Chapter 164: There's More to the Story
"Master!"
"Elder!"
Approaching Lingling Daoist, Fan and He Yi greeted him respectfully before standing quietly to the side.
The three teams—Dragon Fang, Tiger Teeth, and Wolf Fang—belonged to the incredibly powerful organization known as Dragon Soul. It had eight Elders. Four were rarely seen and trained internally by Dragon Soul, while the other four were powerful masters hired from the outside. Lingling Daoist was one of the latter.
"Good evening, Daoist. If there's any danger later, you have to protect me!" Zhou Fan, unlike the reserved Fan and He Yi, greeted him with a grin and casually sat down with the two women.
"Should I call you Nether King, or Mr. Zhou?" Lingling Daoist was dressed fashionably in designer clothes and wore a watch on his wrist. He didn't look like a master at all, more like a nouveau riche.
"Whatever you prefer. I'm very easygoing. If you'd like, we could even become sworn brothers!" Zhou Fan said nonchalantly. Seemingly unconcerned about being spotted by Xiaobu and the others upstairs, he took out a cigarette and lit it.
"Let's forget about becoming sworn brothers. I'll just call you Mr. Zhou, then." Lingling Daoist smiled faintly and didn't stop Zhou Fan. He suddenly raised a hand and pointed. "Go on. Fifth floor, the unit on the left."
Zhou Fan smiled slightly. 'This old fox clearly couldn't tell which room it was, but he still had to put on an act,' he thought. 'If I hadn't lit that cigarette, making Xiaobu peek through the curtains, he'd probably have us sitting here until morning!'
Zhou Fan's group went up to the fifth floor and stood at the door of the unit on the left.
Holding out a hand to stop the twins, Zhou Fan gestured to Fan and He Yi with his eyes. The message was clear: 'You two break down the door.'
The two were speechless but didn't hesitate. Fan immediately kicked the door.
BANG!
For people like them, kicking down an ordinary security door was child's play. The moment the door flew open, Fan and He Yi charged straight inside.
"You two cover our rear. Don't let anyone get away!"
Zhou Fan followed close behind, giving the two sisters their instructions. Seeing Fan and He Yi intercepted, he didn't hesitate to strike one of the opponents with his palm.
Seeing this, the sisters Li Xing and Li Yue closed the door again, taking up positions on either side of it and vigilantly watching the fight unfold.
"Instructor? Why is it you?"
After one of Zhou Fan's punches forced him back half a step, the man steadied himself, stared at Zhou Fan, and demanded loudly.
Instructor?
Fan and He Yi were slightly stunned. They knew Zhou Fan fairly well and were aware that he had trained many people in the past. 'Could this Xiaobu be one of his former students?'
"You have the gall to call me that? Do you have any idea how many of our brothers went after you when you deserted, only to die at your hands?" Zhou Fan snorted, then shouted as he blocked someone trying to use the chaos to flee toward the door, "Nobody move! I'll take both of you. Don't try anything stupid!"
"What if I told you there was more to what happened back then? Would you believe me, Instructor?" Xiaobu watched Zhou Fan fighting the man next to him, but chose not to intervene. He remained where he was and spoke softly.
"First, tell me what you mean by 'more to it'." Zhou Fan blocked his opponent's attack with one fist. A dark glint flashed in his left hand as a dagger appeared, and in the next instant, he thrust it at the man's neck.
The man was no slouch. He retreated, dodging Zhou Fan's strike, and simultaneously countered with a kick of his own.
But the moment he threw that kick, Xiaobu shook his head in resignation. 'That was a fatal mistake.'
Sure enough, as the man's kick shot out, Zhou Fan lunged forward and slammed his elbow into the incoming knee. He simultaneously switched the dagger to his right hand. As his opponent instinctively tried to retract his shattered leg, the blade had already sliced across his throat.
With a dull thud, the body fell. After dealing with his opponent, Zhou Fan shoved the corpse aside and turned back to Xiaobu.
"Instructor, what if I told you my desertion was all arranged by Brother Fei—oh, no, I mean Ye Fei? And Viper knew about it, too! They promised me that if I killed the people they sent to hunt me down during my 'escape,' they would form a brand-new squad when I returned and make me the leader!" Xiaobu explained hurriedly as Zhou Fan's gaze fell upon him.
He knew Zhou Fan's strength all too well. It was precisely because he understood it that he hadn't dared to make a move, that he felt such fear in his heart. This was especially true after witnessing the technique Zhou Fan had just displayed. Those of them who had followed Zhou Fan from the very beginning all knew that move, but not a single one could execute it with such effortless mastery.
Most importantly, from what he had just witnessed, he realized with horror that Zhou Fan was even stronger than before.