After several seconds of complete silence, a raucous commotion abruptly erupted, and a sense of panic and unease spread through the entire crowd like a virus!
"What is that?!"
"What on earth is going on?! Is something happening in Yuncheng?!"
"I've never seen anything like this before... Is this the supernatural perimeter?!"
"Are we experiencing supernatural disasters again?!"
Not only were all of the normal people present astonished beyond belief, even all of the investigators in the hearse had risen to their feet and were staring up at the sky with incredulous expressions. At the same time, the sharp sound of an alarm rang out from their laptops in unison.
Red lights were flashing incessantly as a mechanical voice repeated the same message over and over again. "Alert! Alert! True energy readings in excess of one hundred million have been registered... Alert! Alert!..."
An investigator was looking up at the sky with his mouth gaped wide open, completely oblivious to the fact that his mouse had just clattered onto the ground.
Qin Ye had also risen to his feet, and he was looking up at the characters in the sky. Even he could feel a slight sense of peril at the sight of them.
"This is the Heavenly Teacher Seal!" He took a deep breath as he cast his gaze toward Yuncheng.
Taoist Master Zhang had finally activated the Heavenly Teacher Seal, which meant that he was facing a Yama-King level opponent!
Time seemed to have fallen completely still in this instant, and Qin Ye was looking out of the car window intently with bated breath. Countless thoughts were flashing through his mind one after another, and he was holding onto the sides of his coffin with a white-knuckled grip.
Was this an opportunity?
He didn't know.
He didn't know why Taoist Master Zhang was facing a Yama-King, thereby forcing him to activate the Heavenly Teacher Seal. No one could've anticipated this radical turn of events!
If he were to do nothing, then perhaps he would be stuck here for the next few hours. With an Abyssal Prefect inspecting this place once every five minutes, anything that they did would quickly be noticed, and there was virtually no chance for them to reach Yuncheng.
However, there was perhaps an opportunity now.
Right in front of everyone's astonished eyes, more and more characters began to appear in the sky, and in the next instant, countless projections suddenly emerged from the clouds. They were all wielding longswords of cloud and mist, giving them the appearance of celestial deities descending from the heavens upon Yuncheng!
The entire world seemed to stand still in this instant.
All of the city's citizens, including the drivers of the cars stuck at the stockade, looked on with their mouths gaped wide open at this miraculous scene.
Qin Ye was also watching, but he wasn't looking at the proceedings unfolding before him. Instead, he was counting down the time internally.
All of a sudden, he raised his head as his eyes abruptly lit up. "It's been six minutes since this place was last inspected!"
That was only to be expected.
He didn't know why Taoist Master Zhang had suddenly decided to lash out, but he had well and truly attracted the attention of the entire city.
Qin Ye crouched down slightly like a leopard about to pounce, and his origin runes of desires were activated to completely conceal all of his desires. His Yin energy was also growing weaker and weaker as he prepared to set off.
In the next instant, the countless projections of cloud and mist in the sky let loose a torrential barrage of arrows that descended toward Yuncheng. Immediately after that, an enormous shockwave erupted out of Yuncheng in all directions like a tsunami!
"Holy shit!" There were countless people watching from the sealed road, and some had even pulled out their phones to take videos. However, in the face of the powerful shockwaves, all of them screamed as they rushed back into their cars.
Countless car doors were closed one after another, and in the instant that the shockwave reached the sealed road, the stockade up ahead was sent flying like a piece of paper. It was as if a disaster movie had been replicated in reality, and the shockwave devoured and inundated everything in its path.
Amid the chaos, a pair of eyes sprang open, inspecting the surroundings like an apex predator.
It was Qin Ye.
Upon reaching this point, the shockwave had already lost most of its power, but it still caused the hearse to sway violently.
However, no matter how much the hearse veered or trembled, Qin Ye remained in perfect balance and stability, and his robes and long hair were flapping incessantly.
"Five..." He paid no heed to the tumbling investigators around him, and a serious look appeared on his face as he gathered his Yin energy.
