Chapter 269: Past Events
Song Qi's eyes widened instantly, and he hurried over to cover Chen Junnan's mouth.
"Don't call me that name!" Song Qi stared at the man before him in shock. "Wait, who are you?"
"What the hell..." Chen Junnan irritably shoved Song Qi's hand away. "Why are you covering my mouth? I'm not some Calabash Brother—calling your name isn't gonna make you disappear."
Qiao Jiajin felt something was off and said, "Junnan, that sounded like the Golden Horn King."
"Oh? Really?" Chen Junnan thought for a moment. "Isn't the line 'Dare you answer when I call your name' from the Calabash Brothers?"
"Calabash... what's a Calabash Brother?" Qiao Jiajin asked, confused. "Isn't it from the Golden Horn King?"
"Pfft, Old Qiao, it's been a while since I gave you a cultural lesson!" Chen Junnan laughed, patting him. "Come on, let me explain. The Calabash Brothers are a treasure of our culture! The story goes..."
"Wait, hold on..." Song Qi felt these two were strange. "Is now really the time to discuss the Calabash Brothers and the Golden Horn King?"
"Oh, right..." Qiao Jiajin suddenly remembered something. "Someone was looking for me earlier... Bomb Dude, was it you?"
"I..." Song Qi shook his head helplessly. "A brother is in trouble at the 'Di Yang' venue and needs help."
"Shit!" Qiao Jiajin shouted. "Is the Liar getting beaten up?"
Chen Junnan was also startled. "What? Old Qi got taken down?"
"Not exactly..." Song Qi felt it was hard to communicate with these two. "That brother needs assistance, and he specifically named 'Qiao Jiajin' to help him."
"Alright, I'm on my way." Qiao Jiajin nodded and was about to head out.
"Hold on a second." Chen Junnan grabbed Qiao Jiajin's arm, thought for a moment, and asked Song Qi, "Did that brat win or lose?"
"He won," Song Qi replied.
"Won, but still needs help?" Chen Junnan rubbed his chin.
"Correct," Song Qi nodded.
"Then I get it." Chen Junnan patted Qiao Jiajin. "Old Qiao, go with Xiao Chu and grab two sacks."
"Sacks?" Qiao Jiajin was puzzled. "Why me? Why don't you go?"
"You're not even wearing a shirt, so hurry up and get them." Chen Junnan sighed.
"Uh..." Qiao Jiajin looked down—sure enough, he was shirtless. "Damn..."
As Qiao Jiajin ran off, Chen Junnan called after him, "Old Qiao, and grab a couple of handy weapons while you're at it!"
"Huh? Oh, got it!"
Song Qi looked at Chen Junnan, confused, and asked, "You... have we met before?"
"Before?" Chen Junnan thought for a moment. "No, isn't this our first meeting?"
"First time...?" Song Qi was puzzled. "You just called me by my real name... How did you know it?"
"I calculated it on my fingers," Chen Junnan said flatly. "A little divination told me you're missing 'Ming' in your five elements and cursed with 'Hui,' so your name is 'Song Minghui.'"
"What the hell..." Song Qi felt his brain getting tangled talking to this guy. "Then how did you know I'm named 'Song'?"
"Because I felt like it." Chen Junnan was getting impatient. "Xiao Song, don't ask so many questions. Stop poking your nose into adult matters."
Song Qi still eyed Chen Junnan suspiciously. This man was just too strange—it seemed impossible to get anything out of him.
Before long, Qiao Jiajin had put on his coat and returned to rejoin them.
Under his left arm were two iron pipes, their broken ends looking fresh, as if snapped off just now. In his right hand, he carried two dirty woven sacks.
"Junnan, I'm back," Qiao Jiajin said with a grin. "Are we going to knock someone out and stuff them in a bag? I picked out two big sacks on purpose."
"Any size works." Chen Junnan smiled. "We're gonna do him a big favor."
Then he turned to Song Qi and asked, "Did that brat say 'Don't let anyone come except Qiao Jiajin'?"
"No, he didn't," Song Qi shook his head.
"Then there you go." Chen Junnan said. "Old Qiao, let's go. I'm coming with you."
"Great." Qiao Jiajin nodded.
The two had Song Qi lead the way, while they followed behind carrying iron pipes and sacks.
Song Qi felt something was off. Inexplicably, these two had an air of "cats" about them... He just didn't know if they'd be willing to join their side.
---
Qi Xia was at his wit's end.
The woman in front of him, Qin Dingdong, absolutely refused to leave. Her target from the very beginning had been to get close to him.
Qi Xia had imagined countless dangerous scenarios, but never that she'd be looking for Chen Junnan.
This complex situation was completely unsolvable—like going up against another "Earth-level" opponent...
Who knew what that bastard Chen Junnan had done back in the day?
Qi Xia could only hope Chen Junnan would never show up, or things would become even more difficult.
"Seven years..." Qin Dingdong gritted her teeth. "That bastard has been avoiding me for seven years!"
Qi Xia silently pressed his forehead. He'd already heard this sentence dozens of times since she started.
To change the subject, he turned to the long-haired man and spoke.
"Brother, what should I call you?"
The long-haired man politely dipped his head toward Qi Xia and said, "Brother, my name is Liu Ershiyi."
The name struck Qi Xia as odd.
"Liu... Ershiyi?" He couldn't understand what kind of parents would come up with that.
But then he thought about it—the man called "Song Qi" just now... could those not be their real names?
Their clothes also looked very similar. Was this some kind of organization?
Qi Xia noticed that this long-haired man spoke very little, making it impossible to change the subject. So he kept his mouth shut. The atmosphere in the room was even weirder than when he was playing Di Yang's game.
After a moment, Song Qi returned.
When Liu Ershiyi saw Song Qi, he silently nodded and stepped aside.
Qiao Jiajin walked in next, holding the iron pipe, and glanced cautiously around the room.
There were four people here in total.
The goat-headed man, the leather-jacketed man, the Liar, and the pretty lady.
Qiao Jiajin felt a bit lost, "pipe in hand, gazing all around."
Who exactly was he supposed to knock out?
"Old Qi... let me see what you've gotten yourself into this time—" Chen Junnan said as he walked in, carrying a sack and an iron pipe. But his voice cut off abruptly the moment he stepped through the door.
No one even caught a clear glimpse of him—they just saw the sack and pipe drop to the floor, and the man had already sprinted far away.
"You bastard! Chen Junnan!!"
Qin Dingdong screamed and immediately chased after him. As she passed Qiao Jiajin, her expression shifted briefly, and she forced a smile.
"Oh, Ah Jin, long time no see. You're still so buff."
"Huh?" Qiao Jiajin blinked. "You are...?"
Qin Dingdong had no time to answer. Her face twisted again: "Chen Junnan, you goddamn turtle!"
And then she was out the door in a flash.
The people left in the room were all a bit stunned.
"Liar... what the hell was that?" Qiao Jiajin was confused. "What just ran out of here?"
"Might've been a person," Qi Xia shook his head. "Fist, come here. I need to tell you something."