Chapter 146 Letting the Sheep Family Do It Themselves

Whether the Yang family members were merely boasting or not was something no one could know before events actually unfolded. However, Tang Long's current attitude filled the Yang family with profound dissatisfaction. No one had ever dared to doubt the capabilities of the Yang family, even if their male lineage was somewhat sparse.

"Perhaps I should try contacting Tang Long?" said Peacock.

Yang Zetian shook her head and replied, "No, I will do it myself! I'll call Tang Long using my own phone."

Yang Zetian's phone number was exceptionally extraordinary, consisting of an unbroken string of eights from beginning to end. With the sole exception of the initial digit one, every other number was an eight. Almost every member of the Yang family possessed such a prestigious number.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

After ringing three times, the person on the other end hung up once more!

"Tang Long is not answering the call!" Yang Wuchan raised her head.

Yang Zetian frowned slightly. This seemed rather childish. Could Tang Long really be planning to wash his hands of the matter and do nothing? Or perhaps he was testing the capabilities of the Yang family?

"Hand me the phone!"

Yang Zetian took her mobile phone back from Yang Wuchan. The reason she had asked Yang Wuchan to contact Tang Long in the first place was because all combat personnel of the Yang family were under Yang Wuchan's command.

Since Tang Long refused to answer, Yang Wuchan naturally had no desire to subject herself to further snubs by calling him again, so she called Zhen Nantian directly instead.

"Tang Long is not answering his phone?" Zhen Nantian paused for a moment before offering a bitter smile. "How can that be? I called him personally, and everything was already settled. He agreed to help Wujiang go deep into the Qinling Mountains to search for the 'Rejuvenation Herb'!"

Yang Zetian: "..."

Zhen Nantian countered, "I know a thing or two about that young man Tang Long's temper. Did you people say something else to him?"

Yang Zetian fell silent for a moment before answering, "Wuchan said a few harsh things in a fit of anger; perhaps she offended him!"

"Harsh things?" Zhen Nantian said helplessly. "Well, this is something you all need to communicate about yourselves. Your Yang family went to cause trouble on his turf in the first place, and things turned out this way not because he bullied you without reason. You Yang family members need to understand one simple truth: no one owes you anything!"

These words served as a warning to the Yang family. The subtext was clear: do not assume that just because Yang Wujiang was nearly killed, you can shift all the blame onto others.

When it came to shielding those under their protection, this high-ranking military commander was second to none. Who would fail to protect their own soldiers?

"..." Yang Zetian felt a surge of anger, yet she had no way to vent it. It was true that the Yang family was wealthy, but wealth did not mean one could do whatever they pleased.

"The girl Peacock should be with you, shouldn't she? If she is, have her figure out a way. Tang Long being willing to help you search for the 'Rejuvenation Herb' is something your Yang family should be grateful for. If he is unwilling to help, not only you, but even I have no way to order him around!"

With that, Zhen Nantian hung up the phone!

Holding the phone, Yang Zetian furrowed her brows. Zhen Nantian's words carried multiple layers of meaning. Even if Yang Wujiang were to actually die, what could the Yang family possibly do to Yutou Village?

A massacre of Yutou Village would likewise spell the doom of the Yang family!

"Track Tang Long's current coordinates. I will go and negotiate with him in person!" Yang Zetian said calmly, holding her phone.

She chose to ignore Zhen Nantian's advice about having Peacock find a way to contact Tang Long.

"Understood!"

Yang Wuchan took her phone and dialed a number.

...

At the Sky Eye Satellite Monitoring Center in Yunnan Province, Shao Xiaoyao sat in her chair with a pale face, looking utterly dazed.

Yang Wujiang had his heart dug out?

How, how could this be possible? Just last night, they had all been drinking, singing, and scheming together about how to deal with that fellow named Tang Long.

The incident had actually occurred just two hours ago, not very long at all!

If not for the fact that someone did not want Yang Wujiang to expire on the spot, his body would probably have grown cold by now. The perpetrators had come prepared; they extracted Yang Wujiang's heart in order to extort an enormous fortune from the Yang family and lure Tang Long into the Qinling Mountains to search for the Ancient God Temple.

