Mysterious Awakening

Chapter 575: Chapter 572 Decision

By noon, Yang Jian had already left the headquarters and returned to Ping’an Hotel.

In the hotel lobby, Zhang Lei, Huang Ziya, Wang Jiang, and even Feng Quan were already waiting there, and Xiong Wenwen was squatting in an inconspicuous corner playing a mobile game, seemingly determined to hang onto their coattails.

"Brother Tui, you’re back so soon. How did it go?” Feng Quan asked directly.

Yang Jian had just walked into the lobby. “How could it go? Just as I thought, Cao Yanhua stepped in to mediate. If the circle of friends really agreed to my terms, then this matter can only come to an end. I gave them half a day out of respect for Cao Yanhua’s face. Anyway, let’s not talk about this now. I have something else to tell you. I turned down the position of captain.”

"What?”

Not only Feng Quan, but Zhang Lei and Huang Ziya were also shocked. Xiong Wenwen even looked at Yang Jian with an idiotic gaze.

...

"Why would you turn it down? It’s not easy to become the captain, and now you’re saying you don’t want it just like that? I was thinking we could all form a team together. We’ve discussed it and even almost settled on a team name,” Feng Quan said in surprise.

"There’s no such limit for the captain. You can recruit as many people as you want.”

"Only six? Cao Yanhua is really stingy,” Xiong Wenwen hurried over with a look of disdain.

"Having six is not bad. At least we can barely form a small team, which is good for mutual support in the future,” Huang Ziya’s eyes rested on Yang Jian.

In her view, the number of people was not the key point. The important thing was whether Yang Jian was in the team or not. As long as Yang Jian was there, even with fewer people, they could survive. At least no one she had met could do better than Yang Jian.

"Six is definitely not enough. I want to recruit some followers in the future. Now, with only these few people, wouldn’t I become the smallest? What do I do if you guys bully me?” Xiong Wenwen protested.

Yang Jian said, “I haven’t even agreed to let you join yet, and for such an important decision, shouldn’t you ask your parents first? If your parents don’t agree, it’s pointless to talk about it now.”

"My mom will definitely agree. You don’t need to worry about that,” Xiong Wenwen said.

Yang Jian continued, “It’s still better to ask, to avoid misunderstandings later, accusations that I’m tricking a child, and to save you from a beating.”

"Fine, I’ll call them right now.” Xiong Wenwen huffed, took out her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then with a determined bite of her lip, she dialed the number.

While Xiong Wenwen was on the phone asking her parents, Yang Jian added, “Besides, let’s put the team formation on hold for now. Let’s discuss it slowly after I’ve dealt with what I have at hand. Anyway, we all stay at Ping’an Hotel, so it will be easy to schedule a time to get together and have a meeting.”

"No problem, you handle your things first. There’s no rush with the team formation,” Zhang Lei nodded and said.

"So, are we supposed to start calling you ‘captain’ from now on?” Huang Ziya said with a smile, seemingly having already accepted Yang Jian as the captain.

Yang Jian commented, “The title of captain doesn’t matter; what’s most important is figuring out how to survive.”

"Have you asked about Tong Qian? If we find her, inviting her to join our team would be a great choice,” Feng Quan said.

"I asked, and Cao Yanhua gave me an address.” After finishing his statement, Yang Jian handed over a business card with an address written on it. “He said Tong Qian is there. It looks like she hasn’t gone missing or had any accident. Like I said, how could a living person just disappear? It seems like she’s just hiding because of some issue. If you’re free lately, take some time to visit her and tell her about today’s event, to see if she agrees.”

"Okay, I’ll go there this afternoon,” Feng Quan took the business card.

At that moment, Xiong Wenwen put down her phone, looking uneasy. “Yang Jian, I talked to my mom about the team, and she said she wants to meet you and talk.”

"Meet me?”

Yang Jian was taken aback for a moment, and then remarked, “That’s pretty normal. After all, no parent would willingly hand over their child to someone unclear and dubious.”

