Chapter 154 I Shake Your Hand

Is this student really as formidable as Gao Yun and Ye Hui claimed?

Duan Jinhuan felt a deep sense of anxiety, his heart hanging like a bucket bouncing up and down in a well.

Eventually, he devised a plan. He needed to test Zhang Pu’s true martial prowess for himself!

While bustling about and making small talk with Zhang Pu, Duan Jinhuan secretly motioned over one of his most capable subordinates, a man named Hu Biao.

Hu Biao’s strength surpassed even that of Ye Hui. Like Ye Hui, he possessed a pair of hands as powerful as iron pliers. It was precisely with such hands that Ye Hui had grabbed Zhang Pu’s arm and hauled him back to this branch of the Triad Society.

Now, Duan Jinhuan intended to have Hu Biao test Zhang Pu first.

Although Duan Jinhuan did not believe Gao Yun and Ye Hui would dare to deceive him, no matter how he looked at it, he remained deeply skeptical of Zhang Pu's actual strength.

Perhaps a test by Hu Biao would reveal the truth? Who could say?

A short while later, as tea was being served in a cavernous hall, Hu Biao approached Zhang Pu under Duan Jinhuan’s covert instructions. He stated that he wanted to shake hands with Zhang Pu, claiming it was a lifelong habit of his. To show his utmost respect, he insisted that Zhang Pu extend his hand first.

Generally speaking, in handshake etiquette, a person of higher status extends their hand to someone of lower status, and an elder initiates the gesture toward a junior.

Hu Biao’s maneuver seemed proper enough. Naturally, the entire script had been coached by Duan Jinhuan.

However, Zhang Pu, who possessed eyes that missed nothing, noticed that by this time, Duan Jinhuan had already seated himself at the highest position of honor like some arrogant patriarch.

Psychologically, Duan Jinhuan clearly viewed Zhang Pu as inferior. If Zhang Pu were to lose the gripping contest against Hu Biao, Duan Jinhuan had no intention of treating him politely any longer. Moreover, punishing Gao Yun and Ye Hui would become inevitable.

How could Zhang Pu fail to perceive Duan Jinhuan’s attitude, or even guess the thoughts churning in his mind? Yet, internally, Zhang Pu merely chuckled softly.

Seeing the scenario orchestrated by Duan Jinhuan, Gao Yun and Ye Hui felt a wave of anxious worry. However, accustomed as they were to Duan Jinhuan’s oppressive rule within the Triad Society, they found it difficult to voice any objections.

Given the ghostly, unfathomable methods Zhang Pu had displayed earlier, Gao Yun and Ye Hui believed that even if Duan Jinhuan were to summon his own master from behind the scenes, that master might not necessarily be a match for him.

If Duan Jinhuan’s arrangement with Hu Biao was launched with malicious intent, Gao Yun and Ye Hui knew it would be an absolute invitation for disaster. Did Duan Jinhuan really think Zhang Pu would simply allow himself to be kneaded and taken advantage of? One only had to recall his ferocious rampage that fateful night, where he knocked down countless men, to understand his temperament. And back then, he had even been holding back.

At that moment, Ye Hui suddenly remembered that although he had successfully grabbed Zhang Pu, the boy had acted completely unfazed. Thinking back, he realized he had overlooked a crucial detail: sometimes, when Ye Hui was moving at a sprinting pace, this teenage boy had kept up effortlessly while Ye Hui naively thought his own brute strength was dragging the kid along!

He had been fooled and played by a mere teenager for so long without even realizing it, and a sudden wave of profound shame washed over Ye Hui.

At that moment, the main event of the arena commenced. In an instant, Zhang Pu’s hand and Hu Biao’s hand locked together.

Judging by age, Hu Biao was in his early twenties, older than Zhang Pu, who still looked like a high school student. Yet, because Zhang Pu had caused such a massive uproar within the Triad Society, even Duan Jinhuan was forced to look at him with newfound respect.

Strictly speaking, Hu Biao was merely an assistant and follower to Duan Jinhuan, placing his social standing well below Zhang Pu's.

Therefore, for this handshake, Zhang Pu took on the senior role.

In standard handshake etiquette, a grip that was too light would make the other party feel you were just going through the motions, completely devoid of sincerity, and treating them with contempt rather than friendship.

Did Hu Biao desperately want to be friends with Zhang Pu?

Either way, he suddenly squeezed with all his might!

Zhang Pu smiled.

Hu Biao’s hand was like an iron clamp, just like Ye Hui’s.

While Ye Hui was a mature man, Hu Biao possessed the surging, boiling blood of unbridled youth!

Seeing Zhang Pu smile, Hu Biao smiled as well.

Zhang Pu’s smile was gentle, a warm breeze reminiscent of the March spring, evoking images of weeping willows and peach blossoms amidst the bitter dead of winter.

Hu Biao’s smile, however, radiated an arrogant, overbearing triumph, with even a trace of cruelty lingering at the corners of his mouth.

To any perceptive observer, Zhang Pu’s hand had been completely engulfed and swallowed by Hu Biao’s massive grip.

Ye Hui was already considered sturdy, but Hu Biao’s physique made Ye Hui look almost puny by comparison.

Ye Hui’s build was that of a normal, robust man. Hu Biao’s build, however, had crossed into the realm of the abnormal and monstrous. Words like "bull" didn't even begin to cover it. And though Hu Biao was merely a young bull—after all, he was only in his early twenties—even mature, middle-aged bulls like Ye Hui paled in comparison!

Zhang Pu looked merely like a student with an ordinary build. Placed beside the towering, terrifyingly hyper-developed Hu Biao, if Duan Jinhuan’s imagination ran a bit dirty, Hu Biao could easily envelop Zhang Pu’s entire frame.

Zhang Pu’s hand appeared remarkably soft and weak as Hu Biao cruelly escalated his pressure, gripping tightly to ensure there was no escape.

Under Duan Jinhuan’s tacit instruction, if Zhang Pu truly turned out to be a petty swindler or a plant orchestrated by Ye Hui, Hu Biao had resolved to crush Zhang Pu’s hand to pieces today!

The moment Hu Biao prepared to exert his full strength, Zhang Pu had already perceived it—or rather, he had sensed it well in advance!

While that immense force completely enveloped his hand, a cold sneer echoed in Zhang Pu’s heart: Since you want to stick together so badly, don't regret it later!

As Hu Biao’s overwhelming strength struck, it was entirely blocked outside of Zhang Pu’s hand by an invisible barrier of energy.

Hu Biao deluded himself into thinking that Zhang Pu’s delicate hand was melting away beneath his own powerful grip, causing even some onlookers in the hall to break out in cold sweat.

However, when Hu Biao met Zhang Pu’s gaze once more, he was shocked to see that the boy was still smiling.

What on earth is wrong with this guy? Is he naturally immune to pain? Under the pressure of my iron grip, countless men would have wept and wailed aloud, yet he remains completely unbothered?! Hu Biao was utterly bewildered!

This bizarre scene caused even Duan Jinhuan to sense that something was amiss.

Duan Jinhuan was a well-traveled and experienced man, otherwise, he could never have risen to become the leader of the Triad Society.

He truly felt that something was wrong!

"Ah—!"

Before Duan Jinhuan could voice his concern, Hu Biao let out a strange, blood-curdling scream. To the shock of everyone present, Hu Biao’s massive body—weighing anywhere between two hundred and fifty to three hundred and sixty pounds—was launched through the air like a soaring projectile!

"Hu Biao—!" The words Duan Jinhuan originally intended to speak instantly transformed into a startled cry of horror calling out his subordinate's name!