At this very moment, as Zhang Zifeng’s hands stopped moving, the expressions on everyone present changed involuntarily.
Just then, I saw Leng Meng beside me… move suddenly.
Leng Meng gently raised and flipped her hand, and an incredibly sharp blade instantly appeared at her fingertips, as tender and green as scallions.
Without any extra movements or words, at the very instant Zhang Zifeng was about to withdraw his hand, Leng Meng struck.
*Snap!*
As the crisp sound fell, in the next second, the previously quiet and silent hall erupted as if it were a pot of boiling water!
“Ah!!!”
A piercing scream of agony roared from Zhang Zifeng’s mouth.
Then, I saw Zhang Zifeng desperately clutching his right hand, retreating rapidly backward.
During his retreat, except for his thumb and pinky finger, the middle three fingers of Zhang Zifeng’s right hand were severed from the root.
Crimson blood splattered out, flowing onto the ground through the gaps of the tightly held wound.
Looking up at Leng Meng, Zhang Zifeng’s eyes were filled with terror and shock.
Zhang Zifeng never expected that Leng Meng, the young girl he had cheated out of two hundred thousand yuan with his gambling tricks, would be such a ruthless person!
She would turn hostile and strike without hesitation!
And not a moment’s pause!
While Qian Xin stood stunned on the spot, the gambler who was called Fifth Brother by Xiao Shan had already rushed towards Qian Xin.
To avoid further accidents, Fifth Brother firmly shielded Qian Xin behind him, escorting him back to the position of the gambling team.
Apart from Fifth Brother, the other three members of the gambling team were now huddled tightly together.
After glancing back at Zhang Zifeng’s hand, Fifth Brother turned his gaze back to Leng Meng and me, asking in his rough and deep voice, “Who did this?”
Before I could speak, Leng Meng flicked a strand of hair from her face and looked coldly at Fifth Brother, saying with utter composure, “Your grandma did it! What about it?!”
“If you make a mistake, admit it; if you get hit, stand straight!”
“If you can’t grasp such simple logic, how can you be a gambler and live in society?”
“If you don’t teach you a lesson, you truly won’t remember! You’ve been acting shamelessly time and again! And you still have the nerve to openly spout nonsense?”
“I said it just now, three fingers and fifty thousand yuan, neither can be less!”
“Please, now, immediately, get to it… and take out fifty thousand yuan!”
Upon hearing Leng Meng’s words, Fifth Brother suddenly gave a slight cold laugh. “Heh heh.”
“Want money? Fine! But isn’t fifty thousand a bit too little? How about this…”
“Five hundred thousand, you give to us!!!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Fifth Brother grabbed the dagger on the table and waved it in front of Leng Meng.
“You!”
Pointing at Leng Meng, Fifth Brother then shifted his gaze to me, saying coldly, “And you!”
“You two siblings, each pay us five hundred thousand!”
“Pay the money, and the matter is settled.”
“If you don’t pay… you can call 120 now.”
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but frown.
Arrogant! Extremely arrogant!
Ordinary thugs would absolutely not speak on their own initiative before the boss gave the word.
It was clear that within the gambling team led by Zhang Zifeng, Fifth Brother’s identity was that of a Fire General.
The Eight Generals of the Gambling Sect each had their own responsibilities and were in an absolutely equal relationship.
No wonder Zhang Zifeng had been acting shamelessly in disguise; his confidence all stemmed from this Fifth Brother.
One must know that a Fire General is not like a mere thug.
Those who can be Fire Generals most likely possess exceptional skills!
Judging by the situation, since Fifth Brother had made his intentions clear, after the events of tonight had reached this point, there were only two choices left for Leng Meng and me.
First, pay to resolve the crisis.
A sum of one million yuan to buy peace for tonight’s events. And it had to be without a single cent less!
This choice, neither Leng Meng nor I would agree to!
Second, fight to the end.
The key to this choice lay in how to deal with this Fifth Brother.
If this big fellow wasn't dealt with, I suspected that even with Leng Meng’s swift knife, it would be difficult to pose any threat to him, especially with his defenses already up.
After all, a Fire General’s reputation was not for nothing!
…
Seeing that Leng Meng and I seemed unmoved, Fifth Brother, with a cold face, scanned our expressions and suddenly roared in anger, “What!? Don’t you understand what I’m saying?”
“Either pay the money to settle it, or we’ll fight it out, and it won’t stop until blood is drawn!!!”
As soon as his voice fell, Fifth Brother stared menacingly at Leng Meng and me, looking as if he was about to attack at any moment.
Seeing this, Shi Jianguo directly grabbed an ashtray from the bar and strode forward.
With a dismissive cold laugh, Fifth Brother slowly turned, holding the dagger, and looked askance at Shi Jianguo, who barely reached his chest, with a condescending gaze, taunting, “What do you mean, shorty?”
“Are you going to jump up and smash my head, or squat down and smash my knees?”
Ignoring Fifth Brother’s mockery, Shi Jianguo grabbed the ashtray with one hand and took out his phone with the other, skillfully dialing a number.
“Chess and card room, hurry up and bring people over!”
After speaking, Shi Jianguo hung up the phone cleanly.
During the few seconds Shi Jianguo was on the phone, Fifth Brother watched him with a half-smile the entire time, neither speaking nor stopping him.
Seeing Shi Jianguo hang up the phone, Fifth Brother looked around, pointed at Leng Meng and me, and a ferocious expression suddenly appeared on his face as he sternly rebuked, “Unless you call the police, it’s useless no matter how many people you call!”
“There are only two choices! Either pay the money, or draw blood! You choose!”
At this moment, after enduring a wave of intense pain and recovering his breath, Zhang Zifeng said with a resentful expression, “One minute! Just one minute!”
“In one minute, if I don’t see a million yuan…”
“I’ll have Old Fifth chop off all the fingers of those two siblings!!!”
After speaking, Zhang Zifeng glared fiercely at Leng Meng. His gritted teeth conveyed a palpable hatred, as if he wished he could devour her alive!
Honestly, at this moment, I truly, truly regretted not squeezing out a little more time to learn some solid self-defense skills from Uncle Tuo.
In such a passive situation, I began to doubt if, after leaving the gambling table, I had become a useless failure!?
Just as the situation in the chess and card room was completely tilting to one side…
With a “swish,” as the rolling shutter door was unlocked from the outside, Yu Shuang’s figure quietly arrived.
Her sleeveless sheath dress was slightly wet from the raindrops, and through the gaps on both sides of her armpits, two fiery red straps were vaguely visible.