This bar! Don't be fooled by its shabby exterior, with dark, unlit hallways that seem like it's long since abandoned and closed down. But once you step through that small door, you'll find that the interior is just as nicely decorated as any ordinary bar! And this underground bar is much more spacious than most bars!
The layout of this bar doesn't seem much different from ordinary bars. Upon entering, there is a spacious hall, a small performance stage opposite the main entrance, a large and elegant long bar on the left, and a row of more luxurious private rooms on the right.
Perhaps because it was only afternoon and the peak business hours hadn't arrived yet, or perhaps because the bar was deliberately keeping a low profile, there weren't many customers in the entire bar. In the main hall, there were only a few scattered tables of customers sitting in a corner, each whispering to each other.
Almost all the guests were in pairs, so it seems this place truly lives up to its name as a secret lover's place.
Su Yan clung nervously to Zhou Ziwei, his face showing a relaxed expression, but the hand around Zhou Ziwei's body dug hard into Zhou Ziwei's skin, causing Zhou Ziwei to wince in pain. However, Zhou Ziwei didn't say anything, but instead pretended to be casual and led Su Yan to a dark corner to sit down.
The two sat there for quite a while before a waitress finally came over, listlessly eating the drinks menu. She said, "What would you two like to order? Let me make this clear... We have a minimum charge of 500 yuan per person. If you think it's too expensive, you should find another place soon, so that nothing unpleasant might happen later."
Zhou Ziwei waved his hand dismissively and said, "Whatever... Do we really need a few hundred yuan to have fun? Just order us some fruit platters and a bottle of French red wine. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a regular one will do... Oh, and make my female companion a sweet wine, nothing too strong!"
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei opened his purse, took out about two or three thousand yuan, and threw it directly onto the waitress's drink menu, saying, "This money should be enough, right? Consider the rest as your tip!"
The saleswoman didn't seem happy at all when she saw the brand-new banknotes. She just nodded lazily, said "thank you," and then sauntered away.
Only after the waitress had walked away did Su Yan say indignantly, "What kind of attitude is that... No wonder their business is so bad. Not only are their prices exorbitant, but their service is also terrible. Hey... With her attitude, why did you give her a tip?"
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and said, "When you come to a place like this, you have to put on a show. Being stingy will make you a laughingstock... Hehe... Never mind that, just sit down for a bit, I'm going to the restroom..."
Seeing that Zhou Ziwei was really standing up to leave, Su Yan was so frightened that he grabbed Zhou Ziwei's collar and said, "No... I... I'm a little scared, don't leave me here alone!"
Zhou Ziwei smiled lecherously upon hearing this and said, "I don't want to leave you here alone, but I really need to pee right now... What should I do? How about... you come with me to the restroom?"
Su Yan frowned and said, "I can't go into the men's restroom with you. Waiting outside is the same thing!"
Zhou Ziwei curled his lip and said, "Who says women can't go into the men's restroom? This is a bar. Don't you know that restrooms in bars are usually unisex? A disheveled woman might pop out of the men's restroom at any time, and a well-dressed man might walk out of the women's restroom at any time."
"Ah... how could this happen?" Su Yan shrank back in fright and said, "I told you not to go to the bathroom no matter what. Well... you should go by yourself! But... come back soon!"
Zhou Ziwei nodded and said, "Don't worry! I'm just going to take a shower. No woman is going into the bathroom with me. Why would I stay there if I have nothing better to do? Although I might see a live porn video in there, the smell isn't very pleasant. I prefer to watch it at home."
Zhou Ziwei's words made Su Yan blush again. She lowered her head, not daring to look at Zhou Ziwei's lewd and shameless appearance, and muttered under her breath, "Pervert."
Zhou Ziwei laughed loudly and turned to leave.
As I walked, I muttered to myself: It seems I actually have a bit of a rascal-like quality in front of her… But how come I never noticed I had this talent before? Could it be because this girl is so easily embarrassed, making one subconsciously want to tease her… Uh… she's truly a femme fatale…
Actually, Zhou Ziwei didn't really want to go to the restroom; he just wanted to take this opportunity to scan the situation inside the bar.
His soul power can now search within a radius of up to twenty meters, but the bar is quite large, so a twenty-meter radius is far from enough. Therefore, he has to take advantage of the opportunity to move around to expand the search area.
