Chapter 229 — Knocked Out Cold

Zhong Yongliang was thoroughly depressed. His image as Young Master Zhong was ruined today, no question about it. The young heir of the Liangbai Group, beaten black and blue in his own family's hotel — if word of this got out, how would he ever show his face in decent company again?

Still, at the thought that in a little while Wei Zhao would be sent to the next world by Brother Black Panther, Zhong Yongliang swallowed his anger once more.

This time he did not play the underling again. He went to the parking lot, got into the car himself, and did not bother opening the door for Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao did not mind; he opened the door himself and settled into the passenger seat.

Since he had already laid his cards on the table with Wei Zhao, Zhong Yongliang no longer cared whether Black Panther's side succeeded. Even if it failed, going to wait a while would do no harm. Whether Wei Zhao would stop Zou Ruoming was none of Zhong Yongliang's concern.

It was a pity he could not make Wei Zhao suffer a while first before dying, but things being as they were, there was nothing to be done about the pity.

"Buzz, buzz..." Zhong Yongliang's phone vibrated twice.

Zhong Yongliang instinctively reached for his phone to take a look, but suddenly remembered Wei Zhao beside him, and hurriedly pulled his hand back.

"Heh, a text from Black Panther? Take it out, let me see." Wei Zhao shot Zhong Yongliang a glance.

"This... all right..." Zhong Yongliang gloomily fished out his phone and handed it to Wei Zhao. He had finally learned what it meant that 'a wise man does not eat a loss before his eyes' — refuse to show Wei Zhao, and the result was a beating.

And when Wei Zhao beat a man, he always picked the tender, painful spots that would not kill — hurting Zhong Yongliang badly, yet never quite knocking him out. So provoking Wei Zhao was simply asking for misery.

Now that the mask was off, Zhong Yongliang did not dare go too far. His thoughts had been read clean through by Wei Zhao, and he had nothing left with which to threaten him.

"The matter is settled." Those were the only words on the screen, but Wei Zhao could be certain this was the message from Black Panther.

"Drive. Hurry." Wei Zhao tossed Zhong Yongliang's phone onto the dashboard.

Zhong Yongliang wanted to stall for time, but feared Wei Zhao's displeasure, so he could only stomp on the gas. In any case, rush hour was over and there was little traffic on the road.

"Zou Ruoming?" A somewhat hoarse voice came from the other end of the line.

"Speaking. May I ask if you are one of Young Master Zhong's men?" Zou Ruoming had been waiting near the unfinished building for Zhong Yongliang's people to contact him.

"Yes. I'm already at the unfinished building. Where are you?" the other asked.

"I'm nearby," Zou Ruoming said. "Good. I'll wait for you in front of the unfinished building." Before Zou Ruoming could say anything more, the other hung up.

Zou Ruoming hurried over at a run to the unfinished building, but when he made out clearly who was standing in front of it, he could not help but freeze for a moment.

Brother Black Panther?! It was actually Brother Black Panther? What was he doing here?

Yet Zou Ruoming was only briefly startled; his face quickly returned to normal, while inside him a storm surged. Zhong Yongliang could actually command Brother Black Panther to do his work!

The news of Brother Black Panther's escape had already been reported on television, and Zou Ruoming had seen it. But in his view, the first thing Black Panther would do after fleeing was leave Songjiang — there was no way he would stay here waiting to be caught.

Yet things had turned out otherwise: Brother Black Panther was actually helping Zhong Yongliang, coming to seize Tang Yun for him. This left Zou Ruoming deeply puzzled.

But Zou Ruoming said nothing. None of this was what he *** about. Whether Brother Black Panther had fled yet was no concern of his; what concerned him was whether Tang Yun had been captured.

"Brother Black Panther, hello. I'm Zou Ruoming!" Zou Ruoming scurried up to Brother Black Panther and said respectfully.

"You know me?" A flicker of menace crossed Black Panther's eyes.

"I'm a good brother of Young Master Zhong, so of course I've seen Brother Black Panther!" Zou Ruoming's heart tightened. "Brother Black Panther, what I'm doing today is against the law. You'll have to keep watch for me..."

"Mm..." Only at these words did Black Panther's expression soften somewhat.

Zou Ruoming also let out a long breath. Black Panther was an escaped man, and he had recognized him. What if Black Panther did not trust him and silenced him for good? But Zou Ruoming was no fool either — he had quickly made clear that what he was doing today was also illegal. So they were six of one and half a dozen of the other; if either reported the other, the other would not get off easy either.

"Brother Black Panther, what about that Tang Yun..." Seeing that Brother Black Panther was not going to bring the matter up again, Zou Ruoming's thoughts turned back to Tang Yun. In truth, whether Brother Black Panther fled, or where he fled to, had nothing to do with Zou Ruoming, and he had no wish to meddle in such rotten business.

"She's unconscious. The drug's already been fed to her. She's in that van." Black Panther pointed at a white, unlicensed old-model Nissan van not far behind him. The van was getting on in years — at least twenty years old. "Shall I carry her up for you?"

"Then I'll trouble Brother Black Panther!" Zou Ruoming, his legs weak and unsteady from excessive indulgence, did not dare carry a person up an unfinished building with no stair railings — what if he fell and died?

Black Panther dumped Tang Yun casually in an empty room, then turned and went downstairs.

"Damn it all, this dump doesn't even have electricity — can't see a thing in the dark!" Zou Ruoming groped his way upstairs, sat down on a broken step, took a small pill bottle from his pocket, tipped out a pill, and swallowed it.

Perhaps feeling one was not enough, Zou Ruoming thought for a moment and tipped out another, swallowing that too.

This was a top-grade potent drug imported from ***. They said one pill could keep a man going three hundred rounds; even the male actors in those little films took this stuff. Zou Ruoming had a shameful problem no one knew about: he could not get it up. In his youth he had indulged too much, and now his body could not keep up, so every time he had to rely on potent drugs to boost his performance.

And the drugs he used grew stronger and stronger; the ordinary ones no longer had any effect.

This time he had taken two, so he figured he could last an hour or two. Heh heh... Zou Ruoming laughed lewdly. Tang Yun, ah Tang Yun, in a moment your brother will take good care of you! Let you taste what I'm made of!

After taking the pills, Zou Ruoming sat on the step waiting for them to take effect. He was in no hurry to go see Tang Yun; she had been knocked out anyway and would not wake for a while.

"Wei Zhao, Brother Black Panther is waiting for you up ahead. Do you dare get out of the car? Your wife Tang Yun is up in that unfinished building. Heh heh, if you're late, I'm afraid Zou Ruoming will have..." Zhong Yongliang parked the car beside the unfinished building and pointed at the white van not far ahead. But before he could finish, Wei Zhao's fist came down with a "bang" and knocked him out cold.

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