CHAPTER 181: SAFE

Chapter 181: Safe

A moment later, the rain stopped. Chen Chuan dragged Tan Wang by the leg from the lakeside to one of the cars.

The drivers had already fled.

They were just normal people, so Chen Chuan did not go after them. They could also bring news of Tan Wang’s defeat back to their master.

Chen Chuan inspected the cars and every spot around them before he went to the phone booth at the edge of the park. Once he inserted a coin, he made a call and returned to wait while leaning against the car.

Around ten minutes later, a silver-gray sedan drove over. Its headlights stood out like a sore thumb in the darkness. Gao Ming parked not too far away, opened the door, and came out.

With a flashlight in hand, he approached Chen Chuan. Once he saw that Chen Chuan was unharmed, he sighed in relief. Then, he noticed Tan Wang lying unconscious beside the car. His expression didn’t change in the slightest even when he saw how badly beaten up he was. “Who’s this, cuz?”

“Tan Wang, a lecturer from Central City. He taught a recommended student before,” Chen Chuan answered.

Gao Ming’s eyes lit up so brightly that even his glasses couldn’t hide his excitement. He said, “This man is an important piece of our plan.”

Chen Chuan grunted in agreement. A crucial part of the third phase of their plan was to capture someone of great importance. Chen Chuan was going to do everything he could to get some answers.

Tan Wang was definitely someone who fit the criteria. There was plenty of information that could be extracted from him. With him in his hand, Chen Chuan was free to strike or retreat as he pleased.

The Mutual Aid Group would react in one of two ways next. The first option was to placate him so they could take their time finding a better chance to take him down in the future. The second option was a more likely candidate, though.

Coincidentally, Chen Chuan also preferred the second option.

“They should approach you soon. We just need to wait,” Gao Ming said.

“Alright. Let’s go back now,” Chen Chuan replied.

“Get in my car.” Gao Ming shone his flashlight on Tan Wang. “Should we treat his wounds? He’s badly injured. It’d be bad if he died halfway through.”

“Just stuff him in the trunk. He won’t die that easily.”

“I can see another one over there. What about him?”

“He’s not important.”

Chen Chuan grabbed Tan Wang. Once Gao Ming opened the trunk, he stuffed the man inside and went to the front passenger seat after throwing a bag to the back seat.

He had gathered all that Tan Wang had brought with him. It was dark, so he couldn’t take a proper look at them. He would check them once he went back.

Gao Ming started the car and left the park.

“Where are we going?” Gao Ming asked while turning the steering wheel.

“Let’s go back to the training center. Constables are on patrol there, so we won’t have to worry about anything happening. Once we’re there, I’ll need to make a few calls.”

***

Wei Jun sat behind his desk in his family’s villa with his arms crossed as he stared outside the window. He was waiting for news from Tan Wang. Before getting any confirmation of Tan Wang’s victory, he could not rest easy.

He had to take the unrestricted defense permit in two days. Before he left, he had to deal with this problem so that nothing happened to the allocation of recommendation slots in the next semester.

Just then, he heard footsteps in the corridor. The butler came into his study.

Wei Jun immediately felt invigorated and stood up. He turned around and asked, “Well? Is there news?”

The butler hesitated.

“If you have something to say, say it. Did Mr. Tan change his mind again?” Wei Jun scowled.

Tan Wang always acted on a whim. It was entirely possible that he suddenly went somewhere else. Fortunately, Tan Wang had a reputation for being trustworthy and carrying out his promises. Even more importantly, he needed money, so Wei Jun wasn’t worried about him not fulfilling his promise.

“The two drivers with Mr. Tan came back,” the butler said.

“What do you mean by that?” Wei Jun wasn’t expecting this. There was something off about the situation. “What is it? Just tell me.”

“They said that Mr. Tan... was defeated.” The butler paused for a bit. “But they aren’t too sure. It was raining, so they couldn’t see clearly.”

A long period of silence descended on the study.

After a long while, Wei Jun finally wrapped his head around the news and flew into a rage. “Are you fucking kidding me?! Who on earth in Yangzhi City could have possibly defeated Tan Wang?! Who is it?!”

The butler looked him in the eye. “Chen Chuan.”

Wei Jun froze and stared at the butler in dumbfounded shock. It took some time for him to recover. “Say that again?”

“Chen Chuan, or at least, that’s what the drivers said. I’m still looking into the specifics,” the butler answered.

Feeling the strength drain from him, Wei Jun massaged his temples. This result went against his ingrained understanding of the world and threw all that he had accepted as fact into chaos. He didn’t know how to take the next step.

A moment later, he slammed his desk, and with a loud thud, the thick wood shattered. Shards of it flew all over the office.

The butler quickly stepped back.

Wei Jun turned around and looked outside. A long while passed before his breathing finally calmed down. As if he had regained his usual composure, he said coldly, “Bring those drivers over for questioning. I need to verify every word from their mouths. Also, send someone to Reed Lake to make sure that they were telling the truth.”

“Understood.” The butler nodded and left.

Soon, he brought the drivers over. Of course, Wei Jun wasn’t going to interrogate them himself. Instead, he got a professional. After the man used various interrogation methods on the drivers, he got his answer—they were telling the truth.

But they also stated that they weren’t able to see the fight between Tan Wang and Chen Chuan. They heard countless loud blasts, then saw Chen Chuan punching Tan Wang repeatedly until he collapsed and stopped moving. It was then that they panicked and ran away.

Right at that moment, the servants the butler had sent to Reed Lake came back. They shared seeing a shocking sight at the park: deep trenches and pits covered the lakeside. It looked as if the place had been bombarded by artillery shells instead of there only having been a fight between two men.

