Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 539: No account book? And no money either?
“No problem. Panzi, you are the person Third Master trusts the most, without exception. It is naturally no problem for you to speak on behalf of Third Master.”

The young woman with the ponytail gave Wu Xie a deep look, a barely perceptible dimming appearing in her eyes. She then withdrew her attention, unwilling to linger any longer.

She had already figured it out: the Wu Sansheng in front of her was a fake.

However, she had no intention of saying it aloud. After all, everything that was happening was developing in a direction that was beneficial to Wu Sansheng, and she had no reason to expose it.

Although Wu Sansheng was ruthless towards her, she remained deeply infatuated with him and developed feelings she shouldn't have.

This woman is quite interesting.

As he spoke, he instructed his men to present the account books that had been prepared beforehand.

Of everyone present, perhaps only her ledger was completely genuine.

Even the money that was supposed to be handed over was brought along. After Panzi counted everything, he leaned against the pillar next to him, feeling listless, and closed his eyes to rest. He no longer had the mood to speak.

"call"

Panzi breathed a sigh of relief; he knew that the most difficult hurdle was over.

As long as this woman doesn't cause trouble, everything else is negotiable.

With Hu Ming around, as long as Wu Xie's identity remains unexposed, he has nothing to fear from the trouble the others might cause.

"You three gentlemen, it's about time you handed over the account books, isn't it?"

"Third Master is unwell and doesn't have time to waste here with you all. Everyone is in a hurry, so let's finish this quickly and go home."

Panzi put down the ledger in his hand and cast a sinister glance at the other three.

"...ledger? What ledger?"

"Third Master, you've been gone for months. Do you know how miserable the brothers have been during these months? Now that you're back, all you want to do is ask for account books and money. Do you really think we're your slaves?"

"Third Master, times have changed! If it weren't for the four of us holding the fort, Changsha would be finished. Now that you're back, you have to give us an explanation first. The brothers below need a satisfactory explanation!"

"Brother, I know this all along. Not long ago, it was you who betrayed our gang to Lei Zi for some reason, wasn't it?"

"In short, there are no ledgers! And no money!"

After a brief silence, the middle-aged man dressed as a fishmonger among the four took a deep breath, his face turning sinister, and he completely abandoned all pretense of civility.

It wasn't that he was determined to break ties with Wu Sansheng, but rather that he understood Wu Sansheng's methods all too well.

During this period, they secretly embezzled a lot of money, and the account books were full of problems.

Given Wu Sansheng's personality, he would absolutely not tolerate him; his only fate would be to be buried in some desolate mountain on the outskirts of the city.

Since there's no way out, why bother with pretense?
Immediately, the men below were in an uproar.

They were fully aware of these things, but they never expected that the fishmonger would actually be so determined to completely abandon all pretense and stand directly opposite Wu Sansheng today.

just
Just as the fishmongers had thought, they had no way out and could only grit their teeth and go all the way down this path.

Immediately, everyone began to condemn Wu Sansheng.

"Is there nothing left for Third Master in Changsha? No account books, no money?"

Just as Wu Xie was yelling in bewilderment, Hu Ming suddenly smiled and tapped the corner of the table lightly.

Standing up, Hu Ming leisurely walked up to the fishmonger and slapped the fishmonger's cheek in an extremely rude manner.

"Second Master, I'm addressing you as Second Master out of respect, but this isn't the place for you to act arrogantly!"

"Do you really think that those dozen or so guns outside will allow you to do whatever you want in Changsha?"

The fishmonger's face immediately turned ashen, his expression darkening, and he slapped Hu Ming.

In fact, these people were risking their lives to make a living, and most of them had homemade guns, so they had some confidence.

"However, in reality, I really can do whatever I want!"

Hu Ming smiled slightly, grabbed the fishmonger's wrist, and applied a little force.

Click click click.
A chilling cracking sound rang out as Hu Ming actually crushed the fishmonger's wrist right in front of everyone!
"Do you know Chen Pi Asi? Do you know what happened to him? Do you know why he hasn't shown up for more than half a year?"

"Do you know why Chen Pi Asi's forces in Changsha have been shrinking for more than half a year?"

Hu Mingnan, without changing his expression, broke the fishmonger's wrist bone inch by inch, still maintaining a smile.

"Fourth Grandfather!? Could it be???"

Almost blinded by pain and rage, the fishmonger, who was about to kill Hu Ming and Wu Sansheng without regard for the consequences, suddenly felt a chill in his heart and thought of something.

"That's right, he's dead. I killed him because he messed with me. Compared to him, what are you?"

“I admit, a dozen or so handguns aren’t enough for me to do whatever I want, but do you really think I only brought these dozen or so men and these dozen or so guns?”

"Hongxia?"