When Zhou Ziwei walked along the right side of the bar to the corridor where the restrooms were located, he had basically seen through the situation in that row of small private rooms.
Of the dozen or so private rooms, three were occupied. In one of the rooms, a man and a woman were having sex on the sofa. The passionate scene made Zhou Ziwei feel a surge of lust.
The other private room was even more outrageous, with three men and two women engaging in adult games.
This was far more exciting than watching a porn movie, but Zhou Ziwei had no interest in appreciating it at the moment. After quickly glancing over it, he finally saw a man and a woman sitting face to face on the sofa in a small private room at the very back.
And both of them were actually wearing clothes...
It's perfectly normal for a man and a woman to sit in a private room and chat, but Zhou Ziwei had just witnessed so many erotic scenes, so the scene in this private room seemed rather unusual.
He immediately took note, deliberately stopping in the corridor just inside the restroom, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lighting one, and leaning against the wall as if smoking, while secretly amplifying his hearing from its usual two times to six times.
In an instant, all the chaotic sounds in the bar were amplified sixfold, flooding into Zhou Ziwei's ears like a tidal wave.
Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei's hearing had increased exponentially, allowing him to extract the sounds he needed from various noises at will. Soon after, he clearly filtered out the conversation between the two people in the small private room next door...
“Miss Zhang… my brother is really anxious about this matter. I hope you can help me get it done as soon as possible. He’s just a country bumpkin from out of town. I’m sure with your Night Elves’ vast intelligence network, you’ll be able to find out all his details very quickly!”
"Mr. Cao, please rest assured. You should be aware of our organization's reputation and efficiency. As long as the target information you provided is accurate, I believe our base quote shouldn't be too high. However, regarding your request for a three-day timeframe, I find it difficult to answer. You should also know that our organization typically takes at least a week to investigate a target. Since the information on your target is incomplete, I'm not sure how long the investigation will take. Each department in our organization has strict functional boundaries. I'm merely an external staff member responsible for receiving clients. At most, I can relay your requests upwards. As for what the higher-ups mean or how the intelligence department operates, that's beyond my control."
"Alright! In that case, I'll leave it to you, Miss Zhang. I hope to hear your reply as soon as possible. You know, that old guy is from out of town. Who knows where he'll run off to in a few days, hehe... Of course, if your organization really investigates, then even if he wants to run away, he'll have nowhere to hide. I'm just afraid that after this information is submitted, your intelligence department won't investigate it immediately. That would be extremely bad."
“Mr. Cao, there’s no need to worry. Generally, once our reception department submits a document, the intelligence department will immediately begin investigating the target within 24 hours. As long as the person you mentioned doesn’t leave Tonghai within 24 hours, I can guarantee that he will not escape the surveillance of our Night Elf intelligence network.”
Zhou Ziwei was secretly delighted to hear this. It was perfect that there were Night Elves taking on business. This made things more interesting. If he could stick to this lead and follow the money transfer channels held by the woman, he might be able to find their hideout.
Thinking of this, Zhou Ziwei used his soul power to see through the document on the table, wanting to see who their target was.
Upon closer inspection, I was speechless...
Holy crap... why is it me they're targeting?
The so-called information was extremely simple. Apart from some text descriptions, there was only one photo, but that photo was of Su Yan. However, upon seeing the text, it became clear that their target was not Su Yan at all. Zhou Ziwei helplessly realized that the person described was clearly him, Zhou Ziwei, or more precisely, the character he was currently playing, Zhao Guoqiang.
Zhou Ziwei had no idea that he had become a thorn in someone's side so quickly. It was only his first day in Tonghai, and he had already become a target to be hunted down.
However, based on the descriptions and the fact that the man in the private room was surnamed Cao, Zhou Ziwei quickly deduced that the guy who intended to kill him was Cao Hong.
It seems one shouldn't be too merciful... Some despicable people should be dealt with decisively and without giving them a chance to breathe. Zhou Ziwei originally thought that although Cao Hong was a bit disgusting, he wasn't a particularly vicious person, so he had little suspicion of him. But who would have thought that this guy, despite not having much strength, would be so impulsive as to hire someone to kill someone.