"Four..." No one knew what he was counting down to, yet with each number that he uttered, his Yin energy would grow more condensed, and it was clear that he was priming himself into his peak condition.
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One!" Upon completing his countdown, he didn't immediately spring into action. Instead, he closed his eyes and carefully released his consciousness.
There was no Yama-King level consciousness sweeping over this area!
In the wake of the mighty display of power from the Heavenly Teacher Seal, Yuncheng was made to look like a city that sat above the clouds, and amid the chaos, no one was paying any attention to this road!
Qin Ye's eyes abruptly sprang open as he shot forth like a speeding arrow directly toward the toll station up ahead.
At this point, it was 3 PM, and there were still nine hours left until the closing of the Yin Yang Mezzanines.
……………………………………………………
An Audi sedan veered across the road, and it almost crashed into the guardrail before just barely drawing to a halt. Secretary Zhang was panting heavily as he looked up ahead with a slack-jawed expression, and his lips were trembling uncontrollably. Only after several seconds did he return to his senses, upon which he immediately turned around. "Mayor Bai!"
"Shut up and drive!" In the backseat, Bai Liangping pulled out his handkerchief before gently dabbing at the cold sweat on his forehead.
He had no idea what had just happened. All he had heard was a massive sound, following which the Audi sedan he was in was sent screeching across the road, and even now, he was still in a state of shock.
He had been resting with his eyes closed this entire time, and by the time he opened his eyes, the scene around him had already descended into chaos.
"Mayor Bai, wouldn't it be a better idea if we returned to the Special Investigations Department for now?" Secretary Zhang carefully asked.
The supernatural disasters were still fresh in his memory, and all those terrifying memories were flooding back into his mind.
"Are you an idiot?" Bai Liangping yelled in an enraged voice. "There's an investor from Hong Kong waiting for us right now, and they'll only be here until 6 PM! Take a look at what time it is now! You want us to go back and miss this opportunity?!"
"I..."
"We're only 300 meters away from the Crown Hotel, and we're going there even if we have to walk!" As soon as his voice trailed off, Bai Liangping opened the car door before walking out in a determined manner.
The entire area had been inundated by a sea of mist, but there was still visibility up to around 10 meters.
He adjusted his own tie as he gritted his teeth tightly.
There was no way he was going to pass up 1.2 billion USD!
Furthermore, too many areas of Mount Tianmu had been dug up, and apparently, some people from the provincial government had already caught on to what was happening. If he couldn't offload this ticking time bomb to someone else, he would be facing the disciplinary committee very soon!
He was still young with a bright future ahead, so he certainly couldn't allow himself to fall here!
Half an hour later, a middle-aged man stood up with a smile in a spacious cafe, then reached out a hand with a slightly surprised look on his face. "Welcome, Mayor Bai. Truth be told, I didn't think you were going to come. I was already preparing to set off for the airport. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Li Lianshun's cousin, Li Zhengkai, the CEO of the Hong Kong Integrity Corporation."
"Apologies for my tardiness, I was held up at work a little longer than expected." Bai Liangping also reached out with a smile, and the two shared a brief handshake.
They were situated at the center of the Crown Hotel's cafe, but there wasn't even a single person around them. Bai Liangping was struck by an instinctive sense of unease upon seeing this, and his brows furrowed slightly as he suggested, "Perhaps we should go somewhere more private."
Li Zhengkai sat down onto the soft sofa behind him, then picked up his coffee cup before taking a sip, casting a quick glance at his own wrist as he did so. "Rest assured, Mayor Bai, I've reserved the entire cafe."
Bai Liangping's expression changed ever so slightly as he caught sight of the watch on Li Zhangkai's wrist. It was a custom Rolex watch, of which there were less than 500 worldwide, and each of them would fetch a price in the seven figures.
"Alright, shall we begin then?"
"Of course." Li Zhengkai raised his cup with a smile as he said, "I'm not very familiar with this cousin of mine, but I heard about the project from him, and it sounds very intrigued, so our corporation would perhaps be interested in it."
