Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 94

It’s fine to intercept them before the drugs hit the market,” Rong Jing-tang said calmly, placing a piece of fish in Jiang Rui’s bowl. “However, someone must manifest symptoms of poisoning during this incident.”

Jiang Rui nodded in silent understanding.

If this event occurred without casualties, the government—even if they took notice—would likely do everything in their power to suppress the news to avoid public scrutiny. Should that happen, Wang Cheng-hui would find a loophole to escape through, and the trap Rong Jing-tang had set would lose its lethality.

Jiang Rui let out a sigh. “I’ll find a way to shift the exposure of these drugs onto those who are already nearing the end of their lives.”

Rong Jing-tang smiled and agreed. “I’ll leave the selection of candidates to you.”

Jiang Rui gave a quiet nod, then murmured as if to himself, “Since entering the Path, the weight of human life and the laws of Heaven are always in my ears. I can never truly forget those four words: Karmic Reincarnation.”

Regardless of whether an accident might cause casualties, the fact remained: these drugs were currently being used as pieces in a game to utterly dismantle Wang Cheng-hui. No matter how he looked at it, Jiang Rui didn’t want innocent lives to be threatened by something that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

Minimizing the damage was the only thing within his power—finding those with little time left, or perhaps those already deceased but maintained in a lifelike state, to create an illusion in exchange for peace in their next life.

He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. In his past life, he had done his fair share of evil, yet he had always adhered to a code of not harming the elderly, children, or women. He had even forbidden his subordinates from touching such “dirty” business. In that cutthroat environment, he had been mocked for having a “saintly heart.” Who would have thought that after being reborn, he would become even more…

Jiang Rui couldn’t bring himself to use the word “kind”; he felt it had nothing to do with him. So, he took two large bites of rice, swallowed, and pushed the thought from his mind.

Jiang Rui subtly delegated the task of finding relevant personnel to Zhou Yong-ping and Xiao Lu-nan. In the dead of night, he headed alone to the location where the drugs were being stored.

He wasn’t sure what Wang Cheng-hui was plotting, but the man had actually placed the drugs in a city-center warehouse with total bravado, as if he had nothing to fear. It made him look upright and untouchable.

Jiang Rui smiled. With a slight flick of his wrist, he phased directly through the wall. As the molecular structure of the wall brushed against him, he felt a strange, itching pain. He frowned, suddenly recalling a ghost story someone had told him years ago—about a man who could walk through walls and used his power to steal, only to lose his strength mid-phase one night. He was only one step away from freedom but ran out of time.

The story flashed through his mind and vanished. Recalling it brought a sense of nostalgia for his youth, yet he could no longer remember who had told it to him.

He shook his head and stepped out from the wall. The warehouse was silent and empty. The pale glare of the streetlights filtering through the windows created a bizarre, eerie atmosphere. Jiang Rui inspected the contents of the crates. The wave-particle signatures matched the prohibited substances he had known in his previous life. These were indeed the illegal drugs.

Jiang Rui let out a sigh and traced several runic seals in the air. The glowing seals struck the crates and vanished without a ripple. However, absorbed in his task, he failed to notice the tremors originating from his Secret Realm, nor the subtle changes occurring within the Spirit Marrow Jade Tree and Miao Xuan.

After placing tracking seals on the drugs, Jiang Rui stood in thought for a moment. Finally, he decided to find a certain person.

Huai Qing.

The boy was a gambling prodigy. Though still young and green, if he were given a proper education and taught calligraphy, he could surely become a man of great talent.

Jiang Rui was not a merciful person. While his hatred for Wang Cheng-hui and Ye Wen-bin wasn’t as fiery as it once was, the intent remained. He planned to let Huai Qing act in his stead—to be the one to deliver the final, crushing blow to Ye Wen-bin.

Ye Wen-bin had managed to quickly push aside the skilled Huai Qing, ensuring the boy didn’t even hold a minor position under Wang Cheng-hui. This spoke volumes about Ye’s influence over Wang. In Ye’s eyes, the Huai Qing he had discarded was likely someone who didn’t even qualify as an opponent. To be struck down by someone you have always looked down upon—that was the greatest blow to a man who appeared noble and aloof but was actually petty and small-minded.

Even if Ye didn’t die in prison, as long as Huai Qing lived a better life than him, Ye Wen-bin would seethe with resentment for the rest of his days.

Jiang Rui found Huai Qing exactly where he expected. He had previously researched the boy’s background. Contrary to his current lifestyle, Huai Qing came from a scholarly family. However, fate had been cruel; his parents had died in a car accident, leaving him with an ailing grandfather. He had relied on his gambling skills to hustle enough money for the old man’s medical fees until Wang Cheng-hui took notice of him and forcibly brought him into his fold.

