"Alright," Ye Taiqing said grimly.

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhongtian's face turned ashen with despair. "Sir, why do you want to kill me?!"

How could he not understand the hidden meaning in Shi Hongda's words? But he didn't understand why he had to die when he had done nothing.

"Now that you know who we are, how can we let you live?" Shi Hongda sneered. "If you go back and tell Xu Ke, we'll be doomed."

They had worn masks and forcibly used their True Qi to alter their voices, all to conceal their identities. After they had been chatting nearby for so long, Lin Zhongtian knew exactly who they were. How could they possibly let him go back?

"Sir, I won't! I don't know who you are," Lin Zhongtian argued desperately.

He knew who these four men were, but he hadn't said a word, precisely to save his own life. He never imagined they would give him no way out!

"Get rid of him. Let's go," Shi Hongda said, not even bothering to respond.

Ye Taiqing snorted coldly. "You should have expected this day would come, being Xu Ke's lapdog!"

He advanced on Lin Zhongtian, who could only gaze back with pleading and terror.

"Sir, I'm a Martial Alliance Elder! You can't kill me!"

"I can tell you Xu Ke's secrets, just spare me!"

"I'm begging you…"

Lin Zhongtian babbled incoherently, trying to bargain for a chance to live.

However, the palm strike Ye Taiqing brought down shattered all his hopes.

As he lay in a pool of his own blood, watching the four men's car speed away, his pupils gradually dilated, filled with an enduring despair.

If only I'd known not to come to Tianhai…

「…」

"There might be a mole," Shi Hongda said with a somber face inside the car.

"A mole?" The other three were taken aback. "Impossible, right? Everyone involved in this operation was a core member of the three great families, weren't they?"

Even the subordinates responsible for exchanging information, running errands, and delivering their meals had served them for many years. There couldn't be a problem!

"If it wasn't a mole, how could Xu Ke have pulled off this diversion?" Shi Hongda analyzed. "A secret must have been leaked at some stage, allowing him to deliberately use Lin Zhongtian as bait to make us miss our target."

At these words, the other three froze, their expressions changing.

Shi Hongda was right!

"We're going back to find the mole!"

「…」

「Ye Grand Hotel.」

"How long do you think it'll take them to bring back Xu Ke's corpse?" Ye Yunfeng asked the seated crowd, a wide smile on his face.

"There's a section of the Haisui Expressway with no surveillance. It takes half an hour to get there." Qin Feng speculated with an air of importance. "I reckon in about an hour, that Xu Ke will be back in Tianhai, ready for cremation."

"Hahaha!" everyone laughed.

"Finally, we've gotten rid of a thorn in our side." Ye Yunfeng raised his glass. "Although our three families are often competitors, today, let's toast to our cooperation."

"I hope there will be more opportunities like this in the future."

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow. "Of course, there will be."

"Xu Ke is just an appetizer," Huang Zhendong said with a faint smile.

Ye Yunfeng nodded, smiling. "Then Tianhai will be completely within our grasp."

CLANG. The crisp sound of their glasses toasting echoed throughout the Noble Private Room.

At this moment, the three of them felt as if they stood at the very pinnacle of Tianhai. Xu Ke's death was the bugle call for their campaign to eradicate the Wang Family.

While the three patriarchs toasted, the three scions were not idle.

Ye Chong glanced at Qin Jinghuan and Huang Sheng, a mocking smile on his lips. With Xu Ke dead, no one from Tianhai's younger generation could stand in his way. No one knew just how powerful he had become, thanks to the stimulation of his Dantian by Xu Ke!

Qin Jinghuan and Huang Sheng, however, said nothing. They simply exchanged glances that carried a hint of scorn. This scorn was directed at Ye Chong. In their eyes, Ye Chong was not yet qualified to stand on the same level as them.

Just as they were clinking glasses and celebrating Xu Ke's demise, Huang Zhendong's phone rang.

Everyone froze.

Ye Chong's face lit up with excitement. "Is Xu Ke dead?" he asked, unable to contain his eagerness.

Qin Jinghuan sneered with calm composure, "Xu Ke's death is a certainty, an established fact. Is there any need to ask?"

Ye Chong's face turned green.

Ye Yunfeng shot him a glare before turning to Huang Zhendong. "Brother Huang, take the call. It must be Elder Shi with the good news. We still need to go and personally verify Xu Ke's corpse."

Huang Zhendong nodded. "Alright!"

