The Ferocious God in the Celestial Master's Mansion

Chapter 56 The Man Behind the Scenes – Wang Ai

Wang was jolted awake by Zhang Chulan's words, but his mind remained in turmoil. The images of his father and nephew lingered in his mind; he clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, and turned to rush out: "No, I'm still worried. Old Zhang, Old Qing, I'm leaving this place in your care. I have to go back and check!"

He had only taken two steps when Zhang Chulan grabbed his arm tightly.

"Old Wang, what's the rush?" Zhang Chulan frowned, his tone serious and unquestionable. "Those people failed in their attack on Uncle Wang and your nephew, and they won't dare to show their faces again anytime soon. They know very well that making a move now would be walking into a trap."

He paused, his eyes sharpening. "They might be hoping you'll impulsively go home so they can set a trap and capture you! Think about it, Feng Hou Qi Men is their ultimate goal. If you fall into their trap, wouldn't your family be in even more danger?"

Wang Ye froze. Zhang Chulan's words were like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the anxiety in his heart, but making the worry even heavier. He knew Zhang Chulan was right, but the thought of the potential risks his family might face made him restless.

"Yes, Lao Wang, calm down first." Zhuge Qing stepped forward, his tone steady. "Going back now will only cause more trouble. I'll have Lao Du go back to the palace to check the situation and make sure your uncle, aunt, and children are safe. Also, I'll call the three little ones at home and ask them to keep an eye on them secretly, just in case."

Wang Ye also knew about the "three little guys" that Zhuge Qing mentioned. He had even given them a beating a couple of days ago. Although they weren't top-tier superhumans, they were more than capable of handling this kind of surveillance and guard duty.

Wang Ye took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Looking at Zhang Chulan and Zhuge Qing's serious eyes, he knew he couldn't act impulsively at this moment. He nodded, his voice slightly hoarse: "Alright... then I'll trouble Old Du and your family."

After speaking, he and Zhuge Qing walked aside and each took out their phones to make a call. Wang Ye's voice was low and full of instructions; Zhuge Qing, on the other hand, was concise and explained the task in just a few words.

In the corner of the unfinished building, only Zhang Chulan, Feng Baobao, and the pale-faced scarred man remained.

Zhang Chulan slowly turned around, his playful smile vanished without a trace, replaced by an icy chill. He walked step by step to the scarred man, looking down at him with eyes as cold as ice.

"Well done, you little bastard, you're something else." Zhang Chulan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling sense of oppression. "Openly monitoring him wasn't enough, you even dared to send people to attack Uncle Wang and his child, who are just ordinary people? It seems I was too lenient with my words earlier."

He crouched down, his fingertips lightly tapping the scarred man's cheek: "Attempted kidnapping, plus kidnapping of a minor—those two charges combined are enough to put you through the rest of your life in jail. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, some of Uncle Wang's old comrades from the battlefield are now working in the judicial system. Do you think they might give your case some 'special attention'?"

Scarface trembled with fear, cold sweat streaming down his face and soaking his collar. He watched as Zhang Chulan took out his phone, his fingertips rapidly swiping across the screen as if he were really going to dial the police, and he panicked.

"No! Don't...!" he shouted anxiously, almost biting his tongue. "No... Brother Zhang Chulan! Sir! Please let me explain! That's not one of my people! I really didn't arrange it!"

Zhang Chulan stopped what she was doing, raised an eyebrow at him, and asked, "Oh? What did you call me just now?"

Scarface then realized he had almost cursed out loud in his haste, and quickly forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Slip of the tongue! It was all a slip of the tongue! Brother Zhang, I really didn't lie to you! I swear to God, my men were only responsible for surveillance, they didn't receive any orders to take action!"

Seeing Zhang Chulan's still icy gaze, he steeled himself and went all out: "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! I'll tell you everything I know! I just beg you not to send me to jail. I have elderly parents and young children to support; I can't afford any more trouble!"

Zhang Chulan snorted and put away his phone: "Wouldn't it have been better to do this earlier? I even got hit with a brick just now." He was referring to being ambushed by the other party's accomplices during the arrest. Although he wasn't injured, he still suffered a minor loss.

Scarface hurriedly nodded and bowed, "Yes, yes, it's all my fault for not recognizing your greatness! Brother Zhang, you are a magnanimous man, please don't hold it against me."

