Huang He gave a glance. “I don’t take such stuff…”

“You don’t?” Brother Steel was as though heard something unbelievable. “You’re in this business and you’ve never tried it before? Are you kidding me? How are you going to know the quality if you don’t try it yourself?”

In their line of business, one might not touch it at first.

But over time, who could resist the temptation?

Huang He took a look at Brother Steel. He did not explain nor touch those stuff, either.

There was a packet of cigarettes as well on the coffee table. Brother Steel had no choice so he just drew a cigarette from the packet and gave it to Huang He.

“Come. Have a smoke!”

Huang He frowned but did not accept the cigarette. Instead, he took one out of his pocket and lit it.

“I’m used to smoking my own cigarette!”

It was an obvious act of distrust.

From the looks of it, Brother Steel was somewhat annoyed. But when his eyes met with Huang He’s, he smiled again and gave a thumbs up at Huang He.

“You’re cautious indeed! No, no, no, you’re cultured! Cultured people are indeed different!”

“Hur.” Huang He smiled. “Please pardon me for being honest with you. Those people who ended up as drug addicts are fools. They should just enjoy their lives with the money they earned. It’s so pathetic that a lot of them ended up dying in their own hands instead of the police. I don’t understand why they have to do that?”

“Hah!” Brother Steel showed a thumbs up again. “You sure are wise.”

Huang He snorted and let out a chuckle. “I don’t believe that your boss takes them as well!”

Uh! Brother Steel was stumped and he scratched his head. “I’ve never seen that!”

As he said that, he paused for a while and gave a smirk. “Well, I’ve never met him in person before!”

Huang He only gave him a look and smoked quietly.

…

Knock! Knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

“Brother Steel, bad news!”

It was the earlier guy whom he sent out to scout.

Brother Steel was holding the smoking pipe in his hand. “What’s all this shouting for? Just talk!”

That guy was breaking out in cold sweat. “They’re here. Bai Muchuan and his men… they’re nearing this place!”

Brother Steel immediately jumped up from the sofa. “What did you just say?”

“Bai Muchuan is heading toward our base!”

“D*mn!” Brother Steel cussed. “How much longer before they reach here…”

“Soon, very soon!”

They had as though suddenly knew the way here. So they were moving at a very fast speed.

“D*mmit!” Brother Steel had drunk some liquor and was enraged by the news. Without another word, he kicked that guy. “What did I bleeping telling you earlier? The moment you know about the situation, you have to come back immediately! It’s immediately! Is this considered immediately?”

That guy held his stomach and wore a mournful expression. “I did exactly as told! I rushed back immediately, as fast as I could…”

Brother Steel gritted his teeth. “Scram!”

After having suffered that kick, that guy did not dare to actually leave the living room. Instead, he stood at the side of the door meekly.

After hearing such news, Brother Steel had no more mood to drink nor eat anymore.

He started to pace back and forth around the room. “Looks like they didn’t find the correct direction by chance…”

Hearing Brother Steel mumbling to himself, the subordinate guy who got kicked earlier suggested: “Brother Steel… they have quite a lot of people with them… do you think we should… run away and go into hiding for the time being?”

Run!? This sounds like a good plan.

Brother Steel couldn’t help but feel goosebumps just at the thought of Bai Muchuan’s eyes.

He had always been a merciless and ruthless person who seldom frowned.

But fear was also a word that existed in the dictionary of a cruel person.

After fighting the guerilla warfare with Bai Muchuan for a day and a night, he was afraid of Bai Muchuan. He feared the guy who had finished off Zhou Dequan and exposed all his evil deeds to the world.

“No, we can’t run away like this!” Brother Steel was so anxious that he felt his hair might stand on ends and he couldn’t stop scratching them. “If I abandon the base… then all these goods will end up in the hands of the police! Now that the base got exposed… Boss will definitely have me slaughtered…”

“But with Bai Muchuan hot on our tails… I don’t think you can keep the base anymore.”

Brother Steel and his men had previously fought against Bai Muchuan so they were fearful of him.

When Brother Steel heard that, he started to flare up. “D*rn, how the hell did they manage to find this place?”

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t accept the fact. Subconsciously, he thought of Tu Liang.

“It has to be that detective. He must have left some clues on the way here… Otherwise, there’s no way Bai Muchuan can find this place!”

“That might not be the case!” Huang He looked at the raging Brother Steel. “Bai Muchuan was able to find the exit at the lake, it’s no surprise if he managed to find his way here… I’ve already told you earlier, don’t look down on the police.”

Brother Steel paused for a while. “This place is tougher to find than the exit at the lake…”

“Hur!” Huang He sneered. “Old brother, I feel that you’re currently confused…”

“In what way am I confused?”

“Is this the time for you to wonder about how they find their way here? Shouldn’t you be thinking about what you should do next and what is best for you?”

“What can I do? What else can I do?”

He was being forced from his villa all the way to the base.

