Chapter 00220: A Familiar Face in the Foreign Land
# A Familiar Face in the Foreign Land
Chapter 220
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 220: A Familiar Face in the Foreign Land
Tang Qian, a man of forty-one years, was part of the group known as Da Qun.
He was a mercenary from the Central Plains, a golden medal sales rep specializing in hired thugs, a rental bodyguard with only a forty-one percent approval rating at the Desolate Gather, the runner-up of the fourteenth Grand Eating Competition in the Northern Islands, and a silver card member of the Red Phoenix Night Club… and, of course, the chosen one of Da Qun.
Common names he used included Tom, Jerry, Smith, Naka-no-Jou, Wang John, Chen Laoshi, Yu Qiang, among others.
It was normal for him to change names after a big job.
His combat strength was unclear; against the weak, he would probe, and against the strong, he would lie down; he embodied the philosophy of "one person eats well, and the whole family is not hungry."
Unlike the terrifying presence of the three-headed, six-armed Asura Peak, Old Tang was currently in a state with just one head and two arms, utterly confused and looking bemused, not yet understanding the situation at hand.
What happened? Where was the enemy? Who the hell was I?
In the time it takes to take a dump, the target his employer asked him to protect had already been stabbed to death with blood all over the place?
What he didn’t expect was to encounter an old acquaintance in this godforsaken city of Spring…
“What are you doing here!”
In a state of shock, he looked at the corpse on the ground, then at Ji Jue, and finally back at the corpse.
Ji Xue was cautiously bending slightly, her hands pressed on the two short swords behind her, her expression growing increasingly cold.
But Ji Jue’s hand pressed down on her shoulder.
He patted her, signaling her to take a break; he would handle things here.
He stood up from the chair.
Old Tang seemed to finally come to his senses.
He let out a sigh of relief.
“Hey, Ji Jue?!”
He smiled widely in surprise, his eyebrows raised in joy: “Is that really you? Long time no—”
Boom!
Blood flowed like a river, wrapped around a spear that had suddenly appeared out of thin air.
A storm howled, the blood winds roared, and surged forward!
It was like rain after a drought, encountering an old friend in a foreign land.
How delightful!
—Why not shoot from behind to show respect first!
In an instant, the spear’s edge pierced the air, crashing into the towering mercury iron wall that had long been prepared in the dark, almost to the hilt.
One thrust broke through three layers of the mercury iron wall, each layer consisting of dozens of strong interwoven structures that were punctured to pieces!
After breaking the cracks of the iron wall, Ji Jue tilted his head, the spear barely grazing past his ear.
So close…
This bastard, indeed, was the real thing from Da Qun, moving like a mad dog, not holding back at all!
“How tragic.”
Ji Jue sighed, “I thought our friendship could at least last until we exchanged greetings.”
“Didn’t we already greet each other?”
Tang Qian tilted his head, without hesitation dodging Ji Xue’s accelerated slash, his right hand drawing out his hand axe to shatter the bullets shot from behind him by the building that filtered in from outside the bank.
His left hand pulled out a long sword from his waist, sweeping across, slicing through the obstructive iron wall into two segments.
The momentum didn’t fade, sweeping toward his backside, forcing Ji Xue, who was rushing in again, to retreat.
She didn’t even have time to brake while accelerating, leaping back like a pole vaulter, narrowly avoiding being cut in half, her back already drenched in cold sweat.
So fast, so strong.
It was as if he had eyes at the back of his head.
With that one strike, combined with his attack… if Ji Liu were here, with those two siblings cooperating, one against two, maybe they could still manage something!
What followed was Tang Qian's back bulging with muscles, two arms stretched out from thin air, gripping a flail and thrown spear, crashing through a layer of iron walls after another, shattering countless trailing fibers, closing in… Asura!!!
This was likely not going to end well!
Tong Shan right now had no time to spare, Ji Liu and Jiang Xuan were too far away, and even the little cattle horse was not nearby.
Could Ji Jue handle this alone?
The answer was, handle it? No way!
Tang Qian was still using his basic attacks and skills; he hadn’t even used any blessings yet!
Boom!
He smashed apart the suddenly rising thorn underfoot, and Tang Qian advanced once more, throwing the spear out, piercing through defenses, scraping against Ji Jue's head and embedding it into the wall, penetrating four tiers and disappearing from sight.
