The blond-haired guy's arm was dislocated, and he was in so much pain that snot and tears streamed down his face. He lay on the ground and roared viciously, "Brothers... grab your weapons and chop this bastard up! Ouch... Mommy... it hurts so much! Beat him... beat him to death! Whoever knocks this bastard down first can have all the Vietnamese girls I have!"
The thugs, initially intimidated by Li Yifeng's ferocity, suddenly lit up with lust upon hearing the young blond's promise. Like boars in heat, they drew their concealed knives, iron bars, and other weapons, and charged forward from all directions, raining blows on Li Yifeng.
Because the blond-haired guy promised that he would only get to play with Vietnamese girls if he defeated Li Yifeng, these dozen or so thugs naturally all went after Li Yifeng. As for Zhou Ziwei, no one paid any attention to him. In their eyes, Zhou Ziwei was just a sickly weakling who would fall over at the slightest touch. After defeating the strong man Li Yifeng, they could deal with Zhou Ziwei however they wanted.
Li Yifeng had seen the amazing surveillance footage of Zhou Ziwei taking down several of Huang Lianshu's henchmen, and he had complete faith in Zhou Ziwei's methods. He knew that with this guy around, he would definitely be safe.
However, he was also worried that Zhou Ziwei would act too quickly and leave him with nothing to do. To be honest… being a beat cop at the police station these past few days had been incredibly boring for him; he hadn't had a proper fight in a long time, and his muscles were practically rusting. Now that so many sharp-eyed thugs were offering themselves up for a beating, he naturally didn't want to miss the opportunity. So, he grabbed an iron rod and used it to fend off the thugs who rushed at him, while yelling at Zhou Ziwei, "Hey buddy, don't steal my business yet! Let me see how many I can handle first, and I'll call for your help when I really can't take it anymore!"
Zhou Ziwei could only smile wryly upon hearing this. He knew Li Yifeng's personality well. Back in college, when the four of them, who shared a dorm room, got into conflicts with others, this guy was always the same. No matter how many people were on the other side, he would always rush in first. As long as he wasn't knocked down, he wouldn't allow anyone else to help him. In his words... he was the eldest brother, so of course he had to protect his younger brother!
If these thugs were unarmed, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't be worried. However, each of these dozen or so men was carrying a knife or an iron bar. If Li Yifeng were to be stabbed in a vital spot, Zhou Ziwei would have no time to regret it.
Therefore, Zhou Ziwei completely ignored Li Yifeng's words. As soon as he saw the group of hooligans surrounding Li Yifeng, he gently waved his hands, slowly drawing small circles around himself, and then casually walked into the crowd.
As Zhou Ziwei drew small circles with his hand, a series of mysterious force fields, invisible to the naked eye, immediately formed around him, enveloping his entire body.
There were too many thugs. Although they surrounded Li Yifeng, only five or six of them could actually get close to him. The rest were shouting and cheering from the outside.
Upon seeing the sickly-looking man slowly squeezing into the crowd, some people couldn't resist grabbing knives and iron bars and smashing them at Zhou Ziwei.
The force field around Zhou Ziwei is actually a condensed version of the essence of Niu-style Tai Chi, and its only effect is to use the opponent's force against them.
This force field itself has no effect on harming enemies. Without the action of external forces, this force field is practically useless.
For example, as Zhou Ziwei slowly squeezed into the crowd, the scattered force fields had already enveloped several thugs around him, but those thugs didn't feel anything at all.
However, once an external force exceeding a certain intensity enters within the range of this force field, it will immediately trigger the burst of the implicit "momentum" of using the force against it, instantly reversing the incoming force completely.
Of course, the effect of this force field is not absolute. When the strength or speed of the external force exceeds a certain limit, it will naturally weaken or even completely dissipate the "momentum" of using the force against the opponent.
Otherwise, Zhou Ziwei would be invincible if he just set up a few force fields around him. Why would he need to fear enemy bullets?
Because the bullet was traveling at such a high speed, Zhou Ziwei estimated that his current force field strength was simply insufficient to stop the bullet's attack. That's why he didn't rashly use this magical force field at the timber warehouse that day.