Holy crap... So what if someone threw you into a cesspool and made you eat some poop? Is it really worth risking your life like this? Besides, the guy who threw you into the cesspool was your boss, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with me, right? Why is this guy targeting me like a mad dog...?
Zhou Ziwei muttered to himself in frustration, but then chuckled... His purpose for this trip was to find the Night Elves from the shadows and then wipe them out in one fell swoop. He never intended to confront those omnipresent assassins head-on. Once he was entangled with them, who knew when or where a sniper bullet would fly out from? Even if he constantly radiated his soul power in all directions 24 hours a day and maintained six times the vision and hearing, it seemed difficult to defend against long-range sniping.
So this time, he didn't want to be targeted by the other party again after changing his identity.
However… the Night Elf hasn’t accepted this job yet, right? That means the Night Elf doesn’t know the exact value of his identity, and doesn’t know how high they will set the price for killing him. Since Cao Hong is still working at someone else’s hotel, he probably isn’t a rich man. He might be able to come up with a few hundred thousand, but if the Night Elf sets his value at several million, or even tens of millions, Zhou Ziwei doesn’t believe that Cao Hong can come up with that much money to hunt him down.
Hmph... I originally wanted to keep a low profile, but it seems being too low-key won't work either... So let's just be high-profile this once and for all, hahaha...
Having thought this through, Zhou Ziwei made up his mind. He gently tugged at his shirt pocket and quietly released the ladybug, letting it land outside the small private room to keep an eye on the two people inside. Then, he strolled around the restroom and walked back to the seat he had just been sitting at.
To Zhou Ziwei's surprise, even from a distance, he saw two trendy young men surrounding Su Yan, laughing and talking.
"Hehe...Miss, you must be so lonely sitting here all by yourself...Come on! How about we go to the private room and have some fun together...Brother has some good stuff for you to eat, I guarantee you'll feel like you're in heaven after eating it...Um, no, I mean you wouldn't want to be a god even if I gave you another god, haha...Come on! I don't have much stuff here, if you miss this one you won't get another, and this is free, you're getting a great deal!"
"You...you guys, don't do anything reckless...I...I have a boyfriend, he...he went to the restroom, and let me tell you, my boyfriend is really something, you're all in big trouble when he comes back...you'd better stay away from me!"
"Hehe... Little girl, listen to your brother. Your boyfriend is probably in the bathroom having sex with another woman right now. Why do you care about him? Besides... even if he comes back, we're afraid of him, hehe... Let me tell you... we guys have a very prestigious reputation in the underworld. We all follow Brother Dong from West City. Who does your boyfriend think he is? We're doomed if he comes back. If he behaves himself and just watches us guys have fun with you for a while, that's fine. After we're done, if you want to go back to him, we have no problem. But if he dares to mess around, then don't blame us for being impolite."
Zhou Ziwei was speechless. When they came in, there weren't many customers in the bar. How did two hooligans suddenly appear out of nowhere in such a short time?
However, Zhou Ziwei had just been planning to be a bit high-profile, and now two unlucky kids have appeared in front of him to show off. Isn't that just asking to be trampled on?
Zhou Ziwei chuckled, quickened his pace, and swiftly walked behind the two men. He lightly patted their shoulders and said, "Hey...buddies...who do you want to be rude to?"
The two men were startled by the sound and hurriedly turned around. When they saw that the person standing behind them was an old, ugly, and sleazy skinny man, they couldn't help but burst into laughter...
A young man with dyed blond hair on the left exaggeratedly shouted, "No way! My little sister, this... this is the amazing guy you were talking about... uh... I really can't see what's so amazing about him. With his small frame, I could lift him up and spin him eight times with one hand, and he still wants to show off to us guys... haha... I think maybe he's just good in bed, right... little sister? Otherwise, how could such a pretty little sister like you be hanging out with this kind of old geezer... tsk tsk... he doesn't look like a rich guy. Could it be that he really has invincible goddess-slaying skills, a peerless lecherous man who can handle all kinds of resentful women in bed... if that's the case, I really need to have a good chat with him..."
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 213: Fighting to the End
Zhou Ziwei waited quietly for the young man with blond hair to shout arrogantly for a long time before smiling faintly and saying, "Are you done?"
The blond-haired guy immediately glared at me and said, "So what if I didn't finish speaking? You old geezer, do you really dare to mess with me, this prickly guy?"