He answered the phone, a confident smile on his lips. "Elder Shi, is it done?"

At this moment, no one in the Noble Private Room was looking at Huang Zhendong. They all knew in their hearts that Xu Ke was as good as dead. Of that, there was no doubt!

But just as everyone felt smug and composed, Huang Zhendong's face twisted in horror. "What did you say?!"

Everyone who saw this was stunned, a sense of foreboding surging within them. Huang Zhendong's reaction was completely wrong!

What followed made their pupils shrink even more…

As if struck by lightning, Huang Zhendong, a man known for his composure, uncharacteristically repeated himself. "What did you say?!"

Ye Yunfeng and Qin Feng exchanged glances, cold sweat already beading on their brows. For Huang Zhendong to say the same thing twice, it was clear just how serious the situation was.

But Ye Yunfeng couldn't fathom it. How could Xu Ke possibly escape a terrifying ambush by seven experts again, just like last time? Is Xu Ke some kind of monster?!

"Alright, you all come back first," Huang Zhendong said, hanging up the phone, his face ashen.

The private room fell quiet, all eyes fixed on him.

"What happened? Did Xu Ke escape again?" Ye Yunfeng's gaze was intense as he squeezed the question through clenched teeth.

To his surprise, Huang Zhendong shook his head.

"Then what is it?" Ye Yunfeng asked, startled. He didn't escape?

Qin Feng squinted. "Did someone intervene and save him?"

"Impossible!" Ye Chong's composure shattered. "Who could be more powerful than those six experts at the peak of Innate Great Perfection?"

Qin Jinghuan and Huang Sheng remained silent, but it was obvious they agreed with Ye Chong. At that moment, their faces were ashen as well. How on earth did Xu Ke survive?

Hearing this, Huang Zhendong revealed a smile that was uglier than a grimace. "I would have preferred it if someone had come to save him."

This cryptic statement left everyone bewildered. What does he mean?

"What exactly happened?" Qin Feng's face was turning livid with impatience. "Even if the ambush failed, it's not something we can't accept."

Huang Zhendong took a deep breath and said with great difficulty, "Lin Zhongtian was a decoy. Xu Ke wasn't in the car at all. Our operation this time only killed Lin Zhongtian."

When these words were spoken, everyone's expression changed drastically. "What?"

The color drained from Qin Feng and Ye Yunfeng's faces. "So, we were all played?"

"Yes," Huang Zhendong nodded.

"Damn it!" Qin Feng slammed his fist on the table.

"What the hell happened?!" Ye Yunfeng roared. We missed?!

"According to Elder Shi's speculation, there might be a traitor among us who leaked our plans," Huang Zhendong said slowly, his gaze sweeping over the room.

At these words, the atmosphere instantly froze.

"One should not make such accusations lightly," Ye Yunfeng said, his eyes narrowing. It was the first time their three families had allied; a statement like that could shatter their coalition in an instant.

"I don't want to believe it either, but it's the only plausible explanation," Huang Zhendong's face was grim. "Perhaps… we need to investigate."

At this moment, suspicion filled the air as everyone eyed one another.

Just then, Huang Sheng suddenly spoke up. "Dad, let's put the mole aside for now. Xu Ke not being in the car isn't the end of the world. It can still be fixed!"

"The priority right now is to send the seven of them to Sui City to intercept and kill him immediately!"

Huang Sheng's words snapped everyone back to their senses.

Ye Yunfeng immediately banged the table. "Right! Tell them to give chase! Xu Ke might still be on the expressway!"

Qin Feng looked up. "If they wait at the Sui City highway exit, they might be able to corner him. We have seven experts; his death is certain."

They were desperate to salvage the situation. So what if Xu Ke wasn't in the car? He might escape once, but not twice.

But at that moment, Huang Zhendong once again showed that smile that was uglier than a grimace. "We… no longer have seven experts."

"Why?" everyone asked, stunned.

"The people from the Assassin's Alliance… they said we wasted their time and left."

Upon these words, the entire Noble Private Room fell into a deathly silence.

Ye Yunfeng stared in disbelief. "So, you're saying we wasted our money?" he asked, his voice rigid. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Huang Zhendong slowly nodded.

"Argh—" The shock was too much. Overcome with rage, Ye Yunfeng spat out a mouthful of blood.

All that money, only to kill a single Lin Zhongtian?!

This time, they had truly suffered a massive loss.