They had found a heavily injured and unconscious Jing Lin, so they brought him back. After they examined him, they found that refined force had seeped into his brain. While he could survive, it would be difficult for him to regain consciousness.

Based on Jing Lin’s condition and what the servants saw, they could indirectly confirm that the two drivers were telling the truth.

Chen Chuan had indeed defeated Tan Wang in a direct fight.

Once Wei Jun got the whole truth, he propped his elbows on his knees and hung his head. No one knew what was on his mind.

A good while later, the butler broke the silence. “Young Master, the boy either got help from some powerful organization or is already at Mr. Tan’s level. He can’t be taken out by the usual means anymore.”

“That’s impossible!”

Wei Jun’s eyes were bloodshot. He refused to believe such a possibility. Chen Chuan was just a freshman. How could he possibly defeat Tan Wang? Something had to have gone wrong during the fight.

“He must be using some sort of implant or medicine,” he hissed.

“That’s possible too, but that would mean that he has someone supporting him. He couldn’t have possibly acquired those things by himself,” the butler said after some thinking.

With a dark look in his eyes, Wei Jun snarled, “Call Jiang Wei and Shao Xiaobie and tell them to come here! Right now!”

The butler nodded and immediately went to carry out Wei Jun’s orders.

Half an hour later, Shao Xiaobie and Jiang Wei arrived at Wei Jun’s villa and heard about what had happened from the butler. They were surprised but also realized that they would be unable to kill Chen Chuan through conventional means anymore.

They knew exactly how strong a martial artist at the Third Limit was. They had an overwhelming advantage over those beneath them. No matter what method Chen Chuan used, he had defeated Tan Wang, which meant that he possessed more power than someone at the Third Limit. Brute force was no longer an option for taking him down.

Shao Xiaobie mumbled, “Wait. That doesn’t make sense...”

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration. “Since the two drivers escaped, we have two witnesses. We can sue him!”

“That’s useless.” Jiang Wei rejected the idea outright. “We have to take Mr. Tan’s status into account. Even if we ignore the fact that we have no way to prove that Chen Chuan killed Mr. Tan, how are you going to prove that he was even there? He can just say that he wasn’t. Besides, we aren’t sure whether Mr. Tan is dead yet. It’s impossible for us to get rid of Chen Chuan by taking him to court. At most, we’ll just give him some trouble. It’s meaningless to do that.

“Also, we need to worry about something else. If Mr. Tan is dead, that’s fine and all, but if he isn’t, Chen Chuan or the organization supporting will definitely make use of Mr. Tan’s status to implicate us.

“Once the truth is brought to the table, the other forces of power will interfere, especially the people in Martial Valor University. They won’t sit by and do nothing. Then, we won’t be able to shut him down anymore.”

Anxious, Shao Xiaobie asked, “Then, what should we do?”

Jiang Wei smiled and declared, “We only have one method left.”

“What is it?”

“We use the same method we did to take Shen Zheng out. We’ll set up the same thing for Chen Chuan. I don’t believe it’ll be hard at all,” Jiang Wei said languidly.

Shao Xiaobie turned to Wei Jun. “That’s right. Wei Jun, let’s use that method! Since it worked on Shen Zheng, there’s no reason it wouldn’t take down Chen Chuan.”

Wei Jun leaned back against his chair and said, “We’re not the ones who can make the decision on using it.”

The threat Shen Zheng posed was so great that their families and companies had worked together to carry out a daring plan. The mastermind from back then was also already in Central City. While it was possible for them to use the same method, they weren’t the ones who could make it happen.

Jiang Wei turned to Wei Jun. “This is the only method available, and we must use it. It’s the only way to warn those people who still dare to foolishly dream, so that no one will try to cross the line again.”

Wei Jun pondered over this for a long time before he grabbed his phone receiver and made a call. He waited for a long time before it finally went through, and a deep, sonorous voice reached his ear. “Xiao Jun? What is it?”

“I have a bit of a problem, Zhao Qian,” Wei Jun blurted out.

“Calm down. Take your time. I have a minute to listen to you.”

***

After Chen Chuan and Gao Ming returned to the martial arts training center in Respite Street, they started talking about what they should do next.

“They won’t give up just like that, cuz. As long as you keep trying to cross the line, they’ll use everything at their disposal to crush you,” Gao Ming said.

“Tan Wang is in our hands now, so for the time being, they won’t be able to come up with any plans against you. They might even worry that we’ll make use of Tan Wang. Then, through the concept of path-dependence, they will likely go back to the method they used to kill Shen Zheng. This is their final chance, but it’s also a chance for you.”

“I know,” Chen Chuan said.

Since Shen Zheng’s death served as a cautionary tale, Chen Chuan had read up on it and even taken a look at Shen Zheng’s injury report. Because of it, he had a few theories as to what had happened.

Just then, the phone in the living room rang.

Chen Chuan walked over and picked up the receiver.

“Xiao Chuan?” Cheng Zitong’s voice came through.

“It’s me, Mr. Cheng.”

“Are you at the training center?”

“Yup.”

Cheng Zitong sighed in relief before he said urgently, “Tan Wang is back, and he might be looking for you. You have to hide. He’s already at the Third Limit!”

“I already met him, Mr. Cheng,” Chen Chuan said.

“You did? Where?” Cheng Zitong’s voice gained an even more nervous edge.

Chen Chuan cast a glance at a big box in the corner. “He’s at a safe place. Safe for him and the others, that is.”