Chapter 786 - 786 Snake Form Gate
Several street thugs all shook their heads, showing that they were still in a state of confusion.
Seeing these lowlifes in such a state, everyone inside the room couldn't help but laugh. These people really had some nerve, daring to cause trouble without figuring out who they were dealing with. Weren't they simply asking for death?
"Listen up!" Da Fei shouted, "The owners of this hotel are Ye Qing and Li Lianshan of Shenchuan City. Go back and tell your so-called Snake Brother to handle this himself!"
"What?" The underlings' eyes suddenly widened. Ye Qing and Li Lianshan's names were well-known in Shenchuan City, and even those from the outskirts had heard of them. It never occurred to them that they would stir up trouble on Ye Qing and Li Lianshan's turf. The group of once arrogant underlings now trembled all over, too scared to utter a word. They quickly helped those who were injured and fled in disgrace.
Watching these people leave, those inside the room laughed once again. And the admiration in the wait staff's eyes for Li Lianshan grew even stronger. Li Lianshan's earlier display of smashing two bottles had given them a sense of security; working here meant they definitely wouldn't be at a loss in the future.
"Alright, alright, everyone disperse and get back to work," Li Lianshan called out to the crowd to leave. In his view, it was not a matter worth fussing over, just a bunch of small-time thugs trying to extort some money. Li had once started out doing the same thing, only he was more astute, always inquiring about the other party before extorting them, never rashly. Snake Brother, however, was a bit too arrogant, and not doing his homework before coming to extort was simply asking for trouble!
Ye's thoughts differed from Li's. This area was once owned by Huangfu Ziyu, and by rights, who would dare to cause trouble on Huangfu Ziyu's territory? Since these people dared to make a scene, it meant they were aware that Huangfu Ziyu had sold the land. In other words, the land had nothing to do with Huangfu Ziyu anymore, which was why they ventured to cause trouble.
Now that they were aware Huangfu Ziyu was unconnected to the land, they surely must know who the new owner was. In other words, they knew the land had been transferred to Li. Yet, they still sent people to make trouble, indicating there must be some problem behind the scenes, which made Ye dare not be the slightest bit careless.
"Da Fei, come over here," Ye called Da Fei to the door and whispered instructions to summon some people from downtown just in case. After all, they were currently in the suburbs with few men at hand. Should there be any sneak attack or similar trouble, it would be problematic.
After receiving Ye's orders, Da Fei immediately made calls to gather people. Following the great chaos in Shenchuan City, Da Fei, Mad Dog, Chen Jun, Hou San, and others had taken the opportunity to recruit underlings in the city, and now, each of them had quite a following. Therefore, Ye's side was not short of manpower. Of course, when it came to manpower, Ye was far from matching Li, but Ye had no intention of having so many people because he didn't harbor such grand ambitions.
Having given instructions to Da Fei, Ye then followed Li and the others back upstairs to continue drinking with members of the Xingyi School.
At this moment, seven kilometers west of the hotel, in a village, the same street thugs who had fled in panic had just arrived and stopped outside a large courtyard.
The courtyard wall was very high, and it covered a large area, making it clear it was not the abode of ordinary folk. The street thugs helped each other into the courtyard, where inside, about fifteen people were practicing martial arts. Seeing these individuals enter, everyone in the courtyard came over immediately, and one of them curiously asked, "What happened to you guys?"
"Ah, don't even mention it!" The leader sighed and asked, "Is Snake Brother at home?"
"He's inside meeting some guests."
Not wasting any words, the leader immediately ran into the living room, where seven or eight people were seated. On the main seat sat a man in his thirties with an inhospitable expression, clearly not someone to mess with. Beside him were four men, and opposite him sat three others.
If Ye were here, he would definitely recognize one of the three as part of the group that had entered Shen Family Manor from the Western Province. This meant the three men were actually from the Western Province. It seemed this affair was being orchestrated by the Western Province from behind the scenes.
As everyone was idly chatting, the man burst in, and everyone immediately turned their heads to look. Seeing the man's appearance, the grim-faced man, Snake Brother, immediately furrowed his brows and asked, "Third Brother, what has happened to you?"
"Don't even mention it, Snake Brother!" Third Brother said with a distressed look. "We just got word that the hotel had its opening and had started doing business. So, I took the guys over to stop them from opening up. Who knew they wouldn't show us any face and even injured our brothers. Look, this is where they hurt me!"
Snake Brother, with a deeply grim expression, sized up Third Brother and asked in a low voice, "Didn't you drop my name?"
