Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

While Zhang Zhiwei was negotiating with the Tang Clan Master, Master Tang Jiaren had already selected his men.

Including himself, there were a total of ten people: Yu Huizhong, Tang Shiying, Yang Lie, Xu Xin, Dong Chang, Liang Wu'er, Tang An, Tang Gao, and Tang Qian.

"Master, Little Celestial Master, are you finished talking? If you have reached an agreement, we can set off now," Tang Jiaren said.

He had taken off his fitted suit and put on a loose gray robe that allowed him to move around more easily.

"The Master is indeed decisive and efficient in his actions," Zhang Zhiwei said with a smile.

"I can't wait to do something this interesting," Tang Jiaren said with a smile.

Then, Zhang Zhiwei looked at the Tang Clan masters lined up in a row, his gaze sweeping over them one by one. Judging from their Qi aura, they were all skilled, and he had even seen some of them when he was in Northeast China.

"Greetings, Little Celestial Master." The nine people clasped their hands in greeting.

Zhang Zhiwei returned the greeting with clasped hands: "Ten Tang Clan experts have been dispatched; those landlords and rich folks are truly fortunate!"

It's worth noting that when the plot involved assassinating the ninja leader of Bihe Mountain, the Tang Clan only dispatched ten people.

“The more you invest, the greater the returns,” Tang Jiaren said with a smile. “Moreover, the Little Celestial Master requested that this operation be conducted in secrecy. These ten people were all handpicked by me and are sufficient to handle any unexpected situation.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you all!"

Afterwards, the group descended the mountain.

Zhang Zhiwei is a talkative person, and he chatted a lot more on the way down the mountain.

He also gained some understanding of the abilities of the ten members of the Tang Clan who were involved in this operation.

Master Tang Jiaren needs no introduction; he is one of the top figures in the Tang Clan and is proficient in all Tang Clan techniques.

Yu Huizhong is the best in Tang Sect in terms of movement techniques, and she is also very intelligent and adept at handling various complex situations.

Tang Shiying was the best swordsman. Rather than an assassin, he was more of a swordsman and one of the key combatants in this operation, responsible for dealing with the immediate crisis.

Liang Wu'er is a weapon refiner who possesses a variety of magical artifacts, including some specifically for treasure hunting.

He was brought along on this mission so that the landlords and wealthy landowners could be completely plundered.

Tang An's ability is to control paper figures, and he can release dozens or even hundreds of them in an instant, which can be used as a smokescreen, since he is pretending to be a bandit this time.

Bandits value the show of numbers and power, and this paper figure is just right to make the scene look bigger and create a sense of numbers.

Tang Qian possesses the Tang Clan's most powerful technique, "Green Snake Hundred Eagles," which allows him to conjure hundreds of green snakes with a single thought.

These green snakes can be used for attack, defense, and also for scouting and finding treasure.

He was summoned by the master to participate in this operation, hoping to use his abilities to find the treasure hidden in a secret place.

Tang Gao is an alchemist. When he goes out on missions, who can guarantee that there won't be any accidents? It's very necessary to bring a healer with him.

As for Yang Lie, Xu Xin, and Dong Chang, Dong Chang's poisonous miasma is unique, almost comparable to the Golden Light Mantra, and can be used in conjunction with Tang Shiying to confront him head-on.

Xu Xin is a master of everything, an all-rounder, and a backbone of any operation. You can't go wrong with having him by your side.

Like Xu Xin, Yang Lie has a solid foundation in basic skills. Most importantly, Yang Lie is the son of a capitalist, so he knows better how to deal with capitalists.

According to Xu Xin, Yang Lie's family owns 5,000 mu of land, making them a wealthy household in Chongqing and a major financial backer of the Tang Clan. Therefore, he is very concerned about this matter, as it would be bad if his own people managed to seize one of his own.

However, after seeing the list of those involved in the operation, he breathed a sigh of relief; at least for the first operation, their family was not involved.

Zhang Zhiwei was quite interested in Yang Lie's background and asked with a smile, "Young Master Yang, I heard that your family owns three to five thousand acres of land. Why don't you stay at home and inherit the family business? Why did you come to the Tang Clan to become an assassin?"

Yang Lie smiled and said, "I can't really explain it. Anyway, I don't want to go back to that kind of life. Home isn't as comfortable as the mountains. Besides..."

Yang Lie paused, then continued, "In my family, compared to my brothers, I'm nothing special. I'm just here on the mountain to learn martial arts..."

"What did your brothers do?" Zhang Zhiwei asked.

Yang Lie glanced at Zhang Zhiwei, smiled without saying a word. Everyone knew that Zhang Zhiwei was a notorious gossip in the underworld. If he were told what had happened, it would be no different from publishing it in the newspaper.

Yang Lie remained silent, and Zhang Zhiwei, seemingly lost in thought, did not press the matter. After a moment, he asked, "What kind of business does Young Master Yang's family engage in?"

