The gunfire was no longer intense.
It was even drowned out by shouting!
Leng Shao, leading the surging crowd, pushed straight into the third floor after the carpet bombing. They shot at anyone they saw. Those without guns lunged forward with machetes.
"Kill them all, kill them all!"
Leng Shao roared like a commander.
"Leng Shao, get out of the way."
"Don't hog them, that kid is mine."
"Damn these Sunset Country people."
No one cared what Leng Shao was shouting. The red-eyed thugs wanted to show off. With so many people charging, there was no danger, so no one was afraid.
The Xiao family was unlucky.
They had been powerful in Jiangcheng, practically lords of the city. But in this Beihai City, because Xiao Qizhou had shown off, they all ended up dead in the unfinished building.
Those assassins from Sunset Country wouldn't survive either. Leng Shao's men didn't have a grudge against the Xiao family, but upon seeing assassins from an enemy country, their eyes turned fiery as they charged forward.
Ten minutes later…
The gunfire and shouting stopped in the unfinished building.
The crowd gradually retreated. Leng Shao, along with a few leaders, captured Xiao Qizhou and Xiao Liufu alive. When the two brothers were thrown at Ye Zixiao's feet, they were already beaten beyond recognition.
"Kneel."
"Damn it, kneel properly."
"Brother Xiao, the people are here."
Some leaders shouted obsequiously. They hadn't killed Xiao Qizhou and Xiao Liufu directly because they wanted to present them to Ye Zixiao to claim credit.
"Anyone else?"
Ye Zixiao asked, walking forward with his hands behind his back.
"No, they're all dead!"
Leng Shao yelled like a madman.
"Brothers, you've worked hard."
Ye Zixiao waved his hand, signaling the crowd to disperse. Then he stepped forward, bent down, and peered at the two despairing Xiao family members, saying, "Chasing money over your lives, how does it feel? Satisfying?"
"Damn your mother, speak up!"
Suddenly, a small thug rushed forward and slapped the Xiao family duo, roaring, "Speak, or we'll flay you alive. Damn it, daring to act tough against my Brother Xiao."
"Speak what?"
"You didn't ask anything either?"
Xiao Qizhou and Xiao Liufu looked bewildered.
"Right, speak what?"
The thug scratched his head and looked at Ye Zixiao.
"Yes, speak what?"
Ye Zixiao didn't know what was going on either.
"Oh, my apologies!"
The thug gave an awkward smile, backing away and saying, "I thought Brother Xiao was interrogating them, so I wanted to show off. Heh heh heh, it's fine, you guys continue."
"Get lost!"
"Scram."
The leaders were furious, cursing this guy for being such a drama queen. To get noticed by Brother Xiao, he was already staging his own show.
"Ye Zixiao, spare us!"
Xiao Liufu had already been beaten to the point of collapse. He struggled to kneel on the ground and pleaded, "If you let us go, our Xiao family guarantees we'll let bygones be bygones and never trouble you again."
"Sixth Brother, why are you so scared?"
Xiao Qizhou remained defiant, gritting his teeth and shouting, "If we die, Old Eight will definitely mobilize the troops. Damn it, they'll slaughter Beihai City to avenge us."
"Such big talk."
"Damn it, still not convinced?"
"…!"
A group of leaders were about to start beating them again.
"Wait a moment."
Ye Zixiao raised his hand, stopping them, and said coldly, "Ever since your Xiao family hired people from Sunset Country to kill me, our feud has been unresolved. I will never let the Xiao family off."
The scene was silent.
The two from the Xiao family stopped their bluster.
After waiting a while longer…
"Big Brother, then what?"
Leng Shao asked impatiently.
"Leng Shao, the money?"
Ye Zixiao suddenly remembered the two hundred million.
"Come, bring the money up."
Leng Shao instructed, earnestly explaining, "The cases holding the money are very sturdy, most of them weren't smashed. But there's definitely less. Here's what's left."
Before long.
Boxes full of money were piled up.
Ye Zixiao was a little surprised. Given the chaos at the scene, even if the grenades hadn't smashed the money cases, wouldn't at least one of these messy thugs have stolen some?
In reality, there were some.
But it was only money scattered from broken cases.
As for money in small cases, no one dared to touch it. Who knew who was Ye Zixiao's informant? Discovery meant death!
"Leng Shao, for everyone who showed up today, we'll calculate it per person. Ten thousand each. From now on, they are all my brothers, Ye Zixiao. We'll punish evil and promote good, protecting our country."
Ye Zixiao commanded righteously.
First, there was silence.
Then, thunderous cheers erupted.
"Brother Xiao is awesome!"
"Brother Xiao is so generous!"
"Brother Xiao, we'll follow you from now on."
"Brother Xiao, I love you!"
A thousand people shouted their fervent compliments.
Ten thousand, perhaps, was not much for wealthy people. But remember, Leng Shao and his men were only paid ten thousand each by Xiao Tengfei to kill Ye Zixiao.
This showed.
These people were all very poor.
Ye Zixiao was truly generous. Ten thousand per person, a thousand people meant a hundred million. Although this money was extorted, it was real hard cash, and he was truly willing to give it.
More importantly, many people at the scene were just watching the commotion, and most of them couldn't even lend a hand. They were given ten thousand just for showing up and shouting slogans. They truly loved Ye Zixiao.
"Leng Shao."
"Big Brother, you say."
"Satisfied?"
"Absolutely!"
"You take the men to distribute the money, and take the rest back to the Lin family. I'm a bit tired and going back to sleep. You handle everything properly and don't cause any unnecessary trouble."
"Rest assured, Big Brother!"
"Oh, right. Don't kill these two from the Xiao family. Break their legs and arms, then find a way to dump them outside the city. Traitors deserve to suffer a fate worse than death."
"Understood!"
Leng Shao gave an exaggerated salute.
Ye Zixiao left, taking his brother-in-law with him. In this overwhelming battle, Ye Zixiao hadn't lifted a finger from beginning to end. Invisibly, he had become the big boss.
At half-past ten in the evening.
Ye Zixiao returned to the Lin family.
Seeing Ye Zixiao return perfectly clean, Lin Qingzhu said in surprise, "What? The commotion at the Great North Gate was so huge, wasn't it you who caused it?"
"Yes, I did it!"
Ye Zixiao flashed his rogue's smile again.
"Then, you didn't fight?"
"I couldn't even get involved."
"Alright, what about the Xiao family?"
"All dead. Oh, wait, the two leaders aren't dead, but they might as well be. Wife, I'm sleepy. Let's go wash up and sleep. I'll hold you tonight."
As he spoke, Ye Zixiao pounced towards Lin Qingzhu.
Lin Qingzhu was prepared. She knew she couldn't match Ye Zixiao, so she quickly retreated. By the time Ye Zixiao chased her to the bedside, she already had a shotgun in her hand.
"You're used to guns now?"
Ye Zixiao said with a surprised smile.
"Learned from you!"
Lin Qingzhu racked the slide with a click.
"I don't believe you'd shoot me."
"Try it and you'll know."
"Damn it, I'll try it!"
Ye Zixiao, with a smile on his lips, lunged at Lin Qingzhu like an old pervert, his two hands aimed at his target, wickedly about to grab her.
"I'll shoot you, you old rogue!"
BOOM—
The muzzle flash of the shotgun exploded.
"Damn it, you actually shot!"
Ye Zixiao's eyes widened as he fell backward.