Chapter 88: Returning to the Martial World

Andrei Ivanov. From the name alone, he sounded like a Russian, but it was only his alias. He had grown used to it over time and long since forgotten what he had once been called.

He had been a Polish national by birth, then later joined Russia, and had simply taken that name for himself as his new identity.

Yang Changfeng did not know what the man had originally been called, nor did he care. He had never held Poland in high regard. That country had made a name for itself by standing against them, and at times he could not for the life of him understand what was going on in its people’s heads. Did they think they lived in some secluded paradise, knowing nothing of the Tang, let alone the Wei and Jin?

This Andrei Ivanov had a deep streak of discrimination in him. Only a few years earlier, Yang Changfeng had beaten the spirit out of him; otherwise, the fellow would have gone about making that narrow-eyed gesture everywhere he went, doing it to every East Asian face he saw.

“Sun, I am truly sorry for you. Perhaps I should have opened a bottle of champagne in advance to congratulate you on bringing me another gift.” With the car keys pinched in his hand, Andrei Ivanov gave a smug whistle and stared for a long while at the two girls getting out of the vehicle. Then he grinned maliciously. “Sun, maybe you should add a little more to the wager. For example, these two beautiful women.”

Sun Zhaoxing’s jaw twitched slightly. He said coldly, “Ivanov, what I should tell you is that the value of these two could easily buy the services of Demon Blade to take you out. That would be far too easy for them.”

Ivanov froze and looked Chen Aijia over again, his expression hesitant, uncertain whether he should believe Sun Zhaoxing’s words.

“There aren’t many young tycoons in Jiangzhou. She’s one of the most famous. You should have looked her up long ago,” Sun Zhaoxing said. “All right, I have a habit when I do things: if I lose, I turn around and leave. If I win, then I’m sorry, but tonight you’ll pay dearly. Maybe with a few parts, maybe with your life. I hope you’re prepared.”

Ivanov laughed out loud. “No, no, Sun, I don’t think you’ve gone so far as to hire the F Series champion. On this kind of road, I doubt they’d even dare race me, wouldn’t they? They can make far more money with hardly any effort. Oh, and I mean, Sun, you may be the one who loses worse. These past few days, I’ve become intimately familiar with this circuit, while you, unless you came here and ran it yourself again, I don’t know what sort of people you hired—people who couldn’t even be bothered to learn the track.”

“Is that so?” Sun Zhaoxing sneered. “But the person I’m introducing to you is someone who never bothers to learn the course before racing. You should have heard of him, shouldn’t you? No—perhaps you remember him very clearly. There was once a man who nearly made you lose even your underclothes.”

Ivanov’s face changed abruptly. He staggered back two steps and pointed at the Raptor, asking in alarm, “You, you mean you invited that heavenly king? No, no, he wouldn’t show up here. You couldn’t possibly have paid him enough. That man is greedy—he’d make you unable to afford his price. You must have been fooled. You must have.”

Sun Zhaoxing scratched his head. Heavenly king? This kid really had guts. He even dared to use that as a nickname.

The two beauties exchanged glances. That Yang fellow—why was he becoming more and more mysterious?

Heavenly king?

Wasn’t that Xiang Wentian, the Left Guardian?

Yang Changfeng did not get out of the car. He called out, “Are we racing or not? It’s going to rain. If you’re not racing, get lost. Why all the chatter? You still haven’t shaken that habit, have you, boy?”

Ivanov trembled all over. It really was him.

That voice had left an indelible scar on Ivanov’s life. He did not even care about the champions of the F Series, but there was one man he absolutely could not face.

He was the kind of man who would use any means necessary to win. If you played dirty, he would retaliate a thousand times harder. Racing against other drivers was about making money; racing against that man was gambling with your life!

Sun Zhaoxing knew Yang Changfeng was exceptionally capable, but he had no idea just how capable. Now that he saw Ivanov terrified to this extent, he had to admit the man was impressive.

Back in the day, the Heavenly King who had ruled the underground circuits of the Middle East had truly been the nightmare of every racer there, a nightmare that could never be erased.

Ivanov stood dazed for a long moment. Then, clenching his teeth, he turned and climbed back into his car. Win or lose, there had to be a race today. If he wanted to shake off the shadow the Heavenly King had left behind, he had to beat him.

He had not seen the man for years, and there had been no sign of him in the Middle East either. So he had returned to his own country. In that case, there was no need to fear him for the moment. Anyone who had not trained seriously for years would inevitably be overtaken by a master who searched out special stretches of road and trained on them every day. That was the basic law.

Several cars roared into the mountain hollow. There, stands had already been built that looked strikingly like an airport control tower. Right beside the road, tier upon tier of seats had been constructed along the mountainside. Every one of them was a private box, luxurious and fully equipped. There was a camera every few feet along the racing course, ready to transmit the most thrilling moments at any time to the computer screens in front of each seat. It was a viewing area even more enjoyable than the grandstands at a professional race venue.

The hundreds of seats were already full. Quite a few people were standing nearby, and a giant screen on the tower wall was also broadcasting the race live.

When the convoy charged up from below the mountain, it drew plenty of laughter.

A racer from the entertainment industry across the strait sneered, “A Raptor? It’s a fine car, sure, but is it really meant for racing? That’s ridiculous. Is this young Master Sun here to make a fool of himself, or just to put on a comedy?”

Beside him clung a former innocent screen goddess, now a polished starlet. Whether she understood anything or not, it did not matter. So long as cameras were not rolling, she could say whatever she liked and still maintain her image.

Everyone in the same circle was a sly fox. Who was in any position to judge whose tail was longer or shorter?

The starlet quickly chimed in, pursing her lips. Fine wrinkles gathered on her no-longer-youthful face as she laughed aloud. “If my brother says he’s an amateur, then he must be an amateur. But I can understand it. This young Master Sun or whatever he is—he’s just a nouveau riche, isn’t he? I’d really love to see how tacky these young rich heirs can be. Just thinking about it makes me so happy.”

People in Jiangzhou had never looked up to these sorts of characters.

They were allowed to come only for the sake of atmosphere. These days, if you didn’t have at least one little celebrity by your side wherever you went, you couldn’t even show your status. What were these few from across the strait supposed to be? Laughing at the Sun family?

Even grown men had to bow and scrape before a man named Sun, and you lot? What, you think you’re some grand lords?

They were truly treating actors as though they were royalty. If not for the fact that this starlet’s roles could help a number of second-generation heirs launder money, they would not have bothered to play with her at all.

Take this starlet, for example: she knew only how to stare at capital. How could she possibly know that in this country, capital was not a match for official power? She did not even understand the basic situation, and yet she dared to pick sides recklessly. Did she really think she was some national treasure, untouchable because the whole country would object if anyone laid a hand on her?