Forced to Marry a Female Billionaire CEO

"He's returned to Tianhai," Xu Ke said, a peculiar smile on his face.

Yuan Shang's brows tightened. "Returned? And he killed Lin Zhongtian? Do the Ye Family and Lin Zhongtian have such a deep grudge?"

He was completely unaware of what had happened that day. Only Duan Chongfeng cleared his throat twice without saying a word.

"Let me show you something. Once you've seen it, you'll understand," Xu Ke said, not bothering to explain further. He casually sent the video he had saved on his phone.

"Okay!" Yuan Shang nodded.

After he received the video and watched it, he fell into a long silence.

"These masked people are... people from the Huang, Qin, and Ye Families?!" Yuan Shang stammered, piecing together information from the video, his eyes wide with shocked disbelief. "They came to kill you?"

Xu Ke nodded.

"What in the world happened?" Yuan Shang finally cried out, startled by the video's contents.

Only then did Xu Ke explain the whole story. Now that the dust had settled, he saw no reason to hide anything, including why three of the Assassin's Alliance's notoriously elusive Innate Great Perfection experts had suddenly appeared at once.

After hearing the full explanation, Yuan Shang was as still and silent as a corpse.

"...What's wrong?" Xu Ke asked, breaking the silence. Yuan Shang had been deathly still for over a minute.

"You... you... you..." Yuan Shang stammered, but he couldn't form a complete sentence. He was utterly dumbfounded.

Xu Ke was supposed to be ambushed by a powerful lineup of six Innate Great Perfection experts. But instead, he lured the tiger from the mountain, used a borrowed knife to kill, made fools of seven masters, and successfully escaped?! What on earth had Xu Ke been through in a single morning?

"So, now you know I didn't kill Lin Zhongtian, right?" Xu Ke said.

Hearing this, Yuan Shang suddenly shot to his feet. He took a deep breath and unconsciously rubbed his face hard with both hands.

Duan Chongfeng scoffed with disdain, "Making a big deal out of nothing. Did you have to be that shocked?"

Xu Ke was left speechless by the comment. Duan Chongfeng seemed to have completely forgotten how dumbstruck he himself had been when he first heard the plan to kill with a borrowed knife.

Yuan Shang ignored Duan Chongfeng's teasing and plopped back down on the sofa. "You've got some serious nerve! Aren't you afraid of what would have happened if you'd failed?"

Xu Ke chuckled. "If it hadn't worked, I wouldn't have lost anything.

"As long as I couldn't be killed, there was nothing to lose." He had only initiated the plan after considering what would happen if he failed.

"That's true, that's true!" Yuan Shang lit a cigarette. After smoking it halfway down in a few quick puffs, he began nodding frantically. "You're right! The potential rewards far outweighed the risks! But I have a question. How did you know in advance that they were coming to kill you?"

Such a powerful lineup showed the three families' determination to kill Xu Ke. Based on his years of dealing with the Ye Family and the others, Yuan Shang believed their secrecy would be top-notch. The fact that neither he nor Chen Xiong had received any hint of the plan until after Lin Zhongtian was dead proved it. And yet, Xu Ke still managed to find out? The implications were terrifying.

"It's a secret," Xu Ke said, being deliberately mysterious.

"Do you know how he found out?" Yuan Shang turned to Duan Chongfeng.

Duan Chongfeng shook his head. "I really don't know this time."

"Really?"

"Really!"

Yuan Shang eyed him suspiciously. This time, however, knowing nothing, Duan Chongfeng wasn't flustered and appeared perfectly calm.

"Let's not talk about that for now." Duan Chongfeng shoved the ashtray into Yuan Shang's hands, then looked at Xu Ke with a grin. "How do you plan to use this video?"

He had wanted to discuss how to handle the video since noon, but upon learning that Xu Ke had gone to Sui City using his own channels, he had patiently waited until the dead of night to reach out.

Yuan Shang, who was in the middle of tapping ash from his cigarette, heard this and his eyes lit up. "Right, what are your plans for the video?"

He'd been so shocked earlier that he had forgotten the huge potential of this video. If they could use this to accuse the three families of killing Lin Zhongtian, they could just sit back and watch the dogs tear each other apart! Even if Yan Xuehai's people didn't want to be at loggerheads with the Ye, Huang, and Qin Families, they would have no choice but to take a stand on the matter of Lin Zhongtian. Otherwise, the prestige of the Long Capital Martial Alliance would be completely destroyed!

But Xu Ke just gave a wry smile. "Look at this video. If I hadn't told you these were people from the three great families and the Assassin's Alliance, would you be able to tell?"

Yuan Shang and Duan Chongfeng fell silent. Xu Ke had a point.

But Duan Chongfeng grabbed Yuan Shang's phone and scrubbed through the video, his eyes suddenly brightening. "Wait, there's a line here. 'Three great families being played for fools by some freeloader... what a fucking eye-opener.' One of the Assassin's Alliance guys said it. That might be useful."

Yuan Shang leaned over the phone and watched, tapping the table before shaking his head. "I don't think it'll work. There are countless families in this world. That doesn't specifically point to the Ye, Huang, or Qin Families."

"But this masked man... that has to be Ye Taiqing, right? And he said this is Tianhai," Duan Chongfeng pressed, unwilling to give up. "In all of Tianhai, which powerful families have openly declared their intention to kill Xu Ke? It has to point to them, doesn't it?"

Hearing this, both Xu Ke and Yuan Shang's brows furrowed. They also wanted to seize this opportunity to force Yan Xuehai to deal with Shi Hongda and his cohorts. But the problem was, no one was a fool. It would be difficult to convince anyone with evidence that didn't form a complete chain and left too much room for rebuttal.

Seeing that Yuan Shang and Xu Ke were silent, Duan Chongfeng had to let it go. "Fine, forget it. I was just hoping we could turn the tables on them."

"There's no rush," Xu Ke smiled. "This video might not be useful right now, but you two should hold onto it.

"Later, we'll see if we can find other evidence to prove the people in it are from the three families. Then we can get the Long Capital Martial Alliance to move against them."

Yuan Shang agreed. "Xu Ke is right, no need to hurry! After all, we have time on our side. I'm sure those people will slip up again."

Seeing that the two of them had made a final decision, Duan Chongfeng could only put down the phone. "Alright then."

After they finished discussing the matter, Xu Ke changed the subject.

"By the way, Brother Duan, there's something else I need to talk to you about," Xu Ke said slowly, taking a sip of water.

"What is it?" Duan Chongfeng asked reflexively.

"Why did you sell me out to your nephew?" Xu Ke stared at him.

Duan Chongfeng froze, an embarrassed look slowly creeping across his face. He chuckled awkwardly, "Ha, ha... I didn't!"