Volume 4: Hidden Struggles, Chapter 249: The Playboy

Before Chu Tianyu could think further, conversation resumed inside the room.
“Enough, stop talking. There’s still some time until dawn. Everyone, get ready first and settle down. It’s time for morning exercises. Fourth Brother is right—improving one’s skills gives us more advantages, even protecting our lives and wealth!” The authoritative tone was clearly from the eldest senior brother.
“The eldest senior brother is right. Instead of chatting, I’d better get ready quickly. We can’t waste time on breathing exercises!” With that, footsteps were heard—probably from the fourth junior brother, the martial arts enthusiast.
Chu Tianyu could also sense a wave of head-shaking energy in the room. It seemed the others had no patience with the willful fourth junior brother. Soon, the voice that spoke first again rang out, “Senior brother, you haven’t answered yet. Is our opponent really that tough this time?”
“To be honest, I don’t know. They only sent someone to contact us. We’ll have to wait for their arrangements.”
“Who is it?”
“It seems to be someone named Lord Qin…”
“Second senior brother, stop asking such silly questions. We just need to wait for orders. Kill whoever needs to be killed, and then enjoy ourselves. Don’t be so worried like you are!” Before the eldest senior brother could finish, another voice interrupted him.
“Shut up, Third Brother. This is called knowing yourself and your enemy. Unlike you, always scheming. Someone like you might die in a woman’s arms someday!”
“Don’t worry. If we complete this mission well, you’ll have time to relax. Women are human too—pick whatever you want…” the eldest senior brother said casually.
“Is that so? Hehe, I’ll definitely enjoy myself then. Senior brother, Second Brother said earlier he won’t go. Maybe he’ll leave his share to me!”
“Shut up. Dream on. Last time, those girls let you pick the best one. This time, it has to be based on seniority!”
“Hehe, didn’t you hear the senior brother? We can pick whatever we want—spring flowers and autumn moons. Can you have them all? With your skills, you can’t handle more than two, haha…”
“Shut up. With my impressive strength and prowess, I can handle at least three!”
“Haha…”
……

There was no need for Chu Tianyu and the others to listen to the vulgar noises below. By this point, Chu Tianyu already had plans in mind. He gave the three women a glance, and in an instant, they vanished. As they left, Chu Tianyu casually released the blocked meridians of the three frozen guards. The guards felt a tremor throughout their bodies and blinked as if distracted, with no awareness at all, let alone realizing that their meridians had been unblocked.

Once outside the courtyard, Ouyang Ziyi asked, “Tianyu, are you keeping them around to catch a bigger fish?”

Chu Tianyu seemed to be pondering something and simply replied, “Mm!”

“Tianyu, who is this Lord Qin they mentioned? Is there any leader or important figure in some organization called that? Can we ask Qianfeng to investigate?” Ouyang Ziyi continued.

Qin Nianran also asked promptly, “Tianyu, what plans do you have for dealing with this situation? Should we send someone to keep an eye on them? I used my Illusionary Flame Qi to sense them, and aside from their strong Qi, there seems to be another type of energy fluctuating within them. I can’t say exactly what it is, but it’s probably related to the Mysterious Brightness Technique or the Nether Realm they mentioned.”

“Yes, I sensed that energy too. It’s quite strange. Its power seems to be at least on par with that of ordinary Heavenly Earth Qi. Their strength is likely not inferior to Zhan Yupeng’s, especially that eldest disciple, whose power is several levels higher than his younger brothers!” Xue Feifei said thoughtfully.

Chu Tianyu nodded in agreement with the three women’s opinions. Clearly, he shared their observations. However, he had considered more deeply—the matter of the fake divine souls. If they appeared again at such a time, what could be their purpose?

It seemed that the previous attack on the fake divine souls had dealt them a heavy blow, forcing them to disappear for several months. This had also delayed progress for the Xuanji Sect and the Heavenly Demon Gate, who failed to make any real headway.

This time, it was obvious that the fake divine souls had learned from their past mistakes. Instead of using their full strength, they arranged for another seemingly more powerful force to infiltrate Beijing secretly. Their intentions were indeed intriguing.

