Then all the high-ranking members of Hell Gate kowtowed in unison, shattering the floor tiles outside Ye Huan's courtyard gate.
As they kowtowed, they pleaded:
"We beg the Underworld King to take over as the Gate Master..."
Chapter 13: A Brilliant Plan to Torture Ye Huan
The scene before their eyes was so grand and shocking that it left Yaoji and Hongluan petrified on the spot!
"Hurry up and agree!"
Coming back to her senses, Yaoji ran over to Ye Huan, shook his arm, and urged:
"If you don't agree, they're going to smash every tile in front of our house with their heads. Besides, I think they're quite sincere, and being the Gate Master of Hell Gate sounds pretty cool. You should just say yes!"
Upon hearing this, every single high-ranking member of Hell Gate felt deeply grateful to Yaoji's ancestors going back eighteen generations.
"Underworld King, if you don't agree, we will kneel right here until we die, kowtowing until our last breath."
The bald, fat man declared fiercely.
With that, the Hell Gate higher-ups increased the speed of their kowtows, their heads slamming into the ground to create a chilling, rhythmic thudding sound.
"You should just agree!"
Hongluan also persuaded him.
Originally, upon learning that Ye Huan was not the Gate Master of Hell Gate, she had breathed a sigh of relief.
However, knowing that Hell Gate was currently plagued by factionalism and endless infighting, she worried that if such an evil organization split apart, it would inevitably throw the world into chaos and potentially spill over into Huaxia.
Though ruling over Hell Gate would elevate the Underworld King's global deterrence to an even higher level, that was still far better than Hell Gate plunging the world into chaos.
"Fine!"
Ye Huan sighed, agreeing with apparent reluctance!
Snap!
The Hell Gate higher-ups, who had been kowtowing frantically, all straightened their upper bodies, their faces flushed with ecstasy and excitement.
Six years!
The Underworld King had finally agreed to take over as the Gate Master of Hell Gate!
How touching!
"All of you, get up!" Ye Huan said.
Snap!
Every high-ranking member of Hell Gate stood up as one, and then collectively shot Yaoji and Hongluan a look of deep gratitude.
Seeing this, Hongluan was overjoyed. By persuading the Underworld King to accept the position of Gate Master, she had unintentionally won the gratitude of all the higher-ups in Hell Gate.
That way, if Hell Gate ever stirred up trouble in Huaxia in the future, they would surely show her some respect.
With that in mind!
Hongluan took off her baseball cap and face mask, ensuring that all the high-ranking members of Hell Gate could see her face clearly, and making sure they all knew that it was Hongluan, one of the eight Country-Protecting Gods of War of Huaxia, who had helped them.
Meanwhile, Yaoji saw the looks of gratitude the Hell Gate higher-ups were giving her and completely misinterpreted their intentions.
In her mind, the Underworld King was bound to have many women in the future, and as his favorite consort, she would inevitably get dragged into palace intrigue.
Now, the most powerful force in the Underworld King's hands—Hell Gate—and all its higher-ups were grateful to her. When the palace struggles came later, Hell Gate would undoubtedly stand on her side.
With that thought!
Yaoji suddenly felt that she had very little pressure in her bid to become the Underworld King's queen!
"Aside from the intelligence department, everyone else in Hell Gate is to enter a state of complete silence." Ye Huan ordered.
"Understood!"
The high-ranking members of Hell Gate chorused.
"Clear out!" Ye Huan waved dismissively.
Yaoji, Hongluan, and all the Hell Gate higher-ups froze on the spot.
When a new Gate Master took office, didn't he usually give an inaugural speech?
Just a single command and it was over?
"What? Do you lot want to stay for dinner?" Ye Huan glared at them.
The Hell Gate higher-ups shuddered, scrambled back into their cars, and sped away in a flash, vanishing without a trace!
Ye Huan walked over to the butler, the chef, the gardener, the maid, and the driver. After looking them up and down, he smiled and asked:
"It's been a year. Have you all been well?"
A year ago, when he was sent into the Prison of Trapped Gods, these five staff members had come here.
"Everything remains the same, it's just a bit lonely around the house without the master!" the butler said respectfully.