Bai Liangping turned toward his secretary, and the latter immediately opened his briefcase before pulling out the file that contained the information on Mount Tianmu, while Bai Liangping began to surreptitiously size up Li Zhengkai.
His attire and mannerisms certainly fit the image of a wealthy businessman in Bai Liangping's mind.
However, he had never heard of this Integrity Corporation!
Any corporation capable of mustering up 1.2 billion USD at once was definitely no ordinary corporation, so there was no way that he wouldn't have heard of it. The first step to attracting investors was to get a good grasp on the domestic corporate environment, including that of Formosa and Hong Kong. If the prospective investor here were something like the Formosa Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, perhaps he wouldn't even ask any questions at all, but this Integrity Corporation was nowhere near as reliable in his eyes.
He was well aware of the issues with the Mountain Tianmu project, and he didn't dare to hand it over to just any buyer.
Li Zhengkai had five assistants reading the documents along with him, and Bai Liangping was rather impressed to see this. After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Mr. Li, may I ask what industry your Integrity Corporation is involved in? Pardon me for my ignorance, but I've never heard of your corporation before. I'm not raising any doubts here, it's simply standard practice for me to get a better understanding of your business when it comes to working together on such a large project. The Mount Tianmu project is one that has a lot of potential, and I would like to see your corporation's certification documents first before we decide whether we'd like to go ahead with this deal or not."
Li Zhengkai nodded in response, then picked up his coffee cup again, sneaking a glance at his watch as he did so, upon which his eyelids twitched slightly.
It was already 3:30 PM, which meant that they only had two and a half more hours left to complete the task assigned to them.
From the very beginning, he knew that if he wanted to negotiate with Bai Liangping under a standard environment, it would take weeks, perhaps even months, to seal the deal.
Thus, he couldn't approach this through normal avenues.
If he wanted to lure in Bai Liangping in the next two and a half hours, then he had to explore alternative options.
He set down his coffee cup, then casually snapped his fingers, and all of his assistants immediately set down the documents they were inspecting before leaving the cafe. Li Zhengkai then turned toward Bai Liangping with a hint of a smile on his face as he said, "Our corporation has no qualifications or credentials."
Bai Liangping raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and the hint of unease in his heart was instantly drastically exacerbated. "Mr. Li, are you trying to make a fool out of a mayor of Cathay?"
The underlying threat in his words was very apparent, yet Li Zhengkai wasn't concerned in the slightest. His smile remained unchanged as he looked directly into Bai Liangping's eyes before asking, "Mayor Bai, how much do you think 1.2 billion USD will convert to if it's laundered at the international market price?"
Bai Liangping immediately rose to his feet before storming away with a cold expression. "I have no time to waste with you, Mr. Li. I wish you a safe trip back to Hong Kong."
This man had the gall to blatantly speak about money laundering!
As he made his way to the entrance of the cafe, he aimed a vicious glare at Li Lianshun. If it weren't for the fact that they were in a public setting, he would be tempted to give the idiot a violent beating!
The Mount Tianmu project was like a pile of rotten meat, yet it had somehow attracted a tiger! This was definitely not a corporation that he wanted to be working with!
Right as he was about to leave, Li Zhengkai's voice rang out again. "Hold on a minute, Mayor Bai. I can do a 10% customs clearance fee. Would that be enough for you to reconsider?"
The automatic sliding doors were slowly closing, but they didn't close completely as Bai Liangping had paused right in the middle.
Li Zhengkai continued, "All you need to do is find a supervision company that can take the blame for you, and you'll be able to completely offload the Mount Tianmu project to me. According to my research, this project is missing three hundred million renminbi, and all of those funds have gone to you and your nephew's real estate and shell companies. I'm not sure how much longer you'll be able to cover that up for, so I would advise you to reconsider. Right now, I only have just over two hours before I have to go."
The automatic sliding doors finally fell shut, while Bai Liangping had already re-entered the cafe.
He turned around, and a devious smile had appeared on his face. "Raise the customs clearance fee to 15%, and I think we can have a good chat."
