Chapter 336: Vertical and Horizontal Alliances (Part II)

"I have killed quite a few officials; does your General Supervisory Court actually dare to invite me to be an honorary consultant?"

Li Fei looked at Xia Huan with a look that was not quite a smile.

Clearly, there was no killing intent, yet Xia Huan felt a chill run down his spine in an instant, and the smile on his face stiffened!

Yan Shijin of the investigation team had publicly helped Li Fei remove the wanted notice, using the excuse that it was impossible to confirm that this Ghost King of the Green Face in Datong Prefecture was the same Ghost King of the Green Face who had killed officials in Xingcheng.

As a result, Li Fei was now actually saying to Xia Huan's face that he was the one who had killed the officials!

This was no longer just a slap in the face in public; it was tearing off the mask in public!

Just as the atmosphere became tense, Li Fei suddenly laughed:

"Haha, just a joke."

"Haha, hahahaha."

Xia Huan laughed along.

For a split second just now, he felt that he might be done for tonight.

"Lord Xia, you see, inviting me to be an honorary consultant might carry a very high risk."

Li Fei looked at Xia Huan with profound meaning in his eyes.

Xia Huan gave two dry laughs, barely maintaining his smile, and said:

"Why doesn't the Ghost King listen to the conditions we are offering first?"

Li Fei was noncommittal, signaling for Xia Huan to continue.

"As long as the Ghost King is willing to agree to become an honorary consultant for our General Supervisory Court, you won't need to do anything, and we can provide you with thirty first-grade implants and ten second-grade implants every year!"

As soon as Xia Huan spoke, he put forward a very moving condition.

Why do all the major forces buy exotic beast feed and raise exotic beasts?

It is mainly to obtain implants to cultivate martial artists.

Now that the General Supervisory Court could directly provide Li Fei with implants—thirty per year—it meant he could cultivate thirty martial artists annually!

This quota was already quite substantial; the exotic beast farm Li Fei owned himself could only produce about thirty usable implants per year.

As long as Li Fei nodded in agreement, in just a few years, the number of martial artists under his command could double!

And the conditions Xia Huan offered were not finished yet:

"Besides the implants, the Ghost King can share intelligence with our General Supervisory Court; we can give you authority equivalent to a Secret-Managing Envoy of the General Supervisory Court!"

Xia Huan was a supervisory official of the General Supervisory Court, a level 10 official, just touching the threshold of a life-appointed official.

The Secret-Managing Envoy of the General Supervisory Court was responsible for intelligence work in a single region; they were level 12 officials, equal in rank to the Chief of a region, and were at the pinnacle of life-appointed officials.

If Li Fei were granted authority equivalent to a Secret-Managing Envoy of the General Supervisory Court, he could access most of the General Supervisory Court's intelligence!

This was not just real-time intelligence, but also a large portion of intelligence on officials, as the primary duty of the General Supervisory Court was to supervise all officials.

This meant Li Fei could use this to strike at the officials in the factions of the Poison King and the Cannon King, and also better manage his base in Xingcheng!

"Finally."

Xia Huan's conditions were not yet finished:

"If the Ghost King is passionate about the martial Dao, our General Supervisory Court can also help you obtain high-level inheritances from the Martial University!"

In truth, this last point would make even an ordinary person in the Jianghu, or even a martial arts master like 'Blade King' Gu Vanguard Commander, feel very tempted!

But for Li Fei, this last point actually had little appeal.

As his true self, he was already a peerless prodigy at the Martial University; if it really came down to it, the difficulty of him obtaining high-level inheritances from the Martial University might be much lower than through the General Supervisory Court.

He had already obtained the *Diamond Seal* and the *Red-Sound Fire Diamond Method*.

"Are you finished?"

Li Fei asked calmly.

Xia Huan nodded: "If the Ghost King has other requests, you can also bring them up; our General Supervisory Court is very sincere."

"I believe you are very sincere."

Li Fei nodded, looked into Xia Huan's eyes, and said word for word:

"But, I refuse."

In reality, this honorary consultant position the General Supervisory Court spoke of could be translated into four words—court lackey.

Li Fei believed that at first, the General Supervisory Court would certainly treat him with great courtesy and would not need him to do anything at all.

But later on, various matters would slowly come knocking.

Li Fei's experiences in his past life made him all too clear about the various involuntary situations within the system!

Those people would use all sorts of ways to force you to compromise, binding you with invisible ropes, gradually making you unable to stretch your limbs.

Until one day, when the 'ropes' on you were sufficient, you would be successfully 'tamed' and become a qualified court lackey.

Therefore, from the first day Li Fei arrived in this world, he had never once thought about becoming a person within the system again.

What he sought was to live this life with abandon, to master his own destiny; entering the system, even if one became the Emperor, one could not achieve that!

"Ghost King..."

Xia Huan wanted to persuade him further, but was interrupted by Li Fei:

"There is no need to discuss this matter further!"

