Zhang Yuanqing peeled off his jacket—its sleeves had been scorched beyond saving—and tossed it into the basket of his bicycle. He then headed back to the Public Security Bureau and had one of the clerical staff issue him a new SIM card.0

The SIM card registered under "Yuanshi Tianzun" could only be processed through the Bureau's own clerical personnel. Zhang Yuanqing told them his phone had accidentally fallen into a storm drain and he couldn't be bothered to fish it out, so he wanted a replacement.0

He had no intention of telling Guan Ya or Li Dongze about what had happened. If the conflict became common knowledge and one party suffered some kind of "accident" right after the fight, standard investigative logic dictated that whoever had a dispute with them would be subject to a routine inquiry, regardless of how likely a suspect they were. And both of them knew he controlled a rule-type item.0

By the same reasoning, his retaliation could not come immediately. It would have to wait.1

After getting the new SIM card sorted, he made a trip to a nearby phone shop and purchased a domestic-brand smartphone for around three thousand yuan. He used his own ID to register a separate, personal number while he was at it.0

At a café not far from the Public Security Bureau, Zhang Yuanqing sat at an outdoor table, sipping iced coffee and contemplating how to get back at Xiahou Tianyuan.0

Provoking the Xiahou family...0