Volume 4: Hidden Struggles, Chapter 256: A Worthwhile Trip

After whispering those two words, Chu Tianyu couldn’t help but stretch widely, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. This trip had been unplanned, and though he hadn’t caught any “big fish,” meeting his elder brother Chu Tianfeng was still an unexpected gain. Moreover, much could be inferred from their conversation.
In particular, he now had a comprehensive understanding of his elder brother’s thoughts. There was no need to blame him—in Chu Tianyu’s view, his brother hadn’t gone too far; at least he hadn’t gone so far as to use force against his own family. Even more amusingly, his brother wanted bodyguards to protect himself, which surprised Chu Tianyu a bit.
It seemed that the incident of secretly participating in the World Military Competition last time could be hidden from others but not from his elder brother. Coupled with various stories and rumors about him since childhood—being both a monk and a Taoist—anyone would naturally start to speculate. Since his brother had also come into contact with practitioners who possessed powers beyond ordinary people, his conclusions made sense.
While his elder brother and Lord Qin were exchanging pleasantries and saying goodbye inside the room, Chu Tianyu quickly summarized what he had learned. From their words and tone, it was clear that his brother was cooperating with the organization behind Lord Qin. Undoubtedly, with the Chu family’s financial resources, and possibly even his grandfather’s influence and connections, he provided various resources for them. In return, Lord Qin’s organization offered his brother military strength—a powerful force capable of swallowing up other conglomerates and aristocratic families—thereby providing a steady stream of support for his business ventures and ensuring his victory over his cousin Chu Tianao.
As for how their cooperation came about, or who approached whom first, it no longer mattered. What was important now were their next moves and the true intentions of that organization. There was also the matter of the Korean Kim family—Kim Yuji must still be worried back home.

The forces behind Lord Qin, according to Kou Qi, seem to be exactly the kind mentioned by his master. Not only do they possess immense military strength, but each of their subordinates also wields the energy of heaven and earth, making it seem as though this energy is now worthless. Even the several masters in Chu Tianyu’s realm find it difficult to absorb some of this energy. They are among the top experts in the cultivation world; finding the energy veins is hard enough, and absorbing them is fraught with uncertainties and risks—by no means easy. Even Chu Tianyu’s realm can only be considered an exception due to its good fortune and coincidental opportunities.

Moreover, this force seems to have remained hidden for many years before reappearing. And once they reappeared, they acted with such grand scale, causing a significant stir behind the scenes, yet showing no signs of it on the surface, indicating their great strength. Once they set their sights on a target, there’s no chance of it slipping through their fingers or information leaking out.

Therefore, Chu Tianyu doesn’t want to rush things. Before understanding their true intentions and motives for suddenly entering the world, it’s better to act secretly and conserve strength.

While Chu Tianyu was pondering this, inside the room, Chu Tianfeng had already bid farewell to Lord Qin. Under the escort of a few people, he left through a secret passage—seemingly an underground passage—that led to an ordinary shop across the way. But instead of coming out through the main entrance, he disappeared in another direction.

Chu Tianyu didn’t pay much attention to his elder brother’s whereabouts but focused on Lord Qin. The fact that he and his elder brother could meet here suggested this place was likely one of their hideouts. After seeing his elder brother off, Lord Qin didn’t stay long either. After calling over those four brothers, he strode out through the main entrance. At that moment, a black bullet-shaped car stopped right beside them.

Once in the car, Lord Qin didn’t waste words and said directly, “I’ll temporarily arrange for you all to stay at the Zhotong Hotel. Be extremely careful in everything you do from now on. Don’t make any more mistakes, and don’t act recklessly just because you possess extraordinary skills. Remember, there are many capable people in the capital. I think you must have been watched since you were in the Li family’s compound. They probably spied on you for days, waiting for you to take action—otherwise, they wouldn’t have timed it so precisely.”

Chu Tianyu scoffed at this. While those words applied to him, it seemed those people were just incredibly accurate. You can’t compare people to each other!

Faced with Lord Qin’s words, the four brothers behind him didn’t utter a single word. Not only were they at fault from the start, but they had also witnessed Lord Qin’s terrifying strength during their earlier fight with Xue—his cultivation level was likely already approaching the sixth tier of the Nether Realm.

Strength determines everything.

…

The car soon stopped in front of a five-star hotel. Lord Qin turned around and said, “Stay here for now. Just go in; someone will take care of you. I won’t go down to see you off!”

After the four got out of the car, Lord Qin immediately signaled the driver to drive away, and indeed, they left without delay.

Chu Tianyu glanced up at the hotel’s name—Lijing Grand Hotel—and memorized it secretly. Then he continued to keep track of Lord Qin’s movements from a distance using his energy senses, following at a steady pace while maintaining a distance out of sight.

Chu Tianyu had already made up his mind: he would stick closely to Lord Qin without letting go, even if it meant delaying for a few days.

The car and its occupant drove around the city several times, from night to day. The car was refueled twice before finally stopping in a villa area on the outskirts at noon.

Chu Tianyu didn’t rush to follow. This seemed to be a high-end residential area with wide, clean roads, neatly trimmed lawns on both sides, offering a clear view of everything around. High-end vehicles came and went occasionally. If an outsider walked on the road, not to mention the cameras every few steps along the road, even just a glance from someone else would expose all their movements.

Chu Tianyu took a quick look around. The entire villa area was built against a mountain, with continuous mountain ranges behind it and a shimmering artificial lake nearby—both mountains and water. They really knew how to choose a location. There was only one entrance, and the surroundings were tidy, with no other buildings or small shops. To enter or exit, one had to pass through the gate.

But these weren’t any obstacles for Chu Tianyu. It was simple—if the front door was blocked, the alternative was to use the back door!

