The man in the coffee shop downstairs was none other than Ling Tian's fourth master, the King of Assassins, Xiang Yuntian.
Although he had retired from the assassin world over a decade ago and spent his days cultivating himself on the mountain, to the point where his killing intent was barely perceptible, Xiang Yuntian had never slacked in his pursuit of his craft.
To him, killing was no longer a matter of technique; it was an art form.
Take today's incident, for example. Even experienced forensic experts would find it difficult to detect any anomalies, leading them to believe it was a planned accident, rather than a murder.
And all of this was orchestrated by Xiang Yuntian himself.
Xiang Yuntian knew very well that whoever the true culprit behind Ling Tian's attempted murder was, they were inextricably linked to the Tianshan Sword Sect. Therefore, before dealing with the main perpetrator, he saw no harm in collecting some interest.
With the help of the Misty Rain Pavilion, he had successfully obtained intelligence on the high-ranking officials of the Tianshan Sword Sect.
The Tianshan Sword Sect also had real estate companies among its businesses, as real estate had been quite profitable in previous years.
Yun Zhonglu's brother-in-law, benefiting from his brother-in-law's influence, had also opened a decoration company.
The sales offices and model homes for these real estate projects were all contracted to Yun Zhonglu's brother-in-law's company for construction.
Moreover, all the decoration work within the Tianshan Sword Sect's industries was handled by his brother-in-law.
Additionally, to ensure this brother-in-law made money, they had even mandated that the owners of the relevant residential communities must use his brother-in-law's company for renovations. Otherwise, their renovation workers and materials would face endless difficulties entering the community.
Yun Zhonglu's brother-in-law was well aware of why he was able to earn money. When undertaking the decoration projects for the Tianshan Sword Sect's businesses, he was exceptionally diligent, not cutting corners and dispatching only the most skilled craftsmen.
However, when it came to ordinary clients, he was far less accommodating. He engaged in all sorts of unscrupulous practices, such as cutting corners, using inferior materials, and even subcontracting the work.
Xiang Yuntian was not oblivious to this. Upon discovering this situation, he immediately devised a plan.
The night before the incident, he infiltrated Yun Zhonglu's brother-in-law's decoration company and tampered with the steel beams used to fix the signboard.
Then, on the day of the restaurant's grand opening, in full view of everyone, the steel beams snapped, and the signboard crashed down, killing Yun Zhonglu instantly.
The death of this individual was a devastating blow to the Tianshan Sword Sect. Yun Zhonglu had managed all of the sect's businesses, and the consequences of losing such a key figure were immense, leading to widespread chaos.
Especially concerning the hundreds of billions of funds acquired through illicit means, Yun Zhonglu had used these funds to launch many new ventures. Now, with his death, these businesses were difficult to continue, and the initial investments were all lost.
When Yun Hantian, the sect leader of the Tianshan Sword Sect, learned of this, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
After all, finding someone capable of replacing Yun Zhonglu was incredibly difficult.
Such a person would need to be skilled in management, capable of handling assets worth tens of billions, and most importantly, loyal to the Tianshan Sword Sect and Yun Hantian.
There were many who understood business, and many who were loyal to Yun Hantian, but few who possessed both qualities.
What was even more critical was that managing such vast assets and numerous tasks wasn't a matter of simply replacing someone; it required time for handover and even integration.
Even if Yun Zhonglu hadn't died but merely wished to retire, finding a successor would likely take two to three years for transition and integration. Now, with his sudden demise, he left behind a colossal mess.
Helpless, Yun Hantian had to suspend some of his ongoing plans and rush back to handle the aftermath.
After all, the Tianshan Sword Sect's operations were too extensive. Without a stable income, their reserves would likely dwindle within a few years.
Yun Hantian wasn't without suspicion that this was an act of retaliation against him. He didn't trust the official investigation results and conducted his own inquiry, but the conclusion remained the same: it was an accident.
In his frustration, Yun Hantian arranged another "accident," orchestrating the "accidental" death of Yun Zhonglu's brother-in-law, which finally allowed him to vent some of his anger.
...
In Jiangzhou, at a headquarters of the Misty Rain Pavilion, over a dozen container trucks drove into the warehouse. Subsequently, the drivers were asked to leave, and the warehouse doors were closed. The unloading work was entirely taken over by the staff of the Misty Rain Pavilion.
Witnessing the large quantities of gold, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings, as well as a significant amount of foreign currency being unloaded from the trucks, Yan Yu and Qiu Hong, who had just arrived, were stunned.
They had received a notification from Ling Tian stating that a large batch of supplies was being transported to the Misty Rain Pavilion and requested their assistance in handling it.
Initially, Yan Yu and his disciple didn't take it too seriously. In recent years, they had already helped Ling Tian manage assets worth billions, and they were quite accustomed to such tasks.
Moreover, Ling Tian was very generous, always giving them thirty percent of the supplies each time, calling it a token of respect for his master.
However, when the master and disciple saw these more than ten trucks of supplies, their minds were overwhelmed. The vaults of many small city banks might not even hold such a vast amount of cash and gold!
"Ling Tian, did you rob a bank?" Qiu Hong asked.
"Heh heh, Sister Qiu Hong, bank vaults don't have this many good things.
But don't worry, this money isn't entirely clean, so we can accept it with a clear conscience..."
"Where did it come from?" Qiu Hong asked, very curious.
"The Bai family in Jiangshan City, that scoundrel Bai Guanghai. They thought I was dead and dared to target Bing Tian Pharmaceutical!
This money, after being used to investigate who tried to murder me, will all be donated to charity!"
"Good, Ling Tian, you handled this well! We don't provoke trouble, but we don't fear it either. Anyone who dares to lay a hand on you will be dealt with!" Master Yan Yu said with great approval.
Master Yan Yu personally arranged for his subordinates to handle the disposal of the items Ling Tian had acquired. It wasn't easy to dispose of these items. The gold alone weighed over 10 tons, valued at more than four billion yuan. Introducing such a large amount of gold into the market could even cause fluctuations in the gold market.
This gold was the accumulation of Bai Guanghai's hard work over decades, and now it all fell into Ling Tian's hands.
After settling these matters, Ling Tian turned to Qiu Hong.
"Hong Jie, why are you back?"
"I have some matters to report to you. During our investigation, we made some discoveries, and I felt it was necessary to inform you about this matter!"