Chapter 237: You Call This Frail and Sickly?
"Young Master, don't listen to his manipulative nonsense. Our men are here. Should we just kill him?" Auntie Fu said, opening the door. Five more people immediately surged in. She shut the door, stepped forward, and looked at Wang Tianshuang.
"Then kill him."
Wang Tianshuang glanced nonchalantly at Auntie Fu and spoke flatly. But the very instant Auntie Fu and her group moved on Zhou Fan, he erupted into motion. In a flash, he was before Uncle Fu, who was closest to him, his hand lashing out and clamping around the man's throat.
CRACK! Wang Tianshuang crushed Uncle Fu's neck.
Ignoring Uncle Fu, who died without ever realizing what had happened, Wang Tianshuang's footwork was a blur. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Auntie Fu.
Although Auntie Fu reacted, throwing a punch at Wang Tianshuang, she was a step too slow. The instant her fist flew, Wang Tianshuang had already seized her wrist. He yanked it downward, forcing her to stoop, and as her body lowered, he lifted his leg and kicked her squarely in the face.
SMACK! Auntie Fu—a woman Bai Zhi had considered a master—was kicked to the ground. She coughed up a spray of blood, her life extinguished.
In under two seconds, Wang Tianshuang had killed two experts. 'With that kind of speed and power,' Bai Zhi thought, 'I'm no match for him.'
"Go block the door! Buy our Eldest Young Master Wang some time, and don't let any of them escape!"
Zhou Fan was perfectly composed, as if he had known this would happen all along. He spoke softly to the dumbfounded Bai Zhi beside him.
"Huh? Oh, right!" Bai Zhi snapped out of her daze, grabbed a stool, and hurled it toward the door, blocking one of the men who was trying to flee. An instant later, dagger in hand, she was standing guard before the entrance.
A minute later, Wang Tianshuang calmly said, "Thank you," to Bai Zhi. He then turned with a casual flair, returned to his seat, and sat down, once again smiling at Zhou Fan as if nothing had happened.
"Mr. Zhou, you are as clever as I imagined, to have seen through my intentions. I just wonder… are you satisfied with this token of my commitment?" Wang Tianshuang stared into Zhou Fan's eyes for a moment before asking softly.
"Oh no, I'm not clever at all. I was just too stunned to react. I'm afraid I don't understand what Eldest Young Master Wang means by a 'token of commitment,' or why you killed all these people," Zhou Fan said, shaking his head with a look of complete bewilderment.
'So you don't like to be direct, huh?'
'Fine. Keep up the act. I won't play your game. Let's see if you can hold it all in without bursting.'
"Mr. Zhou, we're both intelligent men. There's no need to play dumb, is there?" Wang Tianshuang was taken aback by Zhou Fan's response, not at all expecting him to go so far off-script. Seeing Zhou Fan's persistently clueless expression, he cursed inwardly before continuing.
"Actually, I should be thanking you, Mr. Zhou, for killing Wang Tianhao for me. Although we were half-brothers, we were never close. That's just how it is in wealthy families, you know—siblings are always at each other's throats."
"As for me… when my mother gave birth to me, she didn't receive the care she deserved. In fact, she was bullied by the Great Madam. My mother died not long after I was born. But because I was a boy, I suppose, I was allowed to survive, albeit barely. I've been frail and sickly since childhood."
At this, Zhou Fan's eyelid twitched. 'You call *this* frail and sickly?'
'Killing seven people in one minute… you call *that* frail and sickly?'
"Later, when I was five, I met an old monk. I gave him some food, and in return, he began to teach me martial arts. That's how I gradually gained the skills I have today. But because of my weak constitution, I can't keep it up for long. In a fight like this, if it goes past three minutes, I don't even need an opponent to finish me. I'll be unable to catch my breath and just… die."
"Originally, I never planned to get involved in the family's power struggles. But fate, it seems, had other plans. One day, I accidentally overheard my father—the head of our family—talking with our 'dignified and benevolent' Great Madam. He was telling her how they had orchestrated my mother's death, how they'd just watched and let her die. He even said that if he had known I would turn out to be so capable, he should have killed me when I was a child."
As Wang Tianshuang said this, a bitter smile appeared on his face. He picked up his glass, took a sip of wine, and after composing himself, he continued.
"From that moment on, I swore I would have my revenge. But the old monk who taught me was already dead, and the Capital City is crawling with their spies. And, Mr. Zhou, as you probably already know, Wang Tianhao was connected to that Elder Witch. That connection was brokered by his mother, the Great Madam… because the Great Madam herself is a member of the Witch Race."
"I was helpless. With my power alone, forget avenging my mother—I couldn't even defeat those two, let alone the Elder Witch who stands behind them."
Just as Wang Tianshuang reached this point, Zhou Fan suddenly held up a hand, cutting him off. "So, what's the point of this long story? Don't tell me you're looking for a partnership?"