Half an hour later, Kaze arrived at the mayor’s residence. He parked the car outside the house and noticed Kent and his family waiting for him at the front yard entrance. Myra, Kent’s daughter, was also behind her parents, looking lively and healthy. Other than Kent and his family, there was another young man who looked tall and stern. The young man then said, “Mr. Synder, this is more than enough. I’ll have to make a move first. I will be in Riverbank from now on, and there’ll be more chances to visit you and Mrs. Synder. Of course, Myra as well.” A few more chatters later, the young man walked out. An army green jeep with a military number plate arrived before him. Kaze was just walking into the front yard and the young man noticed him. He knew Kaze was also a visitor to the mayor’s residence, so he nodded respectfully. He hopped into the jeep and left the premises. Kent was surprised to see Kaze. He came over quickly and said, “Kaze, you’re here already?” “Dere
It was surprising to Kent and Jane that their daughter displayed such intimacy toward Kaze. Strictly speaking, it was Myra’s first time meeting Kaze in person. Even though they met twice before inside the house, the girl was still under another’s control and was not being herself. The two of them could not understand the situation, so they simply assumed Myra was grateful that Kaze had saved her, hence the intimate interaction. “Okay, Myra,” Kaze said with a helpless smile. He liked the innocent and adorable girl quite a bit. Myra nodded happily. She then dragged Kaze into the house and made him tea. “The girl is like a completely different person now. She rarely even made me tea,” Kent said with a helpless smile. He was quite jealous of Kaze. Kaze smiled, but when he glanced at Jane, he slightly furrowed his brows. “Mr. Mayor, I thought Myra had already recovered. Yet your wife seems troubled. Is there anything else troubling you?” Jane looked anxious. The smile that s
“He’s dead for good. If he had a soul, I would have destroyed it as well,” Kaze said with a shake of his head. As he pondered, he said coldly, “To me, I think someone is playing tricks in the dark after their failed attempt on your life.” “Someone is playing tricks?” Kent and Jane reacted seriously, with their eyes wary. Their family had been through a lot recently. They thought things would revert to normal after Myra’s incident but it did not seem so. “Don’t worry. Since I’m here today, I’ll deal with this once and for all,” Kaze said, raising his hand. “Where’s the blueprint?” Kent signaled Hamlin to bring over the blueprint. Hamlin came back with a stack of papers. “Mr. Lee, this is the blueprints of the mayor’s residence, and the neighboring residence,” Kent explained. Kaze nodded and started perusing it. A while later, he narrowed his eyes. “Interesting. It appears that when this residence was built, the Ryokanians knew a thing or two about feng shui, a co
Looking up at the blazing sun hanging high in the sky, Kaze said, “It’s a good day today. Mr. Mayor, why don’t you get someone to drain the water from the pond? “Then you can get a tractor to clean the bottom. It will be the brightest and hottest later at two o’clock and I will make a move then. No matter what is hiding down there, they will be exterminated.” Kent felt relieved seeing Kaze’s confidence. “Alright. I’ll tell Hamlin to make the necessary arrangements.” Soon after, Hamlin brought back a team of construction workers with machines to drain the water. The machines were loud but sounded like a peaceful melody to the Synder family. In less than two hours, the pond was emptied. The bottom of the pond had nothing but mushy mud. Kaze did not say anything and simply ordered the tractors to dig the mud away. While the tractor team was working, Kaze and the Synder family had lunch in a nearby restaurant. When they returned, one of Kent’s bodyguards approached and sa
“Master Juan comes from a family of feng shui masters. He is not only the chief of Emerald Bull Palace but also the president of the Riverbank Feng Shui Society. “He is talking to the mayor. This is no place for you to interrupt! Slap yourself and apologize to Master Juan!” The female follower berated Kaze loudly and Master Juan did not even spare a glance at him. “How dare you!” As soon as the female follower’s voice faded, Kent bellowed, “Kaze is my guest. Who do you think you are to scold him like this?” “Mr. Mayor, I…” The female follower instantly flushed, looking surprised. She did not expect the mayor to raise his voice to defend a seemingly nameless person. She looked at Kaze with widened eyes, surprised that he was the mayor’s guest. Master Juan finally spared a glance at Kaze and then bellowed coldly, “You useless girl, stand down! Have I not taught you manners?” With one simple word, he shifted the responsibility to her. In fact, if Master Juan did not
Kent did not reply to Master Juan but his expression always provided an answer. Master Juan explained, “To be honest, Mr. Mayor. My great-grandfather once told us about this formation called the Wind Water Formation, which is located right below the pond. “He said it cannot be moved or damaged, or the energy flow in the entire area will be disrupted, resulting in dire consequences.” He looked serious when he explained. Kent glanced at Kaze and questioned Master Juan with furrowed brows, “Master Juan, don’t you feel that your great-grandfather’s words are a little too much? It’s been a hundred years, what can the so-called formation do anymore?” He believed in the supernatural, but also questioned the validity of a hundred-year-old formation, wondering what could possibly go wrong. He rather believed Kaze who said something was wrong in the pond. If the matter was left unattended, he and his family could not rest in peace. Master Juan scoffed, “Mr. Mayor, let me correct
