Actually, he had only left earlier to fetch reinforcements, and it was never his intention to ask Zhang Xiaohu to contact Lord Long to announce the three things.
However, since everyone present currently believed it was him, he naturally wouldn’t pass up this chance to show off.
He nodded, gave a lewd grin, and replied, "That’s right! Did I scare you so bad you wet yourself? Hehe!"
This response effectively sealed his fate as the culprit.
Xiao Qingcheng ignored Zhang Chunlei and turned to look at Ye Tiance. Her eyes were filled with disappointment as she said, "Ye Tiance, for one brief moment just now, I really thought you had become capable—that you could make Lord Long listen to you and force those who trampled on you to regret their actions and bow their heads.
"Heh, to tell you the truth, I even felt a flicker of comfort. At the very least, in some sense, it meant the man I had once been with wasn't quite that useless."
She suddenly raised her voice. "But! The way you are now makes me feel disgusted. We’ve known each other since childhood, and we’ve been married for three years, yet I have never felt as disgusted by you as I do at this very moment. I hate people who lie to me more than anything!"
Ye Tiance, sitting in the chair, lowered his eyes slightly and said, "When it comes down to it, you still don't believe me, do you?"
Xiao Qingcheng sneered, "Heh! The facts are right in front of us. Who would believe you?"
Ye Tiance shook his head. He knew that no matter how he explained it, Xiao Qingcheng would not believe him.
That was fine, too. Since they had already filed for divorce, he was under no obligation to force a proof of anything in front of her.
At this moment, Ji Boduan stepped forward quickly to flatter Zhang Chunlei. "Young Master Zhang, you might not know this, but after you left earlier, that man named Ye was badmouthing you behind your back. He even had the gall to brag that the three things Lord Long announced were all ordered by him. He’s practically slapping your face. You have to deal with him!"
In Ji Boduan’s eyes, the reason he had lost so much face tonight was all Ye Tiance’s fault. Therefore, he had to deal with him, and Zhang Chunlei was the perfect knife to wield.
Zhang Chunlei’s face darkened. "Damn it! I came back specifically to teach that piece of trash a lesson!"
He stepped forward, pointed at Ye Tiance, and ordered, "You mongrel, are you not going to kneel and apologize to me yet? Cut off one of your hands, and maybe I’ll leave you a way out tonight!"
Once these words were out, everyone present began to shift with the wind, siding with Zhang Chunlei and applying pressure on Ye Tiance:
"Bastard, are you deaf? Didn't you hear Young Master Zhang's order?"
"Ye, do you really think that just because you know a little martial arts, you can look down on everyone? The Black Tiger Society is a terrifying force with three thousand brothers. Even if every one of them just spat on you, you’d drown!"
Facing the pressure from the crowd, Ye Tiance leaned back slightly in his chair, appearing completely at ease.
He spoke to Zhang Chunlei in a flat tone: "I gave you a way out just now. Are you really in such a hurry to come back and die?"
The scene erupted in an uproar!
At a time like this, the kid was still this arrogant? This wasn't just being blind to those around him; this was having a death wish!
The veins on Zhang Chunlei’s forehead bulged as he gritted his teeth. "You dog-born bastard, you asked for this!"
He waved his hand and shouted, "Brothers, hack off all four of his limbs!"
"Kill him!!!"
Following the order, nearly a hundred Black Tiger Society thugs, brandishing weapons, swarmed toward Ye Tiance like a dark tide...
***
The Black Tiger Society thugs were filled with towering rage, wishing they could hack Ye Tiance into mincemeat.
The sudden scene caused Xiao Qingcheng to instinctively cover her eyes! The others present also assumed that Ye Tiance was about to pay the price for his arrogance.
However, just as the thugs' attacks were about to land on Ye Tiance, they felt a blur before their eyes!
The Ye Tiance who had been sitting there had vanished. Not only him, but even the chair he was sitting on had disappeared into thin air!
Where did he go?
"Ah!!!"
Just as the thugs were bewildered, a familiar scream erupted from behind them!
Everyone turned their heads in a hurry!
They saw Zhang Chunlei knocked to the ground, and as for Ye Tiance, he was sitting right next to him, chair and all, his right foot pressed firmly onto Zhang Chunlei’s head!
The speed was so fast that not a single person present saw what had happened in those two seconds!
Everyone’s faces were filled with shock! Including Xiao Qingcheng, who felt a subconscious sigh of relief when she saw that Ye Tiance was unharmed.
The Black Tiger Society thugs were now furious and anxious, but they dared not rush forward recklessly!
As for Zhang Chunlei, he hadn't expected that even after bringing so many people, he would fail to take down Ye Tiance, and instead, be the first to be captured!
He shouted threateningly, "Damn you, take your foot off, or else..."
Ye Tiance looked down at him. Instead of removing his foot, he increased the pressure slightly and retorted, "Or else what?"
"Ah!! It hurts, it hurts!!"
Zhang Chunlei wailed in agony! He tried to struggle free, but found that Ye Tiance’s right foot was as steady as Mount Tai; no matter how much force he used, it was all in vain!
Seeing this sight, everyone gasped, their faces turning pale! If anything were to happen to Zhang Chunlei, Lord Hu, in his fury, would surely slaughter everyone present tonight!
