Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 323 Past
In the woods, in the courtyard.

The woods were still the same woods, and the courtyard was still the same courtyard, but the atmosphere among the people inside the courtyard was completely different.

Everyone remained silent, their expressions intriguing.

The leader's face still showed a look of anger that dared not be expressed, but he appeared more somber than before.

He used to be able to mutter a few complaints about the people in front of him, but now he seems to have lost the energy to complain or simply doesn't want to care anymore.

He's acting like he doesn't care what happens, and it seems he's losing patience.

Even the core leader himself hadn't expected to reach this point. In front of these people, he was far more humble than he had anticipated.

He was very clear about his current situation, so he naturally needed to understand his place.

Think about it carefully, how could he have the right to be angry? Or even to vent?

He only gets permission from others to fully express his thoughts. If any one of these people tells him to shut up, he has to shut up immediately.

He could indeed disregard his thoughts for the next few days, but the consequence would be an accelerated demise of his life. Therefore, he himself should weigh the consequences.

Impulsive actions without considering the consequences rarely solve problems; aside from venting, they are of little use.

That was given to him by others, so there's no question of autonomy.

There are some things he can only keep buried in his heart, and he dares not say a word about them.

It is precisely because of these various reasons that he looks worried and troubled, and seems very frustrated.

Looking at the steward, although he hadn't changed much from before, his even colder expression showed that his patience was about to run out.

He seemed even angrier than before, and seemed to have murderous intent towards Jiang Xian and Li Huwei in front of him, making it seem as if he was about to make a move at any moment.

However, looking at Jiang Xian and Li Huwei, they seemed to lack a leader or a manager, exhibiting a sharp and unsettling demeanor.

Looking at Jiang Xian first, she was still the same as before, without much change. It was probably because the hood covered her face, so it was impossible to see how much her expression had changed compared to before. Her state was also almost the same as before, without any major movements.

Looking at Guard Li, although he was somewhat hesitant because he had to consider Jiang Xian's safety, he had nothing to fear if the steward really wanted to fight him head-on.

Although he usually consulted with Guard Liu, their personalities were almost opposites, giving people very different impressions.

If the person standing here were Guard Liu, he would be able to resolve this situation with words and would not allow Jiang Xian to take the risk with him.

However, Guard Li's approach to things was the opposite of Guard Liu's. Guard Li's style was to solve problems with action rather than waste effort on futile efforts, and he also knew that he couldn't win arguments with others.

Therefore, Li Huwei often gives the impression that he is rather cold-hearted. Unless you have spent a lot of time with him, he is not very talkative. He also tends to observe strangers, making people feel that he is plotting something.

But in reality, that's not the case.

The reason he often doesn't speak is because he genuinely doesn't have any suitable words to respond to, nor does he know how to answer the other person's question or continue the conversation, so he keeps quiet.

He himself gradually became familiar with this state of mind. Moreover, he found that sometimes when he kept his mouth shut and didn't say much, he actually appeared more intimidating to others than when he was talking more before he met Guard Liu.

Therefore, he adopted this method of interacting with people, and over time, it became a habit.

But this wasn't something anyone told him, nor was it taught to him by Guard Liu. It was simply because after he met Guard Liu, many of the things the Jiang family entrusted to him were done together by the two of them.

Therefore, he doesn't need to deal with matters that require talking to others; in many cases, Guard Liu alone can handle things properly.

He only needs to wait and watch from the sidelines, and then he will do his part when it is time to take action.

Therefore, he developed a habit of rarely speaking.

Later, he realized that this habit he had unintentionally developed was actually very useful, and could even have a deterrent effect on some strangers, so he continued to use this habit.

Even today, he still feels that this habit he inadvertently developed has been very beneficial to him. He also understands the principle that "the more you talk, the more mistakes you make." He knows that if he doesn't speak, many people who are not familiar with him will not be able to figure out his strength, and the other party will scare themselves and become insecure.

He benefited greatly from this and has continued to use it ever since, even making it a habit.

In fact, after Li Huwei signaled to the head of the organization to handle the horse issue, the head of the organization spent a great deal of effort explaining to the steward.

But each time the leader patiently explained, the manager never let him finish his sentence.

The steward had no intention of listening to the leader's explanation of Jiang Xian and Guard Li's purpose in coming here, nor did he want to hear the reasons behind it.

The manager seemed to have long believed that Jiang Xian and Guard Li were definitely a threat to their group and would never be on their side.

It's not now, and it won't be in the future—that was the manager's intuition.

The manager felt that Jiang Xian and Li Huwei were not the core figures they could control, nor were they like the lambs to the slaughter they had seen before.

Clearly, the manager no longer trusts the leader, or perhaps he never trusted him at all. His trust stemmed from his boss's trust, and now that his boss no longer trusts the leader, he naturally follows suit and stops trusting him as well.

