At 2:47 AM, Kai stood in the garden one last time.
The Chen mansion loomed behind him, dark except for a single light in Liu Mei's room where she was probably calculating how much she could extract from Wang Zhou for Wei'er's "cooperation."
She'd find her step-daughter's room empty by dawn.
Kai had already disabled the security cameras, a simple matter of shorting the circuit in a way that looked like an electrical fault. His restored cultivation, even at Foundation Establishment, made manipulating small electronic devices trivial.
Wei'er appeared at the garden gate, a backpack slung over her shoulder. She'd changed into practical clothes: jeans, a dark jacket, running shoes. Smart.
"Ready?" Kai asked.
She nodded. "I left a note. It won't buy us much time, but—"
"It's enough."
They moved through the garden's back exit, a service gate that led to a maintenance alley. Kai had oiled the hinges weeks ago. It opened silently.
The streets of Haishi City's wealthy northern district were empty at this hour. They walked quickly but not too quickly running drew attention.
"The East District is across the city," Wei'er said quietly. "No public transit at this hour. Taxi drivers report to a central system. They'll track us."
"I know a route."
Kai led them through a maze of side streets and residential areas. His divine sense, now extended to a hundred meters, mapped their surroundings continuously. No followers. No observers. The city slept.
After thirty minutes, they reached a small garage. Kai unlocked it with a key from his pocket.
Inside sat a motorcycle old but well-maintained, with false license plates.
Wei'er stared. "When did you—"
"Four months ago. Bought it from a scrapyard, rebuilt it myself." Kai handed her a helmet. "Hold on."
The ride through Haishi City's predawn streets was surreal. Wei'er's arms wrapped around his waist, the engine's rumble the only sound. They passed from the pristine northern neighborhoods through the commercial district's empty towers, finally reaching the East District's older buildings.
The apartment was on the eighth floor of a nondescript building, wedged between a convenience store and a pharmacy. Perfect anonymity.
Kai unlocked the door and gestured to Wei'er inside.
She stepped in slowly, taking in the space. Clean, furnished with minimalist efficiency. A small kitchen, a living area with a couch and table, two bedrooms, one bathroom.
"You've been planning this for months," she said.
"I believe in contingencies."
Wei'er set down her backpack and turned to face him. In the apartment's dim light, Kai noticed for the first time how exhausted she looked. Three years of stress, of holding together a failing family, of fighting off unwanted advances it showed in the lines around her eyes.
"Why?" she asked. "Why help me? You don't owe me anything. We're not really married."
"Aren't we?"
"You know what I mean. This was a business arrangement. You needed medical care—" She stopped. "Wait. You said you cured yourself on the wedding night. So why stay?"
Because I needed time, Kai thought. Time to understand this world. Time to locate my power fragments. Time to build the foundation for what comes next.
But he said: "I gave my word I'd fulfill the contract. Three years. We have four months left."
"That's not an answer."
Kai met her eyes. "Then here's your answer: the Chen family is beneath you. Wang Zhou is dangerous but manageable. And I dislike seeing talent wasted on people who don't deserve it."
Wei'er studied him for a long time. "You really are different. The Kai I married three years ago would never have said that."
"People change."
"Or," Wei'er said slowly, "they were never who we thought they were to begin with."
Too perceptive.
Before Kai could respond, his phone buzzed. A text from another unknown number:
*"Leaving was smart. Staying in this city is not. Wang Zhou owns more than you realize. Sleep well, if you can."*
Kai showed Wei'er the message.
Her face hardened. "They found us already?"
"No. This is intimidation. If they knew our location, they'd act, not warn." Kai pocketed the phone. "But they'll find us soon. We need to establish protection."
"Protection? From Wang Enterprises?" Wei'er laughed without humor. "Do you know what you're saying? They have—"
"Lawyers. Money. Connections. Political leverage." Kai ticked off each point. "I know. But they also have vulnerabilities. Every organization does."
"And you know how to exploit them?"
"I've toppled larger empires than Wang Enterprises," Kai said simply.
