Ye Fan was taken aback. "Then I'll book a plane ticket right away."

He knew that with the mission's failure, he was in deep trouble.

"You're still thinking of taking a plane?" Ye Yunfeng said coldly. "Go to the port and take a boat!"

Ye Fan's face changed drastically.

"The port is crawling with people from the Wang Family. Can I even get out?"

Ye Fan was panicked.

When Xu Ke was kidnapped, the Wang Family's port was what the Huang Family had coveted most.

It was a clear indicator of the Wang Family's massive presence and power at the port.

If he went there now, wouldn't he be walking straight into a trap?

"What are you worried about?" Ye Yunfeng glared at him. "Do you think your father would send you to your death?"

Ye Fan didn't dare to speak again.

"Someone will cooperate with you. Just remember to go," Ye Yunfeng said indifferently.

Hearing this, Ye Fan was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes gradually brightened.

「At seven-thirty in the evening.」

A car from the Wang Family pulled up to the entrance of the Dapeng Business Society.

Soon after, Wong Qifu and Wang Wu walked straight to the second floor.

"Hello, Director Wang, Uncle Wu."

Duan Chongfeng stood up, looking toward Wong Qifu and Wang Wu as they entered.

Wong Qifu's expression was incredibly grim.

Just two days ago, Xu Ke had been injured by Wong Hongsheng. Now, he had called to report being ambushed by four Innate Martial Artists.

Wong Qifu said solemnly, "Boss Duan, I'm very sorry for the trouble."

"It's a trivial matter, don't mention it." Duan Chongfeng smiled and gestured toward the inner room. "Xu Ke is inside."

"Okay."

Wong Qifu hurried in.

Wang Wu, however, stepped forward. "Boss Duan, thank you for your trouble."

"Not at all, Uncle Wu. Please, take a seat."

Duan Chongfeng's attitude toward Wang Wu was much more earnest than his attitude toward Wong Qifu.

After all, the Duan Family's strength was no less than the Wang Family's, so he could speak to the Wang Family's Helmsman as an equal.

But it was a different matter entirely for a master at the Innate Great Perfection realm.

"It's fine, I'll just wait here," Wang Wu replied with a slight smile.

"Alright!"

Duan Chongfeng didn't insist, but he stood quietly beside Wang Wu, waiting outside the door.

「Inside the room.」

The moment Wong Qifu entered and saw the entire left side of Xu Ke's body wrapped in bandages, her expression tightened. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Xu Ke smiled and patted his chest with his right hand. "Alive and kicking!"

He was telling the truth.

But Wong Qifu stepped forward and pressed his hand back down. "Don't move around."

Xu Ke could see that while her reaction wasn't overly dramatic, the trembling in her fingers betrayed her true feelings.

Wong Qifu stared at Xu Ke's face. "Who was it?"

"The Ye Family, the Huang Family, and Sun Luo," Xu Ke answered without hiding anything.

"Good!" Wong Qifu nodded slowly.

Then, her gaze sharpened and her voice changed. "They used guns?!"

The bullet that the Zhou Family's doctor had removed from Xu Ke was lying on a nearby table.

Xu Ke's heart sank. "It's fine," he said quickly. "It just hit my thigh."

His most severe problem was the internal damage from his rampaging Dragon Essence; compared to that, the external wounds were trivial.

With the constitution he had developed from the Dragon Essence Medicinal Bath, he could actually heal in a day or two.

Wong Qifu gritted her teeth, her eyes turning ice-cold.

Seeing her expression, Xu Ke added, "I didn't just take a beating. I injured three of them."

"And a mysterious person showed up and saved me."

He was worried that if she became too angry, she would lose all reason.

"A mysterious person?" Wong Qifu frowned.

"Yes." Xu Ke nodded, realizing he hadn't explained clearly over the phone. "After I injured three of them, Ye Dexian appeared and tried to capture me."

"That's when a powerful stranger, whom I also didn't recognize, appeared. He severely injured Sun Luo and forced the other three to retreat. That's the only reason I'm still alive."

