The car wound through the mountain woods for nearly an hour and a half before finally arriving at Gan Lei’s stronghold.
It was a valley, with a wire fence at the entrance and a watchtower every few meters, each manned with armed soldiers.
In the valley, one could see military vehicles parked everywhere, even tanks, and of course, there were training troops and sentries.
Such a scene was typically only seen in Hong Kong dramas where mafia bosses go to the Golden Triangle to negotiate drug deals with drug lords, something ordinary people could never witness, let alone personally drive into.
Zhang Yakun and his brother saw soldiers armed to the teeth all around them, with guns and ammunition visible everywhere, and their legs trembled as they sat in the car.
"Gan Lei is really putting on quite a show!" Ouyang Murong said to Ge Dongxu, his face darkening.
Since their arrival, Gan Lei had not sent any important figure to welcome them.
Jiang Baoming and Zhang Junhui also looked quite displeased.
The bigger the show Gan Lei put on, the more it indicated that the situation was troublesome.
If Gan Lei had come in person to greet them or had sent an important person, it would show he still respected Chairman Lin, or that he was wary of Ouyang Murong.
But now, the situation clearly did not look optimistic.
"It’s not a problem how big his show is, the key issue is that Zhang Kaixuan is still alive," Ge Dongxu said nonchalantly, his palm opened, with Zhang Kaixuan’s hair standing on end just like that night, bending towards a certain direction.
This indicated Zhang Kaixuan’s location, and also that he was still alive.
This let Ge Dongxu secretly breathe a sigh of relief; otherwise, if Zhang Kaixuan had already perished at Gan Lei’s hands, even razing this place to the ground would be in vain.
Seeing the hair on Ge Dongxu’s hand stand up like a person, Ouyang Murong felt a chill and stopped speaking.
He had just wanted to remind Ge Dongxu that this matter could be quite tricky, but now, seeing his uncle’s demeanor, he really didn’t regard Gan Lei highly at all, even in his own stronghold surrounded by heavily-armed soldiers. Read latest stories on freewebnovel
Since that was the case, there was nothing more he needed to remind him of.
The car stopped in front of a villa with a huge courtyard, encircled by fences, lookout towers, and sentry posts.
"Gentlemen, please cooperate and hand over your guns temporarily, we will return them later," a person resembling an officer stopped Ouyang Murong and the others, saying.
Jiang Baoming and Zhang Junhui looked at each other and then silently took out their guns.
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Seeing this, the others followed suit and took out their guns.
"Please come in, my Family General has been waiting for a long time," the officer-like person said after seeing Jiang Baoming and others cooperate by handing over their guns, and then he gestured for them to enter.
What surprised the officer was that the person leading the way was not Ouyang Murong, nor Jiang Baoming or Zhang Junhui, but a young man.
Upon stepping through the garden gate, Ge Dongxu instantly saw two wicker chairs placed under a towering palm tree, with a coffee table in between laden with various fruits.
On the wicker chairs, one man was lying back; he was about fifty years old, large and corpulent, with dark skin, resembling a wild boar from the jungle, missing a pinky on his right hand. The other man was skinny and small, resembling a frail old man, but with a particularly cold air about him, especially his eyes, which, when they looked towards Ge Dongxu, made Zhang Yakun and others feel as if they were targeted by a poisonous snake, causing all the hairs on their body to stand on end.
Two men each had a beauty sitting beside them, feeding them grapes by hand.
Under the shade of trees, with a gentle breeze and beautiful women feeding them, the setting was quite pleasant.
Around the courtyard, and about two steps behind these two, stood soldiers with stern expressions.
The two men were indulging in the grapes that the beauties were popping into their mouths as if they were completely unaware of Ouyang Murong and the others’ arrival, until the military officer who had led Ge Dongxu in bent down and whispered something to the man who looked like a wild boar. Only then did he seem to realize someone had entered, sitting upright and looking towards Ge Dongxu and his companions.
Then, as if he had just discovered a new continent, the man suddenly stood up and laughed heartily, "Isn’t this Brother Ouyang? Oh, and Brother Jiang, what brings you here?"
When the man stood up, the gaunt man continued to enjoy his grapes as if he hadn’t heard anything.
"Gan Lei, why bother pretending not to know?" said Ouyang Murong.
"Brother Ouyang is still so blunt and direct," Gan Lei replied with a slight darkening of his face.
"General Gan, General Ouyang is here regarding Zhang Kaixuan and Ma La. I ask you, in consideration of our prior comradeship, to show General Ouyang and Chairman Lin some respect by releasing Zhang Kaixuan and Ma La," Jiang Baoming chimed in, seeing the grim faces of the two upon meeting, and hurriedly stepped forward to mediate.
"While I will honor Chairman Lin due to the regard we hold for him, what status does General Ouyang have? He’s a has-been and now belongs to Huaxia Country. How can he still claim to be a general?" the gaunt old man finally stood up and added.
Earlier, this old man had been reclining in a deck chair and was too far away for anyone to get a clear look at his face, but now that he had stood up, everyone could see him clearly. Jiang Baoming and the others couldn’t help but gasp in shock and instinctively stepped backward, exclaiming, "Suo Meng!"
"Indeed, it is I, old man!" the gaunt old man said sinisterly, his sharp, triangular eyes coldly fixed on Ouyang Murong.
"Ouyang Murong, is Master Yang still alive? The old man really misses him!"
"My master is fine, just didn’t expect you to still be alive," Ouyang Murong replied, his expression changing slightly.
"Hehehe, didn’t expect that, did you? Go back and tell Master Yang, if he wants someone, he should come in person. You are not qualified enough," Suo Meng said coldly.
"Murong, who is this old geezer?" Ge Dongxu asked, furrowing his brow when he saw the arrogant attitude of the old man and the apparent past animosity with his senior brother.
"Master Ge!" Jiang Baoming and Zhang Junhui, seeing Ge Dongxu speak disrespectfully, were startled and hastily spoke out.
"Master Ge! Tsk tsk, Jiang Baoming, you are the Vice Chairman of the Fourth Special District and you stoop so low as to call this young fellow ’Master’?" Suo Meng, with a disdainful glance at Ge Dongxu, spoke as if he were looking at an ant.
"Whether it’s ’Master Ge’ or not is just a matter of address and not important. I am here for the people today. Hand them over now, along with the appropriate apologies and compensation, and perhaps we can settle this matter here. Anyway, I have no interest in meddling in your messy affairs," Ge Dongxu said coldly, his attitude even more arrogant than Suo Meng’s.
As soon as Ge Dongxu spoke, everyone’s face but Ouyang Murong’s changed dramatically, and they internally groaned with dismay.
Such youthful arrogance, not recognizing the gravity of the situation! Now there would be big trouble!
Sure enough, just as Ge Dongxu’s voice fell, the surrounding area suddenly erupted with the unified sound of "click-clack! click-clack!" of gun bolts being pulled.
Barrels of guns, cold and ominous, were all pointed at Ge Dongxu, emanating a chilling presence.
Some faced him from within the yard, while others pointed down at him from high up in the watchtowers.