Chapter Fourteen: Provocation

Long Feihu had already received Old Wang’s phone call beforehand, so he had prepared Chu Feng’s credentials well in advance.

“Thank you, Captain Long. But I’ve already spoken to Old Wang—over the course of a year, I’ll only take on two missions. If there are any special circumstances where my help is needed, I’ll step in,” Chu Feng said as he took the credentials from Long Feihu. With this document in hand, he no longer had to fear the police coming after him for eliminating those who committed unspeakable crimes.

Long Feihu nodded at Chu Feng’s words. From the first moment he saw Chu Feng, he felt the man wasn’t bad; after so many years leading Dragon Scale, Long Feihu had developed a keen eye for people.

At that moment, the door to Long Feihu’s office swung open, and two young men entered, roughly the same age as Chu Feng.

“Captain, who’s he? Is he our new member?” The two young men were from Dragon Scale as well, one named Wang Chen and the other Cui Jianguo.

Both spoke to Long Feihu in a casual tone, without a hint of respect. Wang Chen was the one who spoke.

“He’s the new guy, Chu Feng, introduced by Old Wang. What brings you two here?” Long Feihu offered a brief introduction. When he looked at Wang Chen, there was a flicker of anger in his eyes.

“This kid’s dressed in cheap clothes and looks pretty ordinary. What’s he here for, janitor duty?” Wang Chen’s tone was mocking, and his expression made it clear he looked down on Chu Feng.

“Wang Chen, you’re out of line. Get out right now, or I’ll have you spend five days in the confinement room,” Long Feihu thundered, slamming his hand on the desk and pointing at Wang Chen.

Wang Chen’s face changed at the mention of the confinement room; it seemed he’d been there before and was quite afraid of it.

“Kid, if you’ve got guts, come outside with me. Don’t be a coward hiding in here,” Wang Chen said quietly to Chu Feng as he shrugged and turned to leave, after seeing Long Feihu’s anger.

Chu Feng understood Wang Chen’s words were meant to provoke him. Yet, he walked outside without hesitation. Any man would do the same after hearing such a challenge, regardless of whether Wang Chen had any tricks up his sleeve.

Long Feihu and Old Wang watched Chu Feng follow Wang Chen out and went after them as well. Long Feihu didn’t intervene, wanting to see if Chu Feng was truly as capable as Old Wang had claimed.

“Well, you really dared to come out. You’ve got guts,” Wang Chen said, somewhat surprised to see Chu Feng follow him.

He had expected Long Feihu to intervene, but the captain remained silent.

“Whether I have guts isn’t for you to decide. You can send your sister or your cousin to find out. As for your mother, forget it—I’m not interested,” Chu Feng replied, facing Wang Chen directly. He didn’t want trouble here, but he wouldn’t let anyone push him around.

“You’re asking for it,” Wang Chen snapped, swinging a punch at Chu Feng.

Long Feihu and Old Wang didn’t stop them. Long Feihu wanted to see Chu Feng’s skills, and Old Wang guessed his intention, staying silent.

As Wang Chen’s fist came at him, Chu Feng sidestepped, grabbed Wang Chen’s arm with both hands, and pulled forward. Wang Chen was forced to stumble several steps ahead uncontrollably.

Wang Chen had some martial training; otherwise, a regular person would have fallen flat on their face.

Long Feihu’s eyes lit up at the sight of Chu Feng’s move. He’d just considered stepping in to protect Chu Feng, but now realized his concern was unnecessary.

Wang Chen steadied himself, spun around, and swept his leg at Chu Feng’s legs. Chu Feng leapt up, dodging the kick, and before Wang Chen could get up, Chu Feng darted in, his right hand forming a knife edge, striking at Wang Chen’s neck.

Chu Feng stopped his hand a centimeter away from Wang Chen’s throat, not actually striking.

“I’ll tell you this—my specialty is hidden weapons. If I’d had a scalpel just now, you’d be a corpse already,” Chu Feng said, flipping his right hand to reveal a scalpel from nowhere.

Wang Chen stared at the tiny scalpel, suddenly feeling grateful Chu Feng wasn’t his enemy; otherwise, he’d be dead.

Long Feihu, standing nearby, hadn’t seen when Chu Feng produced the scalpel. Now, he believed Old Wang’s words: Chu Feng was indeed a master.

“Wang Chen, this was reckless. Lucky for you, Chu Feng didn’t use force. Go write a self-critique,” Long Feihu stepped forward, rebuking Wang Chen and sending him off to avoid further embarrassment.

Cui Jianguo followed Wang Chen as he left, and this time Wang Chen said nothing more.

“Good lad, where did you learn such skills? Who was your teacher?” Long Feihu asked, convinced Chu Feng must have trained under a renowned master.

“With looks like mine, who needs a mentor? I’m self-taught,” Chu Feng joked, avoiding the question.

Long Feihu saw Chu Feng didn’t wish to answer and didn’t press further. Since Old Wang had vouched for him, his identity was secure. As long as Chu Feng didn’t threaten the nation, that was enough.

“Don’t take Wang Chen’s provocation to heart. He’s actually not a bad guy, or he wouldn’t have made it into Dragon Scale,” Long Feihu explained. Wang Chen was decent, just overly proud.

“It’s nothing. People like him just need some tempering,” Chu Feng replied, sounding like someone with experience.

“Come on, I’ll take you inside to meet everyone. We don’t want a flood washing away the Dragon King’s temple,” Long Feihu said, leading Chu Feng and Old Wang toward the base. Aside from members scattered across the country, almost everyone else was stationed here.

Dragon Scale’s base also housed a special operations unit, of which Wang Chen was a member, newly selected this year.