The Omniscient

Chapter 30: A Little Secret

“Do we keep fighting?” Huang Ji asked.

No one dared to answer. All eyes were fixed on Huang Ji with a mix of fear and awe. Only after tasting his punches firsthand did they understand how sharp and brutal he was. A single hit left them convulsing on the ground—a level of force they had never encountered before.

“No more. You’re incredible. I’ll drop the job, and we’ll pretend this never happened!” Zhang Junwei relented, though his tone still carried a shred of bravado.

Huang Ji saw right through it. He dragged the injured Zhang Junwei back to the chair by the mahjong table and flicked the knife still embedded in his collarbone. Smiling faintly, Huang Ji said, “I didn’t come all this way just to rough you up and leave.”

“What, are you planning to make me your lackey? Kid, don’t think that just because you know martial arts, you’re untouchable—”

Before Zhang Junwei could finish, Huang Ji leaned close, speaking softly into his ear so no one else could hear: “If you don’t want your secret about cross-dressing to get out, you’d better listen to me.”

Zhang Junwei’s expression froze. He forced himself to remain calm. “What are you talking about? What do you mean by that?”

“You’ve got a little hobby, don’t you? I could tell at a glance,” Huang Ji said with a sly grin.

“Hmm… I wonder. You probably took some selfies, didn’t you?” Huang Ji continued teasing.

Zhang Junwei’s gaze turned sharp, locking onto Huang Ji. “Enough nonsense! Look, I admit I’ve lost today. You can leave, and I swear I won’t reveal your whereabouts. I’ll even forgo the five-grand advance as an apology!”

Huang Ji chuckled, “So there are photos. Let me guess, are they stored on a USB drive? Or maybe an SD card? Or do you have an entire hard drive dedicated to them?”

“…”

Seeing Zhang Junwei’s silence, Huang Ji rubbed his chin theatrically. “Oh, look at those blinking eyes. Guess it’s not a hard drive.”

“Maybe… an SD card?”

Zhang Junwei swallowed hard, his nervousness betraying him. Huang Ji nodded knowingly. “So it’s on an SD card, huh?”

“F*** off!” Zhang Junwei shouted, panic creeping into his voice. How does he know? Is my expression really that obvious?

Huang Ji’s voice turned contemplative. “Now, where would something so important be hidden? In your shoe? Or perhaps a secret pocket in your vest? Maybe here… or here… or even here?”

Zhang Junwei’s breathing quickened, sweat dripping from his forehead as he grew more tense with each guess.

“Could it be… here?” Huang Ji finally reached for Zhang Junwei’s belt. After a deliberate moment of searching, he felt a hard object concealed inside the belt’s inner lining.

The belt had hidden compartments—enough space for small items like blades, notes, or SD cards. There was even a blade stashed at the back of the belt, meant as an escape tool if Zhang Junwei ever found his hands tied behind him. At the front, however, lay an SD card.

“Damn it! I’ll kill you!” Zhang Junwei exploded with rage as Huang Ji retrieved the SD card.

Ignoring the knife still lodged in his collarbone, Zhang Junwei charged at Huang Ji in a fit of fury and humiliation. But Huang Ji sidestepped gracefully, pulling the knife out in the process without causing further harm.

As Zhang Junwei stumbled, his balance thrown off, Huang Ji kicked him squarely, sending him sprawling to the ground.

It was clear Zhang Junwei couldn’t win in a fight, but his anger now stemmed from sheer panic. There were secrets on that SD card he’d rather die than see exposed.

Huang Ji inserted the SD card into a phone, his face calm as he began scrolling through the contents. Zhang Junwei froze, his mind blank. He couldn’t stop imagining how Huang Ji might use the information, his thoughts a chaotic whirlwind of fear and shame.

“You f***ing bastard!” Zhang Junwei roared as he struggled to his feet. By now, he was so distraught he wished the ground would just swallow him up.

“Give it back… give it to me!” Zhang Junwei growled through clenched teeth.

“Enough!” Huang Ji suddenly shouted, his voice thunderous as he closed the phone. “I won’t leak this. Do you think, with my skills, I couldn’t have escaped capture? Idiot! The only reason I’m here and talking to you is to save your life!” ℟𝔞Ɲ𝐨𝔟Ę𝓢

Huang Ji’s demeanor shifted entirely. The casual tone he had been using was gone, replaced by a commanding presence that brooked no argument.

“I’ve seen your text exchanges with your mother. I know you’re a filial son.”

“I respect people who care for their family. I would never use your family to threaten you. But someone else might.”

“Think about your mother. Think about your brothers. Think about yourself. You’re in grave danger right now!”

“I’ll say this just one last time. If you want to survive, you’ll listen to me!”

Each word hit Zhang Junwei like a hammer to his chest. By the time Huang Ji finished, Zhang Junwei was drenched in sweat, sliding weakly back into the chair.

“Yes… yes…” Zhang Junwei muttered in defeat. “From now on, I’ll do as you say.”

Huang Ji had utterly subdued him—both physically and mentally.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Old Wang and Lin Li were stunned.

“What the hell just happened? Why’s Zhang Junwei so shaken?”

The henchmen exchanged puzzled looks as well, unsure what had just transpired.

Zhang Junwei declared, “From now on, he’s my boss. If anyone here thinks otherwise, beat him in a fight, and I’ll call you boss!”

The room fell silent. No one dared to challenge Huang Ji after the beating he’d delivered.

“Call me Hua Xu. When I’m not around, he’ll represent me fully,” Huang Ji said, pointing to Lin Li.

