Sun Zhong, who was standing by the water dispenser near the secret door of the study, suddenly heard a noise behind him. Instinctively, he turned his head and saw two men in black standing there.
This was the sixth floor! There were no shelves or anything similar outside. It was practically impossible for a normal person to enter from there!
Sun Zhong's face changed drastically. "Xing, be careful!"
As soon as he spoke, the intruders in black made their move. One of them reached Sun Xing in a few steps. Sun Xing was still holding a book, with bookshelves in front of him. He was pretending to read.
From the moment they broke in to the moment they attacked, from the moment Sun Zhong made a sound to the moment he realized the men in black were in front of him, it was only a matter of seconds. Sun Xing stood there, stunned and at a loss.
"Die!"
The man in black was masked, but his eyes were exceptionally fierce. Sun Xing seemed to see piles of white bones within them. Already dazed, he froze on the spot, his mind a blank.
"Dodge!"
Sun Zhong's eyes widened in fury. Almost simultaneously, the wooden panel behind him exploded, and a dark figure shot out, streaking past his vision at a speed several times faster than the men in black.
The man in black who was lunging at Sun Xing held a short knife. The tip of the blade flashed with a cold light, just about to stab into his abdomen when a sudden hand firmly grasped the hilt.
"Who!"
As the man in black turned his head, a massive fist landed squarely on his face. Without any surprise, the man in black was sent flying backward, crashing directly into another sofa.
"Damn it!"
The other man in black also reacted. It was too late to escape now, so he made a very sensible choice.
Kidnap Sun Zhong! Only with a hostage could there be a sliver of hope for survival!
The speed and strength of the shadowy figure made him instinctively realize that he was no match for it and could not fight it head-on.
However, as he moved, another person emerged from the just-shattered wooden door.
"Since you're here, don't even think about leaving."
Yue Hai chuckled and grabbed the man in black by the neck with his right hand.
"Don't kill me, I can tell you who sent me."
Before the man in black could finish his sentence, Yue Hai exerted a little force. A flush of red surged to the man's forehead, and he immediately lost consciousness.
Yue Hai did not kill them. He kept them alive for two reasons: first, for later investigation to extract information from them; second, if anything were to happen, they could serve as hostages.
Therefore, Sen Lang, who had attacked earlier, did the same, merely incapacitating the man in black.
Things happened so quickly that Sun Xing only reacted after the second man in black fell.
What was strange was that his face was exceptionally pale.
Sun Zhong hurried over, asking with concern, "Are you alright?"
"They want to kill me, they want to kill me too."
Sun Xing's mumbling left his elder brother, Sun Zhong, bewildered. He asked about the situation again, but Sun Xing remained silent, only shaking his head.
But how could Sen Lang, an experienced man of the world, miss this? He subtly pulled Yue Hai aside. "This kid is acting strange."
"What do you mean?"
Sen Lang explained, "A normal person wouldn't say something like that in this situation. If it were you, and you encountered assassins, would you wonder why they wanted to kill you too?"
Yue Hai's pupils contracted, and he also understood.
"So you mean..."
The two of them looked at the Sun brothers again. Sun Zhong, the elder brother, seemingly too worried, did not notice Sun Xing's abnormality and quickly walked over to express his gratitude.
"Thank you both for saving our lives!"
Sen Lang waved his hand with a smile. "You're welcome. We're just doing business, a cooperative relationship. Just remember what you said earlier."
Sun Zhong said seriously, "Of course, I will. I've thought it through these past few days. Even if we don't go through with the mining, as long as I have this company, I can still achieve my goals by doing other things!"
Sen Lang didn't really care what Sun Zhong thought, as long as he kept his word. But at this moment, Sun Xing, who had always been silent on this topic, suddenly spoke.
"Brother, can't we find another way to repay them?"
As soon as he said this, everyone present, including Hei Dao and Sen Bao who had just emerged, changed their expressions.
"Ah Xing! Don't talk nonsense. How can we go back on our word?"
Sun Zhong was extremely anxious. Anyone present could have killed them with a flick of a finger. Even if such words were to be spoken, they should be discussed privately when no one else was around, not so directly in front of them!
Sun Xing realized he had spoken out of turn and lowered his head.
Sen Lang suddenly stepped forward to smooth things over. "We can't go back on our word, can we? Otherwise, wouldn't my killing have been in vain? Also, we went to great lengths to delay their boss."
Sun Zhong forced a smile. "Don't worry, we'll do exactly as we agreed before. Besides, haven't I already handed over the location to you? Even if you don't tell me the final mining direction, you can figure it out with some time."
Sen Bao understood his brother's meaning and said, "But I'm starting to doubt if the location you mentioned is real."
"This..."
With things having reached this point, it was clear that he was being asked to show sincerity. Sun Zhong's face immediately showed a look of difficulty.
After all, it had been agreed that the transaction would only be finalized after they had perfectly resolved the matter and could guarantee that they would not be assassinated if they remained here.
The matter had only just begun. They had only dealt with two assassins who were supposed to carry out the mission. Sun Zhong also worried that Hei Dao and the others, after obtaining what they wanted, would no longer protect them.
However, facing his predicament, Hei Dao and the others did not back down.
Only Yue Hai felt inexplicably confused. Although Hei Dao was not as astute as the Sen brothers, he had also spent many years in the world. How could he not see that this was a good opportunity?
The Sun brothers and they were merely in a relationship of mutual benefit. They had to be disciplined when the opportunity arose!
After being stared at by the three for a long time, Sun Zhong finally chose to compromise.
"Alright, it was my brother's fault. To show our sincerity, I can take you to the Limjing Mine entrance first."
After saying this, Sun Zhong sighed deeply.
Sen Lang smiled. "And the pass. You have to hand that over to us first as well."
Sun Zhong nodded and directly went to a nearby workbench. He took out a token from the bottom drawer.
The token was made of pure silver. The front was engraved with the character "通" (Tong, meaning pass or connect), and the back was engraved with the character "武" (Wu, meaning martial). The overall style was somewhat similar to the江湖令牌 (Jianghu tokens) in martial arts novels.
This token was an unexpected gain for Sun Zhong. Initially, he had only put out the reward for the token with a trial mindset, but he had not expected the result to be so extraordinary.