"With the master gone, my heart just isn't in my cooking anymore!" the chef said.
"That's the truth. When the master isn't here, the chef's food tastes utterly dreadful," the maid chimed in with a complaint.
"Master, the gardener planted a bunch of vegetables all over the place. He's turned our lovely garden into a patch of farmland, and you really ought to do something about him," the driver snitched.
"Driver, what do you mean by that? I planted these vegetables so that when the master comes back, he can eat some fresh, organic, pollution-free greens. Did I do something wrong?" the gardener retorted.
Looking at the five of them acting just as they always had, Ye Huan felt as though he had returned to the days they used to share. It was so warm, filled with the genuine feeling of home.
Yaoji ran over to complain:
"Ming, listen..."
She suddenly didn't know what to call Ye Huan. As the Underworld King's future favorite consort, calling him Underworld King directly felt too distant, but calling him Ye Huan didn't feel appropriate just yet.
So she simply launched straight into her complaint:"I am your personally appointed Butler, yet these five people didn't even acknowledge me. They completely fail to treat me like a leader."
Ye Huan chuckled and said, "I did make you my Butler, but I never said you were the Butler here. I have hundreds of homes all over the world."
Yaoji's eyes lit up. "Do you mean you want to make me the Chief Butler of all your homes?"
Ye Huan: "???"
Why was this girl's imagination just as abnormal as Lin Xi's!
Hongluan watched Ye Huan and the others laughing and chatting, and her mental image of the Underworld King suddenly shattered.
So the Underworld King in everyday life was actually this amiable, this down-to-earth, and this full of ordinary human warmth.
"Hongluan, come inside and have a cup of tea!"
Ye Huan turned his head to look at Hongluan and invited her.
"Alright!"
Hongluan readily agreed.
Immediately, everyone entered Ye Huan's house together.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi had just arrived at the Lin's Group president's office.
After sitting down, Lin Xi suddenly thought that Ye Huan, that cheap bastard, rogue, scoundrel, and beast, must not have seen that girl in the baseball cap for a long time.
Given Ye Huan's usual disgusting behavior, he would definitely go to the girl's house or take her to a hotel room for some hanky-panky.
"Judging by the time, that scoundrel Ye should have arrived at the girl's house by now, or already taken her to a hotel, showered, and gotten ready to do the deed. If I call him right now and interrupt his fun, I'll definitely frustrate him to death!"
A brilliant scheme to torture Ye Huan suddenly sprouted in Lin Xi's mind.
She immediately took out her phone and called Ye Huan.
At this moment, Ye Huan and the others had just entered the luxury mansion, and the Butler and servants were immediately busy boiling water and brewing tea.
Ye Huan invited Hongluan to sit down and sat down opposite her. No sooner had he sat down than Yaoji sat right next to him, pressing tightly against his arm and wrapping her arms around it.
Yaoji was still wearing a white bathrobe, and a sideways glance from Ye Huan allowed him to catch a glimpse of the deep cleavage and snowy white skin within the V-neck of the robe.
Hongluan was dumbfounded, thinking to herself that the Underworld King had just registered his marriage with Lin Xi, yet there was still a Yaoji at home. This man was truly too promiscuous!
Out loud, however, she asked:
"When you returned to Pengcheng, was it really just to repay Lin Tai for saving your life, marry Lin Xi, and become a matrilocal son-in-law of the Lin Family, with no other purpose?"
These were the words Ye Huan had told her on the way back while she was driving him, but she did not believe them.
How could the dignified Underworld King lower himself to become a matrilocal son-in-law of the Lin Family? Was that even possible?
"I—"
Just as Ye Huan was about to answer, his phone suddenly rang. Seeing that it was a call from Lin Xi, he immediately answered.
Lin Xi: "Scoundrel Ye, right now, immediately, at once, do a handstand and sing for me."
Chapter 14: Coming to Demand an Explanation
To make Ye Huan sick, Lin Xi deliberately raised the volume of her voice, intending for the girl in the baseball cap to hear and drive a wedge between Ye Huan and the girl.
And her plan succeeded!
