Chapter 75: Refusing to Be Friends

The days of being Wukong’s junior disciple—without barriers or walls—The internet is an extraordinarily powerful thing, and its strength does not merely lie in providing humanity with greater convenience. More remarkable still, it can transform a gentle, cultured, and courteous professor into a foul-mouthed, shameless beast. Of course, it can also turn timid and humble souls who dare not speak up in real life into heroes who defy everything, even to the point of challenging Liu Yunfei himself.

Liu Yunfei had long since lost faith in online chat, so he spent the entire night playing games. Perhaps it was because he had been away too long, or maybe because, for modern people, staying offline for less than a month already feels like an eternity. Naturally, being away so long meant he was kicked out of his guild, and most of his friends had deleted him. Isn’t it often the case that gaining new friends comes at the cost of losing old ones?

Probably because the internet connection was terrible abroad, Liu Yunfei had to find a secluded corner, hacking down one hideous monster after another, completely alone. Perhaps he might even have a romantic encounter—just hours ago he had lost all faith in women, but now his heart was once again a little restless.

Naturally, there was no romantic encounter. Instead, there were plenty of brats. In games where player-killing is allowed, it’s often best to steer clear of someone higher level than you. But these two brats belonged to the bold and skilled type. Seeing Liu Yunfei lagging and alone, yet decked in decent gear, they schemed to have the mouse fight the elephant, or the ant devour the caterpillar. After a brief consultation, they suddenly lunged at Liu Yunfei. He tangled with them for a while, but with the lag so severe, he had no choice but to flee. The brats pursued relentlessly, shouting behind him, “Trash, come on!”

“Damn it! Who are you calling trash? If you’ve got guts, let’s settle it in real life!” Liu Yunfei was exasperated.

Frustrated, Liu Yunfei shut down his computer. Dawn had already broken outside. In Florence, morning always comes early. Sunlight stretched the shadow of the knight’s castle long across the ground, and from afar came the sounds of birds and dogs. Today, he thought, perhaps I’ll head out for a run—I’ve never exercised in the morning before. Not because he was lazy; in his mind, once you reach a certain level, you don’t need to run every morning. Who knows, maybe he’d even bump into an Italian beauty while jogging? Entertaining this thought, he changed into his sportswear and prepared to head out. Just then, his phone rang. Who could be calling at this hour? He glanced at the screen—an anonymous text message.

“Liu Yunfei? Please log in to the following website. You’ll see something you’ll like.” The message read.

A deep and ominous feeling instantly crept into Liu Yunfei’s heart, as though an invisible hand had tightened the tendons in his back. His hand shook involuntarily. Who was this? Who knew his real name? This phone was used solely for contacts abroad; even his parents and Park Minji didn’t know the number. Neither the old prince nor the king would play such a joke.

He rushed to his computer, booted it up, and as the operating system loaded, he prayed a thousand times to God to protect his dearest one. Once on the desktop, he immediately entered the website from the message. The page loaded swiftly—there was only a single, bare video player. As soon as it buffered, Liu Yunfei saw the sight he dreaded most. It appeared to be a live feed from a surveillance camera, focused on a small, dark room. Park Minji was bound to a table, her wrists and ankles tied tightly to its four legs, mouth sealed with thick tape. She struggled desperately.

Just then his phone rang again. Without looking at the number, Liu Yunfei answered, “Who are you? What do you want? If you so much as harm a hair on her head, I’ll make you all pay with your lives!” His fury erupted, and he slammed a fist onto the desk.

But the voice on the other end was undisturbed. It was Hadina’s mocking, effeminate tone. “Hello, Prince Awahid—or perhaps it’s more fitting to call you Mr. Liu Yunfei. Ha ha ha!” Seeing Liu Yunfei so agitated, Hadina felt a perverse satisfaction. “Aren’t you supposed to be unbeatable? So powerful? And yet, you can’t even protect your own woman. Ha ha ha!”

