Chapter 264: Unbridled

As life drained away, a person would thrash desperately in their final moments, tearing agonizing pleas from their throat. This was the fundamental instinct of survival.

"Did you hear that? Old Master Jiang, your adopted son is in a lot of pain right now. Tell me, should I save him?" I chose my words with extreme caution. The man on the other end of the line was a cunning old fox, and it was highly likely our call was being recorded. I avoided any phrasing that even hinted at murder, asking only if I should save him.

Black hair dug deeply into his neck, drawing blood that trickled down to soak Jiang Long's coat. His neck began to twist and his eyes rolled back, leaving a stark contrast in color between his face and the rest of his body.

"Young man, don't speak in such absolutes. Leave yourself some room to maneuver, so you'll have a way out later." Old Master Jiang's voice remained slow and steady, as if he had never placed much value on Jiang Long's life.

"Ways out are for cowards. I ran out of escape routes a long time ago. My only options are to push forward, or get ground to dust." I was probably the first person in twenty years to talk back to Old Master Jiang. His authority was monstrous and his wealth rivaled small nations, but as someone who walked the line between the living and the dead, I couldn't care less about any of it.

Besides, would a man who might be dead in three days care about making too many enemies? So what if the Jiang family blotted out the sun in this city?

Jiang Long was teetering on the edge of death. Even the noises slipping from his mouth had changed, fading into faint gasps as he took in more air than he let out.

Silence fell over the room in a contest of patience. Old Master Jiang thought I was bluffing. He didn't believe anyone in Jiangcheng had the guts to stay on the phone and broadcast a live murder to him.

Unfortunately for him, he was going to be disappointed. This wasn't exactly my first time broadcasting a "murder."

Jiang Long's rasping grew weaker. Right as he lost the ability to make a sound, Old Master Jiang finally spoke.

"Gao Jian, you have a lot of nerve!"

"Compared to you, I've still got a long way to go." Signaling the Fate Ghost to temporarily loosen its grip on Jiang Long, I pressed the phone against my ear. "Old man, you touched something you shouldn't have. I'm just doing you a favor."

"What exactly do you want?"

"I want to take back what's mine. It belongs to me. If someone uses despicable methods to steal it and claim it as their own, they have to pay the price."

"Are you threatening me?!"

"How could I dare threaten the Jiang family? I'm just stating a fact. Think it over. The Jiang family has a massive empire. What would happen if it suddenly found itself leaderless or without an heir?"

On the other end of the line, Old Master Jiang laughed in pure fury. "Just you? I, Jiang Detao, in Jiangcheng—"

"Save the history lesson. Your adopted son's situation isn't looking too good, and I'm still deciding whether or not to save him." I cut the old man off without a shred of politeness, keeping a firm grip on the conversation. "I just want what's mine. Don't go bullying too severely."

"We are bullying too severely?!" Old Master Jiang sounded as if he had just heard a joke. "From the very beginning, you have been the one threatening me! Using Jiang Long's life, using my child's life, even using my own life!"

"Get your cause and effect straight. Why would I do any of this? Who is the shameless thief here? Are you still going to deny it? Still trying to talk your way out of it? Is this the true face of Jiangcheng's largest financial group, Jiangjin Real Estate?"

"Incorrigible! Gao Jian, this is a private line, and I am recording the entire call. If anything happens to Jiang Long, I will take the proper legal channels and make you spend the rest of your life repenting in a prison cell!"

"Old man, you'd better get your legal procedures sorted within three days, or I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life drowning in regret and self-blame."

Tit for tat, without yielding a single inch. This was my first conversation with the most powerful man in Jiangcheng.

On the floor, Jiang Long was down to his last breath. The Fate Ghost had plundered far too much of his Yang Qi. Coupled with the fact that his body had long been hollowed out by booze and women—making him nothing more than an empty shell—he now looked half-dead. His condition was grim.

The room remained quietly still. A short while later, Old Master Jiang's voice echoed from the receiver once more. After some heavy deliberation, he said, "There's no need for mutual destruction. Why don't we both take a step back? Spare Jiang Long's life, and we will hand the document over to you tomorrow. You can rest assured that we will never make it public."