After several seconds of complete silence, a raucous commotion abruptly erupted, and a sense of panic and unease spread through the entire crowd like a virus!
"What is that?!"
"What on earth is going on?! Is something happening in Yuncheng?!"
"I've never seen anything like this before... Is this the supernatural perimeter?!"
"Are we experiencing supernatural disasters again?!"
Not only were all of the normal people present astonished beyond belief, even all of the investigators in the hearse had risen to their feet and were staring up at the sky with incredulous expressions. At the same time, the sharp sound of an alarm rang out from their laptops in unison.
Red lights were flashing incessantly as a mechanical voice repeated the same message over and over again. "Alert! Alert! True energy readings in excess of one hundred million have been registered... Alert! Alert!..."
An investigator was looking up at the sky with his mouth gaped wide open, completely oblivious to the fact that his mouse had just clattered onto the ground.
Qin Ye had also risen to his feet, and he was looking up at the characters in the sky. Even he could feel a slight sense of peril at the sight of them.
"This is the Heavenly Teacher Seal!" He took a deep breath as he cast his gaze toward Yuncheng.
Taoist Master Zhang had finally activated the Heavenly Teacher Seal, which meant that he was facing a Yama-King level opponent!
Time seemed to have fallen completely still in this instant, and Qin Ye was looking out of the car window intently with bated breath. Countless thoughts were flashing through his mind one after another, and he was holding onto the sides of his coffin with a white-knuckled grip.
Was this an opportunity?
He didn't know.
He didn't know why Taoist Master Zhang was facing a Yama-King, thereby forcing him to activate the Heavenly Teacher Seal. No one could've anticipated this radical turn of events!
If he were to do nothing, then perhaps he would be stuck here for the next few hours. With an Abyssal Prefect inspecting this place once every five minutes, anything that they did would quickly be noticed, and there was virtually no chance for them to reach Yuncheng.
However, there was perhaps an opportunity now.
Right in front of everyone's astonished eyes, more and more characters began to appear in the sky, and in the next instant, countless projections suddenly emerged from the clouds. They were all wielding longswords of cloud and mist, giving them the appearance of celestial deities descending from the heavens upon Yuncheng!
The entire world seemed to stand still in this instant.
All of the city's citizens, including the drivers of the cars stuck at the stockade, looked on with their mouths gaped wide open at this miraculous scene.
Qin Ye was also watching, but he wasn't looking at the proceedings unfolding before him. Instead, he was counting down the time internally.
All of a sudden, he raised his head as his eyes abruptly lit up. "It's been six minutes since this place was last inspected!"
That was only to be expected.
He didn't know why Taoist Master Zhang had suddenly decided to lash out, but he had well and truly attracted the attention of the entire city.
Qin Ye crouched down slightly like a leopard about to pounce, and his origin runes of desires were activated to completely conceal all of his desires. His Yin energy was also growing weaker and weaker as he prepared to set off.
In the next instant, the countless projections of cloud and mist in the sky let loose a torrential barrage of arrows that descended toward Yuncheng. Immediately after that, an enormous shockwave erupted out of Yuncheng in all directions like a tsunami!
"Holy shit!" There were countless people watching from the sealed road, and some had even pulled out their phones to take videos. However, in the face of the powerful shockwaves, all of them screamed as they rushed back into their cars.
Countless car doors were closed one after another, and in the instant that the shockwave reached the sealed road, the stockade up ahead was sent flying like a piece of paper. It was as if a disaster movie had been replicated in reality, and the shockwave devoured and inundated everything in its path.
Amid the chaos, a pair of eyes sprang open, inspecting the surroundings like an apex predator.
It was Qin Ye.
Upon reaching this point, the shockwave had already lost most of its power, but it still caused the hearse to sway violently.
However, no matter how much the hearse veered or trembled, Qin Ye remained in perfect balance and stability, and his robes and long hair were flapping incessantly.
"Five..." He paid no heed to the tumbling investigators around him, and a serious look appeared on his face as he gathered his Yin energy.
