“What’s going on!?” Everyone in Shudi’s gang was confused by the sudden change of operation.

After Shudi disappeared for a day, he suddenly called his top members for a meeting. The announcement that they were closing their call service operation shocked everyone. 

“But boss, it’s one of our lucrative businesses, and it’s easier to deal with clients with the girls around,” Taotao didn’t understand why everything was determined so quickly.

“We lost our police liaison,” Shudi explained, it was the excuse that Fenki had given him. “The streets will be difficult to control with more patrols, so we have to stop our operation.”

The members finally settled down as they understood what was going on. They weren’t always informed of the backend operations, but they knew Shudi had someone in his pocket.

“So, we are still going to focus on the gambling and drug operations?” asked Butcher.

Shudi nodded. He was not sure what white powder substance the masked man had given him, but he had his other men try it. They felt the initial high, but after fifteen minutes, there was a strange mellowness. It wasn’t unpleasant. The following day, they couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but they enjoyed the rush like cocaine.

With the gang continuing the operation, the appearance remained the same. Shudi wasnot aware that Wing Bo had instructed the police contact to remain on standby.

By the end of the week, Shudi’s medicine started to act up, and he fainted. As instructed by Li Yun, Fenki carried Shudi to Qinbei every week to receive medicine for Shudi.

****

The Blue Moon organization continued to remain silent after Wing Bo sent out a text to Esther stating that the Abyss Organization had recruited him for their organization. It was his last text message before he destroyed the cellphone they had provided him.

After Wing Bo took over the management the Abyss organization, including the management of Shudi’s gang, he opened up an office in Yide. In the meanwhile, Fenki and Shudi returned to Angao. 

There was no commotion afterward, but Li Yun needed to make preparations in case the Blue Moon decided to counterattack. Most organizations wouldn’t go such length for revenge. Their main priority was profit. If going against another underground organization benefited them, they would, but the loss outweighed the gain. There were other fishes in the sea, no need to capture the shark that had stolen a fish when there were other seas in the world.

Li Yun arrived at the wine bar in Qinbei and met with Wing Bo in a private office.

“Aside from Lawyer Gong, were you dealing with other lawyers in Yide?” Li Yun asked.

Wing Bo nodded. “We call them the five horsemen of Yide in the underworld,” said Wing Bo. “They have a connection with Governor Ning, so I needed to gather information on whether they would interfere if the Blue Moon planned to expand into Yide.”

Wing Bo gave Li Yun the files on the five top members. Li Yun only recognized one of the lawyers, Mr. Bai, who was Governor Ning’s personal lawyer. If Governor Ning was personally in charge of the group, they were likely the executioners of his underground dealings.

“Mr. Bai's involvement isn’t direct. He’s the behind the scene member,” Wing Bo only knew as much.

“Did you attempt to hack into Mr. Bai’s system?” asked Li Yun.

“My assistant did. We have videos of all the horsemen and many public officials involved in drug, prostitution, rape, and bribery. But we didn’t find any evidence relating to Governor Ning.”

Li Yun thought if they released the videos, it was sure to attract national attention. The problem was, Governor Ning wasn't included in the videos. If he really was the head, they needed to find that information. Mr. Bai likely kept a physical thumb drive or CD hidden somewhere with enough evidence to put Governor Ning away. A man his age wouldn't place his trust hiding information on the cloud.

"If there is information, it's likely that Ning Long had also tried to find it and Mr. Bai is being extra careful to keep that information hidden," said Wing Bo. "He typically stays at home and occasionally takes walks in his neighborhood. He has other properties, but it will be difficult to look through all of them just for evidence."

Li Yun thought the only way to find the evidence was to stalk and investigate Mr. Bai. However, he didn’t have time for that. Instead, he returned to the clinic as soon as everything was taken care of. 

Rouxi was in the middle of researching on the sofa, but closed her tablet while Li Yun stored away his jacket in the closet. “Can I ask what you have been up to the past few days?” Rouxi asked hesitantly.

Other than assisting him with his disguise, Li Yun hadn’t discussed anything about the wine cellar with Rouxi. With everything that happened to Zhang Mi, he didn’t want to give her additional worries. If it was anyone else, Li Yun would never pull any of his family members into the underworld, such as his parents and the Wu siblings. The less they know, the less trouble it will bring them if anything was exposed in the future.

In Rouxi's case, she was already deeply entrenched in the underworld that it was meaningless to keep her in the dark. It wasn't just his dealings, but the dealings of her own family. Between the Song and Chu, there were more skeletons in their closets than the bloodstain in his.

“Were you worried?” Li Yun sat next to her, gathered her small hands into his and kissed her palm.

“Just a tiny bit,” Rouxi confessed. “Sometimes when you’re tight lipped about something, it usually means you’re doing something dangerous. Am I allowed to ask what you have been doing?”

“You’re allowed to ask.”

“Would you tell me if I have asked?”

“Probably not, but I would tell you that I will tell you once everything is settled.”

“Is it settled?”

“It is settled,” Li Yun replied with a nod.

"Did you find the asshole that did it to her?”

“We found the guy, but he’s not the mastermind behind it,” said Li Yun.

He told her what had happened the past few days.

She glared at Li Yun. “You’re kidding, you’re letting that lawyer run an underground gang?”

“It’s not like he did anything to Zhang Mi, and how else are we to punish him?” asked Li Yun. “Turning him over to the police means a death sentence, don’t you feel it’s a waste of human resources?”

“You really think he can be trusted?” 

Trust was a funny word. Did he trust people to remain loyal? No, but did he trust people to make decisions that best benefited them, then yes. In an organization with a head, the followers trusted the head to give them the most benefit.

“I trust that he will run the organization well.”

“You should have tortured him like you did with Shudi for a few days at least,” Rouxi didn’t like that Zhang Mi had to suffer psychological anguish. “How about the law firm?”

“That’s going to be tricky,” said Li Yun. “Ju De and I will talk to Bu Tao later about this as it involves Governor Ning.”

“Oh…”

“How is Zhang Mi doing?”

“Knowing she hasn’t been raped did alleviate some of her anxiety, but she is still having flashbacks of that night. We have convinced her to file a police report with Bu Tao, but since she wasn't raped, they aren't going to take this seriously."

"Is she really deciding to stay at the law firm?"

"She's a lot stronger than that," Rouxi thought revenge was a good motivation for Zhangmi. "She's going to see if she can convince Lawyer Lang to start her own law firm. They have some dirt on the other lawyers. Although Shang and Gong appeared fine, Lawyer Gong is trying to oust Shang and get a partnership. She's going to find a way to get them to expose each other's corruption."

Li Yun thought it was a good plan.

“You’re not worried about anything else?” Li Yun asked. He thought she would have more to say about him running an underground organization.

"No, but your parents want us to join them for dinner this weekend."

"Oh..." Li Yun found it easier to deal with gang bosses than family.