However limited the effect of this force field may be, it was more than enough to deal with these thugs. As soon as the watermelon knives and iron bars in the hands of those thugs entered within half a foot of Zhou Ziwei, they were immediately thrown into a powerful vortex, losing control due to a strange rotating force. Instantly, some had their wrists dislocated by this vortex, while others, without knowing what happened, ended up cutting themselves or their companions with their knives.
So wherever Zhou Ziwei went, it was like an armored vehicle driving into a sorghum field. Those hooligans who were just moments before were now like fragile sorghum stalks, falling down in swathes, their cries of "Dad, Mom, Dad!" echoing through the air.
"Hey...hey...I'm telling you, buddy, you're really not being fair!"
Li Yifeng knocked down the last two thugs standing in front of him with a stick. They were still holding watermelon knives and looked visibly terrified by Zhou Ziwei. He threw down his iron rod, rolled his eyes at Zhou Ziwei, and said, "Didn't I tell you not to do anything? You're not even human... Uh... With you getting involved like this, I won't even get a taste of the soup! No... This can't end like this!"
After saying that, Li Yifeng walked over and picked up the blond-haired boy who was lying on the ground. He slapped the boy's bloodless face hard and said, "You brat, tell me... do you have any decent thugs under your command? If you do, call them all over here right now so I can give them a good beating and loosen their muscles. Otherwise... hmph... I'll skin you alive!"
"No...no...ah...no no...yes...yes!"
The poor blond-haired guy initially thought Li Yifeng was being sarcastic when he heard Li Yifeng tell him to call over his thugs, so he vehemently denied it. However, he soon realized something was off; this guy really did seem to have a violent streak. If he denied it, even if he wasn't skinned alive, he'd at least have his limbs broken. So he quickly changed his tune, saying, "Yes, there are a few, but... but those guys are just too powerful. They kill people with a single move! Uh... it's just a misunderstanding between us, there's no need to make it a life-or-death situation! You two are magnanimous, how about we just let this go?"
Upon hearing that the other party indeed had a ruthless person in their hands, a fierce glint flashed in Li Yifeng's eyes.
A cold smile played on his lips as he said, "Alright... bring those so-called experts you mentioned over here. I want to see just how skilled they really are!"
Li Yifeng had once served as the head of a branch bureau in a city, so he was certainly not the kind of incompetent fool who only knew how to fight and kill. The things he said to this blond-haired kid earlier were intentional. Although he hadn't had enough of the fight earlier, he wouldn't be so brain-dead as to actively seek out people from all over the world to beat him up just to stretch his limbs.
In fact, he felt that since he was going to manage the jadeite rough stone exchange business here for Zhou Ziwei in the future, he would inevitably have to deal with the local thugs. Now that the business hadn't even started, he had already fallen out with the local hooligans, which would obviously have an impact on the future.
Even if he shows mercy now and lets these thugs go, these scumbags will never appreciate it and will cause him trouble sooner or later.
Li Yifeng was well aware of his own strength. Although the blond-haired guy had only brought some low-class street thugs, who knew if there was a larger force behind him?
Since we've already offended these people, now that Zhou Ziwei is here, it's best to find out their background directly, and even subdue the forces behind this blond-haired guy. That way, we can avoid some trouble when the exchange opens in the future.
Zhou Ziwei was only slightly taken aback when he heard Li Yifeng's words, but he guessed what Li Yifeng was thinking. So he did not stop him. On the contrary, he was quite gratified that Li Yifeng could think of these things.
To be honest, the reason Zhou Ziwei wanted Li Yifeng to help him manage the business here was because he had no one else he could trust besides Li Yifeng.
Secondly, it was also because Li Yifeng was his classmate and best friend in his previous life, and he also wanted to take care of Li Yifeng.
After all, Li Yifeng had been demoted from his position as deputy director of a branch bureau in a border city to a lowly police officer in a local police station, which meant he was clearly not doing well. In that case, it would be better for him to give up his original position and follow him to earn more money.
In reality, Zhou Ziwei had very little confidence in Li Yifeng's ability to manage the business here.
However, his original purpose in opening this jadeite rough stone exchange was merely a front to facilitate his own gambling on stones; whether the exchange made money or not was irrelevant.
When the time comes, Zhou Ziwei only needs to select each batch of rough stones from Myanmar, cut out the most valuable jadeite rough stones himself, and even if he sells the rest at a loss, he will still make a profit.
