'King Snake's men?'
Zhang Feng looked at the two burly men, noticing their fierce and evil expressions, not much less than Old Oilhead himself.
Especially with the guns in their hands.
It made their current 'viciousness' even more pronounced.
Just by their looks, they were living murderers.
But Zhang Feng wasn't nervous, instead he looked at Old Oilhead.
Because Old Oilhead's expression was very strange.
"Uh... you came this early?"
Old Oilhead, while hiding a gun, was discovered by the others, feeling somewhat awkward and odd.
Especially since the others wanted to hide guns too.
'Damn it! King Snake seemed so proper, didn't expect him to be a gun-hiding type!'
Old Oilhead cursed inwardly, then put on a smile and looked at the two burly men opposite.
The only good thing now was that Old Oilhead had seen the guy who just spoke a few times.
"Shun'er, long time no see."
Old Oilhead took out cigarettes from his pocket under their somewhat wary gaze,
"Did Brother King Snake come? You've been handling the contact between him and me for years.
I've never met him, really curious about what Brother King Snake looks like."
While unwrapping the cigarette pack, Old Oilhead casually said, "I got curious about what Brother King Snake looks like, thinking he might arrive early.
Excited, my heart raced, and I rushed over ahead of time."
Having said that, Old Oilhead tossed the whole pack of cigarettes over.
"Who is he?" The burly man called Shun'er ignored Old Oilhead's words and stared hard at Zhang Feng.
Thud—
He didn't catch the cigarettes, letting the pack fly over a dozen meters in the air, landing on the ground in front of him.
"Oilhead Brother, introduce?" The other burly man also looked watchful.
"Fengzi, of course!" Old Oilhead introduced cheerfully, "He was with Ah Liang before, now he's with me.
This time Brother King Snake contacted me directly and asked me to bring him along.
Didn't he tell you guys?"
While Old Oilhead seemed to be joking, he was actually very tense inside.
Zhang Feng silently observed their arms, ready to dodge and find cover at any sign of them raising their guns further.
After all, the distance between them was a bit over ten meters.
Zhang Feng didn't want to get riddled with bullets and waste a resurrection for nothing.
"Fengzi? Feng Zhang?" Fortunately, Shun'er had heard of Zhang Feng's name and quickly regained his smile, "I've heard Brother Liangzi mention before, this brother is quite skilled.
But you know, unless necessary, we don't meet each other easily.
So I've heard of him, but never seen him."
Shun'er said with a smile, nodding towards Zhang Feng,
"We are all brothers under Brother Luo Huo, just call me Shun'er."
After he spoke, he put away his handgun and picked up the cigarettes from the ground, flicking the dust away and offering one to the man next to him.
The man beside him also holstered his gun.
"I'm Ah Long."
The man accepted a cigarette while shaking his head, "I've seen Brother Liangzi once, but didn't expect him to disappear now.
Brother Fengzi, when did you last see him?"
"A month ago," Zhang Feng recited according to the script given by Captain Hu: "He said he was going out for a while, and never came back."
"That should be the time Brother King Snake called him," Ah Long pretended to ponder, "But Brother King Snake didn't see him either."
"What is there to think about? He's most likely gone," Old Oilhead said casually as the atmosphere eased, "I noticed Fengzi is pretty good at things, so I took him in temporarily."
The three of them discussed the possibility of someone dying with rather normal expressions.
Because they've seen it too often.
But when Shun'er heard Old Oilhead's talk about 'taking Zhang Feng in,' he stepped forward a few paces, returning the remaining cigarettes with both hands,
"Oilhead Brother, if there's anything in the future, please look out for your little brother!"
In this line of work, everyone wants a way out for themselves.
Now seeing an 'elder' with a good reputation,
They definitely want to build a good relationship and say nice things.
You never know, one day when you're in trouble, Oilhead Brother might just give you a hand.
"We're all brothers, it's all good." Old Oilhead naturally also spoke polite words, after all, opening one's mouth and talking a bit costs nothing.
"Thanks, Brother!" Shun'er laughed and even lit a cigarette for Old Oilhead.
He didn't think Old Oilhead was just saying polite words.
Because Old Oilhead had already made a 'taking in a brother' move.
Elders like this, they all want to follow.
"Did you guys come early this time?" Old Oilhead, seeing he had gained the upper hand and noticed their intention to flatter him, promptly turned the tables to inquire,
"Is there something?"
"Just checking," Shun'er, even if he wanted to say more nice things, didn't mention King Snake asking him to hide guns,
"Oilhead Brother, you know, we just had that thing happen with Brother Liangzi.
