Chapter 1 The Mountain

On the mountain, while Yao DouDou and the others were cleaning up the scene and rescuing Wei Xiangzuo and the others, Su Tianyu had already dialed Yu Mingyuan's phone.

"Hello?!"

"Old Wei has been rescued. Don't worry about anything else right now. Immediately notify Kong Zhenghui and have him take the association's core members, along with the families of the three families, and leave for District One. Hurry!" Su Tianyu paused, adding urgently, "Oh, no, go to Sinaloa first, to the Chi Army, and then borrow their route to fly to District One. That will be safer."

Yu Mingyuan was taken aback. "Is it necessary to be this rushed?"

"It's like this: If Old Wei hadn't been rescued by us, Xu Hu wouldn't be in a hurry to move against us. He would definitely stabilize the internal situation of Zha Nan first, and then seize the power of the Ma Gang. But Old Wei being intercepted by us has completely put Xu Hu on the spot. He now has only two choices: either move against our people to exchange for Old Wei, or he will push the blame for Gu Tongshan's death onto us and Wei Xiangzuo, saying that we colluded to do this, turning internal contradictions into external ones. That way, the Ma Gong Association will continue to support him." Su Tianyu's thinking was very clear. "Without Wei Xiangzuo in hand, we don't need to rush to evacuate, but with him, we must run immediately."

Yu Mingyuan roughly understood Su Tianyu's meaning. "...You mean to leave first, and after Wei Xiangzuo stabilizes, we can exert our strength and come back?"

"That's right!" Su Tianyu immediately nodded. "Changqing Company, plus Longkou and Zha Nan, the three families together, with our current level, we definitely can't touch them. Let's leave first, and after Wei Xiangzuo stabilizes, let him infiltrate the Ma Gang's interior, and then we'll have a chance to turn the tables."

"The problem is, how many people should we take, and for how long?!"

"Take all the core members of our Tongji Association. Don't worry about the people below, because the other side doesn't know how many members we've actually absorbed, or who the members are. Do you understand what I mean?" Su Tianyu replied.

Yu Mingyuan pondered for a long time, then answered decisively, "Okay, I'll call Kong Zhenghui now."

"That's it."

After the two ended their call, Su Tianyu contacted his older brother Su Tiannan again. "Quickly take your family and the company's core members and leave immediately! Right now! Don't worry about anything else!"

"Okay." When Gou Liuzi left the city earlier, he had already talked about this with Su Tiannan, so the latter wasn't surprised, nor did he ask for details. He simply agreed.

This "Tongji Association" family escape was truly a last resort, because Xu Hu losing Wei Xiangzuo was equivalent to leaving himself a hidden danger. If this person wasn't dead, he would definitely continue to cause trouble in the dark. Therefore, the red-eyed Xu Hu was very likely to use the Su, Bai, and Kong families to make a case, forcefully moving against them within the city, thereby achieving the goal of exchanging for Old Wei.

In addition, Yu's family saving Wei Xiangzuo meant that Xu Hu could also take the opportunity to pin the blame for Gu Tongshan's death on Old Wei, saying that he killed Old Gu in collusion with the Yu family in order to rise to power. This reason was reasonable, and Old Wei currently had no way to defend himself.

Considering the above reasons, with the loss of Old Wei, Xu Hu would definitely move against the Su, Bai, and Kong families next. The reason these three families hadn't prepared to flee before was because Su Tianyu wasn't sure if Wei Xiangzuo would contact him, choose to cooperate with him, or if he could successfully rescue Old Wei.

If he couldn't, then there was no need for the three families to run, because after Xu Hu killed Wei Xiangzuo, he would definitely stabilize the Ma Gang's interior first.

...

Inside a villa in Longkou District.

Xu Hu stood in the living room, his inner emotions extremely suppressed.

"Damn it, are the Xue family's people made of paper?! More than forty people went to catch four or five people, and they were all wiped out, and they even let the other side run away?!" The Longkou District leader cursed. "And that's supposed to be some kind of private armed force? I'll be damned."

"Wei Xiangzuo running away with the Yu family isn't a good thing for us," Li Hongze said with a frown. "If you don't kill the thief, you have to guard against him every night."

Xu Hu stood by the window with his hands on his hips, forcing himself to calm down and start thinking about the next step. The reason he wanted to kill Wei Xiangzuo was actually a last resort.