He glanced at the time.

"When do you want to meet?” he asked.

Xiong Wenwen was a very special child, and indeed important if they were really going to form a team, so Yang Jian felt it necessary to seek his parents’ consent.

"Let’s do it today then, I need to go home for dinner anyway,” he said smugly, “Don’t say I don’t take care of you. If you escort me home, I can treat you to a meal.”

"The more you talk about it, the less I feel like going,” Yang Jian replied.

"Hurry up, I don’t want to be late and get scolded again,” Xiong Wenwen said as he dragged Yang Jian toward the door.

Yang Jian thought for a moment, accompanying Xiong Wenwen wouldn’t delay anything; he had no tasks for the afternoon and didn’t want to get involved in the Ghost Drawing incident. It would be good to kill some time and avoid the possibility of being dragged into the situation at the last minute.

While Yang Jian was accompanying Xiong Wenwen to meet his parents.

At the top floor of Ping’an Tower.

Jang Shangbai had returned and immediately called an urgent meeting.

However, due to the absence of a few individuals and some on leave, the meeting was sparsely attended.

"The situation is roughly like this,” Jang Shangbai revealed after going over the events of the previous night and this morning in the headquarters’ meeting room, “Cao Yanhua wants to mediate. Yang Jian’s condition is Ghost Scissors. Although I don’t know where he got his information from, his intel is indeed correct. Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly have produced this photo in front of me.”

After finishing his explanation, he placed a photo on the table and added another comment.

"Cao Yanhua has agreed to the demand. He’s now pressuring us. If we don’t accept Yang Jian’s terms, then all industries in our circle of friends will be blacklisted.”

The atmosphere around the meeting table was tense.

They were in a bad mood upon hearing about He Tianxiong’s disappearance, and the troubles of Zhang Jian, President Fei, and Li Yao. Some had even got a hint and requested leave in advance to avoid showing up.

They feared Yang Jian’s methods and dared not show themselves for the time being.

Sitting in the seat of honor was a twenty-something-year-old man in a suit, his complexion pale, emanating an air of sickness. He appeared calm, seemingly unsurprised by Jang Shangbai’s words.

His name was Fang Shiming, the president of Ping’an Tower in the circle of friends.

"Yang Jian is indeed a problem,” Fang Shiming said as he slightly lifted his eyes, “But is Cao Yanhua expecting us to just compromise? What is he, just an ordinary person who can be crushed at any time, thinking he can still play those outdated tactics.”

"Pressure? He’s not qualified. Without our funding, he couldn’t even have built headquarters. Now he wants to use Yang Jian to pressure us?”

"So what are you suggesting?” Jang Shangbai asked, raising an eyebrow, uneasy about Fang Shiming’s aggressive stance.

Fang Shiming let out a cold laugh, “Yang Jian wants your reply by six o’clock, so be it, six o’clock it is. The moment it strikes six, I’ll deal with him personally. No need for any cover-up, no need for pretense. Let Cao Yanhua understand that if Ghost Eye Yang Jian is to be killed, we are the ones to do it. If he objects, he can send someone to try.”

"I never took Yang Jian too seriously, planning to deal with him slowly, there’s no rush in these few days. Since the guy was so lively last night, let’s make him disappear ahead of schedule. If he’s dead, the issue resolves itself. I don’t believe Cao Yanhua would really do anything for a dead man. Doesn’t he love to compromise? Then he can compromise once more.”

"Although Yang Jian is troublesome, I do admire his style of doing what he wants without worrying too much. You should know, we are Ghost Masters.”

Jang Shangbai felt a chill in his heart. There would be no resolution; only one could exist between the circle of friends and Yang Jian.

"Stay here until six o’clock. I don’t want Yang Jian to receive any news and make preparations in advance. To deal with this kind of person, we can’t reveal any flaws. It was your carelessness that led to this mess in the first place,” Fang Shiming said, his gaze sweeping coldly over the few people at the meeting table.

No one dared to speak.