186: Chapter 187 999999

His lips began to tremble.

First the lower lip.

Then his entire face.

He stared at that face, his eyes filled with confusion, then disbelief, and then...

Terror.

A terror ten times deeper than all the "fear" he had felt just moments before.

Because...

This face.

He had seen it.

Not the "done business with" kind of seeing.

Not the "collected protection money" kind of seeing.

Nor the "drank together" kind of seeing.

It was...

The face from the file photo in his hand.

That order had been taken over ten days ago.

No, a little less than ten days.

He remembered the weather that day; it was raining, a light drizzle, the kind that would soak your clothes if you stood in it for a while.

The employer paid quickly, the price wasn't high, but it wasn't low either.

The requirements were very clear—

"Clean and neat, leave no traces."

"Kill him."

Old Ghost hadn't even looked at the file back then.

The file was written clearly, he still remembered it to this day.

Target: Ordinary person.

No cultivation.

No background.

No danger coefficient.

Just those three lines.

Old Ghost hadn't even bothered to send his main forces back then.

He had casually pointed at a few of his idle underlings and gave a command.

"Don't make it too ugly."

"Make it quick."

After saying that, he threw the file into a drawer and continued watching the show on his phone.

But the job didn't get done.

His underlings even lost their lives because of it.

He had been genuinely terrified for a while after that.

After looking into it, he found out the target had a powerful son and seemed to have connected with the authorities.

Knowing the target was troublesome, he didn't insist on finishing it.

He returned half the deposit to the employer, and that was that.

The underlings dying was a bad thing, but also a good thing.

At least, the other party couldn't trace it back to him.

In fact, that was exactly what happened.

For so many days, he hadn't encountered any trouble.

But who would have thought...

Ten days.

Less than half a month.

That man, who was described in the file as an "ordinary person," with "no cultivation," "no background," and "no danger coefficient," was now standing right in front of him!

One person.

Walking in from outside the door without a sound.

Dozens of his underlings downstairs hadn't even made a peep!

A "buzz" went off in Old Ghost's head.

The Qi he had been holding back completely dissipated.

He collapsed onto the floor.

Not the kind of collapse where your legs go weak, but the kind where it felt like his bones had been pulled out.

His lips trembled, unable to form a single complete word.

"You..."

"You..."

"Im... Impossible..."

"The file... The file said..."

He mumbled these words over and over, as if trying to find an answer for his brain that could explain everything before him.

But he couldn't find one.

Because there was simply no answer.

Ten days.

An ordinary middle-aged man becoming a powerhouse capable of silently flattening his entire stronghold?

This exceeded every possibility Old Ghost had ever seen in his life.

He had never been this scared in his life.

He didn't even dare to think about "how this person became strong."

He only knew...

If the person in front of him wanted him dead today, he wouldn't be in this office right now.

He wouldn't even have the chance to finish begging for mercy.

...

Zhou Tianhao watched him quietly.

Watched him go from "kneeling" to "collapsing."

Watched his gaze go from "begging" to "despair."

And watched the last string in his brain snap by his own hand.

He didn't urge him.

He didn't move.

He just stood there, letting the man scare himself to the bottom.

Until Old Ghost was shaking so hard he couldn't hold himself up anymore, his whole body slumped onto the floor, his forehead pressed against the cold concrete, unable to even lift his head, only then did Zhou Tianhao speak.

His voice was very flat.

Flatter than when he had just walked into this building.

"Three days."

"I want the employer's name."

"Where the money came from, who handed over the file, and how many hands it passed through."

"Write it down, one by one."

"Also."

"From today on, this street."

"I'm in charge."

"If anyone takes this kind of job again."

"I want to be the first to know."

Old Ghost lay on the floor and suddenly looked up.

He opened his mouth.

He wanted to say "Yes, yes, yes."

Wanted to say "Whatever you say, it is."

Wanted to say "I, Old Ghost, am your man from today on, I'll hit wherever you point."

But he couldn't utter a single word.

His throat felt like it was being gripped.

He could only stare at Zhou Tianhao with red eyes.

Zhou Tianhao didn't wait for his reply.

He slowly put his sunglasses back on.

Then he turned and walked toward the door.

When he reached the door, he paused.

He didn't look back.

"You still have three days."

"If you can't think clearly, I'll help you think."

"After three days, I'll come back to get the answer."

After saying these three sentences, he stepped out the door.

