His henchmen were also following suit, each holding a dancing girl and playing a vulgar finger-guessing game. The loser was forced to chug a large cup of strong liquor, while the winner kissed the dancing girl on the cheek, drawing uproarious laughter from the entire room.

The entire private room was permeated with an air of indulgent and depraved revelry.

Zhou Huai's entry caused a brief pause in the commotion.

Everyone's gazes snapped over simultaneously.

Seeing that Natsume Masahiro had walked in from outside, Takeda Masao was stunned for a moment.

He pushed away the dancing girl in his arms and narrowed his small eyes, which were flushed red from alcohol.

A mocking smile appeared on his face.

"Yo, who did I think it was."

"Isn't this our young master Natsume?"

Takeda Masao's voice was hoarse and grating, carrying heavy mockery.

"You brat actually dare to come looking for me on your own initiative?"

"I thought you'd keep hiding in some rat hole and wouldn't dare face me."

The henchmen around him also burst into laughter, their eyes filled with contempt as they looked at Zhou Huai.

Zhou Huai took a deep breath, doing some final mental preparation for himself.

The persona cannot collapse, the persona cannot collapse.

This is my first time doing an infiltration mission, if I get exposed just like this, it would be too embarrassing.

He forced out a smile that looked even worse than crying.

Slightly hunching his body and nervously rubbing his hands in front of him, he looked completely like a standard low-level punk meeting his boss.

Carrying the cowardice typical of Natsume Masahiro, Zhou Huai spoke cautiously.

"Boss Takeda, I... I've been in the dungeon these past few days and didn't... didn't receive your message."

His voice wasn't loud, carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

"What... what on earth is going on?"

"Why did you take away my... my sister?"

Hearing this, Takeda Masao acted as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

He first let out a sneer, and then the smile on his fat face instantly vanished, turning vicious.

"Natsume Masahiro!"

He slammed his hand heavily on the table, rattling the cups and plates.

"Are you fucking treating me like a monkey?"

Takeda Masao slowly stood up.

Carrying an extremely strong sense of oppression, he walked step by step in front of Zhou Huai.

He extended his thick finger, almost poking it onto Zhou Huai's nose.

"Back outside the city, you brat agreed in person to sell your sickly sister to me in exchange for 100,000 Sakura coins."

"And the result? You played hide-and-seek with me?"

"Now you still have the nerve to run over here and pretend you don't know anything?"

Takeda Masao stared at him coldly, his gaze fierce.

"Since you don't keep your word, don't blame me for taking matters into my own hands."

He paused, and a lewd yet smug smile surfaced on his face once again.

"To be honest though, that sister of yours really looks quite tender and pretty."

"As soon as I brought her here, before I even had the chance to taste her freshness, she caught Lord Miyamoto's eye at a glance."

"Lord Miyamoto is generous with his money; he spent a full 200,000 Sakura coins and bought her away on the spot."

Takeda Masao patted Zhou Huai's face with considerable force, producing a slap-slap sound.

"Originally, you could have made fifty thousand yuan."

"Now you won't get a single penny."

Zhou Huai showed a look of sudden realization.

So that's how it was.

When Takeda previously told him "don't forget our agreement," he was referring to the matter of selling his sister.

Good grief.

This Natsume Masahiro didn't die unjustly at all.

He was even willing to sell his own younger sister, whom he depended on for mutual survival.

He's simply a beast.

Zhou Huai sighed silently in his heart.

Judging by the current situation, taking away Natsume Rinku without breaking his character persona was an almost impossible task.

He had clearly acted very well.

It was purely driven by circumstances; he believed that Marshal Zhao would surely understand his hidden difficulties.

Zhou Huai constantly comforted himself in his heart, seeking psychological support for his upcoming actions.

Seeing Natsume Masahiro lower his head and remain silent for a long time, thinking he had been scared stupid, Takeda completely lost his patience.

He shoved Zhou Huai aside and waved his hand impatiently.

"You can't blame me for your sister's matter."

"If you want to blame someone, blame her for having a good-for-nothing brother like you."

He returned to his seat and wrapped his arms around the dancing girl again, too lazy to even glance at Zhou Huai another time.

"From now on, you don't need to follow and hang out with me anymore."

"Keeping a good-for-nothing like you who doesn't keep his word is useless."

"Get lost!"

However, the submissive retreating figure that was anticipated did not appear.

Only a soft "click" sound was heard.

The door of the private room was silently closed.

The clamor inside the room seemed to have been hit with a pause button by this soft sound.

Takeda Masao's movements stiffened, and he slowly raised his head.

He narrowed his eyes, feeling that Natsume Masahiro at this moment seemed somewhat wrong.

Before Takeda Masao could speak,

the henchman beside him who was as thin as a monkey stood up first.

He wanted to put on a good performance in front of the boss.

Pointing at Zhou Huai's nose, he rebuked sternly.

"Natsume Masahiro! Did you fucking not hear the boss telling you to get lost?"

"Are your ears deaf or what?"

Cursing and swearing, the monkey-thin henchman eagerly ran toward Zhou Huai.

Raising his fist with a ferocious grin on his face, he prepared to teach this reckless brat a lesson.

However, the very moment he rushed in front of Zhou Huai and his fist was about to swing out,

Zhou Huai looked at him, and just a single thought flashed through his mind.

The next second.

The monkey-thin henchman's charging body suddenly executed a gorgeous turn at an extremely bizarre angle.

The entire movement was as smooth as flowing water and fast to the extreme!

Without the slightest pause, his fist, infused with strength, slammed solidly behind him with a howling wind.

It smashed straight into Takeda Masao's face.

Takeda Masao was leaning against the sofa, preparing to watch a good show.

He didn't have any defenses at all.

Coupled with the fact that this punch was fast and fierce—completely the monkey-thin henchman's full-strength effort to show off—

"Bang!"

A muffled, loud crash rang out.

Takeda Masao's plump face caved inward to a degree visible to the naked eye.

Driven by this huge force, his entire body flipped over from the sofa and he was hammered directly onto the ground like a rolling gourd.

Takeda Masao covered his burning cheek; that blow had tremendous force, even causing a wisp of fresh blood to seep from the corner of his mouth.

He stared in disbelief at the usually submissive monkey-thin henchman.

"Are you fucking crazy, why did you hit me?!"

The monkey-thin henchman wore a look of utter bewilderment, staring at his own palm as if looking at something extremely terrifying.

"It wasn't me... Boss, it really wasn't me!"

He retreated in panic, his voice carrying a crying tone.

"I seem to have been controlled by someone!"

"Just like last time in the car! My hand... it moved on its own!"

Hearing these words, Takeda Masao's brain, which had previously been muddled by alcohol, instantly cleared by half.

Last time in the car?

At that time, they thought they had run into evil spirits or some unknown curse.

But now, the same bizarre event happened again.

It seemed to always happen when Natsume Masahiro was present.

Takeda Masao abruptly turned his head.

His eyes looked toward Natsume Masahiro in disbelief.

Natsume Masahiro was still standing there at this moment.

With his hands shoved in his pockets, his face lacked the slightest trace of fear, subservience, or fawning.

On that familiar face hung an entirely unfamiliar indifference.

It was like a lofty deity looking down upon a group of pigs rolling in the mud.

He took a deep look at the expressionless Natsume Masahiro at the door.

"So all of this has been your doing the whole time?"

"The matter in the car was also you?"

Zhou Huai stopped pretending and spread his hands.

"I originally wanted to coexist peacefully with you in the identity of an ordinary Professional."

"As a result, you insisted on seeking death, so I am also very helpless."