Chapter 40: The Fall of the Gao Family of Hecity

He City, 51st floor of the Qiangsheng Group Building, Gao Qisheng’s office.

The early morning sun poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him. Gao Qisheng, who had sat withered in his office all night, seemed unable to feel the warmth of the rising sun. His large frame was hunched, and he was trembling uncontrollably.

On the desk in front of him lay a newspaper and a document. His hands shook violently, his fingers curled like talons, gripping the newspaper so tightly it seemed he wanted to tear it to shreds. With a soft rustling sound, he had already punctured several holes into the paper.

The headlines on the newspaper were shocking, carrying an eerie, dark humor. The front-page headline blared: "Bedroom Ceiling Collapses Entirely; Police Chief and Wife Meet Tragic End." The sub-headline read: "Shoddy Construction Suspected as Primary Cause." The content read like an April Fool's joke, stating that the City Police Chief, Zhang Haitao, and his wife were crushed to death in their sleep around 3:00 AM when their bedroom ceiling collapsed.

Also on the front page was another bizarre news story: "Sudden Myocardial Infarction Claims Dean and Wife in Their Sleep." The sub-headline read: "Experts Confirm No Evidence of Contagious Myocardial Infarction Yet." The article was equally absurd, claiming the President of the City Court and his wife had both died of sudden heart attacks in their sleep around 4:00 AM, with forensic evidence citing exhaustion as the cause.

It was these two news items that made Gao Qisheng realize what a foolish mistake he had made. The team he sent last night to hunt down Gao Lan and Yan Tian had been completely wiped out, and the top-tier assassin from the Destiny Organization, who had flown in from Great Britain, had also met an untimely death. Even more terrifying was the fact that the opposition had launched a frantic retaliation that same night, assassinating his two daughters and sons-in-law without leaving a trace.

How did Gao Qisheng know all this? The reason was simple: one of the two targets he had set out to kill last night, a teenager named Yan Tian, was currently in his office.

Gao Qisheng didn't know how Yan Tian had gotten in. He had waited all night for news from Mao Fengcai, but when the sun finally shone into the office, he hadn't received word from Mao—instead, he was greeted by this spectral youth.

The office door was locked from the inside, and the floor-to-ceiling windows had no gaps large enough for a person to enter, save for two small ventilation slits. The boy clearly hadn't come through the doors or windows. The only other way in was the lounge attached to the left side of his office. The lounge had a large window that could be opened, but it faced the street, and that side of the building was entirely smooth, seamless glass with no handholds. Above this floor, there were still eight more levels, including the rooftop. Descending from the roof would have been nearly impossible.

Could this boy actually walk on walls?

The boy had given him two things: the morning paper and a property and share transfer agreement. The identity the boy revealed, combined with the news in the paper, had completely shattered Gao Qisheng’s psyche.

Yan Tian sat on the sofa opposite Gao Qisheng's desk, wearing cheap clothes bought that morning from a street stall. He wore white gloves and held a newspaper, letting out a soft chuckle as he read.

Yan Tian’s face was covered in a dozen bandages, and an anti-inflammatory gauze was wrapped around his forehead, obscuring most of it. He had been seriously injured the previous night, but after meditating all night on the "Heaven-Extraterrestrial Jade," not only had his injuries mostly healed and his internal energy fully recovered, but he had even made slight progress. The wounds on his body and face, however, had yet to fully close.

Yan Tian naturally knew the cause of the Police Chief's death. The ceiling collapse was real, but it had nothing to do with the builder; it was Xia Tianling, who possessed the ability to manipulate gravity, who had brought it down. The court president and his wife had indeed died of heart attacks, but that was artificially induced by Gongsun Jing. In addition to her ability to manipulate vacuum blades and create bombs in a berserker state, the "Bone-Scraping Knife" Gongsun Jing also possessed the ability to control human bodies. With her superb medical knowledge, creating the illusion of a heart attack was child's play.

Leng Bingtong’s primary task was to help Xia Tianling and Gongsun Jing erase any traces. Having served as a catcher for over three hundred years and now acting as the head of the police anti-organized crime unit, Leng Bingtong was one of the world’s foremost experts in both investigation and counter-investigation.

"Chairman Gao," Yan Tian said, gently putting down the newspaper and smiling at Gao Qisheng, "I had this transfer agreement prepared by a specialist. There are no legal issues whatsoever. You only need to sign, and it will take effect."

The agreement before Gao Qisheng had been drafted with Leng Bingtong’s help. Her influence was far greater than Yan Tian had expected; she had managed to have this legally airtight document finalized by a renowned figure in the legal world within an hour, working through the night. This agreement could also be viewed as a will; its content was simple—upon Gao Qisheng’s death, all his private assets would automatically transfer to Gao Lan, and the 65% stake he held in the Qiangsheng Group would also transfer to her.

Normally, such a document would require a notary to be valid. But that didn't matter. Gao Qisheng was going to die soon anyway, and once he was gone, finding a lawyer to notarize it would be easy. Leng Bingtong had already arranged all the finishing touches, waiting only for Gao Qisheng’s signature.

Through this incident, Yan Tian’s perception of Leng Bingtong deepened further. Her latent power was entirely unfathomable to him. From the fact that she spent five or six hundred thousand in a single shopping trip to the connections and methods she used to swallow the Gao family’s assets, it was clear that this beautiful policewoman, who had lived for many years, was not only wealthy but possessed hidden influence far beyond his knowledge.

