Chapter 326: Chang Run
Liu Yishou heard what Xu Youyou said and secretly cried bitterly in his heart.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. It’s said that Master Chang Qi has been in closed-door cultivation often these past few years. He’s a man of utmost sincerity—once he says he’s going into seclusion, he absolutely won’t come out early,” Liu Yishou said.
Xu Youyou frowned tightly. If the other party was truly that principled, it seemed her mission was doomed to fail.
But what she was dealing with was a whole chain of tasks—if something went wrong at this stage, the punishment would be minor, but the resulting chain reaction could ruin all the following missions, which would be a major disaster.
“Is there anyone else who has the authority to make decisions?” Xu Youyou asked.
But right after asking, even she found it strange. After all, even if she met someone who could replace Chang Qi in making decisions, what would she discuss with them? She still didn’t even know what she was supposed to get from Chang Qi.
Liu Yishou thought for a moment and actually gave her a name:
“Master Chang Qi has a nephew. It’s said he came here a little over a year ago. Chang Qi has no children, and he values this nephew very much—there are hints he’s considering making him his successor.”
Xu Youyou perked up and asked, “Can you arrange for me to meet him?”
Liu Yishou replied, “Unfortunately, he left for Tokyo a few days ago and won’t be back until tomorrow.”
Xu Youyou was a little disappointed that she couldn’t meet him immediately, but at least she still had hope. Hearing that he went to Tokyo, she couldn’t help overthinking—was he perhaps visiting the Heishui family?
Meanwhile, their group stayed for a long time at a mahjong parlor on Fengyue Street, which made Cheng Yu, who was tailing them, suffer a lot.
“What’s a perfectly good-looking girl doing in a place like this?” Cheng Yu was completely baffled.
Even though his family was facing bankruptcy, he still had some money left. Xu Youyou’s team members were all extremely proud; he had tried to bribe the bodyguards but failed miserably.
The people around Liu Yishou weren’t as tight-lipped, though. Cheng Yu was a step late, but by that night, he finally found out that Xu Youyou wanted to meet Chang Qi.
The information soon reached the ears of the Red Dragon King.
Although the Red Dragon King had many informants, most of his connections were top business tycoons—he rarely dealt with local strongmen like Chang Qi.
“Send someone to contact him. Just tell him that if he joins my Daoist sect, I can guarantee he’ll become a tycoon in Treasure Island.”
The Red Dragon King’s orders were relayed to Chang Qi’s men without any obstacles, but their response was no different from how they treated Xu Youyou.
“Fasting and cultivation? Who does he think he is, talking to me like that?!”
The Red Dragon King was furious.
Having suffered multiple setbacks because of Xu Youyou, the Red Dragon King was both fearful of her strange luck and absolutely certain that anything Xu Youyou wanted must be extremely valuable.
“Tell that Cheng family kid to try harder. Let him know that if he fails, his family will go bankrupt even faster.”
The Red Dragon King’s threat was passed on to Cheng Yu, who was filled with despair. However, like Xu Youyou, he pinned his hopes on Chang Qi’s nephew, who would return the next day.
After returning to her hotel, Xu Youyou carefully studied a map of Hualien.
Now, the map was densely marked with notes—each mark represented one of Chang Qi’s businesses.
Lu Jingyao called her every day, very concerned about what she was doing.
Xu Youyou was happy to share. She casually said, “His surname is Chang, and he seems to have a lot of siblings. I asked Xu Fang to hire someone back home to investigate his background, but after several days, it’s like someone wiped his records clean. We found nothing.”
Lu Jingyao, hearing this, said, “Maybe that’s not his real name.”
Xu Youyou sighed, “I thought so too. But even checking people with similar-sounding surnames, families with seven or more siblings, and matching ages—we found no one fitting the criteria. I’m starting to think the Liu family got it wrong and this guy isn’t even from the mainland.”
On the other end of the line, Lu Jingyao was silent for a moment before asking, “Did the information say he’s from the northeast?”
“Liu Yishou said he’s from the northeast, came to Hualien to find relatives.”
Lu Jingyao suddenly had a guess. “Do you know about the Five Immortals of the Northeast?”
“I’ve vaguely heard of them. Are you suggesting this Master Chang Qi is a ‘Chuma Xian’?” (Note: Chuma Xian = a shaman who channels animal spirits.)
Lu Jingyao explained,
“In the Five Immortals of the Northeast, the Snake Immortal is also called the Liu Immortal, the Python Immortal, or the Chang Immortal. ‘Chang’ comes from ‘Chang Tong’ (meaning long snake), and snakes are sometimes referred to as ‘Changchong’ (long worm) in certain dialects. That’s how these variations evolved.”
Xu Youyou asked,
“So you’re saying the name ‘Chang Qi’ might have nothing to do with his real name, and even the ‘seventh’ ranking could be completely unrelated to his original family?”
Lu Jingyao said, “That’s just a guess. If he really worships the Snake Immortal, maybe you can try to cater to that.”
Although Xu Youyou still couldn’t be sure, Lu Jingyao’s guess had indeed pointed her in a new direction.
The next evening, Chang Qi’s nephew, Chang Run, had just gotten off the plane when he met someone who was waiting for him.
“Mr. Cheng’s meaning is that between you and a young lady, he hopes you’ll prioritize doing business with him?” Chang Run said, his face full of visible confusion.
Cheng Yu also thought his request sounded ridiculous, but he still said, “Whatever price Miss Xu offers, I’m willing to offer a better one to show more sincerity.”
Chang Run replied, “But Mr. Cheng hasn’t even told me what kind of business this is. And I haven’t met Miss Xu either. Isn’t this a bit presumptuous?”
Cheng Yu looked embarrassed but stressed again, “I rushed here just to show my sincerity to Young Master Chang.”
Chang Run glanced at him casually and said, “I don’t see any sincerity—just that you’re very desperate.”
Before even meeting Xu Youyou, Chang Run already suspected the two were business rivals. He didn’t fully believe Cheng Yu’s words, thinking he was just trying to fish for commercial secrets.
Before getting off the plane, Chang Run had already received an invitation from the Liu family. After shaking off Cheng Yu, he headed towards a villa outside Hualien city.
The Liu family placed great importance on Xu Youyou. The dinner to welcome Chang Run was set at the Liu family’s old mansion, and all the important members of the Liu family were present to help Xu Youyou negotiate the deal.
Xu Youyou had been waiting early at the entrance. As soon as Chang Run’s car arrived, she and the Liu family members went up to greet him.
The Chang family’s uncle and nephew were not short on money, but their cars were surprisingly low-key—not flashy luxury cars costing millions. This time, Chang Run arrived in a Lexus.
Even so, no one present dared show the slightest disrespect.
When the car stopped, the driver personally got out to open the rear door, and the first thing to emerge was a tuft of pale green hair.