As a God of War, Hongluan's hearing was naturally superior to ordinary people. Coupled with how loud Lin Xi's voice was, Hongluan heard every single word with crystal clarity.
Hongluan was shocked on the spot, thinking Lin Xi must have the guts of a giant bear. How dare she call the Underworld King a scoundrel, and even order him to do a handstand and sing? Was she tired of living?
Thinking of this, Hongluan grew extremely nervous. If the Underworld King wanted to kill Lin Xi, she wouldn't be able to stop him!
"Is that the little weakling you're going to marry?"
Not only Hongluan, but Yaoji, who was hugging Ye Huan beside him, also heard Lin Xi's voice and asked.
She was right next to Ye Huan, and since the volume wasn't lowered, Lin Xi on the other end of the phone heard every word Yaoji said.
It made Lin Xi so furious she could spit blood—that girl in the baseball cap actually called her a little weakling.
Poor Hongluan ended up taking the blame for Yaoji.
"Yeah!"
Ye Huan nodded and replied to Lin Xi with a dark expression:
"I'm busy right now. Can I sing later?"
Yaoji confirmed that the person calling Ye Huan was the "Queen," and she was over-joyed, thinking that the Queen was courting death, making this the perfect time for her, the favored imperial concubine, to rise in status.
She was just about to fan the flames when she heard Lin Xi's voice come through again:
"No way. Right now, immediately, at once, sing. Sing while doing a handstand. Don't sing those disgusting rogue songs; sing... sing *Conquest*."
Hearing this, Hongluan turned pale with fright. Lin Xi really had grown tired of living. Calling the Underworld King a scoundrel was one thing, and ordering him to do a handstand and sing was one thing, but how dare she tell the Underworld King to sing *Conquest*.
It's over, it's completely over. Lin Xi was a dead woman now, and the entire Lin Family was in jeopardy too!
"This is going too far!"
Yaoji finally seized the chance to speak. Suppressing her excitement, she said indignantly:"How can that little green vegetable be like this? To be able to marry you, it's like the ancestors of her family smoked through their graves. Not only is she completely ungrateful, but she even calls you a scumbag and orders you to do a handstand and sing—and the song she chose is the highly insulting *Conquest*. Why would you want to bring such a woman home? To worship her like an ancestor? I suggest you don't marry her at all."
Lin Xi heard every single word of Yaoji's rant, mostly because Yaoji's voice was simply too loud; it was hard *not* to hear her.
She immediately snapped back through the phone:
"Who are you calling a little green vegetable? You're the little green vegetable! Your whole family is little green vegetables! Being able to marry me means the ancestors of scumbag Ye's family smoked through their graves. Only you treat him like some kind of treasure—to me, he's nothing more than a steaming pile of dog shit!"
Yaoji was absolutely thrilled when she heard that. She turned to Ye Huan and said,
"Did you hear that? Did you hear that? She called you a steaming pile of dog shit! Can you just take that? Because I certainly can't! Just give me the nod, and I'll go right now and beat the crap out of whatever she failed to evacuate yesterday!"
Watching Yaoji and Lin Xi start a shouting match across the airwaves made Ye Huan almost laugh out loud. Still, he knew very well why Yaoji was acting like this, and he had already guessed Lin Xi's little scheme.
"Are you going to start or not?"
At that moment, Lin Xi's urging voice came through.
"Fine, fine, fine, I'm starting! I'm starting right now!"
Ye Huan glanced at Hongluan, who was standing there pale with fright, and smiled.
Lin Xi chimed in: "Turn on the video. I want to watch you do a handstand and sing *Conquest*."
With that, she hung up and immediately sent a video call request.
Ye Huan handed his phone to Hongluan and said, "Do me a favor and hold this. Make sure you get a good angle!"
Then he walked over to an open space in the living room and flipped up into a handstand.
Hongluan stood there utterly dumbfounded, her mind blank. She couldn't help thinking: *Is this really the Underworld King? How else could he possibly do something like this?*
"Have you started yet?" asked Ye Huan, upside down.
"Oh, oh..." Hongluan hurriedly accepted Lin Xi's video call request and stood up, aiming the camera at Ye Huan.
