Seeing the explosion, Li Wenyuan immediately retreated and luckily wasn't affected by the blast. The white smoke took a full five minutes to dissipate, by which time the man had long vanished.

That incident made Li Wenyuan even more certain that this man was the bomber behind the previous explosions in Shenchuan City because, as rumored, this person was very skilled at demolishing. The small bomb he had thrown earlier didn't pack a huge punch but was quite effective, suggesting it was self-made, which showed the man's expertise in demolitions.

"Why were you in such a hurry!" Li Wenyuan angrily reproached his bodyguard, saying, "Didn't you see I was talking to him nicely? Your interruption scared him off, and now there's no point in talking!"

The bodyguard's face was blackened, his clothes smelled of scorching, and he looked helpless and aggrieved.

Seeing him like this, Li Wenyuan couldn't bear to scold him further and could only say resentfully, "Ah, this person is really skilled in demolitions. If he could work for me, not just Ye Qing, but even the Tianqing Gang wouldn't stand a chance against me. No, I must recruit him into the Fu Bang no matter what; I can't let the Tianqing Gang get to him first!"

Li Wenyuan turned to the bodyguard and said in a grave tone, "You've seen his face. From now on, secretly search for him throughout the city. The moment you have news, report immediately to me, and don't startle him or let anyone know we're looking for him, understand?"

"Yes!" the bodyguard replied at once.

Li Wenyuan nodded in satisfaction, then turned to leave. At that moment, at the end of the street, a young girl in white staggered towards them.

"Go check it out," commanded Li Wenyuan with a wave of his hand.

The bodyguard promptly stepped forward and helped the girl over. As soon as Li Wenyuan saw the young girl's face, his own expression changed drastically as he exclaimed, "Isn't this the young girl? How did you get so injured? Who dared to harm you?"

The young girl, whose name was actually "Young Girl," also recognized Li Wenyuan. She gave a sigh of relief upon seeing him and through gritted teeth said, "I... I was injured by Ye Qing..."

"Ye Qing?" Li Wenyuan was first taken aback, then a flicker of hardly noticeable joy crossed his eyes.

Li Wenyuan said, "This Mr. Ye has quite the nerve, daring to harm even a young girl like you. Don't worry, I'll send someone to avenge you right away!"

"No need!" the young girl gestured dismissively, saying, "I... my senior brother will return soon, and by then Mr. Ye, even if he had the abilities of a deity, will not escape death. Gang Leader Li, if you really want to help me, go to the Southern Suburb and deal with a body for me..."

Bai Liangcai's body was still in the Southern Suburb. The young girl was badly injured and had no strength to deal with his body, so now she had no choice but to ask Li Wenyuan for help.

Li Wenyuan, of course, agreed without hesitation and immediately sent few men to take care of Bai Liangcai's body in the Southern Suburb. Meanwhile, he personally took the young girl to the tea house, hoping to use the opportunity to forge a good relationship with them.

Upon seeing the young girl return injured, the Lady Boss was also shocked. Once she learned that the young girl had gone to kill Ye Qing on her own, she frowned. She knew Ye Qing was not easy to deal with, but she didn't expect him to have the strength to inflict such serious wounds on the young girl.

The Lady Boss was well aware of the young girl's capabilities. Although young, she was already considered the fifth-ranked assassin at her table. The fact that she couldn't withstand even a single blow from Ye Qing was a testament to Ye Qing's terrifying power.

"This person is indeed very strong..." the young girl said in a heavy tone, lying on the couch, "It seems, only my senior brother can handle him personally!"

The Lady Boss slowly nodded and said, "It seems this job isn't for just anyone. Who knows when your senior brother will return, but Li Tianlu will be in Shenchuan City in three days."

"Li Tianlu!" Li Wenyuan's expression changed at the mention of the name. He had heard of this person, an assassin at the tea house's seventh table, whose charge was one thousand five hundred million. Li Wenyuan had come to the tea house hoping to employ the seventh table's assassin. He didn't expect that Yang Shitao's reward of thirty million would attract such a figure.

Li Wenyuan didn't linger at the tea house for long. By the time he got home, his men had already properly disposed of Bai Liangcai's body. Moreover, they had brought Li Wenyuan a mobile phone.

There was a text message on the phone from Lin Yaqing to Bai Liangcai, ordering the killing of Ye Qing.

Glancing at the time stamp of the text message, Li Wenyuan's mouth curled into a cold smirk. The message was sent right around the time the Lin family decided to revoke their warrant. In other words, the Lins had cleared up their misunderstanding with Ye Qing at that time and were no longer pursuing him. Yet at this moment, Lin Yaqing had sent a text instructing Bai Liangcai to kill Ye Qing.

It seemed she hadn't followed her family's orders.

