Chapter Forty-Eight: Young Master Tu (Second Update) Seeking Votes and Favorites

Whoosh—whoosh—
The air was filled with the sharp sound of fists and feet slicing through it. A lone figure moved relentlessly across the open ground, fists and legs flying in a style both fierce and domineering, his steps nimble and leaps unrestrained. His technique seemed formless, adapting on the fly, responding to each moment with fluid improvisation.

Whoosh—

At length, the man ceased his movements and drew back his fists. He was a young man, perhaps in his twenties, tall and striking in appearance, though a certain sinister sharpness in his brows marred the overall impression he gave. As he stilled, his chest and abdomen heaved, and he exhaled a mouthful of stale air. He casually took the towel handed to him by a waiting servant, wiping the sweat from his face and hands with practiced ease.

“Master, Dai Wu has returned,” reported a man in his forties, standing nearby, who waited for the young man to finish before delivering his message.

“Oh? He finally shows up after being gone so long. How did it go? Bring him to me at once,” the young man’s eyes lit up, revealing his keen interest.

“Uh—Master, Dai Wu is extremely aloof. He only left a portrait and a few words before leaving again. If you wish to see him, you’ll have to seek him out yourself. At present, he’s in a room I arranged for him,” answered the older man, his square face changing subtly as he spoke.

“Damn it, not this again! If I didn’t still need him, I’d have had someone deal with him long ago. Uncle Xie, tell me what’s really going on.” The young man was clearly displeased with Dai Wu’s methods, but the man was undeniably capable and useful to him for now. However, his expression turned even darker and more brooding as he spoke.

“Young master, it appears Dai Wu failed his mission this time—the target escaped,” Uncle Xie replied, his tone hesitant, clearly apprehensive of the young master’s temper.

“Dai Wu said he was about to succeed, but the man in the portrait intervened, ruining everything. Dai Wu was even injured in the process. At the time—” Seeing the young man’s face grow stormier by the second, Uncle Xie hurried to recount all he knew and handed over the portrait.

If Liang Jing were present, he would have recognized himself in that portrait at a glance. The Dai Wu mentioned was the black-clad, invisible man who had escaped from Liang Jing’s grasp, only returning to report after stabilizing his wounds—hence this current scene.

“Damn it! My first time carrying out a mission assigned by my father, and not only did I fail, but the other party now knows it was me behind it. Who dares interfere in the Tu family’s affairs?” The Tu family’s young master glared at the portrait with burning eyes. This was his first time earning his father’s trust, and he had been given an important task. He’d hoped to further cement his position in the ongoing family power struggle. He hadn’t personally participated due to certain special circumstances, but had instead deployed one of his father’s top three recruited assassins in the world. Now, that assassin had failed. His resentment toward Dai Wu deepened—an incompetent fool, playing at cold indifference in front of him.

His hatred also turned toward the man in the portrait. After so much time, the target had likely already returned to N City. If the plan was exposed, he would be the one to blame, open to attack and mockery from his brothers, his hard-won status in his father’s eyes sure to plummet. In that moment, all he felt toward the man in the portrait was hatred—pure, burning hatred.

“Uncle Xie, send people to search for this man among the crowd. If he has the skill to survive Dai Wu’s ambush and even injure him, he won’t die so easily. He’s likely mixed in with the migrating masses,” the young man said, voice icy and strained, struggling to maintain control. He knew that the international metropolis S City had already fallen to monsters, as had K City. If the man was still alive, he’d surely be heading for N City with the rest, which meant the chances of encountering him among the migrants were high. Their group had already swelled to over a hundred thousand people, a vast, surging tide of humanity.

“When you find him, don’t startle him. If he could survive Dai Wu’s sneak attack and injure him, he must be formidable. When the time comes, get Commander Chen and his troops to help. I refuse to believe anyone could survive a military barrage.” Clearly, he took Liang Jing seriously. Though he cursed Dai Wu’s incompetence, he didn’t doubt his ability—years of assassination and training, with skills multiplied since awakening his powers, yet even that hadn’t been enough. So, he resolved to enlist the military forces within the migrant group for a joint strike. The Tu family, with its longstanding influence, could easily persuade the army to act against one man—it was only a matter of giving the order.

“Yes, Master. But with so many people in such chaos, finding one person is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Uncle Xie replied, still doubtful. Their own manpower was limited, and the migrant flow was constantly expanding, with no unified management and all sorts of people—from hardened criminals to wealthy bosses—mixed in together.

“There are plenty of gangs trying to curry favor with us. Get them to mobilize their men. A little reward should suffice.” The young master forced down his irritation, issuing his orders after a moment’s thought.

“Understood, I’ll see to it at once.” Uncle Xie said no more, harboring his doubts in silence—after all, he was merely an executor.

“Oh, and send that middle school girl we found yesterday to Dai Wu’s room. Damn it, lucky for him!” the young man suddenly recalled, cursing as he gave the order to Uncle Xie, who was about to leave, a note of reluctant annoyance in his voice.

“Master, wasn’t that middle school girl the one you wanted? You instructed she be cleaned up and wait in your room tonight. Why let Dai Wu have her?” Uncle Xie knew exactly who the girl was, but felt nothing for her fate—he’d seen plenty of such things, even partaken himself. There was never a shortage of beautiful women for them to abuse.

“Sometimes you have to give up the bait to catch the wolf. With so many new arrivals in the migration, it’s not like there’s a shortage of women. Let it go—after all, Dai Wu did get injured working for us. We have to show some consideration.” Though frustrated and angry over Dai Wu’s failure and what it meant for his future, the young master maintained enough clarity to know the importance of securing loyalty. With hundreds of thousands in the migrant group, there were university students, high schoolers, even elementary school girls galore. With his power and connections, he could have whomever he wanted with a word. In this lawless world, who dared object? Many women even considered it a stroke of luck to catch his eye. Lately, though, it seemed the women had started hiding; his scouts struggled to find good-looking ones anymore. Rumor had it that after he’d used them for a few days and passed them down to his subordinates, word had spread—entering his grasp was a one-way trip to hell.

“Oh, and that Su girl—Su Yuting, yes, that’s her. Take care of it quickly. I’m in no mood for games. Bring her to me. Does she think she’s something special? Damn woman.” For once, the young master remembered a girl’s name; usually, he never bothered. He’d thought about her for a long time, but hadn’t yet forced the issue. Now, in his foul mood, he was done playing cat and mouse—he needed an outlet for his pent-up frustration and anger.

“Yes, young master, I’ll have Xu Wu and the others fetch her at once. It may take some time, with so many people and so much chaos—it’s easy to lose track of someone.”

“Fine, go quickly,” the young master replied impatiently, years of discipline barely restraining his rising anger.