Chapter 2530 - 2594: Blow
He’s worth several hundred million, even ten times that, and Li Yifei felt it was still acceptable. Having a Formation Master at home would greatly increase the Li family’s security, and this guy even had growth potential. If he used the Li family as a base to set up a sophisticated defensive Great Formation, that would be simply perfect. Don’t even mention a few hundred million—no matter how much it cost, Li Yifei was willing to pay. This was a rare talent.
In that case, there was no need to waste time—just leave the formation directly. Li Yifei had already seen the Life Gate, only three stone platforms away from him. At such a close distance, Li Yifei only needed to charge through three checkpoints in a row. So he gathered his strength, shot forward like an arrow, clenched his right fist and punched three times in succession. Bang bang bang—after three explosive sounds, Li Yifei was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, instantly charging to the front of the Life Gate. From outside, the two only saw a flash of white light, and Li Yifei seemed to suddenly appear out of thin air. The two, who had already been waiting anxiously, immediately perked up. Seeing Li Yifei appear unscathed, Yang Shuo cried out in surprise, while Xu Shu froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. He froze because he saw Li Yifei come out of the formation, which naturally shocked him, and his expression changed drastically because... with Li Yifei’s appearance, the Tian Yan Formation—an ultra-powerful formation within his sect that he had painstakingly spent half an hour and countless treasures to barely set up—actually collapsed with a roar. It shattered in an instant, yet there was no sound, no sense of explosion; it just cracked apart with a swish. Whether jade or other treasures, everything broke to pieces.
This meant Li Yifei not only broke the formation, he broke it with overwhelming force. This was the Tian Yan Formation, the formation his master had praised most back in the day, and also one that could actually be set up. Those formations that couldn’t be set up were useless no matter how highly they were praised. So Xu Shu was shocked, and stunned.
Li Yifei acted as if he had only done something very trivial. He drifted out from within the formation and landed a few meters in front of the two. Seeing Yang Shuo and Xu Shu’s expressions, he gave a faint smile and said, "This formation is somewhat interesting, not bad!"
This formation is only "somewhat interesting"? Brother, you’ve got to be kidding me. Do you have any idea how important this formation is to me, how important it is to my sect? And you actually say it’s "somewhat interesting"? If my late master heard that, he’d probably be so pissed he’d crawl out of his grave to kick you.
Forget it, forget it. Whatever you say goes—who told you to be this strong? Thinking of this, Xu Shu suddenly felt a kind of powerlessness in his heart. He didn’t know how to face Li Yifei. This Li Family Head, the richest man in Ning Province, was just too formidable.
"I concede!" Xu Shu sighed inwardly and lowered his head as he spoke.
Li Yifei looked at him and, seeing Xu Shu’s expression, knew this guy had taken quite a blow. But Li Yifei had no intention of playing psychologist. Taking in someone this capable and letting him into the family was also a risky move, especially now that they had declared war on the Noah’s Ark Organization. If this guy turned out to be an insider and pulled something at a critical moment, that was something Li Yifei couldn’t afford.
Still, caution was one thing; Li Yifei still wanted to recruit this man. He was a talent, and so far, his personality and such had been acceptable. He didn’t seem like a treacherous person.
Li Yifei walked over, patted Xu Shu on the shoulder, and said, "No need to get discouraged. After all, there aren’t many like me. Most people are still not as good as you."
But I’m not as good as you! Xu Shu screamed inwardly. Over the past ten-plus years, back when his master was still alive, he’d often been praised as exceptionally gifted, far surpassing countless others. Who’d have thought Li Yifei would be even more of a freak? Compared to him, Xu Shu felt he was nothing at all.
Only after the two finished talking did Yang Shuo hastily ask, "Mr. Li, are you alright?"
"I’m fine. But he’s not bad. If you follow me wholeheartedly from now on, I can guarantee the jade you need for cultivation, and that ninety-plus million you embezzled and misappropriated before will be wiped clean. I’ll help you patch that hole!" Li Yifei said this, and seeing joy flash across Yang Shuo’s face, he lowered his voice and warned, "If you don’t repent, Yang Shuo, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance."
"I won’t, I won’t. Mr. Li, don’t worry. After I go back this time, I’ll settle my personal matters. As for the company... if you and President Xu still trust me, I promise I’ll work hard. If President Xu thinks... I should be punished, I’ll accept whatever comes!"
"Pretty words are useless. If I didn’t value talent, the two of you dying in that house today would’ve been easy. That’s not difficult for me at all."
"I guarantee it won’t happen again!" Yang Shuo said, steeling himself.
"Raising your voice won’t help. Just keep it in your heart. Alright, let’s head back." As Li Yifei spoke, he walked toward the car.
Xu Shu was the last to leave. He glanced at that shattered formation. The jade and other precious formation materials had all turned to ash, which scattered with the wind as if they’d never existed here. He clenched his fist. Li Yifei’s appearance made him realize there are always higher mountains and stronger people. But soon he regained his confidence, thinking this was actually a good thing. At least he could chase after this Li Family Head. Having a strong expert as a role model was a good thing for him.
