Chapter 682: It's Too Late!
'The Yu Clan's Crown Prince is terrifying!'
'In less than a month since its rise, the Hero Assembly has encompassed several southeastern provinces, exerting pressure on Jiangnan. It has a momentum of devouring thousands of miles like a tiger. If the Hero Assembly of the Yu Clan's Crown Prince, Yu Guanying, succeeds, even the Tianshi Sect might have to be wary. Such strategic planning ability is truly remarkable.'
'Although he has the Yanxia Yu Clan as his backer, the Yu Clan's Crown Prince is also an existence on par with the Young Sect Leader, the leader of the younger generation, and the one who will control the world in the future.'
Zhou Yunhu's heart was a leaden weight in his chest, his thoughts churning with deep apprehension and a heavy solemnity. The air in the lavish Hilton banquet hall felt suffocating, thick with unspoken ambitions and simmering threats. According to the intelligence he had painstakingly gathered, the First Young Master of the Yanxia Yu Clan, Yu Guanying—a man ominously dubbed the 'Yu Clan's Crown Prince'—had already secured the unwavering support of Hangzhou's preeminent expert, Old Qin Haitian.
This banquet was no mere social gathering; it was a modern-day Banquet of Hongmen, a gilded cage where submission was the only key. Failure to pledge allegiance to the Hero Assembly meant being branded its enemy. The unspoken ultimatum hung in the air like the blade of a guillotine: those who submit shall prosper, and those who resist shall perish.
[Akarin's Note: The "Banquet of Hongmen" is a famous event from 206 BC where an assassination attempt was planned at a feast. The term is now a popular idiom for a trap or a situation with a hidden agenda.]
'Tonight, in this den of predators, who could possibly stand against the Yu Clan's Crown Prince? Who has the strength to stop this tide?'
This wasn't just Zhou Yunhu's private dread; it was a question echoing in the minds of nearly every prominent figure present, their forced smiles doing little to conceal the anxiety in their eyes.
'Hostility?'
Just then, a sharp, malevolent energy pricked at Zhou Yunhu's senses. His eyes narrowed. He followed the source of the murderous intent and immediately understood, a cold sneer twisting his lips.
It was Zhang Yunhai, the imposing chairman of the Yunhai Group. The man's stare was practically a physical blow, filled with undisguised venom.
The connection was obvious. Zhang Yunhai and Zhao Chenguang had always been as close as brothers, their business and personal ties deeply intertwined. Their children, Zhao Tao and Zhang Yaqian, were even bound by a marriage alliance. It was only natural that Zhang Yunhai would believe the official narrative—that Zhou Yunhu was the puppet master behind the catastrophic collapse of the Chenguang Group.
Ordinarily, Zhou Yunhu wouldn't dare to provoke a man of Zhang Yunhai's stature. He was keenly aware that his own Young Sect Leader, Zhang Zhiyun, harbored a deep and obsessive affection for Zhang Yunhai's precious daughter, Zhang Yaqian. Harming the father would be an unforgivable offense.
However, that didn't mean he feared him. The title of Hangzhou's Underground Emperor wasn't an empty boast. His network of subordinates ran deep, their loyalty absolute, and their methods ruthless. He commanded an army in the shadows.
A cruel smile played on Zhou Yunhu's lips. His gaze, cold and sharp as obsidian, swept over Zhang Yunhai, a silent challenge passing between them. He was about to look away, dismissing the man as a temporary nuisance, when his eyes snagged on the figure standing beside the chairman.
The next moment, his eyes widened into perfect circles. A violent tremor shot through his entire body, and the blood drained from his face, leaving behind a mask of pure, unadulterated shock. He looked as if he had just seen a specter from the deepest level of hell.
"Why is he here?" The words escaped his lips as a strangled whisper.
Zhou Yunhu's gaze was locked onto Shen Anyu, who stood calmly beside Zhang Yunhai, an island of serenity in a sea of tension. His heart hammered against his ribs like a war drum.
Shen Anyu!
Acting under the direct orders of Young Sect Leader Zhang Zhiyun, Zhou Yunhu had previously investigated this man. His findings were fragmented but terrifying. He had inferred parts of Shen Anyu's identity, strongly suspecting him to be a scion of the legendary Yanxia Shen Clan.
