Chapter 160: Let Him Wait

“Old Zhu, you really have to help me this time.” Xu Fei said as he stood up once again.

“What’s the matter? Let’s sit down and talk. Hey, what are you doing?” Old Zhu asked.

But Xu Fei solemnly bowed to him once more.

“Come on, stop with the formalities. Just tell me what’s going on,” Old Zhu urged.

Xu Fei looked at Old Zhu and said, “Last time, I retaliated against that gang of thieves who tried to get back at me. I ended up killing one of them and injuring another. Now they want revenge. I was planning to leave the provincial capital tonight, but somehow they found out I’m from Donghai. I’ve been thinking a lot, and I’m afraid that even if I return to Donghai, it won’t make a difference this time.”

Old Zhu nodded in understanding.

“Exactly. Those guys are like stubborn lice; once they latch on, they never let go,” he said, shaking his head.

“Xu Fei, what do you want me to do to help you this time?”

“I want to lure out the leader of this gang and bring him to justice.”

“Oh?” Old Zhu smiled, looking at Xu Fei.

“You’ve got guts, daring to turn the tables on them at a time like this.”

Xu Fei smiled bitterly.

“They’re forcing my hand. If it were just me, I wouldn’t be so scared of them. But my family is still in Donghai—my younger siblings are still kids. If I let my actions affect their lives, I’ll never be able to face my deceased parents.”

Old Zhu nodded approvingly.

“Well done. That’s exactly why I value you—you take responsibility. Alright, I old Zhu will help you with this.”

“Really?!” Xu Fei almost jumped for joy.

“Tell me, how many people do you need?”

“Old Zhu, how many can you send me?”

Old Zhu thought for a moment. “How about ten?”

“Ten? Are they all armed?” Xu Fei made a gun shape with his hand.

“Haha, Xu Fei, you’re asking for a lot. But my men are worth ten each, and they’re all armed. So don’t worry—even if this gang has a hundred men, these ten soldiers can handle them for you.”

Xu Fei trusted Old Zhu’s words completely.

He smiled and gave Old Zhu another military salute.

“Haha, your salute isn’t very standard,” Old Zhu chuckled.

Xu Fei laughed. “Old Zhu, just bear with it.”

“Ha ha ha…” Old Zhu smiled and pointed at him. “You, huh.”

With that, he walked to the door.

“Xiao Wang!”

“Here!”

“Take ten men and follow Comrade Xu Fei. Remember, everything follows Comrade Xu Fei’s orders, got it?”

“Yes!”

So, Xu Fei left the large courtyard of Mount Lazi.

In truth, Xu Fei didn’t have a concrete plan yet.

But now that he had these ten men, he had the means to stand up to the enemy.

Xu Fei took the ten men straight to the breakfast shop.

“Brother Liu, prepare some breakfast for everyone.”

Then Xu Fei went to the entrance and glanced toward the hospital gate.

As expected, two men from the thief gang appeared near the gate.

It seemed they also had people inside the hospital.

Xu Fei pondered.

“Looks like I’m the bait. Once they catch me, they’ll take me back to their hideout. Then you all come and take down their base!”

“That won’t do, Comrade Xu Fei. That’s very dangerous for you.”

“Yes,” Old An nodded. “Xiao Wang is right. What if something happens to you after you’re caught?”

Xu Fei waved his hand.

“If I don’t go, no one else will let them lead them back to the hideout.”

That was true.

Seeing that no one else had a better plan, Xu Fei decided.

“Alright, it’s settled then!”

He pushed open the door.

“Be ready to act according to the situation.”

With that, Xu Fei strode toward the hospital.

Just as he entered, the two men who had been watching the entrance immediately spotted him. One followed closely behind, while the other ran into the hospital.

Soon, as Xu Fei entered the building, a dozen or so gang members came rushing down the stairs.

They surrounded Xu Fei.

“You dare show yourself again?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?”

“Come on.”

Two of them grabbed Xu Fei, slinging him over their shoulders, while two butcher knives pressed against his waist.

“Move a muscle, and you’re dead.”

Xu Fei didn’t even think of resisting.

He was there to be bait.

So he followed the dozen or so men out of the hospital.

They had no vehicles.

Old An saw Xu Fei being taken away and followed after him.

Xiao Wang and the other ten men from the Zhu family quietly left the breakfast shop as well.

The eleven of them split up and followed the gang at a distance.

After about twenty minutes, the gang turned into an alley.

To avoid being spotted, Xiao Wang only took Old An into the alley.

This was an ancient lane left over from before the Liberation, wide enough for only two to walk side by side. The surrounding houses were all old.

Soon, Xu Fei was brought before a large gated courtyard.

The leader knocked a few times on the door.

Xu Fei recognized the knocks as a secret signal.

After a moment, a woman wearing a cream-colored silky cotton shirt opened the door.

“Did you catch the man?”

“Madam, this is Xu Fei,” one of the men said.

“Bring him in. Your master is waiting for him,” the woman said, glancing at Xu Fei.

“And he’s quite handsome too?”

Xu Fei was momentarily stunned by the woman’s random remark. When their eyes met, he sensed an intense hunger in hers.

This kind of woman was terrifying, as if she wanted to devour him.

He was led inside the courtyard, pushing thoughts of the woman aside.

In no time, he was brought to the main room of the inner courtyard.

“Master, we’ve caught Xu Fei.”

Someone in the room coughed.

From the moment Xu Fei entered, he smelled a scent resembling tobacco, but he knew it wasn’t.

When the door curtain was lifted, a man in his fifties came out holding a large opium pipe.

Suddenly, Xu Fei understood the strange smell in the air.

The man was bald, with a chiseled face. His left eyebrow was missing for some unknown reason, giving him a strange appearance.

He sized Xu Fei up and took a long drag from the pipe, exhaling a cloud of white smoke.

“Xu Fei, you’re quite something. My five or six disciples were all taken down by you. I’ve been wondering what kind of man you really are. Now that I see you in person, you don’t seem so special after all.”

His tone was as twisted as his missing eyebrow—sarcastic and unpleasant to hear.