Chapter 221 — The Price of a Wandering Hand

"A bit of both, I suppose." Wei Zhao did not deny it.

Tang Zhi gave a faint huff and said nothing more. Her entanglement with Wei Zhao was growing knottier by the day, impossible to cut clean, impossible to sort out. Just thinking about it made her head ache, so the best course was simply not to think about it at all.

Before long, Director Ma himself wheeled Xiaofen into the ward. Wei Zhao smiled to himself; the director clearly assumed he and Guan Xuewen were on intimate terms.

Once Xiaofen was settled and Director Ma had gone, the ward fell quiet again. Zou Tiandi and Zhao Guangdong and the rest, outside the door, had slipped away at some unknown hour.

"Huh? Boss, that Zou-what's-his-name just left? Didn't he tell us to wait right here?" Kang ** was puzzled by Zou Tiandi's departure.

"Off to fetch reinforcements, most likely?" Wei Zhao was hardly about to believe Zou Tiandi would let it go at that. "Or maybe he has people coming to make trouble and he didn't want the police getting involved, so he left early to distance himself from it."

Kang ** nodded, but before he could say anything, a clamor rose in the corridor, and the next moment the ward door was kicked open with a bang. A bleached-blond youth burst in with four or five thug-looking characters at his heels: "All you men in this room, get out here... eh?"

The blond had meant to order every man in the ward outside, but his gaze suddenly snagged on Tang Zhi. He had not expected a woman this beautiful to be in the room.

The blond was a lecher by nature. He had come to teach someone a lesson, but the sight of Tang Zhi changed his plans somewhat. He threw a glance at the henchman beside him — as the ringleader, he of course could not state his intentions aloud; that would be far too crude.

The henchman was the blond's trusted confidant. One look at his boss's eyes and he understood. He pointed at Tang Zhi: "You too. Out!"

Tang Zhi was momentarily taken aback, then grasped that the blond had taken a fancy to her and meant her no good. She glanced at Wei Zhao with some alarm, only to find the man standing there as though nothing at all were happening, perfectly at leisure.

Annoyed as she was, Tang Zhi steadied herself. With Wei Zhao here, she surely would not come to harm, would she? Though she rather resented how well he treated her, in a situation like this she found herself hoping he would protect her.

Tang Zhi could not make sense of her own feelings either. Strange, all of it, very strange.

Seeing his henchman was quick on the uptake, the blond nodded to himself. Now that it had been said aloud by another, he could act without restraint. He reached out to seize Tang Zhi, intending to drag her out of the room.

Tang Zhi started in fright and tried to shrink back, but as she retreated she bumped into someone. A sidelong glance showed her it was Wei Zhao. She was about to ask what he meant to do when she saw him catch the blond's outstretched hand in his own.

"Your hand's a bit too eager, isn't it?" Wei Zhao smiled faintly, looking at the blond. "I haven't even held her yet, and you want to?"

At these shameless words Tang Zhi's face flushed crimson. She shot him a glare. What do you mean, you haven't held her?

"Kid, since you haven't held her, then she's got nothing to do with you. So you're sticking your neck out for her, are you?" The blond's face went cold. He tugged at his hand, but could not pull it free.

"I never follow any rule when I act. Whether I'm sticking my neck out or not doesn't come into it — I just think your hand is a bit too eager." As Wei Zhao spoke, he suddenly wrenched hard. A crisp crack followed, and then the blond's bloodcurdling howl.

"Awooo... my hand... my hand..." The blond felt a searing pain shoot through his palm and nearly burst into tears.

"I barely gave you a little warning, and this is how you carry on? That spineless? Tell me — were you sent by that Zou Tiandi?" Wei Zhao had not expected the blond to start wailing the moment his hand was broken. Pathetic, really.

"Awooo... my hand..." The blond did not answer, only kept up his unearthly keening.

"..." Wei Zhao was at a loss. With a helpless wrench of his hand, another crack rang out. "There. Stop howling. It's set back in place. Now answer me, and be quick about it..."

The four henchmen the blond had brought along were struck a little dumb. What sort of man was this? Was he doing a circus trick? Yanked the blond's palm out of joint, then casually popped it back in?

They thought of rushing him, but hesitated. After all, the blond had not given the word, and they could hardly ignore their boss's safety.

"Get him! All of you, get him together, finish this little bastard off..." Huang Mao's hand had been reattached, and with the pain finally somewhat eased, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Crack" — another crisp snap, and Wei Zhao had wrenched Huang Mao's hand out of its socket again.

"Awo..." Huang Mao howled in agony, but this time Wei Zhao had used more force than before; his hand was not merely dislocated but outright deformed, bent at an acute angle beyond all belief.

Huang Mao cried out twice, then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.

"I never should have set it for you. You really are a worthless piece of trash." This time Wei Zhao could not even be bothered to question him; he turned to Huang Mao's several underlings, who had been about to step forward but were now hesitating: "You lot — any of you got itchy hands?"

Looking at Huang Mao's deformed hand, the four of them were thrown into turmoil — what the hell kind of madman was this, and how could he be so savage?

"N-no... no..." These men had no desire to end up like Huang Mao, and instinctively shook their heads again and again.

"Oh, then it's you." Wei Zhao pointed at the underling who had earlier told Tang Zhi to step outside, and asked: "Tell me, was it that President Zou who sent you here just now?"

"This..." That underling was Huang Mao's absolute right hand, and betraying Huang Mao was simply beyond him. Looking at Huang Mao on the floor, a sudden vicious resolve surged up in his heart; he whipped a dagger from his person and lunged at Wei Zhao, shouting: "I'll fight you to the death!"

But just as he was about to close on Wei Zhao, the underling abruptly changed direction, and the dagger stabbed toward Tang Zhi!

Tang Zhi gave a startled cry, wanting to dodge, but it was already too late. Just as the blade seemed about to reach her, her body twisted with uncanny suddenness and pitched toward Huang Mao, and the dagger buried itself in Huang Mao's bent hand.

Huang Mao had already fainted from the pain, but at this stab from his own underling he came awake with a howl of "Awo!" Seeing his trusted right hand stabbing him with a dagger, Huang Mao was instantly beside himself with fury — his own man had turned on him: "What the f*** are you trying to do?"

Huang Mao did not know where he found the resolve and courage, but he yanked the dagger — along with his newly wounded hand — free with his left hand and leveled it at his trusted underling: "You stab me in the back?"

"Boss... you've got it all wrong, it wasn't me... I was trying to stab that little bastard and that woman, but for some reason, when I got close, the kid gave my leg a light kick with his foot, and it felt like my whole leg went numb, and then I fell to the ground." The trusted underling waved his hands frantically in explanation: "I don't know how it happened either, but the blade ended up in you, boss..."