“You despicable, shameless scum! If you have the guts, come after me!” Liu Yunfei composed himself and continued, “Enough—what are your terms?”

“Ah, as expected of a worthy opponent, you calm down quickly. Let’s not beat around the bush. It’s simple: we want to be friends with you.” Though Hadina claimed to be direct, his vagueness only heightened Liu Yunfei’s unease.

“Fine. I’ll stay out of Saudi affairs if you let her go. I’ll leave with her immediately. If it’s money you want, I can pay.” Liu Yunfei was willing to give up everything for Park Minji. He knew what Hadina wanted—his withdrawal. The world would keep turning, whether good or evil triumphed; it was fate. But in his own world, he couldn’t live without Park Minji. If she were to come to harm because of him, how could he go on?

But Hadina’s ambitions were greater. He coveted Liu Yunfei’s extraordinary abilities. If he could bring Liu Yunfei under his control, nothing would be beyond his reach—even conquering the world seemed possible. If he couldn’t, then Liu Yunfei had to be destroyed. Even if he agreed to step aside this once, the seed of enmity had been planted. Liu Yunfei could not be allowed to live.

“No, no, no. That’s not what we want, my friend—if I may call you that. We have no terms. As I said, we only wish to be friends. As for money, let’s not discuss it between friends. Of course, if you’re short on cash, ten or eight million dollars is easily arranged.”

“Make yourself clear—what do you want from me?” Liu Yunfei realized things were getting complicated. The offer of money meant a difficult choice was coming.

“A friend is someone who lends a helping hand when needed. Just as you need my help now, I would help you unconditionally, even at great cost. If you become my friend, you should be willing to help me unconditionally too, as I am helping you now.” Hadina spoke with grandiose pretense, as if he were truly Liu Yunfei’s benefactor.

“In other words, you want me to be your enforcer, your lapdog? Aren’t you afraid I’ll betray you?” Liu Yunfei would willingly trade his life for Park Minji, but he could not surrender his freedom and integrity. What if Hadina asked him to betray his homeland or kill innocent people?

“No, no, no—if you agree, we have our means.” Their plan was simple: keep Park Minji under long-term control to coerce Liu Yunfei into endless service.

“I could walk away from this, but let the girl go. I won’t interfere with your affairs anymore—whether you go after Awari or anyone else, I don’t care. That’s my bottom line.” Liu Yunfei felt negotiations were going nowhere. The other party was insincere, their demands unreasonable—he would never accept them.

“No, no, no. For now, we won’t let the girl go. Until you have given your heart fully to our cause, she will remain with us. Rest assured, we will treat her well, and you can monitor her every move through this website. As for your first task—deliver Awari to me. How about it, Brother Yunfei?”

“Release her, or I’ll kill every last one of you! I can walk away, but I will not hand Awari over to you. You monsters will never understand honor or trust.” Liu Yunfei could leave, but he could never bring himself to betray Awari. He had promised the old king to protect Awari—Chinese people value loyalty and commitment above all.

“Then it seems we have nothing more to discuss. Keep watching the computer—goodbye, my friend.” Knowing Liu Yunfei was not so easily broken, Hadina decided to move to the second phase of his plan.

“Hello? Hello?” Clutching the phone like a lifeline, Liu Yunfei suddenly saw a white man appear on the video feed, shouting, “Your girl is quite something. I just injected her with five doses of a powerful aphrodisiac. For an ordinary person, even one dose would be overwhelming. If she doesn’t have sex with a man within an hour, she’ll die from the agony. Ha ha! But don’t worry—I won’t let that happen. My brothers and I will take turns giving her pleasure. But once the fun is over, I’m afraid she still has to die, because, unfortunately, she’s your girlfriend. Enjoy the show, my friend.”

The man laughed lecherously, untying Park Minji and ripping the tape from her mouth. Park Minji screamed at the top of her lungs, “Help me! Help me!”