Thinking this, Xu Shu also turned around and quickly caught up.
By the time they returned to that house, it was already very dark. The three of them had a meal, then, with the two accompanying him, Li Yifei found a hotel, booked a room, and checked in. When Yang Shuo and Xu Shu were about to leave, Li Yifei stopped them and said to Yang Shuo, "I’ve already had someone transfer a sum of money into the branch company’s account. This money is to fill that hole. I don’t care about the others, but the workers’ wages must be settled."
"We’ll go right now!" Yang Shuo nodded again and again.
"By the way, what was that about brawling with the workers? You went and found some street thugs?" Li Yifei frowned as he asked. If that was really the case, then this Yang Shuo would have yet another crime on his record.
Yang Shuo immediately shook his head and said, "Mr. Li, they weren’t people I found. Although... I do bear some responsibility, it definitely wasn’t me who went to find them."
"How do you mean?"
"Those guys are locals from Dan City. This is how they make a living. Not just on our site—other construction sites have them too. It just happened to coincide, and the workers might have mistaken them for people I hired!"
"There are people like that?" Li Yifei asked, then understood on his own. In Mile City, no punks would dare extort Li family businesses; even across the whole province, most wouldn’t dare. But there are always some who aren’t afraid of death, whose eyes light up at the sight of money and who will do all kinds of outrageous things for it, like not caring who the Li family is and just extorting first, talking later.
Seeing Yang Shuo nod, Li Yifei gave her a long look, then said, "I don’t care about all that. I only know that all these Li family businesses are proper, legitimate enterprises. They’re already more than enough to keep the government satisfied. We can’t be tangling with punks on top of that. Besides, Xu Shu, you just stood by and watched this kind of thing happen?"
"I... should go deal with them?" Xu Shu pointed at himself.
Li Yifei laughed and said, "Otherwise what are you going to do?"
"Alright, I’ll take care of this. Mr. Li, don’t worry!" Xu Shu understood; this was trouble his lover had stirred up, so it was only right that he go handle it.
"Go. I’m heading back to Mile City tomorrow. Once things are settled here, make a trip back to Mile City. Go see Xu Yingying, have him come see me. And another thing: sort out your home situation. Yang Shuo, you’ve already disappointed us once. Do not let there be a second time, or we’ll truly be heartbroken!"
Yang Shuo pressed her lips together and nodded hard, but didn’t say any words of guarantee. Since she’d repented, she would just have to slowly put it into action!
Only then did Li Yifei let the two of them leave. After eating and drinking his fill, he went to take a shower, then lay on the bed, picked up his phone, and started replying to messages from his family. The group chat immediately came alive when they saw Li Yifei appear. Whoever wasn’t asleep popped up to chat with their husband. They chatted for an hour before Li Yifei said they had to stop; he was coming back tomorrow. The women were reluctant, but each still said goodnight. Chu Xiaoyao secretly sent over a photo—she was hugging Su Yiyi as they slept together, and it looked like the two of them weren’t wearing anything, or if they were, it wasn’t much. The shot was deliberately half-covered and half-revealing, clearly meant to tease Li Yifei.
Li Yifei shook his head, and for a moment he really was tempted. When he had the Worm in his body, he was constantly restricted. At first it was definitely hard to get used to, but later on he actually grew accustomed to it. Now that the Worm was gone, these past few days had practically been nights of revelry. His heart had started to float again, and with just a little temptation he was already getting a bit restless.
"Husband, wait for you to come back, okay? Yiyi just agreed that when you come back, the two of us will serve you together!" Chu Xiaoyao sent another line, and Li Yifei grinned silently.
He was just about to sleep when he suddenly heard a commotion outside, like someone shouting for help. No, to be precise, it was exactly someone shouting for help—and it was a woman’s voice. Li Yifei flipped the quilt off with a swish and sat up, but didn’t move immediately. He listened carefully, confirmed that there really was someone outside calling for help, then got up. He grabbed his pants with one hand, and by the time he reached the door he had them on. He didn’t have time to put on his shirt, so he just walked out bare-chested.
The hotel he was staying in wasn’t particularly high-end, just some random place labeled four-star, though in reality it was more like three, if even that. Li Yifei wanted some quiet, so he’d chosen a room at the end of the hall. The shouting was coming from the middle section of the corridor. When he pushed his door open, he saw a woman gripping a door handle with both hands, pulling with all her strength, while two big men were tugging at her from behind. Seeing that the woman refused to let go, one of the men raised his hand and slapped her across the cheek and shoulder with a loud smack. The woman let out a scream, and over the man’s angry curses, she sobbed and cried, "Help, help, somebody help me, I don’t know them!"
"Fuck you, hurry up and come with your daddy, you cheap slut!" One of the burly men gave a hard yank. The strength went out of the woman’s hands and he forced her grip open, then grabbed her legs and started dragging her downstairs.
The corridor wasn’t empty; a few men and women were watching. One woman walked over and asked, "What’s going on? Let her go first, what are you doing!"