Chapter 1132: Identity Exposed, A Fight to the Death 3

But since no one else complained of being tired, he felt embarrassed to say so; after all, he was a man and cared about his pride.

Two girls... never mind, Liu Min cannot be counted as a girl.

Since Shi Ran hadn't complained about her feet aching, he felt too embarrassed to speak up!

Fortunately, after walking for another dozen minutes or so, Hong Yileng finally appeared ahead.

Not far away was a small hillside, and on the hillside stood a simple thatched shed.

In front of the shed was a small, dark red low table, on which sat a teapot and teacups, with several small wooden stools of the same color beside it.

There were exactly four stools, as if he knew the four of them would come together.

Hong Yileng was wearing loose casual clothes today, sitting by the table drinking tea.

Seeing them arrive before him, he reached out and made a gesture of invitation: "Please, sit."

The others didn't sit, but Yun Qitian did; he was too tired.

Hong Yileng greeted them as if welcoming old friends: "You must be thirsty after the long walk, right? It is a bit far here, my apologies to everyone, but the scenery here is absolutely beautiful, far from the hustle and bustle of the city; quietly reading a book, drinking some tea, the beauty of life is nothing more than this..."

His face was clearly very young, yet the words he spoke were like those of an old grandfather who had lived a lifetime and understood everything.

While he spoke, his hands did not stop, pouring tea into the four teacups.

The tea soup was clear, and the fragrance overflowed.

"Drink some tea. I don't have bottled water here, only mountain spring water fetched from the back mountain; it is sweet and crisp, better to drink than ordinary bottled water."

No one touched the teacups in front of them.

The reason was simple: when she saw the thatched hut, Shi Ran had told Yun Qitian and Liu Min about her mother's suspicions.

She and Qi Heng were determined to meet Hong Yileng, no matter who he was.

But there was no need for the others to take risks with them; it had nothing to do with them in the first place, and Shi Ran did not want to implicate the innocent.

Yun Qitian was timid, but this time he did not hesitate in the slightest; even knowing that Hong Yileng might be very dangerous, he still decided to go along.

As for Liu Min... she had no precedent for backing out at the last minute!

They were indeed thirsty and tired from the walk, but not a single person touched the teacups in front of them.

He knew there were four of them and had even prepared the tea in advance; if everyone were good friends, of course, it would be fine, but the problem was—they weren't!

When things happen contrary to the norm, there must be something sinister afoot.

Who knew what he had put in the tea?

The others could endure it, but Yun Qitian was so thirsty he couldn't stand it anymore; he picked up the cup and poured the tea out: "I don't like drinking tea."

Then he walked forward two steps and used the cup to scoop a cup of water from the bucket to drink!

"Ah, refreshing!"

The spring water was cool and sweet, just as Hong Yileng had said.

He drank three cups in a row before walking back, satisfied.

"Are you all not thirsty?" Hong Yileng had a smile on his face, but the smile was meaningful, even a bit eerie.

Shi Ran did not take the bait and asked: "What is your business with me? You can say it now."

"Actually, it's nothing much; it's just that I'm out of work now, and since I'm idle anyway, I wanted to find you to chat."

"Are you playing me?"

Qi Heng's expression was ugly: "Ranran has nothing to chat about with you."

Hong Yileng was not angry; he said to Qi Heng: "It doesn't matter. If she doesn't want to chat with me, it's the same if you chat with me. I just wanted to see you all; I'm happy when I see you."

"Bang!"

Liu Min didn't waste words and smashed her fist directly into his face.

Her principle: if you can use your fists, absolutely don't argue.

Her punch was both fierce and fast, steady, accurate, and ruthless; Hong Yileng was knocked to the ground before he could even react.

The corner of his mouth was bleeding, but that wasn't the most important thing; the most important thing was that everyone discovered his nose was crooked!

Liu Min was a bit surprised; she hadn't used much strength, just hit him casually, and his nose was already crooked?

Was this person too fragile to be hit? Was he made of paper?

Qi Heng and Shi Ran said in unison: "He had plastic surgery."

"Are you Zhu Qingxiang?" Shi Ran asked.

He instinctively wanted to deny it, but then thought there was no need; anyway, he hadn't intended to let them leave here alive today.

"Yes, I am Zhu Qingxiang. I didn't expect that even though I planned it carefully for a long time, it would be seen through by you so quickly."

He climbed up from the ground, casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and smeared it back into his mouth, swallowing it.

Disgusting.

Shi Ran signaled to the others, meaning everyone should be on high alert.

Yun Qitian wanted to stand up, but found his hands and feet were soft and weak, unable to exert any strength; oh no, even though he had been careful, he had still been poisoned.

"The water in the bucket is problematic! Don't worry about me, hurry and leave," Yun Qitian shouted to the others.

Qi Heng: "Shut up."

Shi Ran: "We won't leave you behind."

Liu Min: "So noisy, can you keep your voice down?"

Qi Heng told him to shut up because he didn't want him to attract Zhu Qingxiang's attention, while Liu Min simply didn't take Zhu Qingxiang seriously at all.

"It's fine, I have no grudges with him, he won't do anything to me, you guys hurry and leave."

"Hahahahahaha..."

Zhu Qingxiang looked as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, suddenly laughing up at the sky until tears came out.

"You are truly naive. What right do you have to use your ignorance to judge what I will do?"

Yun Qitian successfully caught his attention, and he drew a Dagger, intending to take Yun Qitian hostage.

But Liu Min was faster than him; she blocked his path, extended three fingers, and tapped lightly, causing Zhu Qingxiang's wrist to go numb and the Dagger in his hand to drop to the ground.

"Daring to touch my man, I see you're looking for death!"

Just as Liu Min was about to move to teach him a lesson, he suddenly pulled open his lapels—a circle of explosives was wrapped around his waist!

"Come on, do it, hahahahaha!"

He laughed maniacally: "That's right, I am looking for death, but I won't die alone; I'll have company on the road to the Yellow Springs, with you all accompanying me."

Shi Ran: "Don't be impulsive. You went to such lengths to come to Jiangzhou again; surely you don't intend to perish with us, do you? If you have a goal, state it, and we can discuss it."

Just a glance.

Shi Ran could judge how great the destructive power of these explosives was; they were enough to blow up a building of over thirty stories.

If he detonated the explosives, the few people present wouldn't even have a whole corpse left.

She knew this, but Liu Min did not.

Liu Min clamored: "Shi Ran, don't waste your breath on him, I'll fight him to the death!" As she spoke, she prepared to rush forward.

"Don't go."

"Don't be impulsive."

"Stop."

The three of them objected in unison.

"Don't be afraid, he's just trying to scare everyone. Jiangzhou has strict management, I can't even get a gun, so he could get explosives? Impossible." In Liu Min's simple mind, she felt that if she couldn't do it, then others couldn't either.

"Do you want to try? You idiot."

Zhu Qingxiang didn't put Liu Min in his eyes at all.

He felt great contempt for this woman; she was strong and powerful but had no brain, and could never accomplish anything big!

At this moment, he never imagined that Liu Min would soon accomplish a big thing.

"Try it then! Detonate it, if I, Liu Min, even frown once, I'll take your surname..." As she spoke, she prepared to charge forward.