Wong Qifu mused, "You don't know who it was either?"

"No, I don't."

Xu Ke shook his head, sighing in relief. Diverting Wong Qifu's attention was for the best.

He was afraid she would be overcome by rage and act rashly against Sun Luo, Uncle Qiu, and the others. If the Ye Family seized upon that as another point of contention, the bickering would be endless.

Wong Qifu didn't press the matter of the mysterious person. She stared at Xu Ke. "You should stay here tonight. I'm going to the Martial Arts Guild."

"No need," Xu Ke said. "Brother Duan has already called Vice Alliance Leader Yuan."

Wong Qifu was taken aback.

Just then, Yuan Shang's voice came from outside the door. "What's the situation?"

"The Ye and Huang Families made a move on Xu Ke," Duan Chongfeng summarized concisely.

Yuan Shang's tone deepened. "Those bastards don't give a damn about the Martial Arts Guild, do they?"

"Where's Xu Ke?"

With that, his footsteps immediately headed toward Xu Ke's room.

Duan Chongfeng pointed at the room. "Hold on, Director Wang is inside."

Yuan Shang stopped in his tracks.

Xu Ke just smiled. "Qifu, you can open the door."

Wong Qifu nodded.

CLICK.

The door opened. Outside, Yuan Shang stood somewhat awkwardly. "Director Wang..." I'm really a third wheel here.

"Vice Alliance Leader Yuan, thank you for making the trip," Wong Qifu said, not seeming to mind.

"It's nothing." Yuan Shang shook his head and walked into the room. The moment he saw Xu Ke's injuries, his face went completely dark. "How many of them?"

Xu Ke recited the list of names again.

"Do you have any evidence?" Yuan Shang asked.

He couldn't just arrest people without proof.

Xu Ke was about to pull out his recorder pen, which he had been carrying with him for a long time.

But he then noticed a broken recorder pen lying on the table, which had obviously been destroyed during the fight.

Seeing this, Yuan Shang took a deep breath. "No problem. Give me the address. I'll check the surveillance footage and summon them all to the Martial Arts Guild."

"Although we have no evidence right now, the Guild's authority allows us to detain them for twenty-four hours for an initial summons and investigation. That should be enough time for us to gather evidence."

"Time is of the essence. Otherwise, Sun Luo will likely get away."

"Okay," Xu Ke said. "The address is near the Longcha Subway Station at Global Square..."

He understood Yuan Shang's plan: detain the suspects first, then gather evidence. Once they had proof, they could make the arrests.

"Don't worry, he won't get far," Duan Chongfeng said as he walked in. "You should get going."

Yuan Shang nodded, about to get up and leave.

But just then, his phone rang.

After taking the call, Yuan Shang's expression became exceedingly grim.

"What's wrong?" Duan Chongfeng immediately noticed something was off.

"Peng Hetong," Yuan Shang gritted out, "that bastard."

Everyone's expression changed.

Yuan Shang continued, "An hour ago, for some unknown reason, Peng Hetong issued four orders from the Guild right after I left. He summoned all four of them, claiming it was to investigate your injuries."

"None of them even tried to flee; they were all summoned to the Martial Arts Guild."

As he spoke, his anger became palpable.

Xu Ke's expression had already turned grim.

He knew what had happened.

He hadn't even reported the incident, yet Peng Hetong had inexplicably opened a case. It was clearly a behind-the-scenes maneuver coordinated with the Ye Family.

"But after questioning them for an hour, he concluded there was insufficient evidence to connect them to your injuries and let them go."

"That bastard!" Yuan Shang seethed.

Xu Ke's face was like stone.

Originally, Yuan Shang could have held them for twenty-four hours. But now that Peng Hetong had preempted him, the Martial Arts Guild could no longer forcibly detain them again.

According to the Guild's procedures, if they couldn't gather evidence in time, they would have to watch helplessly as Ye Fan and the others escaped.

They had been completely outmaneuvered by Peng Hetong.

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