Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 166

“Dragon!” Hou Longtao sat up abruptly.

“Tao-ge!” The Xingyue sisters jumped off the sofa, sat on the bed, wrapped their arms around the man’s neck, and kissed his face. “You’re finally awake! You scared us to death.”

“What happened to me?” Hou Longtao reached out and touched his head, finding it wrapped in gauze. He suddenly felt a chill. Could everything from last night have been just a nightmare, and he was the one who was really injured? “What happened to my head?”

“You were probably too heartbroken and fainted outside the emergency room, hitting your head and causing a big gash. You lost a lot of blood,” Zhiji said, glancing at her watch. “You’ve been unconscious for more than seven hours.”

“Ah…” Hou Longtao felt another wave of dizziness. He knew he hadn’t been dreaming. “…Dragon, he…”

“I saved his life.” The room was lit only by a dim bedside lamp, and the voice came from a corner shrouded in darkness. Tang Rui got up from the sofa and stepped out of the shadows.

“Where is he?” Hou Longtao jumped out of bed. He was only concerned about one thing, and it wasn’t what had happened last night. He yanked open the door to the room. “Take me there now… Huh?”

Mark, Long, and Glen, along with several FBI agents, were sitting on plastic chairs in the hallway. They stood up. “Mr. Hou, are you alright?”

“Where’s my brother?”

Mark led Hou Longtao up to the third floor and to the outside of the intensive care unit. He pointed to a bed behind the large glass window. “Mr. Lin is not completely out of danger yet. The doctor said the bullet grazed his brain, damaging some of the nerves. Now it depends on his will to survive.”

“When will he wake up?” Hou Longtao gripped the glass with both hands, able to see only a person lying on the bed, but not clearly.

“The doctor said if he doesn’t wake up today…” Mark shook his head.

“Can I go in?”

“You have to be sterilized like the doctors before they enter the operating room.”

“That’s not a problem.”

The two men entered the intensive care unit accompanied by a nurse.

Dragon’s head was wrapped in thick gauze, his face ashen, and his body connected to a pile of machines and IV drips.

Hou Longtao went to the bedside, his eyes immediately welling up with tears. “Can… can I hold his hand?” He didn’t dare to move recklessly.

“Yes.”

Hou Longtao took one of Dragon’s hands, finding it limp and lifeless. “Dragon…” He supported his forehead with his left hand, his legs weakening, and he almost knelt on the ground.

Mark, with the nurse’s help, supported Hou Longtao. “I think we should go out. This place doesn’t allow visitors to stay for long, and your current emotional state isn’t suitable for being here. I also have a few questions to ask you.”

After Hou Longtao left the intensive care unit, he stood rooted to the spot, staring at Dragon’s bed through the window. “Ask your questions here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“How did those people faint? Also, those two Japanese women, they suffered severe knife wounds, but no weapon matching their injuries was found at the scene.”

“How would I know? My brother took a bullet to the head. Would I be in the mood to pay attention to those Japanese?”

“The gun Mr. Lin used for suicide has been hit by a bullet. The person who fired the shot was shooting from a high tower outside the warehouse. It was that shot that saved Mr. Lin’s life. Who was that person?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was an FBI sharpshooter. I have no idea who it was.”

“Hmm…” Mark narrowed his eyes, thinking. Of course, he didn’t believe Hou Longtao knew nothing, but he was unwilling to talk, and he didn’t really need to press him. “Among the arrested Japanese, two are very successful commercial lawyers. One of them was hired by Mr. Lin. Under their supervision, Mr. Lin and Mikou Longxing signed an equity transfer agreement. We haven’t found that agreement. Mikou Longxing probably took it with him when he fled. If Mikou Longxing’s plan had succeeded, you would all have been killed by him, and then the bodies would have been destroyed, and the legality of the agreement would have been unquestionable. But now… although it’s probably not worth much more than a blank piece of paper, it could still affect your company. If Mikou Longxing’s legal representative files a lawsuit, it would still be troublesome to handle.”

