Urban All-Round Master

Chapter 150: Chapter 149: Isn’t that statement a bit too outrageous?

Chapter 149: Isn’t That a Ridiculous Thing to Say?

To put it plainly, a bodyguard is actually no different from a nanny. Nangong Bing was going to Yanjing to discuss a project, and according to Old Nangong’s request, it seemed like he wanted to pair the two of them up, but heaven knows if the old guy really had this intention.

”No need, I can take my secretary with me. It’s not a vacation, why bring so many irrelevant people?”

In a more rural way of speaking, her relationship with Lin Zifeng was like picking up the wrong bone, the two of them couldn’t stand each other...

”Bingbing, I’m going back tomorrow. I’m still not at ease with you going to Yanjing without a man to take care of you. At the very least, Zifeng was once a soldier. He must have some skills, right? Look at the muscles on his arms; most people would be scared to death just by looking at them. With him around, at least there’s an additional guarantee for your safety.”

”A beast was once a soldier?” The young girl who was engrossed in reading an electronic novel suddenly perked up when she heard her uncle mention that Lin Zifeng had been a soldier. She was puzzled.

”Yeah, don’t you know?” Nangong Shui couldn’t believe it. They had been together for several weeks now, and they knew nothing about Lin Zifeng’s background?

Even the always silent Nangong Bing was a bit surprised and gazed at Lin Zifeng expectantly with a suppressed excitement. In his impression, aside from a strong physique, this guy seemed to have no other special talents, right?

From what Nangong Bing had learned about him these days, this guy did nothing but mooch off others and was always unserious, loafing around the company every day, particularly fond of taking small advantages. She couldn’t find anything related to being a ’soldier’ on him at all, and in all this time, Lin Zifeng never mentioned his past as a soldier. Moreover, they didn’t want to know more about this detestable guy.

”Really? What kind of soldier were you before? Don’t tell me you were just a cook or a pig farmer in the army?” Although the young girl was very curious about Lin Zifeng’s military exploits, she couldn’t imagine this utterly shameless guy being of military material.

”Heh, if I could have raised pigs in the army, that would have been great. I could have started a pig farm after leaving the service. You might not know this, but nowadays, many college graduates can’t find jobs and end up going back home to set up pig farms. I’ve heard it’s quite profitable. If I had learned that in the army, I’d be a rich second-generation’s dad by now.”

”Pfft! Look at you, you don’t even look like you were fit for the army. Maybe you were just a small-time cook who looked after pigs and lit fires.”

The indifference displayed by Lin Zifeng left the young girl somewhat disappointed. She originally thought this guy might have had some connection with legendary ’warrior kings’ or something, but it seemed she had been overly excited for nothing. Maybe he really was just a pig farmer in the army, as she had guessed.

”Zifeng, why don’t you tell them about the people and events when you were a mercenary abroad? It’ll give them a chance to broaden their horizons.” The shameless old man was definitely doing this on purpose. There were things Lin Zifeng didn’t like to mention, but the old man seemed to deliberately bring up his past. Was he really trying to make the girls admire him and then pledge themselves to him with their bodies?

”Uncle, you’re not joking, right? He was a mercenary? Mercenaries are legends! I once read a report that said mercenaries come from the brink of life and death, and with each mission, they embrace the certainty of death, unless the enemy dies before them.”

The young girl’s eyes widened with admiration. First, she looked at Nangong Shui, then turned her gaze to Lin Zifeng, but she couldn’t see any connection between this guy and mercenaries no matter how she looked.

Not only was Hua Buqi’s eyes full of expectation, but even the lights in Nangong Bing’s beautiful eyes brightened up. Mercenaries, what a legendary title!

However, Lin Zifeng just looked down at his plate, drawing circles in it with a knife.

He laughed and said, ”Actually, the correct term should be ’mercenary’. Mercenaries don’t belong to any country or any official regiment internationally. They’re neither soldiers nor military. As long as the employer can pay, mercenaries will sell their lives for them,

The mercenaries you read about in novels and movies are just to fool the kids; real mercenaries are a bunch of ’warfare-dependant’ professional killers. They are hired to carry out assassinations, kidnappings, and combat operations,

In fact, the composition of mercenaries is quite complex, with all sorts of people involved, but they share one common trait: they love war, and war is everything to them.”

”Whoever pays, they’ll serve. This is a basic principle all mercenaries follow. They don’t see right or wrong. Being a mercenary means having to endure ’extreme hardship’. Their training consists entirely of basic military drills, with various safety measures and counter-terrorism tactics,

The training methods are often cruel, humiliating, terrifying, and painful. Without shedding several layers of skin,

one cannot hope to qualify as a mercenary. Once, a Wall Street Journal reporter reported that he had seen a trainee covered in xx, screaming ’wa wa’ while being roasted over a campfire.

Inhuman training has driven away batch after batch of starry-eyed enthusiasts. On average, out of every ten trainees, only one can complete two weeks of training; the rest can’t bear the pain and drop out halfway through.

