Chapter 186 - 172: Ruthless Brother Snake

Chapter 186: Chapter 172: Ruthless Brother Snake

"Brother Hua, want one?"

Hong She offered Little Flower a cigarette.

Little Flower shook his head, staring silently out the window, as quiet as ever.

Hong She glanced at Little Flower, a flicker of apprehension in his heart.

On this team, there were two people he couldn’t see through: Xia Yu and Little Flower.

"You don’t mind if I smoke, then?"

he asked.

Little Flower shook his head again.

"Heh."

"Good. I was worried the smell might bother you, Brother Hua."

Hong She lit a cigarette, finally satisfying his craving.

For a heavy smoker, going this whole trip without a cigarette had been torture—his hands, mouth, and heart all yearned for it.

"Let’s go."

After finishing his cigarette, he drove off.

It wasn’t rush hour, so the traffic was light and they hit few red lights. It only took them a little over half an hour to reach their destination.

The South Suburb of Huayang City.

In front of a swimming center, Xie Shaokun was pacing back and forth, his face etched with worry. The moment he saw Yu’s car approach, he rushed to meet it.

As soon as he got in the car, he cupped his fist and said, "Brother Hua, Brother Snake, I thank you in advance!"

Little Flower, silent as always, just stared out the window and gave a mechanical nod.

"We’re all brothers. No need for such formalities."

Hong She, on the other hand, was much more engaging. "Where’s Little Nannan?" he asked.

"She’s at the abandoned building. This situation doesn’t call for guns, so I didn’t ask her to come,"

Xie Shaokun said.

"Doesn’t call for guns... Right."

Hong She nodded. "These loan sharks... they’re nothing but a bunch of thugs with some connections. The bigger their operation, the more thugs they have and the stronger their connections."

"But no matter how many small-time crooks they have, they’ll never play in the big leagues."

"And no matter how strong their connections are, they’re not as strong as ours."

"You’re right. We don’t need guns."

Hearing this, some of the panic on Xie Shaokun’s face subsided.

He hadn’t really thought it through before. He’d just felt that guns weren’t necessary, which is why he didn’t call Little Nannan or bring one himself. But now, after hearing Hong She’s analysis, he understood the reasoning behind it.

And so...

he felt some of the pressure lift.

That’s right.

’No matter how tough these guys are, can they really be tougher than us?’

But the thought of Chen Ziqi in their hands made him anxious all over again.

Hong She noticed the change in Xie Shaokun’s expression and, before he could speak, asked, "Shaokun, you’re in such a rush. Did you finally get Chen Ziqi into bed?"

Uh...

Xie Shaokun’s face flushed, and he quickly shook his head. "You’re just messing with me, Brother Snake. There’s nothing going on between me and Chen Ziqi. Really."

Seeing this, Hong She teased him a bit more. Once he confirmed that Xie Shaokun and Chen Ziqi weren’t actually that close, he found himself becoming more interested in the girl.

Based on the information he had, this Chen Ziqi seemed like a smart woman. She knew to latch onto a "thigh" as ’pure’ and ’sturdy’ as Xie Shaokun to ensure her own survival in the future.

’But why hasn’t she ’locked down’ her relationship with him?’

’Is she so confident that he can’t escape her grasp?’

’Is she just stringing him along?’

’Or does she have multiple options and is still weighing them?’

In that moment, Hong She considered many possibilities, but he overlooked the power of two simple words: "clueless guy."

A few more minutes passed.

"Brother Dong is pretty arrogant. He only sent two guys to make the exchange with me."

"Ziqi is with them."

"One hand gives the money, the other gets the person."

"Brother Snake."

"What do we do now?"

Xie Shaokun quickly summarized the situation and then asked for instructions.

"Simple."

Hong She said, "We kill Brother Dong’s two dogs and rescue your Ziqi."

???

Xie Shaokun shuddered, his mind struggling to catch up. But seeing Hong She’s nonchalant, half-smiling expression, he finally understood. "You think Zhao Guohui will clean up our mess?"

"No."

Hong She shook his head. "We shouldn’t rely on Zhao Guohui to clean up all our messes. That will only put us deeper in his debt, which will be bad for Yu’s future dealings with him."

"It would also be bad for our team’s development."

Xie Shaokun nodded.

That was true.

He didn’t realize that he had, without thinking, started following the new guy Hong She’s lead.

"What I mean is,"

Hong She continued, "we clean up our own loose ends. Right now, the Law Enforcers are busy staying vigilant for the Mist Event and dealing with its aftermath. Who has time to care about a missing persons case?"

"Besides, the two people who’d be ’missing’ are bad guys who deal in illegal loans and kidnapping. If I’m not mistaken, these two are definitely hard cases. They might have even killed someone before."