"Finally, you found a way to decide the winner and loser... The price of defeat is that we shatter into pieces together..."
Ye Huan began to howl the song while holding his handstand.
Hongluan let out a mental scream of absolute disbelief. *Holy crap, the man is actually singing it!*
On the other end of the video, Lin Xi paused when she saw Ye Huan on screen. She thought to herself: *Why is scumbag Ye still wearing his clothes?*
*Did I miscalculate the time? Is scumbag Ye still catching up with the girl in the baseball cap, trying to warm up their relationship a bit more before they go take a shower and do... hehehe?*
Right then, she suddenly heard Yaoji's voice coming through the phone:
"You've been on a plane for so long, and then you were dragged all over the place by that little green vegetable for hours. Go take a shower after you finish singing."
*They're going to take a shower! They're going to take a shower!* Lin Xi grew instantly excited. "Alright, I have things to do right now. You can stop singing there."
She abruptly cut off the video call, planning to wait until Ye Huan finished his shower—right when he was about to get down to business with the baseball cap girl, or perhaps just as they started—to call him back and force him to do a handstand and sing again.
*"I'll drive you crazy with frustration!"* Lin Xi thought viciously.
On the other end, Ye Huan stopped his handstand and said, "I suppose I do need a shower. Hongluan, wait a moment, I'll be right back down after I wash up."
"Okay!" Hongluan nodded. Once Ye Huan headed upstairs, she turned to Yaoji and asked, "What is the relationship between the Underworld King and Lin Xi?"
Yaoji curled her lips. "Guan and Bao's deep friendship!"
Hongluan gasped. So the legendary super assassin Yaoji was actually this vulgar! She pressed on, "Did the Underworld King really come to Pengcheng just to marry Lin Xi?"
"What else did you think?"
Not wanting to bother with Hongluan any longer, Yaoji got up, tiptoed upstairs, and ran off to sneak a peek at Ye Huan taking a shower.
Hongluan fell into deep thought. She still couldn't believe that the Underworld King had come to Pengcheng purely to marry Lin Xi and become a live-in son-in-law for the Lin Family.
Someone of the Underworld King's stature—how could he possibly lower himself to be a kept son-in-law!
Meanwhile, Lin Xi stared expectantly at the time on her phone. Twenty minutes later, feeling that enough time had passed, she figured no impatient man could possibly take a shower for this long.
By now, scumbag Ye must have already gotten started with the girl in the baseball cap.
Just as she was about to call Ye Huan, her secretary knocked and hurried in: "Director Lin, Jin Jiu, the chairman of Jin Group, is here to see you!"
*He tracked me down so fast...* Lin Xi's heart gave a violent shudder. She said, "Please show him in!"
"Understood!" The secretary immediately left.
Shortly after, a fierce, imposing middle-aged man with a slicked-back hairstyle kicked the door open and marched right in, barking accusations the moment he crossed the threshold:
"Lin Xi! How did my son Jin Feiyu offend you? Why did you call the police to have him arrested?"
"I didn't call the police. The police came to him on their own!" Lin Xi replied expressionlessly.
"My ass!"
Jin Jiu cursed furiously, storming up to Lin Xi's desk and slamming his phone down onto the surface. He glared at her angrily and shouted:
"Look at this yourself! This is the surveillance footage sent to me by the manager of Shangyang Restaurant;
"Jin Feiyu brought people to the private dining room belonging to your Lin Family. That is also the exact room where they were taken away by the police. Furthermore, the men Jin Feiyu brought with him had to be carried out—their heads were covered in blood."
At this, Jin Jiu pointed a finger at Lin Xi and raged:
"Lin Xi, oh Lin Xi! Jin Feiyu liked you so much, yet you had the people he brought beaten into that state and even called the police to arrest them. You are truly vicious!"