A man’s greatest achievement is conquering a woman who has already conquered the world. The shameless Yan Tian had already made Leng Bingtong one of his targets. Although they were not well-matched in age, wasn't there an old saying? Height is not a barrier, age is not a problem... For the sake of a beautiful woman, what is there to fear, even if one is shattered to pieces?

Gao Qisheng took a deep breath. At this point, he understood that the situation was truly lost. The most effective way to eliminate hatred is to annihilate those who might harbor it, both in spirit and in body. On this point, he realized Yan Tian was much better and more ruthless than he was.

What good was money? What good was power? When one's life was already in the palm of another's hand, wealth and influence were useless.

Regret! Hatred! Why had he provoked Yan Tian? Why had he provoked this star of misfortune? The Gao family children had all died at his hands, and now the family’s assets would be controlled by him!

"No, I will never sign! Even if I die, I won't let you have your way!" Gao Qisheng roared internally. *I still have my brother, Gao Qiqiang. Once he hears the news, he will surely return from overseas to avenge me.* His teeth gnashed together, and his face became hideously distorted.

As if seeing through his thoughts, Yan Tian smiled slightly and said, "Chairman Gao, I won't force you if you don't want to sign. In this day and age, finding someone to forge a signature isn't difficult. However, if you don't cooperate, I will be very displeased. You’ve likely guessed that once you sign, I will kill you. But I feel it necessary to remind you: I can let you die instantly without any pain, or I can leave you unable to speak, hear, see, or smell, unable to move, and let you experience every possible pain a human can endure before slowly breathing your last. This process will be very long. With my current abilities, I can make you experience it for seven days."

"Hmph, I'm an old man, what else is there to fear?" Gao Qisheng roared.

"It seems you still don't believe me. That’s a shame..." As he spoke, Yan Tian’s expression changed. He suddenly channeled his Heavenly Eye, projecting his gaze into Gao Qisheng’s ash-gray pupils.

As soon as Gao Qisheng’s eyes met Yan Tian’s, his body began to tremble violently. His soul seemed to be sucked into those eyes; he felt as if he had arrived in a desert of frozen ice and drifting blood. Under his feet, he stepped into blood pools knee-deep, the plasma as viscous as lava, with countless skulls and bones floating on the surface.

His nose and mouth were filled with a stench so foul it made him want to vomit. The smell seemed to drill through every pore of his body, piercing into his flesh and torturing every nerve. He desperately tried to block his nose, even trying to stop himself from breathing, but it was useless—the stench was omnipresent.

Suddenly, he felt a strange itch rising from the soles of his feet, an itch that seemed to come from the depths of his soul, instantly spreading throughout his body. It was as if countless ants were gnawing at his nerves, so itchy he shrieked, desperate to peel off his own skin. Later, the itch began to be mixed with sharp, inexplicable pains. The sensation was like countless needles pricking his most sensitive nerve endings, like countless knives slicing his heart, gouging his brain, and churning his soul. He felt as if he were dying, yet he could not die; he was kept in a state of excruciating awareness.

He felt pain, he shrieked, his throat went hoarse, and his soul trembled. He wanted to pass out, but his mind remained terrifyingly clear. He wanted to die immediately, but his vitality was as stubborn as a cockroach. This was worse than death; death could bring release, but here he was trapped in boundless agony.

Like ice freezing him, like fire burning him, like swallowing hundreds of the world’s spiciest peppers, like chewing the most numbing peppercorns, like salt rubbed into open wounds, like his tendons and bones being ripped out... boundless pain tortured him. He could neither live nor die.

Yan Tian watched coldly as Gao Qisheng foamed at the mouth, his eyes rolling back, his body trembling, his throat emitting rattling sounds. Just now, he had used his Heavenly Eye to project a mental force into Gao Qisheng’s consciousness, creating an illusion of endless torment. Mental torture was far more terrifying than physical pain. Having been in business for many years, Gao Qisheng had a resilient spirit, but after suffering blow after blow for the last twenty-four hours, his mind was on the verge of collapse and could not resist the power of the Heavenly Eye.

Before long, Gao Qisheng lost control of his bowels amidst the violent trembling, and the office was filled with a foul stench.

At this moment, the mental force Yan Tian had projected reached its end. Gao Qisheng regained consciousness. Seeing Yan Tian’s wicked smile, he grabbed a pen with shaking hands, signed his name on the agreement, and pressed his thumbprint and seal onto it.

As he signed, he let out a hoarse roar: "Let me die! Just let me die!"

Seeing that the procedure was complete, Yan Tian took the agreement and smiled, "As you wish." With a flick of his finger, a burst of energy entered Gao Qisheng’s chest.

This time, the "One-Yang Finger" Yan Tian used did not leave a bloody hole in Gao Qisheng's chest; instead, it slipped through and traveled to his heart, severing his heart meridian.

Gao Qisheng slumped weakly into his executive chair, limbs splayed, eyes staring at the ceiling, a thin trail of blood slowly seeping from the corner of his foam-covered mouth.

The way he died now, even the world’s top forensic pathologist using the most advanced equipment would only be able to conclude that he died of a sudden heart attack. Combined with the newspaper on the desk—which Gao Qisheng had punctured with holes and which reported those two stories full of dark humor—his death appeared perfectly logical.

Gliding into the lounge on the left like a phantom, Yan Tian leaped out the window. After jumping out, he tapped his left toe lightly against the open window frame, causing it to close automatically. Using that momentum, he soared upward like a giant bird and landed on the rooftop railing.

Jumping down from the railing, Yan Tian tucked the agreement into his clothes, took off his gloves, crumpled them into a ball, and rubbed them between his palms. The gloves turned into the finest powder, drifting away in the wind...