110 Tianji

“President Song, it’s me!” Tang Long stepped forward and stood before Song Qingzhu.

Recognizing the familiar voice, Song Qingzhu covered her face and looked up, peering through her fingers only to realize it was Tang Long.

Lin Qi had actually brought Tang Long here!

In that moment, Song Qingzhu felt both embarrassed and furious, grinding her teeth as she hissed, “Lin Qi, did you bring Tang Long here just to watch me make a fool of myself?”

Lin Qi replied, speechless, “What kind of logic is that? I risked my life to save you—do you think I did it just to mock you? I must be really bored.”

Tang Long added, “President Song, I’m not here to laugh at you. See, I’m wearing a delivery uniform too.”

Song Qingzhu glanced down and saw that Tang Long was indeed dressed as a deliveryman. She was astonished, “You… you’re like this too? Are you being hunted by those two envoys as well?”

Her surprise deepened. “You’re also part of ‘Tianji’?!”

Lin Qi and Tang Long exchanged a glance.

So the organization Song Qingzhu belonged to was called ‘Tianji.’

Good heavens, she never mentioned it before no matter how much they asked, but now she blurted it out all at once.

Oblivious to the full situation, Song Qingzhu was still trapped in her thoughts and suddenly realized, “So you’re from ‘Tianji’ too. We were assigned the same mission and ended up killing each other off! The victor lives, the loser dies. But in the end, we both failed…”

“That’s nonsense,” Tang Long waved his hand. “President Song, I’m not part of ‘Tianji.’ I came here to help you.”

“You’re not from ‘Tianji’?” Song Qingzhu looked puzzled.

“No,” Tang Long said. “Lin Qi told me about your situation. He said if you can’t swallow Longyue Group, you’ll be killed. That’s why I want to discuss merging Longyue Group into Jinyang Group with you.”

Song Qingzhu was stunned.

In this world… could there really be such a kind person?

Was Tang Long some kind of living saint?

Longyue Group was a company worth over ten billion in market value, and Tang Long was willing to offer it up just to save Song Qingzhu’s life?

Not to mention they barely knew each other and were even business rivals—no, not even siblings would do this!

Quickly realizing Tang Long wasn’t acting out of pure kindness, Song Qingzhu sobered up and said gravely, “President Tang, is there something you want me to do?”

Tang Long smiled slightly. “President Song, you truly are wise. I do have a small request.”

He sat down seriously and said, “I want you to explain the details of ‘Tianji.’ If you do so without reservation and satisfy me, I can guarantee that before midnight tonight, we will sign to bring Longyue Group under Jinyang Group.”

Tang Long glanced at Lin Qi. “Before midnight tonight, right?”

Lin Qi nodded. “President Song said today is the final deadline, so anything before midnight counts. As long as she can take over Longyue Group, she won’t die.”

Tang Long then looked back at Song Qingzhu.

Song Qingzhu’s expression was complex as she looked between Tang Long and Lin Qi.

She couldn’t tell their true identities, much less their intentions.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“We’re the ones asking now,” Tang Long replied.

“If you don’t make things clear, I won’t say a word,” Song Qingzhu said firmly.

“Suit yourself. After midnight, you won’t have another chance. You can’t hide here forever. I’ll leak your whereabouts and those two envoys will come for you,” Tang Long said calmly.

“You…” Song Qingzhu’s anger began to flare.

“President Song, time waits for no one…” Tang Long took off his watch and placed it on the table, the hour hand pointing to nine o’clock—three hours remaining.

“President Song, we’re not villains. We genuinely want to help you, but we don’t want to do it blindly or without understanding,” Lin Qi added.

This was psychological warfare.

Who wouldn’t value their own life?

Who would be so desperate to die they couldn’t last another minute?

Time ticked away, second by second.

Song Qingzhu wasn’t in a hurry, nor were Lin Qi and Tang Long. They simply waited with her, biding their time.

“I’ll tell you…” Song Qingzhu finally gave in with a long sigh and began to speak.

The Tianji Organization, also known as the Tianji Chamber of Commerce, was a commercial entity driven fundamentally by profit.

They would take any money they could make.

Beyond the conventional, well-known industries, they were involved in secret and forbidden fields—assassins, arms dealing, mercenaries, and more.

Thus, Tianji was extraordinarily powerful, not only possessing vast wealth but with influence spanning the entire Great Xia nation, even planting operatives on some overseas islands.

Hearing this, Lin Qi and Tang Long exchanged another look.

They had escaped from the capital. The Lin family’s power was formidable—one of the top clans in Great Xia, controlling countless powers and secrets, yet they had never heard of Tianji.

Either Tianji was incredibly well hidden, or it had only risen in the last decade.