Chapter Ninety: The Dream Spirit

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"Where is your kept woman?" Long Fei was taken aback.

"She'll be here any moment," Yang Ba Tian said with a laugh.

The madam exchanged a few pleasantries, then led the rest of the girls out. But scarcely had the door shut when it was knocked open again, and a waiter entered with a girl in tow. The moment she saw Yang Ba Tian, the girl called out, "Brother Tian." Everyone understood at once why Yang Ba Tian had not asked for any hostesses after all—he had already arranged one in advance.

He beckoned her over, and the girl sat down beside Yang Ba Tian with visible excitement, leaning close to him with a shy, birdlike eagerness.

Long Fei noticed that the girl in the white suit was actually quite innocent-looking, and unquestionably beautiful. No wonder Yang Ba Tian had taken a fancy to her.

Several bottles of Remy Martin, each worth five figures, were brought in, but Yang Ba Tian waved them away. "Not that stuff tonight. I want Maotai!"

Chen Xin hurriedly sent Ding Li Feng to fetch it. Before long, Ding Li Feng came back with several cases of the finest Maotai, each crate marked with the words reserved supply. After that, the group began drinking. Seeing those men who usually looked so righteous and proper now starting to grope and paw about, Long Fei only then remembered that there was still a beauty seated beside him.

Turning his head, he saw that the girl beside him was still trembling. Long Fei found this odd. Since she had chosen this line of work, why was she afraid? Had she not prepared herself? Or was she simply too damn excited?

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Long Fei used his hand to lift the girl's lowered face. Damn it, surely not—why did she look as if she might burst into tears?

"Nothing!" The girl pressed her lips together and forced back her tears, trying hard to smile.

She did smile, but to Long Fei it looked unsettling. He wasn't about to force her, so why did she look like that?

Seeing the faint sorrow in her eyes, and then seeing her close her eyes as if resigned to her fate and lean toward his chest, trembling all the while, Long Fei suddenly felt a little desolate. He straightened her up and said lightly, "Come, drink with me."

He poured her half a glass of red wine. Long Fei raised his cup; they clinked glasses. He drained his in one gulp, while the girl merely sipped a little, her brows knit.

After that drink, Long Fei did not feel any better. He had come here to have fun, yet now he only felt irritable. Ignoring the others, who were each amusing themselves in their own way, he lit a cigarette, took a drag, and asked, "Were you brought here for that?"

The girl jumped in fright. Seeing Long Fei's somewhat gloomy expression, she seemed to realize that she may have offended this young man of no small background. She hurriedly apologized again and again.

Long Fei said indifferently, "What's your name?"

"Meng Ling," the girl said after a hesitation, finally giving her real name.

"Beautiful name," Long Fei nodded.

There was a lull between them. Chen Xin over there had not actually been overly affectionate with the girl beside him either. After downing two cups with Yang Ba Tian, he took the initiative to come over to Long Fei's side and laughed, "Long Fei, in a place like this you don't need to pretend to be some upright gentleman. Men are men—everyone has times when they want to play, right?"

"I'm hardly any gentleman," Long Fei said with self-mockery as he clinked his cup against Chen Xin's.

Meng Ling looked at Chen Xin somewhat nervously.

"So she doesn't know how to take care of you?" Chen Xin frowned.

"I—I—" Meng Ling grew anxious, yet did not know how to answer.

"Forget it. It's fine. Just drinking with me is pretty good already," Long Fei said, showing her some consideration and hastening to smooth things over with a smile.

"How can that do? Brother Tian told us to take good care of you." Turning around, Chen Xin said to Ding Li Feng, "Old Ding, come here a moment!"

"Forget it." Long Fei frowned. Seeing the girl's tears beginning to well in her eyes, he softened a little.

Ding Li Feng came over running. Everyone naturally shifted their attention this way. Yang Ba Tian was taken aback. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. This girl doesn't understand the rules. Old Ding, how do you do things? Hm?" Chen Xin was nowhere near as polite to Ding Li Feng as he was to Yang Ba Tian; his tone was stern.

Ding Li Feng was also quite annoyed. He raised his hand and was about to slap Meng Ling across the face, when Long Fei blocked him midway, flinging Ding Li Feng's hand aside. Frowning, Long Fei said, "Didn't you hear me say forget it?"

Only then did Long Fei really take notice of Ding Li Feng. The man had considerable strength and was likely a trained fighter. His hair was slicked straight back, giving him the air of a boss; especially in that formal suit, he even had something of the style of the legendary Ding Li from the old days in Sea Harbor.

"Brother Xin, what should we do?" Ding Li Feng turned to Chen Xin for instructions.

Chen Xin then turned to Yang Ba Tian, which infuriated Long Fei even more. Damn it all, he had already said to forget it, and these bastards were still refusing to let it go, terrifying the little girl beside him into tears. Truly detestable.

"What do you mean by this? Wasn't this girl called over by me? Are my words worth nothing?" Long Fei gave a cold laugh.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault!" Meng Ling finally broke into tears. The girls nearby looked at her with some sympathy.