Hou Longtao waved his hand. “None of that is important. I’m not in the mood to discuss business matters right now. Let’s talk about it another day.”

“I’m just reminding you that this matter isn’t over.”

“Thank you for your concern.” Hou Longtao pressed his hand against the glass, his forehead resting on the back of his hand.

“Tao-ge, sit down.” The Xingyue sisters pulled their lover to a chair by the wall.

“Mr. Hou, I still need to take your statement.”

“Have your people come. Just do it here.” Hou Longtao’s emotions were gradually stabilizing. Some necessary things couldn’t be delayed…

“Hmm…” Dragon opened his eyes with difficulty.

“Damn, how come you’re not dead?” Hou Longtao’s voice was filled with sobs.

“Hehe,” Dragon smiled weakly, his voice pitiful, clearly still very weak. “If you’re not dead, and I went first, who knows how many good girls would suffer?”

“Aren’t you the same?” Hou Longtao held Dragon’s hand tightly.

“Of course it’s not the same. If I mess with a few more, there will be a few less for you to mess with.” Dragon used the last bit of strength he had to squeeze Hou Longtao’s hand back.

This exchange between the two men was exactly the same as the conversation Hou Longtao had with Qi Dama on the boat when he first woke up.

Dragon blinked as much as he could. “Ah… why am I so tired? You’re so damn useless. It took you so long to rescue me. Do you know how many girls I missed out on?”

“Wang An,” Hou Longtao was now crying and laughing. “Are you afraid you won’t make up for it?”

“When did you become such a sissy? Always crying. When we get back to Beijing, I’m definitely going to tell Da-ge and the others. They’ll make fun of you to death.”

“Alright, stop talking so much. Get some sleep. We’ll talk slowly when you feel better.”

“Hmm… okay. I’m really sleepy, like I haven’t slept in a lifetime. Go away, go away.” Dragon slowly closed his eyes.

Hou Longtao followed the attending physician out of the intensive care unit and back to his office. “My brother should be alright, right?”

“Mr. Lin has a very strong will to live and is very healthy. Although he needs some time to recover, a full recovery shouldn’t be a problem.”

“He has a severe drug addiction. Is there any way to deal with that?”

“He doesn’t have a drug addiction.”

“What?”

“He used to have a drug addiction, but he doesn’t anymore.”

“What?”

“The purity of heroin is getting higher and higher. Once you’re addicted, it’s impossible to completely quit unless you have surgery to destroy the four nerve clusters in the brain that control addiction. But this surgery has some side effects and may cause changes in the patient’s personality. Although the possibility isn’t very high, many countries’ governments have banned this surgery for various reasons.” The doctor placed an X-ray of a head on the light screen. “This is Mr. Lin’s film. See this thin white line? This is the abrasion caused by the bullet on the cerebral cortex [the outer layer of the brain]. The miracle happened here. When we performed the craniotomy [surgical removal of part of the skull] on Mr. Lin, we found that the four nerve clusters controlling the drug addiction had been destroyed. We speculate that it was due to the high temperature generated when the bullet penetrated.”

Hou Longtao’s mouth was open, his jaw almost dropping to the floor. It seemed his brother was a lucky man. “He… he…”

“His drug addiction is gone.”

“This…” Hou Longtao grabbed the doctor’s hand. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.”

“Ah, ah, ah…” The doctor quickly shook off the other man’s iron grip, grimacing and rubbing his hand. “No need to thank me. This is a medical miracle. I didn’t do anything.”

“Right, his personality won’t…”

“There’s only that possibility. It’s hard to say right now.”

“Hmm.” Through the brief conversation at the bedside, Hou Longtao was sure that the current Dragon was still the same Dragon as before…

Tian Donghua slammed down the phone. “I knew those Japanese couldn’t be trusted.”

“They really made the first move?” Shi Chun sat on the sofa, smoking a cigarette.

