Chapter 171: Even insignificant people have their dignity!

Ji William was not lying.

Knowing Tang Chong's fiery temper and formidable martial arts skills, he had specially selected several highly capable retired soldiers from his father's side to bring along this time. The Chunjiang Club already possessed a robust security force, and with these men as his backing, he truly had no reason to fear Tang Chong.

Moreover, he had arranged for these men to stay in the adjacent servant's room ahead of time, agreeing upon a secret code. Whenever he shouted the word "Man Ting Fang", they were to immediately rush in and beat the person up—beat them fiercely, without sparing his own face.

He had only ever contemplated making a move against Tang Chong himself; it had never crossed his mind that Tang Chong would act with such ruthless aggression even when his weaknesses were held in check.

Tang Chong launched a sudden surprise attack.

The moment he struck, Ji William was completely dazed.

A punch to the eye socket left his head spinning and dizzy, followed swiftly by a kick that sent him crashing against the base of the wall. There he sat, foolishly stunned, completely forgetting to shout out the passphrase "Man Ting Fang".

By the time he finally regained his wits, Tang Chong had already begun forcing toxic wine down his throat.

Did these bastards not hear the sound of bottles shattering in the room? Did they not hear the clattering noises? Did they not hear—the sound of him being slapped across the face?

Of course, these bodyguards were internally conflicted as well.

They had heard the sound of cups breaking next door, but that was not the secret code.

They had heard the sound of some object colliding against the wall, but that was not the secret code.

They had heard the sound of slaps being delivered, but that was still not the secret code—

If they were to charge in right now without hearing the passcode, they would already be violating their prior agreement. They couldn't help worrying whether Young Master Ji would fly into a rage or directly fire them on the spot if they rushed in by mistake.

However, upon seeing the scene unfolding inside the private dining room, they realized they had not barged in incorrectly at all.

"Young Master Ji, how are you? Are you injured?" asked a burly man wearing an earpiece who was leading the pack, his voice urgent. He was Zhu Yujian, the security manager of the Chunjiang Club, responsible for the security operations of the entire establishment. If something happened to the club president's son on his watch, his career as security manager would effectively be over.

"Let go of Young Master Ji," another dark-faced man roared loudly. He was one of the experts brought by Ji William, one of the tough guys specifically recruited to deal with Tang Chong.

Tang Chong glanced at them and cursed, "Get lost, all of you."

"Surround them," Zhu Yujian gestured, and the men in black behind him immediately formed a fan-shaped encirclement, closing in on Tang Chong.

Tang Chong landed another sharp slap across Ji William's face and scolded, "Tell them to get lost."

A stinging pain flared across Ji William's cheek, bringing a mix of humiliation and rage as he shouted, "Get out! All of you, get out!"

Earlier, when Tang Chong struck his face, it had at least happened behind closed doors. Now, being slapped in front of his own subordinates made Ji William grind his teeth so hard he felt like he would shatter every last one of them—

"Young Master Ji—" Zhu Yujian dared not leave. Fixing his gaze on Tang Chong, he said, "What should we call this friend here? Let's talk things out properly and avoid making things difficult for our Young Master Ji... Whatever conditions you have, feel free to state them. We will certainly do our utmost to satisfy them."

Slap—

Tang Chong delivered yet another heavy blow to Ji William's face. Understanding dawned on Zhu Yujian instantly; he led his men and fled the room tail between their legs.

With Zhu Yujian gone, the dark-faced giant dared not linger either. Throwing a worried look at Ji William, he retreated to the doorway of the private room.

Tang Chong hauled Ji William up from the floor, dusted off the seat of his trousers, and said, "Come, let's sit down. Let's have some food and share a little wine. Having talked for so long, I've gotten rather thirsty."

At this point, Ji William's mind was consumed entirely by the thought that Tang Chong had poisoned him; how could he possibly have the heart to care about anything else?

Like a walking corpse, he was dragged by Tang Chong to the low table and forced to sit down. Hearing Tang Chong loudly order meals and dishes to be served, and then, under Tang Chong's relentless coercion, eating the food and drinking the wine like a white lab mouse—seeing that he neither fainted nor died, Tang Chong finally felt secure enough to pick up his own chopsticks.

Having eaten and drank his fill, Tang Chong observed that Ji William's complexion remained normal without any unusual drug reactions, and only then was his mind truly put at ease.

Tang Chong accepted a warm towel handed over with trembling hands by a beautiful hostess dressed in a pristine white cheongsam, wiped his mouth, and said to Ji William, "It's not convenient to hail a cab now. Would you mind giving me a ride?"

"This gentleman..." Zhu Yujian beamed a ingratiating smile, terrified of inadvertently provoking Tang Chong's anger once more. "Our Young Master Ji has an injured eye, so driving might be somewhat inconvenient for him... The safety of both of you is paramount. How about I drive you back instead?"

"No need. Let him drive," Tang Chong stated in a tone that brooked no refusal. He looked at the dazed Ji William, who seemed oblivious to his surroundings, and asked, "I assume you won't refuse?"

"I won't," Ji William replied.

"Very well. Then let's go," Tang Chong said.

With that, he hauled Ji William up from the floor, pushing him ahead as a shield while keeping close behind.

