October is mildly chilly, a single rain ushering in the autumn season.
Donghai, the West mountain cemetery.
Dressed in an all-black attire, Xiao Qingdi stood under an umbrella, shielding himself from the drizzling rain. He stood quietly before a gravestone, his heart as cold as ice.
His black trench coat reached his knees and he stood tall and domineering. His features were sharp, as if chiseled and sculpted by a blade; sword-eyebrows and star-eyes, he was a stunningly handsome man. Yet, the moment his gaze rested on the photos of a middle-aged man and woman affixed to the tombstone, his expression twisted in pain.
"Dad, mom, I'm back," his voice trembled as he slowly closed his eyes.
"Go, run...leave Donghai and never return."
"My son Qingdi, you must live on!"
"Brother, I'm scared...brother..."
The past scenario resurfaced in his mind. His father's anguished howl, his mother's tearstained face, and his twelve-year-old little sister's fearful eyes seemed to be right before him.
Eight years ago, the Xiao business suffered its greatest crisis. They were faced with powerful foes from outside and betrayal from their shareholders within. Overnight, Xiao corporation, one of the top ten in Donghai city, was wiped out.
At the time, Xiao Qingdi, only sixteen, received a call from his parents on his way home from school. They urged him to stay away from Donghai. Shortly after, he received news that his parents had jumped from the corporation building and died on the spot. His only little sister disappeared without a trace.
Family destruction, parents' horrendous death, sister's disappearance... there followed the chase from an assassin, all scenarios seemed to be vividly engraved in his eyes.
"Had I not jumped into the sea to save myself back then, I perhaps wouldn't have made it either," Xiao Qingdi opened his eyes, a cold, ruthless glint shining in them.
He muttered softly, "Eight years ago, I was forced to leap into the sea, barely escaping death; Eight years later, I have returned, and the entire East Sea shall tremble before me."
His voice was not loud, but it was filled with a chilling, murderous intent.
Around him, a cold wind blew, leaves swirled, and a wave of killing intent rose.
Eight years ago, the East Sea lost a Xiao Qingdi, but little did anyone know, in those shadows, a bloodthirsty Dragon King reigned supreme.
The Dragon King, the uncrowned king of the mercenary world!
Now, he was back.
Those who dishonored me shall be slaughtered!
Enemies of the past, shall be cut down!
He came here to kill.
The sky gradually darkened, and a cold wind blew.
Xiao Qingdi's expression had cooled, "Father, mother, over the years, I've used all my power to find traces of the past. Little sister should still be alive, no matter what, I'll find her."
Back then, his twelve-year-old sister Xiao Qingyan disappeared. Xiao Qingdi had mobilized all his forces to find his sister over the years, he finally learned that his sister might be alive, and she could be in the East Sea.
His return not only seeks revenge, but also to find his lost kin.
As if the heavens were on his side, the rain started to subside. Other people who came to worship their friends and relatives took out various offerings in surprise and joy. They were also preparing to burn paper money for the deceased according to customs.
Light smoke rose from the side, where a group of young and old were burning paper money.
"Young people these days really don’t know any better, coming to a place like this with just a bunch of flowers, not knowing they should offer joss paper money to the departed.” A meddlesome middle-aged woman, while burning some joss paper, glanced at Xiao Qing Emperor with a disappointed tone that expressed her displeasure toward the younger generation's ignorance.
Xiao Qing Emperor heard her, but he, who had just put down his umbrella and stood there with his arms crossed, exuded an intimidating aura, reminiscent of towering mountains and grand landscapes, his gaze was fixated on the path he came from.
The next moment, ten men dressed in black quickly approached, each carrying a safe.
"Your Highness!"
The ten men, all dressed in black, stood respectfully before Xiao Qing Emperor with stern expressions.
"Is everything prepared?" Xiao Qing Emperor inquired.
"Everything is prepared, sir. A total of one hundred million US dollars in cash, each box contains ten million."
The ten men in black respectfully placed the safes on the ground and opened the lids to reveal the contents.
Box after box of crisp green US dollar bills lay quietly inside!