However, seeing Li Yifeng's actions now, he knew he hadn't misjudged him. Don't let his usual brashness fool you; when it comes to serious matters, he's anything but careless. The business hasn't even started yet, and he's already planning for the future. With his cautiousness, he'll surely at least ensure the exchange doesn't lose money!
Little did the blond-haired boy know Li Yifeng's "sinister" intentions. Seeing that Li Yifeng actually looked like he hadn't had enough of the fight, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Under Li Yifeng's repeated urging, he pretended to be reluctant and slowly took out his phone. After dialing a number, his face immediately showed a respectful expression.
"Fifth...Fifth Brother! It's me...Chen Donghao, it's Haozi! Fifth Brother...that matter...that matter has a bit of a problem...um..."
The young man with dyed yellow hair, who called himself Chen Donghao, glanced timidly at Zhou Ziwei and Li Yifeng before gritting his teeth and whispering into the phone, "Fifth Brother... I messed up the thing you asked me to do! The dozen or so thugs I hired were all taken down before they could even get a chance to show off. They said... they said they weren't done fighting! They said... they told me to find a few more capable fighters, or else... or else they'd skin me alive! Fifth Brother... please save me!"
Chen Donghao glanced nervously at Zhou Ziwei and Li Yifeng again, then suddenly handed the phone to Li Yifeng, saying, "My...my boss wants...he wants to talk to you..."
Li Yifeng looked at the phone Chen Donghao handed him but didn't take it. Instead, he gave Zhou Ziwei a wink.
Zhou Ziwei didn't stand on ceremony. He walked over and answered the phone, saying, "Hello, this is Zhou Ziwei. May I ask how this boss is addressed?"
A deep, slightly hoarse male voice came from the phone, saying, "My name is Wu Di. I run a small business here on the border. I'm not some kind of boss, haha... There's no such thing as a mafia in our country now. I'm just a small-time businessman who can't be brought up in public. 'Boss' or whatever, those are just names given to me by my brothers who work for me. Those who give me face call me Fifth Brother... Of course, Mr. Zhou can also call me Boss Wu."
Zhou Ziwei said, "So, what's the meaning of Mr. Wu sending a bunch of thugs to cause us trouble today? Is this what you call business?"
"You could say that! I owed someone a small favor when I did a business deal before, and this is just repaying that debt of gratitude."
"That guy's name is Yan Jun, right?" Zhou Ziwei sneered disdainfully, "I thought he could do something earth-shattering, but he's nothing special!"
There was a slight silence on the other end of the phone, then the voice continued, "Alright, Mr. Zhou, let's leave it at that! Although I didn't complete the task that person asked me to do, you've dealt with over a dozen of my men, which is enough for me to repay that small favor he did for me. After all, we have no grudges against each other, so there's no need to make it a life-or-death struggle. If you're still not satisfied, you can call the police and have them arrest Haozi and the others, and put them in jail for a few days. What do you think?"
Zhou Ziwei was surprised that Wu Di hadn't even met him yet, but after just a few words from Chen Donghao, he was so determined to reconcile with him. He couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for Wu Di.
He can take things on and let them go; he's decisive in his actions. This person is definitely someone to be reckoned with.
However, Zhou Ziwei was not so easily persuaded to reconcile. He snorted coldly and said, "What Mr. Wu said is quite interesting. If I hired someone to kill you, and then, after the assassination failed, I told you that it was over between us, would Mr. Wu have let it go?"
"So what does Mr. Zhou want?" Wu Di's voice immediately turned gloomy, clearly angered. He said coldly, "The most important thing in life is to know your place. You may have some skills, but don't think you can run rampant here just because you have powerful backers. As the saying goes, even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, and I, Wu Di... am the local snake on this Yunnan border! The reason I don't want to continue fighting with you is simply because it's not worth it. Don't think that I, Wu Di, am really afraid of you!"
Zhou Ziwei was not angry but pleased when he heard this. "A local bully on the Yunnan border!" A local bully is good... This is the local bully that Zhou Ziwei is looking for.
To do business in jadeite rough, you inevitably have to transport rough stones from Myanmar from time to time. If you can't handle the local bullies along the border, then you simply can't do business.
