Chapter 73: The Woman Who Struck Up a Conversation

“Why is this happening? Why is this happening…” The Big-mouthed Owl stared at his left hand, which had regained sensation and could move freely. His face was ashen, even worse than death itself.

In truth, Lu Feng had only used a single needle to seal the Pericardium meridian of his hand, specifically the point above the heart known as Heavenly Pool. The Pericardium meridian is one of the twelve main channels; once the Heavenly Pool is sealed, the entire meridian becomes blocked.

The other two needles were actually a temporary release of the Pericardium meridian. Once the first two needles were pulled out, the Pericardium meridian would be truly sealed, rendering the entire right side of the Big-mouthed Owl's body numb and unresponsive.

If he had the courage to pull out the third needle, then all danger would be resolved. However, the result of pulling the first two needles matched perfectly with what Lu Feng had described. If the third needle was indeed as Lu Feng warned—pulling it out would stop his heart—then it would mean certain death.

With the confirmation provided by the first two needles, the Big-mouthed Owl could only believe that removing the third would cost him his life. Even if he had the slightest doubt, it would be drowned out by the terror of death.

His original plan had been to turn himself in for a few cases, receive a sentence of three to five years, and then find a way to get his sentence reduced. After getting out, he still hoped to make a comeback. But once he was in police custody and fell into the hands of the anti-gang squad, things were no longer under his control.

What’s more, the truth behind the third needle was even more brutal than turning himself in.

Staring at his freely moving left hand, the Big-mouthed Owl slowly began to laugh—“Ha... haha... hahaha…”—his expression somewhat deranged.

...

Across from the Gilded Nightclub, the street was lined with food stalls where many people were eating marinated dishes, drinking beer, and playing drinking games.

“Here we go again, four and four… five! You lose again, drink up, drink up!”

The drinking game was essentially finger-guessing, and those already tipsy would shout loudly as they played, so the entire street was lively and noisy.

Lu Feng lounged in a plastic recliner at one of the stalls, eating some marinated duck intestines.

The vendor’s duck intestines were quite decent, not bad at all, though the duck feet were a bit tough and not as good.

Lu Feng occupied a table by himself, dressed fairly well—at least compared to the usual crowd at these street stalls, he looked above average.

Two women, dressed skimpily, sidled up to Lu Feng, their voices coquettish, “Handsome, isn’t it boring eating duck intestines alone? Buy us a drink.”

His old man had always said, be polite to people, and even more so to women. Lu Feng had always been courteous; since the ladies asked, he couldn’t appear stingy. He waved to the vendor, “Boss, two bottles of beer.”

At these street stalls, beer was about all that was served; hard liquor was rare.

“Chilled or not?” the vendor asked while snipping duck intestines for another customer.

“Of course chilled,” one of the women replied immediately.

“Coming right up!” The vendor finished cutting the duck intestines, then brought two bottles of cold beer to Lu Feng’s table.

“Handsome, why only two bottles? There are three of us, that’s not enough to go around,” one woman pouted.

“You two drink, I don’t.” Lu Feng waved them off. Cold beer could harm the spleen and stomach; a little was fine, but having studied Chinese medicine since childhood, Lu Feng was a stickler for health.

The two women were straightforward. They clinked their opened beers together, then tilted back the bottles and drank deeply.

The way they wrapped their lips around the bottles was a bit suggestive, and in one go, they downed the entire beer.

After finishing, the women said, “Handsome, want to go somewhere else to have some fun?”

“I’m waiting for someone. You two go have fun.” Lu Feng waved his hand dismissively.

At that, the more hot-tempered of the two slammed her bottle on the table and complained, “Don’t want to play but you got us to drink? Are you messing with us?”

Lu Feng was a bit stunned. He hadn’t done anything wrong, had he? They’d asked him to buy drinks—he did. Now they wanted him to go somewhere else, but he had things to do, so he declined. What was the problem?

To be honest, this was Lu Feng’s first time encountering such a misunderstanding.

Anyone familiar with the nightlife at street food stalls knew these two women were soliciting clients. Their approach was simply business with Lu Feng.

If a man bought them drinks, it meant he was interested. If the drinks arrived and he didn’t drink himself, it meant he wanted to get the working girls drunk—a game favored by many wealthy patrons. Whether the women actually got drunk didn’t matter; what mattered was the thrill of making them drink.

The women quickly downed both beers, then suggested moving elsewhere—meaning they were ready to go to a hotel. Lu Feng simply hadn’t grasped the code, leading to the misunderstanding.

For these women, drinking on the job was never enjoyable, especially chugging a whole bottle at once. But if the client asked, they had to do it. So, when Lu Feng backed out after they drank, their anger was understandable.

Lu Feng felt quite innocent. He’d been eating duck intestines quietly when two women appeared, demanded he buy them drinks, then got angry after he obliged. It was bewildering.

“Did I do something wrong?” Lu Feng asked in confusion.

“You get us drunk, then say you’re not interested? Think it’s fun to mess with us?” the taller woman snapped.

Lu Feng rolled his eyes—it was their idea to drink, and now it was his fault…

At that moment, several shirtless men from the next table, who’d been playing drinking games, surrounded him and demanded, “What’s the problem? Causing trouble on my turf—think you’ve got a long life?”

“Leopard, this pretty boy got my sister drunk and now acts like he’s done nothing,” the tall woman said with a flirtatious smile.

The man called Leopard, with a horse-like face, shoved Lu Feng and barked, “What, you think you can have fun with women and not pay? Is that how things work on my turf?”

Now Lu Feng understood what was going on and what the two provocatively dressed women were up to. Generous, he took out his wallet, pulled out a small stack of hundred-yuan bills, placed them on the table, and asked, “Is this enough?”

That small stack was at least a dozen bills—over a thousand yuan, which was about what these street-working girls might earn in a night.

“It’s enough, it’s enough…” The two women instantly smiled, pocketed the money, and handed half to Leopard.

Leopard stuffed the cash into his pocket, reached out to pat Lu Feng’s shoulder, and said, “Money talks, my friend. If you want company in the future, just mention my name—anyone on this street will set you up.”

Lu Feng dodged Leopard’s hand. Leopard, still polite to customers, said nothing more, but signaled the two women to seek business elsewhere.

After this minor misunderstanding, Lu Feng’s mood improved. He continued sitting quietly, enjoying his marinated food.