Yang Lie said, "My family's business is very diverse, but it mainly started with opening a salt shop."

Zhang Zhiwei nodded. There were only a few families in Chongqing that started out by selling salt, and he immediately had a clear understanding of the Yang family's background.

His family background is quite extraordinary; no wonder Yang Lie was able to become the head of the Tang Clan as an outer disciple.

"The young master seems quite interested in my humble abode?" Yang Lie said. "Actually, my family also donated money to help build the air-raid shelter at Tiantong Steel Plant."

Zhang Zhiwei said, "I didn't know that was the case. Then I thank the Yang family."

"No need for thanks, it's just doing my part for Chongqing!" Yang Lie said. "As long as this and the following operations don't involve them, I can write to them and ask them to donate more."

“No need,” Zhang Zhiwei said. “This list was decided by Wang Ai and Liu Mang together. Wang Ai probably won’t include your family on the list.”

“Wang Ai…” Yang Lie hesitated, as far as he knew, this archbishop of the Tiantong Church was not very particular about his conduct.

Zhang Zhiwei saw through Yang Lie's worries and said, "If you are worried about Wang Ai, I will go back and personally give him some instructions."

"Thank you very much, Little Celestial Master," Yang Lie said quickly.

The group quickly descended the mountain and then each took on their respective duties. Tang Clan Chief went to Tiantong Steel Plant, where he would temporarily take over Gao Yingcai's position and personally oversee the project during its construction.

The patriarch Tang Jiaren then led his men to meet Liu Mang. It is worth mentioning that Lü Ci also accompanied the patriarch and participated in this operation, playing the role of Zhang Mazi.

……

……

Several days later, at the foot of a steep mountain cliff called "Eagle Rock" in Chongqing.

“Little Celestial Master, I’ve explored all the mountains around Chongqing these past few days. This mountain is the most suitable in terms of size and location. However, the mountain is mostly composed of red sandstone and conglomerate, which is quite hard and has a tough texture. It will take a lot of effort to dig it out!” Zhang Qishan said.

“It’s fine if it’s hard; I’m not afraid of its hardness, I’m afraid of its softness!” Zhang Zhiwei reached out and pressed his hand against the mountain wall, closed his eyes, and felt the overall structure of the mountain, as well as the flow of the earth’s energy and water energy within it… After confirming that the mountain was suitable, Zhang Zhiwei asked, “When do we start construction?”

“If the young celestial master approves of this place, he can start construction on an auspicious day,” Chen Yulou replied.

"What do you need an auspicious day for?" Zhang Zhiwei smiled calmly, but his tone carried an undeniable and powerful confidence: "I am the direction, I am the fortune. Where I am, the time, the space, and the interaction of the four elements are all determined by me. Not to mention an auspicious day, I can even give you an auspicious hour, auspicious minute, and auspicious second."

These arrogant and domineering words shocked both Chen Yulou and Zhang Qishan.

If these words had come from anyone else, they would have scoffed and mocked them for being clueless. But coming from Zhang Zhiwei, they took it for granted, as if he were stating a fact.

Zhang Zhiwei patted Chen Yulou on the shoulder: "So... the sooner the better."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yulou excitedly said, "I will immediately gather people and prepare for the ceremony. We will start work tomorrow morning!"

"Alright, speed is of the essence, let's start tomorrow," Zhang Zhiwei said with a smile.

……

The next morning, flags fluttered and people clamored at the foot of Eagle Rock.

The Unloading Warriors, Chen Yulou's demolition team, and a large number of members of the Gelaohui (a secret society) gathered in front of the mountain to hold the groundbreaking ceremony for the air-raid shelter project.

Because the decision to start construction today was made on a whim, there weren't many guests at the groundbreaking ceremony. Only some leaders of the Gelaohui (a secret society), some managers from the Tiantong Steel Plant, and Liu Mang and some of his confidants attended.

Although Zhang Mazi and Zhang Zhiwei were the main figures in the plan, neither of them personally participated.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Liu Mang was still chatting and laughing with Zhang Zhiwei, because just last night, the bandit "Zhang Mazi" had led his men to the territory of his cousin Liu Cai.

He was so excited last night that he couldn't sleep. All he could think about was how much money he could get from his uncle, how to expand the strength of several divisions, and whether he should try to contact foreigners to see if he could build a German-equipped division.

“Calm down,” Zhang Zhiwei said. “You’re a provincial commander, why are you making such a fuss over something like this? When you’re collecting taxes under some random pretext, do you act like this too?!”

Liu Mang said, "How can directly robbing money be the same as levying taxes? Besides, it's robbing our own people's money, which makes it even more different."

"Why?" Zhang Zhiwei looked at Liu Mang as if he were a pervert.

“You don’t understand!” Liu Mang laughed.

The thought of his uncle's family's impoverished state brought a hidden, indescribable sense of satisfaction to his eyes.

