Chapter 349: The Despairing Xia Qingzhi

Crushing Fist was a lethal martial art forged over centuries on the battlefields of Huaxia. It was only due to certain special circumstances that it had been buried in the dust of history and lost to time.

"Jian Ge, I can do whatever I please in Jiangcheng from now on!" Er Gou was even more excited than I had expected; he still hadn't come down from the high of that mighty punch.

"The waters in Jiangcheng run deep. Even mastering the eight inner strengths of Crushing Fist is barely enough to protect yourself. The people we're dealing with aren't ordinary." I remained completely calm. A fist, no matter how hard, couldn't stop a bullet. And there were far stranger, far more terrifying things in this world than bullets. Learning this technique was just to give ourselves another layer of defense for special situations.

Er Gou slowly calmed down at my words, but his eyes still gleamed. He looked like he couldn't wait to test his fists against more people.

"Jian Ge, can I teach this technique to the other brothers? Don't worry, when it comes to judging character, I, Chen Er Gou, have never made a mistake. They're all brothers I'd trust with my life."

I thought it over for a moment, then nodded. "Since I brought this technique out, it's to help you expand your influence. Have your brothers train hard, but remember—keep a low profile. No showing off."

"Of course, of course!" Chen Er Gou shouted in excitement. "With this technique, the East District is in the bag!"

"All you think about is fighting for turf. Even if you took over Jiangcheng's entire underground market, you'd still get thrown in jail one day if you didn't have connections up top." Er Gou was young and hot-blooded, his mindset still stuck in the past. "You're a small player right now," I told him, "so the higher-ups can't be bothered with you. But the moment you touch their piece of the pie, they have a hundred ways to destroy you. Brute force alone is useless."

I sighed and continued, "Don't let the power go to your head. Our goal isn't petty turf wars; it's the Jiang family. You remember what it was like the night the warrant went out for me, right? Armed police deployed, thousands of men searching the entire city, hunting me down like a stray dog. I haven't forgotten that grudge."

"Damn right!" The mere mention of the Jiang family made Er Gou grind his teeth in anger. "Once my brothers learn Crushing Fist, we'll definitely show Jiang Detao a thing or two!"

"It's not that simple." The Jiang family hadn't become Jiangcheng's top corporate group and suppressed the city's heavyweights through brute force and petty tricks. They had operated in Jiangcheng for years; their connections were deep and intertwined.

Just look at the evidence I submitted at the trial a few days ago. To anyone on the outside, any single piece of it would have been enough to shake the Jiang family to its core. Yet so much time had passed without a single news report of an investigation into them. Even the video footage and internal records of that trial had been locked down, forcefully buried by someone.

"Our foundation pales in comparison to the Jiang family's. If we want to bring them down, we have to borrow outside strength." The Jiang family might hold total control over Jiangcheng, but not everyone was afraid of them. Plenty of people wanted to see them ruined and prayed every day for Jiangjin Group's bankruptcy. The most obvious example was Ganding Pharmaceuticals.

A few years back, everyone knew real estate was a gold mine. Backed by massive capital, Ganding Pharmaceuticals had started buying up land and building housing on a massive scale. The rivalry between the two corporate giants had started right then and there.

"I have a deep connection with the Huang Family. I can use the medical formulas I redeemed from the Underworld Live Show to strike a deal with them, letting them handle Jiangjin Real Estate. As for the mysterious Three Yin Sect backing the Jiang family, I'll just have to figure out a way to deal with them myself."

Taking on an entire evil sect single-handedly was next to impossible. I needed to prepare well in advance and couldn't afford to act rashly.

After giving Er Gou a few more instructions, I bought a huge stack of breakfast food and headed back to the Adult Shop alone.

A snapped street tree lay right outside the door. I pretended not to notice and slipped inside the shop, but before I could even set down my steamed buns and fried dough sticks, my eyes swept the room and a sudden pang of guilt hit me.

A middle-aged couple stood in the center of the small shop, their expressions hostile. The man had jet-black hair, though wrinkles already lined the corners of his eyes. He was staring at Wang Yu, who was sitting blankly on the floor, and seemed lost in his own thoughts.

