Downstairs at the hotel.
Twenty-five minutes after the agreed-upon time, I finally called Han Jinlun.
"Hello, what's your situation?"
Hearing my voice, Han Jinlun immediately replied, "Brother, don't rush! You have to wait for me!"
"Damn it! My phone suddenly crashed, and it took me a while to fix it."
"I'm rushing over to your place now, and if nothing unexpected happens, I'll be there in ten minutes."
After hearing Han Jinlun's words, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Honestly, before I could contact Han Jinlun, I felt a little uneasy recalling what Su Liuli had said.
My original plan was that if I couldn't reach him within five minutes, I would take Cheng Minglang and slip away.
It wasn't for any other reason; friendship is friendship, but... if you don't look out for yourself, heaven and earth will destroy you!
In a place like Longxi, where I was a stranger, if I really ran into trouble, the most I could do was to ensure my own safety.
As for others, I'm afraid I couldn't help!
Now that Han Jinlun was fine, I said, half-jokingly and half-urging, "Hurry up! Get here as fast as you can!"
"If you don't show up within ten minutes, we'll leave first."
"And then, we'll help you book a date with a dark-skinned girl from Africa!"
Hearing me say that, Han Jinlun on the other end of the line immediately exclaimed, "No, no, no!"
"Brother Xiang, I promise! I guarantee I'll be there within ten minutes!"
"Tonight... let's have a blast!!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Jinlun hung up.
I smiled and didn't think much of it.
However, twenty minutes later...
Cheng Minglang and I, who had been standing downstairs at the hotel for a full hour, still hadn't seen Han Jinlun.
During this time, I had called him several more times intermittently.
Just like before, he didn't answer.
Since Han Jinlun had given me incorrect information earlier, I instinctively thought that maybe his phone had crashed again.
Just as I was hesitating whether to call Han Jinlun again, an unknown number... called my phone first.
I originally thought that this unknown number was likely related to An Hai, or perhaps the Queen Bee Yu Shuang's group.
Because, calculating the time, Wang Yangming's birthday banquet was actually today.
After all, it took An Hai a day to travel by train.
And tonight was the sixth day since arriving in Longxi, exactly one week, which was Wang Yangming's birthday.
So, without thinking, I pressed the answer button.
Just as my mood became a little tense and uneasy due to this call, which I suspected was from An Hai...
The voice that came from the other end of the phone instantly made my heart clench.
After the call was connected, there was about three to four seconds of silence, and then a deep, hoarse, and sinister voice reached my ears.
"Kid, do you remember me!?"
In an instant, my whole body trembled and shivered!
Without exaggeration, that sinister and deep voice, even if it turned to ashes, I could recognize it!
As I mentioned before, in certain specific environments, my hearing could be described as incredibly precise.
Things like distinguishing location by sound, recognizing people by sound, etc., were almost effortless.
So, I immediately recognized that the person on the other end of the phone... was Zhang Zifeng!
Because this person was the only gambler I had a direct feud with since I embarked on the path of the Thousand Doors.
Besides that, if I remembered correctly, Zhang Zifeng used to call his team the "Longxi Gambling Troupe."
Could it be that my whereabouts had been leaked? And Zhang Zifeng had discovered them!?
Or was it that he had been watching me at Su Liuli's establishment these past few days?
Thinking of this, goosebumps instantly erupted all over me.
Hearing my silence, Zhang Zifeng on the other end of the phone chuckled.
"Jie jie jie..."
This extremely sinister, even perverted, laughter made my scalp tingle.
"Kid, don't think you're fine just because you're not talking! Where are you? I want to see you now!!!"
"Remember! Absolutely, absolutely don't think about making excuses! Because... you can't refuse and you can't escape!"
As he spoke, Zhang Zifeng's tone was as cold and sinister as ever.
What's more, the unquestionable tone in his words made me feel that the situation was not quite right.
Intuition, like inspiration, if you grasp it, you can achieve clarity.
But if you can't grasp it, it's like being lost in a fog, unclear.
To figure it out, I could only ask Zhang Zifeng.
But I didn't want to be led by the nose, so I could only remain silent.
Not only that, but I also gave Cheng Minglang a look, signaling him to go to the roadside and hail a taxi, to be ready to slip away at any moment.
As if indifferent to my silence, Zhang Zifeng on the phone suddenly said with a cold laugh, "Heh, I never expected it!"
"You refuse the path to heaven and choose the gate to hell!"
"In Anhai, with the protection of the second daughter of the Yu family from Fengbei, I couldn't touch you. But in Longxi..."
"Kid, you're dead!!!"
Hearing this, I immediately realized that I had most likely been targeted by Zhang Zifeng.
I glanced up slightly, saw that Cheng Minglang had successfully hailed a taxi, and instantly strode towards the road, preparing to slip away.
"Not making a sound? Trying to run?" Zhang Zifeng questioned with a cold laugh. "In Longxi, even if you had wings on your back, you... wouldn't escape my grasp!"
"Let's not beat around the bush, hurry up and take a taxi to Fengyang Street. Your new friend is waiting for you!"
At this, I was instantly stunned. My right hand, which had been extended to open the car door, froze in mid-air.
New friend!?
In Longxi, besides Han Jinlun, I had no other friends.
Without a doubt, the new friend Zhang Zifeng was referring to was the missing Han Jinlun.
Thinking of this, I broke my silence and asked, "What exactly do you want!?"
"Oh? It's not easy! You're finally willing to speak?"
After a cold laugh, Zhang Zifeng said lightly, "Within half an hour, I want to see you appear on Fengyang Street."
"If you don't come, then your new friend... might have to suffer in your place."
"Remember, kid! You only have half an hour!"
"No extensions."