Returning from the Immortal World

Roars of a helicopter rolled from the sky and everyone trapped in the auction venue looked on with fear. Before long, the entrance to the auction venue was trampled open from the outside and a large number of soldiers rushed in fully armed.

“Uh… what’s going on?”

The over 200 guests in the venue truly didn’t expect that military personnel would really show up, invoking fear as they looked at Tang Xiu instantly. Even that old man in the second row now looked pale with evident shock on his face.

Tap, tap, tap…

With orderly footsteps, Zhu Long strode inside with two experts from the Special Abilities Bureau and came to the auction stage under everyone’s gaze. He gave a standard salute and reported in a deep voice. “Zhu Long reporting to the senior officer! The Chief is on the way here, he should be arriving in about 40 minutes.”

Tang Xiu nodded in response and said, “Seal the entire island completely, be it the sky, ground, underground, or water, and completely carry out full monitoring. Leave no flies unchecked!”

“Understood!”

Zhu Long replied shortly and immediately rushed outside.

A moment later, Elder Mei came in from the outside with five big men, shaking his head and saying, “I can’t find him. He seems to have… just disappeared out of the blue.”

Coldness flashed in Tang Xiu’s eyes as he said, “For slipping away without anyone noticing, the man himself seems to possess quite a combat ability since he’s able to avoid all the monitoring equipment on the island. However, he can never run as long as he’s still in China.”

At the seating rows in the venue, Ouyang Lulu watched Tang Xiu with eyes flickering with splendor. Never did she imagine that Tang Xiu was actually someone from the state. She did hear that he carried out some missions for the country prior to this. But now, it seemed like what she knew about him was still not enough.

But still, he looks so cool now.

Still at the seating rows, apart from the old lady Zui Ying, no one knew that Tang Xiu was someone from the state save Miao Wentang since the man had long known about this identity. But the fact was something never exposed to Tang Wei. He was simply caught off guard knowing that Tang Xiu was affiliated to the state and was truly in admiration toward this younger brother of his.

Time fleeted by and the puzzled Duanmu Lin, who brought a group of experts from the Special Abilities Bureau, finally arrived in a rush. The confusion on his face became more visible upon seeing the scene at the auction venue. He had always believed in Tang Xiu had certain and strict criterions regardless of what he did. But didn’t this look like a big scene?

“Tang…”

Just as Duanmu Lin came to Tang Xiu’s front and blurted out, Tang Xiu stopped him. Shortly after, the two men came to the corner of the auction venue and Tang Xiu said in a deep voice, “I need you to give me an explanation, Senior Duanmu.”

“How did you make yourself like this, though?” replied Duanmu Lin with a wry smile. “Also, you want me to explain, but what should I explain to you?”

Tang Xiu opened the yellow silk fabric cover on the tray. Duanmu Lin instantly understood in a flash after seeing the Aeroglider.

“How come this object appeared here?” asked Duanmu Lin in a lowered voice.

“I originally came here for the auction, but I didn’t expect to see this stuff being auctioned either.” Tang Xiu explained, “I already called Kang Xia, and she told me there’s no problem at the factory since all members of the security team are our people. Additionally, I’ve already questioned the organizer of this auction as well. He said that the person who sent this Aeroglider has the smell of a soldier.”

Duanmu Lin’s pupils shrunk and instantly blurted out, “I’ll definitely give you an explanation for this shit! Who’s the one in charge of this auction?!”

“It’s me.”

Elder Mei wore a forced smile and slowly walked over. Then, he spoke with a bitter smile, “I never thought I’d bump into you in this situation, Duanmu. You seem to have been having quite an easy time serving the state.”

Duanmu Lin, whose focus had been concentrated on Tang Xiu, didn’t even notice his own old friend. But when he saw the old man Mei, his brows frowned. “Are you the one who organized this auction, Mei geezer?”

“Yeah.” The old man Mei replied, “Some children in the family have been tossing about. I got nothing to do and so joined the party here, though I never thought that I’d get into trouble.”

Duanmu Lin glanced around fast and immediately replied in a low voice, “We’ve been old comrades, Mei geezer, and we know each other inside out. Now, tell me the truth, from where did you get this stuff, exactly?”

“I already told this little brother surnamed Tang before. Someone sent it here and he got a soldier smell on him—one who has gone through real battles. I’m hella sure about that. I thought that man was a veteran, but I didn’t expect that this matter would involve some secrets.”

Duanmu Lin fell into silence for a while and then slowly said, “Can you tell me what he looks like? Or better, do you have a photo or footage of him?”

“I do.” Elder Mei nodded.

“There’s no need to look for it.” Tang Xiu shook his head. “The owner of this place just took his men to check all the surveillance videos and all of them have been destroyed already. The security guards in the monitoring room were tied up and stunned and haven’t yet woken up until now.”

