Chapter 2314 — Exposed?

Wei Zhao's brow furrowed slightly, then he said, "All right. Big Feng, is it? I'll remember that."

Hammer smiled faintly and knocked on the door. From within came Big Feng's steady, resonant voice almost at once: "Come in!"

Hammer pushed the door open and gestured for Wei Zhao to go first, then followed behind him into Big Feng's office.

But the moment they stepped through the door, Hammer nearly jumped out of his skin.

A pistol was pressed square against Wei Zhao's forehead! And the man holding it was one of Big Feng's bodyguards, a fellow called Two-Deaf.

"Big Feng, Brother Deaf, what's the meaning of this..." Hammer gazed at Big Feng, who sat behind the desk, and asked in a trembling voice, hesitant.

Wei Zhao, meanwhile, wore a look of utter shock, as though he had no idea what to do. In his heart, however, he was quietly turning things over: what exactly did this Big Feng mean by this? Was he testing him? Or had he given himself away in some matter, prompting the man before him to act as he did?

Before they had entered Big Feng's office, when Hammer knocked on the door, Wei Zhao's jade pendant had begun to emit a warning signal—and that was the reason for his earlier frown!

The warning signal was not strong, but it indicated danger within. In truth, evading Two-Deaf's gun and then turning to finish him off would have been child's play for Wei Zhao. But he did not do so, because he still could not be sure whether Big Feng was testing him or suspecting him.

"Boss Feng, you... this hardly seems like the way to receive a guest, does it?" Wei Zhao seemed to have just recovered from his shock; his expression was one of alarm and anger, though his tone remained somewhat uncertain. "Hammer, what on earth is going on here? Your bar isn't thinking of turning on its own, is it? But I don't mind telling you—this is all the money I've brought, and in my gang I'm nothing but an errand boy. If you mean to shake me down, you've picked the wrong mark!"

"Brother Pao, don't get excited—let me ask first." Hammer hurried to placate Wei Zhao, then turned a pained face to Big Feng. "Big Feng, what is this...? Brother Pao is from an overseas gang, in charge of purchasing white powder. He's a big client!"

"A big client?" A trace of amusement flickered at the corner of Big Feng's mouth. He narrowed his eyes at Wei Zhao and asked, his tone neither warm nor cold, "Go on. Who exactly are you, and what have you come here to do?"

"What do you mean, who exactly am I? Doesn't Hammer know my identity?" Wei Zhao frowned and said angrily. "And it wasn't I who came here to do anything—it was Hammer who brought me. Do you think I'd be here if he hadn't brought me...?"

"Don't play games with me. My patience is limited." Big Feng gave a cold snort, cutting him off, and said blandly, "Don't take everyone for a fool. You're a member of an overseas gang? You've come here to buy drugs? What a coincidence. You think your luck is that good?"

"Big Feng, plain men don't speak in riddles. Forgive me for being blunt—I don't know what you mean. If you don't want to do business, I won't force it; business may fail but goodwill remains. But these muddled words of yours—what exactly do you mean by them?" Wei Zhao said with some displeasure. "I came here for a bit of diversion. Hammer said there was a cheap source of goods here, so I came along to have a look. But the moment I walk in, you point a gun at me. If I'm not welcome, you could simply have kept me out!"

"Silver-tongued sophistry. But do you think I'll believe it?" Big Feng regarded Wei Zhao with mockery and shook his head. "Enough. Since you won't talk, Two-Deaf, see him on his way! Once you're here, you don't leave."

"Click..."

Wei Zhao heard the sound of a round being chambered and knew that Big Feng was not trying to frighten him—he truly meant to kill him! Though Wei Zhao did not know where he had slipped up, he could not sit and wait for death.

His right hand shot out swift as lightning and snatched the pistol from Two-Deaf's grip; then, with a "bang," he drove the butt of the gun into Two-Deaf's forehead. Two-Deaf let out a scream and crumpled to the ground.

"This..." Hammer stared at the sudden turn of events, dazed and at a loss.

"So you're eager to make your move?" The corner of Big Feng's mouth lifted slightly as he spoke with sarcasm.

"Do you expect me to sit and wait for death while your man tries to kill me?" Wei Zhao said, clinging to one last hope. "I don't know how I've offended you, but since you don't want to do business, I've nothing more to say. The broad road lies open—each of us walks his own half. I'll trouble Big Feng to see me out."

"Heh heh..." Big Feng laughed at his words, as though watching a clown perform, and asked with keen interest, "Are you finished?"

"What exactly do you mean?" Wei Zhao frowned. This Big Feng seemed utterly certain that he was not a member of an overseas gang come here for a source of goods.

"Are you wondering just where it was you gave yourself away?" Big Feng said calmly. "Actually, from first to last, you did well—not a single flaw to speak of. Our security men here even watched the footage of you snorting white powder; your performance was watertight, you might say. But your flaw wasn't there. It was in what you said!"

"What I said?" Wei Zhao asked in return.

"What, you admit it?" Big Feng sneered.

"So what if I admit it? Don't imagine that a handful of gun-toting thugs can frighten me." Wei Zhao casually kneaded the pistol in his hand into a ball of iron and tossed it to the ground with a "bang."

"Heh heh..." Big Feng laughed again and circulated his inner arts; in an instant, the peak late-stage strength of the Mystic Rank was on full display!

"You're a cultivator?" Wei Zhao was slightly startled. He had not previously examined Big Feng's strength, for in his view, the head of a bar was unlikely to be any great hand—just as that so-called second-in-command at the Red Conch had been no great hand either!

Nor had Bald Wolf, the man who dealt the drugs, been any great hand. Thus Wei Zhao had subconsciously assumed that the Red Conch had few real fighters. What he had not expected was that a mere bar owner here should be a master of peak late-stage Mystic Rank!

"If I weren't a cultivator, could I hold this place down?" Big Feng laughed. "I don't mind telling you—my men are only for dealing with ordinary folk. Anyone with real skill, I handle myself! Young man, your strength looks decent, but it should only be Yellow Rank at best, so I advise you not to throw your life away."