Gu Tongshan's sudden death was a rare opportunity for Xu Hu, who had been biding his time for many years—an opportunity to completely control Zha Nan.

With Gu Tongshan around, although Xu Hu was nominally the top leader of Zha Nan, the gang leader, he actually had no say in any major matters. The channels for goods, the methods for distribution, and the pricing of goods were all decided by Gu Tongshan. Even if he secretly mixed a small amount of his own private goods into the large shipments, he would be secretly reprimanded by Gu Tongshan.

This feeling was unpleasant, but there was nothing Xu Hu could do. Because Old Gu was his mentor, and he had a lot of connections and prestige in the Ma Gong General Association. Plus, Zha Nan's second-in-command, Wei Xiangzuo, had always respected this mentor. If Xu Hu rebelled and competed with Gu Tongshan, he would eventually die miserably.

There was nothing Xu Hu could do but endure and obey Gu Tongshan's every word.

But what Xu Hu didn't expect was that Gu Tongshan would suddenly be killed, and the opportunity he had been waiting for would appear!

With Old Gu gone, the big stone weighing on Xu Hu's head was also gone. So, taking advantage of his mentor's demise, he began to reshuffle the cards, wanting to completely secure the power of Zha Nan.

From then on, Xu Hu began to contact Li Hongze, the Longkou District leader, and members of the elders' council, as well as Gu Tongshan's wife and children, seeking their support. He wanted to announce his position in Zha Nan by changing the new channels for goods, first stabilizing the internal situation and then avenging his mentor by dealing with the Yu family. In this way, he would earn both fame, money, and power.

But what Xu Hu didn't expect was that Wei Xiangzuo, who had seemed to be non-contending in Zha Nan, had also become active at this time. Not only did he suspect that he had killed Gu Tongshan, but his attitude was also unsupportive of him, and even unsupportive of the gold brick business.

At the elders' council meeting of the Ma Gong Association that day, Xu Hu had originally received the support of most people and was about to seize power and change the new channels for goods, but in the end, he was thwarted by Wei Xiangzuo.

Wei Xiangzuo's actions touched Xu Hu's most sensitive nerve, which led to the conversation between Xu Hu and Wei Xiangzuo at the food stall that night.

That was Xu Hu's last attempt to probe Wei Xiangzuo. His meaning was very clear: If Old Wei could support him and let him sit firmly in the top position in Zha Nan, then the two sides could be like before, minding their own business. But during the negotiations, Wei Xiangzuo's emotions were clearly resistant and disgusted.

Old Wei wasn't an idiot either. Xu Hu could use him now, so naturally his attitude would be good, but once everything had settled down, with Xu Hu's self-centered personality, he would definitely not tolerate a second voice in Zha Nan. By then, it would be too late for Wei Xiangzuo to resist.

Xu Hu wasn't clear about Old Wei's inner thoughts, but the other party's display of resistance made him completely determined to kill.

Xu Hu really had no choice! This time, Xu Hu had promised Li Hongze, the Longkou District leader, and members of the elders' council a lot of benefits, and he had been completely put in this position. If he couldn't successfully sit firmly in the top position in Zha Nan District, then the credit he had overdrawn with everyone would be met with a backlash. His ship sailing in Zha Nan would definitely sink.

To resist the external, one must first pacify the internal, so Xu Hu wanted to kill Wei Xiangzuo, who was acting as a stumbling block. This led to his action of fishing on Bei'an Street, wanting to lure and kill Wei Xiangzuo.

Wei Xiangzuo's investigation of Gu Tongshan's death involved a lot of relationships within the Zha Nan Ma Gang, and he also used a lot of people from the docks. This naturally couldn't be hidden from Xu Hu, who also had extensive connections in Zha Nan. So he used this opportunity to dig a pit for Wei Xiangzuo.

But what Xu Hu didn't expect was that Wei Xiangzuo also had cards in his hand. After two failed assassinations, Wei Xiangzuo not only escaped, but also ran away with the Yu family.

This was definitely a hidden danger!

Xu Hu stood by the window, carefully thought about it, and immediately turned his head and said, "Move against the Su, Bai, and Kong families! No matter what, we can't let Wei Xiangzuo disappear so easily."

Gou Liuzi's understanding of Xu Hu's psychological activities was almost at a perverted level.

Sure enough, since Xu Hu couldn't catch Wei Xiangzuo, he could only choose to target the Su, Bai, and Kong families.