Chapter 320: The Details of the Event
The years and months full of uncommon events, splendid and colorful to the utmost.
Tang Yunde’s eyes were a bit blurred as past events and scenes moved as though clips flashing inside his mind. Heroic and unyielding men, an incessant hail of bullets in the flames of war, signifying the ‘loyal soul’ of hot bloodedness and perseverance.
After a long period of time, only then did Tang Yunde wake up from his reverie. A forced, wry smile was outlined on the corner of his mouth as he sighed, “Yes, I was in China’s special forces—the captain of Dragonsoul Special Corps that year, who shouldered the responsibility of protecting and defending the homeland. Our Dragonsoul Special Corps were the elites of the elites amongst the national special force troops. To enter, every individual was required to have strong combat capability as well as excellent teamwork awareness. We rarely stayed in the country and most of us were around the world—usually in one battle zone after another to carry out some extremely dangerous missions.”
“Twenty-two years ago, in my third year of duty as the captain of Dragonsoul Special Corps, my team members and I were trapped in a desperate and hopeless situation due to intelligence mistake. Eventually, six of my brother-in-arms were killed in battle, whereas I and two others broke through the tight encirclement. Afterward, the three of us went into hiding.”
“We had to continue the mission and avenge the death of our brothers. When we received yet another intelligence, we moved in action again, falling yet again into the enemy’s trap. That time, we were quite lucky, for we escaped by jumping into the river. However, one of my teammates got his leg shot, leading to its nerve necrosis, turning him into a cripple.”
As he spoke up to there, Tang Yunde stopped. He then looked at Tang Xiu and asked, “You should’ve been able to correctly guess it, no?”
Tang Xiu nodded, “I can infer some things. The one who fed you the intelligence should be a traitor, right? Or, someone or some people intentionally wanted you to die abroad.”
A murderous glint flashed inside Tang Yunde’s eyes as he muttered, “Exactly. They can’t be counted as traitors, though; but it’s true that some people did want me to stay abroad for good since the Tang family had two political enemies at the time, one of which possessed great power. After we escaped, I didn’t let the other two brothers return to the homeland with me, because I already suspected that there was something wrong. When I returned back to the country, the military immediately apprehended me.”
During the explanation, Tang Yunde’s intense killing intent was evident.
After quietly listening to him, Tang Xiu finally figured out the whole story.
In the past, after returning back to China, the military headquarters apprehended Tang Yunde and handed him over to the military court. He was accused of improper leadership and directing, leading to the devastation of the country’s topmost special forces team. Thus, Tang Yunde concealed the news of his other two surviving teammates.
Later on, after the Tang Family paid a rather big price, only then did the military court release Tang Yunde. However, they kicked him out of the service in the end. The Tangs’ political enemies, however, forced the Tang family’s head—Tang Guosheng to banish him from the Tang family, or else, it would taint the Tang Family’s influence and presence in the domestic political arena, leading to public outrage.
Forced by the pressure, Tang Guosheng discussed with his son—Tang Yunde overnight. Finally, filled with grief and abjection, Tang Yunde left and distanced himself from his family, going to one of his comrades’ hometown-- Star City.
“That was the reason you were living in Star City that year?” asked Tang Xiu with a frown.
“Yes.” Tang Yunde nodded and said, “My comrade-in-arms died in a foreign country and I knew he only had one elderly mother at home. Hence, I stayed in Star City to take care of her. In the third month, after I settled down in Star City, the elderly woman died. Due to the pain and sorrow, I fell into depression and became a drunkard to forget it all for a period of time. Eventually, I got gastrorrhagia and was hospitalized. It was there that I got acquainted with your mother, who was a nurse in the hospital.”
“How did you turn into a vegetative state back then?” asked Tang Xiu.
Tang Yunde sighed, “When carrying out missions abroad, we once dealt with an organization called Ashura Hell, a mysterious organization with horrifying members. Those days, we killed their vice-leader in order to rescue a hostage, which incited their crazy retaliation. We were entangled and trapped in two battles that time, both of which were orchestrated by that organization as well as the Tang Family’s political enemies. I presume they were collaborating because they shared the same interests.”
Ashura Hell?
Tang Xiu secretly took a mental note of this name.
Tang Yunde continued, “I initially forbade my two brothers to come back to China with me because on one hand, it was necessary to clearly investigate why traitors would appear in the military intelligence system. On the other hand, I wanted those two brothers of mine to play dead in order to prevent the Ashura Hell organization to continue hunting them.”
“However, that Ashura Hell organized people through various channels and finally found that I was in Star City. On that day, five people appeared, one of whom was the Ashura Hell’s Gold-robe Assassin, whereas the other four were Silver-robe Assassins. According to my knowledge, the Ashura Hell organization is graded into ranks. From the lowest to the highest are: Black-robe, Silver-robe, Gold-robe and Purple-robe Assassins.”
