Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 612 Who's in Favor, Who's Opposing (Part 2)
At this point in the story, we need to rewind a bit and focus our attention back to Chen Shi, which is the "agreed time" that Jiang Shouzheng himself wrote in his letter.

At that time, the private room of the teahouse was already filled with many people.

Because both Gu Qiying, who was actually Zheng Dongxi, and the other martial arts figures invited by "Master Zheng" chose to arrive on time or early.

And all of this was within Zheng Dongxi's calculations.

He had known from the beginning that the people he had invited today would not be late; and these people were all carefully selected by him.

"Master Zheng, the time has passed and everyone should be here by now. Why haven't you offered tea yet?" Zhao Tie, the leader of the Iron Saber Sect, was a rough man. After waiting for a while, he couldn't hold back any longer and asked.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Dongxi chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself that he had finally been asked to bring up this topic.

"Uh... Sect Leader Zhao, you may not know this, but I was actually 'invited' here today..." The next second, he replied with a troubled expression, emphasizing the word "invited".

As he spoke, he took out the letter that Jiang Shouzhen had written to him from his pocket and handed it to the other sect leader who was sitting closest to him, saying, "You will understand once you read this letter."

So, after being passed around for a while, everyone in the room knew that the time of their arrival today was determined by Jiang Shouzheng, and they all saw another side of this great hero Jiang that he rarely showed in front of others.

Of course, this wasn't the first time they'd seen it...

"Hmph! That Jiang guy is a real scoundrel!" Zhao Tiexin was outspoken, cursing as soon as he finished reading, and then muttered to himself, "I haven't settled the score with him for what happened with the Wujin Gang yet!"

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Chen Yu, the owner of the Huayue Pavilion next to Zhao Tie, keenly realized something and whispered, "Judging from this... Sect Leader Zhao, you also suffered a loss at the hands of that Jiang fellow?"

His use of the word "also" was like a dog whistle blowing in a kennel, instantly making everyone else prick up their ears as well.

Starting with this sentence, the dozen or so people present began to speak out one after another, criticizing Jiang the Hero.

That's why we say these people are "carefully selected"!
As we discussed earlier, Jiang Shouzheng's most frequent activity was to use the banner of "fairness and justice" to "uphold justice" and "take charge of the overall situation" for others, and then profit from the process of "settling matters."

Although his methods were quite shrewd, often making the party who suffered the loss unaware of his unfairness, after so many years, there must have been quite a few people who came to their senses.

Moreover, some people realized he had a problem at the time, but were forced to swallow their anger for various reasons.

Today, this room full of seasoned veterans are all victims of Jiang Shouzheng's past "upholding of justice".

At this point, some people might ask: Why did Shujiang Shouzheng only have an "impression" of these people when he walked into this room last time, but didn't realize this?
Sigh, there are too many people being scammed.

He's spent his whole life doing these despicable things, how could he possibly remember them all? To paraphrase a famous quote from a young Londoner in the late 19th century: "Do you remember how many slices of bread you've eaten?"

In short, half an hour later...

Seeing that the group had finished their "discussion of the illness," Zheng Dongxi spoke again: "Gentlemen, I am new here. I thought this Master Jiang was a heroic figure, which is why I invited you all here, hoping we could make some friends." At this point, he changed his tone, adopting an indignant expression, "But I never expected... that we'd uncovered such a hypocrite today! How infuriating!"

These two sentences are blatant lies.

Could he have "not thought of it"?

Even if many people have been tricked by Jiang Shouzhen, it's impossible for it to be such a coincidence: you invited a dozen or so people, all of whom were leaders of second- or third-tier sects, and then without exception, all of them became victims of Master Jiang.

Clearly, this is a plan that can only be implemented by someone with intelligence, and the source of this intelligence is probably already guessed by some – it is the legacy left behind when Gu Qiying was in charge of "Youying".

Although the remnants of "Shadow" were completely wiped out by the Embroidered Uniform Guard a few years ago, and most of their strongholds were also raided, such a large and long-standing secret organization must have some "safe houses" that even high-ranking spies were unaware of.

Excluding those strongholds that were accidentally discovered by local people or other forces during the abandoned period after the organization's destruction, there are still about five or six places that only Gu Qiying knows about.

Gu Qiying's rapid rise to become "Master Zheng" was not only due to his unfathomable strength, but also to the resources hidden in the safe house.

Otherwise, where do you think this chivalrous hero got so much gold and silver to "do good deeds"? And where did he find out the whereabouts of those villains that no one else could find?
To put it in a metaphor, it's like in the Marvel Universe, one day Hydra suddenly decides to do good and uses their intelligence network to fight crime...

When villainous organizations start doing this kind of thing, they're far more efficient than hero organizations and law enforcement.

However, for now, Zheng Dongxi is going to play the fool, and everyone present is happy to cooperate.