Did he have to be on the run again? Besides, if he wanted to run away, he had nowhere to run to!

“I have a solution.” Huang He looked at him.

“What solution? Tell me!”

A drowning man will clutch at a straw. At this point, Huang He was similar to an advisor to Brother Steel.

Huang He motioned for him to sit down first.

Brother Steel was already in hot soup, how could he able to calm down?

Huang He took a quick glance at Brother Steel as he took in a puff of smoke. “Currently, there are three paths that you can take. The first one is to fight it out with Bai Muchuan. If you’re lucky, you might be able to get out of here alive. If you’re unlucky… you will lose your life.

“The second choice is to surrender. Hand over the goods, your men, sell out your boss, and use them as chips for a chance to earn credit—see if you can keep your life!”

Is this even a path?

Brother Steel gave a snort, his face full of disdain.

“Just based on the crimes that you’ve committed,” laughed Huang He, “even if you hand over the goods and your men, I’m afraid it’s still a death sentence for you.”

Brother Steel asked with a disgruntled groan, “What about the third path?”

Huang He laughed but did not answer right away.

The sudden silence made Brother Steel a little uncomfortable.

He gave a frown. “Just tell me!”

Huang He asked in a low tone. “Do you trust me?”

Trust?

Brother Steel had to trust him but did not really dare to trust him completely.

“Yes!” That was Brother Steel’s reply.

Huang He nodded his head, slowly snuffed out the cigarette butt on the table which left a mark. Then he swept a glance at the two thugs in the living room.

Brother Steel got the hint.

Then he waved to dismiss them.

“Now you can tell me, Brother Crown Prince.”

“The third path is to find someone to take the rap. Then, we shall get out of here… find your boss and buy goods.”

“What!” Brother Steel was as though he had just heard the most ridiculous joke. “Are you dreaming?”

“The Dark Clan are the most particular with rules, right?” Huang He snorted, “You’ve received my money, how can you not handover the goods? Don’t worry, your boss will definitely receive me. And then—” Huang He looked at Brother Steel from the corner of his eyes.

“Then what?” Brother Steel asked.

“I have a way to convince him to let you off this once.”

“…” Brother Steel’s mouth pursed tightly at his words. Apparently, he did not buy it.

“That’s not all, I also have ways to make him hold you in higher regard! That he will definitely bring you along in major business dealings!”

“That’s impossible!” Brother Steel threw out Huang He’s suggestion. “Brother Crown Prince, it’s not that I don’t trust you. The problem is, you don’t understand my boss… this matter… Aye!”

He seemed to have some hesitation. After some time, he spoke in a soft tone. “I have a feeling that I’ve been made use of. Only by safeguarding this base will I have a better chance of living.”

“Made used of?” Huang He raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

“Yes! D*rn.” Brother Steel was seething in anger. “Originally, we’re not in any way related to the 121 case in Xi City. Why did the police suddenly turn their attention on us? I’ve been pondering over it but I couldn’t understand. Just now, it suddenly occurred to me…”

“Mm? Tell me about it.” Huang He got closer to him.

“This… is a long story!” Brother Steel had a frustrated look on his face. “Liang ran into trouble when he was in Xi City. Someone told him that Bai Muchuan was there to take out Dark Clan, so I told Liang to follow them. In the end, Liang got caught by Bai Muchuan. This was the starting point—”

“What happened later on?” Huang He asked.

“Then Liang and Shanzi got sent and locked up at the police station!” Brother Steel used the smoking pipe to knock against the table as he recounted the incident. “At that time, I was worried that the police will track me down, but who would expect that Liang and Shanzi got released just after a day.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Huang He asked.

“No, there is,” said Brother Steel, “Liang came back and told me that it was that informant who had some connections and got him out of the police station…”

“That’s a good person!” Huang He sneered.

“That is not all! That informant knew that I loved beautiful women so he sent that young beautiful actress to me. You should have seen her… the one who was rescued by Bai Muchuan, that Lima, she’s beautiful, right? I’ve never met such a beautiful girl in Nanmu…”

Huang He squinted his eyes. “That guy surely want something in return, right?”

“You’re right!” Brother Steel was as if he finally found someone who understood him. He almost teared up as he spoke, “When Lima was brought to me, I couldn’t control myself… Cough! After that, I thought since that guy was so sincere, I did exactly as what he wanted…”

“What did he want from you?” Huang He showed interest.

“What else could it be? He wanted me to show a binding technique before Bai Muchuan!” Brother Steel was as though about to cry from regret. “It was only later that I got to know from Liang that the binding technique was exactly the same as 121 case…”

“Why didn’t Liang… tell you earlier?”

“How the hell would I know! That b*stard said he was scared!” Brother Steel had a disheartened look on his face. “As I was thinking about this whole thing earlier, it just occurred to me that something is not right! D*mmit, I feel like I’ve walked right into a conspiracy!?”