Chapter 13: Leaving Evidence

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Upon hearing the voice, Zhong Da turned his head to look at Old Pu. His expressionless face stared at him for a moment before suddenly breaking into a faint smile. “How could that be? You and Brother Wei, the two of you, are unforgettable to me for life!”

It was unclear whether Old Pu understood Zhong Da’s sarcasm or if it was because Zhong Da mentioned Tan Wei, but his face suddenly darkened. He fixed his gaze on Zhong Da and demanded, “Where is Brother Wei? What did you do to him?”

Zhong Da smiled and said, “Guess!”

Old Pu’s face turned black with anger. He snorted, “Zhong Da, you better tell me honestly where Brother Wei is right now. Maybe I’ll have the mercy to let you go. But if you don’t, neither you, your brother, nor your two little brothers will ever leave Lanta Island.”

“Old Pu, you sure have a big mouth!” Zhong Da mocked.

Old Pu scoffed, “If you don’t believe me, then try it. I want to see if anyone at the dock has the guts to send you across the sea!”

Zhong Da raised his eyebrows, about to retort, but Zhong Yuan suddenly turned his head and called out to him, “Da Zi, stop talking! Xiao Hua is still outside!”

Upon hearing this, Zhong Da immediately shut his mouth.

At that moment, Zhong Yuan suddenly moved.

The two young men holding butterfly knives didn’t even see how Zhong Yuan made his move. By the time they reacted, the knives were already in Zhong Yuan’s hands.

One held his aching wrist, looking bewildered. The other reacted faster and swung a punch.

But Zhong Yuan sidestepped and suddenly delivered a fierce kick straight to his knee.

“Ah—”

The sudden scream startled everyone.

The man’s leg bent backward at the knee at an impossible angle. In agony, he lost his footing and collapsed to the ground, clutching his knee, wailing and writhing in pain.

Zhong Yuan’s face remained calm as he turned to look at the other man, his gaze tinged with annoyance.

The other man felt a chill in his heart. For some reason, his two healthy legs suddenly started to ache as well, and he instinctively took a step back.

Then another step.

Seeing this, Zhong Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to Old Pu. “Old Pu, is it?”

Old Pu’s face was sullen. His eyes showed a flicker of anxious suspicion.

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He didn’t respond.

Zhong Yuan wasn’t bothered and continued, “This is the lobby of someone’s hotel. No matter what you want with us, this isn’t the place to cause trouble and disrupt their business. How about we find an empty spot outside and talk calmly?”

Zhong Yuan’s two moves just now had already proven his strength.

Old Pu felt wary and naturally did not refuse the proposal.

After a brief silence, he nodded in agreement. “Fine. But you two better be sensible and not think about running away. Lanta Island isn’t big. No matter where you escape to, I can find you! So you’d better not waste your effort!”

“Of course. We’ve heard of the Buddha’s Hand Gang’s notorious reputation. Besides, we have no reason to run. As they say, a clear conscience fears no ghost knocking at the door. Isn’t that right, Old Pu?” Zhong Yuan said with a smile.

Old Pu’s lips curled into a grimace. He couldn’t match Zhong Yuan’s verbal skill, especially since Zhong Yuan spoke in Chinese.

Old Pu kept a dark expression and said nothing.

Zhong Yuan fell silent as well, withdrawing his gaze and stepping outside.

After Old Pu gestured, everyone except the one with the broken leg closely followed Zhong Yuan and Zhong Da, with Old Pu walking last.

Outside the door stood two men.

Together with those chasing Xiao Hua, Old Pu had brought at least a dozen or thirteen men this time.

Lanta Island was small, a two or three-hour drive around the island.

For such a tiny place, Tan Wei surprisingly had so many men.

After walking a few steps outside, Zhong Yuan stopped and turned to Zhong Da, ordering, “Call Xiao Hua and have him come meet us.”

Zhong Da responded with a grunt and immediately took out his phone to dial Xiao Hua.

Before the call connected, Old Pu approached, scrutinizing Zhong Yuan from head to toe. He then asked, “Who exactly are you two brothers?”

Zhong Yuan looked down, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and said calmly, “That’s none of your business, and it has nothing to do with our conflict. I’m not one for long-winded talk. Just say what you want. What’s with all this fuss?” As he spoke, he pulled out his phone, turned on the camera, and aimed it at Old Pu.

Old Pu immediately turned his head and raised a hand to cover his face.

“What do you think you’re doing!” Old Pu yelled.

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Zhong Yuan sneered, “Nothing much, just keeping evidence.”

Old Pu frowned. “Put that phone away!”

Zhong Yuan ignored him and asked, “Are you going to talk or not? If not, we won’t entertain this any longer!”

He was composed, yet Old Pu’s face flushed with a mix of anger and shame.

Because he knew well that if Zhong Yuan really decided to leave, with only this handful of men Old Pu had brought, there was no guarantee they could detain him.

Old Pu pursed his lips and stared at Zhong Yuan for a moment before reluctantly conceding. He put on a pair of sunglasses.

“Zhong Yuan, here’s the deal. I won’t make things hard for you if Zhong Da tells me where Brother Wei is. Then I’ll let you go. Of course, Brother Wei has to be safe!” Old Pu glanced at Zhong Da. Although he doubted these two brothers had the guts to kill Brother Wei, Zhong Yuan’s demonstrated skills made him uneasy.

Originally, both he and Tan Wei assumed these two were merely simple tourists, perhaps with minor trouble back in China and just hiding out.

But seeing Zhong Yuan’s martial ability and the fact that Zhong Da had been captured but still managed to escape unharmed with Xiao Hua, it was clear their identities were far from ordinary.

So before identifying who these two really were, Old Pu could only take a step back.

Zhong Yuan turned to Zhong Da and asked, “Did you hear what Old Pu asked? Do you know where Tan Wei is?”

Zhong Da shook his head. “How would I know? I haven’t seen him since the night before last after I left the bar!”

Hearing this, Old Pu pointed at Zhong Da and shouted, “Zhong Da, you—”

“What about me?” Zhong Da interrupted. “Weren’t you there that night, Old Pu? When we were almost done drinking, my brother called me saying he needed me. So I took Xiao Hua and left. Brother Wei said someone would send me off, but I refused, and Xiao Hua and I left on our own. There weren’t many people at the bar entrance. Everyone should have seen! If you don’t believe me, you can ask around!”

Old Pu was about to argue but then realized Zhong Yuan was filming.

In other words, if he tried to prove Zhong Da had seen Tan Wei afterward, he’d have to admit that Tan Wei had arranged to kidnap Zhong Da and Xiao Hua.

That would be handing evidence to these two men.

Although the Southern Thai police were no threat to them, these two were Chinese. If it involved the police, it could escalate into a diplomatic and political incident.

In that case, Southern Thailand, to appease China and protect its tourism economy, might crack down hard on them.

Old Pu, perhaps not clever enough to foresee all this, still instinctively knew he couldn’t speak plainly—at least not on camera.