"Hey, isn't this Lin Yao, the big boss from Nancheng? I thought you couldn't leave Nancheng. What brings you to the imperial capital today, and you've brought so many people to my place. As far as I remember, we don't have any business dealings or personal connections, do we?"
Lin Yao stared coldly at Liao Che's master without saying a word.
Just a few hours ago, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. But no matter how he checked, his health indicators were normal, which made him realize something was wrong.
He had been in poor health since childhood and had always been in a sub - healthy state. But now, all his physical indicators had reached their peak. However, the inexplicable dull pain and the weak feeling in his body were so real. Coupled with what his second brother had told him about being poisoned by a gu worm, he guessed it was related to Miaomiao.
In this world, only he and Miaomiao had some knowledge about gu worms.
While Miaomiao was at school, he hadn't been idle. He had been wandering around major auction houses and found that many ancient artifacts that had been passed down for thousands of years were familiar to him. From this, he inferred that the world he was in now was the future of the time he had once lived in.
After Miaomiao's death, he had hated the southern Xinjiang witchcraft and gu worm techniques so much that it was he who had exterminated those people.
So, in the world thousands of years later, the only ones who could still have knowledge of the long - lost southern Xinjiang gu worm techniques were those from a thousand years ago.
"Zhang Huanan, there's no need for such pretenses. Hand over my daughter right away. I can overlook all the past events. Otherwise, if I could bring you down once, I can do it twice or even three times."
Hearing this, the old man suddenly threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Hahaha, nothing can be hidden from you. I'm surprised you even know I'm Zhang Huanan. Back then, I asked you for the dragon bone, but you flatly refused. You'd rather give it to that adopted daughter you'd only had for a few days than to me, an old acquaintance. Our families had been on brotherly terms for so many years, yet it seemed she meant more to you than our long - standing friendship. Later, you were really something. You managed to prop up that dilapidated mountain villa of yours. As an uncle, I was quite pleased. But ever since your daughter crippled my son, our families have become sworn enemies. Or perhaps even earlier, when I launched an attack on you, our fates were set on a collision course. In the previous life, I lost to you, a junior, and my family ended up in ruins. But in this life, it seems I've won. There's no way you're getting your daughter back. Her flesh and blood are the key ingredients for my immortality. Soon, I'll live as long as the heavens. You want to bring me down? While I'm alive, I may not be able to defeat you, but can you outlive me? After you're gone, won't I still be living a carefree life? And as far as I remember, this daughter of yours has no blood relation to you. So, let's not waste our efforts. If you're willing to coexist peacefully with me, I can overlook all your past actions and even share a little of my good fortune with you to extend your lifespan."
"You must have deceived the Gu, Lu, and Tao families in the same way, promising them immortality? A narrow - minded person like you would never do such a thing. And I don't need immortality. You must have put a concentric gu worm on me. I woke up probably because the mother gu worm has been transferred to Miaomiao, and all the pain I've been feeling comes from my daughter. If you kill her, I won't be able to live either. Don't use such cheap tricks to amuse me."
Lin Yao endured his anger and tried to stall for time with Zhang Huanan.
After receiving the news from Wei Ziqi, he had hastily prepared his private plane and rushed to the imperial capital. The police he had contacted hadn't arrived yet, so he had to buy time until they came and arrested all these people.
"You're quite smart. Since that's the case, don't leave. Stay here and keep your daughter company."
"Zhang Huanan, I really don't understand what you're so obsessed with. This is no longer the lawless martial - arts world. It's a modern society ruled by law. Do you think you can escape legal punishment with so many lives on your hands? Even if you achieve immortality, what's the use? Once you're arrested, you'll live a life worse than death in prison."
"Don't you understand what I'm obsessed with? Yes, there's no more martial - arts world or jianghu now, but I can create one. The world in the past didn't have a jianghu from the very beginning. I have endless life. As long as I can grow powerful enough, no one can compete with me."
The more Zhang Huanan spoke, the more excited he became, and his expression grew more and more crazy. Lin Yao looked at him and couldn't understand at all.
What was so good about a jianghu full of fights and killings? What was so good about a world where one could easily lose their life?
Since they had entered a peaceful era seven years later, why couldn't they just live in peace?
"I can't understand your thoughts. I even find you extremely ridiculous."
"Hehe, of course you can't. A useless person like you would never understand my ambitions. You have so much power and wealth, yet you never thought of rebuilding your family's mountain villa and sect. You just let the efforts of your ancestors vanish in the long river of history. I can't understand you, just as you can't understand me. I also can't understand how you could just watch those mediocre martial - arts skills being passed down while your own sect has long since perished and been lost!"
Woo - woo - woo - woo - woo - woo -
Suddenly, the siren of a police car sounded outside. Zhang Huanan's face turned pale, and he shouted, "Someone, watch this honored guest closely. I'll go to the backyard to continue the ceremony. After the ceremony is over, kill all these people without leaving a single one alive!"
The police had arrived. Lin Yao leisurely found a place to sit down. It seemed that Zhang Huanan had just traveled to the modern era but hadn't integrated into it. He still had such naive ideas of creating a martial - arts world.
In this modern world, it was no longer as dark as it was a thousand years ago. Maintaining peace was such a difficult task, but the current society had managed to achieve it.
The martial - arts world and the jianghu were already outdated. No matter how advanced one's martial arts skills were, they couldn't withstand the siege of guns.
Without evidence, there had been nothing they could do about Zhang Huanan's underhanded tricks. But now, all the evidence was in his backyard, which would be enough to send him to prison for the rest of his life.
For now, he couldn't act rashly. Although Zhang Huanan's disregard for the arrival of the police had put a bit of pressure on him, if he added more pressure, Zhang Huanan might do something even more detrimental to Miaomiao out of desperation.