Chapter 421 420: Taking Down the 100 Giants Group

"Of course he is! Are you here for him?" Gong Jintang said, enunciating each word.

Mu Lin said slowly, "What do you think?"

"Why were they captured? What was the reason?"

Gong Jintang shook his head. "I don't know either. I'm just one of Elder Deng's men. It's not like I can read his mind."

Mu Lin mused for a moment. "How many masters does Elder Deng have, then? Give me a list!"

Gong Jintang waved his hands. "I don't have any list! Elder Deng would never tell me that kind of thing!"

'I'll definitely have to make a trip to Cyan Void Mountain,' Mu Lin mused. 'There's no other way to get to the bottom of this.'

'But first things first, I have to deal with this Gong Jintang.'

'The Baiju Group can't be left in his hands any longer.'

'The only reason he can cause trouble is because of the power he wields through the Baiju Group.'

'Without the Baiju Group, he won't be able to gather masters to come after me.'

"Anything else to say?" Mu Lin rubbed his hands together.

Gong Jintang's eyes shot wide open. "You… what are you planning to do?"

Mu Lin said calmly, "Isn't it obvious? I'm sending you on your way. With so much at stake, you can't possibly think I wouldn't take care of you?"

Gong Jintang trembled with fear. "What's the use in killing me? It was all Elder Deng's idea! I'm just a pawn in his hands!"

Mu Lin said coolly, "I couldn't care less about that. Unless you hand over the Baiju Group to Qiao Canhua. Do that, and I might spare your pathetic life."

Gong Jintang cried out, agitated, "The Baiju Group is my life's work! How could I possibly hand it over? In your dreams!"

Mu Lin said coolly, "I'm not negotiating with you. Make sure you understand that."

"I can make you sign the papers while you're wide awake, or I can let you sign them and then die. Either way, you're not keeping the Baiju Group."

"I think any normal person would prefer to live. Unless, of course, you're not normal."

Gong Jintang was trembling all over. He never expected Mu Lin to be so vicious.

'He's even planned out what to do if I refuse to cooperate.'

He'd scraped and clawed his way to the top, sacrificing so much—his youth, his blood and sweat, his dignity, his conscience—tossing them aside one by one.

'And in the end, it was all for nothing,' he thought. 'To have it all handed to Qiao Canhua on a silver platter... it's just so hard to accept.'

Mu Lin rubbed his hands. "So, can I take it that you've made your choice?"

"No, I… I can hand over the Baiju Group, but you have to leave me some money!"

Mu Lin narrowed his eyes. 'Wouldn't it have been better to just do this from the start?'

"See, this is a much better attitude. So, how much money do you want to keep? Name a price."

Gong Jintang said, "One hundred million."

Mu Lin curled his lip. "You think that's possible? One hundred thousand, max. Not a penny more. All this money was earned without a conscience. If I let you get away with that much, the heavens themselves would weep."

Gong Jintang said anxiously, "One hundred thousand isn't even enough to cover my expenses for a single day! How is that possible!"

"Then learn to be more frugal!" Mu Lin said coldly. "I'm not negotiating with you. You're not in a position to negotiate."

"If you're unwilling, then I might as well choose the easiest option."

For Mu Lin, the easiest option was to kill Gong Jintang directly, eradicating the problem, root and stem.

After all, the landscape in Lanyang was different from Anhua. The Zhou Family was the number one family in Anhua, their influence already immense, so taking over Wang Zuguang's Zongguang Group was a matter of course.

But in Lanyang, the waters were much murkier than in Anhua. There was no single, absolutely dominant family, so controlling a company wasn't nearly as easy.

Any measures taken would only slightly increase the chances of success.

There was no such thing as absolute control.

Of course, it would be ideal if Gong Jintang could stay alive and cooperate, using his prestige to help Qiao Canhua smoothly take over all the companies within the group.

But Mu Lin would never tell Gong Jintang any of this. If he let Gong Jintang think he still had a chance to make a comeback, the aftermath would surely become incredibly troublesome.

Gong Jintang was utterly hopeless. His good days were over.

But in order to stay alive, to keep breathing, he didn't dare say another useless word.

"I understand! I understand!"

His heart was filled with grief, but he wasn't entirely without another hope.

