Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 322 The atmosphere is tense
The leader in front of him now looked somewhat timid. Following the direction of his finger, Guard Li slowly looked towards that spot in the courtyard.

It was a stable, and its exterior looked somewhat different from the style of the yard.
Although the exterior is still somewhat dilapidated, it is clear that the stables were well-planned and look very neat and orderly.

Now it seems that the stable is indeed quite old, bearing the marks of time, but it is still clear that the horses inside are well cared for.

There were about a dozen tall horses in the stable, which were completely different from the two horses that Jiang Xian and Guard Li were riding.

The two horses that Jiang Xian and Guard Li were riding were ones they had found anywhere to better conceal their identities; they were not horses belonging to the Jiang family.

The horses kept in the stables in this courtyard, however, were clearly fine horses.

Although these dozen or so horses are no match for the Jiang family's fine horses, they are more than enough for this desolate place.

If the Jiang family hadn't placed such great importance on horses, the horses that Jiang Xian and Guard Li saw would have been superior to those kept by some wealthy families.

This suggests that the owner of the stable must have been very interested in the strong and healthy horses in the stable.

In fact, the equipment of the core members of their group was quite good, as if it had been uniformly configured. The fact that they now had so many strong horses indicated something.

Or perhaps their team is very cautious, with each person having two horses, one for use and the other as a backup. This would likely reveal the team's style of operation, and they might have a backup plan for other tasks.

Or perhaps there are other members in their team besides the eight, but Jiang Xian and the others haven't seen them yet.

Alternatively, it is possible that these horses were used for some kind of business, and it was probably not a legitimate business, but rather a larger conspiracy.

After Li Huwei looked around the stable, before he could even speak, the leader noticed that the steward beside him had reached his limit of patience with Jiang Xian and Li Huwei.

The manager's expression was extremely cold; he was no longer willing to tolerate Jiang Xian and the other man, as if he was about to explode at any moment.

Having observed these circumstances, the leader quickly said to Guard Li, "These horses are all good ones, but their current condition is mainly due to..."

"Second brother, let's cut to the chase."

The key figure was speaking when he was coldly interrupted by a voice.

He originally intended to flatter the steward, saying that the horses were in such good condition because of the steward's excellent care.

The leader's original intention was to ease the tension between the two sides and to make the manager feel a little better because of the flattery, but he did not expect it to turn out like this.

"Pah!" the backbone cursed inwardly. Although he did not sincerely want to mediate, he did not expect that both sides would be so unappreciative of him.

His attempts to reconcile the situation failed, and instead, they treated him with such hostility, leaving him feeling caught in the middle and disliked by both sides.

Jiang Xian and Guard Li had not appreciated his kindness before, so the steward naturally did not need him to mediate.

That manager's personality has always been like that; he doesn't need to be gentle or reserved at all; he's very direct.

After being interrupted by that cold voice, the pillar of strength wisely kept his mouth shut.

He really didn't dare to say anything more; he knew how fierce the manager could be.

Furthermore, neither Guard Li nor the steward appreciated his efforts at all, so there was really no need for him to waste so much energy on these two groups.

He originally wanted the two sides to fight. If they did fight, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would benefit from it.

Of course, once the two sides start fighting, there may be some unexpected situations that he cannot foresee. If that happens, he will have no choice but to accept defeat.

Unless it's a low-probability situation, the core leadership will always be on the side that benefits.

The core leader was also constantly weighing the relative strengths of Jiang Xian, Li Huwei, and the steward in his mind.

Therefore, he was actually observing the behavior of both sides in his mind.

To be honest, he still hoped that Jiang Xian and Li Huwei could win.

The reason for this was, of course, that although the manager was not his teammate with whom he spent every day, he was someone who knew him well enough.

Thus, since they are acquainted, even if the manager has not observed the core leader himself, he can still learn about the core leader's general situation through other means. It is not difficult for him to know about the core leader's situation.

It's likely that the manager had already figured out the leader's intentions. Based on the leader's observation of the manager, he was not someone who, given his position, could be someone who was indifferent and unresponsive.

Therefore, even if he were to learn about the situation of the core leader from his boss, he would surely have a clear understanding, not to mention that he would also observe it himself.

In this way, since the person in charge is clear enough about the core leadership, it is as easy as squeezing a chick for him to control the core leadership; it is by no means a difficult task.

The intelligence of the key figure is only effective against outsiders; it is of little use against those who are stronger than him or those he knows well.

Hearing the steward address the core leader as "Second Brother" is enough to roughly guess the relationship between the two.

The two of them definitely knew each other beforehand. It's unlikely that the leader just randomly pointed out a door and conspired with the manager on the spot to bring Jiang Xian and Guard Li here.

During the conversation between the leader and the steward, there was a sense of familiarity in the steward's words.

It's unclear whether the leader holds a higher position within the team, or the manager holds a higher position within the unit.

Judging from the conversation between the two, it's possible that the manager had a natural advantage. His cold tone, coupled with his indifferent and aloof demeanor, made him seem to outsiders as someone whose position in the team was definitely higher than that of the leader.

However, even the pillar of support seemed somewhat timid in his presence.

Therefore, in Li Huwei's view, it is very likely that the person in charge has a higher status in the team than the leader.

The leader will likely have to follow the orders of the person in charge.