"Is this... Is this real money? My God, what are they doing?”
"Their black attire... could it be... could it be they just robbed a bank...”
"......"
Seeing this, the chatterbox middle-aged woman and her family turned pale instantly.
What could possibly bring the ten stoic men, dressed in black, carrying ten boxes of the most popular international currency, US dollars, to a cemetery?
No matter how anyone looked at it, it appeared as though they had just robbed a bank.
And yet, they had seen each other's faces. Would the other party also silence them out of necessity?
At this moment, they were in utter panic inside. They didn't even dare to leave, afraid that making any movement would lead to them being silenced permanently.
However, in the next instant, their mouths gaped open, their eyes bulging out, and they looked at Xiao Qing Emperor with utter disbelief.
They saw Xiao Qing Emperor half-squatting on the ground, his left hand holding a stack of US dollars, and his right hand holding a lighter, directly igniting the US dollars.
"This... burning, burning..."
"Burning dollars..."
While others worship with the burning of offerings, Xiao Qing Emperor worships by burning dollars... the amount, a billion!
Ten large boxes of dollars, piled up to nearly a man's height, and if calculated by weight, it would be almost a ton. However, this wealth that could make countless people lose their sanity was bei burned at this moment.
As they watched stack after stack of dollars being thrown into the fire, the family next to him was so shocked that they were at a loss for words.
Ignoring the gazes of others, Xiao Qing Emperor was silent, continuing to burn the dollars while memories from his childhood surfaced in his mind.
"Son, do you know why your father works so hard to make money?"
"Is it because Dad loves money?"
"Haha, your dad works so hard to earn money, just so that one day after your mom and I are gone, the capital I leave you will be so substantial that you can use real money as offerings to burn for us."
That year, Xiao Qing Emperor was eight years old, and he had deeply engrained this sentence in his mind.
"How I wish all of this was just a dream."
Xiao Qing Emperor's gaze trembled.
Although, now, he doesn't care about one billion US dollars, even ten billion or a hundred billion. He can obtain whatever he wants at will; however, he wished that all of this was just a dream. He wished he was still the young master of the Xiao Corporation, a spoiled and carefree rich second generation.
The breeze blew by, and the flames grew fiercer. Some ashes rose to the sky, gradually drifting away...
The number of people coming to pay tribute at the cemetery on a rainy day is relatively small. With the departure of the stunned family nearby, only Xiao Qing Emperor and his entourage remained.
After a long time, the flames were extinguished, and one billion US dollars turned into ashes.
Xiao Qing Emperor stood up, his hands behind him, looking at the picture of his parents on the tombstone.
With a faint sigh, he expressed infinite regret.
In this world, the greatest pain is to have the parents leave before they can be taken care of.
If his parents could stay with him all the time, he wouldn't regret exchanging all his power for this!
With a wave of the hand, nine of the men dressed in black swiftly vanished, leaving only one to attend his side.
Xiao Qing Emperor bowed nine times in respect before leaving. Behind him, the single black-clad youth followed half a step behind, his face always full of respect.
Not far away, a tall, absolutely beautiful woman, carrying a bouquet of flowers, walked towards him.
She was wearing a short, blue-purple jacket that perfectly emphasized her slim figure. Coupled with a soft yellow velvet knee-length skirt, a pair of black knee-high boots, and pitch-black hair with natural waves resting on her shoulders, her facial features were exquisite, and her clear, bright eyes made her seem like a sprite. Her gentle eyebrows and tender skin made her look like a goddess.
She is Su Ruoyan, a descendant of the Su family, a well-respected clan in the East Sea.
With an umbrella in one hand and flowers in the other, Su Ruoyan stepped forward slowly, her face tinged with melancholy. Under her umbrella, she hung her head low. A gust of wind blew by, causing her hands to lose grip of the umbrella which spiraled out from her grasp and conveniently landed at the feet of Xiao Qingdi. The drizzling rain dampened her verdant strands of hair.
As Su Ruoyan hurried to pick up the umbrella, she was met with Xiao Qingdi, who had already picked it up and extended it to her. Grateful for his act of kindness, she responded, "Thank you so much. The wind was quite strong just now, and I accidentally lost my grip, causing my umbrella to be blown away."
