Chapter 31: Just a Bit Faster Than You
Chapter 31: Just a Bit Faster Than You
Lan Mu immediately recognized the man behind them; it was Public Security Bureau Chief Ye Jinghong.
He had arrived at the scene the last time a body was discovered. Such a recent event, so Lan Mu had no reason to forget him.
The man moved with a powerful, stride, his walk revealing a military bearing.
Yet now, he was walking behind Fang Moqi. When Fang Moqi stopped, he actually stopped too!
“What’s going on?” Lan Mu observed more carefully. He saw that Ye Jinghong’s face was gloomy, and he was staring coldly at Fang Moqi’s back, but he didn’t say a word. It was like an open, blatant tailing.
Seeing Lan Mu staring intently behind him, Fang Moqi immediately laughed and said, “Don’t mind that cop, pretty lady. He’s been following me for no reason. I caught him, and now he’s just being blatantly obvious about it. Tsk, tsk, let him follow.”
Lan Mu gritted his teeth, but before he could speak, Fang Moqi suddenly had a realization.
“Ah!” Fang Moqi pointed at Lan Mu and exclaimed, paused for two beats, then let out another “Ah!”
“You’re a man?” Clearly, Fang Moqi had noticed Lan Mu’s Adam’s apple.
“Heh…” All the words Lan Mu had wanted to say ended up as just that one sound.
Plus, with Ye Jinghong watching from behind, he couldn’t blow up. He even felt a bit guilty.
Right then, Du Yu came forward and said, “Brother Fang, you finally made it! The whole club’s been waiting for you! Oh, right, you promised to coach my archery last time. Gonna keep your word this time?”
Fang Moqi instantly put on a dead-fish-eye look, let out an “ah-ha,” pretended not to hear, and turned to speak to Lan Mu.
“This young man… it’s so hot out, do you really need to cover up so much?”
“I feel like it.” Lan Mu pursed his lips.
Fang Moqi was speechless. Seeing them start talking, Du Yu seized the chance and said, “Brother Fang! Let me introduce you!”
“This is Lan Mu. He’s the strongest archer I’ve ever seen!”
“Oh…”
“Huh?” Fang Moqi suddenly paused, his dead fish eyes turning to Du Yu as he said, “Is he a swordsman?”
“No! He’s an archer! He’s already surpassed you!” Du Yu stated firmly.
Hearing this, Fang Moqi didn’t laugh it off. Instead, he very seriously looked Lan Mu over. Even though Lan Mu’s head and face were covered, he could still observe his hands and the stance of his legs.
After a few glances, Fang Moqi chuckled and said, “Is that so… Little Yu…”
Fang Moqi couldn’t help but shake his head and, teasingly ruffled Du Yu’s hairstyle saying, “In that case, you can learn from him from now on! Great, I won’t be pestered by you anymore.”
Du Yu could tell Fang Moqi didn’t believe him and suddenly revealed a sly smile. “Brother Fang!”
“Do you dare compete in a shoot-off with my Brother Mu?”
“If you lose, you have to agree to three of my requests!”
Fang Moqi looked at Du Yu with dead fish eyes and said, “I never gamble.”
Du Yu said in surprise, “That can’t be! My sister said you’re a huge gambler!”
Fang Moqi’s mouth twitched. After thinking, he said helplessly, “What your sister meant… is that I’m someone who loves to gamble with my life.”
Confident in Lan Mu’s skill, Du Yu wasn’t willing to let Fang Moqi off the hook. He hurriedly shouted, “Brother Fang, don’t you want to know what the wager is if I lose?”
Fang Moqi showed no interest and was about to head into the club’s main entertainment area.
“That dagger!” Du Yu suddenly yelled loudly.
“If Brother Mu loses, even if I have to steal it, I’ll steal my family’s heirloom dagger for you!”
Fang Moqi’s footsteps suddenly froze. His dead-fish eyes instantly sharpened, his gaze turning deep.
“Brother Fang, haven’t you always wanted that dagger? I’ll bet it against you!” Du Yu looked like he was staking everything.
Fang Moqi looked at Du Yu in surprise. The Du Family’s heirloom ancient sword, he definitely wanted it. However, he remained calm and didn’t hastily agree.
“Little Yu, are you really that confident?”
“You know, if you dare steal that sword, your grandfather will definitely kill you!”
When he said the word “kill,” Fang Moqi’s aura shifted. Du Yu felt as if he was truly facing death, like prey being watched by a predator. He shrank back in fear and couldn’t help but take a step backward.
Lan Mu sharply looked at Fang Moqi. He was familiar with this feeling. It could be called killing intent, or the killing intent of a predator.
