YM778.TV Chapter 665. Tightening (5)
Chapter 665. Tightening (5)
It was so dark in here. The room with no light source was darker than the darkness itself. Liu Wei was hugging his knees within this darkness, not even moving an inch.
Vrrrrrr!
Inside this dark room where not a single electronic device was switched on, the only connection to reality for Liu Wei was his mobile phone ringing and buzzing endlessly for quite some time now.
Liu Wei\'s dazed eyes drifted toward the phone\'s screen. Several different names were appearing on it. Liu Wei\'s manager, the talent agency\'s president, people related to the TV show, and even the director...
So many different people were trying to contact him, but Liu Wei didn\'t respond to any of them. He just stared at the phone without reaching out toward it.
His sleep-deprived, sunken eyes conveyed the tale of his current sorry state.
\'How did I end up like this?\'
The memories of those eyes didn\'t want to leave Liu Wei alone! That Korean bastard\'s glare had been branded into Liu Wei\'s brain and ruled over his entire being. And that glare roused soul-freezing terror in his heart.
If it had been someone else, Liu Wei would\'ve roared, \'How dare you!\' at the culprit responsible for such an insolent glare. Who would dare look down on Liu Wei when he was experiencing such a meteoric rise in fame?
However, he couldn\'t do anything in front of that man. The best he could do was tremble pitifully like a mouse after running into a cat in a dead end.
Liu Wei shuddered in dread again.
\'How... How can someone like that even exist?\'
Liu Wei couldn\'t understand himself. Why was he shivering pitifully in fear? Logically speaking, his behavior made no sense.
Even if that Korean bastard beat up Guo Liqin, why did Liu Wei tremble in fear to the point of having difficulty breathing simply by recalling that scene? It was too bizarre for him to comprehend.
Guo Liqin...
\'That\'s right. What happened to that punk, Guo Liqin?\'
A wry smirk floated up on Liu Wei\'s face.
There was no point thinking about that man\'s fate. If Guo Liqin had been freed... He would\'ve contacted Liu Wei by now. Even if he didn\'t, Guo Liqin would have called his higher-ups and informed them of the current situation. And those people would\'ve tried to contact Liu Wei through his phone or some other methods.
That was Liu Wei\'s reason for not turning his phone off.
Since those people hadn\'t contacted him yet, it implied two things. One, Guo Liqin had failed to escape, and two... Those people weren\'t aware of what happened to their man.
In that case, what would be the most logical thing for Liu Wei to do here? Obviously, he should pick up his phone and call those people himself.
Guo Liqin wasn\'t Liu Wei\'s protector. No, Guo Liqin\'s bosses were protecting him. And Guo Liqin was simply one of the agents they chose for the role.
The logical thing to do was call those people right away and let them know what happened here, then ask them to dispatch fighters good enough to eliminate that Korean bastard. And this was what Liu Wei of a few days ago would\'ve done without hesitation.
But now...!
This Liu Wei was different. This Liu Wei couldn\'t bring himself to do that obviously logical thing. As if his soul had abandoned him, Liu Wei shivered in fear before racking his brain for a solution, only to revert back to being a shivering wreck. This cycle continued to repeat itself.
Even though he was facing a logical choice, going through with it somehow turned into the most difficult thing Liu Wei had ever done.
Because he was scared. Nay, terrified!
Contacting the Dark Association was the same as Liu Wei expressing his intention to kill that Korean bastard. However, if the agents of the Dark Association failed to eliminate him for some reason... That terrifying bastard would come seeking \'answers\' from Liu Wei next!
Unsurprisingly, Liu Wei had no confidence in dealing with that situation.
Obviously, he knew that doing nothing would solve nothing. To change this situation, he needed to do something. Anything. Hiding like this and hoping his situation might take a turn for the better would help no one. In fact, it\'d only worsen the situation instead.
He knew all this. But... But, this was the case of easier said than done!
Just how many people in this world could decisively take the reins and change the situation they were stuck in? If such a thing was a common enough occurrence, humans would always choose the most optimal solutions. Everyone would\'ve become a success story. But that was impossible, and that was why people settled for their current mediocre reality. Obviously, no one would be 100% satisfied with their current situation.