But what truly staggered Zhou Yunhu, what sent a chill of primal fear through him, was the chain of events that followed Shen Anyu's appearance. His Young Sect Leader, the brilliant and arrogant Zhang Zhiyun, seemed to have been utterly outplayed by this man at every turn. Worse, his fiancée, the beautiful and well-connected Ji Xiaolin, had been shamelessly snatched away from him.
As for Zhang Zhiyun's recently severed arm and mysterious disappearance, Zhou Yunhu refused to connect it to Shen Anyu. It was impossible. His Young Sect Leader was a prodigy, a martial artist whose power could rival a Heavenly Master. How could a man of his generation possibly inflict such a grievous wound? Still, the suspicion that Shen Anyu belonged to the Yanxia Shen Clan felt chillingly accurate.
'Shen Anyu is actually here... at this banquet. Why? Is he... is he here to disrupt the Yu Clan's Crown Prince's grand plan?'
The gears in Zhou Yunhu's mind turned with furious speed. A sudden realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. The brilliance that flashed in his eyes burned away the last vestiges of his worry, replacing it with a dark, predatory excitement.
'That's right! The Yanxia Shen Clan and the Yanxia Yu Clan have always been mortal enemies, their rivalry spanning generations! With the Yu Clan making such a monumental move, how could the Shen Clan possibly sit back and watch? Tonight's Banquet of Hongmen is destined to become a battlefield for these two behemoths! A fierce, bloody struggle is inevitable!' A wide, vicious grin spread across his face. 'It doesn't matter who wins or loses. I'll just sit back and enjoy the show. A mutual destruction would be the perfect outcome!'
His elation, however, was tempered by a sliver of doubt.
'But what is Shen Anyu's actual standing within the Yanxia Shen Clan? Is he truly powerful enough to contend with the Yu Clan's Crown Prince?'
Zhou Yunhu's mind raced. Yu Guanying was no simple fool. He was a monster of strategic depth and overwhelming power. If the Yanxia Shen Clan hadn't sent one of their true heavyweights, they would be utterly crushed.
...
At that very moment, Zhou Yunhu was not the only one whose attention was captured. Across the expansive, glittering venue, dozens of gazes from Hangzhou's elite converged on Shen Anyu, their expressions a mixture of shock and bewilderment.
Information concerning Shen Anyu was sealed with an almost supernatural level of secrecy, so his identity remained a mystery to them. However, the woman whose hand he held was unmistakable. It was Ling Qingcheng, the stunningly beautiful and famously aloof president of the Ling Group.
The sight of Shen Anyu casually holding Ling Qingcheng's left hand, while his right was intertwined with that of another girl of pure, breathtaking beauty, sent waves of horror through the assembled magnates.
What in the world was happening?
In the cutthroat business circles of Hangzhou, Ling Qingcheng was a legend. She was known as a woman who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any man, a titan of industry with a will of iron and an intellect to match.
And now, this... two women, one man? At a public event of this magnitude?
Who was this impossibly handsome young man? What was his background to command such a scene?
Ling Qingcheng was a celebrated figure in Hangzhou, so much so that idle gossips had crowned her the 'Flower of Hangzhou'. Countless scions of wealthy families and talented young elites had pursued her relentlessly, dreaming of winning her favor and acquiring both a peerless beauty and a formidable business partner.
But now, she had been claimed by a complete unknown. And not just her—he had another equally stunning woman with him!
Having mistresses and affairs was commonplace in their high-society circles, but one was expected to maintain a veneer of discretion in public. At such a prestigious banquet, with so many influential figures gathered, under the scrutiny of hundreds of eyes, they weren't even attempting to feign propriety?
"Wait a minute," a well-informed young heir whispered to his companions, his eyes glinting with malicious glee. "Didn't the Yanxia Yu Clan's Second Young Master, Yu Guanxiong, publicly declare that Ling Qingcheng was his woman? Now that she's appeared with another man... I'm afraid Second Young Master Yu won't take this lying down!"
This young master had once pursued Ling Qingcheng himself, only to be coldly rejected. Seeing Shen Anyu so casually holding her hand filled him with a potent cocktail of envy and seething jealousy. But attempting to snatch a woman from the clutches of Yu Guanxiong? That was a death wish.