To put it bluntly, these people don't really hate Jiang Shouzheng; they just hate that he didn't stand by their side back then.

If today's "Hero Zheng" does what they wanted "Hero Jiang" to do back then, and helps them vent their anger, then let alone pretending to be stupid, they would follow him even if he called a deer a horse.

This is why Jiang Shouzhen, despite offending so many people, was still able to continue to thrive in the underworld.

After all, there are those he offends and those who benefit from him.

…………

Time returns to the present.

At this moment, the dozen or so sect leaders who had long been in cahoots with Zheng Dongxi would not show any sympathy for Jiang Shouzhen's awkward situation, much less offer any help.

Everyone stared at him coldly, some even with a half-smile, as if watching a show.

Jiang Shouzheng finally noticed something was wrong and clearly sensed that the atmosphere around him was unfriendly.

But as a highly respected "hero" in the martial arts world... at least that's how he saw himself... he absolutely couldn't lose face at a time like this. So he immediately darkened his expression, stood proudly, looked at Zheng Dongxi, and said sternly, "Hmph! Brother Zheng, what do you mean by this?"

Zheng Dongxi did not answer him, but just smiled and continued to watch his performance.

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Jiang Shouzheng assumed that this Zheng was intimidated by his imposing manner, so he pressed on and retorted, "I sincerely invited you to this gathering today, but you... have disturbed so many fellow practitioners without permission, and are even rude and deliberately difficult to me in front of them. Could it be... that you want to make a name for yourself and establish your prestige in front of everyone by suppressing me?"

It must be said that Jiang Shouzheng's rhetoric of distorting the truth, standing on moral high ground to smear and label people is quite skillful. After all, it's his livelihood, and he can come up with these kinds of words with ease.

"Heh..." Zheng Dongxi finally laughed when he heard this.

He was all too familiar with such rhetoric. Not long after his brother Gu Qizong died in the great battle between the righteous path and the Five Spirits Sect, many "heroes" like Jiang Shouzhen came to visit the Tianqi Gang. They used sanctimonious faces to say similar things in order to carry out their cunning and plundering.

The Tianqi Gang, which fought bravely and suffered the most heavy losses in the great battle, disappeared from the martial arts world due to the opportunistic looting by these "heroes" and the attempts by their "fellow practitioners" to divide it up.

Gu Qiying used to disdain "playing" with these people. He had a much grander goal, which is why he founded "Youying" and joined forces with Shen Youran to try to revive Tianqi Gang through the Righteous Gate. He also used the Bliss Gu as a pretext at the Young Heroes Gathering to launch his grand plan to take revenge on the entire righteous martial arts world.

But with his plans collapsing due to two extremely unexpected intruders, much of what he had accumulated over decades is now unusable...

Take his Gu technique for example. The results of decades of research have now fallen into the hands of the imperial court and been sealed away as a secret. Especially the "Bliss Gu," most of the martial arts world knows how to cure it. If he were to use these again, it would only expose his identity and attract the attention of many parties, including the Embroidered Uniform Guard, without bringing him any benefit. He might as well just get some common poisons from the martial arts world.

So now, he's using a new "way of the game." He can also come out into the open and become a "hero," using the methods he despises and finds most disgusting to deal with those who have disgusted him.

“Master Jiang, you are mistaken.” Zheng Dongxi chuckled and then continued leisurely, “If we’re talking about making a name for myself, I have already done so. As for establishing authority… what authority can be established by suppressing someone like you? In this martial world, how many people who have dealt with you actually respect you? Don’t you know that yourself?”

"You..." Jiang Shouzheng was hit where it hurt by the other party's sarcastic words, and he was about to lose his composure.

But Zheng Dongxi wasn't finished: "Oh right, everyone has already read the letter from you that you 'sincerely' invited me to a gathering in the half hour since you arrived. Everyone in this room knows who was deliberately rude, who wanted to suppress whom, and who was turning around and accusing others. I advise you not to humiliate yourself any further."

As he said this, Jiang Shouzhen, feeling guilty, couldn't help but glance at the people around him again.

At this moment, those burning gazes were like steel knives trying to slice off Jiang Daxia's flesh, making him even more embarrassed.

Even if Jiang has the thickest skin, he will still feel pressured in the face of so much clear hostility and contempt.

His breathing quickened, and his mood gradually turned to anger and embarrassment, but he still didn't realize what was going to happen next. He still thought that he could retain the last bit of dignity and get away unscathed.

"Fine...fine..." After a moment, Jiang Shouzhen replied through gritted teeth, "Since we've come this far, then I can only apologize and say goodbye."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

unexpectedly……

bang——

In that instant, the door behind him suddenly closed.

It is located at Zhengdongguan.

Zheng Dongxi sat in his seat, beckoned with his finger, and closed the door.

Of course, this is nothing unusual for you readers. Some of you may remember that Gu Qiying could use his internal energy to throw the artificial hill in the garden like a cannonball.

