Chapter 43: Who’s Next
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Something major must have happened for someone to be knocking on the door during a meeting.

The main affair of the meeting was the power struggle between Ceng Rou and the Ceng family’s five elders. In that scenario, there should not have been anyone that would have come knocking on the door.

Prior to the meeting’s commencement, Ceng Rou had already given instructions for there to be no disruptions.

The eyes of the Ceng family’s elders, however, sparkled at the sound. They knew that that person had arrived. Their plan would surely come to fruition now.

Everything would be under control before long.

“I’ll go open the door.” With the knocking bringing him back to his senses, the Ceng family’s eldest person ran towards the door, afraid he would be next in Xia Tian’s assault if he stayed any longer.

The door swung open, giving way to a bespectacled, ordinary-looking man dressed in a suit and tie.

“Why are you here?” Ceng Rou frowned. She did not recognize this person.

“Director Wang sends this with his regards,” The suited man in walked towards Ceng Rou clutching stack of documents. The Ceng family’s five elders smiled at the sight of this man.

They knew this person was the assassin sent by Quicksand.

“Wait!” Xia Tian curled his lips and stormed toward the man in the suit.

The five elders’ muscles then tightened. An air of uncertainty descended on them as the man in the suit drew ever closer to Ceng Rou.

Xia Tian knew of the existence of Quicksand, proving he was no ordinary man.

Their hearts were in their mouths watching Xia Tian move closer to the man in the suit. Each of them wanted to take the place of the assassin and stab Ceng Rou right that instant.

“I’m curious, do employees here wear military boots to work?” Xia Tian smiled and swatted at the stack of papers with his hand.

“Military boots?” Everyone’s eyes were fixated on the man in the suit. An employee wearing military boots?

Sensing that his cover had been dismantled, the man in the suit fished for a dagger from underneath the papers, thrusting it at Ceng Rou.

“Ah, murderer!”

The dagger was mere inches from piercing Ceng Rou’s skin when it was caught between two fingers. Tried as the killer might have to apply force, the dagger was frozen in place.

He then backstepped swiftly before whipping out a gun from his waist.

The eyes of Ceng family’s five elders lit up at the sight of the gun. Even a god could not save Ceng Rou from a bullet at such a short distance. With Ceng Rou gone, they had a way to get their hands on Ceng Rou’s shares.

The assassin leaned back and opened fire.

No gunshot.

He pulled the trigger a few times more but to no avail.

“Are you looking for these?” Xia Tian uncurled his fingers and bullet after bullet fell to the ground one by one. He had extracted the bullets from the assassin’s gun while he was in front of him, and he was too quick for him to notice.

This assassin was a Third-tier assassin, and based on Xia Tian’s estimates, crushing him would be an easy task.

Quicksand might not be aware of his ability, but he knew it would not be long before they would come to realize he was no longer the useless Xia Tian he was before. Quicksand would be dispatching a Second-tier killer his way then.

Those assassins were at the top of the food chain and were not limited to just daggers and guns — they had access to sniper rifles and explosives too.

“How is that even possible?” The Quicksand killer looked at Xia Tian in disbelief.

He measured in his head the disparity between Xia Tian and himself. He realized that by his show of removing his bullets, Xia Tian was capable of completely silencing him. With no victory in sight, he turned to flee.

“Did I say that you could leave?” Xia Tian smiled. The man’s legs gave in and he fell onto his knees. Xia Tian landed a kick behind his neck, knocking him out.

The security team had arrived since then.

“What do we do now?” Ceng Rou asked Xia Tian.

“Call the police and have security guard the door. The meeting isn’t over,” Xia Tian turned over to shoot a glance at the elders.

The Ceng family’s oldest coughed, “I think it’s best to adjourn the meeting in light of what happened.”

“Adjourn?”

Xia Tian marched towards the eldest and picked him up with one hand. “I don’t think you have a say in this.”

“What are you up to?! Ceng Rou, tell him to stop!” His face contorted.

“I’m going to beat you up.” Xia Tian smiled as he slammed him into the ground and proceeded to pound his fists on the man’s limbs. Soon, The Ceng family’s second, fourth, and fifth turned prey to Xia Tian’s assault.

With the five stacked upon each other, Xia Tian roared, “Who’s next?

“I’ll give each of you one chance to live. Sell your shares to Sister Rou and turn yourself in when the police arrive. You know what’s in store if you don’t,” Xia Tian continued, “Of course, you can try and have a taste of what’s to come.

“You can tell the police that I beat you up but rest assured no one here is going to attest to that,” Xia Tian was not only threatening Ceng family’s five elders but everyone in the room along with them.

Silence filled the meeting room.

“Didn’t you lot have a sharp tongue, thinking that you spoke the truth?” Xia Tian swept his gaze around the room, including the five elders. “Well, my fist is the real truth.”

“Does anyone here have any objections?” Ceng Rou observed each of the other shareholders. She still needed three more days to deal with the elders, but they had nowhere to run now. She would be left in charge if the five elders surrendered themselves.

“No, we are always in favor of Director Ceng.”

“That’s right, Director Ceng has taken great pains to bring the Ceng Corporation to where it is. We won’t object to money growing in our pockets.”

“We’ll follow Director Ceng’s lead.”

Each of them stood up to display their commitment. The carrot and stick went hand in hand — they did not want to be on Xia Tian’s bad side.

“Alright then, I hereby announce that from this day on, Xia Tian will be the general manager of our company. He will oversee all departments within the Ceng Corporation,” Ceng Rou declared.

“Wait, Sister Rou, I’m clueless about all this, and I’m not interested either.” Xia Tian frowned.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to know anything. Just sit and wait for your twenty thousand RMB salary every month. Of course, you’re not going to take the money for nothing. You have to step forward if the company meets any danger. What do you think?” Ceng Rou asked Xia Tian.

“Sister Rou, you sure have an ax to grind, taking me in with twenty thousand a month,” Xia Tian shook his head helplessly.

“Does anyone here disagree?” Ceng Rou turned her gaze on the other shareholders.

“We agree,” They would never say no to hiring exceptional talent to protect their company with twenty thousand RMB a month.

The police finally showed up. The spectators outside the meeting room explained to them that a killer attempted to assassinate Ceng Rou but failed. Xia Tian was taken aback when the door was pushed open.

“It’s you again?”