It was the truth, though she couldn't know it.
Wei'er stared at him, and for the first time, Kai saw fear flicker across her face. Not fear of Wang Zhou.
Fear of him.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
The question hung in the air between them.
Kai could tell her. Could reveal some fraction of the truth. But truth was a luxury, and trust was something that had to be earned, even from allies.
"Go to sleep," he said instead. "Tomorrow, we start building our counter-attack."
******
Wang Zhou received the report at 6:15 AM.
"Chen Wei'er's room was empty. The husband is also missing. No taxi records, no flight bookings, no hotel check-ins." His assistant, a thin man named Feng, adjusted his glasses nervously. "It's like they vanished."
"No one vanishes in Haishi City," Wang Zhou said calmly. He sat in his penthouse office, the city spreading below him like a kingdom. "They're just hiding. Badly."
"Should I activate the search protocols? Police, informants, traffic cameras—"
"No."
Feng blinked. "Sir?"
Wang Zhou smiled. It was the smile that made his board members sweat and his enemies reconsider their positions. "If we chase them, we look desperate. If we look desperate, people ask questions. Why is Wang Zhou personally hunting nobody and his worthless wife?"
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Pressure. We apply pressure where it matters." Wang Zhou pulled up a file on his tablet. "Chen Wei'er works for Tianhui Pharmaceuticals. Their CEO, Zhang Lin, owes Wang Enterprises twelve million yuan. I think it's time we called in that debt."
"That will bankrupt Tianhui."
"Yes. And when it does, Zhang Lin will need to liquidate assets. Including his employee list. We'll make sure Chen Wei'er's termination is part of the bankruptcy proceedings. No job, no income, nowhere to hide."
Feng nodded slowly. "Elegant."
"Then there's the husband. Kai Zhenwu. Orphan, no family, no connections. His only legal tie is the marriage contract with the Chen family." Wang Zhou pulled up another document. "I've had our legal team review it. There's a clause about abandonment. If he leaves the family home without permission, the contract is void. The Chen family can press charges for fraud."
"Chen Haotian will cooperate?"
"Liu Mei will ensure he does. I've already promised her priority access to the West District contracts. She'll have Kai Zhenwu arrested by noon."
Wang Zhou closed the tablet and stood, stretching. The morning sun painted the sky orange and gold. Beautiful day.
"Sir," Feng said hesitantly. "Is all this necessary? For one woman?"
Wang Zhou's expression went cold. "It's not about the woman, Feng. It's about the principle. No one refuses me. Not in this city. Not anywhere." He turned to face his assistant fully. "Chen Wei'er embarrassed me in front of witnesses. That can't stand. And that husband of hers..."
He trailed off, remembering the wine spill. The perfect timing. The way those dead eyes had met him for just a moment.
Not a servant's eyes.
A predator.
"Find them," Wang Zhou said quietly. "However long it takes. Find them, and make sure they understand what it costs to defy Wang Zhou."
******
Meanwhile, across the city, Kai stood on the apartment's balcony, watching the sunrise.
His divine sense detected no immediate threats within its hundred-meter range. The building's other residents were waking up a family of four on the sixth floor, an elderly couple on the ninth, a young professional on the seventh floor who was probably a Body Refinement stage cultivator, judging by the energy circulation patterns.
Common in cities now. Low-level cultivators who'd found ancient manuals on the internet and practiced enough to open their meridians. Weak, but still beyond normal humans.
Not a threat.
Behind him, Wei'er emerged from her bedroom, looking more rested than he'd seen her in months. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Didn't need to. You?"
"Like the dead." She joined him on the balcony, two cups of instant coffee in her hands. Offer him one. "I haven't slept that well in years. It's strange. We're in more danger now than we were yesterday, but I feel... lighter."
"Freedom does that."
Wei'er sipped her coffee, studying the awakening city. "So. This counter-attack you mentioned. What's the plan?"
"First, we need information. Wang Enterprises is large, but large organizations are inefficient. They have secrets. We find those secrets, we find leverage."