The woman was in her forties. She had dyed hair and was still quite attractive, though her face was clouded with worry. She glared at the intimate toys on the wall, her hands balled into tight fists as if she were ready to hit someone.

"Why are you here?" I asked quietly. This middle-aged couple was Xia Qingzhi's parents; I had met them once a long time ago.

Realizing the man they were waiting for had returned, Xia Qingzhi's parents flanked me on the left and right. Fire burned in their eyes; they looked as though they wanted to eat me alive.

"Uncle, Auntie, let's talk calmly. What's going on? I haven't even gone to see Qingzhi recently..."

"Who gave you the right to call her Qingzhi?" Xia Qingzhi's mother shrieked like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. "At the police station the other day, I heard you saved her and actually felt guilty about how we'd treated you! Who knew you were teaming up with her to deceive me? You're going to explain yourself right now—what exactly have you done to my daughter!"

"She's just a high schooler. I'm much older than she is. Even if I wanted to do something to her..."

"So you really do want to do something to my daughter?! She's only eighteen!" Qingzhi's mother's voice jumped another octave, scaring me into shutting my mouth.

Father Xia couldn't stand by any longer. He looked me up and down a few times before speaking with the tone of a man who had been there before. "I don't object to whatever is going on between you two, but Qingzhi is still in school. She's just a student. If you really want to be together, I hope you can give each other some time."

The more they spoke, the more confused I became, though I didn't dare argue to their faces. As for Xia Qingzhi, I honestly just felt sorry for the girl. "Did you two misunderstand something? Xia Qingzhi and I are just ordinary friends. I'd never do anything out of line."

"You have the nerve to say that!" Xia Qingzhi's mother pulled a diary from her bag and shoved it at me. "Read it yourself! I don't know what sweet words you used to bewitch my daughter, but let me make one thing perfectly clear: nothing is ever going to happen between you two! Never!"

I opened the diary. Many of the earlier pages had been torn out, and the remaining snippets of text weren't dated. Instead of a diary, it read more like a journal of her emotional state.

"Everyone thinks I'm lying. What should I do?"

"My memories of my brother are getting blurrier and blurrier. Will there come a day when even I forget him?"

"Am I really crazy? Did I just imagine my brother?"

"Someone finally believes me! His name is Gao Jian! He's a private investigator with hidden depths!"

"Gao Jian looked really exhausted. It seems my brother's situation isn't good."

"If Gao Jian disappears one day too, who else in this world will believe me?"

...

"From a distance, I watched Gao Jian go into his shop. He was covered in wounds. I've never seen so much blood in my entire life. I shouldn't bother him right now."

...

"How did Gao Jian become a Class A wanted fugitive? Impossible! He must have been framed!"

"It's been so long without any news. Maybe I really am crazy..."

...

I stood in the shop in silence, reading the diary from cover to cover. The subtle emotional shifts of a girl holding on to hope, only to gradually descend into despair, were laid bare in these pages.

"What else do you have to say for yourself?" In the eyes of Xia Qingzhi's parents, their daughter was an outstanding student—obedient and sensible. Her only flaw was her stubborn belief that she had an older brother. And to them, I had used that exact delusion to deceive her, get close to her, and harbor malicious intentions.

I handed the diary back to Father Xia. I had been walking the line between life and death lately, completely neglecting the girl's feelings. But looking at that handwriting teetering on the edge of utter despair, I suddenly realized I needed to sit down and have a proper talk with her.

"Uncle, Auntie, I want to see Xia Qingzhi. I need to clear some things up with her face-to-face."

Seeing my expression suddenly turn serious, Xia Qingzhi's parents exchanged a few hushed words before nodding in agreement.

I left my breakfast on the table and followed them back to their residential complex.

"Qingzhi is in her room. Ever since she found out we peeked at her diary, she's been like this. She won't talk to us and barely eats." As parents, they were ultimately just worried about their daughter. If they hadn't run out of options, they probably wouldn't have bothered an outsider.

I nodded, walked up to her bedroom door, and knocked lightly. "Qingzhi, it's Gao Jian. Can you open the door? I have something to tell you. Your brother might not be dead."

The tightly shut door cracked open. Slender, ice-cold fingers grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside.