Chapter 139: Explanations and Arrangements

"Hahahaha!" Upon hearing this, Zhuang Jin suddenly burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I am laughing at your sheer shamelessness. What third-generation East City resident? More like a third-generation giant rat! Such ugly behavior, and yet you, Guardian Huang, can still boast about it so pompously, feeling no shame but rather pride..."

"You—you!"

"This is no different from... being a whore while demanding a memorial arch for chastity!"

"You, you, you!"

"I have never seen such a brazen and shameless person!"

"Ah!"

Huang Tianjun was completely breached by Zhuang Jin's words. His eyes bulged with rage, and he looked as though he wanted to swallow Zhuang Jin whole. However, the distinct pain still lingering on his face forced him back to his senses. Enraged, he could only flare up for a moment before snapping: "Jun'er, let's go!"

"Humph!"

Watching the retreating figures of the Huang father and son, Zhuang Jin let out a cold laugh, his expression indifferent. Naturally, he knew these two would never agree to his request for a transfer out of East City, but he had proposed it anyway precisely to intentionally cause a dilemma and break down the negotiations. That way, he could make a move afterward and make an example of them to deter the others.

Having witnessed the inherited arrogance of Huang Jun and his father, Huang Tianjun, he now understood: while there were clear-headed individuals like Ou Wenzhong among the people of East City, there were also plenty of clueless, arrogant, and conceited fools like the Huang father and son. Toward such people, amiability was only ever perceived as weakness; a sharp slap to the face was far more effective at bringing them to their senses.

*“If I had agreed to accept the deeds to ten shops for a reconciliation earlier, even demanding a few more would not have been enough to make these people feel fear or pain. Without pain and without fear, they wouldn't learn their lesson, and similar incidents would likely have happened repeatedly during my months in East City.”*

*“To settle this once and for all, I must act ruthlessly this time and prove that I am not to be trifled with. Only then will those people think twice before trying to test me in the future.”*

*“If you seek peace through compromise, peace perishes; if you seek peace through struggle, peace survives. True peace is won through fighting! This time, I will use this father-and-son duo as chickens to scare the monkeys, establishing once and for all the peace and tranquility of my tenure in East City!”*

With these thoughts in mind, Zhuang Jin walked straight to find Ou Wenzhong.

...

"...That is how it went."

After recounting the entire encounter with the Huang father and son, Zhuang Jin said coldly, "My stay in East City is only temporary, and I have no intention of changing anything. It was Guardian Ou who approached me previously... and we reached a tacit understanding."

"Yet they took this as a sign that I am easy-going and a pushover, pushing their luck and trying to climb onto my head... Humph! In that case, I, Zhuang, don't mind testing all of your methods."

...

Upon hearing the whole story and witnessing Zhuang Jin's attitude, Ou Wenzhong's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Guardian Zhuang, please calm down! Calm down! Surely Guardian Zhuang knows my character by now? This matter was absolutely not an intentional probing on our part to break the rules..."

"It must have been those idiots acting on their own accord..."

As he spoke, a murderous glint surfaced on his face. "Guardian Zhuang, rest assured. If it truly is as you say, I will certainly give Guardian Zhuang a satisfactory explanation!"

"Very well, then I shall wait."

With those words, Zhuang Jin stood up and left directly, knowing that his strategy of using barbarians to... no, using rats to control rats had succeeded.

...

The events that followed turned out to be quite comedic.

When Huang Tianjun returned, he sought out the powers behind him and spun the story using artful rhetoric, omitting his son's initial probing and desire to make Zhuang Jin a scapegoat, as well as his own arrogant attitude when confronting Zhuang Jin. He simply claimed that Zhuang Jin was violating the rules by trying to transfer his son out of East City, accusing him of acting as a hatchet man for headquarters, and requested mobilized resources to deal with Zhuang Jin...

To his surprise, however, Zhuang Jin had gone straight to Ou Wenzhong. After investigating and confirming the facts, Ou Wenzhong had arrived just in time to hear Huang Tianjun's words, causing his face to turn pitch black with anger.

From a public standpoint—the public interest of East City and this flock of giant rats—these two fools had disregarded the bigger picture for their own selfish gains. They were as short-sighted as mice and as stupid as pigs!