Jiang Xian, however, sensed from their interaction that the core leader and the steward's relationship wasn't simply that of teammates. They didn't seem like familiar teammates either; rather, they appeared to be adversaries. The core leader brought them here without requesting the steward's assistance or explaining his own danger. The steward also seemed to lack understanding with the core leader, suggesting that the core leader likely knew the steward wouldn't help him, or that even if the steward did, it would likely be after eliminating the core leader as well.

I'm afraid that the person in charge won't follow the orders of the leader.

This title "second place" doesn't necessarily indicate whether the core member's actual position in the team is second, or whether his name or age in the team is second.

Neither Li Huwei nor Jiang Xian were aware of this information. They needed to gather more information and uncover it bit by bit.

But for some reason, both of them could vaguely sense that the core member's position in the team was more likely to be second.

For some reason, the two of them felt that, given the current state of their leader, things were no longer as they had imagined.

With an already cold and indifferent face, the words uttered from his mouth were even colder, devoid of warmth and life, and the use of the term "second brother" was enough to send chills down one's spine.

The core leader felt the same way, and he also heard the full sarcasm in the word "second brother".

The steward was also surprised that after he told the leader not to say any more nonsense, the leader actually shut his mouth and didn't say anything more, nor did he explain to the steward the purpose of Jiang Xian and Guard Li's arrival.

Neither Li Huwei nor Jiang Xian spoke.

The four people stood facing each other in pairs, without saying a word.

After waiting for a while, among the two groups, only the leader did not show any tough stance, while Jiang Xian, Li Huwei, and the manager did not give in and showed no sign of weakness.

This continued for a while. Seeing that no one spoke, Guard Li gave the leader a look, a look that was devoid of warmth and simply conveyed a cold meaning.

When the leader saw the look that Guard Li gave him, he naturally understood that it meant he was being asked to handle the horses.

The matter of horses was the purpose of their visit, so naturally they couldn't let it interfere with their main business.

Since the idea of ​​finding horses came from the leader, who needed to bring his teammates back to their base, it was natural for him to speak first. Jiang Xian and Guard Li, on the other hand, viewed the matter as bystanders.

Jiang Xian and Li Huwei were actually just accompanying the leader, not participating in the matter.

Therefore, the whole matter had to be handled by the core leader, and Jiang Xian and Li Huwei had no intention of interfering at all.

The leader, having received a signal from Guard Li, was naturally quite helpless. After all, he had caused the trouble himself, and it was he who wanted Jiang Xian and Guard Li to come out and find horses so that he could bring back his teammates who were not very mobile. This was the problem he had created himself.

So, at this point, if Guard Li is willing to help the leader, that would be fine. But if Guard Li is unwilling or too lazy to care, there's nothing the leader can do. He can only bite the bullet and explain the situation to the steward, and ask the steward to borrow a horse.

The leader had generally anticipated what would happen after meeting the steward, but the way things were unfolding was somewhat unexpected.

He naturally thought of the steward's expression when he saw Jiang Xian and Guard Li.

Knowing the steward as well as the leader did, the steward was bound to be angry that two strangers had entered their territory.

However, he truly hadn't expected that Jiang Xian and Guard Li would be so fearless.

He hadn't expected that Jiang Xian and Guard Li would enter the courtyard with a clear intention to confront them head-on.

From the leader's perspective, the two of them seemed to care nothing about the steward or his territory.

It seems that Jiang Xian and Li Huwei can break in at any time and leave at any time.

What is happening now is both within the leader's expectations and beyond his expectations.

He naturally had his own ideas and calculations beforehand. His purpose in bringing those teammates back was twofold: first, to establish his prestige, and second, to gain more support.

However, he truly did not expect to find himself in such a difficult situation.

Since he couldn't avoid it, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and do as he was told.

Now, the situation on Guard Liu's side is no different. He has not yet put the things Jiang Xian gave him to use and is still keeping a close eye on the remaining thugs.

The four people lying on the ground are still unconscious and haven't changed much from before.

However, the situation of the two people sitting on the ground was somewhat different from before.

The thug named Zhuzi, who had been pinned to the ground by Guard Li with a dagger, was not a big deal. He remained sitting there, unable to move, and was unwilling to change the situation for the time being, lest he lose too much blood after pulling out the dagger and hasten his death.

He still trusted his mentor to some extent and hoped that his mentor would bring back some surprises that could help him overcome the current difficulties.

But the man who lost an arm was already struggling to recover, and his condition was even worse than before.

In fact, before Jiang Xian, Li Huwei and the three main figures left, it was already clear that his condition was deteriorating and his will was slowly waning.

Now, he is extremely weak, looking as if he is about to fall apart.

Even so, he received no medical treatment. Guard Li would not help him, and Jiang Xian would not allow Guard Li to divert his attention, otherwise it would be irresponsible to the three people from the Jiang family.

Because once your attention is diverted to other things, you will definitely relax and become careless.

Guard Liu remained where he was, but the burden on him was not light. He could not relax his vigilance, and he absolutely could not let other things distract him.

Otherwise, the safety of Guard Liu, the safety of Jiang Xian and Guard Li, and even, more broadly, the safety of the entire Jiang family, would all be affected because of Guard Liu.

Therefore, whether considering these things or Jiang Xian's instructions before his departure, he dared not relax in the slightest.

(End of this chapter)