Chapter Fifty: The Mischievous Trio

Let us set aside Sun and Tian’s secret plotting for now. Liu Fan, with his three companions, left the police station arm in arm. As soon as they stepped outside, the soldiers lined up at the entrance saluted him. Liu Fan merely nodded in acknowledgement, then saw his three dorm mates hurrying toward him, their faces filled with worry. Before Liu Fan could speak, the trio began to chatter away.

“Third, are you alright? Did they do anything to you?”

“Yeah, Third, is your body okay? Did they torture you? I heard those places are pretty dark.”

“Yeah, Third Brother, did they whip you with a chili-soaked lash or put you on the tiger bench?”

“Hey, Four-Eyes, you really have no sense of history. That’s one of the Top Ten Tortures of the Qing Dynasty. The police don’t use those anymore.”

“Exactly! You don’t have any culture at all. All you do is sit at home clutching your computer like a hermit.”

“Then what’s popular now?”

“Haven’t you seen any Hong Kong movies? Like smashing big stones on the chest—or something like that.”

“Don’t get it?”

“The chest-smashing trick is where they put a thin book on your chest, then hit the book with a hammer. It causes internal injuries but leaves no marks. Got it?”

“Oh, but what’s the ‘something like that’ part?”

“Sigh, you really are hopeless. I can’t explain. Boss, help me out here.”

“Wahaha, ‘something like that’ just means there’s nothing more after that. If you can’t understand even that, you must want a beating, huh?”

The three circled around Liu Fan, patting and poking him here and there, making everyone else shiver with discomfort, covering their mouths and forcing back nausea, as if entirely defeated. Even Liu Fan was left speechless by this quirky trio, but through their antics, he felt a sense of brotherhood he’d never known before—genuine, simple friendship, the kind worth cherishing.

“Alright, knock it off, you guys. Can’t you see there are ladies present?” Liu Fan scolded them playfully.

The trio, caught up in their mischief, hadn’t noticed the three women beside Liu Fan. But now that they looked, they were startled. On Liu Fan’s left, Zhao Wanyi nestled shyly against his arm, her demeanor gentle and serene. While they’d hugged before, this was the first time she’d shown such intimacy in front of his friends. On his right was the mischievous Sun Junyao, her face lit with laughter, her captivating eyes seldom leaving Liu Fan, and her ample bosom brushing his arm, making Liu Fan’s mind wander and his inner energy surge. Luckily, his cultivation was deep, or things might have gotten out of hand.

He’d wanted her to let go, but she had a perfectly sound excuse: as a brother-in-law, one should be closest to the little sister-in-law. Thus, she clung tightly to his side.

The explanation made Liu Fan roll his eyes, and Zhao Wanyi pinched his waist sharply, having clearly seen through Sun Junyao’s little scheme—punishing Liu Fan with a small retribution, leaving him feeling both pained and delighted.

Tonight’s gathering had originally been the idea of Liu Fan’s three dorm mates, their intentions obvious. But unexpectedly, it brought Liu Fan and Zhao Wanyi together, with Sun Junyao tagging along as the self-proclaimed little sister-in-law, and even Chen Yazhi quietly nurturing feelings for Liu Fan. The three friends, in the end, had failed in their own plan.

As the group of seven reached the police station gate, Cao Wei approached, saluted respectfully, and said, “Good evening, Commander. The General instructed me to drive you all home. Are you ready?” Although they were friends, Liu Fan outranked Cao Wei by several grades and had selflessly taught ancient martial arts to the soldiers. So, even without an official master-disciple relationship, the respect was natural.

Liu Fan chuckled, “Cao, why so formal? You know my personality—no need for all this pretense.”

He liked interacting with soldiers—straightforward, no scheming, right was right and wrong was wrong. He had always been easy-going with friends, never putting on airs, and treated Cao Wei sincerely.

“That won’t do. Off duty, we’re brothers. But on official occasions, you’re my commander—we agreed on this last time.” Cao Wei replied seriously.

Seeing persuasion was useless, Liu Fan could only give up. Just then, his three brothers started acting up again, their six eyes bulging like toads, mouths wide enough for fists, clearly shocked by Cao Wei’s words.