And the facts were indeed trending in the direction they feared. One of the Black Tiger Society’s two "Kings," Feng Lei, had already called Lord Hu to ask for help!
Ji Boduan shouted anxiously, "Ye, let Young Master Zhang go! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"
Lai Jingye, Xie Bin, and others joined in, threatening Ye Tiance to release Zhang Chunlei!
Ye Tiance narrowed his eyes and sneered: "I can let him go, sure. Which one of you wants to come over and take his place?"
Ji Boduan and the others looked at each other. Where would they dare to step in and risk their own lives?
Xiao Qingcheng frowned, displeased. "Ye Tiance, are you not going to stop until you’ve dragged everyone down with you tonight?"
Ye Tiance replied calmly, "If that’s what you insist on believing, I won't argue. If you're afraid of getting dragged into this, then go as far away as you can. Your legs belong to you, after all!"
Xiao Qingcheng was choked for words. She hadn't expected Ye Tiance to be so stubborn! She really didn't know if he was confident or if he had gone mad with a desire to take revenge on her!
Just then, Feng Lei suddenly shouted, "Young Master Zhang, the message has been sent. Lord Hu will personally arrive with all the brothers in the guild in ten minutes!"
Hearing this, a flash of wild joy appeared on Zhang Chunlei’s face. He said hideously, "Did you hear that, you piece of trash? My uncle is coming! Hahaha! You're finished! Aren't you going to take your foot off yet?"
Ye Tiance increased the pressure again and laughed: "I said before, Zhang Xiaohu only has the right to kneel and kowtow in front of me. Just let him come!"
Zhang Chunlei let out a scream like a slaughtered pig!
Seeing this, Feng Lei’s face turned extremely dark. He ordered: "Brothers, guard all the exits of the venue. Before Lord Hu arrives with the men, we must not let this brat escape!"
Then, he said coldly to the guests: "As for you, if you don't want to get splattered with blood later, get back to wherever you came from!"
The guests were so terrified that their hearts were pounding, fearful of being implicated. At this moment, they completely abandoned any pretense of being wealthy elites and fled toward the exit in a swarm, cursing their parents for not giving them two more legs to run faster!
Ji Boduan quickly said to Xiao Qingcheng, "Let's go, Lord Hu is coming soon. Someone is definitely going to die tonight!"
Xiao Qingcheng looked at Ye Tiance. She bit her lip slightly and replied, "You go. I’m staying here!"
Ji Boduan stared in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Zhang Chunlei has his eyes on you already. If you don't flee in the chaos, do you know what the consequences will be?"
Xiao Qingcheng shook her head. "Regardless, the conflict with the Black Tiger Society tonight started because of the Xiao Family’s bid. I need to stay here and give Lord Hu an explanation later!"
Besides, since she was already on Zhang Chunlei’s radar, what point was there in running? You can run from the monk, but you can't run from the temple!
Seeing Xiao Qingcheng’s firm attitude, Ji Boduan sighed helplessly. "Then stay if you want. I'm leaving!"
After Ji Boduan left, Xiao Qingcheng ordered Assistant Sun: "You leave, too. What happens here has nothing to do with you!"
Assistant Sun gritted his teeth. "President Xiao, take care. I will find a way once I'm out..."
Then, he turned and ran.
Soon, the banquet hall was cleared of all the guests who had attended. Only Ye Tiance and Xiao Qingcheng remained.
Wait, no. There was also Rong Meiyan, sitting far away with a calm expression!
Seeing this, a thug stepped forward, pointed toward Rong Meiyan’s direction, and asked Feng Lei: "Brother Feng, what should we do about that woman?"
Feng Lei frowned. On the surface, that woman was charming and appeared to be a top-tier beauty. But the aura of someone in a position of power emanating from within her was very oppressive. His intuition told him that her identity was anything but simple!
So, he said coldly, "Ignore her! We'll decide what to do after Lord Hu arrives!"
"Yes!"
...
At this moment, a storm was sweeping across all of Jiangnan City.
The ten nightclubs, twenty KTVs, and thirty clubs under the Black Tiger Society all received the same order at the same moment!
Every brother, armed with weapons and driving their cars, poured toward the Cloud Top Hotel from every direction!
Every road in the city was filled with convoys of dark cars speeding along!
The pedestrians on the sidewalks were terrified and scrambled to avoid them, discussing the events:
"My god! Those are Lord Hu’s men. With so many of them moving at once, something big must have happened!"
"Who is so daring that they’ve provoked the Black Tiger Society to this extent?"
"Three thousand brothers of the Black Tiger Society are out. I’m afraid the skies of Jiangnan City are about to change!"
"..."
Inside a black Rolls-Royce headed toward the Cloud Top Hotel, Zhang Xiaohu, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, sat in the back seat with a cigar in his mouth. One hand was draped around a seductive beauty, while the other wandered over her smooth, fair thighs!
At this moment, his expression was chillingly cold! Since he had left that terrifying "City of Fallen" years ago, it had been a long time since anyone dared to treat him with such disregard!
He took a deep drag of his cigar and gritted his teeth. "Little Lei, hold on for a little longer. Uncle will surely make those who bullied you die without a burial place!"