Cold sweat instantly broke out across the Bai family’s backs.

Even the Huang family members seemed somewhat uneasy now, though they still managed to maintain smug expressions thanks to their confidence.

“We can settle this privately. Withdraw the charges, and we’ll double the compensation,” the Bai family head said in a low, urgent voice as he looked at the Huang family head.

“Heh. What kind of joke are you telling?” the Huang family head sneered. “At this point, why the hell would we withdraw it and make trouble for ourselves?”

“We can issue a public apology. Whatever conditions you want can be discussed,” the Bai family head pressed.

Only then did the Huang family realize that something seemed seriously wrong on the Bai family’s side.

These two families had been mortal enemies for centuries. How could one side possibly lower its head and apologize so easily? If it were the Huang family, they wouldn’t have been able to do it either. That was exactly why they had gone straight to the Tribunal Division.

Yet now the Bai family was willing to back down?

What was going on?

Were they protecting the mastermind behind all this?

But it was already too late.

Suddenly, an icy terror crawled up their spines, and everyone turned toward the entrance.

A man was standing silently outside the door.

No one knew when he had arrived.

Half his body remained hidden behind the wall, standing there in a strange, almost voyeuristic posture as he watched them expressionlessly, like a large carnivorous predator observing prey from the shadows.

Even though everyone present was an atavist with senses sharper than ordinary humans, none of them had heard a single footstep.

Yet the man had somehow already been standing there.

Once he realized they had noticed him, he finally stepped fully out from behind the wall and walked inside without expression.

He was tall and broad-shouldered. Beneath the brim of the cap atop his black buzz cut was a sharply handsome face, with sword-like brows and piercing eyes. His black uniform coat was spotless, and in his gloved hand he held an enforcement baton.

Despite wearing leather shoes, he still made absolutely no sound as he walked.

And with every silent step he took forward, even the Huang family—the ones who had filed the report—found themselves drenched in sweat before they realized it.

Qiu Fa.

Director of the Tribunal Division.

The true big shot had personally come.

The Huang and Bai families were the two largest families in Changhai Prefecture. If either one fell, it would impact every aspect of the massive city of 130 million people. The government had always tried to mediate between them, but a blood feud spanning centuries was difficult to resolve. When the two families declared a ceasefire last night, the authorities had practically breathed a sigh of relief.

Now the Huang family had reported that the near-war had been orchestrated by someone scheming behind the scenes. Naturally, many people began suspecting deeper issues, so the matter had to be thoroughly investigated.

“And now,” Qiu Fa said as he looked toward the Bai family, “who’s going to tell me what happened?”

He had a pair of amber-colored eyes.

But within them, there seemed to be no trace of human warmth—only the cold brutality of a beast.

Flowing through his veins was the bloodline of the White Tiger, one of the Four Symbols famed since ancient times as a harbinger of slaughter, known to all as the “God of War.”

In terms of combat strength, Qiu Fa dared claim second place in the country—and no one dared claim first.

That was why, once he personally took action in enforcing the law, the fate of those he dealt with depended entirely on his mood.

And for that very reason, after the twenty-one-year-old Qiu Fa became Director of the Tribunal Division seven years ago, the once-arrogant atavist families quickly learned obedience.

No one wanted to die beneath his claws.

No one dared challenge his authority.

Mu Wenxing was the only person from a major atavist family in all these years bold enough to stir up trouble.

Simply meeting Qiu Fa’s eyes robbed the Bai family of the courage to lie.

In the end, they could only confess everything.

The Huang family members stared with widened eyes.

Good lord—the mastermind was actually their son-in-law?

An ordinary human?!

“Where is he?” Qiu Fa asked.

“…Upstairs. In one of the rooms.” The Bai family head spoke while deliberately ignoring the pleading look in his daughter’s eyes.

He could not challenge Qiu Fa’s authority for Mu Wenxing and Mu Wenyue’s sake.

Originally, they had already intended to let the siblings go.

But now that Qiu Fa had come personally, it could only be said that the siblings’ fate had been doomed from the start.

“Take them away,” Qiu Fa said to the subordinates behind him.

“No!”

Bai Xinran rushed to block the staircase, tears streaming down her face as she looked pleadingly at Qiu Fa.

“He’s just an ordinary human! Everything he did is understandable! Please let him go. We’ll send him to the police ourselves, please…”

Then she turned toward the Huang family.

“Uncle, this is all our fault. We’re willing to negotiate and agree to your conditions. Please spare my husband’s life, okay?”

Bai Xinran was famous for her beauty.

At this moment, her figure looked fragile and thin, her face deathly pale, tears falling from her eyes like shattered stars. Anyone who saw her would feel pity.

With her pleading like this, almost any man would have wanted to grant whatever she asked.

The Huang family members exchanged uncertain glances, nearly agreeing on the spot.

Truthfully, they were long tired of this endless cycle of revenge with the Bai family. If the Bai family was truly willing to lower their heads, perhaps it wasn’t impossible to settle things peacefully.

But Qiu Fa…

Even the officers who were supposed to push Bai Xinran aside and head upstairs hesitated to act, looking awkwardly toward their director.

Mu Wenxing and Mu Wenyue’s situation was indeed complicated.

