“小小的近衛？”李呲花冷笑了一聲：“黃階初期好手……很厲害麼？”

"An early Yellow-Stage expert not formidable? An ordinary man could never stand at that height in a lifetime—let alone the early Yellow-Stage; even the late stages of Body Refinement or Qi Cultivation are beyond his reach!" An Jianwen plainly knew a great deal about the ancient martial world, well aware that there were two roads to the Yellow Stage: qi cultivation and body refinement.

"Heh, that much is true. But Wei Zhao is no ordinary man," Li Cihua said coolly. "If he were, do you think I would have let him off?"

Since he had already entered into a partnership with An Jianwen, and since their early dealings had gone pleasantly enough—Li Cihua having pocketed a handsome windfall besides, never imagining that trafficking human organs could be so ruinously profitable; no wonder the An family, once hardly worth a mention, had vaulted into the ranks of the nouveau riche—he saw no reason to let a rift open between them now. So he told him the plain truth about Wei Zhao.

"No ordinary man? What is that supposed to mean?" An Jianwen started. "Isn't he just Gu Mengyao's imperial guard?"

"You think anyone can be an imperial guard? If the boy had no real skill to his name, would Gu Pengzhan have fetched him and set him at Gu Mengyao's side?" Li Cihua shook his head. "Who is Gu Pengzhan? Even the shareholders in his company are shadowed by top experts, and old Qing at his elbow must be a Yellow-Stage man or above. Would he plant a good-for-nothing beside his most pampered daughter?"

Confident as Li Cihua's analysis sounded now, he too had underestimated Wei Zhao once. Most men are the same: until they have genuinely taken a beating, they never see the reality standing right in front of them.

An Jianwen's face changed. "Wei Zhao is a Yellow-Stage expert as well?"

"Hmph! One early Yellow-Stage, one late Yellow-Stage—and he finished them both!" Li Cihua bellowed, his face twisted. "Do I hate him? Do I want him dead? Of course I hate him, of course I want him dead! But I can't help it—I haven't the power to deal with him!"

"What? What did you say, Brother Cihua? You're telling me that both of those experts—one early Yellow-Stage, one late Yellow-Stage—were done in by Wei Zhao?" An Jianwen's eyes went wide as he stared at Li Cihua in horror. In that instant he felt his scalp was about to burst, cold flooding down from the crown of his head.

"Whether he killed them, I can't say for certain. It looked like a car accident." Li Cihua sighed, mastering himself again. "But I don't buy it. That two Yellow-Stage experts would die in a traffic accident? And I'd had that early Yellow-Stage man probe Wei Zhao before—he never got the better of him, not by a single inch!"

"This..." An Jianwen was utterly dumbfounded this time. He had taken Wei Zhao for nothing more than a small fry with a bit of skill in him; now it was plain that was nowhere near the truth. Wei Zhao was not merely strong—he was formidable beyond all reckoning!

"So if he poses no real threat to you, let him be for the time being. It does us both good." Li Cihua smiled a wry smile. "I, Brother Cihua, have run Songshan City for five years, yet I cannot so much as touch a callow boy who has just arrived—do you think I don't feel wronged? But this much I can swallow."

An Jianwen knew Li Cihua would not lie to him; there was no reason for him to lie either. They were partners now, and Li Cihua certainly had no wish to see anything befall him that might damage their cooperation.

"As for an actual threat... there really isn't one." An Jianwen shook his head. "He is only Gu Mengyao's imperial guard, not her boyfriend. And according to my investigation, he has a girlfriend called Tang Yun, one of the campus beauties of Songshan City No. 1 High School, whose looks are in no way inferior to Gu Mengyao's—so there can be nothing between him and Gu Mengyao. It is only that I cannot swallow this insult!"

"And if you can't? A man must endure. Endure, endure, and it becomes habit." Li Cihua waved his hand.

"I had been thinking of making my move through Tang Yun, but now that seems ill-advised," An Jianwen said.

"Don't. Whatever you do, don't! Touch his woman and he will never leave you in peace. Even if he is only late Yellow-Stage, you won't have a quiet day for the rest of your life!" Li Cihua said hastily. "Unless you have an expert of a higher grade standing at your side to protect you!"

"Right! You are right—I should take a different tack with Wei Zhao. Since he can't be an enemy, let him be a friend. With him posted at Gu Mengyao's side, it is the same as having an extra spy; I'll be able to keep track of her movements at any hour of the day!" An Jianwen saw the light in a flash.

"Now you're talking sense." Li Cihua raised the wine glass in his hand. "Come—to our partnership!"

"Cheers!" Now that he had at least a stopgap solution, An Jianwen's mood brightened. "Brother Cihua, the people you've been catching lately are obviously fewer than before—not like those first two days. The Fire Wolf Gang's side is running short; the demand outstrips the supply!"

"Young Master An, you know as well as I do: the beggars and vagrants of Songshan City are only so many. We've rounded up nearly all of them, and those who heard the news have mostly bolted. It isn't easy for us to catch any more," Li Cihua said.

"What about the disabled? There must be plenty of them. They're a vulnerable group too—who'd care if they disappeared?" An Jianwen's eyes had gone bloodshot with money these past few days. He had never seen so much in his life; the funds in his bank accounts were soaring, and it was driving him a little mad.

"The disabled aren't so easy to grab, either. Some of them are quite well off, and they have formidable kin at home—we can't just move on them recklessly. My people can only stake out the shantytowns and the suburbs day after day and snatch any disabled person who turns up!" Li Cihua said. "Never mind—I still know a few underworld bosses in other cities of the province. We can go to them and strike a deal!"

"Good, then I leave all of that in your hands, Brother Cihua!" An Jianwen nodded. True, he knew perfectly well that if he went to those other cities himself, contacting the local crime bosses directly and cutting Li Cihua out, he would earn a great deal more. But An Jianwen was a stranger in a strange place; the An family's roots were in Songshan City. Step over the line so abruptly and he would most likely be played for a fool. Better by far to hand it over to Li Cihua.

"Mm. Rest assured—none of it is a problem." Li Cihua waved his hand...

What Wei Zhao found surprising was that An Jianwen actually had the gall to turn up at his door a second time. When he heard Shen Yushu calling him from outside his room, Wei Zhao thought he must have misheard.

"Brother Jianpai, An Jianwen's here again—he wants to take you out to eat!" Shen Yushu shouted from outside Wei Zhao's door.

"Oh? What's he doing back? Did he have such a grand time with the inflatable doll last time?" Wei Zhao rose and walked out of his room, only to see An Jianwen sitting on the living-room sofa with a face full of smiles, as though no clash with Wei Zhao had ever taken place between them.