Chapter 23: Morning After

It was already on morning as the sunrise already came and went. The people of Shan Prefecture went on with there day as usual as they can. They were unaware of the seemingly brutal massacre that had took place in late last night into the early hours of the morning. The perpetrator of such a heinous act was already on his way back to Mu City from Si City after his rendezvous with his so called adversaries. He had already clean up the safehouse that was own by the 'Ninth Heaven' organization by burning it to the ground with the Mu brothers body inside. Nan'Ke showed no regret for the atrocities he committed as he was well aware of what he had done.

This was a big transformation from the previous time he had taken a life but he was different than before. He didn't want to kill anyone, but after learning of his short-comings of hypocrisy, wanting to join the darkness but not wanting to be covered in its blackness. (A/N: Not rereferring to racial connotations, but the saying of having a black soul.) He was a new man, but he still wasn't indifferent to the killings, he maintain his conscious and made a declaration that every life that he took was not out enjoyment but out of benefits.

'Each life will serve a purpose in my goal to the top, just as my life would have serve a purpose to Mu Yen if he had managed to take it. Whatever that purpose may be, be it the washing of embarrassment he face? Just because he could? I could care less, but I know there was a reason for his attempt on my life just as a reason for my attempt on theirs. Regardless I am a murderer and I will always be one but I will not become a craze serial killer or an unhinged tyrant'.

He spoke within himself, maybe trying to justify his own actions by sugar coating it with some over the top glorification of being left with no choice. Even so, he still admitted to what he did was wrong and for him who really didn't care what others thought of him at this moment in time was content as he made his way home.

***

Mu City Police Station

Officer Yuan, who really should be address as Detective Yuan, considering his recent promotion made his way back to the station with female Officer Wang YIn Xi his former partner. Currently, they were discussing the possibility of 'little Zhang' being involve in the case seeing his photo was present by the victims of the family as well as his name being written in a victims bloods at the scene of the crime. "Do you really believe that little Zhang had anything to do with this" Officer Wang asked, "to be honest I don't see it happening but now siting here as a detective I can't rule it out" Detective Yuan said.

He then continued, "Before we bring this to the Chief lets investigate if there is any connection between little Zhang and the Mu's." "How do we go about that, from what we both know he was an orphan with no connection whatsoever" the female Officer said. "Well the only thing that points to him is the photo and the name, now there are a lot of people with the name 'Zhang' but there is no clan or family of great strength with that surname to even think of going against the Mu's so the only lead we have is the photo."

"We should track down where the photo was taken and start from there, canvas the surrounding to at least get some sort of idea of how they cross paths, as it would be strange for the Mu brothers to take a photo of him for no reason" the detective said. In agreement to what her partner said they made a some detours to possible locations to where the photo may have been taken.

Through inspection of the background, they surmise that it was in a public area where lots of people gathered. It didn't take long for the experience Officers to figure out it was the park the photo was taken. After two hours of canvasing the surroundings and checking nearby surveillance cameras where they were led to he mall after retracing the steps of Nan'Ke. After checking mall security which still had the data present from within the last thirty days they found the connection as they saw Nan'Ke and the younger Mu interacting where a young girl who was also present. After gaining the footage from the mall security they made there way to the station to inform Chief Wei.

***

Meanwhile, the remaining four great families had just received the news that the Mu family was completely wipe out, only the woman and children were left. The Gu's were the ones that was more panicked than shocked as they were their closest ally in the midst of all this. The Patriarch of the Gu family quickly called a meeting where a discussion was to be had for their next course of actions, On the other side of the 'war' the Xiao and Ling families were no different as they both lost members of their respected family within the scuffle they had. They both initially believe that this was the other ones' doing, but it wasn't long until they received confirmation that the cause was an outsider with the moniker 'Zhang'.

***

While various forces were doing their due diligence of a potential new player in the city, the player himself was getting ready to be an actual player, or someone with a certain charm to seduce or intrigue a member of the opposite sex. After Nan'Ke return home just as he left avoiding the cameras, he immediately jumped into the shower to get rid of the bloody stench and prepare for the arrival of the mature beauty that is Bai Xiu Xiu. He didn't actually realize that he had a different outlook when it came to members of the female origin, since his transformation to a martial arts practitioner he became a little more proactive in the hunt for pleasures of the flesh. The changes were minuscule for him not to notice his demeanor had change but for now ignorance will remain bliss.

*DING DONG*

The door bell rang and upon opening it he saw the ravishing delight that is Bai Xiu Xiu. Inviting her in, they exchange pleasantries before proceeding to more business oriented conversations. "I have the list of properties you wanted to purchase within 10km of the warehouse. There are not much in terms of actual value as they are some abandoned buildings and few old factories that have been shut down since before the war broke out" Xiu Xiu mentioned. "They are perfect, you don't have to worry as I will pay the asking price of your agency" he responded without a care for actual cost of these old concrete ruins which made her think some more..."Are you perhaps thinking of the Auction that is about to happening concerning the land in the vicinity." Nan'Ke didn't answered her but gave rise smile which suggest that she was right. He then spoke out "Its a key piece of real estate that fall well within my plans, so I really do hope to win the upcoming Auction. The purchase of the surrounding buildings was me acquiring some form of secrecy as to what I am planning as I don't want any one encroaching on my territory."

He told Bai Xiu Xiu all this because he was currently starting to trust her more and more every time they interacted. She immediately gasp as she was shocked by the sheer wait of his smile. She knew that to win this Auction one financial volume would need to exceed at least $3 billion dollars. Being in the Real Estate business she knew of those financial giants would want such a piece of land including her father, who was the owner of LongWei Real Estate Agency.

To be more precise it is actual one of the many companies the Bai family owns. The Bai family was not located in the Shan Prefecture but was from the Youke Prefecture which was two Prefectures over. The Bai family had great strength, which surpasses any great family in Shan Prefecture. The only outstanding thing about Shan Prefecture was the great universities that rival those of the Capital as well as its Port both of which was located in Mu City while Si City was more or less known for its promiscuous night life and airport.

However currently Nan'Ke was unaware of her background as she kept it a secret for now, as she knew that her father may not agree to the closeness of the two but seeing his attempt to buy the land she questioned whether he really was an orphan as he had told her in their conversations.

Curious she asked, "Are you really and orphan?" Seeing the implication and the reason behind such question just after the mention of the Auction he understood what she meant, "You can think of it like that." He replied, he didn't want to lie to her as he really found her to be genuine, he doesn't want to expose the whole truth as yet, thinking eventually he would reunite with his parents who had put him up for adoption. By that time his 'Zhang' clan would be a force to be reckon with, he could just say that he had to the leave the clan and fend for himself as a right of passage.