When he transformed into the White-maned Lion, he could easily exude this aura. However, after transforming into an Elf and a human, he had lost this ability.
He never thought he’d sense the power of a powerful predator on a human.
“He actually has killing intent. This feeling is like he’s hunted countless creatures, maybe even… killed people.” Lan Mu had killed people too, and quite a few. He immediately understood this killing intent.
Thinking of this, Lan Mu suddenly realized why Ye Jinghong was tailing Fang Moqi. Recalling the club members’ introduction of Fang Moqi, this man’s archery was surely extraordinary. And when Lan Mu killed Yu Hetu, he had also used a bow. So, with no other leads, Ye Jinghong naturally prioritized investigating the Metropolis’s top archers and thus suspected Fang Moqi.
This guy, when serious, was full of murderous aura. His skills were definitely not ordinary. Honestly, for any major violent crime, suspecting him wouldn’t be wrong…
“This guy, is he taking the heat for me from the police? That’s… great!”
Having figured this out, Lan Mu couldn’t help but laugh.
Du Yu, who had just been frightened, saw Lan Mu’s smile and suddenly felt emboldened. He stepped forward, pointed at Fang Moqi and said.
“Brother Fang! I’m betting with you! If I lose, even if my grandfather beats me to death, I’ll honor the bet!”
Fang Moqi stared intently at Du Yu, unsure where his confidence came from.
Could the Lan Mu he was relying on really be that strong? Impossible. His hands were smooth and soft, his skin was very well maintained. There were no signs of long-term bow practice.
Even he, Fang Moqi, after over a decade of relentless daily practice, hundreds of real-life encounters with wild beasts, and constant honing, had only reached his current top-tier archery skill!
“Forget it. I do want your family’s Fish Intestine, but it’s ultimately just an external object. What if you lose? Even if your grandfather doesn’t kill you, he’ll cripple you. Then wouldn’t your sister become my mortal enemy? So even if I win, I won’t take it. This bet still holds no meaning for me.”
Fang Moqi had indeed wanted the Du Family’s heirloom Fish Intestine Sword back in the day, but it was just something he really liked and desired. These past few years, he had stopped pursuing such ancient artifacts.
Du Yu was unwilling. Three favors from Fang Moqi! He really wanted them. As for losing? Although Fang Moqi was strong, his archery was definitely not stronger than Lan Mu’s.
Fang Moqi smiled, seeing Du Yu’s discontented look. “Sigh, alright then. I’ll agree. But if you lose, you just have to stop pestering me in the future. If you want to learn archery, practice on your own… How about it?”
“Deal!”
Du Yu agreed happily and then looked expectantly at Lan Mu.
Lan Mu was still secretly laughing at Fang Moqi when he suddenly noticed both of them staring at him.
Recalling their conversation, he immediately said helplessly, “Little Yu, don’t you need my permission before making a bet?”
“I don’t know archery. You compete yourself!”
He was kidding. Ye Jinghong was staring right at them from not far away. How could he possibly display his archery skills?
“Don’t! Brother Mu, how about I give you two of the favors?”
Seeing Lan Mu remain unmoved, Du Yu, knowing he needed money, directly shouted: “A million! Please! Your skills will definitely wrap this up in minutes.”
“Hahaha, I don’t know archery! Alright, alright, Fang Moqi just got back. He hasn’t greeted everyone yet, right? Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Lan Mu saw Ye Jinghong was already looking at him. He could have smacked Du Yu for this. This whole thing had made Ye Jinghong notice him.
Seeing Lan Mu giving him a meaningful look, Du Yu thought the price wasn’t high enough and actually shouted again: “Two million! No! Four million! I’ll sell my car, okay? Fang Moqi’s favors are really important to me, please! You’re so amazing…”
Seeing Du Yu was about to keep talking, Lan Mu grabbed Du Yu and dragged him towards the building. As he walked, he said, “Didn’t you want me to go to Malaysia with you guys? I’ll film the live-action for you, okay? We can talk about the competition later!”
True enough, this distraction worked. Du Yu was stunned and said, “Brother Mu, you agree to join the activity? That’s great! With Brother Fang’s influence, we can even leave earlier. Visas and stuff, I’ll have my brother take care of it.”
Lan Mu pulled Du Yu into the building. Fang Moqi reverted to his dead-fish-eye look. Lan Mu being so reasonable meant he was happy to avoid the competition.
The three of them walked to the previous lounge, immediately attracting everyone’s attention.
“Fang Moqi! My god!”
