Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 616 Prepare to take action
At dusk, the rain had stopped and the sky was clear and rosy.

In the mountains, the evening tide falls on the cloud-capped peaks.

The plum blossoms are in full bloom by the woods.

A solitary figure, beckoned from afar by the ancient pines.

On this beautiful day, amidst the stunning scenery, a lonely figure stands alone.

This person is Jiang Shouzheng.

Jiang Shouzhen is now Zheng Dongxi's lackey.

The process by which he was taken in as a dog was very simple; it was just a matter of intimidation.

"Master Jiang, you wouldn't want my actions to be exposed, would you?" That's roughly the gist of it...

Some people might think, "That's all?"

Jiang Shouzheng has been in the business for so many years, do you think he can be intimidated by this?
Yes, of course, it's easy.

In fact, if any martial arts master with a status and strength no less than "Zheng Dongxi" had been willing to collect evidence of the shady things Jiang Shouzheng had done in the past, they could have used it to intimidate Jiang Shouzheng in this way.

However, such a person simply does not exist.

The reason for this is actually quite complicated...

First of all, people like Jiang Shouzheng generally wouldn't have serious grudges with the aforementioned "big shots".

He's like the kind of person you find in your workplace or school... who uses connections or seniority to form cliques, suppress dissent, flatter superiors while bullying subordinates, and profit from it all.

Such people only ever scheme against their peers or subordinates. Even if they accidentally underestimate their opponent, like when they first met Zheng Dongxi, and they manage to pick a tough spot or step on someone in a higher position, they will immediately back down when things look bad. They will either feign submission before speaking or make a few harsh words and run away, holding a grudge from then on.

Here's another example: Di Bujuan... Didn't Chief Di get confronted by Jiang Shouzhen recently because of the True Hero Token?

When faced with a seasoned veteran whose status was no lower than his own, Jiang Shouzhen's attitude of taking advantage became much more polite, and he knew when to stop... He claimed to have come for some important matter in the martial arts world, but in the end, he ate and drank for free for a while, and after being given some money, he left on his own.

To put it bluntly, no matter how glamorous the title of "hero" may be, Jiang Shouzhen is essentially a very low-class person; anyone who has come into contact with him, including gang leaders and heroes who have the ability to kill him, can easily see this.

However, after they realized it, those in positions of power all chose to ignore him.

Because they generally think: this person is just a slug, disgusting but not much of a threat. Anyway, he's easy to get rid of; just give him a little something and he'll leave. So let him be... As for what advantages he might have taken from others elsewhere, who has the energy to investigate? It shouldn't be anything serious, right? If there were any deep-seated grievances, someone would have already exposed them and cried out for justice.

But what they didn't consider was that when Jiang Shouzheng was scheming against those in lower positions, he had a completely different face and a different level of intensity...

It's understandable that the leaders and heroes of the martial arts world might be taken advantage of by Jiang Shouzheng, but when those small sects and nobody in the martial arts world are persecuted by Jiang Shouzheng in the name of "upholding justice," or when their merits and resources are forcibly taken away... that's something they'll never forget. Some people and sects might even miss the chance to stand out forever because of this, and in the end, they can only suffer in silence.

The evils committed by such egoists who exploit rules, herd mentality, and the higher bottom lines of others can accumulate over time and cause more harm than direct arson, murder, and looting. However, they often manage to escape punishment or get away with it at a very low cost.

Fortunately, many years later, someone named Gu Qiying finally stepped forward.

You, Jiang Shouzheng, might get the better of me as a "good guy," but I, Old Gu, won't tolerate that.

Those big shots who are stronger and have higher status than you are too lazy to bother with you, right? No problem, I'll settle the score for you.

To put it simply, imagine a scoundrel with a basic understanding of the law who spends his days stealing takeout, packages, cheap goods from stores and supermarkets, or taking advantage of service industry workers by maliciously complaining about them and returning online purchases. He's calculated that he's only targeting ordinary people, and within the rules, no one can touch him. Even if he's caught red-handed, he probably won't pay any price, and powerful figures won't bother with him. But then one day, a bullying son of a high-ranking official appears. For some reason, he just doesn't like him and uses all his resources to collect all the surveillance footage and evidence of this scoundrel's past petty thefts, threatening him... unless he performs a spiky, spinning act of eating excrement, he'll be sentenced to more than ten years in prison.

Jiang Shouzheng is facing roughly this situation now...

Little did he know that one day he would encounter someone with a higher reputation and greater strength than him in the martial arts world, who had actually gone to great lengths to investigate and uncover all of his past scandals to use as leverage against him.

Only now did Jiang Shouzheng belatedly realize that when Zheng Dongxi turned the same tricks he had used on others against him, he was completely powerless to resist.

Even if Zheng Dongxi slapped Jiang Shouzheng a few times to vent his anger because he was in a bad mood today, if Jiang Shouzheng ran out to cry foul the next day, as long as Zheng Dongxi used his righteous face to say to his fellow martial arts practitioners, "I, Zheng, guarantee with my integrity that everything I have said is true," and then said that Jiang Shouzheng had slapped himself to frame him, everyone would choose to believe Zheng Dongxi without any evidence.

Then let's not even mention... Zheng Dongxi does indeed have a lot of evidence of Jiang Shouzheng's wrongdoings back then.

Therefore, Jiang Shouzheng was left with only one path, which was also the only choice Zheng Dongxi gave him: "From now on, just listen to me obediently, and you can continue to pretend to be a great hero."

