The man concealed himself in the darkness and slowly approached. His face was obscured, but his silhouette suggested he wasn't thin. A gentle night breeze ruffled a few strands of his hair, making him appear utterly alone and forlorn.
Xiang Yu glanced out into the wind and sneered, "Did they really send just this one person to stop us?"
Hua Mulan said with a focused mind, "Don't be careless, they must be a master!"
Although Wu Sangui showed no fear, he said, "Hmm, this man's gait does indeed have a bit of an imperial air about him."
Cold sweat trickled down my collar. Could it be Ye Gucheng? Looking closer at the hem of his clothes, I saw a long sword hilt pointing straight down, with a round hilt at the bottom.
It's definitely Ye Gucheng! Only a peerless swordsman could wield such an extraordinary sword!
At that moment, I overcame my fear and took a step forward. I couldn't let my friend make a pointless sacrifice for me. Fortunately, I knew a few of the secret codes of master martial arts—I stepped forward, my eyes cold and stern, and slowly said, "You shouldn't have come."
The other person chuckled and said, "I'm already here!"
When this person reached the streetlight, we all collapsed in disbelief: there came the chubby guy, Ying, carrying a car repair wrench, strutting towards us...
Qin Shi Huang slung a wrench over his shoulder, walked over, and said, "I've seen you've been pacing around for so long without coming back, so I've come to check on you." He wasn't stupid; he even knew to take a detour via another side path to outflank me, which scared me half to death!
I hung my head and said, "Let's catch our breath!"
And so, our six-person mission ended in failure, starting strong but ending weakly.
On the train, Wu Sangui said, "This Lei Laosi is not a straightforward person. He probably has some other schemes and tricks up his sleeve."
Hua Mulan said, "We're fine, but I'm afraid they'll target Baozi again."
Xiang Yu said in a deep voice, "That's right, our commotion is clearly for the sake of Baozi. Strategically, the more you care about something, the more likely it is to become the target of the enemy's attack."
What they said startled me. As I drove, I said to Ersha, "Kezi, you'll have to work hard these next few days. Keep an eye on Baozi."
Wu Sangui said, "What are you still looking at? Tell her to stop doing it."
I said, "It's hard to explain now. Let's talk about it after we've settled this matter. Even if she's staying at home, you can't just not let her go out, can you?"
When I got home, the TV was on in the bedroom, and the bed was a mess. But Baozi was gone!
I shouted, "Baozi!"
Xiang Yu darted forward to guard the window, Wu Sangui held the door shut, and Hua Mulan and Jing Ke stayed by my side. Baozi poked her head out from the other bedroom and said, "You're back?" She glanced at us, looking rather nervous, and asked, "What are you all doing—"
I breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Are you alright?"
Baozi asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with me? This is..." She probably hadn't really looked at Wu Sangui properly during the day because she was angry, and only asked now.
"...This is Lao Wu, you can call him Third Brother from now on."
"oh."
After Baozi greeted Wu Sangui, he asked me, "Qiangzi, do you remember where I put that bag of photos?"
I remembered that when I put away Mulan's armor, I seemed to have casually stuffed a handful in, so I said, "Take a look at the drawer in my house."
A little while later, Baozi came out with a bag of photos, flipping through them as she walked. She said, "I don't know what's wrong with our boss. He made everyone submit a 2-inch passport photo tomorrow. He even called us personally."
I chuckled, "Are you going to mention your role as the lobby manager?" As I spoke, I put my arm around Baozi's waist and walked into the bedroom, then turned back and winked at the people in the living room. They all seemed to understand, pretending to go about their own business. Hua Mulan pretended to come into the room to look for something, and closed the door behind her when she left.
I hugged Baozi, who was still looking through photos, and asked her softly, "Did you get hurt during their fight earlier today?"
Baozi threw the photos she didn't like onto the bed one by one, saying, "Don't even mention it, I'm still furious. Those guys beat up everyone they saw, and even our manager's mouth was bleeding."
I grabbed her shoulder and said, "Where are you hurt? Let me see."
Baozi flipped up his collar: "Here."
When I saw a bruise in the back of her shoulder, I said, "How could a push cause this?"
Baozi said angrily, "They're holding sticks."
I got a little angry again: "These bastards really deserve to be taught a lesson. This can't be left like this!"
Baozi knows my temper, and probably was afraid I'd actually go looking for a fight, so he said, "Forget it, it's not like it's directed at me. I heard the leader is a gangster, and he's smashed up a lot of shops."
I gently pressed her shoulders and said softly, "Let me rub it for you." Then my hands began to roam gracefully over her body.
Baozi blushed, glanced at the doorway, slapped my hand, and whispered, "Don't touch me—where are the wontons you bought for me?"
I:"……"
The next day, as soon as Ersha and Baozi left, the rest of us culprits immediately gathered to discuss our next move. As planned, we intended to continue patronizing Lei Laosi's various nightclubs that night. Although we didn't know what conspiracy he was plotting, raiding his establishments was like slapping him in the face to a seasoned veteran—a quick and effective method. Neither side could back down now; no one could sleep soundly until it was resolved. In short, I was ready to fight or go all out. Baozi's injury reignited my anger, and besides—you know what, raiding someone's place is addictive; if I don't raid a place for a day, I feel restless.
Mulan crossed her arms and said, "They won't be raising the white flag of truce today either, will they?"
I lit a cigarette and said, "Let me ask." I looked up the number for the Rich Man's Nightclub through the directory assistance and called. Before I could even speak, the person on the other end coldly said, "Sorry, we are closed for three days for internal renovations."
I was stunned for a moment. Mulan asked, "What's wrong?"
"...The truce sign is up now." I called Qian Leduo again, and this time he was even more direct, telling me, "We're not open for the next three days!"
I hung up the phone, feeling lost. Xiang Yu glanced at my expression and then said lazily, "Just wait. It's much easier for them to come to us than for us to go ourselves."
Wu Sangui and Hua Mulan went to the side to discuss countermeasures. I was lost in thought for a while, then quickly called Sun Sixin and learned that Reverse Time was safe and sound so far, and business was even better than usual—indeed, we had driven all the people from other bars to Reverse Time.
I could only sit there anxiously all morning. The feeling of waiting for someone to retaliate against you is really unpleasant, especially knowing that once they make a move, it will be a powerful attack they've been holding back.
Just as I was idly squatting on my chair, bored out of my mind, I finally received a call from Lei Laosi. After introducing himself, he said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "My son has been thinking all night about who he offended. I thought it wasn't that simple. I've been thinking all night about who would do such a thing. It's so hard to find you, Xiaoqiang!"
I said, "So how did you finally find me?"