Who in their circle didn't know that the Second Young Master, Yu Guanxiong, was a notoriously chaotic and violent scion of a preeminent family?
"Haha, we're in for a good show tonight," another sneered, raising his champagne flute in a mock toast. "When Second Young Master Yu sees this, he'll surely order his men to break that punk's legs, won't he?"
The whispers grew, thick with mockery. They were all certain Shen Anyu was not a Hangzhou local; otherwise, they would have recognized him instantly. He was an outsider who had dared to touch their Flower of Hangzhou. How could they possibly tolerate such an affront?
And yet, while seething with schadenfreude, they also secretly welcomed the disruption.
This Banquet of Hongmen, this grand power play by the Yu Clan, needed a madman to throw a wrench in the works.
It was better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. The Yanxia Yu Clan was undeniably powerful, but not everyone was eager to bend the knee and join their so-called Hero Assembly. Wasn't it far more enjoyable to be a local emperor, ruling one's own territory behind closed doors?
However, not a single one of them believed this interloper could truly derail the master plan of the Yu Clan's Crown Prince. At most, he would create a chaotic diversion, buying them a little breathing room.
After all, this was the Yanxia Yu Clan they were talking about.
...
"I told you to let go of my hand, but you wouldn't listen. Now it's too late to regret it. That maniac Yu Guanxiong definitely won't let you off." Ling Qingcheng's voice was a blade of ice, yet the depths of her phoenix eyes held a flicker of genuine worry as she glanced at Shen Anyu.
Although she was thoroughly displeased with him forcefully holding her hand, the thought of him being beaten to death by Yu Guanxiong made her stomach churn. How would she ever explain that to her best friend, Zhang Yaqian?
For a top-tier family scion like Yu Guanxiong, making one or two people disappear was a trivial matter to resolve. The power to interpret—and ignore—the rules ultimately lay in the hands of these colossal forces. The law was a cage for ordinary people, not for the 'Heavenly Dragons' who soared above them.
[Akarin's Note: "Heavenly Dragons" is a reference to the Celestial Dragons from the manga/anime One Piece. In modern Chinese slang, it refers to extremely privileged people who are above the law and treat common people as subhuman.]
If Ling Qingcheng didn't have a distant clan relative holding a high-ranking position within the Special Department, Yu Guanxiong probably would have dispensed with all pretense and simply taken her by force long ago. But a distant relative was not a direct bloodline. The influence she could leverage was limited, certainly not enough to truly contend with the likes of Yu Guanxiong.
If that madman decided to make a move against Shen Anyu, she would be completely powerless to stop him.
The strong and capable President Ling let out a silent sigh. In the eyes of the world, she was a formidable force. But compared to a monstrous entity like the Yanxia Yu Clan, she was as fragile as glass.
"Are you worried about me?" Shen Anyu's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile as he looked at her.
"Worried about you? Don't be ridiculous," Ling Qingcheng retorted, a flash of anger in her eyes.
Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked at Shen Anyu, her expression complicated. "Shen Anyu, I know you want to protect me, but I have my own ways of handling Yu Guanxiong. You don't need to do this. I suggest you take He Yiyi and leave now, before you suffer his retaliation. If you delay any longer, it really will be too late!"
This was the primary reason Ling Qingcheng hadn't completely lost her temper with him. If any other man had dared to grab her hand and refuse to let go, would the formidable President Ling have tolerated it for even a second?
Deep down, she believed that despite Shen Anyu being an incorrigible playboy, he possessed a sense of responsibility. She suspected he was doing this because of his connection to Zhang Yaqian, putting himself on the line to shield her from Yu Guanxiong's advances. It was this thought that had planted a tiny, reluctant seed of favorability toward him in her heart.
However, this was the Second Young Master of the Yanxia Yu Clan they were talking about. He wasn't some common thug to be trifled with. Even she could only use her connections to maneuver carefully, taking great pains not to provoke Yu Guanxiong directly. If he saw Shen Anyu holding her hand like this, he would undoubtedly explode with unrestrained fury.
"It's too late," Shen Anyu said, his smile never wavering. "Yu Guanxiong is already here."
The next moment, an arrogant and overbearing voice, dripping with murderous intent, ripped through the hall:
"How dare you snatch a woman from me, Yu Guanxiong? You're asking for death!"
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