The sun rose over Beijing, but the Zhao Family mansion remained trapped in a gloom that sunlight couldn't penetrate.
The once-glorious estate now looked like a ruin. The trees were withered, the ponds stank of dead fish, and the servants walked around like zombies, terrified of their own shadows.
In the main hall, Zhao Tianba paced back and forth, his eyes bloodshot. He hadn't slept for 24 hours.
On the floor lay his father, Zhao Weiguo. The old man was tied to a bedframe with thick iron chains. He was growling like a beast, the white hair on his body growing longer by the hour.
"Boss! Master Jiang is still not answering the phone!" The butler cried out, holding a phone that had been dialed hundreds of times.
"Then go to him! Drive me there!" Zhao Tianba roared, grabbing a briefcase. "I don't believe there is anyone in this world who doesn't love money. If one billion isn't enough, I'll give him ten billion! If ten isn't enough, I'll give him half the Zhao Empire!"
...
10:00 AM. The "Stitch" Shop.
The alley was blocked. Not by police, but by a fleet of Rolls Royces.
Zhao Tianba, the tyrant of Beijing, was currently kneeling on the rough stone pavement in front of the humble wooden door.
He had been kneeling for an hour. His expensive Italian suit was stained with dust, and his forehead was bleeding from kowtowing.
"Mr. Jiang! Please!"
Zhao Tianba raised the briefcase high above his head.
"This contains the equity transfer documents for 'Tian Yuan Real Estate' and 'Zhao Pharmaceuticals'! 51% of the shares! Market value: 120 Billion!"
"I also revoked all the bounties! I broke the legs of the bodyguards who offended you!"
"I beg you... please save my father!"
120 Billion. The crowd of onlookers gasped. This amount of money could buy a small country. No one believed Jiang Daolin would refuse.
Creak—
The door finally opened.
Jiang Daolin walked out, wearing pajamas, looking like he had just woken up. He held a bowl of tofu pudding in his hand, eating casually.
He didn't look at the briefcase. He didn't look at the kneeling tycoon. He looked at Iron Leg.
"Iron Leg, did you hear a dog barking? It's disturbing my breakfast."
Zhao Tianba's face turned red, then white. He gritted his teeth, suppressing his humiliation. He crawled forward on his knees.
"Mr. Jiang! I know we were wrong! We shouldn't have offended you! But my father... he is suffering! He is just an old man who wanted to live a few more years!"
"Wanted to live?"
Jiang Daolin swallowed a spoonful of tofu. He finally looked down at Zhao Tianba.
"The eight-year-old girl whose heart you stole... didn't she want to live?"
"The college student whose kidneys were harvested on that ship... didn't he want to live?"
Jiang Daolin kicked the briefcase over. Papers flew into the air like white funeral money.
"Money can buy luxury, Mr. Zhao. It can buy power. It can even buy the law."
"But here, in my shop..."
Jiang Daolin leaned down, his eyes dark and terrifying.
"Money cannot buy life."
"I told you. Three days. I want the list. Today is Day Two."
Zhao Tianba trembled violently. He realized that this young man was not a greedy merchant. He was a judge from hell.
"I... I have the list!"
Zhao Tianba collapsed emotionally. He frantically pulled out a black USB drive and a yellowed, bloodstained ledger from his inner pocket.
"The USB has the recent transaction records! The ledger... is from ten years ago!"
"Mr. Jiang, if I give you this, the Zhao Family will become the enemy of the entire capital! We will be destroyed!"
"Please... show mercy..."
Jiang Daolin took the ledger.
The moment his fingers touched the old paper, he felt a piercing coldness. It wasn't temperature; it was the accumulated grievance of countless souls.
"Mercy?"
Jiang Daolin pocketed the ledger and turned back to the shop.
"When you were cutting them open, did you show mercy?"
He waved his hand without looking back.
"Iron Leg, see the guest out. And tell him..."
"He can keep the money to buy a good coffin for his father. He has 24 hours left."
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
Zhao Tianba slumped on the ground, staring at the closed door, wailing in despair. He knew, the Zhao Family was finished.
...
Inside the shop.
Jiang Daolin sat at his desk, his playful expression gone. He opened the yellowed ledger to the first page.
His pupils contracted.
Date: July 15, 2016. Item: Heart of a female child (Age 8, RH-Negative). Buyer: Zhao Weiguo.
It was verified. But Jiang Daolin continued to flip through the pages.
Suddenly, his hand stopped.
On the last page, dated 13 years ago (The year Xiaoyu was born, and the year his family was destroyed).
Item: Male Infant (Jiang Family Bloodline). Buyer: [Name Redacted]
The buyer's name was crossed out with thick black ink, leaving only a code name written in blood:
[KYLIN]
"Male infant... Jiang family..."
Jiang Daolin's breath hitched. Grandfather said he and Xiaoyu were the only ones left. But this ledger suggested... he might have a brother. Or perhaps, he was the one who was sold?
A massive conspiracy, far larger than the Zhao Family, was slowly revealing its fangs.