The night color surged in from the other end of the corridor, swallowing him whole.

In the office, only Old Ghost was left, lying on the floor.

...

He didn't know how long he had been lying there.

He tried to move, but found he couldn't even lift his arms.

Not because he was beaten.

But because he was scared.

He struggled for a long time before he could barely support himself against the table and pull himself up from the floor.

Then, like a drunkard, he held onto the wall and moved toward the door step by step.

He gripped the door frame and looked outside.

The lights on the first floor were still on.

Dozens of people were lying scattered on the floor.

No blood.

No one was dead.

They were all just unconscious.

The expressions on everyone's faces were still frozen in their "next second" actions.

Some had their mouths open.

Some had their hands raised.

Some had their knees bent, as if they were about to stand up.

They didn't even know how they had fallen.

Old Ghost looked at this scene, and the cold sweat on his back that hadn't faded finally seeped into his bones.

Because he finally understood.

That person.

It wasn't that he didn't have the ability to kill them.

It was that he didn't take them seriously at all.

He couldn't even be bothered to kill them.

Old Ghost held onto the door frame and slowly slid down along the wall.

He sat there, motionless, like a piece of wood forgotten there.

...

Zhou Tianhao had already walked out of that street.

He was walking on a normal sidewalk.

The night was very quiet, with streetlights one by one.

Occasionally a car drove by, the headlights sweeping a beam of light across the ground, and then quickly moved away.

He didn't walk fast.

He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man returning home from work.

After walking a distance, he stopped under a streetlamp.

He took his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it.

There were a few unread messages on the screen.

Some from work groups.

Some from GG pushes.

The one at the very top—

From "Yun'er".

It was a photo his son had sent a few days ago.

The photo was a distant view of Flower City.

The Tongtian Jianmu stood high by the city wall, its branches and leaves large and green.

In the distance was a piece of newly cultivated spiritual field.

There were also a few children wearing Flower City standard uniforms, chasing a white, fluffy little hairball on the ridge of the field.

The sunshine was very good.

The photo wasn't taken professionally, it was even a bit crooked.

But it was just very beautiful.

So beautiful it made people daze.

Zhou Tianhao stood under the streetlamp and watched for a long time.

He stretched out his finger and gently touched the edge of the photo on the screen.

As if touching something he couldn't reach.

Then he put his phone back in his pocket.

He didn't reply to the message.

He didn't send a message.

Children have their own matters.

As a father, this is all he could do for him.

Keep this side guarded.

Don't let that side worry.

It was that simple.

He looked up at the night sky.

The night sky was very dark.

The city lights covered the stars, and not one could be seen.

He stared at the darkness for two breaths, didn't speak, lifted his foot, and continued walking forward.

After walking a distance, he stopped in front of a small restaurant.

He had been to this small restaurant a few times.

The owner was a middle-aged man in his forties, about the same age as him.

There weren't many tables in the shop, a handwritten menu was pasted on the wall, and the light was warm yellow.

He pushed the door and went in.

The bell at the door jingled once.

The owner looked up at him and smiled.

"Yo, you're here?"

"The usual?"

Zhou Tianhao nodded.

"Mm."

"The usual."

On the Blue Star side, the night was slowly pressing down.

On the Flower City side, the sun had just climbed to the highest point of the window lattice.

Two worlds, separated by a door that not even light could pass through.

On both sides of the door, there was a person, each doing their own things.

Neither greeted the other.

Neither told the other.

...

In the Administrative Hall, the wind wasn't strong.

Zhou Yun sat behind the desk, flipping through a stack of documents Wan'er had just sent over.

Wan'er stood by his side, sleeves hanging down, her expression as usual.

"Qinghe has chased another letter."

"Liefeng, Nanchang, and Maple Leaf also submitted new ones last night."

"The wording of all four families this time is a bit more urgent than the last."

Zhou Yun lowered his head and flipped through two pages, casually saying "Mm."

"That move by Strategist Zhu Ge is still fermenting."

"Being urgent is normal."

Wan'er nodded slightly and added another sentence.

"What they are worried about now is not whether Flower City will agree, but whether other families will reach an agreement first."

"Then let them scramble."

Zhou Yun smiled slightly.

"That is what the strategist wants."

—

"Buzz."

The sleeve pocket on his side suddenly vibrated.

Zhou Yun didn't pay attention.

He was still flipping.

After two breaths—

"Buzz."