At Chu Tianyu’s speed, he quickly reached the back mountain and the continuous mountain ranges. The lush forests provided him with excellent conditions for hiding and moving undetected.

The landscaping in the villa area also tried to maintain its natural, primitive appearance. The designers cleverly arranged the villas along the mountains and waters, integrating them with the terrain and trees. Though scattered individually, they formed a cohesive whole, giving the impression of something naturally formed.

Chu Tianyu made use of this terrain to move around skillfully, using the uneven ground to render those surveillance cameras useless. When he reached the villa where the target was located, he took a quick look—aside from the presence of Lord Qin, there was no one else inside. Chu Tianyu didn’t go any further inside; staying hidden outside was sufficient for him to monitor all activities inside the house. Over the following days, Lord Qin never left the villa, relying only on encrypted satellite communications to stay in touch with the outside world. During this time, through connections with Qianfeng, Chu Tianyu learned that the owner of the villa was surnamed Wang, a real estate tycoon who had been in Beijing for less than a year. He owned two construction teams and several properties for sale. As for more detailed information, Qianfeng didn’t have it either—unless further investigation was conducted, it would be difficult to uncover this person’s full background. Although he didn’t get more information from Qianfeng, for Chu Tianyu, knowing that this group had appeared suddenly was enough. Especially after several days of surveillance, he had gained a general understanding of their situation from Lord Qin’s phone calls. Their organization was huge, and Lord Qin was merely a frontman. His goal was to gradually monopolize competition by cooperating with top figures from various industries, starting with those who couldn’t be easily exposed. For those who refused to submit to their control, there were only two options: “Eliminate!” What made Chu Tianyu feel his trip was worthwhile was also the confirmation that the Fake Divine Soul was indeed part of this organization’s outer forces. Due to the earlier pursuit by the Xuanji Sect and Chu Tianyu’s unexpected strike against them in Chengdu, they had temporarily gone into hiding. However, from Lord Qin’s tone, it seemed he had long known about the existence of the Xuanji Sect forces. The appearance of the Fake Divine Soul was meant to draw others to investigate and focus attention on it, like a target, a decoy! After several days of listening in, Chu Tianyu was also impressed by Lord Qin’s wisdom. Truly worthy of being the head of the Beijing region, after reporting the incident that night, he ordered his subordinates to stop everything and concentrate on secretly investigating the matter. Meanwhile, he remained hidden, afraid that his presence might again draw the enemy’s attention. As for those brothers, they were casually placed in ordinary hotels—clearly, they were bait, absolute bait!

Unfortunately, it’s regrettable that either Lord Qin forgot about his elder brother Chu Tianfeng or failed to locate the Jin family members; in any case, the topic was never brought up again. Those four brothers were ordered to stay put, serving only as bait. It wasn’t until the fifth day that Chu Tianyu decided to leave, thinking that further waiting would yield no more clues. It was better to go back and see if Jin Yujie had any way to contact her family. Moreover, Chu Tianyu had another plan: instead of waiting for them to take action, he would take initiative on his own side. For one thing, disabling those four brothers and cutting off their allies could prevent the enemy from carrying out their plans and spare him the hassle of guarding against them finding the Jin family’s whereabouts. It could also disrupt the situation, allowing him to return and gather information for a couple of days—perhaps yielding unexpected results.

Very satisfied, Chu Tianyu stepped out of the back mountain and removed his mask. He was on the road outside the villa area, where vehicles and pedestrians were already moving about. Who would bother suspecting an ordinary passerby who seemed to be strolling leisurely for no reason?

At that moment, Chu Tiancheng was in high spirits—the situation was finally becoming clearer, which was far better than being in complete ignorance and under constant stress. So Chu Tianyu deliberately slowed down, acting like a leisurely tourist as he walked back. It was also a way to relax after those days of hard work, and he took the opportunity to rethink the current situation in his mind.

Just as Chu Tianyu rounded back to the entrance of the villa area, he was drawn by a commotion in the distance. At the entrance, several security guards were surrounding two people, arguing loudly and even starting to fight.

“We have friends inside; we just want to go in and look for them…”

“Get lost! Damn it, didn’t the police you called just now check it out? There’s nothing like what you’re saying. If there’s a girl, she’s someone else’s guest. Get out! This is a private place—there’s no one you’re looking for!”

“That’s impossible! We just got a call from my friend—she says she’s being held here, in Building A, Zone 3…”

“Shit, you little brat! Say one more word, and I’ll break you! You’ve already given me enough trouble!”

Without waiting for the brat to say anything else, he kicked forward with shocking speed—clearly an experienced fighter. His accomplices also stepped forward, ready to strike.

But before the fight could start, the guy who kicked first flew backward with a scream.

Chu Tianyu’s figure also appeared before everyone in an instant, separating the two groups.
“A Yu! It’s you?” Zhou Jie and Hu Luda exclaimed in unison in surprise.
Chu Tianyu turned, gave them a smile, and nodded. As soon as the two started talking, he recognized them and had been prepared. At the most critical moment, he stepped forward and dealt with the guy who had kicked Zhou Jie.
“What’s going on? Who’s trapped inside?” Chu Tianyu then glanced around and asked calmly.
The remaining security guards were immediately intimidated by Chu Tianyu’s presence, looking at each other in confusion, unable to react.
It wasn’t until the security guard who had been kicked to the ground groaned and got up that his companions snapped out of their daze. They quickly stepped forward to help him up, but kept staring at Chu Tianyu warily, afraid he might do something else.
By then, Zhou Jie and Hu Luda had also recovered from their shock at seeing Chu Tianyu. Zhou Jie immediately pulled Chu Tianyu aside, not asking how he happened to be there, and said repeatedly, “A Yu, you came just in time. Le Er is trapped inside. We even called the police, but it didn’t help…”