From a private standpoint, Zhuang Jin was tied to his work performance and served as the justification for his reward—applying for the Meridian-Clearing Pill promotion. And these two actually wanted to ruin it? They were blocking his path of advancement! The enmity of blocking one's path was irreconcilable!

"Huang Tianjun, I'll go your mother's..." Ou Wenzhong rushed out, interrupting him in a rage, and laid out the facts.

With two differing versions of the same event, given the influence of the giant rat faction in East City, verifying the truth was not difficult. The whole truth soon came to light.

Consequently, Huang Tianjun incurred the wrath of the public. At a moment when the Shen family headquarters was making its move—a critical juncture of life and death—Ou Wenzhong had gone to appease Zhuang Jin and reach a mutual understanding. It was bad enough that Huang Tianjun contributed nothing, but he couldn't even control his own family's younger generation, letting them act cleverly and test the waters...

After being exposed, when the other party had clearly shown restraint by offering a proper apology, one should have simply accepted it and taken the beating. Yet, devoid of any sense of propriety and relying on seniority, he had arrogantly stormed over to cause trouble? Who did he think he was? Accustomed to lawlessness in East City, did he expect everyone to pander to him?

Finally, after being humiliated by Zhuang Jin, he still refused to repent, spreading falsehoods and attempting to drag the others down with him by mobilizing the entire East City faction for revenge... It was utterly lawless!

To describe such actions with the word 'stupid' was an insult to the word itself!

Because the nature of this incident was extremely grave, its character extremely vile, and its potential harm immense, the faction of giant rats in East City dealt with Huang Tianjun with the utmost severity.

...

The next day, March thirtieth.

Ou Wenzhong came to see him: "...Both father and son of the Huang family will be transferred out of East City next month. Huang Jun is assigned to the North City frontline, while Huang Tianjun is banished to the South City, right along the front bordering the Medicine King Guild—the most dangerous place... Is Guardian Zhuang satisfied with this explanation?"

"Naturally, I am satisfied."

While nodding slightly, Zhuang Jin felt a chill in his heart: *"Huang Jun aside, Huang Tianjun is a precinct guardian of the Eight Meridians. Just like that, when they said he was banished to the South City, he was banished to the South City."*

The implications behind this were extraordinary: On one hand, the faction behind Ou Wenzhong undoubtedly had people in the Ministry of General Affairs, and their status was definitely not low. The breadth of their foundation and the depth of their influence were evident. On the other hand, when they promised an explanation, they delivered one, showing they could be ruthless even to their own people. This proved that their internal organization possessed a certain degree of self-purification capability.

Combined, these factors meant they were extremely troublesome and difficult to deal with.

"As long as Guardian Zhuang is satisfied. To be honest, we were in the wrong this time. How about this—all of the Huang family's properties will be given to you as compensation..."

"That won't be necessary." Zhuang Jin interrupted with a polite refusal. These assets were dangerous to accept; once accepted, he would be dragged into the muddy waters and unable to clear his name.

"Haha, Guardian Zhuang is as cautious as ever."

Ou Wenzhong seemed to have anticipated this and did not press the matter. Pausing for a moment, he continued, "Since Guardian Zhuang refuses these, let's exchange it for a piece of intelligence instead!"

"Last night, a fire broke out at the Miao residence. All thirty-three members of Miao Shao's family perished in the sea of flames, leaving not a single survivor..."

"That is truly a misfortune!"

Zhuang Jin sighed inwardly, casting a deep glance at Ou Wenzhong. He had asked Zou Qingfeng to investigate the information on Miao Shao's family, but before he could even make a move, the faction behind this man had done it for him.

*"It certainly saved me the trouble and kept my hands clean... But isn't this both compensation and a warning to me? Is it hinting that none of my actions can escape their notice?"*

Although they were not enemies, this feeling of being out of control still deeply displeased him. He thought with a silent sigh: *"The realm of the apparent Eight Meridians, actual Nine Meridians, is still not enough! If my overt strength were the Ten Meridians or Twelve Meridians, the faction behind this man would surely be much more wary and wouldn't issue such a blatant warning... And if I were in the even higher Pulse-Connecting realm, they wouldn't dare do this even if they were given ten lives."*

*"So, when all is said and done, it all comes down to strength, strength!"*