Chapter 314: My Name is Dark Tiger Hak Foo
When Frank saw the five men enter, his gaze turned hostile. He gave Rei a sharp, knowing look.
Rei noticed the signal, quietly picked up her mask, and cast a sideways glance at the newcomers from her chair.
"Are you looking to buy something, gentlemen?" Frank asked with a polite but thin smile, setting down his glass.
The man in the green suit looked at one of his subordinates, who immediately stepped forward. "We're from the Enforcers. We're looking for someone."
"Someone?" Frank asked, feigning confusion.
Rei's heart skipped a beat. Thinking the gang was there for her, she quickly pulled the mask onto her face to hide her features.
"Hmm?" This movement naturally caught the green-suited man's attention.
"I am Valmont," the man said coldly as he stepped forward. "I'll have to ask you to take off that mask and let me see your face, miss."
Upon hearing Valmont's command, the four henchmen immediately surrounded Rei.
Sensing the danger, Frank took advantage of the gang's distraction. He yanked a handgun from his desk drawer and barked, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Boss! He's got a gun!" Chow, the short one in yellow glasses, shrieked and dove behind his massive companion.
"Yeah, Boss, he's got iron!" Ratso, the large Caucasian man, added nervously.
"Enough! Chow! Ratso! Quiet down!" Valmont snapped, his blood pressure rising. Seeing his men cower like that was an insult to the Enforcers' reputation. He turned his cold gaze back to Frank. "We are the Dark Hand. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"I don't care who you are. This is my shop, and you're harassing my guest," Frank retorted, keeping the gun leveled at Valmont while signaling Rei with his eyes to get out.
Rei understood the peril, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon Frank.
Valmont narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong with the shopkeeper, and this masked woman... could she be the one they were looking for?
"There's no need for things to get so... rigid. Right, Hak Foo?" Valmont tapped his cane against the floor.
Standing beside Valmont was a massive man with a shock of fiery red hair shaped like a starfish. He had matching red facial hair and a fierce expression. He wore a dark blue vest, black wrist guards, a dark brown belt, and dark red trousers.
"My name is Dark Tiger Hak Foo," he said, stepping forward without a hint of fear toward the gun.
"Dark Tiger who?" Frank thought the man was insane. He was holding a firearm, after all.
In that split second of Frank's hesitation, Hak Foo's eyes flashed. He coiled his muscles and leaped from a standstill: "Elephant Kicks the Leg!"
Crack!
Hak Foo's thick right leg struck Frank's hand with pinpoint accuracy. The pain forced Frank to drop the pistol, which skittered into a corner.
"Black Tiger Steals Heart!" Hak Foo's right hand formed a claw. Accompanied by a whistling wind, he lunged for Frank's chest.
Thump!
Frank was sent flying by the strike, crashing into the bookshelves behind him. A cascade of heavy books began to tumble down toward him. Rei moved like a blur, grabbing Frank and pulling him away just before he could be buried under the volumes.
"Foolish," Valmont said, pulling out a handkerchief to cover his nose against the rising dust. "Take off the mask, little girl."
Rei ignored him. She helped Frank up, her voice urgent. "Frank! Are you okay? Talk to me!"
"I'm... fine. Not dead yet," Frank wheezed, his face contorted in pain. Hak Foo's strike had been devastatingly heavy.
Shing!
Rei grabbed a wooden training katana from a nearby display and held it level in front of her. "I don't recall ever offending the Dark Hand."
"We are looking for someone," Valmont said, glancing at Finn.
Finn immediately pulled a photograph from his coat and held it up for Rei and Frank to see. When they saw the woman in the photo, both Rei and Frank felt a wave of relief. It wasn't them.
"You have the wrong person," Rei said. She had thought it was a vendetta from her past, but it was just a misunderstanding.
Frank leaned against the wall, slowly finding his footing. "You've made a mistake. This is all a misunderstanding."
"Wrong person?" Valmont arched an eyebrow. He looked at Rei. "Then take off the mask and prove it."
"Fine," Rei said. She reached up to pull the mask off, but to her horror, it felt as though it were fused to her skin. She pulled again, harder, but it wouldn't budge.
"What is it, Rei?" Frank asked. Now wasn't the time for games; they needed to get these thugs out of the shop.
Rei used all her strength, but the mask remained motionless, as if it had become a permanent part of her face. "I... I can't get it off."
Valmont's cane tapped the floor rhythmically. As the seconds passed, the frequency of the tapping increased.
"Let me try," Frank said. He grabbed the edges and pulled with all his might. The mask was indeed stuck fast. "Wait! There's something wrong with this mask! We can't remove it!"
"Enough!" Valmont slammed his cane onto the wooden floor. "If you want to play games, I'll play along. Hak Foo!"
"Mount Tai Crush!" Hearing the command, Hak Foo leaped high into the air, intending to use his massive weight to crush both Frank and Rei.
Thud!
However, the shop's ceiling wasn't particularly high. Hak Foo's leap sent him straight into the rafters; his head and shoulders smashed through the wooden ceiling, leaving him comically stuck halfway.
"I've been meaning to renovate and raise the ceiling," Frank sighed.
"You should be glad you didn't," Rei noted.
"You idiot!" Valmont barked, pointing his cane at Rei. "Capture them both!"
"Yes, Boss!" Finn, Ratso, and Chow grabbed nearby objects and charged at them.
Rei gripped her wooden katana and turned to Frank. "Hide! I'll deal with them!"
Frank didn't argue. He dove into the back room and locked the door. He knew Rei was a capable fighter, and at his age, there was no point in being a hero. He immediately picked up the phone to call the police.
Outside, Rei noticed something strange. Her injured right arm—the one that had been shot—felt no pain at all. In fact, it felt stronger than ever.
She could draw her blade again!
"You're just small-time thugs," Rei's gaze turned sharp, like a polished blade. "Let me show you the swordsmanship of the Ryougi family!"
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