Therefore, after learning the other party's identity, Zhou Ziwei was even less likely to show weakness...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 128: The Adventure Game
When Zhou Ziwei heard Wu Di claim to be a local bully on the Yunnan border over the phone, he immediately smiled and replied, "Very well. Actually, I also feel that there's no point in fighting with you anymore, but I've never been one to suffer a loss. Since this conflict has already occurred, there has to be a reasonable solution. It's pointless to send those few thugs to jail for a few days. They'll be in jail for a few days, and I won't gain any extra flesh. What good will that do me?"
Wu Di coughed lightly in his hoarse voice, and said somewhat impatiently, "Oh... so what exactly do you want? Why don't you tell me first... but I'm warning you, I'm not called Fifth Brother for nothing. If you push your luck, you'll regret it."
Zhou Ziwei paid no heed to Wu Di's warning, saying calmly, "When that idiot Yan Jun threatened to have someone deal with me, I said something to him... I said, I'm the kind of person who doesn't bother others unless they bother me, but if someone tries to bully me, I'll retaliate no matter what methods they use... So, I just hope Boss Wu will send some more people to do the same thing to me as he did. Of course... this time there has to be a result, either throw him in a latrine to take a bath, or make him pay five million to learn a lesson... As long as Boss Wu handles this, then our previous issues will be wiped clean."
"Hahaha... Mr. Zhou is really quite witty!"
Wu Di's laughter, seemingly quite pleased with himself, came through the phone. However, just as the laughter reached its peak, it abruptly stopped, like a car suddenly slamming on its brakes. It was replaced by a low, hoarse cough. "Cough cough… Alright! Since Mr. Zhou insists on a fight with me, I'll grant your wish… I'm currently at the 'Running Fitness Center' in the east of the county town. If you have the guts, come over! I'll wait here for half an hour. Oh… by the way, the police should be here soon. If you don't want to go to the police station to give statements, come over immediately! As for Haozi and the others… let them stay in jail for a few days first. I'm a law-abiding citizen and won't protect my men who commit violence. Since they violated public order regulations, it's only right that they're detained for a few days… Hehe…"
With that chilling laugh, the phone call ended. Zhou Ziwei looked up and saw several police cars turning and heading this way at the street corner. He nodded to himself, knowing that Wu Di was indeed the local bigwig. Even though he was far away, he knew more about the surrounding area than Zhou Ziwei did.
Zhou Ziwei became even more determined to handle this person. He immediately tossed his phone to Chen Donghao, then waved to Li Yifeng. The two of them quickly disappeared into the alley next to the hotel.
Although Zhou Ziwei and his group had knocked down quite a few people, it was considered self-defense, so they weren't afraid of the police causing them trouble. However, Wu Di had already said that he would only wait for him at the gym for half an hour, and Zhou Ziwei didn't want to delay the matter by having to go to the police station to give a statement, so he had no choice but to run away first.
Although the county town wasn't very big, the two of them were unfamiliar with the place and didn't know how long it would take to find the fitness center on their own. So, after crossing the alley, they hailed a taxi on the back street and headed straight for the Kuangben Fitness Center.
The two got out of the car in front of the fitness center. When they looked up and saw the exceptionally luxurious building in front of them, they were both slightly shocked. This was clearly just a fitness center in a county town, but its scale was much larger than that of most fitness centers in large and medium-sized cities, which was really abnormal.
If this fitness center is owned by Wu Di... then it's clear that this person's strength and influence are indeed extraordinary.
The two exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of wariness.
Zhou Ziwei was worried that they might encounter danger this time. He wanted to let Li Yifeng go back alone first, but after hesitating for a moment, he figured that it would be pointless to say it and would only upset Li Yifeng. So he didn't say anything more and immediately walked into the fitness center building side by side with Li Yifeng.
Upon entering the reception hall of the fitness center, one discovers that the interior is even more luxurious than it appears from the outside, rivaling even some five-star hotels in terms of opulence.
The lobby was spacious, but apart from the uniformed waitresses and a few burly security guards, there wasn't a single customer in sight.
"Hello sir... Welcome..."
On both sides, rows of beautiful and curvaceous waitresses bowed and greeted him in unison. As they bent over, a patch of white, bulging cleavage was immediately revealed under their low-cut uniforms, giving Zhou Ziwei the feeling of entering a spider's web.
"Welcome to Kuangben Fitness Center, gentlemen. We are temporarily closed today due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our distinguished guests..." After the waitresses bowed, the first one, who appeared to be the supervisor, immediately greeted them in a sweet and overly friendly manner.
