Romance of Dragons and Snakes

Chapter 103: Kindness is Hard to Prove

“Do you have any way of seeing your brother right now?” To see the person that he owed a favor to was his main goal.

A drop of water would be thankful to a fountain, like this, Chen Bin would be like that drop of water. But no matter what, he would accept the match. Chen Bin was his friend, and he had no desire to see a female friend of his go to her death on the platform.

Chen Bin had the guidance of an expert brother and her own martial arts was very pure. However, a match had all sorts of factors that could bring death at any moment. Anyone with no experience in such a fight wouldn’t be able to grasp any of the finer details perfectly.

“You should stay in a hotel overnight. I’ll go speak with the elder to see if he can loosen the house arrest of my brother. Ai, after the elder fell ill, he doesn’t seem to be as far-sighted as he used to be. If my brother wanted to kill Chen Xin, then he’d have done it a long time ago. Why would he wait all this time? If he were to kill him now, then it would be because he was framed for it.” Chen Bin spoke with anxiety.

Chen Aiyang had been detained in the hospital partially because of Chen Xin’s disappearance and so Chen Libo had decided to enforce it. However, while all of this was happening, Chen Bin had been in Hong Kong so even she didn’t know all of the details and could only say what she knew.

Wang Chao had wanted to talk to Chen Aiyang to ask just what type of person had been able to injure him.

Any practitioner at the peak level of Clear Jin would be capable of delivering punches over a thousand kilograms strong. At the lightest touch, they could even break bones. But that wouldn’t hold a candle to what an expert of Hidden Jin or Transforming Jin could do!

With Wang Chao as an example, even if he were to use Hidden Jin to enforce his Chopping Jin of the tiger stance, it would be enough to kill a water buffalo and shatter its inner organs to the point of no return.

“In a battle of that calibre, being able to hold back means Chen Aiyang’s opponent was surely a fold higher in strength than he was. Furthermore, his match with Zhang Guangming at that day would surely be an excuse for the fellow disciple to try to take revenge. With the two of them in the same circle, if he were to fight Chen Aiyang, then Chen Aiyang would remember Zhang Guangming’s movements to be similar. From there, he would be able to predict Cheng Shanming’s strategy. So for me to go into this fight, it would prove beneficial for me.”

As for this situation with the written challenge from master Cheng Shanming, Chen Bin herself wasn’t clear with the details. For Wang Chao, this was an act of extreme passivity. He had two ways to go around this problem, one was to get in contact with Lin Yanan as quickly as possible and ask her to investigate. The other was to simply ask Chen Aiyang about the details.

But even the organization wasn’t omnipresent. When it came to the far outreach that was North America, even they didn’t have any of the finer details. At most, they would have some general information, but other than that, Wang Chao didn’t have any high expectations.

Stopping the car right outside a luxurious hotel, Chen Bin tilted her head to look at Wang Chao hesitantly, “Take…take a good night’s rest. I will prepare the rooms. Will you need…”

Knowing what she was hesitating about, Wang Chao gave an inquiring look to Zhu Jia.

Although he didn’t say anything, his intention had been extremely clear, “Zhu Jia, do we need one room or two rooms?”

In the recent days, Zhu Jia had hung about Wang Chao constantly to the point where Wang Chao didn’t even know where his personal boundary had even started like an idiot. But he was very grateful to Zhu Jia for the favors he owed her.

The words Chen Bin had said earlier was an attempt to probe out the relationship between the two.

“If I ask for one room, that won’t do. But if I ask for two rooms, that won’t do either. If I decline, then it’d hurt Chen Bin’s feelings, but otherwise, it would hurt Zhu Jia’s heart.” Wang Chao had thus let Zhu Jia answer.

Shua! Zhu Jia’s face rippled with a rosy hue as her eyes glared at Wang Chao. With a slight cough, she spoke, “Miss Chen, we would like two rooms if that’s possible.”

“That’s fine.” Chen Bin revealed a smile before exiting from the car. “I will make the preparations. Tomorrow morning I will pick you up.” After that, a wistful expression could be seen on her face, “I don’t know whether or not I’ll be able to convince the elder.”

