Chapter 677: Brilliant Neon Tonight

“Ding ding ding…”

Just as Xu Shaochen walked out of the hospital, his Phone rang.

He took it out and saw it was a call from Ma Di. After answering, he said in a calm tone,

“Talk.”

“Mr. Xu, if nothing unexpected happens, you’ll hear about Ma Liang’s death by tomorrow night.”

Ma Di’s low voice came through the Phone.

“Once he’s dead, I’ll ensure you secure your position as the head of the Ma Family while also helping you expand your reach.”

Xu Shaochen said calmly.

“Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Xu!”

With deep gratitude, Ma Di responded. Back on the ship, they had talked casually.

But after today, he fully woke up to the reality: he was never on equal footing with Xu Shaochen. He was merely living off Xu Shaochen’s scraps.

If he ever wanted to speak to Xu Shaochen as an equal, he needed to rise much higher.

“You’re only getting what you’ve earned through your actions.”

Xu Shaochen said indifferently, then hung up the Phone.

If Ma Di didn’t have the guts to act, Xu Shaochen wouldn’t just pull back the resources.

He would also pick another ‘dog’ from the Ma Family to raise.

After all, with so many members of the Ma Family, surely someone would jump at the chance of his investment.

He only raised loyal and fierce dogs.

Hesitant ones that wouldn’t bite were better off killed and eaten for meat.

Given his position, he could always sit back and leisurely fish. To him, everyone could become a chess piece.

“Take me home.”

After getting into the Car, Xu Shaochen spoke calmly.

At the same time, a plane from the Northwest Night City landed at Jiangzhou Airport.

A few minutes later, a man in his mid-to-late forties stepped off with several bodyguards.

Outside the airport, one of the bodyguards waved down a taxi and respectfully opened the door.

“Third Master, please.”

The middle-aged man nodded and got into the taxi.

This man was none other than Deng Xuan, the ‘Third Master’ of the Deng Family from the Northwest—Deng Tianwen’s third uncle.

After receiving Li Lang’s call yesterday, in which he said an ancient tomb from before the Tang Dynasty had been discovered in Jiangzhou, Deng Xuan began preparing.

And today, he arrived in Jiangzhou.

His main goal was to first confirm if the tomb was indeed ancient and from the pre-Tang era.

For Deng Xuan, tombs from after the Yuan Dynasty weren’t very appealing. Artifacts from newer tombs generally weren’t worth much and lacked significant collection value.

But if it was truly a tomb from around the Tang dynasty, that’d be a different story. The older the artifact, the more valuable and collectable.

Deng Xuan wasn’t a professional grave robber, but he dealt in the illegal trade of cultural relics.

Thanks to the Deng Family’s protection, he had never encountered any trouble over the years.

He and Li Lang had crossed paths due to their frequent dealings in this business.

On the surface, Li Lang operated a legitimate business with projects spanning various regions, but in reality, he used these projects to cover for his tomb raiding activities.

Li Lang was a grave robber, and several of the artifacts he unearthed were handed over to Deng Xuan, who found buyers and took a cut.

Of course, Deng Xuan wasn’t just a simple relic dealer, otherwise Li Lang wouldn’t have called him yesterday.

Under his command, he also had his own team. When they found a tomb with no patron, he’d have his people handle it.

If the value of the Jiangzhou tomb was confirmed, he wouldn’t hesitate to claim the land.

He was very confident about that.

With the weight of the Deng Family’s name behind him, and with the entire nation actively seeking investment, he couldn’t imagine being unable to secure that land.

By the way, Deng Tianwen was also in Jiangzhou. Should he contact him?… After thinking for a moment, Deng Xuan dismissed the idea.

Forget it.

Why waste time contacting such a useless fool? What help could he possibly provide?

“Gentlemen, where are you headed?”

The taxi driver cautiously asked, nervous about offending them due to their intimidating presence.

“Jiangzhou Grand Hotel.”

One of the bodyguards glanced at Deng Xuan before giving the driver the destination.

………

11:00 PM.

Macau.

As always, Macau’s streets were still bustling under the neon lights, and even late at night, there wasn’t much difference from daytime with pedestrians coming and going.

Tonight, Ma Di had reserved a famous restaurant in Macau, just to host a meal with his elder brother Ma Liang.

Ma Liang arrived without a shred of worry.

Just as Ma Di had anticipated, Ma Liang didn’t think Ma Di had the guts to do anything to him—just like how he himself wouldn’t dare try anything against Ma Di.

He knew they could scheme and compete but if anyone dared to turn the knife on a brother, their father would never tolerate it.

Ironically, though, every member of the Ma Family knew that it was by turning the knife on his own brother that their father had built the family’s empire.

“Hahaha! Second brother, my apologies! Your big brother is a bit late. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

Ma Liang laughed loudly as he approached Ma Di.

Despite their bitter rivalry under the surface, they kept up the appearance of loving brothers.

“I don’t mind, big brother. I know how busy you are. Please sit, the food is still hot.”

Ma Di replied with a calm smile.

“Why isn’t there any staff here?” Ma Liang frowned and asked.

Ma Di responded, “I sent everyone away. It’s just the two of us here. I wanted to have a good conversation with you, big brother.”

“Oh? What do you want to talk about?” Ma Liang raised an eyebrow.

Ma Di shook his head. “No rush, big brother. Let’s eat first, or the food will go cold. We can discuss proper matters after we’ve had our fill.”

After we’ve eaten, I’ll send you on your way, dear brother.

Ma Liang didn’t say much more and picked up his bowl and chopsticks to start eating.

He had just been busy rallying support from some of their uncles within the Ma Family, so he had drunk quite a bit of alcohol but eaten nothing.

Half an hour later.

“Big brother, I think it’s time.”

Ma Di spoke as he glanced at Ma Liang.

Ma Liang wiped his mouth with a napkin, raised his wine glass, and took a light sip. “I’m full. If you’ve got something to say, let’s hear it. I’ve actually got something to discuss with you as well.”

“Big brother, why did you send someone to Jiangzhou to kill Xu Shaochen? Did you know that you got our third brother killed? Xu Shaochen had promised me he would’ve spared him.”

“Did you know that third brother always trusted you, even siding against me because of it?”

Ma Di spoke with a calm tone, completely unaffected, as if he were discussing something irrelevant.

“Crash!”

Ma Liang’s hand trembled, and the wine glass slipped from his grasp, shattering on the floor. The red wine spread slowly.

“Second brother, I don’t understand what you’re talking about…”

Of course, Ma Liang wouldn’t admit anything; otherwise, he’d be labeled as a fratricide.

But internally, he was shaken, realizing that last night’s plan had clearly failed.

Otherwise, Ma Di wouldn’t know.