“You nameless, backgroundless mutt, how dare you disrespect my great-grandfather? Who do you think you are?” “Pastor Angelo praised you because he is simply trying to guide you. Don’t be full of yourself!” “Kaze Lee, I demand you kneel before the pond and apologize to our great-grandmaster!” Master Juan’s followers berated Kaze, demanding him to kneel and apologize at the pond. Since the Wind Water Formation was created by the great-grandmaster, kneeling at the pond was as if one knelt before the master himself. Kaze said indifferently, “Your ancestor is dead. Even if he is alive and standing before me, he won’t be able to accept my kneel.” “Master! This guy is stubborn and disrespectful! We have to teach him a lesson or he will continue to be arrogant!” The female follower raised her voice once more. Master Juan’s expression turned grim. “He must be taught the proper way.” “I will do it!” The female follower then strode over to Kaze fiercely. Her measured steps a
In ancient times, masters who practiced the art of feng shui and other elemental arts fought fiercely for the sake of reputation and power. The competition was intense. Many masters set up their formations to trap others, so the formations tended to be lethal once triggered. Those who could break the formation by force were usually stronger enemies. As for those who practiced under the same banner, they usually shared the dissolving techniques among their own and passed them down to the next generation. Therefore, only enemies would intrude by force, so the traps were lethal to eliminate intruders. Listening to their masters, the other followers glared at Kaze. “You! You caused Jenny’s death! I’ll kill you!” “You did it on purpose!” Kaze chuckled. “Yeah, I did it on purpose. Such an arrogant woman should die but if your master could stop the quicksand and save her, I wouldn’t stop him either. “You should hurry, Master Juan. Or else you will be digging up a body instea
“How dare those men hijack the plane and take Kaze. They must be punished…” Despite her grumbles, Snow grew anxious. “Given Mr. Lee’s capabilities, he won’t be hurt.” The agents around her tried to comfort her. They believed she was being too nervous. “I know, but we as subordinates have failed him by allowing this to happen. We have to do our best to make up for the mistake, and not rely on Mr. Lee to get out because he can.” Snow drowned in self-blame and regretted not being able to help. It was her negligence that allowed the hijacking to happen. “But there’s nothing you can do now. It’s late. Even the hijackers need to rest. They won’t do anything yet.” “It’s because the hijackers need to rest that we have to hurry and beat them to it. That’s the only way to solve this matter!” “But we’ve searched high and low and didn’t find anything. No one knows where they have gone. Even if they transported the passengers via buses, we didn’t see any tracks.” The agents discu
Kaze breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly went over to Miguel and pressed his hands with the gun down so that it would not misfire. “Good job.” “Thanks.” Miguel curled his lips into a nervous smile. He frequently trained in the gym and mixed martial arts but had never encountered any real-life incident before, thus being inexperienced. Fortunately, his mentality was stronger than the others and allowed him to act accordingly. “I’ll be taking the gun. This is self-defense, you won’t be charged and you won’t need to take responsibility,” Kaze said. Miguel’s pale face looked relieved. “What should we do now? Are there more of them?” Miguel dared not let go of the gun, worried there might be more enemies. “I’ve counted the numbers and this guy here should be the last one.” He then took the gun from Miguel’s hands. “Really? Gosh! That was crazy! I was so terrified!” Miguel finally loosened up and let his instinct take over. His heart was pounding so fast that it
Manson came over and saw the mercenaries lying in their own puddle of blood. The gore shocked him and made him sick. He tried his best to hold back the urge to throw up as it would attract attention. “Don’t look if you can’t take it! Don’t make things worse!” “Yeah! Professor! Grow a pair of balls!” “I have never seen dead bodies like this before!” he explained with a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Can we go out now and run away?” The hostages were eager to leave as things had settled down outside. They thought the danger was over. A dead mercenary was inside the container with them and they were still horrified. Once the others found out about this, the hostages would be shot to death. “If you want to die, be my guest. The moment you step out, you’ll be shot!” Callahan said as he looked at the others scornfully. One of the hostages had already put his hand on the handle of the door and was ready to dash out, but he quickly pulled his hand back after listening