At that moment, their gazes intersected, both figures jolting slightly from the contact. Each one's reflection filled the other's eyes.
"You..."
Su Ruoyan felt a wave of familiarity wash over her, rendering her speechless, and even her hand reaching out to retrieve the umbrella was frozen mid-air.
"Your umbrella," Xiao Qingdi reminded her.
"Ah, thank you. I'm sorry. You greatly resemble a friend of mine." Realizing her rudeness, Su Ruoyan quickly reached out to get her umbrella and thanked him.
While saying this, she thought of that person in her heart. A look of helpless sorrow appeared in her eyes.
"You're welcome," Xiao Qingdi replied warmly. "The wind on the mountain is strong. Hold your umbrella lower to prevent it from being blown away again."
"Alright, thank you for the reminder," Su Ruoyan said politely. Then, the two parted ways.
"He really resembled him. However, their demeanors are vastly different. The one from the past was always laughing carefree, and this man is more of a cold and noble in nature, unmatched by anyone," Su Ruoyan thought.
Walking a few steps forward, Su Ruoyan's mind was filled with the image of Xiao Qingdi. She couldn't help but turn her head to look at him. However, all she saw was his retreating figure, and she could only sigh in dismay and continue walking forward.
What she didn't notice was that when she turned her head, Xiao Qingdi also turned around to look at her, his eyes filled with a rare tenderness and unspoken words.
Reaching the graveyard up ahead, Su Ruoyan noticed the fresh flowers placed in front of the tombstone and the still-warm ashes. Her face changed, she quickly turned her head to look for Xiao Qingdi, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Who exactly is he?"
...
The night fell, though the autumn rain had stopped, the weather was getting chilly.
Under the maple tree, Xiao Qingdi stood with his hands clasped, looking at the entrance of the Royal International Hotel.
At this moment, the outside of Royal International Hotel was bustling, luxury cars one after another were parking out front, and out of them walked the portly businessmen or well-dressed young men and women.
Tonight, the head of the East Sea Lin family, Lin Shengqi's daughter, Lin Jiaqi's birthday banquet invited every prestigious family of the East Sea to attend. It was also rumored that the Lin family wanted to form an alliance with the Huang family.
"Lin Shengqi, one of the three largest shareholders of Xiao's Group back in the day."
Xiao Qingdi slowly lit a cigarette, the sparks flickering incessantly. He looked at a respectful young man in black standing behind him, and said with a soft chuckle, "If we don't add some color to the birthday banquet, how can it be festive?"
As for the color, naturally, it's the color of blood!
"Prince, let Little Seven take action," the man in black suggested with a bow.
Exhaling a puff of smoke, a mist rose up, but Xiao Qingdi's expression was unusually calm. "I will take action myself. I must make those families crumble little by little and let those people repent in despair."
The prestige Lin family of the East Sea!
"What ridiculous terms these are. Over the years, if the Lin family hadn't colluded with several other families to carve up the Xiao family, how could there even be the Lin family as it is today?
If these people were to die easily, it would be too lenient on them.
Xiao Qi bows in salute, not daring to utter another word.
“Step aside, I'm going to attend Lin Jiaqi's birthday party."
Snuffing out the cigarette, flicking it casually, it lands precisely in a trash bin tens of meters away. Xiao Qingdi steps towards the Imperial Court Hotel.
"Stop right there."
Xiao Qingdi, tall and imposing, dressed in a black coat that extends past his knees, his extraordinary demeanor and his stunningly handsome face would prompt anyone who saw him to praise what a refined gentleman he is.
But when he tries to step into the Imperial Court Hotel, he's stopped by the security.
No invitation, no entry.
The Lin family is a rising eminent family of the East Sea, and for Miss Lin's birthday party, they've rented out the entire Imperial Court Hotel. No one without an invitation is allowed to enter casually.
"No invite, no entry?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingdi laughs.
"Do I need an invitation if I'm here to kill with a slaughter knife?"
