Wang Changge listened to the greeting from Xiang Mantang, looked at the ten severed fingers on the ground, a pool of bloodstains, and his son writhing in uncontrollable convulsions. Far from anger or vital energy surging in his heart, a bone-chilling fear instead crept over him.
"You, you, you..."
He lifted a hand pointing at Xiang Mantang, his face wearing an expression of sheer terror. Yet, because he was afraid of Xiang Mantang, he had to force a smile, which only made his expression more sinister.
Xiang Mantang glanced down at Young Master Wang and then looked up at Wang Changge with a smile, "What's the matter? You arrived quite promptly. I haven't even chopped off his toes yet, don't worry..."
"Dragon King, what do you mean by this?!"
Wang Changge's face looked even uglier than crying. It was his most beloved child; even when he acted recklessly last time, wanting to stand up for Young Master Zhou and his group, which ended up incurring a hundred billion in debt for the Wang Family, he hadn't punished him. Yet today, he had been so severely crippled by Xiang Mantang.
Although the surgery to reattach limbs is now very advanced, the dexterity of the reattached fingers would definitely be much worse than before!
Wang Changge began to regret why he had listened to Young Master Wang's words before, to delay a few days and test Su Zijin and their reaction.
He had been possessed then, actually agreeing to it.
Were Xiang Mantang and his people so easy to test?
Just this one test brought unbearable consequences to Young Master Wang!
Xiang Mantang, looking at Wang Changge's reaction, found it rather dull. He casually tossed aside the fruit knife in his hand, and said indifferently, "Alright, no more joking around. Now that Head of the Wang Family has returned, we can start discussing. The hundred billion you owe my senior brother, when exactly do you plan to repay it?"
No more joking around?
This act of chopping off Young Master Wang's ten fingers was just a joke to you?
When Wang Changge heard Xiang Mantang's words, his breath caught, feeling that Xiang Mantang had become even more terrifying since Mu Jinyu's incident.
At least in the past, during the few encounters he had with Xiang Mantang, he wasn't like this.
"Hmm?!"
While Wang Changge was dazed, Xiang Mantang let out a displeased snort.
Wang Changge jolted back to his senses, his lips quivering as he hurriedly explained, "I... I've already prepared one billion, which was originally meant to repay the Su Family. It was just delayed by an incident, and I forgot..."
"Oh, you forgot along with the other three families?" Xiang Mantang looked at Wang Changge with a semblance of a smile.
No sooner had he finished speaking than his expression abruptly turned stern, devoid of any hint of amusement, and he said coldly, "Furthermore, I remember it was a hundred billion in debt, not repaying one billion per month. Do you think the words of the Dragon King are to be taken lightly?!"
"Dare not, dare not..." Wang Changge shook his head hastily, his tone even carrying a hint of a cry, "It's just that I really can't come up with a hundred billion right away. To do so, we'd have to liquidate many assets, so we negotiated with Lady Su to repay it gradually... Lady Su, she agreed to it..."
"Godmother is soft-hearted; it's normal for her to agree to your unreasonable requests, but I'm different, I'm not so easily deceived!!"
Xiang Mantang showed no consideration for Wang Changge's feelings, "If you can't get that much money all at once, then just sell all the Wang Family's immovable properties together. Can't you scrape together a hundred billion?!"
Wang Changge, with a bitter face, wanted to say that if they did this, the Wang Family would likely suffer a great loss. Moreover, with the waters of Capital City running deep, others would take the chance to suppress them, and the Wang Family might lose its position as a leading affluent family.
However, Xiang Mantang's next move cut off Wang Changge's words before they could leave his throat, and he had to forcibly swallow them back down.
"Click!"
Xiang Mantang rose to his feet, his boot pressing down on the head of Young Master Wang, who twitched slightly and frothed at the mouth as if seized by a fit of epilepsy. Then, exerting force, a crisp snap resounded, and a pool of crimson and white substance oozed out from under his boot!
Upon witnessing this scene, Wang Changge's eyes burst with an incredible horror.
He had never imagined that, before he could even clarify things with Xiang Mantang, Xiang Mantang would kill his son just like that.
During their last conflict in the teahouse, even when swords were drawn and crossbows aimed, Mu Jinyu and the others had not killed anyone directly!
But now, to think that Xiang Mantang actually...
In an instant, a surge of fury born of losing his son welled up in Wang Changge's chest, nearly driving him insane, ready to fight Xiang Mantang to the death.
But Xiang Mantang's next words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, instantly stopping him from acting rashly.
As he spoke, Xiang Mantang lifted his foot and began to wipe the dirt clinging to the sole of his combat boot on the tailor-made, handcrafted expensive suit that Young Master Wang wore, quickly cleaning off the filth.
"'Repay a billion in a month, right? Well... it's not that I can't agree, but there should always be interest, right? Just take it as one life, but I'm really not sure if the Wang Family has a hundred core members, does it?"
Wang Changge instantly crumbled, "I will repay it, I'll repay it! I'll raise the money right now to repay you!"
Xiang Mantang's combat boot rubbed a few more times on the corpse of Young Master Wang, making sure it was clean of contaminants, before he leisurely said, "Oh, you have money to repay now? Fine, but you're not paying me; you're paying my godmother, Lady Su!"
"I know, I know!" Wang Changge was terrified, nodding ceaselessly like a pecking chicken.
Even with his immense power in the Capital City, he was still just an ordinary person who had seen quite a bit of slaughter but had never encountered someone as terrifying as this.
He knew that Xiang Mantang's spirit was likely disturbed now, and if he, together with the Zhou Family, the Wang Family, and the Li Family continued to play tricks on him, they would probably end up with their heads rolling on the ground.
If an ordinary person had gone mad and sought revenge on him, Wang Changge wouldn't care at all, easily capable of dealing with the situation.
But the person who had gone mad was Xiang Mantang, a powerhouse of the Martial God Realm, presiding over the Dragon King Hall; he wouldn't dare defy him.
Even if he had to impoverish his entire family, he would have to quickly gather the funds to repay the ten-billion debt to Su Zijin!
"That's good to hear. Hopefully, next month, I won't have to make a special trip."
Seeing Wang Changge's compliance, Xiang Mantang looked up at him with a radiant smile and then, with hands behind his back, slowly walked out the door.
Wang Changge watched as Xiang Mantang exited the hall, the oppressive silence in his heart finally beginning to dissipate slightly; he heaved a long sigh of relief, and with a plunk, collapsed weakly onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Yet at this time, his heart dared not harbor even the slightest thought of retaliation against Xiang Mantang.
…
After leaving the Wang Family, Xiang Mantang got in his carriage and went to the Zhou Family, the Li Family, and the King Family, paying a visit to each.
At the Zhou Family, when Xiang Mantang arrived, they were still uninformed, which caused Xiang Mantang quite a bit of trouble before he could get his hands on the remaining ninety billion debt and transfer it to Su Zijin.
The Li Family and the Wang Family, on the other hand, had already heard of the Dragon King coming to collect debts by the time Xiang Mantang visited; their Family Heads had returned home early and were well-prepared for his arrival.
As soon as Xiang Mantang arrived, they immediately and obediently handed over the money they owed, presenting it with both hands.