'If Mu Lin goes after Elder Deng and gets killed, then all of this will still be mine.'

'But if Mu Lin comes back alive… then I'm probably finished for this lifetime.'

Mu Lin smiled. "Go draft the contract. I'll contact Uncle Qiao."

Qiao Canhua was shocked when he received Mu Lin's call. Mu Lin's request was for him to take over the entire Baiju Group.

Baiju Group was the largest enterprise in Lanyang. It was all-encompassing, with everything from foot massage salons to high-end industrial and mining enterprises. It had it all; whatever you wanted to do, you could find a corresponding niche there.

What more was there to say?

"For real?!"

"For real. Uncle Qiao, come quickly. The contract is being prepared. Remember to bring a lawyer; I don't understand the fine print in contracts."

Qiao Canhua immediately got ready, rushed to a law firm to find a lawyer, and headed with him to the location Mu Lin had mentioned.

When they arrived, Mu Lin immediately slapped the contract down in front of Qiao Canhua. "Uncle Qiao, this contract was drafted by Gong Jintang's lawyer. I'm worried he might have planted some traps in it, so I hope you can check it very carefully."

The lawyer took it and quickly looked it over. "There are no major issues. If you're worried about hidden traps, we can add some restrictive clauses to avoid being blindsided."

Gong Jintang gave a bitter smile. "How could I possibly leave a trap? Do I have a death wish?"

Mu Lin didn't speak, but Qiao Canhua was deeply shaken.

'I can't believe Mu Lin actually took down Gong Jintang, and so quickly too! It's only been a few hours since he left, and now I'm here to sign the contract.'

'And what about the big shot backing Gong Jintang? Didn't he even show up to try and stop this?'

'Mu Lin's power is just that terrifying!'

He no longer hesitated and quickly wrote his name.

Gong Jintang also signed his name with a grief-stricken expression. The Baiju Group, which he had built over so many years, had just become a treasure in someone else's pocket.

Mu Lin said, "Gong Jintang will help you, Uncle Qiao, with coordinating the handover. If he doesn't cooperate, just tell me directly. I'll have a chat with him."

Qiao Canhua chuckled. "I'm sure he wouldn't dare. But if he really grows a spine, I won't be polite either."

"Mu Lin, what are your plans now?" Qiao Canhua was already thinking about taking Mu Lin out to celebrate.

Mu Lin said, "I'm going to make a trip to Cyan Void Mountain."

Qiao Canhua was stunned. "What are you going there for? It's uninhabited and it's not some famous mountain range. If you're looking for a place to train, can't you just go to the Chen Martial Arts Hall?"

Mu Lin was a little surprised. "How could that be? Uncle Qiao, what's the deal with this Cyan Void Mountain?"

Qiao Canhua said, "Cyan Void Mountain covers a huge area, but the roads are rugged and difficult to travel. There are also wild beasts roaming around. That's why all the villagers moved out over a hundred years ago. For the past century, it's just been left deserted."

"Although someone saw its potential for tourism and built a viewing platform on the side facing the city, practically no one ever goes. They lost a lot of money."

Qiao Canhua had a pained look on his face. 'Don't tell me that "someone" was you,' Mu Lin thought.

"There's a rumor that the feng shui there is terrible, and the malevolent energy is extremely heavy. It's naturally incompatible with humans, so no one ever considered developing it for tourism again."

Mu Lin pondered for a moment. 'Could this be a trick Gong Jintang deliberately set up to trap me?' he wondered.

'If he traps me like this and I die, the Baiju Group will be his again. He'd have more than enough ways to tear up this contract.'

Gong Jintang's gaze flickered. It seemed he really had a guilty conscience.

'But I still have to go,' Mu Lin thought. 'If I don't, I'll never know if Xu Jishan is really there.'

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

'I have to go.'

Qiao Canhua was very nervous. "Mu Lin, you have to be careful! Otherwise…"

Mu Lin raised a hand. "Don't worry, Uncle Qiao. I know a thing or two about feng shui myself; I know how to seek fortune and avoid disaster. If I find some treasure land, I'll come find you to develop it into a scenic area!"

Qiao Canhua was a little surprised. 'Mu Lin knows about that too?'

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

Mu Lin just smiled faintly and said no more.