"What with?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
Seeing me play dumb, the middle-aged man suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"I hate it most when people waste my time with meaningless drivel. Listen up..."
"I'll count to three. When I reach three, you'll obediently hand over the item!
"Otherwise, I'll blow your brains out right here!!!"
The moment he finished speaking, a dark handgun was pressed against my forehead.
If the middle-aged man had been an ordinary thug, I would have unhesitatingly subdued him the instant he drew his gun.
Then I would have used him as a hostage to secure my own survival.
But unfortunately, he wasn't an ordinary thug.
How could someone who had weathered countless storms be frightened by a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day?
Furthermore, since they could conspire with Yu Shuang and set up such a trap for me to walk right into, the other party must have anticipated all possible contingencies beforehand.
Therefore, subduing him alone would be useless. I would have to take down their entire group at once.
But that was clearly impossible.
So, in this situation, I could only resign myself to fate.
Of course, by "resign myself to fate," I didn't mean truly surrendering my destiny to the whims of my enemies.
I gambled that he wouldn't be foolish enough to believe I'd carry something as crucial as the Qian Wang Ling with me.
I also gambled that he wouldn't do anything to me until he obtained the Qian Wang Ling.
With this thought, I immediately adopted the demeanor of a protagonist in a movie or TV show facing death with a brave smile. I spread my hands, grinned, and slowly closed my eyes in silence.
I didn't see what happened after I closed my eyes. I only heard the middle-aged man beside me stomping his feet in anger and impatience.
The promised count of three never came. After a long while, before I opened my eyes again, the counting had still not begun.
I knew my gamble had paid off!
As long as I held firm to this advantage and didn't reveal any information about the Qian Wang Ling, my safety was guaranteed.
While I was lost in thought, the middle-aged man, his face contorted with rage, spoke again.
"Chen Xiang, hand over the item willingly, and I can spare your life!"
"If we have to search for it ourselves, then even if you beg with all your might, it will be useless!"
I ignored the middle-aged man's words and replied dismissively, "Save your breath. I can only live if the item is with me."
Just as the middle-aged man was enraged by my words and about to retort, he suddenly saw the white-haired elder step forward and approach me.
"Chen Xiang, is it?"
As he spoke, the white-haired elder's expression was calm, betraying no hint of malice.
I remained silent, merely nodding slightly.
"Heh heh~" The white-haired elder, his expression unchanged, chuckled and then suddenly spoke, "I know your greatest leverage right now is that half of the Qian Wang Ling. You know very well that if you hand it over, you'll surely die.
"Conversely, if you keep stalling, until we lose patience and compromise first, you can buy yourself a sliver of hope for survival!"
"You've likely already planned that with the Qian Wang Tournament only a few days away, if you can just drag this out until the last day or two, we'll inevitably have to concede!"
"At that point, you'll casually employ a tactic of feigned compliance, using the excuse of leading us to the Qian Wang Ling to re-establish contact with your companions, then find an opportunity for them to rescue you, leaving us completely outmaneuvered!"
"My analysis should be correct, shouldn't it?"
Upon hearing this, I still did not reply. Instead, I offered a noncommittal smile.
At this moment, pointless arguments held no meaning, as the initiative was in my hands.
They wanted the equity dividends from the New Yaohan Casino. Even if they knew they might be led by the nose, they had to take the gamble.
I thought the white-haired elder, by so bluntly dissecting my inner thoughts, intended to eliminate all vague and unrealistic factors and negotiate with me face-to-face.
But unexpectedly, shortly after he finished speaking, the conference room door was suddenly opened from the outside, and then...
A string of people I knew, even some with whom I had connections, were brought in one by one by the bodyguards outside.
Camel and Gao Jing were in the lead, followed by Xiao Long, Cheng Minglang, and Zhu Wenjing.
Besides them, Shen Mengqing, Xu Peiyu, Xu Shiyu, Yang Liuqing, Qin Manli – all the women with whom I had some cooperation or relationship, however slight – were also brought in.
Seeing this scene, to be honest... I was utterly stunned!
But at the same time, I understood something.
After I had intentionally instructed Cheng Minglang to spread the news that I might flee to Macau, the reason Jiang Xiaowan, representing Ying Baolin in the competition for that half of the Qian Wang Ling, had been delayed in her appearance was likely due to her home being raided.
To put it another way, Yu Shuang's decision to cooperate with Mr. He's faction to contend for the Qian Wang Ling might not have been a recent development.
Rather, it was likely that after Yun Jin and Ying Baolin had joined forces to oust her, she had already been planning for what was to come.
If my guess was correct, by the time Jiang Xiaowan led a large contingent to reinforce Longxi, Yu Shuang had already seized that half of the Qian Wang Ling from Yun Jin through some unknown means!
Indeed, the white-haired elder's subsequent words confirmed my suspicion.
"With the Qian Wang Tournament imminent, all we need is the half of the Qian Wang Ling in your possession."
"Chen Xiang, I know you've hidden it, and only you know its location."
"As long as you stubbornly refuse to speak, we truly have no recourse against you, but..."
"To make you speak, I've specially invited all your old comrades and friends here."
"From this moment on, until you are willing to talk, their lives... are entirely in your hands!"
"I'll give you one minute to think it over carefully. If after one minute you still have no intention of speaking, then I will find a way to make you speak!"
As soon as the white-haired elder finished speaking, Cheng Minglang and the others, their hands and feet bound, had their foreheads pressed by the muzzles of the bodyguards' guns.
These bodyguards were not the type who merely got tattoos and then brandished a cleaver, shouting to intimidate people.
The palpable aura of aggression radiating from each of them, and the extremely cold, extremely ferocious look in their eyes, could only be possessed by those who had spilled blood and taken lives.
I knew very well that if I didn't speak within the next minute, one of Cheng Minglang and the others would be shot in the head in front of everyone.