Chapter 152: Crying “Daddy” Won’t Help
Chapter 152: Crying “Daddy” Won’t Help
Pan Renlong woke up.
Zhenqi wasn’t an antidote, but it worked even better than one.
It was a truly mysterious ability. Li Zian himself didn’t fully understand it; he’d just borrowed the name “Zhenqi” from martial arts novels.
Pan Renlong was awake, but his condition was still poor. His eyes were half-open and unfocused, filled with confusion.
Li Zian spoke: “Mr. Pan, how are you feeling? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
His voice was packed with concern and sincerity, sounding incredibly caring.
Pan Renlong’s eyes slowly turned towards Li Zian. He waited a full two seconds before speaking. “Uh… Daddy…”
Li Zian froze.
He’d braced himself for insults. Given what he’d done, Pan Renlong cursing him out would have been expected. He hadn’t foreseen the man opening with “Daddy.”
That “Daddy” caught him completely off guard, scrambling his thoughts and making him forget what he was going to say next.
Pan Renlong’s voice was slurred: “Change… this one’s chest is too small…”
Li Zian: “…”
Ah, so this idiot thought he was at a KTV?
But it finally clicked. The Movement-Halting Ointment didn’t just cause numbness; it also induced hallucinations.
This was the first human trial of the Movement-Halting Ointment. Based on Pan Renlong’s reaction, the effect was excellent. If Li Zian hadn’t used Zhenqi to wake him, Pan Renlong might have stayed unconscious for another hour or two. Plus, the hallucinogenic properties were clearly potent.
Li Zian had a sudden thought. He said, “Pan Renlong, I’m Huang Bo. I told you to bring the person here. Where did you take him?”
Pan Renlong shook his head vigorously. He seemed to be trying to clear his mind, but his pupils remained dilated, unfocused, and devoid of spark.
Li Zan pressed on: “Don’t you recognize me? I’m Huang Bo.”
“Professor Huang…” Pan Renlong’s voice remained thick and indistinct.
Professor Huang?
Li Zian felt a flicker of confusion. As far as he knew, Huang Bo had only been the head of an archaeological team. Neither Ma Fuquan nor Kang Haichuan, who knew him, had ever mentioned him being a professor. Why would Pan Renlong call him that?
This title also revealed key information: Pan Renlong truly knew Huang Bo. They were working together.
Had Huang Bo stolen that skeleton years ago, then defected to America, becoming a spy? This simple term of address raised a whole string of questions.
“What are we supposed to get from Li Zian?” Li Zian ventured cautiously.
Pan Renlong shook his head again violently. “I… water…”
Li Zian felt a strong urge to unzip again and offer him another serving of his special, seafood-scented “hot tea.” Then he remembered he’d already poured some on the man’s face.
“Tell me, what are we supposed to get from Li Zian?”
“Symbols… Celestial Diagrams…”
Li Zian’s heart lurched.
Symbols? Wasn’t that referring to the mysterious markings on the Great Sluggish Cauldron?
Ma Fuquan had died because of those symbols.
Chasing the one I shouldn’t chase? He had chased Gushi Dayueer instead and found Huang Bo. While he’d located Ma Fuquan’s true killer, Huang Bo had found a new target: himself.
Celestial Diagrams? Wasn’t that just the term for the strange, mysterious patterns etched onto the body of the Great Sluggish Cauldron? The cauldron seemed to operate precisely because of these symbols and patterns. That meant the patterns were also crucial. These symbols and patterns must hold an astounding, hidden secret!
“Why are we after those symbols and Celestial Diagrams?”
“I don’t know…”
Li Zian persisted, unwilling to give up. “Once we have the symbols and the Celestial Diagrams, who do we give them to?”
“Change… this one’s legs are too short…”
Li Zian was speechless.
Damn it, you ugly bastard, yet you’re this picky?
“Why do you want those symbols and Celestial Diagrams?”
“Time… cannot bury our footsteps… the lost… shall find the way home… Green Mist Envelops, the Return Journey is Long.” Pan Renlong stumbled through the phrase haltingly.
The words felt familiar and eerily strange.
It suddenly clicked for Li Zian. The mystery call Kang Xin had translated, the one in the Kharosthi language, had ended with those exact words.
“What does that mean?”
“This waist is too thick… change again…”
Li Zian couldn’t help it anymore. He swung his hand and slapped Pan Renlong hard across the face.
Damn it! Are you mocking me for being an innocent, inexperienced man who’s never set foot in a KTV?
Whack!
Pan Renlong’s head snapped to the side violently. Half his cheek instantly swelled up.
Li Zian’s palm was wet – remnants of the hot tea he’d poured on Pan Renlong’s face. He impatiently wiped his hand clean on Pan Renlong’s clothes.
He’d acted impulsively, forgetting how drenched the man’s face was.
The slap seemed to jolt Pan Renlong a little more awake. He shook his head. His pupils contracted slightly, taking on a faint glimmer of awareness.
Li Zian stated, flatly: “Mr. Pan. You’re awake. Now, we need to have a serious chat.”
Pan Renlong finally focused on the figure squatting beside him. Recognition dawned instantly. He lunged, hands shooting out to choke Li Zian. Only then did he realize his hands were tightly bound behind his back with a belt – completely immobilized. He tried to knee Li Zian in the side, only to discover his own legs were similarly lashed together.
Li Zian barked, “You better behave! I will kill you if I have to!”
