Chapter 111: A Grave Injustice

"Senior, wait!"

"Jichang, hurry up and apologize!"

"..."

The crowd was thrown into a panic, with shouts, cries, and pleas for mercy erupting all at once. Su Jingxing ignored them entirely. With one hand, he hauled Gan Jichang up, while with the other, he plucked a button from his collar and cuff.

He weighed it in his palm, examined it briefly, and tossed it to the oval-faced woman standing behind him. He then dropped Gan Jichang back to the ground, paying him no further mind.

After catching the button and inspecting it, the woman’s expression turned incomparably grim. Seeing this, the others clamped their mouths shut. No matter how dim-witted they were, they realized by now that Su Jingxing wasn't looking for trouble with Gan Jichang—he had discovered something wrong with him.

"Xi... Sister Xi?" the round-faced girl asked tentatively.

"It's a camera," the oval-faced woman said, taking a deep breath, her voice low. "And a wiretap."

"Damn it!"

"Kill him!"

"Gan Jichang, I'll kill you!"

"..."

The eyes of everyone present turned bloodshot in an instant. Several men rushed over immediately, surrounding Gan Jichang and raining kicks and blows upon him.

"Ah!"

Gan Jichang shrieked, curling into a ball and rolling on the ground. As he rolled, he cried out, "I didn't betray anyone! I'm not a traitor!"

"You still dare to talk!"

"Finish him!"

Hearing this, those beating him grew even more furious, their blows and kicks redoubling in intensity.

*Snap, snap.* The sounds of Gan Jichang’s arm and leg bones breaking echoed through the room.

"Argh!"

Gan Jichang wailed in agony, his voice turning hoarse. "I’m really not a traitor! The people behind that camera aren't the Shi family—it's the Li family! I just wanted a contingency plan, what’s wrong with that? The Li family said if our plan failed, they could provide us sanctuary! Is it a crime to find a way out for everyone!?"

By the time he finished screaming, his face was filled with indignation and grief, as if he were suffering from the greatest injustice in the world.

Su Jingxing remained silent.

This guy was either brain-dead or had been thoroughly brainwashed by the Li family. Regardless, it was fortunate that it had been discovered early. When Su Jingxing first appeared and faced the group, he had immediately sensed someone watching them. Ever since his soul power had increased, his intuition had become increasingly sharp. At first, he thought it was just the security cameras in the corners locking onto him, but deeper observation revealed that the surveillance was not just coming from the corners, but from within the crowd itself.

This was strange. Why would they need covert surveillance when they were already face-to-face?

Upon further sensing, he realized the source of the observation was Gan Jichang. Combined with the things Gan Jichang had been shouting, Su Jingxing had walked toward him and, sure enough, found the target as he drew closer.

A disguised button camera! And a wiretap to boot.

With Gan Jichang acting as an inside man, there was no telling how long the "Anti-Shi Alliance" had been monitored by the Li family. This was exactly why the oval-faced woman and her group were so furious once it clicked. Not only was there a traitor among them, but that traitor had also been helping someone else keep them under constant surveillance. Every time they recalled their movements being watched and heard by the Li family whenever Gan Jichang was present, they felt a chill run down their spines and their scalps go numb.

"I am sorry, Senior!"

The oval-faced woman was the first to regain her composure. As she crushed the button, she bowed deeply to Su Jingxing, saying gratefully, "Thank you, Senior, for exposing the traitor for us."

"Thank you, Senior!"

The others followed suit, bowing and thanking him in unison.

"Is there a place he doesn't know about?" Su Jingxing asked calmly. Although he didn't name anyone, everyone knew who he meant.

"Yes!"

The woman straightened up and took a deep breath. "Senior, please follow me."

With that, she walked to the front and headed toward the main entrance. Su Jingxing followed silently.

"Quick, quick! We can't stay here anymore, everyone evacuate immediately!"

"Waste that guy for me! Damn, I actually thought of him as a brother!"

"It's lucky Senior discovered it in time, otherwise we wouldn't even know when we’d all be wiped out."

"Indeed."

"..."

Various shouts erupted behind him. Su Jingxing shook his head slightly. The "Anti-Shi Alliance" was called an alliance, but its organizational structure was hardly rigorous. It didn't matter that ordinary people and martial artists were acting together, but their division of labor seemed nonexistent. It was laughable. If the division of labor was unclear, it would be a miracle if their internal security were any better. Had it not been for the fact that his upcoming plan required a large number of people, Su Jingxing would have had no interest in working with them.

...

Keeping a low profile, he followed the woman out of the underground warehouse, took a car, and headed straight to the University Town. They stopped in the backyard of a bar at a street corner, then wound through several alleys before entering a secluded and quiet courtyard. Passing through the courtyard and an underground passage, they arrived at a completely enclosed, spacious room.

"Senior, please have a seat. The others will be here shortly. By the way, my name is Shen Qian."

The woman smiled at Su Jingxing, then walked to a small room on the right side of the office to fetch a tea set. Su Jingxing scanned the room and activated his "Auditory Domain" secret technique to listen for any movement within a hundred meters. Good, the surroundings of this secret room were quiet.

"Senior, please have some tea."

Shen Qian brought the tea out and placed it on a table beside Su Jingxing. She then stood to the side, rubbing her hands, not knowing what to say.

"How many martial artists do you have in total?" Su Jingxing asked in a low voice.

Shen Qian let out a sigh of relief and replied, "We have forty-seven martial artists. One at the sixth-grade, five at the seventh-grade, twelve at the eighth-grade, and the rest are ninth-grade."

Before Su Jingxing could ask further, she added, "Although there aren't many martial artists, the rest of us play significant roles as well. We have people with all kinds of skills in every industry—surveillance, scouting, infiltration, working within Shi family businesses, shadowing Shi family disciples, as well as explosives experts, weapon designers, doctors, teachers, salespeople, and more."

"Good."

Su Jingxing remained as calm as ever. More people were better; the more people participating in his plan, the better.

"..."

Shen Qian opened her mouth, but didn't dare to ask anything. Since Su Jingxing wasn't speaking, she had no choice but to stay silent. Fortunately, the wait was short, and the other core members of the "Anti-Shi Alliance" arrived one after another.

"This is Xiao Chengyue," Shen Qian said, pointing to a young man with messy hair.

"This is Jiang Tianhao," she said, pointing to a middle-aged man with a scar on his face.

"This is Zhang Jun," she said, indicating a man with a thick beard.

"This is Mao Xiaomao," she said, pointing to the round-faced girl.

"This is Yang Sijing," she said, gesturing to a middle-aged woman wearing glasses.

...

Shen Qian introduced them one by one, finally pointing to a long-haired young man with a cold expression who carried a long sword on his back.

"This is Ye Jiuchong."

After the forty-plus people were introduced, Shen Qian looked at Su Jingxing. "Except for Old Huang, who was injured, and over a dozen others who went out of town, every martial artist in the alliance is here!"

Su Jingxing nodded, swept his gaze over everyone, and spoke calmly.

"I know everyone is curious about what the next step of the plan is."

"I won't waste any time."

"A martial arts duel!"