“Tsk. Hold on.” Vexed, the man clicked his tongue and then waved at his colleague. “Come here. Someone fainted. Help me get him out.” The man wanted to take the professor out of the container. Manson’s heart pounded as he listened to the man. He was afraid he might be exposed, but there was no turning back now—he had to play along. Kaze stood behind the door, calming his breath down to lower his presence. “Get back. Stay away from the door. If anyone gets close, don’t blame me for being rough,” said the man as he unlocked the container. He opened the door and saw a number of hostages still sleeping. He then looked at the professor on the floor. He went closer to nudge him but did not get a response. It seemed like the professor needed medical attention. “Come on. Help me get him out.” The other man outside the container was on edge, looking as if he would pull the trigger at the slightest movement. “Why don’t we do it?” Callahan and Miguel volunteered. “You two
“It’s freaking troublesome.” “Boss, don’t worry about it. We’ll get an update tomorrow.” “Yeah. It’s late. Get some rest.” Tiguan’s men told him to get some rest and not worry so much. A few of them were already snoring on the chair. Tiguan sighed and killed the cigarette. He then closed his eyes to get some rest, too. The container that Kaze was in fell into silence once more. No one dared to make any noise but they all looked at Kaze, hoping to find out about his plans. Kaze’s eyes remained fixed on the window and showed no intention of revealing his thoughts. Miguel and Callahan were annoyed by the other hostages. “If you people want to get out of here alive, you better cooperate or come up with your own idea. No one is responsible for saving you.”“Yeah. I don’t want you guys to turn on us after we do all the heavy lifting. It will cost us our lives and you people won’t even be grateful.” Miguel’s tone was sarcastic because he disliked how the others looked at t
Kaze read the hostages’ minds and refused to be used. He wanted to leave but not under such circumstances. “That’s not true. We just don’t have the skills for this kind of situation. You guys are stronger, of course, you should be in the front,” said the man in glasses and a suit. A hint of sharpness gleamed in his eyes. Miguel knew what the man was planning, either. “That’s some plan you have there. You are just trying to use us to escape this place and no matter what happens, you’ll win.” “That’s not it! I just want everyone to stand together and get out of this place. I’ve never thought of using anyone!” the man argued, trying to look innocent. Even a monkey knew what he was planning, yet no one dared to speak up because they would benefit from it too. “Why don’t you guys think of something? If you need our help, we’ll help,” said another middle-aged gentleman who looked more just and fair, as if he could lead the group. “Then what is your plan?” Kaze suddenly wante
The hostages were locked up in the containers. Some of them were elites in their own field while some were ordinary people with average income, yet all of them got into trouble when they boarded the plane. Most of them could not accept their fate. Yet they dared not defy or resist the mercenaries. When things started to calm down, they broke down in tears, weeping in silence as resentment consumed them. Kaze sat down at a clean corner that allowed him to look outside the window. The window was dirty but at least he could see outside. The space inside the container was filled with people sitting closely, offering comfort to one another. They were aware they were just temporarily safe in this container. No one knew what the mercenaries would do to them at the next moment. “My parents must be worried. I said I would call them when I land but now I can’t even get in touch,” Barney muttered as he sat beside Kaze. He too looked outside the window, his feelings mixed. He watc
Kaze thought of what he had overheard in the toilet. If he told the hostages about that, they would probably panic. “It’s nothing. They are just going to separate us into different rooms or containers. They said the buses would be disposed of,” he said. He did not want to reveal too much because it would cause panic. Once the hostages knew their lives were on the line, things might spiral out of control. The mercenaries could kill a few of them to make an example, and none of the hostages would dare to cause problems anymore. Kaze kept it a secret because he wanted to protect the people. “That’s it?” “Is there anything else? How many men are there? What is their plan? Who are they looking for?” “We want to know because we want to survive. This isn't our problem—we just got caught up in it.” The hostages looked at Kaze, their eyes filled with worry. They felt aggrieved because they should not be caught in such a huge problem. “I don’t know either.” No matter how m
“There’s a room there. Get in.” The mercenary pointed his gun at the mother and son, which led them to look at Kaze nervously, seemingly asking for help. “What do you want?” The mother was nervous. She clutched her son’s hand tightly, nearly making him cry, but she reacted quickly enough to cover her son’s mouth to prevent him from doing so. “All women must go into that room. You go in now,” the mercenary explained. He did not want the woman to get the wrong idea. “You people won’t hurt me, right?” the mother asked, worried that she might be ravaged. “We are not into MILF,” said the other mercenary who was escorting Kaze, indirectly assuring the mother. Kaze shot a glance at the mother and nodded at her. “They told us they were going to separate us, so there’s nothing to worry about,” he said, worried that the mother and son would not cooperate. The mother then carried her son and followed the other mercenary into the room. It was called a room but it was actually ju