“Is he really leading this time? Should we forget Malay and go to Argentina instead?”
As soon as Fang Moqi walked in, a large crowd surrounded him. Zheng Hui watched from outside the crowd, pursing his lips. He knew that wherever Fang Moqi was, he was just like any ordinary person.
“Oh, by the way, could someone please ask this officer to leave? Our club needs to have an internal meeting.”
Seeing Ye Jinghong follow them in, Fang Moqi smiled slightly. Using his immense popularity, with the crowd joining in, even Public Security Bureau Chief Ye Jinghong was helpless. He was awkwardly barred right outside the main entrance.
Without any outsiders, those present were all the club’s combat-focused archers, about eight people.
Plus, if you included Manager Wang, Du Yu, and Lan Mu, that made eleven.
Fang Moqi clapped his hands and said, “Old rules. For visas and going abroad, find Wang Ling. Technical questions, come to me.”
Everyone immediately began asking questions excitedly. Zheng Hui watched, feeling sour. Before Fang Moqi came in, he had been smug about getting rid of an outsider. Who knew another powerful figure would show up.
Originally, he had been here discussing technical problems with everyone. Now, watching Fang Moqi take charge, he wanted to trip him up but then recalled the fear of being utterly crushed by Fang Moqi before and immediately lost his courage.
Thinking of that outsider, Zheng Hui noticed Lan Mu was also there and frowned.
At that moment, Lan Mu was listening attentively as Fang Moqi explained some wilderness survival techniques. He had never learned these things. Since he planned to go with the team this time, he couldn’t rely solely on his Elf body. After all, his transformations only gave him instincts. It was better to learn some common-sense knowledge.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Hui suddenly spoke up: “Brother Fang, it’s not really appropriate to have an outsider present for our internal meeting, is it?”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone stopped and quieted down.
Fang Moqi smiled. “Who is the outsider?”
Zheng Hui pointed at Lan Mu and said, “Isn’t this an outside hire? Now that Brother Fang is here, naturally we don’t need any outsiders.”
Du Yu scoffed. “Brother Mu has already joined the club. He’s one of us. What? Do you own the club?”
Zheng Hui froze. Of course he knew Du Yu’s cousin owned the club. But seeing everyone looking at him, he could only stubbornly say, “Little Yu, this is a large overseas activity. Everyone participating is a club elite. Having an amateur isn’t good, right? Someone who knows nothing should first join some smaller activities. That’s the proper procedure, no?”
After he said this, several members remembered Lan Mu.
One of them even mimicked a machine gun firing and then laughed, “Isn’t this the ‘rat-a-tat-tat’ guy?”
“You!” Du Yu was furious and loudly exclaimed, “Brother Mu is no amateur! His archery is godly!”
“Even Brother Fang agreed to an archery competition with him! Yu Xiao, do you dare compete with Brother Fang?”
Yu Xiao, who had mimicked the machine gun, was taken aback and hurriedly said, “How would I dare compete with Brother Fang!”
The others were shocked by Du Yu’s words and all looked at Fang Moqi.
“Really? Brother Fang is going to compete with this reporter in archery?”
“That’s nonsense, right?”
Everyone looked at Fang Moqi. Fang Moqi found it both funny and annoying. He knew Du Yu was twisting the meaning, but he didn’t expose it. However, he wouldn’t just let Little Yu use him so easily. After thinking, he instead looked at Lan Mu and said, “Little Yu is so eager for me to lose. Aren’t you going to help him?”
Fang Moqi was doing this on purpose. He intended to defeat Lan Mu so Du Yu would lose his reliance completely. That way, bound by the bet, he wouldn’t pester him anymore.
It wasn’t Fang Moqi’s fault. Over the years, Du Yu had truly annoyed him.
Fang Moqi’s words instantly ignited the group. Even Wang Ling looked at Lan Mu in disbelief. He never imagined Fang Moqi would challenge an amateur.
Lan Mu saw everyone looking at him and immediately felt exasperated.
He glanced at the entrance. Ye Jinghong was locked outside, but with so many people here, if he displayed superb archery skills, Ye Jinghong would definitely find out.
But he was already put on the spot and had no choice but to fight.
He glared fiercely at Du Yu, but his sunglasses hid it. Du Yu just gave a smiling face in return.
“Fine! How do you want to compete?”
Fang Moqi smiled. “What are you good at?”
“Fast shots!”
“Oh? How fast?” Fang Moqi asked curiously.
Lan Mu sighed. Seeing Du Yu looking at him with admiration, a surge of pride suddenly welled up in him.
He said directly, “Just a bit faster than you, that’s all.”