“This is an important and urgent issue, Tang Xiu, so hand it over to me,” said Duanmu Lin. “I’ll definitely investigate it thoroughly.”

“Then I’ll give you 3 days.” Tang Xiu nodded and said, “I want news within 3 days. Besides, this is related to the cooperation between us. If the Aeroglider flows to the outside world, then it will become the responsibility of my Magnificent Tang Corporation!”

“I get you. No worries!” said Duanmu Lin with all seriousness.

****

More than 10 kilometers from the scene, inside a coastal building, Li Yuquan put down the binoculars in his hand and his tanned face looked all bitter. He knew that he just pushed himself to a pit full of a disaster this time, yet he felt no regret. Only unwillingness and annoyance filled his heart since the Aeroglider he had painstakingly stolen failed to be auctioned. And he had even exposed himself.

“I need money. A lot of it.”

“That damn bastard! I could’ve killed him, but I wouldn’t be able to save my wife and kid.”

“I can get the money by selling this so-called Aeroglider, but now I can only get it through other channels.”

He released his tight fist’s grip and headed towards the door. He needed to hurry and flee from this place while avoiding the surveillance equipment literally everywhere in Shanghai. He didn’t have much time.

****

Back to the Blue Starfish Mansion, in a majestic hall, Tang Xiu, Gu Changmin, Jin Xingkui, Tang Wei, Miao Wentang, Grandma Zui Ying, Ji Mu, and some others were tasting a few dishes and discussing various issues. Ouyang Lulu, who had inborn unruliness in her bones, seemed like a docile, gentle kitten at the moment and stayed next to Tang Xiu while serving him tea.

“I didn’t expect you to come to Shanghai, Brother Miao. Bumping into you here was truly a coincidence. I didn’t thank you for standing up for me then, so let’s have a toast,” said Tang Xiu smilingly.

Miao Wentang raised his glass and toasted with Tang Xiu. Then, he smilingly replied, “I didn’t expect it to run into such a busy man like you here, either. I came to Shanghai to tend to a project preparation in which I’m seeking a partner now.”

“What project?” asked Tang Xiu.

“Selling cars!” replied Miao Wentang with a smile. “The heavy industry factory of my Miao Group is producing quite a number of cars. The purchase orders originally came from overseas, but well… things went south over there, so it came down to my hands now.”

At the side, Gu Changmin’s expression shifted and he asked, “Brother Miao, can I cask the models and types of the cars produced by your Miao Group?”

“Ah, we got all kinds of them,” replied Miao Wentang with a wry smile.

Gu Changmin squinted and turned to look at Tang Xiu. “Anyway, do you have some spare cash in hand now, Brother Tang?”

“Ehh?” Tang Xiu was curious and asked back, “Why asking about that, Brother Gu?”

“Well, I’ve been kind of preparing a big project myself recently, honestly,” said Gu Changmin. “I wanna cooperate with you. If you’re interested, that is.”

“I’m all ears,” said Tang Xiu smilingly.

“I’m going to set up a logistics company—one that will be the biggest logistics company in the country,” explained Gu Changmin. “But I don’t have many funds in hands right now. I can only take out around 6 billion. The expert I hired gave me an estimation that I’d need at least 30 billion to set up the best logistics company that covers the entire China. So to say, even 30 billion is likely not enough.”

Logistics?

Tang Xiu frowned and said, “I may not know much about logistics, but for such logistics companies in our country, shouldn’t the situation be saturated already? Especially those large logistics companies. They have literally spread their distribution network to every corner of the country. It’s probably too late if we want to take the slice of the pie now.”

“Not really.” Gu Changmin shook his head and explained, “Online shopping is now a top priority given the increasing popularity of e-commerce. Though most of these e-commerce platforms have their own logistics network, I think we can get a big chunk of meat from them as long as you cooperate with me.”

Tang Xiu was silent for a moment and suddenly asked, “Have you thought of running the online shopping platform yourself? Like those online shopping malls? You’re going into logistics, so you must at least have products to deliver. Rather than sending others’ products, I think it’s better to send our own. Certainly, though, it would be better if you can also send the products of others too.”

Gu Changmin’s eyes lit up and he replied, “I’ll naturally set up the online shopping platform if you’re willing to cooperate with me. Well, if you trust me, I only need your investment and your reputation to set up the online shopping platform and logistics project.”

“Ah, you do understand me. Hahaha,” Tang Xiu couldn’t help laughing and said, “I really am too lazy in dealing with business matters. Say, how much funds do you need me to invest?”

Miao Wentang didn’t wait for Gu Changmin to answer Tang Xiu and smilingly interjected. “Hey, can you two not leave me out of this business? I’m interested in it too, so it’s much better to count me in, no?”