Releasing the fishmonger's wrist and kicking him several meters away, sending him crashing into several unfortunate victims who couldn't dodge in time, Hu Ming whispered to Hong Xia behind him, "Second Master, as you and Third Master instructed, our men had already begun their operation when we entered. Judging from the time..."

"They should have succeeded!"

Hongxia glanced at her watch, estimated the time, and said with certainty.

"Operation? What operation?"

Upon hearing this, the others' expressions changed. One of the four, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, turned deathly pale. He suddenly had a bad feeling.

What other operation could it be?

"Do you really think that Third Master and I, the two of us, would believe that you bunch of ungrateful dogs would obediently hand over the account books?"

"While we're wasting our time chatting idly with you, shouldn't your parents think about this carefully?"

"As for these ledgers... let's not even look at them. You're all a bunch of scoundrels. If Third Master didn't temporarily lack enough manpower to replace you, all of you scoundrels would be buried alive today!"

"Be thankful you escaped with your lives today!"

Hu Ming grinned, weighed the ledger he had just casually pulled from the fishmonger's arms in his hand, and threw it straight into the trash can without even glancing at it.

Anyone with a brain knows this is all fake; there's absolutely no need to check it.

"Our Third Master, how cruel you are!!!"

At this moment, everyone disregarded Hu Ming and looked with fear at Wu Sansheng, who stood in the lead, silently observing the crowd.

Little did they know.
Wu Xie was also completely bewildered at this moment.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
Should I smile at this moment?
Wu Xie had no idea about Hu Ming's plan.

He genuinely believed that Hu Ming had placed all his bets on Wu Sansheng's prestige...

According to the original plan, he only needed to pretend to glance at the account book, which he couldn't understand at all, and then, as Wu Sansheng was used to, smash the account book's owner hard with the ashtray in front of him.

Panzi will handle the rest. But how do we continue this charade?
Oh, right, a smile, right? A smile is enough, isn't it?
Wu Xie thought for a moment, then a cold smile appeared on his lips.

However, this smile confirmed that the plan was his doing.
The faces of the people below instantly changed, becoming utterly despondent and turning ashen.

They knew Wu Sansheng's methods all too well!
Wu Sansheng is perfectly capable of carrying out such a ruthless plan to undermine their very foundation!
With Hu Ming's help, they dared to do this, which means they must have made foolproof preparations. At the very least, the firearms under Hu Ming's command are certainly not lacking in the hands of the people surrounding their territory!
Everything is over! But...
The fishmonger, Mediterranean, and the last of the four, a middle-aged man wearing glasses, exchanged a glance.

They knew they still had one last glimmer of hope.
"If we can capture Wu Sansheng and use him as a threat, there is still hope!"

All three of them saw this meaning in each other's eyes.

As for the young woman?
They didn't expect the woman to betray her old lover; the ledger incident already proved that.

Everyone knows that Wu Sansheng is ruthless and cunning, but his fighting skills are only slightly better than those of an average middle-aged man.

With so many of them present, even if Panzi, Wu Sansheng's "vicious dog," were there, they could easily take down Wu Sansheng and turn the tide of the battle.

As for Hu Ming, the fishmonger who seemed to have extraordinary skills, he endured the excruciating pain in his wrist and subtly reached for his lower back with his left hand.

Hu Ming, naturally, keenly noticed the three men's subtle movements, shook his head, and snapped his fingers.

Hu Ming had lost interest in playing games with these idiots.

boom!
The restaurant's main door was kicked open from the outside!

Hu Ming's dozen or so men, armed with guns, ran in methodically and pointed their guns at the group.

"This boring game is almost over. Let's go, Third Brother. Changsha is your territory. I've done you such a big favor, won't you invite me for a cup of tea?"

Hu Ming lit a cigarette and said to the bewildered Wu Xie.

"..."

Fortunately, Wu Xie remembered his injured vocal cords and didn't make a sound. He simply nodded nonchalantly, got up, and left.

It was as if everything was going according to his plan.

As for the rest, just leave it to Hongxia; these people can't cause any real trouble.

Using their bodies to block gun barrels so that the brothers behind them could take the opportunity to kill these people—these are things that these people would never do.

In other words, a dozen or so guns were enough to suppress the nearly one hundred people in the hall at that moment.

Next up is Wu Xie's, or rather, Pan Zi's, performance time.

Panzi needs to use Wu Sansheng's name to reorganize the chaotic situation and quickly gather manpower, business, and balance sheets.

Only Panzi can do these things.

However, Hu Ming and his group didn't have the time to leisurely wait for Panzi to finish off.

After all, their main purpose for this trip was simply to use Wu Sansheng's name to select a group of people to represent the Third Master Wu and go to Guangxi Province.

Deterring these people is merely a process, not the goal.