If she hadn't incited Yang Wujiang to go to Taoyuan County to cause trouble for Tang Long, would he have met with this misfortune? Now that disaster had struck Yang Wujiang, would those women of the Yang family go completely insane?

If Yang Wujiang really died, then... she would undoubtedly receive a severe beating on her backside! No, perhaps ten beatings!

With so many top-tier martial artists following at his side, how could he be so fragile and easily ravaged by others?

"Director?"

Hearing someone calling her, Shao Xiaoyao finally managed to collect her wits. She raised a hand and said, "Don't speak for a moment. Let me think, let me think!"

First of all, Shao Xiaoyao did not want Yang Wujiang to die. After all, if he died, it would probably be difficult to find another 'sugar daddy' wealthier than him anywhere in the world. Furthermore, if Yang Wujiang died, she would inevitably have to take the fall. Even if the Yang family didn't manage to kill her, she would at least be stripped of a layer of skin, and her future days would be exceptionally bitter.

Therefore, no matter from which perspective, Yang Wujiang had to live; he absolutely could not kick the bucket!

"Give me the coordinates for Taoyuan County, and trace Yang Wujiang's route for me!" Shao Xiaoyao gritted her teeth, her eyes wide as she stood up from her chair.

"Yang Wujiang's convoy should have exited the expressway. The crime scene is on the road from Taoyuan County to Donghe Town, in a remote stretch... Director, the satellite signals are being jammed. We don't have footage of the crime scene!"

Given modern technology and the resources under Shao Xiaoyao's control, tracking Yang Wujiang's travel route should have been easy, and locking onto the crime scene ought to have been a simple matter as well.

The problem was that the perpetrators were not an ordinary organization. Not only did they possess formidable martial prowess, but they also had extremely powerful technology backing them up, as if they had calculated every single variable.

Gritting her teeth and refusing to accept defeat, Shao Xiaoyao said, "Expand the search area! Lock onto all inbound and outbound visitors in Taoyuan County for today—no, for the past week—and check them one by one. I refuse to believe these people simply crawled out of the ground!"

"Yes!"

Her subordinates immediately initiated the supercomputer, but the sheer volume of data was massive, and it could not be completed instantly.

"What did you call me for just now?" Shao Xiaoyao finally remembered that one of her subordinates had called out to her earlier.

The middle-aged man said with a helpless expression, "The Dean wants you to go to his office!"

Shao Xiaoyao rolled her eyes and said, "Umm, I have a stomachache and I'm hiding in the restroom and won't come out. Can we stall this?"

"This... I'm afraid that won't do!" The middle-aged man offered a bitter smile and shook his head.

Shao Xiaoyao pouted, knowing that trouble had arrived. She hadn't wanted any of these things to happen either!

...

Tang Long drove his car into Taoyuan County and headed toward the Baofeng Carving Factory. Who gave the Yang family the right to act so arrogantly? Wasn't Yang Wujiang still alive? Even if Yang Wujiang really kicked the bucket, that would simply mean the Yang family members were completely incompetent themselves, failing to protect him and letting others kill him. What on earth did that have to do with him?

They even wanted the entire population of Yutou Village to be buried with him. Tang Long refused to be intimidated; since they had put it that way, he wanted to see whether the Yang family would actually dare to do it if Yang Wujiang truly died.

If they dared, he would chop off a hand for every hand they extended; and if worse came to worst, he would simply wipe out the Yang family. What was so big about that?

To be honest, Tang Long was indeed acting a bit on impulse, and hanging up on the Yang family was him throwing a tantrum. However, apart from his anger, the matter regarding Yang Wujiang still needed to be discussed properly with the Yang family. Business is business, principles are principles, and human favors are human favors; people shouldn't muddle these things together.

How could these matters be discussed over a phone call?

Therefore, no matter what, he had to make the Yang family come over and meet with him in person. With the Yang family's resources, finding him would not be a difficult task.

Hence, all Tang Long needed to do right now was find a place and wait!

It wouldn't take long. If the Yang family didn't show up by tomorrow, Tang Long would simply return to Yutou Village, and he wouldn't need to go anywhere else at all.