"And how do we find secrets about one of the most powerful companies in the city?"
Kai pulled out his phone and opened a news app. Scrolled to a specific article from three months ago:
"WANG ENTERPRISES WINS CONTROVERSIAL WEST DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT"
"This project," Kai said. "It's the key. Look at the details. The bid was submitted at the absolute minimum legal threshold. Three competing companies suddenly withdrew their bids the day before the deadline. And the city council approved it in a closed session with no public oversight."
Wei'er read over his shoulder. "You think there was corruption?"
"I know there was corruption. The question is proving it."
"Even if we prove it, so what? Wang Zhou has the police, the courts—"
"But he doesn't have public opinion." Kai zoomed in on another section of the article. "The West District was home to three thousand low-income families. The development plan relocates them to the city outskirts with minimal compensation. There were protests. They were shut down quickly. Too quickly."
Wei'er's eyes widened. "If we could expose how the contract was won, show the public that Wang Enterprises used illegal means to displace thousands of people..."
"It becomes a scandal. Media attention. Social media outrage. Regulatory investigations." Kai nodded. "Wang Zhou's political allies will distance themselves. His business partners will reconsider. His power base erodes."
"But how do we get proof? We can't exactly walk into Wang Enterprises and ask for their bribery receipts."
"No," Kai agreed. "But we don't need to. The West District residents, the ones who were displaced they'll remember. They'll have documentation, complaints filed, evidence of intimidation. We just need to find them and convince them to share."
Wei'er considered this. "It's risky. If Wang Zhou finds out we're investigating him—"
"He already knows we're hiding. This doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything. Right now, we're just annoyances. If we actively attack him, he'll escalate."
"Then we escalate faster."
Wei'er stared at him. "You're serious. You really think we can take down Wang Enterprises? Just the two of us?"
Kai thought of the Demon Abyss campaign. Outnumbered ten thousand to one. The other gods had called it suicide. He'd called it Tuesday.
"Yes," he said simply.
Something in his tone made Wei'er shiver. She wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. "Okay. Say we do this. Say we somehow expose Wang Zhou and destroy his reputation. What happens to us after? We'll have made an enemy of one of the most powerful families in the region."
"Then we make ourselves too valuable to destroy."
"How?"
Kai finished his coffee and turned from the balcony. "You worked in pharmaceuticals. You have connections in that industry, yes?"
"Some. Why?"
"Because Wang Enterprises has interests in every major sector, including medicine. If we can establish ourselves as valuable players in that space, create something they want or need, we shift from being targets to being assets worth courting."
"You're talking about starting a company? With what capital? What resources?"
Kai walked to the apartment's second bedroom, the one he'd designated as his workspace. Inside, Wei'er found a desk covered in documents, notes, and what looked like chemical formulas.
"I've been researching," Kai said. "There's a growing market for traditional medicine integration with modern techniques. Pills and supplements that enhance cultivation, improve meridian flow, accelerate recovery. Most current products are either fake or prohibitively expensive."
Wei'er picked up one of the formula sheets. Her eyes widened. "This is... Kai, do you know what this is? This is a genuine Qi-gathering formula. These are worth millions. Where did you—"
"I have my sources."
It wasn't entirely a lie. The formulas were fragments of his memory, simplified versions of pills used in the Heavenly Realm. Adapted for mortal consumption and cultivation.
"If we could produce these," Wei'er said slowly, "even a basic version, we'd corner the market. Every cultivator in the city would want them. But production requires facilities, materials, licensing—"
"Which we'll acquire. Step by step." Kai opened a drawer and pulled out a small vial. Inside, three golden pills glowed faintly.
Wei'er gasped. "You've already made them?"
"Test batch. Low grade, but functional. I had them analyzed anonymously. They're forty percent more effective than market equivalents and cost half as much to produce."
"This is insane. This is actually insane." Wei'er sat down heavily on the office chair. "You're planning to start a pharmaceutical empire to spite Wang Zhou?"
"No. I'm planning to survive. The empire is just a side effect