In an instant, Brother Qian felt sothing was amiss. He instinctively followed his gut and retreated a few steps, putting so distance between himself and Xu Ke.
"What do you an?"
Seeing the man’s wary deanor, Xu Ke instead laughed. "Have you sensed sothing?"
When Xu Ke wasn’t smiling, Brother Qian just had his doubts. But now, with Xu Ke’s smile, Brother Qian’s doubts were confird. "What are you planning? I have a partnership with your Brother Zhao. If you lay a hand on , have you considered the consequences?" As he spoke, he kept retreating, clearly wary of Xu Ke.
"So what? You paid the money, and even if you die, soone else will quickly replace you. It won’t affect the businesses of the powers behind us, so don’t think of yourself as irreplaceable." Xu Ke rcilessly stabbed the opponent in the chest, making Brother Qian’s face turn colorful like a palette. His gaze at Xu Ke lost its forr admiration and now looked at him as if he were soone detestable.
"Why? Why are you looking at like that?" Xu Ke stepped closer, saying.
"Why attack ? I haven’t done anything to offend you." Brother Qian looked at Xu Ke, puzzled.
"I don’t like the way you look at . It makes uncomfortable." Xu Ke replied, raising an eyebrow.
During their conversation, Brother Qian kept moving toward the coffee table in the living room, rembering there was a fruit knife placed there.
Back in the private room, seeing Xu Ke’s skills, Brother Qian knew that if it ca to hand-to-hand combat, he stood no chance against Xu Ke. But with a weapon in hand, the outco was uncertain. This was why Brother Qian kept feigning weakness, trying to buy ti by sealing Xu Ke.
As his hand touched the knife, his eyebrow twitched, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. Even though the sharp blade cut his finger, he held on tighter, his gaze becoming more nacing, making Xu Ke finally feel a bit entertained, rather than utterly unaccomplished.
Brother Qian thought Xu Ke didn’t notice, but Xu Ke’s position allowed him to see all his little movents. "Stop hiding and teasing. If you want the knife, just take it. I’ve seen all your little actions, and if I intended to stop you, I would have done so already." Xu Ke said.
Upon hearing Xu Ke’s words, Brother Qian’s face turned red and pale, realizing his assud clever actions were all seen by the opponent, making his face burn in sha.
With Xu Ke having pointed it out, Brother Qian stopped pretending, turned around, openly gripping the knife, pointing its tip at Xu Ke.
"I know I can’t beat you empty-handed, but now I have a knife, and you won’t gain the upper hand. Why don’t we each take a step back? I genuinely like you, but if you don’t reciprocate, I won’t force it, and I haven’t done anything excessive to you. Let’s bury the hatchet and act like nothing happened, keeping today’s events between us. How about it?" Brother Qian tentatively suggested.
"What you say makes so sense. I’m not at a disadvantage, but I told you I hate the way you look at . It makes uncomfortable, it nauseates ." Xu Ke found a place to sit, showing complete disregard for Brother Qian.
How could Brother Qian tolerate being repeatedly dismissed by soone? Though the room currently held only the two of them, if neither of them spoke out, no outsider would know of their embarrassnt. But Brother Qian couldn’t accept his pride being trampled by Xu Ke again and again.
Brother Qian’s hand trembled while holding the knife, causing the blade pointing at Xu Ke to shake as well, looking far less intimidating and instead sowhat cowardly. This wiped out the last of Brother Qian’s remaining aura.
"Are you really not planning to let go tonight just because of that?" Brother Qian asked Xu Ke in disbelief.
"If I let you go, will you let go?" Xu Ke asked, eting Brother Qian’s eyes.
"Why wouldn’t I? We’re partners, after all." To show his sincerity, Brother Qian even forced a relatively gentle smile.
Xu Ke looked at Brother Qian with the expression one might reserve for a circus clown, finding his staged smile amusing.
"I have to say, that expression looks quite hilarious on you." Xu Ke’s words wiped the smile clean off Brother Qian’s face.
"But I’m not an idiot. If I let you go, I’m probably not far from dying, given that those three people you sent to deal with were ant for . Do you think I’m dumb enough to believe such a clumsy lie and willingly ruin myself for it? Are you crazy or am I?" Xu Ke said, looking at him mockingly.
The atmosphere once again fell into a deadlock, though it was Brother Qian who found himself in a bind, while Xu Ke was rely there to enjoy the show, like a cat playing with a mouse. He wasn’t keen on killing him right away but wanted to hear what startling words the man might utter.
But as he watched the man freeze for a while and not say anything astonishing, Xu Ke frowned with dissatisfaction. "Do you have nothing else to say? I thought you had a lot more to say, but clearly, I overestimated you. If you have nothing to say, it’s my turn, isn’t it?"
"I have nothing to say to you, and nothing I want to hear." Brother Qian only felt disgust looking at Xu Ke’s face, a face he once liked. He didn’t know why, but now he could only feel repulsion, barely stopping himself from wanting to punch it again.
"Rest assured, I’m not one to talk much. I prefer action over words." Xu Ke said, finally showing his first genuine smile since entering the room.
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