Chapter 141 — Old Buffon's Origins

Just as Wu Yunsheng was lost in thought, an unwelcome voice suddenly drifted over. "Hey, you there. What are you staring at?"

Wu Yunsheng looked up, startled, at the few young men dressed like street thugs before him. He glanced left and right in confusion, then pointed at himself. "You talking to me?"

"No shit. Who else would it be?" one of Snake's men shouted, pointing at Wu Yunsheng.

"I'm...?" Wu Yunsheng was baffled. "Do you know me?"

"Fuck, it's you, kid. You've pissed someone off—you know that?" Snake's underling bellowed.

Wu Yunsheng had an easygoing nature. Looking at these people without the faintest idea what was going on, he rubbed his chin and said, "You're sure it's me?"

"Enough talk." Snake waved his hand. "It's him. Grab this kid."

Yang Ce had been huddled with Yang Xin, backs turned, whispering about Sun Jie's chest, when a burst of cursing suddenly came from behind them. He turned and saw a gang of thugs picking a fight with Wu Yunsheng.

Hearing someone call Wu Yunsheng "kid," Yang Xin immediately took offense. "Who are you people? Are you out of your minds?"

Snake didn't know Wu Yunsheng, and he didn't know Yang Xin either—but he knew Yang Ce. Yang Ce hadn't said a word, yet Snake remembered him vividly. This was his personal nightmare. How could he not recognize him?

Snake went dead still, wishing he could slap himself across the face. What rotten luck—he'd actually come to make trouble for him? Wasn't that just walking straight into his own grave?

Seeing Yang Ce staring coldly at him, Snake's legs turned to jelly and he nearly dropped to his knees. In that instant, Snake's regret hit its peak. To hell with that Second Young Master Ouyang—offending him at worst meant a bruised ego. But offending the man before him meant he'd be dead by tonight.

Snake was about to open his mouth and say something when he abruptly caught sight of Sun Jie walking toward them.

My god! This time Snake truly wanted to kill himself. Even the Sun family's eldest daughter was here! What the hell was going on? You don't play people like this! Even suicide wasn't done this way! Snake utterly collapsed. He was just about to beg for mercy when he suddenly remembered that Yang Yongjin wanted him to mention his identity—so he slammed on the brakes and turned to grovel to Sun Jie instead.

"You there, kid. You come here too." Snake's underling didn't recognize Yang Ce. Seeing Yang Ce turn around, he immediately pointed at him and shouted, "Yeah, you. Hurry up. Don't fucking dawdle."

Snake's heart lurched violently. Motherfucker, no way—what the hell was this? You trying to get me killed? Furious, Snake raised his hand and delivered a resounding slap to the underling's face, cursing, "What the hell are you doing? Are you blind? Get lost, now!"

The underling, baffled by the blow, clutched his steamed-bun of a face and retreated to one side, deeply aggrieved—though he didn't dare raise any objection.

"Miss Sun, my apologies. This is a misunderstanding. We're leaving right now." Snake's words came out halting and clumsy. There was no helping it—Yang Ce was standing right in front of him. Compared to Sun Jie, Snake feared Yang Ce far more. This man was a killer who didn't blink, and his methods were exceptionally vicious.

"Scram." Yang Ce, who hadn't spoken for a long while, spat out a single cold word.

Snake acted as though granted a great pardon, and he and his gang of underlings scrambled away and vanished in an instant.

"What was that about?" Sun Jie glanced at Snake fleeing like a startled rabbit, then asked Yang Yanchuan.

"No idea." Yang Ce shook his head, his eyes fixed on the direction Snake had fled, a thoughtful look on his face.

So it was them. Yang Ce quietly filed away what he'd seen, planning to go find Snake and settle the score that night. In Yang Ce's view, this punk was just asking for a beating.

"They came right up and called me 'kid.' I had no idea what was going on," Wu Yunsheng said with a bitter smile.

"You—when they cursed at you, why didn't you talk back?" Yang Xin was annoyed. "They saw you look honest and easy to push around, so they probably wanted to rob you for some cash."

"That's probably not it." Sun Jie shook her head. "I know the leader—he's Cobra, the boss of the Four Snake Gang. It doesn't sound right that he'd bring his men out to rob people."

"Oh, no wonder he ran off the moment he saw you." Yang Xin laughed. "The eldest daughter of the Sun family really does command respect."

Sun Jie said nothing. Clearly, she too had begun to suspect Snake's true purpose. But she didn't have Yang Juehuan's thousand-mile piercing sight, so she couldn't see where Snake had gone after he vanished. What was certain, though, was that Snake hadn't come to make trouble for her—because he hadn't known she was here. Or rather, Snake hadn't known that the person he was coming to make trouble for was her.

"What's going on with you?" Seeing Snake come running back in a daze, Wang Cheng'en was immediately displeased. "Why are you back?"

"Director Wang, Young Master Ouyang, my apologies. I can't help with this favor," Snake said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Wang Cheng'en frowned. "What exactly happened?"

"That woman—she's Sun Lin's daughter. Would I dare touch her?" Snake said. "Director Wang, it's not that I'm not giving you face. My abilities are limited. I truly cannot afford to make enemies of them."

"Who is this Sun Lin?" Ouyang Junyuan asked with some disdain.

"Boss, Sun Lin is the boss of Donghai," Wang Cheng'en said hastily.

"Just a small-time boss in one city out of all East Sea—what's there to be afraid of?" Ouyang Junyuan twisted his mouth, not taking Sun Lin seriously in the least. And no wonder: in P Province, a small-time city boss really amounted to nothing to him.

To be continued.

655. Ouyang Pays a Visit

Snake Bro had no patience left to argue with them. These days it was not Sun Lin he feared—even if he had offended Sun Jie, so what? If Sun Lin found out, the worst that could happen was being ordered to kowtow and apologize. But the man he had offended now was Yang Ce. If that fellow decided to kill, no one could stop him, and Snake Bro had no intention of throwing his own life away.

Watching Ouyang Junyuan's arrogant, swaggering manner, Snake Bro decided not to bother warning him. With a man like that, warnings were useless—he would only think Snake Bro was a coward who feared trouble.

Fine then. Go ahead and do it, do as you please. If Yang Ce finishes you off in the end, that will be beyond my control.

"What kind of friend is that?" Ouyang Junyuan frowned. "A coward who's scared of his own shadow."

"Forget it, don't put him on the spot. He has to make a living around here, after all," Wang Chengen said with a sigh. He understood Snake Bro's difficulties well enough.

"Then never mind him. Wang Chengen, that plan won't work—so what do we do next?" Ouyang Junyuan's interest in Sun Jie was plainly immense; he did not regard Sun Jie's father as worth a moment's thought.

"Boss Ouyang, I say we let this matter drop. Sun Lin is the boss here, after all, and going after his daughter seems a bit improper," Wang Chengen said hesitantly.

"What's improper about it?" Ouyang Junyuan said. "He's just the boss of one city—what the hell is there to fear? Back in P Province, when I favored the daughters of those bosses, they couldn't have been happier."

"But that was P Province. This is East Sea—it's not our turf anymore," Wang Chengen reminded him.

"True enough." Ouyang Junyuan nodded. "Wang Chengen, you're supposed to be a clever one—isn't there a better way?"

"There is, but Boss Ouyang, you would have to condescend a little," Wang Chengen said.

"Let's hear it," Ouyang Junyuan said with a wave of his hand.