Liu Wei acknowledged the inescapable fact that he... was a commoner. A nobody.
Thanks to his superior looks, he managed to gain some fame and fortune. However, take his looks away, and Liu Wei would be nothing more than an ordinary man. What could an ordinary man like him do in a situation this scary?
“Huff, huff...”
Liu Wei\'s breathing quickened.
\'What... What should I do?\'
Liu Wei desperately clutched at his hair. His brain kept trying to take him back to the past.
Why did he do that? Why did he stupidly try to touch that woman? If only he hadn\'t done that, Liu Wei would have safely finished another day\'s filming and leisurely enjoyed a bottle of champagne in a luxurious bar somewhere!
Greed...! Yes, it was his uncontrollable greed that got him into this mess. The price of failing to control himself was too steep!
\'No, wait...!\'
Liu Wei rubbed his face, hard.
\'That bastard is alone, isn\'t he?\'
There was no doubt that that Korean bastard was physically strong. Just look at how he defeated Guo Liqin and dragged that fool around like a stray mutt. However, a lone man couldn\'t do anything by himself against an organization, even with overwhelming strength.
Soon, Guo Liqin\'s bosses would hear about his defeat. Then, they would try to sort out this situation. If Liu Wei could buy a little more time this way... His life could return to how it was.
\'I should demand for someone stronger to protect me!\'
Liu Wei suddenly grew angry. Didn\'t the Dark Association people promise him that they would protect him? Didn\'t they rip off so much money from him under the premise of shutting out all the unsavory small fries planning to take potshots at Liu Wei? Yet, their man couldn\'t even handle something this simple?
Liu Wei gritted his teeth.
\'Let\'s look at this situation rationally.\'
Between that Korean bastard and the Dark Association, which one was more terrifying? A hundred times out of a hundred, Liu Wei would say the latter. Thinking about it rationally gave him all the answers he needed. Those two things couldn\'t and shouldn\'t even be compared!
That Korean bastard was alone. He couldn\'t possess as much strength as the Dark Association, an organization responsible for Liu Wei\'s protection! Even if that man was a big fish back home... This was China, not Korea!
“Fuu-huu-huph!” Liu Wei sucked in a deep breath, then cautiously reached out to his phone, his hand still trembling. \'It\'s... It\'s nothing to worry about!\'
He only needed to pick this phone up and dial a number. That was it.
Once he picked up this mobile device and dialed that number, all he had to do was say, Help me, and that would solve everything. The Dark Association people would take care of everything after that. And then, Liu Wei would return to his normal life as if nothing had happened.
Although people might gossip about him disappearing for seemingly no reason... This incident should get buried and forgotten soon enough, just like Liu Wei\'s previous indiscretions. He had already committed more than one or two mistakes in the past, anyway!
Eventually, Liu Wei\'s fingers wrapped around the phone.
Vrrrrr!
The device continued to vibrate within his grasp. Someone was calling him. He confirmed the caller ID on the screen before squeezing his eyes shut. The call was from his talent agency. Again. But now wasn\'t the right time to answer this call!
It felt like someone had thrust their hand inside Liu Wei\'s gut and began crushing his innards!
He hadn\'t eaten or drunk anything, not even water, for the past couple of days. No wonder his suffering stomach was constantly sending him pleading signals. This burning, aching sensation akin to an ulcer continued to torment Liu Wei. And this sharp pain got worse when he grabbed his phone. His innards were tumbling like no one\'s business!
\'F*cking hell!\'
Even though making a phone call was not a big deal! Why were his innards going crazy at the mere prospect of doing something so mundane?!
How could Liu Wei feel this much terror from someone he only briefly encountered for a few seconds!
If this was someone else\'s story, Liu Wei would\'ve scoffed derisively at its absurdity. But he couldn\'t do that now. He was that someone else, after all! His brain and the rest of his body were vividly experiencing this terrible reality.
“Huff, huff, wheeze...!”
Liu Wei\'s breathing grew rougher and heavier. His hand gripping the phone trembled even more. So much so that he wondered if he could even dial the correct number in his current condition.