Zhou Ziwei snorted coldly and said, "If you're done talking, then kneel down and kowtow a few times, and maybe I'll spare your life. Otherwise... if you lose an arm or a leg or something, don't expect me to be ruthless!"
"Damn...you old man, you're quite the braggart...I'm standing right here, let's see what you can do to me...Damn it, I haven't done anything to you, and you old man are already acting tough with me. Do you think I won't dare to hit anyone in Sanshui Street?!"
"Thump—" Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ziwei immediately punched the blond-haired boy in the chest. The boy was sent flying by the powerful force of Zhou Ziwei's punch, crashing hard into the wall behind him with a dull thud before falling to the ground and losing consciousness.
Because the walls were made of soft partitions, when the blond-haired guy bumped into them, the entire wall on one side shook violently, as if an earthquake was about to occur. When the blond-haired guy fell off the wall, he knocked over a table, creating a loud crash that immediately alerted the entire bar!
Zhou Ziwei's punch just now used pure physical strength, without any trace of Niu-style Tai Chi. However, with his strength, which is several times greater than that of an average person, it was not a big deal for him to knock an adult of average weight flying.
After knocking one of them away with a punch, Zhou Ziwei turned to another thug, smiled slightly, and said, "That guy just now didn't want to lie down on his own, so I had to help him out. And you? Are you planning to lie down on your own, or are you planning to ask me for a hand too?"
"I...I...Big brother...please don't be impulsive...I...I didn't mean any harm to sister-in-law. I just...just chatted with her for a few minutes. I...I didn't even touch her...Big brother...Big sir, please forgive me!"
When the thug saw that Zhou Ziwei, despite his skinny appearance, was surprisingly fierce, all his arrogance immediately vanished. He no longer dared to be arrogant with Zhou Ziwei and hurriedly began to beg in a humble and obsequious manner.
However, since Zhou Ziwei had already decided to act in a high-profile manner, he naturally wouldn't let this unlucky kid off so easily. He smiled slightly and said, "Spare you... that's not impossible. Don't you remember what I just said? Kneel down and kowtow a few times, or I might let you go. Otherwise... you'll have to bear the consequences!"
"This...I..."
The thug was genuinely terrified, but if it were just a matter of saying a few words, that would be one thing. But to make a grown man kneel and kowtow to another person in public was something he simply couldn't bring himself to do.
You see, for people like them who are out in the world, getting beaten up a few times is nothing. In fact, the more scars they have, the more ferocious they are. But if they were to kneel and kowtow in public, their reputation would be completely ruined. There would be no way they could survive in society anymore. Even if they wanted to bully others in the future, they would have no confidence at all. So... whether or not to kneel really made that thug quite conflicted.
But just then, the door to the small private room opened, and a man and a woman came out. Upon seeing them, the thug immediately seemed to see a relative and hurriedly ran towards the man, shouting as he ran, "Brother Dong... quick... Brother Dong, save me, this old man is going to hit me!"
The man and woman were both slightly taken aback when they saw this. When they looked at Zhou Ziwei and Su Yan behind them, they were stunned again. The woman subconsciously pulled out a photo from a file bag and looked at it. Then her expression changed slightly.
“Mr. Cao…” The woman leaned close to Cao Dong and whispered, “Things seem a bit bad… Those two people seem to be the two people described in your file, right? The woman is Su Yan in this photo… And that man… Judging from your description, it seems to be exactly the same. Oh… I think you’re in trouble. You were just about to deal with him, and he followed you here.”
Upon hearing this, Cao Dong felt a chill run down his spine. Although he had long suspected that the person Cao Hong had offended was not simple, he had not expected that the other party would be so well-informed and would have targeted him so quickly. Moreover, it seemed that the other party had already clashed with two of his henchmen.
This is not a good sign. The Night Elves still don't know anything about that old guy's background. If nothing unexpected happens, their investigation shouldn't yield detailed information so quickly. If he urges them a few more times and gets them to rush a conclusion, then he'll have a reason to trick Cao Hong out of that house.
Avenging Cao Hong? That was just an excuse. What he really wanted was to take over his cousin's shop. As for himself, although he also wanted to get rid of the guy who made Cao Hong eat shit, he didn't plan to personally intervene because he knew the guy was not simple.