Of course, we all know that Gu Qiying was just saying that, because he will eventually get rid of the identity of "Zheng Dongxi". At that time... if he is in a good mood, he may give Jiang Shouzheng a quick death. If he is in a bad mood, it is hard to say whether Jiang will die a good death.

Ah! A strong wind rises, and the clouds fly high!

Meanwhile, on that clearing by the woods, Jiang Shouzheng, who had been posing alone for a long time, suddenly seemed to have gone mad and roared out these words while looking up at the sky.

Although he himself was so embarrassed that his scalp tingled, he had no choice but to do it, because this action, and the fact that he came to this place at this moment... were all tasks assigned to him by Zheng Dongxi.

Meanwhile, in a grove of trees a few dozen meters away from Jiang Shouzheng.

The two people, "Purple" and "White," who were hiding here and wearing masks, couldn't help but start a discussion.

"Is this guy crazy?" Bai bluntly stated. "Are all the top masters and heroes in the Central Plains like this?"

“It’s hard to say,” Zi Ze replied in a deep voice. “Speaking of which, when I was hit by ‘that,’ ‘Hei’ (i.e. Wu Mingzi) was also there, making a big fuss and shouting. One minute he was yelling ‘Retreat quickly,’ and the next he was yelling ‘Shit Explosion Star’... Maybe that’s just how they are in the Central Plains.”

At this moment, Bai really wanted to say something like, "Dude, you're now assuming that 'that' refers to that, aren't you?"

But he still had some manners and didn't say it.

So he quickly changed the subject, saying, "Hey, bro, do you think he spotted us? Maybe he shouted to test us?"

“That’s possible…” Zi replied thoughtfully, “But if we consider it that way, could it be that he came to this deserted place alone to lure us out?”

"Hmph..." Bai sneered, "If that's really the case, then I have to say something... These 'heroes' of the Central Plains martial arts world, not many of them are actually capable, but they're all incredibly arrogant. Judging from this... does he think he can take on two opponents at once?"

Zi thought for a moment and replied, "Perhaps he was thinking... if the stalker's martial arts skills are really high, then there's no need to do any stalking or ambushes, thus concluding that our martial arts skills are inferior to his."

"Hmm..." Bai nodded. "Big brother is right. I probably wouldn't understand either... Why would two people with martial arts skills better than me keep following me in the shadows without daring to show themselves?"

"So, why is that?" Suddenly, a third voice rang out, joining the conversation between the two.

In that instant, Zi and Bai jumped up as if their hair had been bristled, almost instinctively leaping in the opposite direction from which the sound came.

While in mid-air, the two of them turned around and faced the speaker.

But the person who spoke... the one who had silently appeared behind Zi and Bai, and who had listened to their conversation for a while before suddenly speaking... remained calmly standing in place, showing no intention of pursuing them.

Therefore, Zi and Bai quickly got a clear look at the person's face.

"Zheng Dongxi?" The two called out each other's names in unison.

It was at this moment that Jiang Shouzheng, who was in the distance, finally noticed that there were people nearby.

That's right... With Jiang Shouzheng's martial arts skills, he couldn't detect Zi and Bai's tracking at all, so he didn't even know that Zheng Dongxi's order was actually to make him act as "bait".

"Gentlemen, you've been loitering near me and Master Jiang since yesterday." After Zi and Bai had jumped to the open space where Jiang Shouzheng was standing, Zheng Dongxi slowly stepped forward and said in a relaxed tone, "Today, we saw Master Jiang leave the city alone, and you followed him quietly all the way... So, do you have something to discuss with him?"

This statement sounds casual, but it actually contains a very important message—your surveillance and tracking have always been an open secret in my eyes.

Zi and Bai did not rush to answer upon hearing this.

The two exchanged glances, confirming their shared understanding that "this person's martial arts are unfathomable, we must be extremely careful," before Zi finally spoke, saying, "Master Zheng, you truly live up to your reputation..."

"Why are you being so polite with me when you don't even dare to show your face?" In this quiet setting, Zheng Dongxi didn't need to hide his intentions, so he could be quite blunt and aggressive with his words. "I asked you questions, and you gave me these kinds of nonsense answers to stall for time. Looks like you're a little guilty..."

Here we should mention that, since Zi and Bai had already shown their "specially made masks and strangely colored robes" to many martial arts figures in Cangzhou, it was inconvenient for them to bring that outfit again when carrying out this operation that required "lying low," "assassination," and "framing."

Right now, they were just wearing ordinary clothes, their faces covered with ordinary cloth, and they didn't even bring their own special weapons.

Of course, normally speaking... given their martial arts skills, under the premise of being prepared to catch someone off guard, even if they wanted to assassinate someone of Di Bujuan's caliber, they wouldn't need to carry any weapons; bare hands would be enough.

They never expected that this "Master Zheng," in this secluded place where he was displaying his prowess, would bring them such a great sense of pressure.

"Hmph..." Zi couldn't hold back any longer after being pointed at like that. The next second, he revealed a fierce look in his eyes, glared at Zheng Dongxi, and said viciously, "Fine, since Master Zheng doesn't like 'nonsense,' let's get straight to the point..." He paused, "Today, my brother and I represent the Hunyuan Star Gate to take your lives!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Dongxi, or rather Gu Qiying, was taken aback.

After a few seconds of silence, the composure on his face vanished, and he involuntarily clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he asked, "What door did you say?"