After pondering for a while longer, Chu Tianyu said, “Today’s unexpected discovery seems to have made things even more confusing. But in my opinion, these events are definitely not isolated. The more forces get involved, the more clues we’ll have. That’s why I decided not to alert them just yet. As for what you mentioned, I’ve already thought about it and have a preliminary plan. Once we return, we’ll first have Qianfeng check past records to see if there’s really someone named Lord Qin in Beijing. When day breaks, I’ll contact Grandpa and tell him I’ll be returning to Nanjing a few days later late—I plan to follow this lead personally! After all, as you all just experienced, with their skills, it’s likely no one in Qianfeng is capable of handling this.”

“Tianyu is right. It’s best not to involve Qianfeng or even the Xuanji Sect for now. Otherwise, if things get chaotic, we’ll suffer heavy losses and might end up neglecting one thing while focusing on another. With your skills, Tianyu, acting alone won’t alert the enemy, and you won’t have any concerns. This should be the best option!” After hearing Chu Tianyu’s analysis, Qin Nianran nodded in agreement, showing rationality.

“Mm, now is the time to tighten our grip. The tighter we hold it now, the greater the force we can exert when it counts!” Ouyang Ziyi gestured as she spoke.

……

Following Chu Tianyu’s plan, everyone returned and immediately obtained all the relevant information from the Xuanji Sect. They also informed the disciples in the Beijing branch about the name “Lord Qin,” asking them not to conduct investigations but simply to see if anyone could recall having met or heard of this person. Unfortunately, despite working all morning, Chu Tianyu and his team found no clues in the local Beijing records, and every report they received confirmed that no one had heard of this person! Occasionally, a few people with the surname Qin were reported, but after verification by Chu Tianyu and his team, they were all ruled out.

Although there was no progress or lead in this matter, Chu Tianyu still received good news in the morning—a call from Grandpa. Unexpectedly, Grandpa called first before they could reach out. The call informed Chu Tianyu that he didn’t need to return to Nanjing. This time, the Chu family would hold a special board meeting in Beijing, with even Second Grandpa attending. Grandpa didn’t go into details but briefly mentioned that they would discuss it further once they arrived in Beijing.

This news was truly great for Chu Tianyu. Now, he wouldn’t have to rush around constantly, worrying about the Chu family while also handling secret operations on his own—whether it was spying on that group or investigating Zhan Yupeng, the Dragon Soul. This gave Chu Tianyu time to follow his plan: act as a playboy during the day and switch to another identity at night, acting freely without any concerns—even if it meant engaging in battles…

Grandpa said over the phone that he would arrive in Beijing in three days. During these three days, Chu Tianyu would have some free time. During the day, he would study various materials in his room, especially information about the various forces in Beijing and some secrets in politics and business. At night, he would go out alone to investigate the group hiding in the siheyuan.

However, for several nights in a row, that group didn’t take any action. Even from their conversations, Chu Tianyu could learn about their daytime activities, allowing him to deduce that the man called Lord Qin hadn’t contacted them yet.

But from Chu Tianyu’s eavesdropping over those days, he still gained some insights. It turned out that this group was indeed connected to those with the fake divine soul. From their tone, it seemed that the people with the fake divine soul were just ordinary cultivators belonging to a low-level organization, while they themselves didn’t belong to any organization. They only had a godfather and followed his instructions directly.

There was also something about the hidden energy within them—it also belonged to the category of celestial energy. But instead of acquiring it through chance, like Chu Tianyu had, they had cultivated it under their godfather. This left Chu Tianyu very puzzled!

But this also reminded Chu Tianyu that with so many experts possessing celestial energy appearing suddenly, along with the Blood-Qilin of the Zhan family, maybe it was all part of the same pattern—that is, they weren’t truly absorbing any celestial energy but instead relying on their own bloodline to nourish this energy. Just like Zhan Zifeng in the end, he couldn’t control it and could only become a puppet of that energy and a provider of its essence!

…

On the third day, Chu Tianyu went to pick up the plane with the three women—Qin Nianran, Ouyang Ziyi, and Xue Feifei. But when he met Grandpa, he was surprised to find that Mom hadn’t come along. After all, with such an important meeting held by the Chu family, it was impossible for her to be absent!

On the contrary, there was a large crowd of directors and senior managers who had arrived with his grandfather. Especially when they saw Chu Tianyu bringing a single girl to pick him up, the intimacy between them caught their attention, leading to various reactions—some smiled knowingly, some shook their heads in sighs, and others showed disdain. But at that moment, Chu Tianyu had one common image in their minds: that of a typical playboy! Even Chu Tianyu himself hadn’t expected such an effect from picking someone up from the airport!