Brother King Snake feels things aren't stable across the border, so he sent us two brothers to check things out first.
This is also for the safety of Oilhead Brother and Brother Fengzi."
"Still, Brother King Snake's attention to detail." Old Oilhead made an 'oh, I see' face, "We only thought of coming early to not keep Brother King Snake waiting, but didn't think about checking ahead."
"Brother, that's wrong!" Shun'er retorted, "You coming earlier is actually like scoping the place out in advance."
As he spoke, his eyes glanced at the tape marks on Lao Youtou's sleeves,
"Brother, let me ask you a question...
Did you...hide a gun?"
"You just mentioned scoping the place; this surely requires caution." Lao Youtou wasn't willing to back down either, looking at the fresh tape on his arm.
"Now that the scouting is done, meeting with the gun isn't ideal; it's definitely best to stash it away.
You guys are doing the same, aren't you?"
"Yes." Shun'er and the man nodded in agreement, they didn't object.
'Such a web of lies.' Zhang Feng watched the three and realized they all knew the truth.
It's no surprise King Snake was worried about potential 'issues,' hence sending someone to hide the guns.
This was indeed correct.
However, Zhang Feng was genuinely looking into issues, so hiding the guns was necessary.
That's accurate too.
Still, when everyone spoke of caution and prudence, it seemed it wasn't wrong either.
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Lao Youtou quickly changed the subject, "You folks do what you need to, no one makes things difficult."
"Alright." Shun'er and his crew nodded, gesturing slightly towards Zhang Feng, then proceeded to stash the guns.
Just as they were in the midst of hiding the guns.
"What are we eating tonight?" Zhang Feng and Lao Youtou appeared to be making idle chatter, while actually observing them.
Firstly, to see where they hid the guns, secondly, to ensure they didn't take Zhang Feng's duo's guns.
Meanwhile.
Behind a distant tree.
'Old Youtou's gun is here...'
They saw where Zhang Feng's duo stashed their guns but didn't take them, instead moving to another tree, placing their own guns there.
In this process, they didn't hide anything from Lao Youtou.
"We're all eating from the same pot." As Shun'er concealed the gun, he whispered to Ah Long, "Allowing Youtou a gun spot is no big deal."
"Yes, indeed." Ah Long agreed wholeheartedly, "We're all swimmers in the same lake, all brothers, nothing to be tense about.
Could it be Youtou and Fengzi are authorities on the shore?"
Ah Long said playfully, not taking it seriously.
And there they held the saying, 'matters of men, resolved by men,' and 'community matters, resolved by the community.'
Because throughout the earth, there's only royal land.
Land implying 'territorial boundaries.'
Rivers and lakes are not part of the land, outside the king's law.
Hence referred to as, community matters, resolved by the community.
This was their personal belief.
After stashing the guns.
They walked out from behind the trees, nodding to Zhang Feng's duo, then walked away.
Zhang Feng exchanged a glance with Lao Youtou, then left the area themselves.
Then.
Zhang Feng's duo took another turn, crouching in the nearby woods.
They were genuinely gone.
...
Evening, seven o'clock.
As the appointed time arrived.
Zhang Feng and Lao Youtou came in from outside.
About ten minutes later.
Shun'er and Ah Long followed by a suave middle-aged man in a suit slowly walked from afar.
Before he approached.
Lao Youtou glanced slightly at the nearby tree, whispering, "In this pitch-black night, can Captain Hu's concealed camera capture his features?"
"We're not catching him; no need to capture clear shots." Zhang Feng also whispered:
"What we need now is to approach him, get closer to the higher-ups, and verify identities.
Whether to shoot or not doesn't matter, as long as we know him it's fine."
After speaking, Zhang Feng fell silent.
After about half a minute, King Snake arrived, looking calm.
Seeing him closely, he seemed even more refined.
"It's late, and there are many mosquitoes here; let's get straight to the point."
He first glanced at Zhang Feng, "I've seen your photo, are you Feng Zhang?"
"Yes." Zhang Feng replied with a smile, "Hello, King Snake."
"Great." King Snake nodded slightly, "Liangzi said you work well, and are stable. Seeing today, indeed."
He turned to Lao Youtou, "Lao Youtou?"
"Yes, it's me!" Lao Youtou replied cheerfully, "King Snake, why did you call me here today?"
"Good business." King Snake nodded first, then asked, "How's your foreign route? Can you still run it?"
King Snake's recent 'side job' route got blocked.
Seeing tighter enforcement, he thought of Lao Youtou.
And slightly violated Luo Huo's rules, meeting secretly.