Chen Xin saw the scene and inwardly hated Meng Ling to the bone. They had all come out to enjoy themselves, and now the atmosphere had become so awkward. But however much he hated it, he could not show it. So he only forced a smile toward Long Fei and said, "Of course not, that's not what we mean at all!"

"Hurry up and get out of here!" Ding Li Feng did something only a fool would do—he actually still told the girl to leave at a time like this. In truth, he meant well. If Meng Ling did not leave now, the atmosphere would never recover.

Yang Ba Tian's face had long since gone stern, and he had never had much liking for the underworld anyway. He was already dissatisfied with Ding Li Feng. Whatever the case, the people of the Blue River Society had indeed overstepped themselves today—that was a fact, and it could not simply be let pass. With such a perfect chance for revenge before him, how could he possibly miss it?

Rising straight to his feet, he suddenly lashed out with a kick that sent Ding Li Feng flying backward. With a crash, Ding Li Feng slammed into the wall and rebounded. Like a gale, Yang Ba Tian rushed forward, drove him back with a shoulder strike, and sent him flying once more. Then Ding Li Feng spewed blood from his mouth and passed out cold, not even having time to cry out.

The change happened too fast. The other two friends Chen Xin had brought were also famous young libertines in Sea Harbor, and they had been busy with the girls in their arms in some unspeakable vulgarity. Yang Ba Tian's thunderous attack threw them into confusion. They hurriedly pushed the girls away and stood behind Chen Xin, forming a standoff with Yang Ba Tian.

The girl in Luo Hong Li's arms, like the others, covered her mouth in shock. But Luo Hong Li only chuckled and said, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Big brother will protect you!" While the girl was not paying attention, he had already slipped his hand onto her thigh, then slowly worked it upward. Her face immediately flushed scarlet. She pressed down on his lewd hand, but the moment she saw Luo Hong Li frown, she quickly withdrew her own hand and gave him a timid, almost ingratiating smile.

Seeing those two pampered heirs standing behind Chen Xin, Long Fei nearly laughed out loud. Wasn't that just making trouble for Chen Xin?

Sure enough, Chen Xin's expression turned especially ugly, but before he could speak, Yang Ba Tian on the other side was already laughing coldly. "What now? Chen Xin, you really think you're some crown prince? Looks like the rumor about a crown prince in the capital and another in Sea Harbor does make a bit of sense. But in the capital, if anyone pisses me off, I always beat the hell out of him first, no matter who it is—including any crown prince. Do you understand that?"

The two men behind Chen Xin both felt embarrassed. They had heard of the capital's crown prince, but knew very little about Yang Ba Tian. Besides, when Chen Xin had tried to introduce them earlier, Yang Ba Tian had interrupted him. Put plainly, Yang Ba Tian had never taken the two of them seriously and had no interest in befriending them. So they had no idea that this rough, domineering man before them was actually the young master of the Yang family from the capital, one of the famed "South Tiger, North Sheep" pair. Had they known, they likely would not have so rashly stood behind Chen Xin.

After several changes of expression, Chen Xin finally laughed. "Brother Tian, you really are overthinking it. How would I dare call myself any crown prince? You know I have always followed Brother Tian's lead." Then he turned his head, frowned, and shot looks at his two companions while angrily shouting, "Have you two lost your minds? Damn it, get back over there and keep playing with your women! If you anger Brother Tian, I'll be the first to wipe you out!"

His two companions had rarely seen Chen Xin so fierce. In ordinary times he was always a gentleman with fine manners and cultivation—what had gotten into him today? Still, they did not dare say anything. They obediently sat back down, though their interest had completely vanished, leaving them sitting there in awkward silence.

Yang Ba Tian sat back down and suddenly gave a meaningful smile. "Chen Xin, actually your loyalty to the crown prince is plain for all to see. It's only that the crown prince hasn't heard from you in quite a while, so he asked me to come by and take a look at you as well."

Feeling as if sweat might break out on him, Chen Xin thought of the man in the capital. Though about the same age as himself, he was stronger than Chen Xin in every respect. Then Chen Xin felt a heaviness in his chest. In the eyes of others, Chen Xin was indeed the real crown prince of Sea Harbor; with a father likely to enter the Central Politburo backing him, there was nowhere in this country he could not go. Yet how many people knew that, in the minds of the great men at the top in the capital, he Chen Xin was nothing more than the crown prince's dog?

Chen Xin knew this was not the time to let himself go. So he could only endure it, forcing down the fury burning in his heart. Smiling ingratiatingly, he said, "Brother Tian is teasing me. I've simply been rather busy lately, so I haven't been in contact with the crown prince. I hope Brother Tian will put in a good word for me before him! Tell him that I, Chen Xin, am willing to serve the crown prince forever and will never entertain any disloyal thoughts!"

"Come, Chen Xin, let's have a drink." Yang Ba Tian poured himself a glass of wine and raised it first, leaving Chen Xin rather flattered and somewhat overwhelmed. He had never once seen Yang Ba Tian offer anyone a toast. So what was this tonight? What did this glass of wine mean?