“I’ve heard that your elder Chen Libo was an amazing character in his youth. The great Chenshi Corporation was essentially created with his bare hands; a man on the same standing as Li Ka-shing. I would like to meet him one day.” Wang Chao spoke calmly, “There’s no need for you to be so vexed, there will be a change for the better soon.”

“We’ll see. But this time, I really must thank you.” Chen Bin’s stare grew faint almost as if she was looking within him. Afterwards, her eyes turned to Zhu Jia for a moment before turning around.

Watching Chen Bin’s retreating figure, Zhu Jia had a strange expression to her face. “Wang Chao, you’ve probably got wrapped up with the power struggle in her family now, be careful. The power struggle within a family is something I’ve seen one too many times. And this is a major family as well, I’d advise you to not wade through these murky waters.”

Wang Chao’s eyebrows creased together, “I’ve promised Chen Bin already, I cannot go back on my word.”

“Ai, I was just warning you. This time, you came here to help Chen Bin, but the elder of the family will not feel grateful. Think about it, you are an outsider who came running here on a dime. For you to be so willing to fight in a life or death battle for the Chenshi Corporation, it’d be strange if anyone DIDN’T think you had some ulterior motive. Chen Libo is a very astute person. And such people are always very suspicious. I have my doubts of such a matter, and if Chen Libo were to know of your coming, then his first thought would be whether or not you are working with or for the Chen family. In his youth, Chen Libo was a merciless person of renown, I’m just looking out for you…”

Zhu Jia grew close and began to whisper in a low voice, “You should prepare yourself. This is Singapore and not the mainlands. If something happens here, it won’t be easy to deal with. When it comes to any martial arts competition, I have the utmost faith in that you will win no matter who is your opponent. But, remember the story of Mr. Dongguo and the Wolf. A dying old man who built up an empire for his family will definitely not allow any outsider to threaten it. The closer he approaches death, the more paranoid he will be. You have to be careful.”

Wang Chao’s eyes twinkled as he looked at Zhu Jia. He hadn’t thought that she would be able to analyze the situation to such a degree and have a thought like this.

“When you say it like that, I haven’t thought of it from such an angle before.”

Zhu Jia’s expression hardened, “You should rest up for today, I’ll help you with the things that require thinking. If my guess isn’t wrong, then tomorrow Chen Libo will definitely want to see you. And in the process of that, something unpleasant will definitely happen. I’ll be taking a shower first, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I hope that by then, I’ll have some sort of plan worked out.”

“That’s fine.” Wang Chao suddenly had a realization. Whether it was a princeling or princessling, when it came to interpersonal relationships, they were levels beyond him.

On the second morning, Zhu Jia came knocking on Wang Chao’s door. As he opened it, he noticed that Zhu Jia’s eyes were a little blood-shot, almost as if she didn’t sleep well.

Upon seeing each other, Zhu Jia shook her head, “I made a few calls to the mainland last night to have some people get me some information on Chen Libo. That old man, he really is quite viciously paranoid. He’s extremely paranoid to outsiders, and even to his own family. The only ones he has confidence in are the elders who grew up with him.”

Just as Zhu Jia finished speaking with Wang Chao, a phone call from Chen Bin could be heard.

“I gave a talk with the elder yesterday. He wishes to see you today, are you able to come down? I’m waiting in the lobby.”

“Alright, I’ll be down there immediately.” Wang Chao gave a look to Zhu Jia who shook her head, “I’ll stay here. That way, I won’t be the shackle that binds your arms and legs.”

“Alright, take a good rest then. You didn’t sleep at all last night I’d say. I’ll defend myself with what you’ve said to me.” Wang Chao smiled before using the elevator to reach the lobby. As expected, Chen Bin was already waiting for him.

“I’ve really troubled you.” When the two saw each other, Chen Bin gave an apology straight away.” I originally wanted you to help me, but I’ve added to your troubles instead. The elder’s temperament hasn’t been well recently; he wants to see you, but I fear it won’t be anything pleasant. If you don’t want to see him, then I’ll send you to the airport.”