Xia Huan was helpless and could only say:

"Since that is the case, then I shall..."

He intended to take his leave, but was kept back by Li Fei:

"Lord Xia, no need to rush off. Although I cannot be an honorary consultant, we can have other forms of cooperation."

"Please speak, Ghost King."

Xia Huan sat back down.

"After Zhang Zongyang died, the General Supervisory Court has been investigating; it has been over a month now, has there been any progress?"

Li Fei asked.

If Feng Sanniang had already grasped the identity of the true culprit, it made no sense for the General Supervisory Court to not have even a single clue, right?

That would be too pathetic!

A smile appeared on Xia Huan's face: "So this is what the Ghost King wants to talk about."

He nodded: "Of course, we have already grasped certain clues."

"I want the clues that the General Supervisory Court has already grasped; in exchange, from now on, the exotic beast feed I sell to the General Supervisory Court can be reduced by another thirty percent from the original price!"

Li Fei said.

Xia Huan's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Exotic beast feed was purchased once a quarter; over the course of a year, the money spent was not a small sum. If it could be thirty percent cheaper, the money saved could naturally be distributed.

Over the years, the profit in this was still quite considerable.

And money was not the most important thing; the most important thing was political achievement!

If I negotiate a deal for the General Supervisory Court and save the organization a large sum of money, that is a solid contribution.

That was why Xia Huan was tempted; he believed his superiors would certainly be tempted as well.

"I need to request instructions from the lords above."

Xia Huan said to Li Fei.

"Please go ahead, Lord Xia."

Thus, Xia Huan walked out of the private room to make a call.

Li Fei sat alone in the private room and waited quietly for over ten minutes before Xia Huan returned.

"Sorry to have kept the Ghost King waiting."

Xia Huan gave an apologetic smile.

"How is it?"

Li Fei looked at him.

"I hope we have a pleasant cooperation with the Ghost King."

Xia Huan took the initiative to reach out his hand.

This meant that the big shots of the General Supervisory Court had agreed to the conditions Li Fei proposed.

Li Fei also reached out and shook hands with Xia Huan.

However, he was wearing a pair of thick leather gloves on his hands.

Because the person he was meeting tonight was from the General Supervisory Court, these intelligence-gathering people were observant; they might have some devious methods to identify people through certain details.

Therefore, Li Fei was not careless in the slightest.

After the handshake, the two sat down again, and Xia Huan began to recount the intelligence and clues the General Supervisory Court had grasped:

"On the night Zhang Zongyang was murdered, he went out alone and quietly headed to that large courtyard to meet someone."

"Meet whom?"

Li Fei asked.

In fact, regarding the events of that night, this was the point he had been puzzled about from the beginning.

Officials of Zhang Zongyang's rank had corresponding protocols for travel; even if it were a 'secret inspection,' there would be security personnel accompanying them.

But on the night Zhang Zongyang was murdered, no one knew beforehand that he had gone to that courtyard; he had gone quietly by himself.

This had made the investigation much more difficult.

After Shangguan Xiao returned to Datong Prefecture, she had also spent a great deal of effort investigating that courtyard, but had not found any clues.

Now it seemed that the General Supervisory Court had already found them.

"To see a woman."

Xia Huan said, "The background of this woman is a mystery; it has been deliberately covered up by someone. What we can currently confirm is that Zhang Zongyang and this woman have been meeting in secret for as long as a year, and that courtyard is the location where they met each time."

"A woman."

Li Fei's expression became strange.

Looking at it this way, it really looks like going to a secret tryst with a lover.

Can a figure like Zhang Zongyang not avoid such common tropes?

"Is there any identity information on this woman? Have you found her yet?"

Li Fei pressed.

Xia Huan: "Currently, we only know her public name is Xiaorui. Through investigating those who have had contact with her, we produced a portrait of her, but the person has not been found yet. We only know she last appeared in Baiyang City, and there has been no trace of her since."

"Baiyang City... that is to say, she may have already left Datong Prefecture."

Li Fei muttered, then said to Xia Huan, "I want this woman's portrait."

"Very well, I have already had people at the academy send the portrait over; please wait a moment."

Xia Huan said.

"I heard that before Zhang Zongyang died, he was poisoned with a toxin that triggered at set intervals. Based on this poison, have you found any clues? Are there any suspects within the Zhang family?"

Li Fei continued to ask.

"Regarding the poison, we have already entrusted Lecturer Mo Yizhou of the Martial Academy to help analyze it. Once he has results on his end, we can inform you immediately."

Xia Huan said.

"Mo Yizhou?"

Li Fei recalled that this Mr. Mo had not come to give him lessons for a few days previously, saying he was delayed by matters.

Thinking about it now, those few days were exactly when Zhang Zongyang had just been assassinated.

So at that time, Mo Yizhou had already been invited by the General Supervisory Academy to help.