He had offered them courtesy, but they hadn't accepted it. Could he keep offering them respect indefinitely? Certainly not. Therefore, Yang Wujiang's life or death would genuinely have nothing to do with Tang Long anymore!

...

Gou Yuniang was somewhat surprised when she saw Tang Long. Not long ago, Tang Long had called her to say he would be going away for a while.

Tang Long smiled and said, "I came to borrow a place to stay for a bit. Some friends might come to pick me up later!"

Although Gou Yuniang felt a twinge of curiosity, she did not ask any questions. She was not a gossipy woman, and she rarely pried into things others preferred not to discuss.

"Oh, Brother Tang Long, why are you here?"

Ren Yingying ran down from upstairs and happened to see Tang Long holding Gou Yuniang, kissing her while his hands were wandering restlessly. She paused slightly, blinked, and spoke up.

Tang Long felt a bit awkward and glanced at Gou Yuniang. The latter's face was also flushed red, as she hadn't expected Ren Yingying to run down from upstairs.

"Didn't you go to class today?" Tang Long coughed to change the subject and asked in return.

Ren Yingying made a face at Tang Long and said, "Are you silly? Today is Saturday, what classes are there?"

Saturday?

Tang Long hadn't kept track of what day of the week it was, and he let out a dry laugh.

"Came to learn your craft from your master?"

"Yeah, my master told me to stay upstairs and read books to learn the various patterns of jade!" Ren Yingying explained brightly, then giggled. "Did I come down at a bad time and interrupt you two? Hehe, you can just pretend I'm not here, or I can go back upstairs and you guys can continue."

Although the little girl wasn't very old, her quick mind understood everything. She was clever and far from foolish!

Tang Long rolled his eyes, turned to Gou Yuniang, and said, "This girl really needs a firm hand, otherwise you're going to have plenty of headaches in the future."

Hearing Tang Long talk about Ren Yingying, Gou Yuniang smiled and said, "Yingying is very smart; she picks up most things the moment she learns them."

Tang Long nodded. It was easy to see that Ren Yingying was not a dull child. While her academic grades might not necessarily be stellar, she would likely learn practical skills very quickly.

"Oh right, my master has carved lots and lots of little toy cars upstairs, and they are super, super pretty! She said that when I graduate in the future, she'll give me a set of the prettiest jade car models!" Ren Yingying cheered happily.

Tang Long knew that Gou Yuniang loved cars, especially luxury cars. She had also mentioned before that she had carved many luxury car models out of stone and jade, though he had never seen them.

Having a hobby was a good thing, and only like-minded people could 'play' together! It seemed Gou Yuniang and her little apprentice shared plenty of common interests.

"Your master doesn't just have 'jade car' models, you know; she has other treasures too. Hehe, I just wonder if she'll pass them down to you!" Tang Long cast a mischievous glance toward Gou Yuniang.

Gou Yuniang blushed, knowing Tang Long was referring to the legendary Hot and Cold Divine Jades. She murmured softly, "Yingying is still too young; those things aren't suitable for her yet."

Ren Yingying, on the other hand, stood nearby and asked curiously, "Master, Master, what other treasures do you have?"

Gou Yuniang stroked Ren Yingying's head and smiled, "Master has plenty of treasures. When you grow up, whatever can be passed down to you will be yours!"

"Hehe, thank you, Master!" Ren Yingying's eyes darted around. With her sharp wit, she would likely uncover Gou Yuniang's secrets sooner rather than later.

Tang Long asked with a smile, "Has Ren Yingying moved in to live with you now?"

"Yes, she's already moved in, though she's only stayed here for a day. For now, she can stay here or at her own home—whichever she prefers!" Gou Yuniang said with a smile, placing no mandatory restrictions on her. After all, some things couldn't be forced.

Once Ren Yingying grew accustomed to living here, she probably wouldn't want to leave even if someone tried to chase her away!

"Where is Ren Lingling?" Tang Long asked with a smile as something occurred to him.

"My sister is here too. She's still upstairs studying. Hehe, but she's a bit slow, not as smart as me, and she doesn't learn things as fast as I do!" Ren Yingying boasted to Tang Long with a grin.