“Yeah. Lin Long got a lucky break. Mikou Longxing and that agreement are nowhere to be found.”

“Damn, doesn’t that mean we’ve been wasting our time?”

“Hou Longtao is very cunning,” Tian Donghua walked to the basement window, looking up at the gray sky. “I don’t know what method he used to make the FBI work for him. Who knows if Mikou Longxing ran away or was captured by Hou Longtao? If he really escaped, I think he’ll come looking for us.”

“If he’s caught by Hou Longtao, what if he rats us out? Hou Longtao wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. The FBI could arrest us on charges of participating in a kidnapping.” Shi Chun seemed a little nervous.

“Don’t worry. If Mikou Longxing really falls into Hou Longtao’s hands, Hou Longtao will never hand him over to the police. He’ll deal with him personally. And he’ll never rat us out. We’re the only ones who can help him get revenge on Hou Longtao. We’re his only hope. Even if he dies, he’ll keep the bomb next to Hou Longtao.” Tian Donghua smiled confidently. “Alright, it’s time for her to make the call. Go keep an eye on her.”

“Damn, that’s a tough job. The girl is just too beautiful. Just listening to her talk makes me lose control.” Shi Chun reluctantly got up…

A waiter in a tuxedo poured wine for the young couple on either side of the square table.

“Why did you leave without saying goodbye this morning?” Hou Longtao picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

“You didn’t have the time or the mood to pay attention to me then. What was I supposed to do there?” Tang Rui elegantly cut her steak. “Your brother is out of danger?”

“Yeah, he’s fine now. He just needs to rest.” Hou Longtao’s mood was clearly hundreds of times better than it had been in the morning. “He’s also kicked his drug habit.”

“Really? How?” Tang Rui asked in surprise. She had thought that even if Dragon didn’t die, he would be crippled.

“It seems it was thanks to you.” Hou Longtao explained Dragon’s situation.

“Hehe, really? Good thing I didn’t kill him.”

“What do you mean?”

“When your brother first came downstairs, I could have shot him, but that would have exposed me, and the Japanese would have immediately started shooting. When he raised his gun at you, I didn’t know what to do. Neither did your two bodyguards. Any attempt to stop him would have caused the Japanese to start a massacre. It wasn’t until he raised his gun a second time that I couldn’t think about the consequences anymore. I originally wanted to shoot his arm, but I didn’t expect him to be aiming his gun at himself. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined that he was going to commit suicide. I couldn’t take any more risks. Killing him was the safest method. At the last moment, I realized his intention, and shooting his hand or arm wouldn’t have saved him. Hmph, the Japanese didn’t notice me and immediately started killing because your brother’s gun also went off. In short, it was a close call. Everything happened at the last second. You brothers are really too lucky.”

“Yeah, lucky.” Hou Longtao knew that such good luck wouldn’t always be with him. It was best not to play dangerous games in the future. “You only told half of the story about the special training last time. Are you interested in finishing it today?”

“Alright, since you’re so interested, I’ll satisfy your curiosity.” Tang Rui gently swirled her wine glass. “When the special training ended, I was only twenty years old and couldn’t be sent out to perform missions yet. I worked in the bureau for almost a year doing administrative work. Later, they wanted to send me to China, but I refused. Hehehe, you can’t imagine how furious the deputy director in charge of that project was at the time. They had invested at least several million dollars in training me, but they ended up creating a disobedient weapon.”

“You just didn’t go? They wouldn’t let you off so easily, would they? What about your grandfather?”

