Ch. 33
Chapter 33: Wang Longcheng Enters the Profound Rank, Li Mu’s Powerful Backer
Li Mu hurried forward and said excitedly as well, “Congratulations, Commander Wang, on stepping into the Profound Rank!”
Wang Longcheng was already no longer the same as when he had been at Ninth Grade before.
That pressure of a superior naturally flowed from him, as though he held everything in his grasp!
“Hahahahaha...”
Wang Longcheng laughed from the bottom of his heart and personally reached out to pull open the empty chair beside him.
“Sit down.”
“You brats are pretty impressive too. That morning during military training, you were still First Grade.”
“And by the afternoon, you had already broken through to Second Grade.”
“This time, you even reached the top in the First Battle. Your strength is now plain for all to see!”
Wang Longcheng was in extremely good spirits, and he naturally spoke more as well.
Meanwhile, everyone else at the table, including the people at the other tables, was completely dumbfounded!
Ever since the banquet had started, the chair beside Wang Longcheng had been tucked under the table the whole time.
Since Wang Longcheng had not offered it, no one had dared to sit there!
And now he was actually pulling out the chair himself and telling a high school student to sit there?
And he even started chatting with him as though no one else existed.
It was truly astonishing. Just who was this young man?
Still, Wang Longcheng’s last sentence let everyone know that this seemed to be the champion of this year’s Abyss First Battle.
But that still did not make sense!
Since when had any Abyss First Battle champion ever received this kind of treatment?
Wang Longcheng was the deputy commander of the military district!
If the champion of the Abyss First Battle got to meet a military district instructor and receive a few words of praise, that was already enough!
Since when could he sit beside the deputy commander and eat with him?
Amid their shock, one after another, they quickly sent messages to their aides.
Those who moved fast enough figured out Li Mu’s identity in less than a minute.
So this was that young master from the family whose S-rank talent had been stolen a few days ago, the one everyone had been talking about.
But they still could not figure it out.
What exactly was the relationship between this young man and Wang Longcheng?
And yet Wang Longcheng gave no introduction.
At this moment, Wang Longcheng was genuinely happy.
If Li Mu had not helped him pinpoint those two ruined meridians, and allowed him to make the split-second decision to abandon them, he had no idea when he would have been able to break through to the Profound Rank.
He had not even been sure whether he would be able to step into the Profound Rank at all.
The facts had proven that his gamble had been the right one.
After abandoning those meridians, he had broken into the Profound Rank in a single attempt!
As long as nothing unexpected happened to him, the rank of Lesser Tiger Marquis was basically already in his hands.
And if he advanced one step further, reaching the position of commander would be only a matter of time!
“For someone like you, it’s nothing more than childish play.”
Li Mu said with a smile.
“Oh? At such a young age, how are you already this modest? Wasn’t your edge supposed to be pretty sharp, brat?”
Wang Longcheng teased him.
If Li Mu were really some modest old-fashioned good guy, he would not have directly broken the instructor’s leg during military training!
“Just now, your Aunt Bai was still talking about you.”
As Wang Longcheng spoke, he shifted slightly and revealed the woman seated on his other side.
This woman looked to be around forty. She had short hair, striking beauty, and a heroic air between her brows.
There was none of the weariness that usually came with age. Instead, she gave off a sharp and capable impression.
At this moment, she was looking at Li Mu with a warm smile.
The moment he saw this woman, Li Mu’s heart jolted violently.
She also appeared in the news all the time!
The Chief Director of the Law Enforcement Division of Tieshou City’s Eastern Urban District, Bai Tiewei!
Now it seemed she should be Wang Longcheng’s wife.
No wonder so many leaders from the law enforcement departments had shown up to offer congratulations.
So after all this, the two of them were husband and wife.
She was nicknamed “Iron-Hand Rose.”
For a woman to command the violent apparatus of an entire district!
Having only a deputy commander husband was useless!
Without truly formidable strength and methods, there was absolutely no way she could suppress everyone.
This was a high-martial world, after all.
In officialdom here, strength and background came first, while ability and seniority had to be pushed back.
This was also one of the major flaws of a high-martial world.
And it was also part of the sad reality behind why China was infested with so many parasites.
A person with overwhelming strength would not necessarily know how to govern. Whether they did good or evil depended entirely on their own likes and dislikes.
And most people with deep backgrounds only knew how to line their own pockets. Being a useless seat-warmer was already the better case!
Those who truly had talent, meanwhile, could not sit in positions where they had any say at all.
There were simply too many people whose talents went unrecognized.
At this moment, Bai Tiewei continued from Wang Longcheng’s words with a smile, “Xiao Mu, Auntie still hasn’t properly thanked you for last time.”
“If there’s nothing your mother needs you for, then come home with me first and sit for a while.”