Zhou Ziwei took a deep breath, suppressing the primal instincts that were arousing these fairies, and then said calmly, "We're here to see Wu Di, not to play around with you..."
Upon hearing this, the supervisor's expression changed slightly. He glanced at Zhou Ziwei and Li Yifeng with a flustered look, then lowered his head and asked, "Are you Mr. Zhou and Mr. Li?"
Zhou Ziwei nodded and said, "That's right, it's us."
The foreman bowed even more deeply upon hearing this, his voice trembling slightly as he said, “Our boss just instructed me that he's waiting for you two in the meeting room on the fifth floor. However… the elevators in our building are experiencing a slight malfunction and are temporarily unavailable. If you two wish to see the boss, please take Staircase Number One. Our boss also said… he said… he said that if either of you can… can make it to the meeting room on the fifth floor alive, he… he will grant you any request…”
"This fifth brother is quite interesting!"
Although Zhou Ziwei knew that Wu Di would definitely play some tricks on the two of them, he did not expect Wu Di to be so direct. Even a fool could tell that there would be many obstacles on the stairs leading to the fifth floor, and that one careless move could even be fatal.
However, since Zhou Ziwei was already there, he naturally wasn't afraid of anything. He was just a little worried about Li Yifeng's safety. But when he turned to look at Li Yifeng, unsure how to begin, Li Yifeng understood his meaning. He waved his hand dejectedly and said, "Alright...brother, I know going with you will only distract you. I'll just wait here for you...hehe...life is lonely as snow, it's not easy to have the chance to chat with so many beautiful women! You'll be green with envy, kid..."
Zhou Ziwei nodded gratefully to Li Yifeng, and then, without saying a word, followed the head waiter's directions and headed straight for stairwell number one.
Li Yifeng was not worried about staying here. Wu Di was obviously a ruthless and ambitious man, and would never resort to extreme measures like kidnapping a target's relatives and friends like the likes of Baoyalong. Therefore, as long as Li Yifeng did not follow him upstairs, he should be safe.
Staircase No. 1 was located at the end of the left corridor of the reception hall. As Zhou Ziwei walked along the corridor and approached the staircase door, which was about ten meters away, he suddenly saw a 30-inch LCD screen light up on the door.
A line of large, blood-red characters abruptly appeared on the LCD screen: "The challenge game is now starting—"
The large red characters flickered slightly before fading away, and then a line of smaller black characters appeared one by one: "First Challenge: Between the first and second floors, there are five skilled stealth fighters guarding the area. The challenger must defeat all five guards and obtain an electronic key hidden on each of them. Insert this key into the lock of the electronic door on the second floor to pass the challenge... Time limit: Fifteen minutes. Exceeding the time limit results in failure!"
Upon seeing this, Zhou Ziwei looked stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter.
This guy is really something! He's already working so hard, but why come up with such a fancy idea—making himself play some kind of obstacle course game! Uh… I bet Mr. Wu Di is a complete game addict; playing games in the virtual world wasn't enough for him, so he brought it into the real world!
Since this Boss Wu wanted to play, Zhou Ziwei was prepared to play along. It was just a puzzle game, right? Besides, the other party had given hints about the puzzle tasks beforehand. The stairs on this floor were only so big. The goal was to take down five people and find five electronic keys from them within fifteen minutes. It shouldn't be too difficult.
Just as Zhou Ziwei was pondering this alone, the LCD screen began to flash the countdown to the challenge: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Challenge begins!"
As the words "Start the challenge" appeared, the electronic door to the tightly closed stairwell clicked open slightly and opened a crack.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziwei quickened his pace and walked towards the door. As he walked, he released his soul power to scan behind the door.
Just as Zhou Ziwei had predicted, behind the electronic door, there were two people dressed in black, their heads covered with black hoods, looking like characters from the game Counter-Strike, hiding on the left and right sides of the door, each holding a gleaming dagger.
Thankfully... at least that Mr. Wu hasn't unleashed any firearms here yet. It seems that although he's obsessed with games to the point of madness, he still has some sense of propriety in his actions.
If the two men weren't holding knives, but rather automatic rifles like those in the CS game, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't mind going on a killing spree, killing his way from the first floor to the fifth.