But once they endure the test, each becomes a renowned ’Rambo’ with hundreds of mercenary groups around the world. Most of them prioritize interests, but our mercenary group... Heh heh.”

Lin Zifeng trailed off midway.

”Go on, keep talking. I was really enjoying that.”

Just as she was getting to the thrilling part, Lin Zifeng suddenly stopped, which greatly dissatisfied the young girl. This wasn’t the way to keep someone on tenterhooks.

Old Nangong was also listening with interest; after all, every man has a dream of being a soldier in his heart.

Over the years, Lin Zifeng had been drifting overseas. Two years ago they still kept in touch, but after two years Lin Zifeng vanished as if he had evaporated from the face of the Earth. These past two years, Nangong Shui had no idea where Lin Zifeng had been. Now that he was back, Nangong Shui decided to probe and try to get some important information out of Lin Zifeng.

”What’s there to talk about? The mercenary world and career are very dull every day,” Lin Zifeng casually responded.

”Hmph! Don’t try to fool us here; you definitely weren’t a mercenary before. If you really were, wouldn’t you be able to give a straight answer? And here I was, actually believing you might have been a soldier. Sigh. What a letdown.”

Lin Zifeng didn’t bother to argue. In truth, his three years as a mercenary were indeed full of stories, but he just didn’t want to bring them up anymore. He vividly remembered being hunted by the organization for months after a mission failure, a memory he couldn’t shake. As he recalled those blood-soaked battles, the veins on Lin Zifeng’s forehead involuntarily bulged, and his arms’ muscles coiled up like dragons.

The aura exuding from his body made Nangong Shui somewhat panic-stricken, and so he patted Lin Zifeng smilingly.

”Oh!”

Lin Zifeng was somewhat taken aback.

”Are you okay?”

Nangong Shui also knew Lin Zifeng must have just triggered some unpleasant past memories.

”You say you’re a mercenary, so what can you do?”

”I can fight!” Lin Zifeng stated simply.

”Fight? Can you really fight?” Hua Buqi asked innocently.

”Don’t let my lean appearance fool you; I can be fierce when I burst out! To put it in modern terms, I’m a real man!”

Lin Zifeng suddenly widened his eyes, raised his arms above his head, and clenched his fists, purposely flexing his biceps.

”That’s disgusting.” Looking at Lin Zifeng’s arms, with muscles hard as iron, the girl felt a wave of revulsion inside. Why would a man develop such repulsive muscles?

However, Nangong Bing’s reaction was different. She couldn’t help but exhibit a look of shock at the sight of his well-defined, sharp muscle lines.

”Zifeng, what I find strange is, you went abroad for five years, the first three overseas, yet there was no news of you for the last two years?” The Nangong elder was also perplexed by this.

At least two years later, Lin Zifeng reappeared out of the blue, which made Nangong Shui feel it was almost inconceivable, as if Lin Zifeng had encountered some misfortune.

The question Nangong Shui asked was precisely the one Lin Zifeng had always been avoiding.

After a moment’s deliberation, Lin Zifeng said, ”I was traveling these two years, and I’ve just returned.”

Lin Zifeng started to shoot the breeze with Nangong Shui. He casually made up a reason to fool him, but could Nangong Shui believe it?

Just as he prepared to try other tactics to inquire about Lin Zifeng’s affairs, Lin Zifeng stood up and said, ”It’s getting late, I have to go to work, lest the boss docks my salary again.”

”This...”

Nangong Shui was just about to say something when Lin Zifeng had already started running outside, apparently having something he couldn’t divulge. Despite being full of questions, Nangong Shui saw that Lin Zifeng was unwilling to speak up and decided to spare himself the inquiry. Perhaps Lin Zifeng did have some unspeakable difficulties.

”Bingbing, Huahua, your uncle will return tomorrow. If anything comes up, just call me, and remember to take good care of yourselves.”

”Uncle, are you leaving so soon?” It had only been a few days.

”I had to take time off from my busy schedule. What can an old bachelor like me do here? I’m better off going back to hang out with some old friends, having tea, and playing chess.”

After saying this, he got up, went into his room, and closed the door. From his pocket, Nangong Shui pulled out his cell phone and sent a message to a close subordinate: Help me check out all the information on Lin Zifeng from the mercenary group in country XX.

...

”Cousin, do you believe what that guy said?”

Seeing that both Nangong Shui and Lin Zifeng had left, the girl still harbored some doubts, skeptical about Lin Zifeng’s mercenary past.

Nangong Bingqing’s eyes wandered, her delicate finger lightly touched her chin, and she spoke in a lingering voice, ”I don’t know either, but by the looks of his carefree demeanor, it doesn’t seem likely.”

”I also think it’s unlikely. If this beast were as incredible as uncle says, then why would he work as a bodyguard? You can tell he’s a fake straight away.”

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