Bunkers hidden between the grass and the slopes, with open and hidden sentries layered upon each other; it was truly a shrunken military fortress.