The words had barely left his mouth when a middle-aged man in a suit and neatly trimmed mustache walked in.

Qi Tianhu's face immediately changed upon seeing him, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Accompanying the suited man was a burly figure nearly two meters tall, half his face covered in scorpion tattoos, making him look utterly menacing.

The mustached man spoke in a strange, high-pitched voice, "Qi Tianhu, long time no see!"

Qi Qingfei stepped in front of the man, scolding, "Stop! What do you want?"

There was something about this man that felt inherently wrong, and Qi Qingfei felt an inexplicable aversion to him.

However, the man wasn't angered; his gaze towards Qi Qingfei was even tinged with kindness.

"You must be Lin Na's daughter. I can't believe you've grown so much in the blink of an eye!"

Qi Qingfei was taken aback, as Lin Na was her deceased mother's name.

"Who exactly are you?"

The man smiled. "Niece, no need to be nervous. Your mother and I were good friends back in the day!"

Qi Qingfei looked at Qi Tianhu, confused. "Dad, who is he?"

Qi Tianhu slowly said, "He's Xu Ning. You should call him Uncle, theoretically."

Xu Ning snapped his fingers, interrupting Qi Tianhu.

"Hold it, you're talking too much. Let me explain. Simply put, your father and I were both pursuing your mother back then, and she chose your father in the end."

At this point, Xu Ning's expression twisted into a ferocious sneer.

"From that moment on, I swore that one day, I would make your father die by my hand, proving to your mother that she made the wrong choice!"

Xu Ning's face was distorted with arrogance. Qi Qingfei thought he looked like a madman.

Qi Tianhu sighed. "It's been so many years, and you're still dwelling on this."

Xu Ning said viciously, "Hmph, how could I forget when I won't rest in peace until I kill you?"

Qi Tianhu asked, "So, you were the one who hired Luo Shu to kill me? You were also the one who poisoned me?"

"Who else could it be?"

Xu Ning readily admitted.

Qi Qingfei was immediately enraged. This was the Qi family home, Jiang City, Qi Tianhu's territory.

"You're asking for death! Did you come here to die?"

Xu Ning shook his head. "No, no, no, niece, you misunderstand. Since your father managed to escape death even under those circumstances, it means it's not his time yet. So, we'll put the revenge aside for now. I'm here today mainly for something else."

"What is it?"

Qi Tianhu asked, puzzled.

He had no idea what Xu Ning was up to. He was always cautious and prudent.

If he didn't have absolute certainty, he would never dare to come see him, especially after admitting to trying to harm him several times!

But what was the source of his confidence?

Qi Tianhu soon had his answer.

Xu Ning said, "Qi Tianhu, I'm here today simply to deliver a message from the Dragon Lord. He will be waiting for you above Ling Water in three days! He requests that you be there, or you will bear the consequences!"

"Dragon Lord?"

Qi Tianhu's eyes sharpened. "Are you with the Underworld Palace?"

Xu Ning smiled faintly. "If I may, I am the Suzaku Hall Master of the Underworld Palace!"

Qi Tianhu was shocked and stared at Xu Ning in disbelief.

At that moment, everything clicked into place.

No wonder Xu Ning was so confident, no wonder he dared to come alone. It turned out he had the behemoth Underworld Palace backing him!

Seeing Qi Tianhu's astonished expression, Xu Ning grew even more smug. "Qi Tianhu, I didn't spend the last twenty years doing nothing. Heh, the head of Jiang City is very impressive? Sorry to say, compared to the Underworld Palace, you're just trash!"

"Don't worry, I won't touch you again before the Dragon Lord meets you, but after that, hehe... we'll wait and see!"

"Alright, I've delivered the message, Qi Tianhu, until next time! Hahahahahaha!"

Xu Ning laughed wildly, turning to leave.

But just as he was about to reach the door, Chen Xiao said calmly, "Wait! Don't go yet!"

Xu Ning paused, looking back to see that it was the young doctor who had saved Qi Tianhu. He frowned.

"Kid, what is it?"

Xu Ning thought to himself, this kid has ruined my plans several times, and I haven't even bothered with you yet. Now you're trying to get my attention?

Chen Xiao asked, "Did you just admit that you repeatedly tried to harm Qi Tianhu?"

Xu Ning chuckled. "That's right, it was me. So what?"

He looked righteous, mocking Chen Xiao for meddling in other people's business.

The victim hasn't even said anything; what business is it of a small doctor?

Chen Xiao said 'Oh' softly, then said calmly, "That makes things easier. You're not leaving today!"

"You little punk, what do you mean?"

Xu Ning's temper flared. Was this kid trying to start something?

"You harmed someone and you want to leave? There's no such thing. If you really want to leave, you'll have to leave your life behind!"

Chen Xiao said casually, as if it were nothing important.

"You little shit, are you courting death?"

Xu Ning cursed, then pointed the gun at Qi Tianhu.

"Qi Tianhu, you're really getting worse, how are you teaching your subordinates?"

Qi Tianhu shouted, "Xu Ning, don't be rude! Chen Xiao is the new head of Jiang City, not my subordinate!"

He had tolerated Xu Ning's insults earlier, but he wouldn't allow Xu Ning to disrespect Chen Xiao!

Xu Ning was stunned, then burst into laughter.

"Hahahahahaha, Qi Tianhu, I heard rumors that you were afraid of the Dragon Lord's Palace causing trouble, so you gave up your position to some idiot!"

"Knowing you, I thought it was just nonsense, but it's actually true!"

"Qi Tianhu, you're getting more useless as you get older. You used to be a respected man, but look at what you're doing now? Finding some idiot to take the fall for you, how did you even come up with that?"

Qi Tianhu was furious. "Xu Ning, if you dare talk nonsense again, I won't be polite!"

Xu Ning stood arrogantly with his hands on his hips.

"Not polite? Come on, I'd like to see how you're going to be impolite to me!"

"Qi Tianhu, I've already washed my neck and put it in front of you, dare you touch me?"

"I'm now a member of the Underworld Palace, believe it or not, if you dare to touch a hair on my head, the Underworld Palace will flatten your little Jiang City!"

Xu Ning stretched out his neck arrogantly. He was sure that with the Underworld Palace as his backer, Qi Tianhu wouldn't dare to touch him.

But in the next second, a size forty-five shoe kicked him in the neck...