The leader also knew that since the manager was his boss's confidant, the fact that his boss had framed him before showed that his boss was wary of him, suppressed him, and had absolutely no trust in him.

So, if his boss doesn't trust someone, then naturally the person in charge won't trust them either.

Therefore, the manager was completely unconcerned about and disregarded any words spoken by the leader.

Therefore, for the steward, hearing those meaningless explanations from the core leader, which were given on the orders of Guard Li, was a complete waste of time.

Actually, the manager only knew what kind of person the core leader was from his boss, and he didn't spend much time with the core leader.

After all, they don't live in the same place, and the core member only comes to this courtyard occasionally on his boss's orders. So, there is actually no relationship or personal contact between the core member and the manager; they are simply there to coordinate some matters.

Unlike the other members of the team, they weren't people you could spend every day with, people you could see every time you looked up or down.

Therefore, neither the leader nor the steward was a complete stranger to the leader. Thus, there was no question of any real relationship between them.

The manager naturally knew who the leader was, and he had long recognized that the leader was the young man who had previously broken into him and covered in blood.

However, the leader did not choose to expose the steward to his boss regarding that incident, which surprised him somewhat.

Actually, it was his boss who ordered him to kill that time. As for the steward, even if his confidant told his boss, he had nothing to fear.

However, the core leader has yet to reveal the manager he saw that day.

The manager did not betray this young man, nor did he explain the specific circumstances of that day to his boss.

His boss knew that it was very likely that the leader had run into the steward that day, but as for whether he had actually bumped into him, whether he had seen the steward covered in blood in the courtyard, or whether the leader had happened to see the steward on his way back to the courtyard after the murder, he knew that it was indeed unclear.

When the steward reported back to his boss, he avoided mentioning the main point and did not reveal how the leader reacted after witnessing the murder.

The manager knew all too well that for a young man like the backbone of the group at that time, being able to refrain from speaking carelessly or prying into other people's affairs, and instead keeping himself isolated, actually made it easier for him to survive in this world than those who were overly curious.

The fact that he could refrain from prying into other people's affairs is already commendable for a young man. Therefore, he was willing to give a chance to a young man like Zhuxin, who knew how to protect himself and was also intelligent.

The steward knew in his heart that he had killed too many people and his sins were already too grave, but for some reason, when he saw the leader, he felt a strong urge to protect him.

Of course, he would never lie to his boss, so that day he only explained the situation to his boss in a roundabout way, only saying that he had successfully taken care of the target, and didn't say anything else.

His boss knew this about him, and naturally knew that if something uncontrollable or unexpected happened, he would report it to his boss, or he would handle it himself.

Since I didn't say much to him, either nothing happened and everything went smoothly, or it was some trivial matter that I didn't need to worry about or that he could handle on his own.

Since the manager didn't say much, and given his personality, things must have gone smoothly without any trouble. So, as the leader, he naturally didn't ask any more questions, just like before.

His boss knew that if he interfered too much with the manager's actions, it would likely make the manager unhappy or even cause him to harbor resentment.

This manager was so valuable to him that he always entrusted tasks to him and had his manager carry them out. Over the years, they had worked together as if by unspoken agreement, never overstepping their bounds.

He was both the boss and, in a sense, not the boss, and the boss was the same.

The relationship between the two is more like a partnership.

In terms of strength, his boss couldn't suppress him. There were some past events between them, which made him willing to do things for his boss. But his boss was also very clear that if he was no longer willing one day, that would be the time for them to go their separate ways.

Therefore, he is willing to give those in charge more freedom and will not interfere in anything.

In this way, he did not openly ask the manager about this matter, but it was undoubtedly a thorn in his side all along.

His boss couldn't help but wonder if the leader had really encountered that manager and seen something unusual about him.

However, after returning, he did not report the matter to his boss. As a result, even though the manager was his confidant, he would naturally feel somewhat awkward.

He didn't know how others became leaders, or how they managed their subordinates or teams, but he felt extremely uncomfortable if his team members did something behind his back or had anything to hide.

If the core leader sees something he shouldn't have seen but doesn't report it in time, he will feel that the core leader is someone he can't control and has his own ideas.

He doesn't need someone who thinks so much about him. Even though he knows that from the perspective of the leader, there's nothing wrong with the leader and not reporting it is a way to protect himself, he still feels uncomfortable when he puts himself in that position.

To him, the person who was the backbone seemed a bit too clever. He needed such a clever person to advise him, but he didn't need such a person in the team who gained prestige by using the ladder he had built himself.

What he needs is someone who will dedicate themselves to him, the boss, without regard for their own interests, and someone who cannot think of themselves.

However, there was one thing he hadn't figured out. He wasn't engaged in legitimate business, which meant it would be difficult for him to encounter people like the ones he envisioned.

If he is intelligent, it's best to avoid encountering someone like that.

(End of this chapter)