Powerful assaults!
If possible, he really didn’t want to fight against an old friend.
If Ji Jue decided to turn around and run, he might even act in cooperation, and if he couldn’t catch up, so be it.
But this bastard, Ji Jue, was stubborn and infuriating; he wasn’t even considering retreating!
Then there was no other choice…
To catch the thief, first, kill their leader; in a brawl, you have to take out those with control first!
Moreover, whether others realized it or not, only he, having been a teammate, understood how serious Ji Jue was; as long as he still had breath, he was a significant threat!
“I’m sorry, although we are quite familiar, but our Da Qun is like this; we only recognize money, not friendships.”
The flail shattered the blocks made of metal, the long sword severed the tangled connection of elasticity, and the spear surged toward Ji Jue's face without hesitation.
“Oh? Then that means…”
Ji Jue let out a regretful sigh, disappointment washing over him:
“—Great.”
Silence came all at once.
The whistling spear suddenly came to a halt, narrowly braking to a stop in mid-air.
More precisely, it halted in front of Ji Jue's raised right hand.
Between his index finger and middle finger, resembling a magic trick, an ancient coins appeared.
The treasure left by the Eternal Empire had been weathered by time, revealing its age, yet still shining, meticulously carved with a profile of the emperor, majestic and lifelike.
The wind howled, brushing against the coin.
Buzz—
The bright sound was melodious.
Tang Qian stared wide-eyed—like new, a rare find!!!
“Since you’ve been so straightforward, I won’t pretend to be a righteous person.”
Ji Jue's friendly smile faded, his head held high with arrogance, as if looking down from above.
Feelings?
What feelings?
“Speak.”
He tossed the coin in his hand, which caused Tang Qian’s pupils to twitch, “How much for a single deal?”
“Bullshit!”
Tang Qian erupted in anger, “What do you think I am? I am a proud member of Da Qun, untainted by wealth, unbending against threats! You think a broken coin from who-knows-where can tempt me? What a joke!”
“Don’t worry, I'll negotiate with ‘Fourth Uncle’ just the same.”
Ji Jue derisively brushed aside Tang Qian's cautious gestures: “My partner in fencing told me the other day that there's an idiot in the market collecting coins from the era of the Eternal Empire at a premium price, and here's how I see it; I’ll just go back and review our old footage…”
What’s the point of pretending!
I’m all too clear about your needs!
Tang Qian’s expression twitched, and he wanted to keep playing along, but the voice coming in just turned into the last straw that broke the camel’s back: “I have two boxes of such coins at home, at the very least.”
As he spoke, right in front of him, he drew the gun, cocked it, and tossed a bullet over.
What the hell?
But when he held the bullet, it felt oddly heavy.
This weight, it was like… damn, gold?
Ji Jue added, “Use the rest for armor-piercing ammunition; if you don’t want it, I’ll just melt it down and send you two bullets as a gift; what do you say?”
Tang Qian stood frozen in place.
For a long while.
He swallowed hard, dryly.
Rationality and conscience were battling it out; conscience said: What are you even talking about? Just kill him, it’s all yours anyway! Rationality said, forget about ending the cult, that’s a mess; why would you keep standing guard for this unfortunate affair? Aren’t you just waiting to die by not jumping ship?!
As for the hesitation and struggle of betraying his employer?
Sorry, he felt not a shred of it.
There was no choice; no matter how noble he claimed not to be swayed by riches, Ji Jue was simply too wealthy!
Being tempted to some degree was inevitable.
Facing the unexpected visit of a company leader and the hand that was almost rubbing against the black silk into a ball, for the sake of Fourth Uncle’s wishes, Tang Qian had no choice but…
To indulge first and then negotiate!
“What do you take me for!”
He shouted angrily, “The Cult of Evil is my close friends and relatives!”
“Twenty coins, no more.” Ji Jue remained unmoved, his voice cold: “If not, we’ll fight; let’s see if you can fend off six!”
Tang Qian shook his head decisively: “At least thirty-five!”
“Deal.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Ji Jue nodded, which caused a vague pain to start in Tang Qian’s heart… damn, I have to lower it!
Right after, he saw Ji Jue flick his wrist.
The coins flew over.
The weight in his hand was heavy; the familiar weight and texture, coupled with an astonishingly well-preserved condition, nearly brought him to tears.