When Jiang Rui first met him, Huai Qing’s attitude toward Wang Cheng-hui had bordered on infatuation. But by now, any person with a shred of dignity and reason would feel nothing but hate.

Huai Qing was not a patient man. Yet, after Wang Cheng-hui promoted Ye Wen-bin and cast Huai Qing aside, there had been no movement from him. Jiang Rui didn’t believe for a second that the boy would just let it go.

Before him was a famous entertainment venue in the capital. On the outside, it was a legitimate bar; behind a single door, however, lay the most opulent underground casino in the city. The owner’s identity was a mystery, but to run such a place in a city crawling with powerful officials, their network had to be immense.

When Jiang Rui spotted Huai Qing, he was at the bar mixing drinks. He wore heavy makeup that didn’t suit him, but under the smoky, neon lights, it lent him a haunting sort of beauty. Jiang Rui tilted his head in thought before shifting his appearance back to that of Tang Xuan.

As “Tang Xuan,” his appearance was low-profile, and he was immediately subjected to several “wandering hands” as he entered. Jiang Rui calmly placed a barrier around himself, walking unhindered to the bar. He tapped the counter and looked at Huai Qing, who was currently wearing a flirtatious smile while chatting with a customer.

“A glass of plain water,” Jiang Rui said.

Huai Qing looked up in surprise. His expression shifted when he recognized the man as Tang Xuan, whom he had met a few times before. Under Jiang Rui’s half-smiling gaze, Huai Qing set down his cocktail shaker, excused himself to the customer, and pulled Jiang Rui toward the staff dormitory.

It was a tiny room—just enough for one person. A single bed and a large table occupied nearly the entire space, creating an oppressive atmosphere.

“Mr. Tang, what brings you here?” Huai Qing asked expressionlessly as he sat on the bed. Jiang Rui looked around; seeing no chair, he remained standing.

He shrugged, watching Huai Qing begin to wipe the makeup from his face. “I want to do a deal with you.”

The corner of Huai Qing’s mouth quirked into a mocking arc. Holding a cotton pad, his half-cleansed face looked both comical and pitiful. He smiled, yet his words were filled with self-loathing. “A deal? With me?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mr. Tang.” Huai Qing let out a smile that looked more painful than crying. “In front of you, I can’t even show off the gambling skills I once took pride in. Now that you’ve seen me like this, what could you possibly want from me?”

Huai Qing pulled off the black leather gloves he always wore. Jiang Rui had initially thought they were part of the bar uniform, but beneath them, Huai Qing’s hands were missing both the ring fingers and the pinkies.

In daily life, those fingers might not be essential—they lack the strength and precision of the other three. But in a high-stakes gambling game, those fingers are like a soldier’s weapon on a battlefield; they are indispensable.

“What can I even do now?” Huai Qing took a deep breath, as if trying to exhale the rage and hatred overflowing in his heart. With trembling hands, he pulled his gloves back on and forced himself to continue removing his makeup.

Jiang Rui went quiet for a moment. “Ye Wen-bin did this.”

“I thought you would say… Wang Cheng-hui,” Huai Qing laughed. In his memory, Tang Xuan was merely a man with high-level gambling skills following a certain gentleman. At most, he assumed Tang Xuan’s status was simply higher than his own. He figured Tang Xuan had come to recruit him as a dealer or a behind-the-scenes consultant for a casino.

Jiang Rui shook his head. “Wang Cheng-hui is hypocritical. Even if he hated you to the core, he would have arranged a ‘decent’ exit for you just to save face. If he were going to strike, he wouldn’t do something this petty and vicious.”

He hadn’t expected Ye Wen-bin to be so genuinely malicious. The greatest torture for Huai Qing was the loss of the hands he took so much pride in.

Huai Qing gave a casual shake of his head, offering no defense. He seemed to have reached a point of indifference toward Ye Wen-bin.

“My original intention for coming hasn’t changed,” Jiang Rui said, his lips still curved in a smile. Under Huai Qing’s stunned gaze, he produced an antique armchair out of thin air. After settling into it comfortably, he let out a relaxed sigh.

As Huai Qing’s eyes regained their focus, the person before him shifted from the low-profile Tang Xuan back to his true form.

“Mr. Wen, for our first official meeting—I am Jiang Rui.”

With a gentle, harmless smile, Jiang Rui gave a slight nod from his chair and spoke in a slow, deliberate pace.