At the Ye Grand Hotel, while everyone was seething with rage at Xu Ke and Ye Yunfeng had even spewed blood, Xu Ke himself had just leisurely arrived at Tianhai University.

He wasn't in a hurry to leave Tianhai.

From the surveillance left in the truck, Xu Ke saw the disintegration of the Assassin's Alliance and Shi Hongda's group, and he watched them head toward Sui City.

Now, he could make his way to Sui City slowly and without a care in the world.

However, while Xu Ke was at ease, he still felt a hint of regret.

Just killing Lin Zhongtian and making the three families lose some money… it's really not satisfying enough.

He had left the surveillance camera in the truck, hoping to catch the seven of them slipping up.

If he could have recorded them killing Lin Zhongtian, releasing the footage would have definitely led to the Long Capital Grand Alliance holding them accountable.

Unfortunately, Shi Hongda and his cohorts were no fools; they knew to cover their tracks.

The footage Xu Ke obtained lacked clear evidence to prove that the seven individuals were Shi Hongda's group, so he had to let it go for now.

"What a pity."

Xu Ke clicked his tongue and shook his head.

Beside him, a hatted Tang Yingchang wore a helpless expression.

I don't even know what to say about Mister Xu… An ordinary person would count themselves lucky just to escape an ambush by seven powerful individuals like them. But Mister Xu… he's actually upset he couldn't expand his victory…

Just as Xu Ke arrived at Tianhai University, he received a call from Li Lang.

"Xu Ke, you should know by now, right?" Li Lang's voice was tinged with impatience. Now that Xu Ke had successfully escaped, surely it was time to give him the antidote?

"I know," Xu Ke nodded and said. "Go to the subway entrance on the second floor of Global Square. I left the antidote in a storage locker there for you. Go get it yourself."

He gave it over willingly. It wasn't that he felt he owed Li Lang anything; it was because he had made an oath. Xu Ke took oaths involving his family very seriously.

"Great!" Li Lang replied excitedly.

Then, he hung up.

In the moment before the call disconnected, Xu Ke could still hear Li Lang's ecstatic shouting.

"Mister Xu, are you really letting him off just like that? He's definitely going to turn around and come after you," Tang Yingchang couldn't help but say from the side.

If I were in his shoes, I would never give Li Lang the antidote. The job is done, so why not just break the promise? Besides, Li Lang is an enemy; there's no need to keep my word with him!

But Xu Ke just smiled. "Let him turn back. I'm afraid he won't be able to handle what's coming next. Both he and his father are going to suffer for it."

"What?" Tang Yingchang was taken aback.

Xu Ke chuckled without explaining and simply said, "Let's go inside. Don't keep Ye Feng waiting."

Seeing this, Tang Yingchang stopped asking questions and hurriedly followed him in.

…

Although Xu Ke knew no one would be coming to ambush him now, he still made sure his disguise was thorough.

He wore a hat and had Wong Qifu find a makeup artist to apply some simple makeup that made him look older.

In an instant, he transformed from a young man in his twenties into a middle-aged one.

Tang Yingchang was similarly made to look several years older.

When Ye Feng saw Xu Ke, his eyebrows shot up involuntarily. "Xu... I didn't think you knew how to disguise yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Xu Ke chuckled, his voice now sounding rougher. "If I didn't disguise myself and ended up implicating you, wouldn't that be terrible of me?"

"At least you have some conscience," Ye Feng snorted.

He had genuinely been worried that Xu Ke might try to drive a wedge between him and Ye Yunfeng. If Xu Ke had deliberately forgone a disguise, Ye Yunfeng could have detected them. Now, knowing Xu Ke was willing to cooperate, Ye Feng felt a little touched.

"From now on, call me Wu Chang. Brother Wu. I'm your bodyguard."

"This is Qian Dafu. Mister Qian," Xu Ke said, assigning new identities to himself and Tang Yingchang.

Ye Feng's eyes widened. "You're younger than me! Why should I call you 'brother'?"

"I look so old now. Wouldn't it expose us if you *didn't* call me 'brother'?" Xu Ke argued righteously.

Ye Feng was so angry he gritted his teeth. "..."

Damn it. And to think I actually believed that bastard Xu Ke was disguising himself to cooperate with me. He's just using the situation to get one up on me!

"Alright, just wait here for a moment. We'll be taking the university's private car to Sui City University," Ye Feng said, deciding not to argue about the form of address any longer.

"Alright. Thank you, little brother Feng," Xu Ke said with a sly smile.

A vein throbbed on Ye Feng's forehead.

Just then, a furious shout erupted from behind them. "Damn it, are you blind or something?"

"S-sorry, I was just watering the plants."

"Damn it, where did this janitor come from? Pay up! I have a speech to give at the Sui City University exchange conference later. How the hell am I supposed to give it with my suit all dirty?"

"How… how much…"

"One hundred fifty thousand!"

"What?! I… I don't have that much money…" the accused man cried out in terror.

Hearing the two voices, Xu Ke's expression changed. That terrified voice was all too familiar to him.

He whipped his head around, his pupils instantly constricting.

There stood Qiu Mingli, dressed in a university janitor's uniform with a water hose in his hand, looking filthy from head to toe.

Across from him, a wealthy-looking young man in his twenties was furiously berating him. A puddle of water stained the ground at the young man's feet. Clearly, Qiu Mingli had splashed his clothes.

Qiu Mingli was desperately bowing and apologizing.

"What is going on here?!"

Rage flared inside Xu Ke almost instantly.

Hasn't Qiu Mingli already been transferred from the library back to his department as a counselor? Why is he out here watering plants in the square? What the hell kind of work is this for a counselor?

Hearing the fury simmering in Xu Ke's voice, both Tang Yingchang and Ye Feng's expressions changed as they quickly turned to look.

Ye Feng was alright. He didn't know who Qiu Mingli was; he was just worried that Xu Ke's anger would cause a scene and blow their cover. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Tang Yingchang, however, was horrified. He had forgotten all about Qiu Mingli.

Previously, he and Xu Yi had seen Qiu Mingli at Tianhai University, where he was being forced to clean the women's restroom. He endured humiliation and mockery, and even had his wages docked after people filed deliberate complaints against him.

At the time, Qiu Mingli had begged Tang Yingchang and Xu Yi not to tell Xu Ke and, under no circumstances, to stand up for him.

This was because if Qiu Mingli didn't endure the disgrace, Tianhai University would have immediately targeted Xu Ke, humiliating him to the point he couldn't show his face there.

Qiu Mingli knew Xu Ke had the power to solve the problem, but he also knew Xu Ke already had enough troubles of his own.

Qiu Mingli figured that if all it took to spare Xu Ke from being targeted by a behemoth like Tianhai University was for him to do some cleaning work, then he was willing to take on the dirty, tiring jobs.

It was because of his desperate pleading that Tang Yingchang and Xu Yi had chosen to hide the truth and not intervene.

But Tang Yingchang had overlooked this detail when Xu Ke planned his trip to Tianhai University. This time, how could Xu Ke possibly stand by and watch his teacher suffer?

Just then, the young man sneered, "No money? Can't pay and you can't even watch where you're going? You goddamn bastard…"

He viciously kicked Qiu Mingli.

"Agh!" Qiu Mingli screamed in pain.