“Of course they wouldn’t let me go so easily. At that time, my grandfather was already very old and sick. When people get old, they change. He no longer cared about the conflict between the Communists and the Nationalists. He cared more about China. To be honest, he wasn’t particularly willing for me to go back and fight against my own country. My project was a top secret CIA project. Even most of the senators didn’t know about it. They couldn’t force me through normal channels. If they pushed me too hard, and I went public, the CIA would be in big trouble. It’s not that I’m bragging, but I was the best of that group, which meant I was the best in the CIA. They really didn’t dare to use abnormal methods to deal with me. My grandfather also used his connections. In the end, I reached a compromise agreement with the bureau. I used ‘Hua Lang’ as my code name and used the identity of a professional killer to disguise my real identity as a CIA agent. I did fifty things for the bureau in five years, but none of them were targeted at Chinese people. Since 2003, I’ve been a free agent.”

“Hehe, just like a Hollywood blockbuster.” Hou Longtao could imagine what it would be like if it were made into a movie.

“Pretty much.”

“Since you left the CIA, how can you continue to use that name? Wouldn’t they know it’s you? Would they allow you to get away with it?”

“Hmph, do you think the CIA is a particularly rigorous and efficient government agency? It’s not. There are countless examples in the CIA’s history of shooting themselves in the foot. The project I participated in was one of them. It trained us, but ultimately couldn’t control us. They need to have something on me, because I have something on them. Everyone has their own concerns, so they won’t tear each other apart. And you also know what the CIA’s main responsibility is. They occasionally take care of my business. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Of course I understand.” Hou Longtao thought for a moment. Fifty major events in five years. “You must be very famous in your circle, right?”

“Within a year of my debut, I broke into the top twenty in the world. When I left the bureau, I was third in the world. They all called me ‘Evil Wolf.’ In the past two years, I’ve been gradually reducing the number of jobs I take and becoming more and more picky. I don’t care about any rankings anymore,” Tang Rui shrugged, causing the alluring cleavage in her off-the-shoulder top to ripple. “I must have dropped a lot.”

“Your father must really want you to join the Dragon Tiger Hall, right?” Hou Longtao was now in the mood to admire the woman in front of him, especially the unique fragrance emanating from her, which was very provocative.

Tang Rui looked down at her cleavage and smiled charmingly. “Of course. He brings it up tirelessly every time we meet.”

“You lied to me last time.”

“What?”

“You said that if your employer changed next time, you might attack me. In fact, although you saved me last time possibly because of your employer’s identity, you didn’t kill me because of me.”

“I just didn’t want you to feel too good about yourself.” Tang Rui shook her head with a smile.

“Did I?”

“Didn’t you?” Tang Rui tilted her head and asked.

“No.”

“How do you feel now?”

“Ah…” Hou Longtao shuddered, almost jumping out of his chair. He felt a foot crawling up his leg, stepping on his crotch, pressing and rubbing.

“Don’t you feel good about yourself?” Tang Rui’s right elbow was on the table, her right hand supporting her chin and face, her expression peaceful and charming, with nothing unusual about it.

“Ah… good… good… but it’s still just generally good.” Hou Longtao felt the zipper of his trousers being pulled open by that nimble foot, and his huge cock was being teased out.

“What about now?”

“Hiss…” Hou Longtao bared his teeth. Now two soft, boneless feet were holding his big dick in the middle, constantly stroking it up and down. “Very… very good.”

“I knew you felt good about yourself.”

Hou Longtao reached under the tablecloth, grabbed the beauty’s foot, and gently twisted it. “No… no more fooling around.”

“Your brother is alright now.”

“Can’t fool around here.” Hou Longtao put his cock away.

“Then let’s go.” Tang Rui stood up.

“Wait, we can’t just leave like this.” Hou Longtao grabbed the woman’s hand.

“Hahaha.” Tang Rui understood what the man meant…

“Hmm… hmm… hmm…” Tang Rui wrapped her arms around the man’s neck, kissing him as she turned into the room.

Hou Longtao hugged the beauty’s waist, desperately sucking on her tongue. Even her saliva had that fragrance.

“Hmm…” Tang Rui turned her head away and kissed the man’s cheek. “You’re quite the gentleman.”

“What do you mean?”

Tang Rui reached out and touched the man’s hand on her waist. “So well-behaved.”