Those words completely stunned Li Mu.
This was his first time meeting Bai Tiewei.
What was she talking about last time?
And she had even mentioned Li Mu’s mother, acting as though they were very familiar.
But only for an instant.
A sudden flash of understanding came to Li Mu, and he instantly grasped Bai Tiewei’s intention!
Wang Longcheng and his wife were helping him!!
Most of the people seated here today were, in all likelihood, Bai Tiewei’s people.
Wang Longcheng’s real network lay within the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
He might well have already held another celebratory banquet below.
Today, in front of all these people, Wang Longcheng had pulled Li Mu to his side.
And Bai Tiewei was speaking to him like an old acquaintance.
This husband-and-wife pair was clearly trying to back Li Mu up.
Li Mu was deeply moved.
They had probably also learned that he was currently in the middle of an intense conflict with the Li family.
That was why they were using Wang Longcheng’s banquet to lend Li Mu a hand!
“I’ll follow Aunt Bai’s arrangements in everything!”
Li Mu replied with a smile.
Bai Tiewei nodded in satisfaction.
As expected, the many leaders around them all still looked cheerful and sociable on the surface, but in their hearts, stormy waves had already been stirred up!
Their gazes drifted toward Li Mu from time to time, all of them guessing just how deep Li Mu’s relationship with Wang Longcheng and his wife really was!
Normally, they did not even have many chances to curry favor with Bai Tiewei.
As for the people at the four outer tables, that went without saying. Some of them had barely even seen Wang Longcheng a few times.
Especially someone like the minister of the Jixiang Road Law Enforcement Branch.
He had only managed to squeeze into this banquet after expending an enormous amount of effort!
Bai Tiewei was his direct superior.
He had only ever seen her a handful of times during district-wide meetings.
Bai Tiewei was a true tiger-hearted woman!
When had she ever been as gentle as she was today?
And every so often, across Wang Longcheng, she would lean over to whisper a few words to Li Mu and smile.
And seeing that scene, the minister of the Jixiang Road Law Enforcement Branch felt as though the world was spinning around him.
His heart was about to leap out of his throat, and cold sweat drenched his body!
Just half an hour earlier, he had received a call from the Li family.
They had said they had gotten into a conflict with Li Mu and wanted him to help deal with Li Mu.
He had immediately arranged for people to handle the matter.
He had never expected that Li Mu would be brought here!
And that he would be laughing and talking with his direct superior!
He did not know where Adjutant Zhang had picked Li Mu up from, nor did he know whether his subordinates had laid a hand on Li Mu!
If they really had touched him, and Li Mu reported it in front of Bai Tiewei, then he would truly be finished!
Fortunately, he had kept his eyes on Bai Tiewei and Li Mu the whole time, and from beginning to end, Bai Tiewei had not once looked his way.
Of course, Li Mu had no intention of complaining in front of Bai Tiewei.
There was only one reason. It was not worth it!
A favor was like a check.
Wang Longcheng did indeed owe Li Mu a huge favor.
But trash like the minister of the Jixiang Road branch was still not worth Li Mu taking out that check.
Wang Longcheng and his wife were already publicly backing Li Mu in front of so many people.
If Li Mu then turned around and complained about some petty little branch minister, that would really be far too small-time!
As the banquet neared its end, the leaders left first. That was the rule.
Wang Longcheng and Bai Tiewei stood up and symbolically raised a glass to everyone present, then left first with Li Mu.
Bai Tiewei’s secretary and Wang Longcheng’s deputy stayed behind to keep the others company.
But the moment those two left, the remaining leaders exchanged a few polite words and began to leave one after another as well.
The order in which they left was also according to rank and position, perfectly orderly.
The hotel was already not far from the military family residential compound.
So Wang Longcheng and Bai Tiewei brought Li Mu back to the compound on foot.
Bai Tiewei also sincerely thanked Li Mu.
No one knew Wang Longcheng’s condition better than she did.
Sometimes at night, he coughed so much that he could not even sleep properly.
And even when he managed not to cough, he still lay awake, tossing and turning in worry.
As his wife, she had suffered along with him and felt constant anguish.
Yet she had never expected that Li Mu, just a student, would be able to remove Wang Longcheng’s greatest hidden danger and help him step into the Profound Rank!
So after returning home, Bai Tiewei chatted with Li Mu for quite a long time.
Only after that did she send someone to escort Li Mu away.
Just after Li Mu had been sent off, an old man slowly walked down from the stairway on the second floor of the Wang residence.
The aura on this old man was far stronger than Wang Longcheng’s.
Just locking eyes with him made it feel as though a sharp sword were hanging above one’s head.
As if the slightest malicious thought would be enough for that sword to pierce straight through a person!