Technically, they could fall under the Tribunal Division’s jurisdiction—or under the ordinary judicial system.

If Mu Wenxing were handed over to the regular police, then what he had done would amount only to attempted crimes. And if neither the Huang nor Bai family pursued the matter, he would face no punishment at all.

But if he entered the Tribunal Division instead, it would become an entirely different matter.

Inciting two major families into war was considered a grave crime in the atavist world.

The siblings’ fate depended entirely on Qiu Fa’s will.

Yet Qiu Fa merely glanced at Bai Xinran with those cold amber eyes.

Within them remained the same inhuman cruelty and indifference.

Completely unmoved.

He casually used the enforcement baton in his hand to push Bai Xinran aside.

“I don’t like repeating myself.”

The shove was utterly merciless.

Bai Xinran staggered backward several steps, then suddenly covered her mouth and ran out of the house as though she could no longer bear it.

With trembling hands, she dialed a number.

“Who are you calling?” her elder brother asked.

“Shh.” Bai Xinran stopped him.

Even though Mu Wenxing had deceived her and hurt both her and their daughter, the tragic thing was that she still loved him. She even pitied him.

So she couldn’t just stand by and watch him get taken away by the Tribunal Division.

Her brother didn’t understand, but he could only remain standing nearby and wait.

…

On the other side.

Jing Pei had only just returned to the Long family estate when she heard her computer chime.

Slightly surprised, she opened it and discovered it was a call from the Bai family.

The call she had made to the Bai family had been routed through a virtual online dialing system enhanced by highly advanced hacking technology. It required no SIM card, and after being placed, it bounced randomly through hundreds of IP addresses all across the country.

In other words, tracing the call’s origin was practically impossible. No one could even pinpoint the city it came from.

After stopping the war between the Huang and Bai families, she hadn’t yet gotten around to deleting the little program.

She hadn’t expected the Bai family to actually call again.

Driven by curiosity, Jing Pei accepted the call.

Bai Xinran’s urgent voice immediately came through from the other side.

“Is this the Puzzle Intelligence Agency? I want to buy information!”

Ah…

Jing Pei scratched her cheek.

She hadn’t expected the fake “intelligence agency” cover she casually invented on the spot to end up having continuing business.

Still, she was curious about what Bai Xinran wanted, so she switched on the voice changer.

“I didn’t expect us to be doing business again so soon, Miss Bai. What information would you like to purchase?”

Bai Xinran said, “I want information about Qiu Fa. I want to know if he has any weaknesses I can exploit—anything I can use to threaten him or bargain with him! Didn’t your agency claim you have every kind of information? Then you definitely have information on him too, right?!”

The way she spoke almost sounded as though she were trying to provoke her.

Jing Pei rolled the name through her mind, her surprise deepening. At the same time, her interest grew even stronger.

“Qiu Fa, huh? The Director of the Tribunal Division. Information about him is very expensive, you know.”

“Cut the crap. I’ll pay whatever it costs. Give me the one thing that can kill with a single blow!”

Millions of Bubble Coins poured into Jing Pei’s account.

Yet she didn’t even glance at the rapidly swelling balance in her wallet.

Not long after being expelled in her second year of high school, she had already stopped lacking money. Her debut novel, written casually on a whim, exploded in popularity and made her rich overnight. By the time she graduated high school, she already had her driver’s license, and when university began, she had driven a Ferrari straight onto campus.

Gradually, she had begun treating money like dirt.

And now that she was the young master of the Long family, she lacked money even less.

What interested her more was the development of the situation on the Bai family’s side.

Things were becoming interesting.

Lying on her bed, Jing Pei absentmindedly picked at her foot while eagerly enjoying the unfolding drama.

…

Changhai Prefecture, Bai family estate.

Mu Wenxing and Mu Wenyue were brought downstairs.

Bai Xinran blocked the doorway, her pale face lifted as her dark eyes met Qiu Fa’s directly with determination and courage.

“Director Qiu, I have a deal I’d like to discuss with you.”

Qiu Fa said coldly, “Move.”

Bai Xinran immediately replied, “It’s about the ‘Green Ribbon.’”

Bai Xinran had always felt that the way Qiu Fa looked at her was like looking at an ant—something beneath notice.

But the moment she spoke those words, she saw her own reflection finally appear within those cold eyes beneath his sharp brows.

And in her overwhelming terror, she even felt as though the reflection of herself inside them was being torn apart.

“Where did you hear about the ‘Green Ribbon’?” Qiu Fa’s deep, powerful voice dropped even lower.

The atmosphere instantly became dangerous, like a taut string stretched to its breaking point.

“Xinran!” Mu Wenxing shouted nervously at her. “Move away!”

Suppressing the fear inside her heart, Bai Xinran looked at Qiu Fa and asked, “Will you make this deal or not?”

The only information the Puzzle Intelligence Agency had given Bai Xinran was that she could use the “Green Ribbon” to negotiate with Qiu Fa.

But what exactly the “Green Ribbon” was, and why it could strike directly at Qiu Fa’s weakness, she had no idea.

Because the price for that piece of information had been unimaginably high.

Even she could barely afford it.

And even if she could, she still wouldn’t have dared to buy it.