Chapter 211 Take Your Life (1/2)
The Long Family was indeed powerful. Within a week, it conquered the underground world of several cities. Although Xiao Bing was in the hospital every day, all the information was relayed to him by Master Hou anytime and anywhere.
The Long Family adopted the strategy of Blitzkrieg warfare, and sent lobbyists to coerce and lure the leaders of the underground world in big cities. A martial arts master was sent to raid the underground world to force them to submit. The lobbyists sent by the Long Family was Poisonous Fox, one of Zhuge Jiangnan’s disciples.
Zhuge Jiangnan accepted two disciples in his later years. Both of them carried on his wisdom. Jiang Wu possessed his skills of stratagem in the open, and Poisonous Fox carried on his skills of conspiracy. Hence Jiang Wu and Poisonous Fox represented both Yin and Yang, complementing each other.
Jiang Wu was good at controlling the general orientation, and Poisonous Fox was good at conspiracy and trickery. They had their own advantages and distinctiveness.
This act of coercion and lure was very suitable for Poisonous Fox.
Strangely, Master Hou was the backbone of the underground world in Hei Province. The Long Family had a huge influence. The reason why the leaders of the underground world in other cities hadn’t been subdued under high pressure was Master Hou’s existence in Hei Province. This time, Master Hou’s response was so slow that he did not openly declare war on the Long Family until a week later. In addition, Master Hou also sent a large number of masters to gather in the remaining cities.
Besides this, there was a saying in the underground world that Master Hou became afraid after the war started. Master Hou talked with his military adviser Mu Tingchuan. Mu Tingchuan asked Master Hou why he didn’t take action and whether he was afraid. Master Hou said that he was afraid, but he was not afraid of Lord Long. Although Lord Long was strong, he was also a man who had a strong body and a simple mind. The person he really feared was Zhuge Jiangnan.
Master Hou said that it was because of the existence of Zhuge Jiangnan that the Long Family had broken through all the way. This time, Poisonous Fox, Zhuge Jiangnan’s disciple, made the first move in conquering several cities in Hei Province.
Therefore, who Master Hou really feared was Zhuge Jiangnan, not the Long Family.
When these words spread, Zhuge Jiangnan gained great reputation. Originally, he lived in secrecy and many people did not know his existence, but now he was exposed.
Since then, it was widely rumored that Lord Long respected Zhuge Jiangnan as his teacher and listened to the latter’s advice. That’s why Lord Long is so successful today.
But now Zhuge Jiangnan was not in a very good mood, because he just talked with Lord Long about how to deal with Master Hou’s declaration of war against them. Zhuge Jiangnan’s plan was not to use force, but to send Poisonous Fox directly to exert pressure on the leaders of the underground world in other cities. With the strength of the Long Family, those leaders will quickly submit. But Lord Long made light of it, saying that Zhuge Jiangnan must be overtired lately and asked him to take a good rest.
Not only that, Lord Long also recalled Poisonous Fox from Hei Province.
Zhuge Jiangnan was sullen and asked Jiang Wu to help him out of the room. When pacing in the courtyard, suddenly Zhuge Jiangnan sighed and said, “What a cruel move Jiang Zihou made.”
Jiang Wu was surprised and said, “Which tactic did Jiang Zihou adopt?”
Zhuge Jiangnan laughed and said, “Can’t you understand that? Jiang Zihou thoroughly understood Lord Long’s self-righteousness and specially sent people to spread all kinds of rumors giving me the merit of contributing fully to the development of the Long Family. It’s a pity an old man like me can’t take credit for it.”
Jiang Wu frowned and said, “Knowing what Mr. Long is like, he won’t stand for this. Even if he doesn’t conspire against you, I’m afraid he won’t take heed to your plans from now. This tactic is really vicious.”
Zhuge Jiangnan laughed and said, “Lord Long is just like Xiang Yu in ancient times. Although he is brave enough but he is too conceited. He is powerful now and has many martial arts masters, so unifying the underground world of Hei Province will be as simple as crushing ants with car tyres. Otherwise, he will surely suffer great losses. Since he’s suspicious of me, I won’t contribute any suggestion. Let him conquer Hei Province on his own.”
Jiang Wu nodded and said, “You are right. Jiang Zihou is crafty. Jiang Zihou may be crafty, but even if he set Mr. Long against you so that Mr. Long doesn’t follow your advice, Mr. Long can still defeat Jiang Zihou by strength alone. Sometimes, all schemes and conspiracies are useless compared with strength.”
Zhuge Jiangnan sighed deeply. “In that case, you accompany me to move to other villa. Just tell him that I want to live quietly. I don’t want to stay here to bother Lord Long.”
“I understand, Master.”
In the residence of Master Hou, Mu Tingchuan came into the hall and said excitedly when he saw Master Hou, “Master Hou, I just heard from our informer that Lord Long was in conflict with Zhuge Jiangnan. Now Zhuge Jiangnan has moved to another villa.”
Master Hou played with the teacup in his hand and laughed. “Xiao Bing is indeed wise and brave, and the strategy of sowing discord was given by him. Now it has worked.”
Mu Tingchuan laughed and said, “It’s also thanks to Master Hou’s trust in him, but Master Hou, why did you voluntarily give up several provincial powers? All in exchange for the strategy of sowing discord? The Long Family has oppressed everyone till they can hardly breathe. His followers and masters are several times that of ours. Even if they don’t have Zhuge Jiangnan’s help, we definitely can’t overcome him. Giving several cities to him will only help him reach the pinnacle of arrogance. I think the loss would outweigh the gain.”
Master Hou smiled and said, “If this is the end of the plot, it’s certainly not worth it.”