Another one.

After another two breaths—

"Buzz."

The third time.

Zhou Yun's action of flipping through the booklet slowed down slightly.

Only then did Wan'er notice, and she lifted her eyes to look at him.

Her gaze didn't press for answers, but just fell on the sleeve pocket on Zhou Yun's side, carrying a trace of extremely faint confusion.

In that place, she had almost never seen Zhou Yun take anything out before.

"Buzz."

The fourth time.

Zhou Yun finally stopped his hand from flipping the booklet.

He smiled at Wan'er.

"Wait a moment."

Wan'er didn't speak, quietly stepped back half a step, giving up the line of sight.

Zhou Yun reached out and took the square little thing out of his sleeve pocket.

The screen lit up, and a layer of faint white light reflected on his fingertips.

Since the descent, most of the functions of this thing had been discarded.

However, the class group chat and a few private chats seemed to be a line left alone by the rules of this world.

Wan'er took a look from the side.

She didn't understand what this was.

She had also never seen this kind of small square that could shine, vibrate, and brighten itself.

But she just stood there, didn't make a sound, didn't ask.

She just looked at Zhou Yun's eyes.

Zhou Yun's eyes fell on the screen.

At the very top of the screen, the red dot of the [Class Group] was jumping with an eye-piercing number.

— 99+.

He stared at that number for a breath.

It seemed like he hadn't looked at it for a long time.

So long that he almost couldn't remember how many people were left in that group at this moment.

...

His fingertips paused on the screen.

In his mind, a sentence from a long time ago flashed by.

It was what his father had said to him.

Before Zhou Yun had just stepped out that day, his father didn't say any extra words, just patted his shoulder and gave a low instruction.

"For your side, make your own decisions."

"For this side, don't be distracted."

His father paused, then added another sentence.

"Don't keep staring at the class group."

"Those people are not on the same path you are taking now."

Zhou Yun had just smiled and nodded at that time.

Since then, he really hadn't opened this group much.

Occasionally a few red dots would pop up in the group, he would take a look and swipe them away.

Sometimes he was even too lazy to swipe.

This little square had long become an dispensable ornament for him.

— But today, these four vibrations were different.

Because he could hear the rhythm of the vibration.

It was someone repeatedly mentioning him.

...

Zhou Yun swiped his finger and unlocked the screen.

The messages in the group "whooshed" up.

His brows moved imperceptibly.

The top row was all bolded [@ Zhou Yun].

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

...

He flipped up a page, and it was still there.

Flipped another page, still there.

The one mentioning him was only one person.

He recognized the name at a glance —

City Lord Zhao Kun.

Zhou Yun stared at these two words, and his brows furrowed very lightly.

Who was City Lord Zhao Kun?

He almost had to be stunned for a breath to remember.

Back in high school, one of the followers around Wang Shuai.

Not tall, sharp-tongued.

Used to follow Wang Shuai, often pointing fingers and making sarcastic remarks in the back of the classroom.

Zhou Yun couldn't even immediately piece his face together in his brain.

In his impression, "City Lord Zhao Kun" was just one of "those people around Wang Shuai," and even the face took a while to piece together clearly.

He followed the string of mentions and flipped down.

Flipping to the end, he finally saw City Lord Zhao Kun's own messages.

One by one, all short sentences.

[Zhou Yun]

[Brother Yun]

[Emperor Yun]

[@ Zhou Yun Are you there?]

[Save me!]

[I beg you!]

[Are you there, are you there, are you there?]

[Please! Please show up quickly!]

[999999]

...

Every message was very short.

The time between each message was not long.

From the earliest to the last, there were at least dozens of mentions.

Like someone lying on a keyboard, constantly, mechanically, smashing the same name over and over.

...

Zhou Yun had just finished reading this paragraph, and new messages started jumping in the group.

Not City Lord Zhao Kun.

It was other people.

[City Lord Zhao Kun, where is your face?]

[Did you forget all the crappy things you did to Brother Yun before?]

[Now you're licking your face to beg for help, do you have no shame?]

Following closely —

[Exactly, exactly]

[Seen shameless, never seen someone so shameless]

[Really convinced!]

[Stop shouting, every single day, if you have no ability, go back to your hometown!]

[Exactly, what are you holding on for?]

[Why should Brother Yun save you? Do you think people's military strength falls from the sky?]

[What good is it to save you? To have you stab Brother Yun in the back again?]