"Four..." No one knew what he was counting down to, yet with each number that he uttered, his Yin energy would grow more condensed, and it was clear that he was priming himself into his peak condition.
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One!" Upon completing his countdown, he didn't immediately spring into action. Instead, he closed his eyes and carefully released his consciousness.
There was no Yama-King level consciousness sweeping over this area!
In the wake of the mighty display of power from the Heavenly Teacher Seal, Yuncheng was made to look like a city that sat above the clouds, and amid the chaos, no one was paying any attention to this road!
Qin Ye's eyes abruptly sprang open as he shot forth like a speeding arrow directly toward the toll station up ahead.
At this point, it was 3 PM, and there were still nine hours left until the closing of the Yin Yang Mezzanines.
……………………………………………………
An Audi sedan veered across the road, and it almost crashed into the guardrail before just barely drawing to a halt. Secretary Zhang was panting heavily as he looked up ahead with a slack-jawed expression, and his lips were trembling uncontrollably. Only after several seconds did he return to his senses, upon which he immediately turned around. "Mayor Bai!"
"Shut up and drive!" In the backseat, Bai Liangping pulled out his handkerchief before gently dabbing at the cold sweat on his forehead.
He had no idea what had just happened. All he had heard was a massive sound, following which the Audi sedan he was in was sent screeching across the road, and even now, he was still in a state of shock.
He had been resting with his eyes closed this entire time, and by the time he opened his eyes, the scene around him had already descended into chaos.
"Mayor Bai, wouldn't it be a better idea if we returned to the Special Investigations Department for now?" Secretary Zhang carefully asked.
The supernatural disasters were still fresh in his memory, and all those terrifying memories were flooding back into his mind.
"Are you an idiot?" Bai Liangping yelled in an enraged voice. "There's an investor from Hong Kong waiting for us right now, and they'll only be here until 6 PM! Take a look at what time it is now! You want us to go back and miss this opportunity?!"
"I..."
"We're only 300 meters away from the Crown Hotel, and we're going there even if we have to walk!" As soon as his voice trailed off, Bai Liangping opened the car door before walking out in a determined manner.
The entire area had been inundated by a sea of mist, but there was still visibility up to around 10 meters.
He adjusted his own tie as he gritted his teeth tightly.
There was no way he was going to pass up 1.2 billion USD!
Furthermore, too many areas of Mount Tianmu had been dug up, and apparently, some people from the provincial government had already caught on to what was happening. If he couldn't offload this ticking time bomb to someone else, he would be facing the disciplinary committee very soon!
He was still young with a bright future ahead, so he certainly couldn't allow himself to fall here!
Half an hour later, a middle-aged man stood up with a smile in a spacious cafe, then reached out a hand with a slightly surprised look on his face. "Welcome, Mayor Bai. Truth be told, I didn't think you were going to come. I was already preparing to set off for the airport. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Li Lianshun's cousin, Li Zhengkai, the CEO of the Hong Kong Integrity Corporation."
"Apologies for my tardiness, I was held up at work a little longer than expected." Bai Liangping also reached out with a smile, and the two shared a brief handshake.
They were situated at the center of the Crown Hotel's cafe, but there wasn't even a single person around them. Bai Liangping was struck by an instinctive sense of unease upon seeing this, and his brows furrowed slightly as he suggested, "Perhaps we should go somewhere more private."
Li Zhengkai sat down onto the soft sofa behind him, then picked up his coffee cup before taking a sip, casting a quick glance at his own wrist as he did so. "Rest assured, Mayor Bai, I've reserved the entire cafe."
Bai Liangping's expression changed ever so slightly as he caught sight of the watch on Li Zhangkai's wrist. It was a custom Rolex watch, of which there were less than 500 worldwide, and each of them would fetch a price in the seven figures.
"Alright, shall we begin then?"
"Of course." Li Zhengkai raised his cup with a smile as he said, "I'm not very familiar with this cousin of mine, but I heard about the project from him, and it sounds very intrigued, so our corporation would perhaps be interested in it."
