Chapter 205 - 203: Cleaning House

Hearing the words of the Wang Family’s old madam, Guo Xiang collapsed completely. His body went limp as he slumped to the floor, his face ashen.

"Godfather, Godfather, you can’t let them do this to me! Wang Qiao’er jumped off that building herself! It had nothing to do with me!" he pleaded hoarsely, desperately clinging to the King of the Underworld’s thigh. He never imagined that an incident from years ago could be dug up again.

"This..." The King of the Underworld looked at Ye Xuan, then down at his godson. Seeing Ye Xuan’s expressionless face, he finally closed his eyes in resignation and forcefully yanked his leg out of Guo Xiang’s grip. "Just do as they say. If you do something wrong, you must be punished."

This single sentence extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Guo Xiang’s heart. He sat on the floor, dazed and panic-stricken, his mouth hanging open but unable to utter a single word.

"King of the Underworld, will I do it, or will you?" Ye Xuan turned his head and asked evenly.

"You... you do it. I can’t bring myself to," the King of the Underworld replied after a long moment of hesitation. Although he was known to outsiders for his ruthless methods, he was still a man of deep sentiment. No matter what, Guo Xiang had called him "Godfather" for many years. He simply couldn’t bring himself to personally break both of Guo Xiang’s legs.

"Xiang, it’s okay. Godfather will make sure the rest of your life is well arranged," the King of the Underworld said, his eyes full of pity as he affectionately patted Guo Xiang’s shoulder.

"Godfather! Are you really going to sacrifice me for a has-been?!" Guo Xiang abruptly raised his head and glared viciously at Ye Xuan. He simply couldn’t understand it. So many people from the Ministry of State Security had sought the King of the Underworld out for cooperation, yet he had dismissed them all with disdain. Why, of all people, was he bowing in submission to this Cyan Dragon Chief? Why didn’t Ye Xuan die five years ago? Why did he have to come back?!

"You bastard! Shut up!" Hearing this, the King of the Underworld slapped him across the face in a fit of rage. This kid was practically begging for a death wish!

"This so-called Cyan Dragon Chief is practically a general without an army now! What are you so afraid of?!" The slap only fueled Guo Xiang’s uncontrollable resentment. He shrieked at the top of his lungs at the King of the Underworld.

Upon hearing that people from the Celestial Ranking had sought out the King of the Underworld, Ye Xuan’s expression instantly darkened. He stared at the King of the Underworld with icy eyes, causing the man to break out in a cold sweat.

"Listen to my explanation! People from the Celestial Ranking did indeed come looking for me, but I didn’t even meet with them," the King of the Underworld pleaded.

"You guys forged such a massive grudge with the Celestial Ranking back in the day. How could I ever agree to cooperate with them?

"The few of us came out of the same training base. Even though I was discharged from the military later, my heart has always been tied to you all!"

Hearing his final words, Ye Xuan’s expression finally softened slightly.

Back then, the strongest in the Ministry of State Security weren’t just the four—Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, White Tiger, and Cyan Dragon. There was also a Flood Dragon. And this Flood Dragon was none other than the current King of the Underworld.

The five of them had come out of the same training base, and even back then, Ye Xuan was their boss. He had led them through countless missions, braving hails of bullets and walking the line between life and death together.

At the time, the Ministry of State Security wanted to establish five departments and have each of them manage one. However, if their superior wanted to protect the King of the Underworld during that period, it would have come at a massive cost, potentially losing their current position. Possessing a fierce and unyielding temperament, the King of the Underworld refused to be a burden. He resigned on his own accord and subsequently used thunderous, ruthless methods to beat all his detractors into complete submission.

Initially, Ye Xuan and the others were vehemently against him going down this path, even nearly falling out with him over it. Later, during a mission to eradicate an overseas faction, the King of the Underworld risked his life to save them, and the brothers finally reconciled.

"We can talk about this later," Ye Xuan said faintly. He then bent down and hoisted Guo Xiang off the floor with one hand. "Since you can’t bring yourself to do it, I’ll do it. This godson of yours doesn’t have any real skills, but he’s quite adept at bullying others with your authority."

The King of the Underworld took one last, long look at Guo Xiang before turning his head away.

"No! You can’t do this! Ye Xuan! Do you think the King of the Underworld is my only backer?!" Guo Xiang shrieked, struggling violently. "The Celestial Ranking’s number one assassin, Night Killer, is my sworn brother! If you dare lay a finger on me, my big brother won’t let you off!"

His latter words caused even the King of the Underworld’s face to pale. Night Killer had indeed sought out the King of the Underworld, claiming that the Celestial Ranking wanted to join forces with him. However, the King of the Underworld had outright rejected the offer. He never expected that Guo Xiang would secretly interact with Night Killer behind his back, let alone that the two would become sworn brothers.

"You bastard! You actually betrayed me!" The King of the Underworld kicked Guo Xiang squarely in the abdomen, his face flushed and the veins in his neck bulging with fury. He asked himself honestly—he hadn’t treated Guo Xiang poorly. In fact, he had raised and treated him like his own biological son. He never imagined that Guo Xiang would take advantage of his leniency to defy his orders and associate with the Celestial Ranking.

"Godfather! I did it for you! I did it for the good of our organization!" Guo Xiang cried out, suppressing his pain in a desperate attempt to persuade him. "Big Brother Night Killer said that as long as you cooperate with them, not only this place, but the entire commercial empire will belong to us! We absolutely won’t lose out by working with them!"

The King of the Underworld looked at him, his eyes brimming with profound disappointment. "Guo Xiang, I truly never thought you would betray me. Give us the entire empire? Heh, are you genuinely brainless, or just pretending to be? Do you even know what kind of people the Celestial Ranking are? And yet you dare to cooperate with them?"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He raised his foot and delivered several more vicious kicks. With a harsh COUGH, Guo Xiang spat out a mouthful of blood. It felt as though several of his ribs had shattered.

"Godfather, are you truly going to treat me like this because of him?" Guo Xiang asked, his expression turning cold as he looked up into the King of the Underworld’s eyes.

Seeing this defiant look on his face, the King of the Underworld’s heart turned completely cold.

"Ye Xuan, let me clean house myself," he said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were filled with nothing but chilling intent.

Hearing this, Ye Xuan paused for a moment. Then, he took a step back and nodded.

"Cyan Dragon Chief, thank you for upholding justice for the Wang Family. I’ll leave Guo Xiang to you. We’ll be taking our leave first." Wang Siming, unwilling to let his wife and child witness such a bloody scene, bowed deeply to Ye Xuan before leading his family away.

After all, the dining table had been flipped; they weren’t going to be eating this meal anyway.

Ye Xuan nodded, not making any move to make them stay.