Chapter 29: The Wayward Duo
Goodness gracious.
After a whole day of training, Zhang Ze had exhausted Liu Qianqian to her limits.
“Are you that damn petty to hold a grudge?” Qianqian cursed Zhang Ze before leaving, unable to resist.
...
“Zhang Ze, remember to keep practicing your horse stance these days.” As he turned to head toward the back courtyard of the martial arts school, Ren Fan reminded Zhang Ze once more.
Then, as if something occurred to him, he added, “By the way, starting next week, there might be more students at our school.” Without any further explanation, he tossed out this remark and disappeared from view.
Zhang Ze shrugged slightly, not bothering to ask further.
He dialed a number and said, “Hello~”
“I’ll come to Mengyang County to find you first. Come with me to the countryside.”
“Alright.” Wang Chao’s voice immediately responded on the other end.
...
Inside Mengyang County.
“Fatty, let’s skip the countryside tonight. Take me for a foot massage, will you?” Seeing Wang Chao on the phone, Huang Ming arched his brows and ingratiated himself with the chubby man beside him.
After a few days together, Huang Ming had genuinely come to admire this fat guy. Despite weighing over two hundred pounds and being rather greasy, as it turned out, this guy could truly manage a new girl by his side every day!
“You’ve come to the right man.” Seeing Huang Ming’s enthusiasm, the fat man muttered.
Overhearing the exchange, Wang Chao couldn’t help but roll his eyes in silence.
...
More than two hours passed.
By evening, Wang Chao forcefully dragged the two of them to the station to wait for Zhang Ze, justifying himself nobly, “I’m doing this to save those naive girls!”
This naturally provoked Huang Ming’s discontent.
“Hey, hey~”
“Chao, isn’t there someone lying in that alley?”
“Don’t even think about running off tonight. You two aren’t going anywhere. You’re coming to the countryside with me to talk business.”
At first, Wang Chao thought Huang Ming was just up to his usual nonsense and paid no heed. Only when the fat man repeatedly insisted did the three of them walk into the alley.
“Damn—”
“It really is a person!”
The fat man came closer and saw, unmistakably, that someone was lying there.
...
The alley was dim. Hearing the fat man’s mutter, Wang Chao sensed something was off.
Sure enough, after a few steps forward, they quickly discovered that the person was already dead.
“Call the Detective Division.” The fat man understood what was going on but wasn’t nearly as panicked as Zhang Ze had been before.
Five minutes later, Wang Ting arrived with the Detective Division team at the scene.
After questioning the fat man and his companions, they took care of the body.
“Captain, the identity of the deceased has been confirmed.” Having inspected the scene, a subordinate quietly reported to Wang Ting, “Huang Xu, a young reporter from the South River Province Daily.”
“He came to Mengyang County to attend the news conference hosted by the Qian family.”
At this, Wang Ting immediately sensed something amiss. “Let’s return to the division and notify Director Luan by phone as soon as possible.”
“Understood.” The staff departed, while Wang Chao and his companions approached Wang Ting.
“We’ve given our statements, so we’ll be leaving now,” Wang Chao said quietly, clearly not wanting to linger.
...
They had barely waited two minutes at the station before Zhang Ze appeared in sight.
Once they told Zhang Ze what had happened, the group began to discuss in low voices.
“You’re saying the dead man was a reporter?”
“Yes, and he’d just attended the Qian family’s press conference.” Wang Chao relayed the information he’d learned from the Detective Division, holding nothing back from Zhang Ze.
“Something’s not right. What good would killing a reporter do?” Zhang Ze analyzed as they left the station. “It doesn’t seem like something the Lin family would do.”
“Maybe the reporter found something out?” Huang Ming muttered, though he had little interest in staying with Zhang Ze. He nudged the fat man with his elbow, the meaning all too clear.
“Ahem—” The fat man assumed a serious tone and explained, “How about this, Xiao Ze? You and Chao go talk business in the countryside, while Huang and I stay in the county to keep an eye out for news.”
“Heh—” Wang Chao chuckled lightly after the fat man finished, already fully aware of their true intentions.
Zhang Ze didn’t mind. “That’s fine,” he said.
“Great!” Fatty replied almost instantly, hardly hesitating.
“Oh, right.” As the two were about to leave, Zhang Ze called after Huang Ming, his tone low. “Huang, I need you to keep an eye on someone for me in Mengyang County...”
...
Wang Chao drove, taking Zhang Ze with him out to the countryside.
“The person you asked Huang Ming to watch—is he the cult member you mentioned before?”
“I’m not sure yet, but it’s always good to keep a lookout,” Zhang Ze replied, glancing at Li Sanqing’s number on his phone but not dialing it.
“Are you sure about this?”
“These past few days, the Qian family has been making frequent moves toward the countryside. They might have caught on to your intentions.” Thinking of the matter with the elixirs, Wang Chao was particularly cautious.
“Heh—”
“I heard from Erlong and the others that the Qian family seems to be getting desperate.”
“How could they not? The countryside market used to belong to the Qian family. Now, with the Lin family under pressure and forced to withdraw, the Qian family wanted to seize the chance to take over more of the elixir market.”
Wang Chao glanced at Zhang Ze as he spoke. “Who would have thought that a first-rank martial artist like you would want a share?”
Zhang Ze just smiled faintly without explaining.
...
Elsewhere.
“Fatty, is this place any good?” Looking at the “low-key” façade, Huang Ming was a bit disgruntled.
“Be honest, if you’re short on cash, I don’t mind treating you, but you can’t bring me somewhere like this, right?” He pointed at the nightclub glowing red and yellow, clearly displeased.
“Heh—” The fat man just laughed and explained, “You don’t know, do you?” He patted his chest, grinning. “The girls here, you won’t find better quality even in Heyue City.”
Huang Ming was skeptical.
“Just go in—you’ll see for yourself.” With that, the fat man led the way inside.
...
A few minutes later, in the hall on the second floor.
Surveying the girls in front of him, Huang Ming grinned, “Little brother, say no more. From now on, you’re my blood brother!”
“Whatever you need, just ask. I’m a second-rank martial artist—not for big deals, but I’ll be your muscle any time.”
Though his eyes never left the women, showing he wasn’t entirely sincere.
The fat man didn’t mind. “You’re being too polite, Huang. We’re kindred spirits—men of culture call that soulmates!”
“Ta da~”
Their eyes remained fixed on the lineup of girls, completely oblivious to the footsteps approaching from the staircase...