"Impossible. I must take that document with me today," I replied, my tone absolute. "I know it's still in Jiang Long's hands. He mentioned earlier that you were sending someone specifically to pick it up tomorrow. It's obvious you place a lot of importance on that file, but it isn't something a mere financial group is equipped to possess."

"If the most financially powerful corporate group in Jiangcheng isn't fit to possess it, you think a greenhorn like you can hog it to yourself? Wake up. I know the value of that document. How about we make a deal? We can unearth its secrets together. Name your price, whatever you want."

Old Master Jiang was showing his true colors as a businessman. But what he didn't realize was that while some things could be traded, other things demanded your life the moment you touched them.

At this point, I finally understood. Jiang Long was nothing more than a dog for the Jiang family—just a dog with a bit of status. Old Master Jiang didn't actually care whether he lived or died. Our entire conversation had just been him stringing me along, or rather, stalling for time. Armed police were probably already on their way.

"Old Master, hearing you say that really disappoints me," I said, letting out a quiet sigh. "I will reiterate this one last time. I just want to take back what is mine."

"That thing should belong to all of Jiangcheng. Hoarding it for yourself is a mistake in its own right."

"You're absolutely sure you won't tell me where that document is hidden, then?" My voice gradually turned ice-cold.

"The waters of Jiangcheng run far deeper than you think. That document is of paramount importance. If you are willing to cooperate, I will gladly accept. But if you remain utterly stubborn, relying on half-baked Daoist tricks to cause trouble for me, the Jiang family will show you what true heritage looks like."

Old Master Jiang's attitude was resolute. The corners of my mouth curled into a faint, involuntary smirk. "I'd actually love to see that. But before we get to that point, I have a few pieces of advice for you."

"First, I am telling you plainly: everyone who has seen that document and knows its contents will disappear, one by one. That includes you."

"Second, if you want to take revenge on me, bring it on. I'll take it all. But if you drag the people around me into this, or use their lives to threaten me, I will abandon all restraint and pay you back in kind."

"As for the third... did you really think that just because you refuse to talk, I have no way of finding it?"

I hung up the phone. The Jiang family and I had completely torn off all pretenses. What had started as minor skirmishes was about to escalate into a life-and-death struggle.

"Fate Ghost!"

The black hair surged, manifesting into a young man of my height. It shared a telepathic bond with me; it could understand my thoughts without a single word.

The sinister strands of long hair flattened against the mirror, slowly seeping into the glass. This was originally the Mirror Ghost's ability.

I hoisted Jiang Long up and propped him in front of the vanity mirror, prying his eyelids open. A short while later, his reflection slowly crawled out of the mirror and drilled straight into his eye sockets.

The sight was even more terrifying than a Mirror Ghost wreaking havoc, as part of the Fate Ghost's black hair still draped out of Jiang Long's sockets. Even as its master, I felt a chill creep down my spine as I watched.

A full half-hour passed. By the time the Fate Ghost finally withdrew from Jiang Long's body, the former boss of Jiangbei was completely devoid of life.

"Did you see his memories?" I asked the Fate Ghost. Reading memories seemed to take a massive toll on it; its volume of black hair had been reduced by nearly half.

I wasn't sure if the Fate Ghost understood me, but I watched as the black hair suddenly condensed, slithering out of the room like a winding snake.

"Where are you taking me?" Following the Fate Ghost, I walked out of the villa to the garage, using the Deer-Slaying Dao to hack open the rolling shutter door.

Once inside, I tapped around until I discovered a secret tunnel hidden in the corner. As I lifted the heavy iron plate, the smell of damp earth wafted up—along with the familiar, excited barking of a dog.

Leaving the Fate Ghost to stand guard outside, I climbed down alone. The underground space had been converted into a prison cell, its walls completely lined with soundproofing material.

Following Bai Qi's barks, I walked all the way into the depths of the cell.

In a dark corner, a large dog was bounding up and down. Its neck was shackled by two heavy chains, the iron collar biting deeply into its flesh. Several unremoved syringes were still jammed into its back, abdomen, and front paws.

"Bai Qi!"