He thought he was just running errands and making contact with the Night Elves. Even if the old man didn't die afterward, he would only come after Cao Hong and the Night Elves, and it wouldn't have much to do with him. But now it seems... he has clearly been discovered by the old man's people, who have actually chased him here. And now the old man is so arrogantly beating up his henchmen, such a high-profile manner will definitely make the Night Elves value this target much higher. And next, who knows if they will actually find out the other party's identity and background. If that happens, they will definitely set an astronomical price for the old man's base offer. There will be no chance for him to use this opportunity to trick Cao Hong into mortgaging the shop to get money to hire the Night Elves to deal with the old man.
Despite his inner rage, Cao Dong's mind raced. He rushed out and slapped his underling so hard that he fell to the ground.
Then he cursed, "You little bastard, didn't I tell you? You must not cause trouble in this bar. If you dare to cause trouble, I'll skin you alive. Now... even though someone is bullying you, you shouldn't make such a fuss... When others cause trouble, someone will naturally come out to deal with them. You're making a scene here and disturbing their business, so that's your fault."
曹东说罢，转回头对那位姓张的女人嘿嘿一笑，说：“不好意思了张小姐……是我这兄弟不好，居然在你们地下情人酒吧里被人给揍了，呵呵……我想这件事……你们应该可以处理好的，是吧！”
Miss Zhang glanced at Zhou Ziwei standing next to Su Yan, then at the blond-haired guy Zhou Ziwei had punched to the ground. Her lips twitched slightly, and she chuckled as she said, "So far, this matter seems to be just your personal feud... Well... I will immediately warn that person and make him leave if he assaults someone in the bar. As for your personal feud, our bar will not interfere."
Upon hearing this, Cao Dong's facial muscles twitched slightly. He was planning to use a borrowed knife to kill someone, directly using Zhou Ziwei's trouble-making as an excuse to drag the Dark Elves into the mess. If the two sides really had some irreconcilable conflict, then perhaps he and his brothers wouldn't even have to pay a penny in commission, and could use the Dark Elves to get rid of Zhou Ziwei.
However, the woman surnamed Zhang was clearly a formidable character and refused to be fooled. As soon as she saw how easily Zhou Ziwei had dealt with those two hooligans, she knew that he was no ordinary person and naturally wouldn't let the Night Elf get involved in this matter.
Then Miss Zhang walked over, smiled slightly at Zhou Ziwei, and said, "Sir, our bar has rules that prohibit fighting here. If any conflict arises between customers, it must be resolved outside, so..."
Zhou Ziwei raised his eyebrows, glancing provocatively at Cao Dong, then pulled Su Yan into his arms, snorted, and said, "Those two hooligans dared to harass my woman while I was in the restroom... Of course, I won't let them get away with it... Hmm... I don't know what the rules are here, but since you asked... I'll give you face. We'll deal with the other one after he leaves this bar! Baby, let's go..."
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei put his arm around Su Yan and swaggered out of the bar!
"Holy crap... So you guys were the ones who provoked that woman first? Is that really true?"
After Zhou Ziwei and Su Yan had completely disappeared, Cao Dong, with a grim face, sternly questioned the surviving thug.
After receiving an affirmative answer, he was so angry that his face turned green.
It turns out those two weren't following him; they might have just happened to be here for fun, only to be provoked by his two scoundrels... What bad luck!
So, before Zhou Ziwei could even deal with the thug, Cao Dong took matters into his own hands, slapping him to the ground and then kicking him wildly without any rhyme or reason.
However, Cao Dong then began to worry. He knew without asking that Zhou Ziwei was still waiting outside, ready to teach this underling he had just dealt with a lesson. But... this underling was his, and he didn't care how he dealt with him. But if someone else did it in front of him, he would lose all face.
His position as the gang leader is definitely no longer secure. Any daring henchman could use this as an excuse to kick him down and take his place.
This time, it really seems like there's no other way but to confront Zhou Ziwei head-on... Hoping for the Night Elves to intervene is out of the question for now, and judging from the current situation, even if the Night Elves were to accept their commission, the base price they'd offer probably wouldn't be low. In that case... this matter is likely to fall through, so... he really has no choice but to bite the bullet and fight Zhou Ziwei.
Damn it... I, Brother Dong, don't care who you are. This is Tonghai, my territory, Cao Dong's territory.