Chapter 274 - 108: Next Month
Treating others like they’re fools only makes you the biggest fool of all.
’You can never take people at face value!’
Fang Rui mused. Just as he was about to leave, Sun Shouchai came out.
He gave Fang Rui a distant nod before leaving, clearly maintaining the reserve of a Spirit Master.
Zhang Henshui, however, came right over, greeting him with a smile, "Fang Yinzheng!"
"Greetings, Zhang Yuzhang."
Fang Rui returned the greeting, surprised to sense that the man held no animosity toward him. In fact, his attitude even seemed a little friendly.
’This is the Zhang Henshui that Zhou Changfa warned me about?’
He was stunned for a moment, but then he understood. ’This man is a sycophant. As long as Zhen Daoji’s attitude toward me doesn’t change, as long as he still considers me a friend, this man wouldn’t dare try anything.’
After this realization, Fang Rui instantly abandoned his original plan to ’observe for a while before deciding whether to pull the weeds and get rid of the roots’.
He wasn’t a madman. Why go to the trouble of dealing with someone who no longer held any ill will?
Besides, attacking Zhang Henshui would mean assassinating a Fourth Grade Jade Seal Divine Hunter, which carried enormous risks.
’This Zhang Henshui is such a suck-up that he moved his residence to be near Zhen Daoji’s. Even if I used the Dragon Pearl to commit the crime, leaving no trace, what if I alerted Zhen Daoji or Zhen Yi in the process?’
’Walk the night roads enough, and you’re bound to meet a ghost.’
Fang Rui exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries with Zhang Henshui before taking his leave.
...
"Sir, you were looking for me?"
Li Tieniu entered, bowing and scraping with a sycophantic smile, only to be met by a pair of utterly indifferent eyes.
"I..."
His heart sank. He dropped to his knees and began slapping himself hard across the face. "Sir, I was a fool! I shouldn’t have gone behind your back to look for another patron... I..."
"If all you did was look for another patron, I would have let it slide. It’s like seeing a grasshopper on the side of the road—hardly worth a second glance. But you never should have..."
Fang Rui snorted coldly and tossed out a stack of documents.
"Th-this is?"
Li Tieniu glanced at them and began to tremble like a leaf in the wind.
The documents detailed his actions over the past two days: how he had turned on his former allies in a heartbeat, bullied Li Dadan’s widowed mother and orphaned child, extorted money from them, and used it to pay off his gambling debts...
"Strip him of his post, cripple his Martial Arts, and confiscate his wealth. Throw him to the casinos and let him fend for himself."
"No! No! Sir! I was wrong! Spare me! Spare my life!"
Amidst Li Tieniu’s desperate cries, Niu Bajin had his men haul him away.
...
After dealing with Li Tieniu—a clear case of killing the chicken to frighten the monkeys—everyone in the Southeast Branch was stunned. Their impression of Fang Rui now included not just ’a good boss,’ but a deep sense of awe and fear.
Even Niu Bajin and Xun Buhe, while still respectful, began to keep a slight distance.
Fang Rui didn’t mind. For ordinary Chief Constables, constables, and governmental officers, their relationship was simply one of superior and subordinate.
Niu Bajin and Xun Buhe were, at best, half-friends. He provided them with plenty of benefits and perks within the rules, and in return, they helped him with tedious tasks. They owed each other nothing, and his conscience was clear.
The peaceful days passed like this, and the Divine Capture Bureau entered an era under the rule of Zhen Daoji.
As for how it felt, things weren’t as lax as they had been two years prior, but they also weren’t as high-pressure as during the siege against the Zheng Family. You could still slack off, just not too much.
’Within the Divine Capture Bureau, Zhen Daoji is gradually strengthening his control. The current peace in the city is just a facade to lull the Zheng Family into a false sense of security while he gathers his strength.’
’The Zheng Family, on the other hand, seems to be losing its influence, teetering on the brink of collapse.’
Fang Rui silently assessed the city’s situation. ’But a great family like that is like a centipede—it won’t fall even in death. They can’t be destroyed so easily from the outside. They might have some hidden aces up their sleeve.’
...
Soon, Fang Rui’s speculation was confirmed: the Zheng Family had hit rock bottom and bounced back!
News spread that Zheng Jinghan had broken through to the Upper Three Grades. Furthermore, the Divine Capture Bureau had reinstated one Golden Seal Renowned Hunter and one Silver Seal Chief Constable for the Zheng Family.
For a time, the Zheng Family’s prestige soared.
The other great families in the city, which had been stirring restlessly, immediately settled down. Even the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office, which had been maintaining an ambiguous stance, restored its relationship with the Zheng Family. Everything seemed to have returned to how it once was.
...
"That fellow Zhen is truly ungrateful. We gave him such a generous gift, and all he did was reinstate one Golden Seal Renowned Hunter and one Silver Seal Chief Constable for our family."
Zheng Jinghan’s expression was grim.
A Golden Seal Renowned Hunter and a Silver Seal Chief Constable might seem impressive, but they were purely superficial posts. Within the Divine Capture Bureau, true influence began at the level of Fourth Grade Jade Seal Divine Hunter.
To put it another way, Zhen Daoji had seemingly made a concession, but the Zheng Family hadn’t gained anything of real substance.
"He comes from a State City Family and has his pride. It’s impossible for him to restore all of our family’s positions in the Divine Capture Bureau at once. It’s normal for him to hold out for a better price."
Zheng Shaoguang, however, was more philosophical about it.
"Father, I’m not worried about him wanting benefits. I’m worried his appetite is too big, that everything he’s doing now is just to lull us into a false sense of security while his true aim is to swallow our Zheng Family whole!"
Zheng Jinghan said worriedly, "Back then, Zhou Changfa’s sudden suppression of our family was suspicious. His sudden departure was even more so."
"And now, this scion of a State City Family has hastily taken office. Don’t you think the timing is a bit too coincidental?"
"Han’Er, it’s good that you recognize this."
Zheng Shaoguang said with relief, "Even if his true goal is our family, he first needs to establish a firm foothold and turn the Divine Capture Bureau into an iron fortress. And as for us, are we not also stalling for time?"
"Once the Yin Corpse returns to its rightful place and we retrieve the Extreme Yang Attribute Dragon Pearl, we will have a Living Dead above the First Grade to hold the line. What will we have to fear from the outside world then?"
"That’s true. Even if his true goal is our family, it just comes down to who is faster."
Zheng Jinghan thought for a moment and asked, "Father, tell me honestly, when will our family’s Yin Corpse return?"
"Hmm, probably... next month?!"
...
"What’s going on? Why have my Tribulation Points been rising inexplicably lately?"
In the Government Office, Fang Rui was reading a book for pleasure, slacking off as usual. He idly glanced at his panel and discovered that his Tribulation Points had, yet again, increased on their own.
"Very good. You’re a big-boy panel now. Keep up the good work."
Fang Rui teased himself as he closed the panel.
Little did he know that the Yin Corpse he had destroyed had directly impacted the Zheng Family’s core strategic decisions, and in doing so, had profoundly altered the situation in the city.
...