“Xiu’er, you gotta run if you encounter this Ashura Hell organization in the future. These people’s means are extremely cruel. My strength was also considered as very formidable in the country back then, yet I was barely able to kill a Gold-robe Assassin and four Silver-robe Assassins with difficulty and, eventually, fell into a coma due to severe injuries.”
“What’s the nature of this organization exactly?” asked Tang Xiu.
“I don’t know,” Tang Yunde shook his head and said, “Though I had access to very high-level military secrets in the past, I still couldn’t find out the type of existence and organization Ashura Hell was. Or, it could be that the country’s leaders were also not sure what kind of nature or existence the Ashura Hell was exactly.”
Tang Xiu squinted his eyes and silently nodded. He could understand it. There were, after all, many special existences in the world. To outsiders, they were definitely regarded as a colossus, monsters whose strength was extremely terrifying.
For instance, the existence of the Everlasting Feast Hall.
Tang Yunde said, “When I left the army to live in Star City for a while, I secretly kept in touch with those two brothers of mine. The three of us formed a corporation which is run by my brothers. I have 40% shares of the company, and now the group has total assets of 10 billion USD in Hong Kong. The general headquarters is in Macao and it’s called Flamespirit Group.”
Tang Xiu himself didn’t know much about those large groups, and he didn’t know any corporation in Macao in particular.
However, for a corporation to be able to amass 10 billion USD in assets proved its evident strength. His father possessing 40% of shares meant that he also had billions in total assets.
Tang Yunde took a deep breath and bitterly said, “I was actually feeling uneasy and restless even before someone from Ashura Hell found me back then. Hence, not only did I not held a wedding with your mother, I was even afraid to register our marriage certificate. I was really afraid that I would have an accident, then there would be nobody to take care of your mother. Thus, I secretly helped Su Shangwen to establish the Shangwen Group with a registered capital of two million yuan, which I gave him. But I never imagined that, after I got into an accident, not only did he failed to comply with the agreement to support your mother, allowing her to have a comfortable and rich life, he instead made all sorts of difficulties for the both of you!”
“Do you mean…” Tang Xiu was startled. “You gave the venture capital to Su Shangwen and had an agreement with him?”
“Yes,” Tang Yunde nodded and said, “Think about it. How would a countryside young man who came to work in Star City possibly come up with a large sum of money and registered a company otherwise? I even helped him win his first few small projects.”
Tang Xiu slowly closed his eyes as the last bit of resentment in the bottom of his heart toward Tang Yunde disappeared without a trace.
“So, have you seen him now, Dad?”
“Yes,” Tang Yunde nodded and said, “I visited him in jail. Nevertheless, he’s your mother’s blood brother, and blood is thicker than water. Though I hate him,…”
“You’ve said everything I wanted to know, Dad,” Tang Xiu silently nodded and said, “Now, I just want to tell you one thing: Mom has been suffering for two decades and gave half of her life for you. So I hope you can make her happy.”
Tang Yunde couldn’t help burst into laughter, saying, “She’s my wife. Of course, I’ll make her happy. Not only her, but also you—my son; I’ll also make you happy. I’ll spare nothing to give you anything you want as long as it's within my ability. I’ll also support you unconditionally in whatever you wanna do.”
A trace of a smile emerged on Tang Xiu’s face as he said, “It’s not good for a man to rely on his parents and the heavens, Dad. I will conquer a piece of the world with my own bare hands. Like father, like son; besides, the son of a hero must become a strong man too. You should understand these words, right, Dad?”
“I do!” said Tang Yunde with a laugh.
Tang Xiu nodded and then suddenly asked, “What are your future plans now?”
“The most important thing is to accompany your mother. I’ve handed over all of my belongings to her, after which, I’ll follow her in the future.”
“What about your revenge?” asked Tang Xiu lightly.
Tang Yunde was silent for a moment before he slowly said, “The enmity of that year will certainly be carried out, but not now. I’ve waited for two decades, I can wait a little more.”
Tang Xiu took a deep breath and said in a cold voice, “When you got your revenge, let me know.”
Tang Yunde gave a faint smile and said, “Well, I’ve told you everything about me. Now, it’s your turn. What have you done in all this time?”
After organizing the words inwardly, Tang Xiu replied, “I’ve established the Magnificent Tang Corp. It’s a small enterprise, though. Also, I bought an island in the Pacific Ocean and now am sending some people to reconstruct it. It will be our family’s supreme base in the future. In addition, I also have another identity, but mom doesn’t know about it yet. I’m the boss of the Everlasting Feast Hall in Jingmen Island.”
The Everlasting Feast Hall?
Tang Yunde was puzzled, “How do you have a business in Jingmen Island?”
“I can’t tell you everything about this matter. I’ll tell you later when the time is right. You only need to know that the Everlasting Feast Hall’s people are our own.”
Tang Yunde nodded, “I understand.” He pinched the cigarette butt off in the ashtray. After which, he asked, “It’s quite expensive buying an island in the Pacific Ocean, isn’t it?”
Tang Xiu said, “It is. I spent 2.5 billion yuan for it. I borrowed the money from Chen Zhizhong, but I have paid it back to him already.”