Chapter 154: The Secret from Twenty Years Ago!

The batch of firearms in Young Master Xu's possession had cost him a small fortune and required painful sacrifices to acquire; they were meant to serve as his ultimate trump card.

Had it not been an absolute emergency, he would never have revealed them. After all, firearms were strictly prohibited in China. If the higher-ups ever discovered them, not even the gods themselves could save him.

However, the overwhelming dominance Qin牧 (Qin Mu) had just displayed was simply too terrifying. The hundreds of men he brought had been deterred from advancing by just a single subordinate of Qin Mu.

Therefore, he intended to order his men to take out their handguns and silence Qin Mu permanently, after which he would bribe the surrounding locals. By then, naturally, no one would be able to investigate the matter of the firearms.

Yet, before he could even make a move, a military squad appeared out of nowhere, freezing them all in their tracks.

"M-Military officer, what is the meaning of this?"

Startled by the tense atmosphere, Young Master Xu broke out in a cold sweat, his eyes trembling as he looked at Liu Qiye (Liu Qiye) and the squad standing behind him.

The members of this squad were fully armed, their elite military rifles held rock-solid in the air, aimed without exception at every single one of his armed men. He knew that amateurs like them would be gunned down instantly before they even had a chance to pull the trigger.

"We are merely dealing with some minor personal grievances here. I kindly ask the officer to do us a favor and clear the path."

Forcing a guilty smile, Young Master Xu pulled a bank card from his pocket and covertly slipped it toward Liu Qiye.

Liu Qiye took the card, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and let out a dry, humorless chuckle. "So, you're very rich, are you?"

Seeing Liu Qiye accept the card, Young Master Xu smiled along with him.

Before he fully understood what was happening, however, Liu Qiye abruptly crushed the card into a useless lump of plastic, and then delivered a vicious palm strike to the top of Young Master Xu’s head, slamming him heavily to the ground and face-first into the dirt!

"The man inside is my superior!"

"You dared to point a gun at my superior, and now you have the nerve to ask me what I'm doing?"

Liu Qiye had a fiery temper. Once his anger was provoked, he threw all protocols to the wind and cursed loudly.

Yet those two sentences caused Young Master Xu’s heart to skip a beat entirely. Stunned, he lifted his head and stared at the dazzling insignia shining brightly on Liu Qiye’s shoulder.

This was a Major General!!

Yet, he had just called Qin Mu his superior?!

What kind of terrifying existence was the superior of a Major General?!

Young Master Xu’s mind went completely blank; he could not even begin to imagine it!

Worse still, he could not fathom that he had actually provoked a figure of this caliber!

"W-What is going on out there?"

Zhang Wanqing and the others could only see a man suddenly rush in and slam Young Master Xu to the ground, but the noise outside was so loud that they could not make out a single word of the argument.

However, Zhang Wanqing clearly saw that the newcomer was dressed in military uniform—he was a soldier!

"We're so lucky! To think the army just happened to be passing by," Zhang Wanqing said, her face lighting up with naive joy.

"Silly girl, what luck? This place is so remote, there's no way the army would just happen to pass by," Luo Shui said, tapping Zhang Wanqing on the head to shatter her innocence.

"Then how do you explain this?" Zhang Wanqing rubbed her head, pouting in grievance.

Luo Shui stroked Zhang Wanqing’s hair, momentarily at a loss for how to explain.

Isn't that Liu Qiye?!

She had caught a glimpse of him once before in the countryside of the Jiang family.

She had never expected this close friend of Qin Mu to show up at such a crucial moment.

Stealthily, she glanced over at Qin Mu. He stood there as calm and breezy as ever, resembling a master strategist who held everything within his calculations.

It seemed that this time, too, he had made all the necessary preparations long in advance.

"Did we interrupt you?"

Having settled the matter outside, Liu Qiye stepped through the doorway.

The burly men hired by Young Master Xu were utterly terrified the moment they laid eyes on Liu Qiye’s military uniform. Forgetting their pain, they scrambled to escape in a panic.

Before they could even take a few steps outside, however, the garrisoned squad detained them all on the spot, awaiting further disposition.

"Not at all, not at all! Thank you so much this time," Zhang Wanqing said as she stood up, bowing repeatedly to express her gratitude to Liu Qiye.

"Think nothing of it, think nothing of it," Liu Qiye waved his hand. As he looked at Qin Mu, he casually grabbed a steamed bun from the table, shoved it into his mouth, and burst into a hearty laugh.

"Deciding not to head back last night turned out to be a brilliant choice. Now I finally have something to report back to my superiors."

With that, Liu Qiye issued an order to his men outside.

"Detound every single person involved in this incident and bring them back! Interrogate them rigorously! Pry out their connections to the Yuan family one by one!"

A resounding "Yes!" echoed from afar, and the crowd blocking the entrance of the Zhang residence began to disperse as people were hauled away one by one.

"This place has been thoroughly trashed. They really didn't leave any room for mercy," Liu Qiye muttered, frowning as he looked at the wreckage scattered all around. It was difficult to find even a single decent stool left intact.

"It's fine, it's fine. None of this matters; at worst, we can just buy new ones," Elder Zhang said indifferently.

In his eyes, as long as the matriarch's spirit tablet remained unharmed, nothing else mattered.

"Officer, thank you all so much. If it weren't for you, this old man wouldn't have known what to do."

Elder Zhang’s voice trembled as he spoke, and he nearly dropped to his knees to thank Liu Qiye. Fortunately, Liu Qiye reacted quickly and caught the old man, supporting him back to his feet.