Chapter 42: The Emergence of the Chopstick Hero

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Time had quietly slipped past eight o’clock in the evening.

At various possible locations where Chopstick Hero might appear, more and more people gathered, waiting eagerly.

For instance, near the Wonder Building.

Large crowds were watching the spectacle unfold.

With nothing better to do, they took out their phones to check the time.

“When is Chopstick Hero going to show up?” asked a skinny virgin graduate from the Normal University.

“Yeah, we’ve been waiting so long already,” someone nearby chimed in.

“Could it be that we’re just going to keep waiting like this?”

“What else can we do? Usually, when someone commits murder, it starts around eight o’clock in the evening, maybe nine, ten, or even midnight,” said Fatty Wang, whose forum username was “Waiting on the Wall for the Red Apricot.” He pulled out a deck of cards. “So, I came prepared with several decks. Let’s play cards while we wait.”

“Damn, Brother Wang, you’re well prepared.”

“Brother Wang is mighty.”

“Of course! You think all this meat on me comes from eating plain rice?” Fatty Wang laughed heartily.

They all sat down to play cards.

Following their lead, people nearby who had cards started playing too; those without decks immediately bought some and joined in.

The police officers on watch nearby noticed the card games starting. Some with a gambling itch swallowed hard but knew the mission was critical tonight and dared not be distracted.

The squad leader of Special Operations Team C, called Daoist Flirt, had already launched his charm offensive on several young women: “Little ladies, this is true Zhou Yi divination, tracing back to King Wen of Zhou. My skills are top-notch. Want me to read your fortune?”

His assistant, already sweating with exasperation, said, “Daoist, we have a mission today, don’t delay it.”

Daoist Flirt waved his hand impatiently. “Relax, how could I possibly delay the mission? Besides, Qin Zhengtian probably hired some experts; maybe we won’t even need to act.” With that, he dove into his fortune-telling, evoking a chorus of giggles from the girls.

By half past nine, many had been waiting a long time, playing numerous rounds of cards, but Chopstick Hero still had not appeared.

“When will Chopstick Hero show up?”

“Who knows?”

“Forget it, let’s keep playing.”

Some even made calls to other watch points to ask if Chopstick Hero had appeared there, and upon hearing no, continued waiting.

Hardly anyone left; the card games went on. Some grew hungry and bought packets of instant noodles from nearby shops. Soon, the rich aroma of noodles wafted through the Wonder Group building.

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By ten-thirty, some people were already yawning.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Wait, look!”

“Look at what?”

“Chopstick Hero seems to have appeared.”

Instantly, the noodle eaters stopped eating, and even those in the midst of card games paid no attention to their current hands.

“Where? Where?”

“Where’s Chopstick Hero?”

“Let me see.”

“Ah, I see him.”

“Yes, right there.”

Many peered with their eyes or binoculars, spotting a man about six feet tall, wearing a set of autumn workout clothes, sneakers, and a peculiar mask on his face, standing on a relatively uncrowded avenue in the southeast corner.

The mask was strange—an image of an ancient man.

But below the lips were two written characters.

“What kind of mask is that?”

“Can’t tell.”

“I saw the two characters under the mask’s lips. The first is ‘Fan’, but the second is complicated. I really can’t make it out,” said someone with binoculars.

“See, you really lack culture. It’s probably Fan Li. Although many merchants existed before him, Fan Li is generally regarded as the patron saint of merchants. Qin Zhengtian is a businessman, so Chopstick Hero is using the merchant ancestor’s mask to kill him. Damn, Chopstick Hero’s got style. I think he could even be called Mask Hero instead. Sounds way cooler than Chopstick Hero,” said Fatty Wang, still perched on the wall.

“Makes sense, but Chopstick Hero is just a codename. Once everyone agrees on it, adding ‘Mask Hero’ would be awkward and nobody would understand. So, better to stick with Chopstick Hero,” said a forum member named “Hatred Without Eyes, Hatred Without Circles,” a thirty-something white-collar worker in real life.

Then calls went out to other watch points: “Come quick, Chopstick Hero has appeared here. Don’t wait elsewhere—drive over fast, you can still see him.”

…

Shen Ye walked step by step on the asphalt road.

Countless eyes surrounded him.

Since debuting and roaming the streets as a righteous hero for so long, this was the first time he had been watched by so many.

The feeling was truly strange.

All this was stirred up by the death notice.

Shen Ye was calm; let them watch.

What puzzled him was that although his death notice was split into ten parts, intended to disperse the police forces somewhat, there should still have been officers guarding Qin Zhengtian.

He had always worried about dealing with the police.

Yet outside the Wonder Building, not a single policeman was in sight.

What was going on?

Naturally, Shen Ye did not know that due to the handover between the new and old deputy governors of Yang City, the new deputy governor wanted Qin Zhengtian dead so that his own merchants could take over, resulting in no police presence here at all.

Shen Ye stepped into the first floor of the Wonder Building.

The first checkpoint was not deserted.

Instead, there were over a hundred security guards standing firm.

Some held electric batons; others gripped steel pipes.

The head of security said gravely, “Brothers, we’ve already checked Chopstick Hero’s background. He calls himself a hero and must be bound by that. Everyone he’s killed so far committed great crimes—murder, child trafficking, and such. Before coming here, we made sure we’re all clean and have done no wrong.”

“So, Chopstick Hero can’t kill us.”

“Boss Qin also said, anyone who takes part in this operation gets a thousand yuan.”

“For every extra minute we hold from when Chopstick Hero enters the first floor until he reaches the second, we each get another thousand.”

“Boss Qin isn’t asking us to fight Chopstick Hero to the death—just to wear him down.”

“Brothers, charge!”

This tactic was actually suggested by a martial arts master close to Qin Zhengtian.

Typically, martial artists without using internal energy aren’t much stronger than ordinary people.

But if they use internal energy, it drains very quickly.

So, using ordinary people to surround Chopstick Hero, block and exhaust him, would wear down his internal power, leaving him with little strength left.

(Today relatives came to visit, so the update is late, but there will definitely be three chapters released. Don’t worry. This is the first update.)

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