Chapter 36: Kick Him While He's Down
"Oh, you're so high and mighty, so impressive. We know you're loyal to the Nether King. We don't need you—we can deal with our enemies on our own!"
Spiky had no choice but to compromise. He was well aware of the three brothers' strength. He might not fear any one of them in a one-on-one fight, but when they fought together, their teamwork was flawless. His own men might not be a match for them at all.
Just then, as Fan was being swarmed by his attackers, he made a careless mistake. A blade cut viciously into his left shoulder, the gash so deep it nearly severed his entire arm.
"He's wounded! Finish him! Don't hold back!"
Seeing this, Spiky no longer cared about the Qian Brothers. With a great roar, he leaped up and charged at Fan, rallying his men.
Fan shook his head forcefully, trying to clear his increasingly fuzzy thoughts. He knew with grim certainty that he wouldn't be able to withstand their next assault.
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
But, in the nick of time, three silver needles tore through the air, embedding themselves in the chests of the three men who were just about to strike Fan.
The sheer force of the impact not only pierced clean through their bodies but also sent them flying backward.
In an instant, the enemy's fighting force was decimated. Aside from the two Fan had already seriously wounded and the three who had just been taken out, only Spiky and one other man remained standing.
"Who's there?"
Spiky's entire body went rigid. For someone to take down three of his men so silently with just silver needles, their power had to be extraordinary. He couldn't afford to be careless.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
The sound of dry leaves being stepped on drew everyone's attention. Two figures emerged slowly from the forest.
The one in the lead was tall and slender, dressed in an expensive suit. He had one hand in his pocket, and in the other, he pinched two silver needles.
The second figure was small and thin, with long, disheveled hair, clutching a box. It was a little girl.
"You're finally here!"
"Who are you?"
"Boss? You're not dead?"
The three statements came from three different sources. The first was from Fan, who promptly collapsed to the ground, his strength gone. The second was from Spiky; as a newer recruit to the Netherworld King's Hall, he didn't recognize its former Hall Master. The last, of course, was from the Qian Brothers.
"And here I thought Viper would come himself!"
Zhou Fan shook his head, his voice tinged with disappointment. He had figured that for Wolf Fang to be so badly beaten, Viper must have come in person. But from the looks of it now, the members of Wolf Fang were just too weak.
"Hmph. If Captain Viper came personally, do you think he'd still be alive?" Spiky sneered, his words dripping with reverence for Viper.
It was understandable. Viper was the captain of the Assassination Squad, and he had trained all of them, just like how Zhou Fan had personally trained the first members of the Netherworld King's Hall.
"Insolence! You will not speak to the Nether King like that!"
Qian Rong, the eldest of the Qian Brothers—the one with the delicate features—barked, glaring daggers at Spiky.
Nether King!
The clearing fell utterly silent.
A man's reputation precedes him. Even if they had never met Zhou Fan, they had all heard of his fearsome renown. Besides, he had just incapacitated three men with a single move.
"You three still recognize me?"
Zhou Fan looked up at Qian Rong, his tone unreadable.
"You're the one who saved our lives, Boss. From the very beginning, you've been our one and only boss!"
The three brothers declared their loyalty in unison. Then, Qian Rong added with a grin, "Boss, back when you handed the squad over to Viper, you promised me you'd make it up to me with a squad leader position once the Netherworld King's Hall got bigger!"
"Damn..."
Hearing this, Zhou Fan's mind drifted, as if transported back to their toughest days together. He couldn't help but let out a fond, exasperated laugh.
Seeing his reaction, the three Qian Brothers also broke into boisterous laughter.
"Take care of them."
Zhou Fan lit a cigarette and gave a casual wave of his hand.
The moment he spoke, the three brothers moved without hesitation. Their bodies flickered like phantoms, daggers glinting coldly in their hands. In a flurry of movements, they dispatched Spiky and his remaining man.
Zhou Fan watched the scene unfold, unfazed. He had complete confidence in the brothers' abilities. Fan and Xiaojiu, however, were utterly stunned.
'They're all members of the Assassination Squad, so why is the gap in their skills so enormous?'
'If these three had been the ones to attack Wolf Fang... the consequences would be... unimaginable.'
"When did you receive that internal injury?" Zhou Fan frowned at Fan. He hadn't examined him closely when they'd met before, but today he noticed that the guy's power had declined significantly.
"Half a year ago," Fan grimaced, clearly displeased. "Otherwise, I would've taken care of those guys myself!"
Zhou Fan nodded, finding that plausible. That was precisely why he'd assumed Viper himself had led the ambush when he heard Wolf Fang had been attacked. As skilled as the Assassination Squad members were, they shouldn't have been powerful enough to pose a real threat to Fan.
'How could the leader of Wolf Fang, one of Huaxia's three great clandestine organizations, be such a pushover?'
"Boss, what exactly happened a year ago? Ye Fei only told us that you were ambushed by enemies!"
On the way back, Qian Rong looked at Zhou Fan, his expression full of confusion. The other two brothers remained silent, but their eyes were also fixed on Zhou Fan.