He is now even stronger than he was before...

But Jiang Shouzhen didn't know that. He didn't even think about it in that direction. In his mind, the person who could sit in the position where Zheng Dongxi was and use his internal force to close the door was a legendary figure in the martial arts world. There was definitely no such person on the scene. So his first reaction was that there were Zheng Dongxi's men lying in ambush outside the door.

"Who gave you permission to leave?" Zheng Dongxi's voice rang out again the next second, his tone turning icy cold. "I told you to find a seat, didn't you understand?"

His second half of the sentence was spoken slowly and softly, yet it seemed to carry immense pressure.

Not to mention Jiang Shouzhen, everyone else in the room felt a chill.

"Outrageous!" Driven by a growing sense of fear, Jiang Shouzhen finally couldn't contain himself any longer. He turned around angrily and shouted at Zheng Dongxi, "You, surnamed Zheng! What are you doing!"

“It seems you really don’t understand,” Zheng Dongxi said slowly and deliberately. “Then let me help you…”

As he spoke, he splashed the half-finished cup of tea in his hand forward.

The splashed tea water transformed into shimmering streaks in mid-air, accompanied by the sound of wind breaking, all flying towards Jiang Shouzhen's body.

Jiang Shouzhen's martial arts skills weren't too bad, but in front of Zheng Dongxi, he clearly couldn't even react.

Puff puff--

With a series of "water droplets" piercing flesh, blood instantly bloomed from more than ten major acupoints on Jiang Shouzheng's body.

This move was not fatal; in fact, it only caused minor injuries. However, it was just enough to force Jiang Shouzheng to temporarily kneel down, supporting himself with his hands on the ground.

However, some sharp-eyed people had already noticed that the tea that hadn't hit Jiang Shouzheng and had splashed behind him instead left fine streaks on the stone and wood objects in the room.

In other words, the further Zheng Dongxi's move went, the more powerful it became, and the multiple injuries it inflicted on Jiang Shouzheng were all due to his precise control.

At this point, even the sect leaders around who wanted to see Jiang Shouzhen make a fool of himself... all sensed that something was amiss.

They all thought today's drama would be "Master Zheng leading everyone in a verbal battle against Jiang Shouzhen, making him look bad," or at most, Jiang would be pushed to the limit and make the first move, and then Master Zheng would teach him a lesson on behalf of everyone... But they never expected that such a scene would unfold.

"Heh...hehehe..." A few seconds later, Jiang Shouzhen laughed, because in his logic, now that he was injured, he had the upper hand. "Everyone saw it...what kind of hero is this Zheng Dongxi? He actually attacked and injured people without a word! He's no different from a bully! I...I will tell all the heroes of the world today..."

call--

Suddenly, another sound of clothes tearing in the wind rang out.

It was Zheng Dongxi who, in a flash, used his lightness skill to arrive in front of Jiang Shouzheng.

Jiang Shouzhen looked up and saw the gaze that looked down at him like an abyss, and suddenly fell silent.

"Go on, why did you stop?" Zheng Dongxi asked the other person in a relaxed tone.

Jiang Shouzhen didn't answer the question, nor did he need to.

Everyone could see that he was scared.

He was afraid that if he said another word, Zheng Dongxi would do something else to him.

Moreover, no one doubted that Zheng Dongxi was truly daring to do it and willing to bear the consequences.

For those few seconds, the private room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; it was deathly silent.

"Heh..." A few seconds later, Zheng Dongxi chuckled, leaned down, grabbed Jiang Shouzhen's hair, pulled his face up, and said to him, "How did someone like you get to where you are today?"

At this moment, Jiang Shouzhen's face was twisted with a mixture of shame, resentment, panic, pain, fear, and anger, all of which he tried his best to conceal.

Immediately afterwards, Zheng Dongxi stood up, looked up, his gaze sharp as lightning, swept across the entire room, and asked those around him, "Do you know?"

Now, that terrifying feeling truly spread to everyone present.

Of course, no one dared to respond to him.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Zheng Dongxi released Jiang Shouzheng and returned to his seat, pouring himself another cup of tea: "In my opinion, Jiang Shouzheng is... a fraud, a scoundrel, and shameless man, unworthy of being called a great hero... I wonder who among you agrees? Who disagrees?"

"I agree! I agree!"

"Yes, yes, I agree!"

This question can obviously be answered, or rather, it's not a question at all... but rather an opportunity to get everyone to agree.

"Hmm... alright then." Seeing that everyone had reacted as he expected, Zheng Dongxi continued, "Then I will trouble you all to make sure that when you return today, you also let other fellow martial artists know about this matter."

"sure!"

"Don't worry, Master Zheng, we know what to do."

These opportunistic guys immediately started spouting their opinions one after another.

After hearing this, Zheng Dongxi nodded: "Thank you all for your consideration. Well... please go back first today. Next, it's my business with Jiang Shouzhen."