"We did, and it was right after we mentioned your name that they got violent!" Third Brother replied.
"What!" Snake Brother slammed his hand on the table, standing up swiftly as he shouted, "Say that again!"
Third Brother shivered in fear and hesitated before saying, "Snake, this... these people are not easy to mess with either. I've heard... they are Shenchuan City's Ye Qing and Li Lianshan..."
"What?" Snake was stunned as well; he had been unaware of this issue until now. Upon hearing this, he deflated instantly. He knew all too well who Ye Qing and Li Lianshan were; they were definitely not individuals he could afford to provoke.
"Snake, I think... let's just let it go," Third Brother whispered. "We sold that piece of land to Huangfu Ziyu back then, and now, wanting it back without any proof or evidence... it's not right!"
"You can't say that," before Snake could speak up, the man from Western Province stood up and said, "That piece of land is the heritage left by the forefathers of Snake Form Gate; how can we simply hand it over to someone else? As far as I know, back then, Huangfu Ziyu practically snatched that land, and you were paid only one million for it. But now, the land is right by the sea and is worth at least one hundred million. In just a few years, the value has changed so drastically. Can you really bear to just give away this land to others?"
The man from Western Province was indeed trying to stir up trouble, but his words did manage to sway Snake. The temptation of one hundred million was too strong to resist for anyone.
"It's one thing to say that, but the land is currently in the hands of Li Lianshan and Ye Qing, it's impossible to get it back!" Snake sighed and continued, "Li Lianshan now controls all of Shenchuan City's underground forces, and Ye Qing has the support of the Police Chief of Eastern Province and the Chief Commander of the military region. On what grounds could I possibly take that land back from them?"
"Everything in the world comes down to reason," the man from Western Province chuckled and added, "If it's just Snake Form Gate alone, of course, the land cannot be retrieved. However, as far as I know, that piece of land doesn't just belong to Snake Form Gate; there's territory there belonging to six other Sects. Including Snake Form Gate, that makes seven Sects in total. If you seven Sects could unite, the odds of success would be greater. When necessary, I can also lend a hand, dealing with Ye Qing and Li Lianshan is not difficult!"
These words somewhat excited Snake; he looked at the man from Western Province and inquired, "There's no such thing as a free lunch, Mr. Wu. You wouldn't help us out for no reason, would you?"
Mr. Wu from Western Province smiled and replied, "Snake, you have sharp eyes. Of course, I wouldn't help you for no reason. The main reason I'm helping you is that I have a grudge against Ye Qing, as my son died at his hands."
"Oh?" Snake glanced at Mr. Wu and asked, "What happened?"
Mr. Wu sighed and explained, "On the opening day of the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, several groups from Western Province came, including my son."
"I know of the incident at the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, but weren't those people killed by the Xikou Fire Butterfly?" Snake questioned.
Mr. Wu said through clenched teeth, "Indeed, it was the Xikou Fire Butterfly who killed them, but since the incident occurred on Ye Qing's turf, he must bear half the responsibility. I've kept this debt in my heart. After killing Ye Qing, I'll seek vengeance from Fire Butterfly!"
Snake slowly nodded his head, his trust in Mr. Wu growing by the moment.
Mr. Wu wiped his face, regaining his composure, looked at Snake, and said, "Secondly, to be honest, I'm also interested in your land!"
Snake immediately furrowed his brows and asked, "Mr. Wu, what do you mean by that?"
"Snake, don't get me wrong; I mean no harm," Mr. Wu quickly reassured as he gestured with his hands: "I mean I'd like to develop that land. My main purpose in contacting you is to discuss whether you have any interest in developing the land. If you're willing to partner in the development, I'll give you a significant share of the properties built. If you're not willing to take on the risk of development, I'm also willing to buy the land outright!"
At this point, Mr. Wu smiled and said, "The piece of land belongs to Snake Form Gate is worth at least one hundred million. Rest assured, the price I offer you will certainly not be below that amount!"
Hearing about the money, Snake's breathing became a bit more rapid. In truth, he had not known about this matter at all, until Mr. Wu had approached him with the details; only then had he started to pay attention to it. Now, hearing that there was a chance for him to obtain one hundred million, the excitement in his heart could easily be imagined.
"What about the other six Sects?" Snake hastily inquired, "Are they also prepared to retrieve that piece of land?"
"They share the same sentiment, but what's lacking is a leader," Mr. Wu looked at Snake and proclaimed, "To be frank, the leaders of the other Sects are too timid, not like you, Snake. They simply aren't cut out for big endeavors. It's probably going to rely on you to take the lead on this matter!"