Chapter 299: The Mad King

Chu Tianqiu waved his hand, and Xiao Nian and Zhang Shan walked out of the classroom.

"Song Qi, have a seat." Chu Tianqiu gestured with his hand.

Song Qi nodded and unceremoniously dragged over a chair to sit down.

"What do you want to ask?" Chu Tianqiu asked with a smile.

"We're looking for a 'Huge Hui Xiang'." Song Qi said. "It's a direct order from Wu Ge."

"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu raised an eyebrow. "'Huge Hui Xiang'?"

"That's right." Song Qi nodded. "Wu Ge suspects that this 'Hui Xiang Zhe' was triggered by our large-scale offensive, so you should know something about it."

"Yes, of course I do." Chu Tianqiu said with a somewhat pleased smile. "I spent ten million to buy out the entire 'Mao' team, all for the sake of this 'Huge Hui Xiang'."

"I want to know who he is." Song Qi said.

"Is that possible?" Chu Tianqiu touched her reddened lips with a slender finger. "I'm the one who paid, so the 'answer' can only be seen by me."

"We can trade with you." Song Qi frowned and said, "Although we don't have ten million, we can help you with something of equal value."

"Ha!" Chu Tianqiu laughed out loud. "Do you think I care about the ten million?!"

"Then what…?"

"Song Qi, whose mission did Qian Wu take this time?" Chu Tianqiu suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"This… according to the rules, we can't reveal the client's information."

"Ha ha ha ha!" Chu Tianqiu laughed a few times, then leaned back and said softly, "Song Qi… this 'client' personally approached Qian Wu and had the 'Mao' team deploy everyone except the leader and deputy leader, storming into 'Tian Tang Kou' with great momentum. Is he richer than me?"

Song Qi remained silent.

"So, it's highly likely he didn't pay at all." Chu Tianqiu continued. "To get Qian Wu to do something like this in 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' without spending a cent, it must be some 'Da Ren Wu', right?"

"Stop guessing." Song Qi interrupted. "For the sake of protecting the client's privacy, even if you guessed it, I wouldn't admit it."

"Protecting privacy… Ha." Chu Tianqiu's expression suddenly changed, and he asked fiercely, "What do they have that's worth protecting?!"

Song Qi pondered for a moment and shook his head. "In any case, the 'Mao' team can't break the rules."

"Fine." Chu Tianqiu nodded, putting away his smile and continuing, "Then I want to know what stance the 'Mao' team has. What will you do after finding that 'Huge Hui Xiang'?"

"I don't know." Song Qi shook his head. "I never ask Qian Wu about the details of his work. I just know I have to bring that person to see him."

Chu Tianqiu was silent for a while before saying, "Song Qi, if this action would make the 'Mao' team enemies with all the 'Can Yu Zhe', would you still go through with it without hesitation?"

"What do you mean?" Song Qi asked.

"You and I both retained two years of memories, so we should know that a 'Hui Xiang' of this magnitude has never appeared before. He could completely change the dynamics of 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di', and might even be the hope for everyone to escape." Chu Tianqiu wiped his lips again and said, "The 'Da Ren Wu' who hired you naturally wants to prevent this from happening. Even so… will you still help him?"

Song Qi was silent for a long time before saying, "Chu Tianqiu, you should know… the reason the 'Mao' team has survived stably until now is that we don't interfere with the changes in 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di'. Whether it's the 'Sheng Xiao', the 'Ji Dao', the 'Can Yu Zhe', or any other organization, we treat them all the same."

"So you've turned 'Zhong Yan Zhi Di' into your workplace?" Chu Tianqiu found the person in front of him pitifully amusing. "You go home every ten days, and spend the rest of the time here earning money for your families?"

"Isn't that fine?" Song Qi adjusted his shoulders to sit more comfortably and said with a bitter smile, "We know we're deeply sinful, and even if we go back, we'd die. Besides, in the real world, we could never earn this much money for our families."

Chu Tianqiu nodded after hearing this. "So the 'Mao' team's ultimate motive is similar to the 'Ji Dao's'? You want to protect this place? After all, for you, it's like a 'Mei Yao' where you can mine gold."

"That's not quite it." Song Qi shook his head. "Let's just say we go with the flow. If we can make money, that's the best."

"Good, I understand now." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "This 'Huge Hui Xiang' is key to my 'escape', so it's hard for me to tell you who he is."

"There's absolutely no room for negotiation?" Song Qi asked again.

"We can negotiate…" Chu Tianqiu pondered. "But my price is high."

"Let's hear it."

Chu Tianqiu looked out at the playground where the many 'Mao' team members were sitting, and said, "How many people did you bring?"

"Eighteen." Song Qi answered.

"How many have 'Hui Xiang'?"

"Six."

"Ha…" Chu Tianqiu laughed again. He slowly stood up, walked over to Song Qi, bent down, brought his face close, and said word by word, "I want the right hand of all of you, one from each, and leave them with me now."

Song Qi's brows furrowed slightly, and then he showed an angry smile: "Chu Tianqiu… you're really insane…"

"Don't misunderstand, Song Qi." Chu Tianqiu straightened up. "This isn't a threat or a declaration of war; it's just 'business'. You can refuse, or you can haggle."

"What would I get for each right hand?"

"I'll tell you who that person is." Chu Tianqiu said. "If you're willing to up the price, say by leaving everyone's hands or the bodies of the six 'Hui Xiang Zhe', I'll rally the entire 'Tian Tang Kou' to help you catch him."

Song Qi's face gradually darkened: "So that means… to complete the mission, we'd at least have to leave eighteen hands."

"You could break the rules too." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "We could just declare war on each other. 'Tian Tang Kou' currently has about five or six 'Hui Xiang Zhe', so we'd be evenly matched."

"That wouldn't align with the mission; Qian Wu wouldn't be satisfied." Song Qi quickly drew a dagger from his waist. "I'll offer my right hand first."

Chu Tianqiu slowly leaned closer to Song Qi: "Is that old knife of yours sharp enough to cut off a right hand?"

Song Qi looked at his own right wrist and was silent for a moment.

"Cut it…" Chu Tianqiu stared fixedly at Song Qi's right hand with unblinking eyes.

"Get this close, and watch out for the blood splattering on your face."

Chu Tianqiu slowly extended a finger, pointing to his left eye: "My eyes are cold; splash it here."

Song Qi frowned, and then the dagger plunged into flesh with a dull sound. A small spurt of blood sprayed up, landing precisely on Chu Tianqiu's left eyeball.

Chu Tianqiu didn't blink; instead, he smiled and moved his pupils slightly, letting the blood spread evenly across the eye. Then, with his now blood-red and warm left eye, a tear of blood trickled down, adding a touch of strangeness to his refined face.

Song Qi threw his right hand on the ground, then quickly wrapped his wrist with his belt, enduring the whole process without a sound, though a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"I take back what I said." Chu Tianqiu laughed as he wiped away the bloody tear, then lightly licked his finger. "Your knife is quite good."

"I take back what I said too…" Song Qi said, his face pale. "You really do have the air of a 'leader'."