Soon, the call from the talent agency ended. Liu Wei unlocked his phone and accessed the list of contacts. His eyes practically burned a hole into the screen as he glared at one specific contact number.
He was almost there. Liu Wei only needed to tap on the green call icon. And when he thought about it... The other side didn\'t even need to pick up his call. Just the fact that he was calling them would spur those Dark Association people to phone Guo Liqin. And when that idiot fails to return their call, they would immediately dispatch more reliable people to Liu Wei\'s place.
Since that was the case, all Liu Wei had to do was tap on that green call icon! Compared to trying to explain everything to whoever was listening... How simple was that?
Despite knowing that...
Why was Liu Wei\'s hand shaking like this? As if he was having a nasty seizure?
\'Tap on the icon, dammit!\'
Liu Wei failed to do something so simple that even a three-year-old would have no trouble doing it. He tried so hard to steel his resolve, yet his stupid hand didn\'t want to respond to his will.
What if... Just in case... In a one-in-a-million fluke...
What if Liu Wei made this phone call only for that Korean bastard to defeat the group sent by the Dark Association? What would happen to Liu Wei, then?
\'I... I might end up begging for death!\'
There were some things in this world that first-hand experience wasn\'t necessary to understand. That Korean man, he... The unique scent of people plying their trade in darkness wafted off from that Korean bastard. Indeed, he emitted that unique atmosphere capable of choking someone like Liu Wei without explaining or doing anything.
For the purpose of wine & dine or consultations, Liu Wei had met the Dark Association people a few times before. They all emitted a similar sort of scent. All those people were human only in appearance. Deep inside, none of them were really human.
This was the reason why Liu Wei couldn\'t squeak out a single word of complaint despite those people taking so much money from him. He instinctively knew any form of resistance was futile.
Guo Liqin was one of the more... \'driven\' bastards out of them. If Liu Wei didn\'t have the assurance of Guo Liqin never laying a hand on him without express permission from the higher-ups, he wouldn\'t even dare speak to that crazy bastard!
Guo Liqin emitted so much bloodthirst that merely talking to him face-to-face was enough for Liu Wei to nearly wet his pants. Guo Liqin hadn\'t said it out loud, but he must\'ve murdered more than a few people already.
Just how many times did Liu Wei feel the creepy chill run down his spine while talking to that man? There was this one time he was forced to talk to Guo Liqin for an extended period of time, and the reward for his troubles was suffering from nightmares throughout the night.
This story would\'ve been the same even if Guo Liqin wasn\'t affiliated with the Dark Association. That man was simply overflowing with too much bloodthirst, after all!
However, Liu Wei witnessed something on that day when he was confronted by that Korean bastard. He saw Guo Liqin and his terror-stricken face.
A cat was a deeply terrifying existence to a little mouse. However, the same cat was nothing more than a toy to a tiger. In that case, how could a little mouse oppose the mighty tiger?
“Urgh...!”
Tears suddenly began gushing out of Liu Wei\'s eyes.
“I... I can\'t do it...!”
Liu Wei convulsed violently while still gripping his phone. He couldn\'t make this call. Regardless of what would happen, he... He lacked the confidence to deal with the aftermath.
It... It was simply impossible to oppose that man!
“Sob, sniffle...”
Liu Wei was given a stark reminder of how pathetic he really was. With that, he realized there could be only one way out of this situation for him. And that was to continue trembling in despair and terror!
Unfortunately for him, even that was a luxury he could no longer afford.
Step...!
Liu Wei\'s figure flinched and convulsed.
That... That was the sound of someone\'s footsteps!
That sound was coming from beyond the doorway. And that realization caused more terror to fill Liu Wei\'s face.
No one knew he was hiding here. So, who... Just who could be approaching this place?
A chaotic mind could not think straight. All Liu Wei could do was curl up into a pitiful little ball and block his mouth to stop any noise from leaking out.
However, Liu Wei already knew. He knew who was coming to get him. This feeling... It was a belief that transcended rationality! And then...
“Open the door.”
A subdued voice came from beyond the closed doorway.