Chapter 766: Woman

With a roar, a black heavy motorcycle pulled up beside Li Huowang.

Li Huowang looked at the tattooed man in front of him, a man named Ba Shengqing. The tattoos on his face didn't leave a good impression on Li Huowang. Regardless of his thoughts, Li Huowang extended his hand. It was hard to say if their paths would ever cross again. "Nice to meet you."

However, Ba Shengqing didn't reach out to shake Li Huowang's hand. Instead, his gaze drifted towards Yang Na.

Li Huowang immediately frowned, pushing lightly with his right foot on the ground to block Ba Shengqing's line of sight. "Why were you looking for Qingwanglai just now?"

Ba Shengqing didn't respond. Instead, he abruptly changed the subject. "Have you been involved in all these recent events?"

Since the man hadn't answered his question, Li Huowang naturally had no desire to answer his. He simply stared at him with an unfriendly gaze.

"You shouldn't get involved in this." Clearly, Ba Shengqing knew something.

"Heh, you say that as if I could stay out of it by not getting involved."

"I wasn't trying to force my way in; they made the first move on me. If you don't know what I've been through, it's best not to be so quick to offer advice."

Ba Shengqing lightly twisted his wrist, and the motorcycle beneath him roared to life. "Come on. My sister wants to see you."

"Your sister?" Li Huowang was momentarily confused. Where did this "sister" come from? This person seemed like a stranger, yet he was acting as if they knew each other well.

Ba Shengqing didn't answer. He simply rode his motorcycle forward.

As Li Huowang hesitated, Yang Na, who was nearby, spoke up, "Huowang, don't go. This person clearly isn't a good sort."

"I know, but..." Li Huowang couldn't voice the thoughts in his mind. He felt a faint, almost imperceptible sense of familiarity, a feeling he had never experienced before.

"Let's go. We'll just see. I've dealt with trucks; I'm not scared of his little motorcycle." Li Huowang got onto his shared bicycle.

He didn't fully trust the guy. If the motorcycle headed towards a sparsely populated area, he would immediately turn back.

To Li Huowang's surprise, however, Ba Shengqing didn't go to a remote place. Instead, he drove his motorcycle directly into a bustling pedestrian street.

On the second floor of a building on the pedestrian street, Li Huowang saw Ba Shengqing's tattoo parlor, called "Blood Society Fire."

This guy had a strange name, and his shop had a strange name too.

Just as Li Huowang was hesitating whether to bring Yang Na into this potentially dangerous place, she pulled out her phone from her bag.

"Huowang, if you're going, I won't stop you. I'll stay on the second floor across the street and record, keeping watch for you. If something goes wrong, I'll call the police immediately and inform Qingwanglai and the others."

"Okay." Feeling the security of the military knife on his back, Li Huowang's mind eased slightly, and he walked towards the nearby stairs.

Ba Shengqing's shop was no different from any ordinary tattoo parlor. It was covered with large and small photos of completed tattoos, hanging like pieces of art on skin.

From a cubicle sectioned off by black fabric curtains inside the shop, a buzzing sound could be heard, as if someone was getting a tattoo.

Ba Shengqing tossed his motorcycle keys onto the counter and walked directly into the cubicle without even glancing at Li Huowang.

The buzzing sound stopped for a few seconds but then resumed. A person emerged from the cubicle, but it wasn't Ba Shengqing. It was a woman with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth.

She was a thin woman, similar to Ba Shengqing, with thorn tattoos on her neck and face. Their tattoos were mirrored: one had them on the left, the other on the right.

Unlike Ba Shengqing's bald head, her facial tattoos extended to a small portion of her left scalp, while the rest of her head was covered by long, dyed grayish hair.

The woman had a brow piercing on her left eyebrow, and her ears were covered with various earrings, clearly indicating numerous piercings. Her eyeshadow and lips were dark, and she was dressed entirely in black.

But for these details, her appearance would have been considered quite good.

Noticing a slight resemblance to Ba Shengqing in her brow, Li Huowang concluded that this was likely the sister the man had mentioned earlier.

As Li Huowang sized her up, she did the same to him. Neither spoke for a moment.

Li Huowang was certain he was meeting her for the first time, yet, like Ba Shengqing, she also evoked a faint, unexplainable sense of familiarity.

"Are you Ba Shengqing's sister? I heard you wanted to see me. Do you know me? Have we met before?"

The woman extended two fingers with black nail polish, plucked the cigarette from her mouth, and exhaled a puff of white smoke directly into Li Huowang's face. "Damn, you talk like you're trying to hit on me."

The fleeting sense of familiarity vanished instantly. Both her actions and her tone made Li Huowang feel extremely annoyed.

"Is there something you need? If not, I'll be leaving." As Li Huowang turned to leave, she blocked his path.

Before she could speak, Li Huowang's military knife was already pressed against her neck.

Feeling the cold metal, her attitude finally grew serious. She put the cigarette back into her mouth and used two fingers to gently push the blade away from her neck. "Don't trust Qingwanglai too much. He's not a good guy."

Li Huowang felt no reaction. He wasn't an idiot to believe everything a stranger said, especially since, so far, Qingwanglai had done nothing to harm him.

Moreover, when the woman spoke earlier, Li Huowang had clearly seen that her tongue was split down the middle, like a snake's forked tongue.

While one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, her first impression on him was undeniably terrible.

"Thanks for the heads-up. Did you have your brother call me over just to tell me that? I got it. Thanks." Li Huowang slid his military knife back into its sheath, ready to leave.

"I'll give you a piece of information: Qian Fu and Qingwanglai are in cahoots. If Qian Fu did anything before, it was definitely Qingwanglai who ordered it."

Li Huowang stopped, looking at Yang Na across the street. "You called me here just to sow discord?"

"Sit down." The woman tapped her hand on the table, which was covered with various tattoo designs, then dropped her finished cigarette butt into an ashtray and lit another.

"I'm sure Qingwanglai has told you about projections, parallel worlds, and such. Don't believe him. He's crazy, you know? He's got something wrong up here." The woman poked her temple with her finger.

"I don't care if he's crazy or not. Whether he is or isn't, it doesn't stop us from teaming up to face the enemy. But you two siblings..."

Li Huowang glanced towards the buzzing sound from the cubicle. "But you two, you're doing nothing, just sitting here reaping the benefits."

"Damn, how do you know I haven't done anything? This is your first time meeting us, isn't it? Do you know us that well?"

Seeing Li Huowang turn his head away, the woman propped both her feet directly onto the table. "Don't follow Qingwanglai's path. Be careful, he might lead you astray."

"Since everyone has different ideas, they should follow their own paths. Forcing everyone together will only backfire. As long as you can follow your own path, all difficulties will be easily resolved."

Li Huowang didn't quite understand what she was saying. He sensed she was about to start explaining her worldview to him.