But just as he was feeling flustered and eager for more, Ji Jue stood still and didn’t move.
His heart hung in the balance, unable to rise or fall.
Growing more anxious.
“What about the rest?!”
“Advance payment first.”
Ji Jue bore a look as if he was painting a beautiful picture, “Leave the rest to Tong Shan to write you an IOU. The goods are with his sister. Who goes out carrying so many broken items from the Eternal Empire anyway!”
Tang Qian frowned: “That means forty!”
“Thirty.”
Ji Jue cut down like a knife, “Do you trust me, or do you trust the Cult of Evil? Choose one.”
He stated, “Trust me, and we’ll stop here, and everything will be negotiable; if you don’t trust me, we’ll continue fighting; consider that as a parting gift. Regardless of whether the Cult of Evil wins or loses, you can forget about showing your face in the Federation ever again. The Tong family and the security bureau won't spare you; oh, and outside there’s the Lou family, and the one behind you is the Ji family.”
“Didn’t we say there was no bargaining involved?” Tang Qian panicked, “Why are we still talking about five fewer?”
“Washing your name doesn’t come free?”
Ji Jue rolled his eyes, “I haven’t even charged you for equipment depreciation and wear and tear yet!”
As he said this, he raised his hand, splitting the mercury in front of him in half: “See this? A proper piece of equipment, and you’ve turned it into two half-finished products; did I say anything?”
“You’re making this uninteresting!”
Amidst the repeated tugging and probing, Tang Qian's smile finally revealed a hint of seriousness: “Just giving me a coin means you want me to be a traitor? What about my reputation if this gets out? If the Cult of Evil adds money on top, should I stab you in the back too?!”
To this, Ji Jue did not respond.
He simply tilted his head, speaking to the communication channel that remained open: “Zhi Wu, are you listening?”
No one responded.
Only the buzzing of mental waves vibrated; a black dot suddenly shot in from the direction of the underground treasury like a meteor.
Still testing?
Tang Qian sneered, merely tilting his head slightly to dodge the trajectory of that black dot, but as it passed by, his moving pupils landed on that black dot, as if they had been glued in place.
He couldn’t let go.
It fell into Ji Jue’s hand.
Between those fingers was a pitch-black card, featuring only a dark logo and, at the bottom right corner, a line of numbers representing the identification number.
In an instant, Tang Qian's expression changed into one as sweet as honey and soft as water, shimmering with a unique charm.
If he switched to wearing a dress, he might just shake and lean into Ji Jue’s arms.
The VIP card of the Eternal Bank!
A status symbol only held by clients with total assets exceeding one hundred billion or who had purchased financial products worth over five hundred million from the bank!
He understood this all too well!
If you were to ask him after all these years as a mercenary who was the strongest and mightiest, he might shake his head and say he didn’t know, but if you asked who was the richest, now that was the right question!
“I can negotiate this, way more than you think!”
Tang Qian firmly grasped Ji Jue's hand, his tiger eyes glimmering with tears: “Since coming to this damned place, I’ve been acting as a bodyguard, barely touching the underhanded stuff! Give me a chance, Brother Ji, I want to turn over a new leaf!”
As he said this, he shook his powerful frame, shaking off the dust, even the pollution of evil and foolishness, revealing a pure and flawless aura, chosen by Da Qun.
“Smith has drifted half a lifetime, only regretting he hasn’t met a wise master; if you do not abandon me, I wish to call you my godfather!”
Ji Jue couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation: “Aren’t you surnamed Tang?”
“With enough money, I could share the surname Tong with you all!”
There was nothing left to say.
Filial piety was through the roof!
This was truly an outrageous display of true filial piety, dear family.
But their family seemed used to it, even too lazy to care, perhaps even nodding in agreement when awake.
What a big deal!
Just changing a surname, it wasn’t like it hadn’t happened before; besides, he was getting paid, not embarrassing at all.
But since everyone had said it to this extent, it would be rude to drag it out further.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ji Jue turned, flicking his finger with a swift motion toward the direction of the underground treasury, to the deacon: “Ten million, kill him.”
“Good, godfather!”
The blood winds rose sharply.
Old Tang wasted no time, dashing forward!
Only Ji Jue was still taken aback, standing frozen in place.
So fast?
(End of Chapter)