Lin Li, already briefed by Huang Ji, accepted without hesitation. Standing tall, he introduced himself, “Lin Li.”

Zhang Junwei paused, realizing Huang Ji placed great trust in Lin Li, and quickly nodded.

“As for this job,” Huang Ji continued, “you’ll tell anyone who asks that you didn’t find us.”

He removed the SD card and handed Zhang Junwei’s phone back to him. Zhang Junwei nodded vigorously. “Understood. I’ll deal with anyone who asks.”

Turning to his men, Zhang Junwei barked, “That goes for all of you. Keep your mouths shut.”

Huang Ji added, “The fifty grand you were supposed to earn—I’ll pay you myself.”

“No need for that!” Zhang Junwei protested. “If it’s as dangerous as you say, calling them would be suicide. You’ve saved my life—I don’t need the money.”

Huang Ji’s voice remained steady. “Spare me the false modesty. I’ll need your help with something else soon.”

He then pointed to the henchman who had picked up the fake gun. “But that guy… I don’t trust him. He’ll betray you.”

From the start, Huang Ji had noticed the man’s ambitions. Zhang Junwei’s gang of eleven men weren’t just followers—they were all small-time bosses in their own right, managing groups of eight to twenty underlings. For instance, Xiao Zha’s subordinate, Li Quan, had been the one initially sent to collect Old Wang’s debt.

After discovering that Old Wang had tricked Li Quan out of his money, Zhang Junwei didn’t publicly go after him. Instead, he allowed Li Quan to seek revenge and reclaim his dignity. If Li Quan managed to capture Old Wang, it would solve the problem. If not, and Old Wang slipped away, Zhang Junwei knew he’d eventually return home, where Xiao Zha could ambush him.

The man who picked up the gun, however, was a different story. He had long harbored ambitions of taking over and had been quietly building his own faction. His subordinates only recognized him, not Zhang Junwei.

Once Zhang Junwei decided to comply with Huang Ji’s instructions and dismiss the client’s request, most of his men wouldn’t pose a problem. But Huang Ji foresaw that the gunman would likely bypass Zhang Junwei entirely and report directly to the so-called Old Ma.

The man’s earlier attempt to shoot both Huang Ji and Zhang Junwei was a clear sign of his intent to replace Zhang Junwei. What he didn’t anticipate was that Zhang Junwei never fully trusted him and hadn’t revealed that the gun was a fake.

“I don’t trust him either,” Zhang Junwei admitted. “But we’ve been brothers for years. I can’t just kill him. Here’s what I’ll do: I have connections to get him admitted to a psychiatric hospital…”

Huang Ji replied calmly, “Your man, your responsibility. While you’re at it, take care of your injuries.”

“Will do.” Zhang Junwei nodded. He glared at the gunman still lying on the ground, then pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Hello, Old Chen? I’ve got a friend who’s gone a little crazy. Can you find a bed for him?”

“Yes, he’s showing violent tendencies. Right, you get the picture. I’ll transfer his medical fees monthly. Great, see you tomorrow. Drive over to pick him up.”

Hanging up, Zhang Junwei didn’t bother listening to the gunman’s pleas. He immediately ordered his men to drag him out and lock him up somewhere until Old Chen could deal with him.

Once that was settled, Zhang Junwei sat back in his chair, letting his trusted men clean and bandage his wounds.

“Boss, are we really going to take orders from this Hua Xu guy?” one of them asked hesitantly.

“What? You’re not convinced?” Zhang Junwei shot back, his glare silencing the room.

His men could all tell that Huang Ji had something on Zhang Junwei—some kind of evidence that had forced him to submit. Xiao Zha, curious, asked, “Big Bro, what’s he using to threaten you? If it’s inconvenient to share, forget I asked.”

Zhang Junwei wasn’t about to tell the truth, but to his two closest confidants, he offered a plausible lie. “I’ve killed someone. That card contains evidence of my crime.”

“But that’s not the main issue. Worst-case scenario, I go to jail. The real reason I’m following him is that I think he has a future. Everything he said checks out… The situation with Old Ma’s client is far more complicated than it seems. I acted without authorization, and if I call back, it could blow up and drag all of you into it.”

The others nodded in agreement, dropping the subject. They couldn’t deny that Huang Ji seemed exceptionally capable, and none of them had much resistance to following someone so competent.

Xiao Zha and another henchman, who had both previously experienced Huang Ji’s strength firsthand, were particularly on board. Their fear of Huang Ji outweighed any lingering doubts.

Meanwhile, Old Wang, who had been eavesdropping, chuckled to himself. Evidence of murder? That’s definitely a cover story. There’s no way someone like Zhang Junwei would leave such incriminating evidence lying around. What is he, a psychopath? Filming and keeping murder videos for fun? Impossible.

In Old Wang’s view, Huang Ji had likely used cold reading to uncover Zhang Junwei’s weakness. Through careful probing and analysis of his reactions, he had pinpointed the SD card’s location.

Having observed the entire exchange, Old Wang couldn’t figure out what the actual leverage was.

“Hey,” Old Wang sidled up to Huang Ji. “What exactly did you figure out about him?”

Huang Ji smiled and shook his head. “That’s a big secret. I need to keep it confidential.”

“Bah!” Old Wang scoffed, furrowing his brow as he tried to puzzle it out.

Zhang Junwei’s claim about murder evidence is clearly a smokescreen. What kind of secret would he rather admit to murder than reveal? Damn it, what is it? Something even worse than evidence of killing?

No matter how much Old Wang racked his brain, he couldn’t come up with an answer.

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