***
### Chapter 15: The Tragic Background of the Underworld King
Lin Xi completely ignored Jin Jiu's fury. She didn't bother picking up his phone to watch the surveillance footage either, but simply said with total calm:
"This morning, grandfather asked me to pick someone up from the airport. On the way back, we were intercepted and pursued by four cars. Twelve armed thugs got out and tried to kidnap me. I called the police and had them arrested;
"After I arrived at Shangyang Restaurant, Jin Feiyu brought people to my private room to cause trouble for me. Shortly after, the police arrived and took them away;
"According to the police, it was those twelve armed kidnappers who confessed to Jin Feiyu's criminal acts and evidence, which is why Jin Feiyu was arrested;
"As for why the men Jin Feiyu brought had blood on their heads and were unconscious, it was because Jin Feiyu ordered them to cripple the person I picked up from the airport, only for them to get beaten up instead."
Hearing this, Jin Jiu's heart plummeted straight to the bottom. If things were truly as Lin Xi described, his son Jin Feiyu was in deep trouble this time.
He took a deep breath, softened his tone slightly, and said to Lin Xi,
"Director Lin, you and Feiyu are good friends, and he has liked you for so many years. I'm sure he sent people to kidnap you with no malicious intent—it was purely meant as a joke. How about this: you and Feiyu settle this matter privately. Let's not trouble the police and the courts."
"Jin Feiyu was arrested for much more than just attempted kidnapping!" Lin Xi said.
Jin Jiu was stunned. "What else could he have done?"
"According to the police who arrested him, those twelve armed thugs confessed to numerous crimes he committed, including murder and kidnapping," Lin Xi said.
*Murder?*
Jin Jiu's expression shifted drastically.
If that charge stuck, his son Jin Feiyu was completely finished!
"Lin Xi, you've ruined my son!"
Jin Jiu's face twisted into a ferocious grimace. Glaring at Lin Xi like a venomous snake, he ground out:
"Uncle Jin, I don't quite understand what you mean. Did I tell Jin Feiyu to send people to kidnap me? Did I tell Jin Feiyu to commit murder? Did I tell Jin Feiyu to do all those lawless things?"
Lin Xi fired right back without the slightest bit of hesitation!
"You..."
Enraged, Jin Jiu pointed at Lin Xi and yelled,
"If you hadn't called the police to arrest those twelve armed thugs, they wouldn't have confessed about my son, and my son wouldn't have been arrested! The root cause of all this is you—you are the one who ruined my son!"
"You're being completely unreasonable!" Lin Xi retorted angrily.
"Is this your first day meeting me?"
Jin Jiu let out a cold snort and threatened:
"Listen to me very carefully, Lin Xi. I don't care what methods you use. If I don't see Jin Feiyu before dinner tonight, you can just wait to die!"
With that, he snatched his phone off the desk and stormed out in a rage.
Lin Xi slowly sat back down, her brows furrowed tightly, her heart filled with worry!
She knew very well what kind of person Jin Jiu was, and she knew how much weight his words carried. If Jin Jiu said he would do something, he would definitely do it.
"Grandfather..."
Lin Xi called her grandfather, Lin Tai, and recounted how Jin Jiu had come looking for her. She asked,
"What should we do now? Jin Jiu is a ruthless man who always follows through on his threats!"
Lin Tai replied: "Call Ye Huan. He has a way to deal with Jin Jiu."
"What kind of solution could a pig butcher possibly have?" Lin Xi smiled bitterly.
Lin Tai said: "How do you know he has no way if you don't even ask?"
"Fine!"
Lin Xi muttered an indifferent acknowledgment and hung up the phone, but she had no intention of calling Ye Huan to ask for a solution to Jin Jiu's threat.
In her eyes, since even she and her grandfather couldn't think of a way to deal with Jin Jiu, there was absolutely no way a pig butcher with his brains stuck in his pants could ever come up with one.
However, she could still use Ye Huan as a bodyguard—that way, she wouldn't have to be afraid of Jin Jiu sending people to harass her!
*"It's been over twenty minutes. Scumbag Ye should be done with his shower by now and starting the foreplay with the baseball cap girl..."*
Lin Xi glanced at the time, then sent a video call request to Ye Huan.
She didn't plan on having him come over to protect her right this second; she was currently at the office and completely safe. Besides, Jin Jiu had said he would deal with her only after dinner.