“There’s no need to rush. We have all night.” Hou Longtao buried his face in the beauty’s neck, inhaling her fragrance and gently licking her neck. “You smell so good, Fragrant Princess [referencing a character from a wuxia novel].”

“Are you Qianlong or Chen Jialuo [characters from the novel *The Book and the Sword* by Jin Yong]? Wanting to steal a kiss.” Tang Rui closed her eyes, enjoying the man’s tongue gliding over her delicate skin.

“You’ve seen it too?”

“I have to learn what Chinese people like.” Tang Rui moved the man’s head away, stroking his hair. “Your kissing skills are really good. My legs are a little weak.”

“Want to sit down?”

“No.” Tang Rui took two steps back, leaned against a table, bit her lower lip, looked down at her chest, then stared at the man. Her left hand was on the edge of the table, and her right hand slowly pulled open the knot on the chest of her inner garment, revealing her snow-white breasts and rosy nipples.

Hou Longtao followed, kissing the woman’s lips, and pulling her outer garment off her shoulders, stroking her smooth shoulders.

“Hmm…” Tang Rui dodged the man’s mouth, helping him unbutton his shirt one by one.

Hou Longtao’s hands stopped moving, kissing the woman’s short hair, letting her take off his shirt completely.

“Huff…” Tang Rui exhaled, caressing the man’s muscles with fascination. “You’re really not just strong.”

“Do you like it?” Hou Longtao tensed his pectoral muscles, squeezing against the woman’s plump breasts. “Can you feel their hardness?”

“Can… can…” Tang Rui lowered her eyes, kissing the side of the man’s pectoral muscles.

“I can also feel that hard ball on your chest.”

“Ah…” Tang Rui grabbed the man’s hand, pulled him into the bedroom, sat on the bed, and slowly lay down.

Hou Longtao followed, climbing onto the bed, pressing down on the beauty and kissing her, stroking her thighs with his right hand, rubbing her vulva through her panties.

“Ah… ah…” Tang Rui immediately convulsed as if she had been electrocuted, her abdomen contracting violently, her legs clamping down on the man’s hand. “Ah… Longtao, your hands are so hot…”

Hou Longtao sealed the woman’s mouth again, only letting her make “ooh ooh” sounds. The middle finger of his right hand entered her lower body. He had originally wanted to use two fingers, but her *xue* [vaginal opening] was unusually tight and could only accommodate one for the time being.

Tang Rui was a world-class killer. Countless souls had died by her gun, but she was still a woman. In bed, she could still be driven to distraction by a master of sex.

Hou Longtao noticed that as the speed of his finger movements increased and time passed, the fragrance emanating from the beauty’s body became even more intense. Now the room was filled with fragrance. “Baby, are you going to climax?”

“Ah… ah… ah…” Tang Rui thrust her hips painfully, her left hand gripping the sheets tightly, her right hand patting the man’s shoulder. “You… you… are so good at… it feels so good… ah…”

Hou Longtao grabbed the beauty’s spherical breasts, sucking hard on one nipple, and using even more force with his right hand.

For a man, playing with a woman’s *Bī seam* [vulva] is completely devoid of sexual pleasure, but the mental satisfaction is indescribable. Hou Longtao knew how to enjoy this pleasure.

“Does it feel good?” Hou Longtao withdrew the finger from her *xue* [vaginal opening], kissing the beauty’s heaving breasts.

“Wait a moment, let me rest for a moment.” Tang Rui pushed the man down on the bed, snuggling into his arms sideways. “You’re really experienced.”

“You don’t seem to have much experience.” Hou Longtao took off the short-haired beauty’s underwear, hugging her bare upper body.

“Of course. I have a lot of experience with MakeOut, but any further than that, I’m still relatively conservative.” Tang Rui flicked the man’s erect cock through his pants…(Golden scales are not things in a pond) [implying that Dragon is destined for greatness]