Chapter 438: I Was Overconfident
As a physician, Xiao Ye rarely smoked. He knew that any damage to the lungs would affect his overall strength.
But this time, he was inexplicably agitated.
He didn't want to hear the truth, yet he had to know it.
The screams went on for a long time before gradually fading away.
A man with blood-soaked hands walked out. "Patriarch, he's not talking."
"This bastard is a tough one. Should we use some harsher methods?"
Xiao Ye nodded. "Just don't kill him. Continue."
"Yes, sir!"
The screams rang out again, even more wretched than before.
"I'll talk!"
At Hu the Third's words, Xiao Ye pushed the door open and entered.
The reek of blood assaulted his nostrils.
Xiao Ye, seemingly oblivious to the stench, sat in the chair opposite him. "Speak."
Hu the Third was bound to a wooden frame, his body a mangled pulp. Blood even obscured his vision.
"I need... I need something for the pain first, or I won't be able to speak."
'Painkiller?'
'In his dreams!'
"It seems you still haven't learned your lesson. In that case, continue."
"Yes, sir!"
"Wait!" The agony he had just endured was the worst pain Hu the Third had ever felt in his life. He did not want to experience it a second time.
"I'll talk. Back then, my only brother was gravely ill. A man called me and said that if I just did as he instructed, I could get a huge sum of money."
"I never meant to harm the Patriarch! It was supposed to be a simple task!"
Xiao Ye had no patience for his excuses. "What was the task? If you can't get to the point, I don't mind having someone pull out your teeth."
"And I'll find out whether you're telling the truth or not. I even know about your connection to the Angel Association."
Xiao Ye let out a cold laugh. "Surely you know that I'm a member of the Angel Association too? The only difference is, I'm far more useful than you are."
"No one can protect you. Not even the Angel Association!"
Hu the Third looked at Xiao Ye and was suddenly reminded of Xiao Ling.
The two of them, father and son, were truly cast from the same mold.
It wasn't just their looks, but their entire bearing!
Hatred flared in Hu the Third's eyes. "I'm a dead man either way, so I'll just say it. Xiao Ling was nothing but a damn hypocrite!"
"When my brother was sick, I begged him for money. He was so rich he'd rather throw it away for fun than give any to me."
"That was my own brother! Was I supposed to just stand by and watch him die? Since Xiao Ling ignored our years of friendship, he couldn't blame me for what came next!"
"Later, someone called me. He said he could save my brother if I just did one thing for him. He wanted me to lure Xiao Ling to a specific location."
"There used to be a place in the Imperial City called Four-direction City, but it was demolished twenty years ago. They tore it down precisely because Xiao Ling died there!"
Hu the Third suddenly burst out laughing. "No, that's not right. He didn't die in Four-direction City. He actually managed to escape. But he died in the end anyway, didn't he!"
"The Patriarch of the Xiao Family, sitting on a mountain of wealth—what good did it do him? In the end, he still died at my hands! It's his own damn fault for not helping me. He deserved it!"
Xiao Ye watched him, his face an emotionless mask. "The one who hired you was from the Angel Association, wasn't it?"
Hu the Third sneered. "That's right! It was the Angel Association!"
"It was Xiao Ling's own fault for not knowing what was good for him. The Angel Association tried to recruit him multiple times, but he refused every time. He even actively opposed them. He got what he deserved!"
Xiao Ye's hands clenched into fists as he fought to suppress his rage. "You killed Xiao Ling and used it as your ticket into the Angel Association."
"You've been in hiding for so many years. Why show up now? And why bring Xiao Qi into this? Whose bastard is he?"
'He could find out on his own, but getting the information from Hu the Third would save a considerable amount of time.'
"He's the illegitimate son from a branch of the Xiao Family, born to a showgirl. She had hoped to use the child to secure her position, but she died in childbirth. When I found out, I arranged for his adoption."
Xiao Ye rose to his feet and slowly approached Hu the Third. "So what was your purpose for him back then? I want the truth!"
Hu the Third struggled to lift his heavy eyelids. His eyes were blood-red. In his delirium, he almost thought it was Xiao Ling standing before him.
"I wanted to find some twisted family to adopt him, people who would torture him every single day. I just wanted to see a member of the Xiao Family suffer!"
He had no way of touching the main Xiao Family, not even as a member of the Angel Association.
The Angel Association had plenty of members, and he was just a bottom-feeder.
He had no pull to get the Angel Association to do his bidding, much less attack the Xiao Family.
The Angel Association was careful not to expose itself, so he had to settle for the next best thing: taking out his frustrations on an unknown bastard of the Xiao Family to satisfy his own sick urges.
"But I never expected that the person who came to pick up Xiao Qi would get into a car crash and die. With no other choice, I had to hand him over to someone else."
As a result, Xiao Qi had a decent life over the years, but only just decent.
To ensure he never had a chance to amount to anything, Hu the Third secretly did quite a few things.
For example, he'd arrange for people to lead him astray with wine and women. When his grades got too good, he'd send a girl to seduce him and distract him with puppy love.
In short, Hu the Third was a cockroach living in the gutter, capable only of such sordid, underhanded schemes.
"I was ready to wash my hands of Xiao Qi. He was already a lost cause, destined for a mediocre future at best. But then the Angel Association contacted me."
"They were looking for someone to replace you, so I had Xiao Qi pose as Xiao Ling's son. With me vouching for him, I was sure plenty of people would believe it."
The Angel Association's original plan was to have him infiltrate the Xiao Family and slowly usurp power from within.
But Hu the Third knew his own limits, and he knew Xiao Ye would be incredibly difficult to replace.
So he decided to go for broke and target Xiao Ye directly.
He thought he could at least rattle Xiao Ye, win enough people over to his side, and force him to step down as Patriarch.
But he never expected Xiao Ye to be so formidable. He crushed them with brute force, giving them no opportunity to stir up trouble.
Even the online smear campaign didn't faze Xiao Ye in the slightest.
"I was overconfident."
Hu the Third was filled with regret, not for trying to destroy Xiao Ye, but for not being more careful.
'It was all because Xiao Qi was so incompetent. With someone else, maybe it really would have worked.'
Xiao Ye looked at Hu the Third, suppressing the murderous rage boiling inside him. "You've got one thing wrong. Your brother wasn't sick."
"He was drowning in gambling debt. Xiao Ling must have found that out right away, which is why he didn't help you. He never hesitated to help anyone in the Xiao Family, not even a housekeeper in trouble."
Hu the Third fell silent. After a long moment, he said, "Impossible."