It was pure bluff, of course. He now had millions in private savings he hadn’t even started spending! How could he risk getting executed? But uttered in the pitch-black woods, heard by a man trussed up hand and foot, the words carried a terrifying weight.
Pan Renlong took a deep, ragged breath. “Master, what’s the meaning of this? You wanted your divination fee? I paid you a six million advance! Is this how you repay me?!”
Li Zian smiled grimly. “That was the divination fee. You paid me six million to read your fortune. I did. I warned you: you’d face a blood calamity tonight.”
Even Pan Renlong’s notorious patience snapped at the mocking tone. He struggled violently again, causing some looseness in the ropes binding his legs.
Thud!
Li Zian drove a fist deep into Pan Renlong’s stomach.
Oof!
Pan Renlong instantly doubled over, curling into a human prawn.
Li Zian leaned close, his voice low and deadly serious. “Answer my questions truthfully, and I might let you live. Lie to me, or refuse to cooperate… I will make you regret ever being born.”
Pan Renlong gritted his teeth, a sneer twisting his swollen face. “I am the Military Attaché at the American Consulate! You dare kidnap me? Are you blind to the international crisis you’ve provoked? The Consulate applies pressure, and a ten-year sentence becomes twenty! Those surveillance cameras on Weihai Road? They easily captured us all getting into my car together! Kill me? Even if you try to hide the body, the Consulate goes looking for their missing agent? They find me missing? They find you! You’re finished!”
Li Zian’s smile widened subtly. “So, it’s fine for you to frame me… but I’m not allowed to push back?”
Pan Renlong snorted dismissively. “Thought about the consequences? Hmm? Before laying hands on me? I have Diplomatic Immunity! America is behind me!”
Li Zian’s patience vanished. His hand flew again.
Whack!
Pan Renlong’s head snapped violently to the other side. His other cheek ballooned, matching the first. The force sent tiny droplets of residual tea flying.
Even though his palm barely touched the wetness this time, Li Zian still wiped it with evident disgust on Pan Renlong’s jacket. Should’ve just poured it down his throat. Would’ve been less messy now. But hitting him… that felt necessary.
This was Huaguo! The man’s audacity stung, especially wrapped in yellow skin with a white heart. A true banana man. Hearing him shout “America is behind me!” ignited a primal urge to send him back to the womb for a reboot.
Pan Renlong gritted through the pain, gasping air back into his lungs. “Trained… to withstand this. Use all… your tricks. I… say nothing. But remember… you’re finished. You… lack the guts to kill me? I won’t hesitate… to finish you.”
Li Zian calmly pointed towards the mangled Cadillac visible through the trees. “See that car?”
Pan Renlong’s eyes shifted. He saw the Cadillac crumpled against the tree trunk. Confusion flickered in his gaze. He didn’t grasp Li Zian’s point.
Li Zian continued, his voice chillingly matter-of-fact. “The restaurant has surveillance cameras. Easy to check. They’ll see you and your father desperately begging me – the Master – to help your friend Dawson. They’ll see… plenty of cameras down that street? They’ll record me getting into your car. Following you willingly? Here’s how this ends.” He leaned closer, enunciating each word.
“You were drunk. You drove. You flipped the car. Your neck snapped instantly. Dead. Your father, Xu Cheng? Also dead.”
“Me? Badly injured, but alive. I’ll crawl out… dial emergency services… call the traffic police too… so they can come scrape you off the pavement.”
“How’s that script? Flawless?”
Pan Renlong’s smug defiance evaporated. He stared blankly. A flicker of raw fear flashed deep in his eyes.
It was flawless.
If the police reviewed the footage, they’d reconstruct the scene at the restaurant: the Pan father and son groveling, enlisting the Master for a favor. They’d see Li Zian getting into the car calmly, of his own accord. The critical flaw? He’d been drinking.
You drive drunk. You crash. You kill yourself. Who else can you blame?
Insurance wouldn’t touch it.
Li Zian chuckled softly, mirthlessly. “You keep barking about being the Consulate’s Military Attaché. America, your daddy, behind you. So powerful? Let me tell you… one thing.” His voice dropped to an icy whisper.
“That SA-01 virus? The one you used to try to kill me last time? That qualifies as… a biological weapon. I kept a sample.”
“Oh, and the recording? I made one of our conversation.”
“Imagine… that hitting the international news? Do you honestly think your American daddy would risk protecting you?”
Beads of cold sweat instantly broke out on Pan Renlong’s forehead.
He knew the procedure all too well. If this leaked? America wouldn’t protect him. They’d disavow him instantly. And probably dispatch a Secret Agent to give him a permanent… solution.
He had no idea, of course. Li Zian had no virus sample. No recording whatsoever. How would one record a conversation overheard with superhuman hearing? But Li Zian named the virus precisely – SA-01. He named Xu Cheng. From Pan Renlong’s perspective? Proof. Tangible, undeniable proof.
Li Zian gave a short, sharp bark of laughter. “Think your daddy’s legs are thick, hairy enough to scare me? Your life? Held right… here.” He slowly raised his fist, clenching it tightly before Pan Renlong’s face.
“Squeeze just a little tighter? You’re done.”
“I heal lives? I also end them.”
“And I end them so… creatively. Would you like a demonstration?”
Pan Renlong stared fixedly at Li Zian beneath the bruised, swollen cheeks. Stared at that famously handsome, infuriating face. Suddenly, beneath it, he wasn’t seeing a renowned Master. He was seeing a demon.