His current mindset is somewhat similar to both fearing his brother's hardship and fearing his brother driving a Land Rover.

After he fell out with his uncle Liu Hui, his cousin Liu Cai repeatedly sent people to assassinate him. Although he did not retaliate, he was always harboring resentment.

If we can rob our uncle of most of his money this time, leaving him severely weakened, it would be a very satisfying thing, and he could finally release all the pent-up frustration he's been holding in.

He would be even happier if he could use his uncle's money to build up a few divisions for himself.

When the time comes, he will definitely invite his uncle over to see what kind of army he has built with his money, and then he will try to destroy his spirit.

Of course, these thoughts were somewhat dark, and speaking them out would damage his image as a sentimental and straightforward person in the eyes of others, so he kept quiet.

However, Zhang Zhiwei didn't care about Liu Mang's little scheme.

He looked at Chen Yulou, who was on the high platform; the ceremony was about to begin.

Chen Yulou, dressed in a neat short-sleeved outfit and wearing sunglasses, stood on a high platform. In front of him was an incense table with offerings of three kinds of sacrificial animals.

This is a rule of the Xieling lineage, and also a rule that many people in the construction industry believe in: before starting construction, a worship ceremony and a land purification ceremony must be performed.

Chen Yulou, holding three incense sticks, loudly recited the ancient "Mountain Worship Ode" passed down through the Xieling lineage:
"Mountain God, Earth God, and all past spirits, hear my truth! Chen Yulou, the Unloading Warrior, and his disciples are breaking ground today, not for personal gain or to create funerary objects, but to protect our homeland, defend against foreign aggression, and dig tunnels to hide our troops for future revenge! We beg your forgiveness for any disturbance! If you help us succeed, we will surely offer incense!"

After reciting the incense, he inserted the incense sticks into the burner, turned around, and swiftly pulled out a command flag, shouting sternly, "Beat the drums! Set off!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" Three heavy drumbeats resounded across the fields.

More than 300 unloading warriors, who were already prepared, roared in unison and slapped the "warrior talismans" with cinnabar inscriptions on their chests. The talismans spontaneously combusted without fire and turned into streams of light that entered their bodies.

In an instant, the group of men's muscles bulged, veins popped out, and their bodies visibly swelled up. Each of them had eyes like copper bells and breathed heavily like an ox, as if the Yellow Turban Warriors in the temple murals had descended to earth!

"Heave-ho!" Kunlun Moller, acting as a temporary workman, shouted the first cry.

"Hey yo! Hey yo!"

The strongmen responded with thunderous shouts, their specially made steel chisels, giant hammers, and crowbars raining down on the hard mountain rocks.

The clanging and banging sounds were incessant, and pebbles flew everywhere!

That scene was far beyond what ordinary migrant workers could do when clearing mountains; the efficiency was more than ten times faster.
The members of the Gelaohui standing to the side were dumbfounded, exclaiming that these Unloading Ridge Warriors were inhuman.

Zhang Zhiwei nodded in agreement. The efficiency was indeed impressive; each person was essentially a mini excavator.

Fan Pengju was filled with excitement as he watched, and turned to his men beside him, shouting:

"You sons of bitches! What are you all standing around doing? Are you just eating for nothing? Quick, water! Get the brothers some water, and make sure they have enough food! Don't let the heroes of Changsheng Mountain say that we, the Gelaohui, are sly and lazy!"

The entire construction site instantly transformed into a giant beehive, bustling yet orderly. Large swathes of rocks fell down, and in just one morning, they accomplished what would have taken almost several months for the same number of ordinary workers. Piles of earth were stacked up at the foot of the mountain.

However, the Unloading Warriors were not tireless perpetual motion machines. After half a day of intense labor, they all stepped down to rest, and then it was the turn of the Gelaohui (Paoge) members to take the stage.

The Gelaohui (袍哥会) has millions of members in the Sichuan and Chongqing areas. There are many extraordinary people among them, but few are proficient in civil engineering. Therefore, most of those who come here to participate in the projects are ordinary people.

Without heavy machinery, ordinary people would have very low efficiency in excavating this kind of hard, sandy soil.

However, they weren't expected to dig like the Unloading Warriors. All they were supposed to do was drill holes so that Chen Yulou's demolition team could easily secure the explosives.

The gang members kept drilling holes until nightfall. Afterward, the demolition team went up with equipment. They would place explosives in the holes drilled by the gang members and also drill additional holes where necessary.

As for the Unloading Ridge Warriors, they were meditating to recover their Qi. Using the Warrior Talisman and engaging in long-term excavation had greatly depleted their physical strength and Qi. Half a day of excavation required a whole day to recover.

Zhang Zhiwei sat cross-legged on the opposite side of the mountain, meditating while watching the demolition team prepare for the explosion.

His understanding of the mountain's structure was no less than Zhang Qishan's or Chen Yulou's. In his opinion, there would be some difficulties after this blasting, and he might need to intervene. (End of Chapter)