"Looks like I've got another ally!" Li Wenyuan sneered as he placed his phone on the table, whispering, "Take a photo and send it to Miss Lin tomorrow. Tell her to come have tea with me when she has time."

Mad Dog and his crew were not lightly wounded, so Ye Qing first took them to the hospital for treatment, then brought them back to Tian Sheng to rest.

Knowing what Mad Dog had done, Li Lianshan and Zhao Chengshuang looked at him differently. Regardless of his strength, his sense of loyalty was unquestionably solid.

Nothing happened overnight, and the next morning, Zhao Chengshuang hurried over early. Accompanying him was Ou Keren, the Hong Kong special police officer, who, upon seeing Ye Qing, blushed slightly.

She hadn't paid much attention while treating Ye Qing's injuries with acupuncture in the room yesterday, but now, she couldn't help but recall the scene of their semi-nude encounter, which made the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, Ye Qing didn't bring up the matter and his gaze didn't linger long on Ou Keren. He was more concerned with the news Zhao Chengshuang brought—he was eager to retrieve the remains of his brother Ye Jun.

"All those bodies are tangled together, it's going to be difficult to identify them, don't be anxious," Zhao Chengshuang comforted Ye Qing, saying, "Rest assured, I've already told them to notify me immediately if they find anything. But Ye Zi, don't be too pessimistic either, maybe your brother wasn't in the car."

Li Lianshan nodded, "Cheng Shuang is right, as the saying goes, 'good begets good.' You've done so much, the heavens will surely bless your brother!"

"I hope so," Ye Qing sighed, harboring a sliver of fantasy in his heart, though he knew how unrealistic it was. How could his brother Ye Jun not be in that car?

Zhao Chengshuang said, "By the way, your place has been closed for a week, what exactly are you planning to do? Are the Fu Bang still causing you trouble? Do you need me to go and threaten that old fox Li Wenyuan, to stop him from messing with you?"

"There's no need for that," Ye Qing shook his head, saying, "I think the Fu Bang won't be bothering me for the time being. However, I can't reopen the venue for now. I lack the experience in this area and I don't have my own people. Even if I did reopen, I wouldn't know how to run it!"

"As long as you have the will to do it, the rest doesn't matter!" Zhao Chengshuang replied with a smile. In reality, what he worried about the most was that Ye Qing would refuse to participate. After all, these matters had a shade of being illicit, and he feared Ye Qing would struggle with the concept.

In fact, after repeatedly encountering such incidents in Shenchuan City, Ye Qing had come to understand a principle. The way of doing things as per military standards was useless in this urban environment. To survive in the city, one had to abide by the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. If you are not strong enough, you will be devoured by others, trampled underfoot.

Having struggled until now in Shenchuan City, Ye Qing had begun to adapt to society, to the survival laws of the city. That's why he recruited Mad Dog and his men, starting to build his own influence. He did not aim to tread on everyone, but at the least, he wanted to protect those he wished to protect, and to earn his orphanage the chips needed to survive in Shenchuan City!

Li Lianshan said, "If you need more people, I can lend you some, but with a total of eleven shops, even if I wanted to, I might not have enough people on my hands either!"

"No need for that," Ye Qing shook his head, saying, "As for manpower, I can try to recruit some from my hometown. But what I'm really lacking is a managerial talent to run these venues, I have no experience myself!"

Zhao Chengshuang and Li Lianshan looked at each other. Finding someone capable of managing eleven venues was indeed difficult and the biggest problem.

"Such managerial talent is hard to come by, you have to be patient," Zhao Chengshuang said, "However, recruiting from your hometown is a good idea. Locals in Shenchuan City are more or less linked to various forces, which could invite unknown elements. People from your hometown will have no ties to the local forces and their loyalty is undoubtedly secure.

But going back to recruit is not going to be easy, you'll need some clout!"

Ye Qing nodded, already having an idea in mind—to borrow a group of people from Old Fifth Yang, but that would require discussing it with him in person. Once he had settled the matters in Shenchuan City, Ye Qing planned to go home, visit his family, and talk to Old Fifth Yang about this matter.

"By the way, Ye Zi, your uncle asked to invite you for a simple lunch at the Lin family," Zhao Chengshuang said, raising his hands, "I'm just passing on the message, whether you want to go is up to you. However, the Lin family is quite sincere this time, Old Lady Lin wants to apologize to you personally, give it some thought."

Ye Qing fell silent for a moment, then nodded, "I'll pay a visit then."

"That's the spirit!" Zhao Chengshuang slapped Ye Qing on the back, exclaiming, "As the saying goes, it's better to settle enmity than to keep it. Since the Lin family has acknowledged their mistakes, they deserve the chance to apologize, right. Moreover, with the Lin family's deep roots in Shenchuan City, having their support would indeed make it easier for you to reopen your venues!"