Chapter 923 — Out of Options

Faced with the Xiao family's naked threat, he had no room to resist at all!

Gu Pengzhan did not doubt for a moment that if he refused the Xiao brothers' demands, they would do something extreme. For men of their caliber, there were countless ways to act that left no evidence behind — even if they killed his daughter, Gu Pengzhan would be utterly helpless.

"Mr. Wei, are you all right? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?" Gu Pengzhan turned to look at Wei Zhizun. The man simply could not be allowed to die in his office! Gu Pengzhan was more than a little irritated. Wei Zhizun had boasted so grandly before, and yet he had turned out to be this weak!

He had hired a top-tier security firm, and Wei Zhizun was supposed to be the finest fighter in their ranks — yet he could not even withstand a single move from the other man!

"No need. I will take my leave first!" Wei Zhizun had no face to remain here any longer. Though badly injured, he could still walk well enough. His old face flushed red, and he hurried out of Gu Pengzhan's office to find somewhere to tend to his wounds.

Gu Pengzhan gave a helpless sigh. Though he was the man whose word was law within the Gu Group, there was not a single person at his side he could consult with.

Li Fu had been beaten half to death, his life hanging in the balance, and Wei Zhao had lost his strength. So Gu Pengzhan did not want to tell Wei Zhao about this either — if he did, Wei Zhao would only worry, with no way to solve anything.

Gu Pengzhan gritted his teeth. It seemed he would have to bear this burden alone. All at once he felt beset by troubles within and without. The Xiao family was far too domineering, far too arrogant — this was outright robbery!

And yet, even so, Gu Pengzhan had no recourse whatsoever.

Xiao Ji and Xiao Ben left Pengzhan Tower together with Pi Bo. The two brothers were in excellent spirits. Gu Pengzhan really was just as the rumors said — both of his fine fighters at his side had been crippled. Otherwise, why had neither of them appeared, and why had he instead found some new fellow called Wei Zhizun?

Only this Wei Zhizun was truly useless — one palm strike from Pi Bo and he was down and out.

"Second Brother, do you think Gu Pengzhan will actually give in? Did we set our terms a little too harshly?" Xiao Ji asked with some worry once they were in the car. "We agreed back home on just two hundred million, but then we also demanded the Pengzhan Commercial Building and the Pengzhan Business Hotel. What if we push him so far that he turns desperate and lashes out?"

"Heh heh, isn't this just the old game of quoting an outrageous price and settling somewhere in the middle?" Xiao Ben laughed. "Those two properties we absolutely must have. As for the two hundred million in startup capital, my guess is Gu Pengzhan cannot produce it anyway — if we end up with fifty million, that will already be quite good. That is the room we leave him for haggling. But if the fool goes and sells everything he owns to pay us, we will be only too happy to take it!"

"Hahaha, Second Brother, you really have thought it all through!" Once Xiao Ji understood Xiao Ben's meaning, he nodded with great satisfaction. "Exactly — we are the ones holding the advantage. We name this sky-high price, and when Gu Pengzhan haggles, we can talk about haggling then. If he does not haggle, then we have made out like bandits!"

"Elder Brother, now that we have successfully coerced Gu Pengzhan, you should still report this matter to Young Master Bing. After all, all our information came from him — it would hardly be proper for us not to report our victory to the man," Xiao Ben suggested after a moment's thought, once Xiao Ji had finished laughing.

"Of course, of course!" Xiao Ji agreed wholeheartedly with Xiao Ben's suggestion. "Second Brother, you really do think things through. Young Master Bing is the last person we can afford to offend! For the Xiao family to do business in Songshan City in the future, we must cultivate a good relationship with a local power like Young Master Bing!"

With that, Xiao Ji hurriedly took out his phone and dialed Zhao Qibing's number.

Zhao Qibing had heard from Li Cihua's informants that the Xiao brothers had gone to make trouble for Gu Pengzhan, and he had been waiting eagerly for word from them.

This time, Zhao Qibing and Li Cihua were both far more cautious. They had already sent someone to test Wei Zhao and confirmed that his strength had plummeted, but there was the precedent of his rapid recovery after the mutual destruction with Zhu Bo. Zhao Qibing and Li Cihua also feared that Wei Zhao might be playing the pig to eat the tiger this time — deliberately feigning weakness to lure the enemy in.

So after receiving the intelligence, they did not move against Gu Pengzhan at once. Instead, they sent the Xiao family to throw a stone and see where it landed — to serve as the vanguard.

Seeing the Xiao family's call come in, Zhao Qibing quickly picked up. "Hello? This is Zhao Qibing!"

"Young Master Bing, this is Xiao Ji!" Though Xiao Ji was a generation above Zhao Qibing, because of Zhao Qibing's background, he was exceedingly deferential in his presence.

"Oh, Uncle Xiao. Is there something you need?" Zhao Qibing asked, feigning ignorance.

"Ha, Young Master Bing, the main reason I am calling is to thank you — thank you for the information you gave us. We have just been to make trouble for Gu Pengzhan!" Xiao Ji laughed. "Now that we have succeeded, I came especially to bring you the good news!"

"Oh? You succeeded?" Zhao Qibing's heart stirred at the words. So that meant Wei Zhao really was finished? It seemed he too could make his move now! Yet outwardly he betrayed nothing. "Is that so? And Gu Pengzhan did not resist?"

"Fight back? With what? On what grounds? That Li Fu fellow and Wei Zhao are finished, done for. But Gu Pengzhan isn't stupid either. Somehow he got hold of another Xuan-rank expert from some bodyguard company or other. He thought he had something to lean on, and he was all set to put on airs and bluff us down. Then Pi Bo crippled the man with a single move, and Gu Pengzhan was scared witless on the spot! Gah-hah!" Xiao Ji recounted the whole business, his face alight with glee.

"Oh? He found himself another expert, did he!" Zhao Qibing thought to himself that it was a good thing he had not acted rashly. As things stood, the expert Gu Pengzhan had brought in was simply not up to much, which was why the Xiao family had come out ahead. Otherwise, it would be the Xiao family lying in the dust right now! It seemed his intelligence network was not running as smoothly as it should.

"Exactly. Who knows where all these experts keep coming from. In the wider world, Huang-rank experts are already a rare sight, and Xuan-rank experts are found only among the great established houses. Yet who would have thought Gu Pengzhan could hire a Xuan-rank expert too?" Here Xiao Ji grew uneasy. "Young Master Bing, you don't suppose he'll hire someone even more formidable, do you?"

Xiao Ji's worry was hardly unreasonable. He might have been born into an established house, but it was not a martial house, so his understanding of experts and the like was naturally nowhere near as thorough as Zhao Qibing's.

For now, his one fear was that Gu Pengzhan would bring in yet another expert from somewhere else.