Bai Liangping turned toward his secretary, and the latter immediately opened his briefcase before pulling out the file that contained the information on Mount Tianmu, while Bai Liangping began to surreptitiously size up Li Zhengkai.
His attire and mannerisms certainly fit the image of a wealthy businessman in Bai Liangping's mind.
However, he had never heard of this Integrity Corporation!
Any corporation capable of mustering up 1.2 billion USD at once was definitely no ordinary corporation, so there was no way that he wouldn't have heard of it. The first step to attracting investors was to get a good grasp on the domestic corporate environment, including that of Formosa and Hong Kong. If the prospective investor here were something like the Formosa Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, perhaps he wouldn't even ask any questions at all, but this Integrity Corporation was nowhere near as reliable in his eyes.
He was well aware of the issues with the Mountain Tianmu project, and he didn't dare to hand it over to just any buyer.
Li Zhengkai had five assistants reading the documents along with him, and Bai Liangping was rather impressed to see this. After a brief hesitation, he asked, "Mr. Li, may I ask what industry your Integrity Corporation is involved in? Pardon me for my ignorance, but I've never heard of your corporation before. I'm not raising any doubts here, it's simply standard practice for me to get a better understanding of your business when it comes to working together on such a large project. The Mount Tianmu project is one that has a lot of potential, and I would like to see your corporation's certification documents first before we decide whether we'd like to go ahead with this deal or not."
Li Zhengkai nodded in response, then picked up his coffee cup again, sneaking a glance at his watch as he did so, upon which his eyelids twitched slightly.
It was already 3:30 PM, which meant that they only had two and a half more hours left to complete the task assigned to them.
From the very beginning, he knew that if he wanted to negotiate with Bai Liangping under a standard environment, it would take weeks, perhaps even months, to seal the deal.
Thus, he couldn't approach this through normal avenues.
If he wanted to lure in Bai Liangping in the next two and a half hours, then he had to explore alternative options.
He set down his coffee cup, then casually snapped his fingers, and all of his assistants immediately set down the documents they were inspecting before leaving the cafe. Li Zhengkai then turned toward Bai Liangping with a hint of a smile on his face as he said, "Our corporation has no qualifications or credentials."
Bai Liangping raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and the hint of unease in his heart was instantly drastically exacerbated. "Mr. Li, are you trying to make a fool out of a mayor of Cathay?"
The underlying threat in his words was very apparent, yet Li Zhengkai wasn't concerned in the slightest. His smile remained unchanged as he looked directly into Bai Liangping's eyes before asking, "Mayor Bai, how much do you think 1.2 billion USD will convert to if it's laundered at the international market price?"
Bai Liangping immediately rose to his feet before storming away with a cold expression. "I have no time to waste with you, Mr. Li. I wish you a safe trip back to Hong Kong."
This man had the gall to blatantly speak about money laundering!
As he made his way to the entrance of the cafe, he aimed a vicious glare at Li Lianshun. If it weren't for the fact that they were in a public setting, he would be tempted to give the idiot a violent beating!
The Mount Tianmu project was like a pile of rotten meat, yet it had somehow attracted a tiger! This was definitely not a corporation that he wanted to be working with!
Right as he was about to leave, Li Zhengkai's voice rang out again. "Hold on a minute, Mayor Bai. I can do a 10% customs clearance fee. Would that be enough for you to reconsider?"
The automatic sliding doors were slowly closing, but they didn't close completely as Bai Liangping had paused right in the middle.
Li Zhengkai continued, "All you need to do is find a supervision company that can take the blame for you, and you'll be able to completely offload the Mount Tianmu project to me. According to my research, this project is missing three hundred million renminbi, and all of those funds have gone to you and your nephew's real estate and shell companies. I'm not sure how much longer you'll be able to cover that up for, so I would advise you to reconsider. Right now, I only have just over two hours before I have to go."
The automatic sliding doors finally fell shut, while Bai Liangping had already re-entered the cafe.
He turned around, and a devious smile had appeared on his face. "Raise the customs clearance fee to 15%, and I think we can have a good chat."