The security guards of Chunjiang Club in their uniform black outfits and Ji William's personal bodyguards could only step backward repeatedly, boxing Tang Chong and Ji William tightly in the center.

As they rounded a corner in the corridor, Zhu Yujian, who had been leading the way the entire time, suddenly spun around and launched a direct, vicious "tiger pounces on the heart" strike straight at Tang Chong's exposed face.

Tang Chong shoved Ji William's body forward, using him perfectly to absorb Zhu Yujian's attack.

A rush of wind came from behind, accompanied by heavy footsteps and a foul odor in the air.

Tang Chong slightly crouched his body, executed a hundred-and-eighty-degree backward spin, and forcefully drove his right elbow backward.

Bang—

The dark-faced giant took the blow squarely in the chest, a rib cracking under the impact. He let out a miserable shriek before collapsing heavily onto the ground with a loud thud.

Zhu Yujian and the dark-faced giant had long since established a tacit understanding, executing their coordinated front-and-back assault in the span of a lightning flash.

Tang Chong's reaction speed was simply too terrifying—using Ji William's body to block Zhu Yujian, then spinning back to heavily wound the dark-faced giant—all of this transpired in the blink of an eye.

Having struck the dark-faced giant's chest with his elbow, he didn't even turn to look back. Instead, using the lingering momentum of his rotation, he performed another hundred-and-eighty-degree counter-spin and grabbed the arm of Ji William, who had not yet managed to fully escape.

Now, the greater part of Ji William's body was trapped in Zhu Yujian's embrace, while his other arm remained gripped tightly in Tang Chong's hand.

"Let go," Tang Chong said, his face chilling as he stared at Zhu Yujian.

One had to admit, this fellow was quite shrewd and formidable. That risky gamble moments ago had nearly snatched the captive right out of his grasp—had he not possessed such an extraordinary level of strength.

They were strong. He was stronger.

"Let him go, and I'll let you leave." Having managed to create an opening to rescue Ji William, Zhu Yujian was naturally unwilling to give up now.

Furthermore, thanks to the precious time bought by him and the dark-faced giant, the others had all swarmed in, occupying the most advantageous positions.

Right now, both in terms of numbers and terrain, they held an absolute advantage.

"Idiot," Tang Chong cursed. Abruptly, he exerted brute force and pulled violently on Ji William's arm.

"Ah—" Ji William shrieked out, breaking into a cold sweat of pure agony. He felt as though his arm was about to be torn right off.

"If you have the guts, why don't you try pulling like this?" Tang Chong said, locking eyes with Zhu Yujian, who was inching closer toward them.

Naturally, Zhu Yujian did not dare to imitate Tang Chong.

If he were to do such a thing, the consequences would go far beyond simply getting fired.

"Don't dare pull, do you?" Tang Chong said with a chilling smile. He exerted violent force once more, and with a crisp 'crack', Ji William's arm was forcefully dislocated. "Do you dare to rip his arm right off?"

"........." Zhu Yujian's expression turned intensely ugly.

"If you don't dare, then let go immediately," Tang Chong commanded. "What I just pulled out of place was only the bone. If I pull again, his flesh and skin will tear apart as well—I'm not afraid of his revenge, but are you?"

Zhu Yujian was indeed afraid.

"Let go! Quickly let go!" Ji William was crying from the sheer, unadulterated pain. Such a handsome man reduced to weeping so miserably and pathetically. "Zhu Yujian, you motherfuc#er—hurry up and let me go!"

Pain!

It was simply too painful!

A bone-deep, soul-piercing agony!

He would rather remain trapped in Tang Chong's hands than endure being pulled back and forth by the two of them any longer—he had already tasted enough of Tang Chong's methods today, and he genuinely feared this lunatic might literally tear him apart limb from limb.

The moment Zhu Yujian loosened his grip, Ji William fell right back into Tang Chong's control.

"Slap your own face," Tang Chong told Zhu Yujian.

"Bastard, you——" Zhu Yujian flew into a rage.

"This is punishment for your transgression against me just now," Tang Chong stated. "If you don't taste pain, you won't learn to behave..."

Naturally, Zhu Yujian had no intention of obeying Tang Chong's command.

How could he possibly slap his own face?

Seeing this, Tang Chong gripped Ji William's dislocated arm and ordered, "Make him slap his face."

"Slap your face!" Ji William's body convulsed in agony at the slightest brush against his injured arm by Tang Chong. "Hurry up and slap your face!"

A flash of murderous intent flickered through Zhu Yujian's eyes, yet he ultimately chose to bring his palm down hard across his own cheek.

Slap—

Slap—

Slap———

Only then did Tang Chong look satisfied, turning to tell Ji William, "Let's go."

Ji William hurried ahead to lead the way, guiding Tang Chong toward the parking lot.

Glancing back over his shoulder, Tang Chong noticed Zhu Yujian and the group of men following at a moderate distance, no longer exhibiting the same anxious urgency as before.

Tang Chong knew that forcing Ji William to compel Zhu Yujian to slap his own face had planted the seeds of bitter resentment in Zhu Yujian's heart.

With such an incident occurring, how could he possibly remain as eager to eagerly rescue Ji William as he had been earlier?

Even a lowly nobody possesses dignity!