He composed himself and began to explain in detail: "We received the job three days ago. The other party contacted me through the dark web, saying that they wanted to monitor Wang Ye and his family, report their whereabouts every day, and offered a high reward. Half was paid in advance, and the other half would be paid after the job was done."

"Who is the other party? How did they contact you? What account did they use to make the payment?" Zhang Chulan pressed, his eyes showing no sign of relaxation.

"We don't know who the other party is. They used an anonymous account the whole time, and their voices were also altered, so we couldn't tell if they were male, female, young, or old," Scarface quickly replied. "The payment was made through an overseas account, so we can't trace the source. We're just responsible for doing the work and getting paid. This kind of thing is very common in the industry, and we usually don't question the employer's identity."

He paused, then added, "We're only responsible for monitoring Wang Ye's family in the city. As for the villa in the suburbs and his nephew's school, that's handled by someone else. But we all receive instructions through the same anonymous account, so I guess... it's different teams hired by the same employer."

Zhang Chulan listened expressionlessly, his fingers tapping lightly on his knee. This information was roughly what he had guessed; the other party was clearly very cautious, leaving no direct clues.

Seeing his expression, Scarface felt uneasy and quickly added, "That's really all I know! Really! If I'm lying, may I be hit by a car outside! As for the people who attacked Mr. Wang, they were definitely not from our group. We don't have the guts, and we didn't receive any orders!"

Zhang Chulan didn't speak, but stood up, walked to the side, and dialed Xu Si's number. Just now, he seemed to be calling the police, but in reality, he was calling Xu Si, asking the intelligence department of All-Telecom to immediately investigate the flow of these overseas funds and the origin of that anonymous account.

The call was quickly answered, and Xu Si's nonchalant voice came through the receiver: "Hey, Xiao Lanzi, what's up? Got another big fish?"

"Fourth Brother, how's the investigation going?" Zhang Chulan asked directly.

"We've just made a small breakthrough." Xu Si's voice became more serious. "The money was indeed transferred through an overseas shell company, but we followed the money trail and found a contact person in China. He's an ordinary person who works as a cashier at a small company called 'Hengtong Trading,' and the money was diverted through his personal account."

"Hengtong Trading?" Zhang Chulan frowned. "Is there something wrong with this company?"

"This is a huge problem." Xu Si sneered. "On the surface, they're in the building materials business, but they secretly have dealings with a lot of extraordinary people. We investigated the actual controlling shareholder of this company, and although the name was unfamiliar, we traced some related transactions and found that behind him is Wang Ai, one of the Ten Elders."

Zhang Chulan's eyes sharpened: "It really was him!"

During the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, Wang Ai coveted the Qi Source Flow, even going so far as to threaten Zhang Chulan and, together with Lü Ci of the Lü family, "invited" Zhang Chulan to the ceremony. Now it seems that this incident was most likely his doing.

"What about the other group that attacked Uncle Wang and the child? Have you found them?" Zhang Chulan pressed.

"Not yet." Xu Si's voice was somewhat serious. "That group's methods were very clean, leaving no trace. They don't seem like the kind of teams commonly seen in the underworld. We're still investigating. We'll let you know as soon as we have any news."

"Okay, I got it." Zhang Chulan hung up the phone, turned around and waved to Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing, "Old Wang, Old Qing, come here for a second."

Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing exchanged a glance and quickly walked over. Feng Baobao followed closely behind Zhang Chulan like a little tail.

"How is it?" Wang asked impatiently, his eyes filled with anxiety.

Zhang Chulan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Scarface and the others are hired by a third party, and the person behind the scenes who is funding them is indeed the person we guessed before—Wang Ai, one of the Ten Elders."

"Wang Ai!" Wang Ye gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

"Wang Ai has been coveting the Eight Extraordinary Skills for a long time, but I never expected him to use such despicable methods, not even sparing ordinary people."

"And there's something even more troublesome." Zhang Chulan's tone became serious. "The group of people who attacked Uncle Wang and your nephew weren't sent by Wang Ai. The company is still investigating, but the initial assessment is that the group's background is not simple. The person behind them might be the same as Wang Ai."

This news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, causing both Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing's faces to darken.