"This Mr. Mo is a master in the field of toxicology. If even he cannot find clues from the poison, then no one else will be able to."

Xia Huan explained.

"Mm."

Li Fei nodded. He knew Mo Yizhou's abilities better than others, especially after he himself summarized the 'poison formula'; Mo Yizhou's attainments in pharmacology could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds!

It seems that for clues in this regard, he does not need to trouble others; he can completely rely on himself to obtain them.

"What about inside the Zhang family?"

"As for the people inside the Zhang family, we have also been investigating in secret for over a month. We currently have a few suspects. I have also had people from the academy bring the specific intelligence along with the portrait for you."

As expected, once a state apparatus like the General Supervisory Academy investigates with full force, it is impossible not to find any traces at all.

Li Fei nodded with satisfaction.

If he could find the true culprit through the clues provided by the General Supervisory Academy, then the conditions promised to Feng Sanniang could be renegotiated.

"Have someone send the intelligence and the portrait to the Zhang residence. I will wait at the gate of the Zhang residence."

Li Fei stood up and said to Xia Huan.

He had a total of three negotiations this evening.

The first was to talk with Feng Sanniang.

The second was to talk with the General Supervisory Academy.

The third was to talk with the Zhang family.

After speaking, he walked out of the elegant room.

"Rest assured, Ghost King, it will certainly be delivered."

Xia Huan said behind him.

Next, Li Fei got into a car and had the driver drive to the Zhang residence.

Ten-plus minutes later, the car stopped outside the main gate of the Zhang residence.

Zhang Zedong, Zhang Zongming, and the heads of each branch were all waiting at the main gate!

If Zhang Zongyang were still here, given the Zhang family's status, there would naturally be no need to make such a big show of waiting specifically for one person.

But now, the entire Zhang family was able to survive this crisis only because of Li Fei, so they naturally had to treat tonight's conversation with gravity.

Shangguan Xiao also stood at the very front of the crowd, feeling somewhat moved.

Previously, it was always she who brought Li Fei to the Zhang residence; now it had become her waiting outside the gate to welcome Li Fei to the Zhang residence.

The Green-Faced Ghost King, who shook the entire Datong Prefecture, was actually a youth who had been practicing martial arts for less than two years and was only eighteen this year.

Even if this kind of thing were told to others, no one would believe it.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Shangguan Xiao's face.

She took the lead in greeting him, with the others following closely behind.

Li Fei got out of the car.

Just as Zhang Zedong and the others were hesitating whether to shout 'Respectfully welcome the Ghost King', Shangguan Xiao spoke first:

"Long time no see."

"Long time no see."

Li Fei nodded at Shangguan Xiao and said in a low voice.

Seeing that the relationship between the two was more familiar than imagined, the Zhang family members present immediately breathed a sigh of relief and were not as nervous.

"Ghost King, please come inside."

Zhang Zongyang's eldest son, Zhang Zezheng, spoke up.

He was considered the legitimate eldest son of the Zhang family, but he was neither good at literature nor martial arts, so his status in the Zhang family was not high; the true head of the main branch was Zhang Zedong.

However, for this occasion today, his identity was Shangguan Xiao's older brother, so it would be better for him to come forward to receive the Green-Faced Ghost.

"No rush."

But Li Fei refused directly.

These words made Shangguan Xiao laugh inwardly.

She knew too well what her family members were like: timid and servile toward outsiders, but fierce and aggressive toward their own.

Once these Zhang family members felt that the Green-Faced Ghost was one of their own, then tonight's negotiation would be very disadvantageous for Li Fei.

So before Li Fei arrived, Shangguan Xiao had very directly said to him: "Don't consider my face, and there is absolutely no need to save face for the Zhang family. The more you put on airs, the more honest they will be!"

Thus, Li Fei really had no intention of saving face for the Zhang family.

"It's starting already?"

Shangguan Xiao watched Li Fei 'perform' with secret amusement.

"Ghost King, this is...?"

Zhang Zezheng looked at Li Fei somewhat nervously, his body even trembling slightly.

There was no help for it; this legitimate eldest son of the Zhang family not only lacked the aptitude for martial arts and was just an ordinary person, but he was also older. Facing a martial arts powerhouse like Li Fei, he would instinctively feel immense pressure.

"Ghost King, is there something about our Zhang family's hospitality that is lacking?"

Zhang Zedong silently stepped forward, stood beside his older brother, and asked.

But Li Fei did not even look at Zhang Zedong, nor did he pay him any mind; instead, he looked at Shangguan Xiao and said softly:

"I am waiting for something, it will arrive very soon."

He would only explain to Shangguan Xiao alone, causing the expressions of the other Zhang family members present to change.

Yet no one dared to stand out and say a word of dissent.

Under the moonlight, a group of people just stood outside the Zhang residence gate, accompanying Li Fei as he waited.

There is more tonight, asking for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)