“Why are you staring at me? Is there a flower on my face?” Liu Fan teased, wiping his cheek.

“Uh! Click!” The three, as if choreographed, propped up their jaws, teeth clacking. A moment later, they launched themselves at Liu Fan, firing off questions.

“Tell us! What did you do with our Third?”

“Don’t you get it? Are you from another dynasty, a soul from the past, or back from the dead?”

“Or are you reborn from the future? If so, tell us tomorrow’s lottery numbers.”

“Don’t get it? Every earthling knows this! You don’t?”

“Second, he must be an alien—a spy! The aliens are about to attack Earth!”

“No way! Boss, Second, you hold him—I've got to run home and get the laundry!”

“Four-Eyes, why the laundry?”

“To run, of course!”

“Er…”

The other two were speechless. You think you can run right off the planet?

“So you’re really our Third? Then tell us what color boxers Boss is wearing.” Zhang Yi asked solemnly.

“Red, with a Gray Wolf printed on them.” Liu Fan replied mischievously.

“Hey, what are you two saying? One more word and I’ll be mad!” Chen Gang’s face turned beet red, twisting with embarrassment.

The four bantered on, and even the three women on the side burst into laughter, their bodies shaking with mirth, catching the attention of passersby.

“Alright, enough laughing and joking. It’s time to go. I know you have a lot of questions, but I’ll explain everything when we get back.” Liu Fan said, seeing his friends eager to speak.

“No worries, Third. As long as you’re our brother, nothing else matters.”

“Boss is right. No matter what, you’ll always be our Third.”

“Third Brother, I’m not good with words, but what Boss and Second said is what I want to say too.”

Liu Fan had worried that once his friends learned his true identity, they’d drift away. But their steadfastness moved him deeply. To have such friends in life—what more could one ask? Though he said nothing, his heart was full. Thinking back, he’d once had no one to talk to; now, he had brothers like these. How could he not be moved?

Night had fallen, the streets nearly empty. The Wild Wolf Regiment’s ruffians had returned to the base, and Liu Fan and the others rode back in the military vehicle, leaving the police station in peace.

But soon, two figures slipped quietly through the streets and disappeared down a dark alley. Moments later, they arrived at a villa in a city neighborhood. They hurried inside, passing through a garden of carefully arranged trees and flowers, with a large swimming pool at the center reflecting the house’s lights. A breeze rippled the water, sending sparks of light across the surface like stars in the sky. Occasional insect calls echoed through the tranquil night.

Suddenly, a crash—glass or porcelain shattering—broke the silence from inside the villa.

“Useless fools! Can’t even handle a minor task. And you call yourselves the Axe Gang? What a joke!” It was Lu Hao, who had previously orchestrated the attack on Liu Fan. He’d thought his plan would succeed, but instead his men returned with news that Liu Fan had been released without charge. All his scheming had come to nothing, no wonder he was furious.

“It’s not that we messed up, Young Master Lu. The intel was wrong. We didn’t know that guy had connections to the military. The army sent men to take him out.” The taller of the two subordinates stammered, explaining what they’d seen outside the police station.

Slap! Slap! Lu Hao struck him twice without hesitation, then barked, “Useless! I’d get more from a dog. All you do is make excuses. Mutt, you explain!”

“Young Master Lu, it’s all true! I called my contacts at the station—they said even Deputy Chief Qian was dismissed and investigated. The city police chief, Tian Guoqiang, got involved too…” The short one, called Mutt, was so scared he spilled everything he knew, fearing Lu Hao would slap him too.

“Get out, both of you. And tell Boss Jin to dig up every detail on that guy for me.” Lu Hao knew this failure wasn’t his men’s fault—he’d underestimated Liu Fan.

The two, as if pardoned from death, rushed to agree and fled the villa.

“Anyone who tries to cross me, Lu Hao, never ends well. Liu Fan, I’ll make you wish for death but be unable to die.” Lu Hao’s face twisted into a demonic mask, his voice as chilling as a specter in the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Double update! Please vote and reward—thank you all for your support!!