“No need.” As expected, Wang Chao could see the words that Zhu Jia had predicted from the lips of Chen Bin. “I had actually wanted to see the elder for myself to see if I could see your brother.”

“Oh….” Chen Bin grew silent for a moment, “I really owe you for this. In the future, no matter what you need, I will be sure to agree to it.”

“Don’t be saying such heavy words, your brother and I are good friends.” Wang Chao shook his head, putting a stop to Chen Bin’s words.

The two boarded the car and immediately headed for the seaside Chenshi Corporation.

Upon reaching the company doors, they were able to enter the lounge straight away after dismounting from the car. Straight away, an elderly man with grizzly white hair could be seen with two tall black men standing behind him.

“Miss, is this the person the elder wants to see?”

“Yes, uncle Ming.” Chen Bin nodded.

The elderly man sized Wang Chao up with his eyes carelessly as if he was ridiculing him, “Mr. Wang Chao, come with me please! Miss, stay here for a moment, the elder only wishes to see him.”

When Wang Chao heard the tone of the uncle, he could feel the arrogance that was borne from the life of luxury in it, causing him to wrinkle his eyebrows together.

He had came here to help out, but they were not in the least polite. On the contrary, they were treating him like a servant.

But his self-control was excellent and did not mention anything. He had only nodded before following uncle Ming into the elevator.

The two black men were clearly bodyguards. Their skin were a dark color like bronze and seemed to bulge out noticeably. Their eyes had the look of death, but no rage. They were clearly trained with a strict and rigorous training regime that transformed them into killing machines.

Furthermore, the hands to these two men had been behind their backs from the very beginning. Hidden in the interior pouch in their western suit was surely a gun.

From this, Wang Chao was sure that these two men would fire straight and true at their target within a single second if anything were to happen.

This was the mark of a specially trained and high quality bodyguard. Proficient in marksmanship and quick shooting, an expert of killing a killer! A perfect fusion of the gun and wrestling would combine to have the perfect killing potential.

Soon enough, the elevator arrived at the very top. Uncle Ming walked up to a grandiose looking room and bowed, “Elder, Wang Chao has arrived.”

“Come in then.” An elderly yet unrelenting voice could be heard from within.

“In you go.” The uncle gave an empty smile before opening the doors. Ignoring him, Wang Chao walked into the room proudly.

It was rather spacious within the room, and there was even a large glass wall that allowed one to see the boundless ocean outside.

The interior decorations, fireplace, bookshelves, tables and sofas had given Wang Chao the distinct flavor of the medieval times of Europe.

Chen Libo sat behind his giant table on an equally giant chair. While his face was rather pale due to his age, it held a vigorous light to it. His hawk-like eyes had a terrifying glare that would cause anyone to shiver from it.

Two black soldiers could be seen standing by the table–one on both sides.

Just as Wang Chao walked in, the door behind him closed; the previous uncle had no interest on joining them and instead stood right outside the door with the other two bodyguards.

“Youngster, sit!” Chen Libo had an empty smile on his face similar to that of uncle Ming’s.

There was a single sofa about eight meters away from Chen Libo. Without any hesitation, Wang Chao sat down on it.

As soon as Wang Chao sat down, Chen Libo began to talk, “Youngster, I know that you are the one Bin Bin asked to replace Chen Aiyang in his match. I also know that you are a practitioner as well. The dangers of a competition of martial arts is something any regular master would not be able to imagine, live, or kill within. I know of your background all too well! Within the mainlands, you own a business with a decent sum of money. Anyhow, there is no reason for you to risk your life like so! So I ask you, what is your goal for coming today?”

Chen Libo had a cold smile that didn’t seem to hide the raw bloodlust in his eyes.

“Don’t tell me! You are Chen Aiyang’s friend! Pah! In this world, there is no such thing eternal friends, only eternal profit. Even then if you were friends, that isn’t worth the risk of losing everything for a battle of life and death. Youngster, you are still quite green.”

Chen Libo leaned back against his chair and tapped a finger onto the table, “Speak then. What is your goal?”

“They are both elderly men, but this Chen Libo is completely different than elder Li.” Wang Chao could only sigh when he saw that Zhu Jia’s prediction was right on.