Chapter 146: Uncle

It was a silver metal zipper tab, the kind you would normally only find on clothing. But this one was attached to the back of his uncle's neck.

It looked as if a firm tug could peel his uncle's skin right off.

Staring at the metal zipper embedded in the flesh, Zhang Wenda's pupils shrank to pinpricks. A terrible premonition flooded his mind.

"Let's go. We're going back to deal with that woman. Remember, once we're there, don't say a word. Let me do all the talking."

His uncle tossed the burnt-out cigarette butt to the ground, stamped on it firmly, and turned to head back.

Watching his uncle's back, Zhang Wenda followed, but he couldn't resist. He quickly grabbed the zipper and yanked it down. In the next instant, his uncle's body—clothes, skin, and all—slumped to the ground.

"What are you doing! You punk! Are you asking for it?" His uncle quickly reached back, zipped himself up again, and turned to scold Zhang Wenda.

But now, looking at the man before him, Zhang Wenda found him utterly unfamiliar. He couldn't help but take a step back. "You're not my uncle! Who the hell are you?"

Seeing this, his uncle flared up. "Are you an idiot? If I weren't your uncle, why would I have just stepped in to help you? What could I possibly want from you? You've got nothing worth taking! If we weren't family, who in this whole world would treat you so well for no reason?"

"But what's with the zipper on your body?" Zhang Wenda asked directly after a moment's hesitation.

His uncle sighed. "Haozi, you're still young. You don't get it. Your uncle has to navigate a dangerous world. I have to wear a few different faces to get by, understand?"

Seeing Zhang Wenda frozen in place, he walked over, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Only when I'm with you am I really your uncle. Everywhere else, I have to wear a different face just to get by."

Listening to his words, Zhang Wenda looked at him with complex emotions. In his memory, his uncle seemed to have changed, and yet he hadn't.

He had always been an optimist in front of him, always seeming confident and in control. When Zhang Wenda was little and asked what he did for work, he would always brush it off with jokes about 'tiling the Great Wall'.

'But I've never really known what he actually does. If, in this bizarre world, my uncle is part of the Big Circle, then who was the uncle who raised me all this time?'

At this thought, a pang of sorrow struck Zhang Wenda. 'Why does my existence only seem to bring pain to others?'

"Why the long face again? Anyone who didn't know better would think I was bullying you. Come on, now."

After patting Zhang Wenda on the shoulder, his uncle pulled a 10-yuan bill from his pocket and stuffed it into a hole in Zhang Wenda's clothes. "Come on, let's go. Stick with me. As long as your uncle's around, you'll be fine."

Zhang Wenda followed him back, watching the arrogant swagger in his uncle's step. The zipper on his neck swayed with the movement, glinting in the light.

'I'm finally grown up enough to see the zipper on my uncle's neck. I used to be so small and short, I probably couldn't have seen it even on my tiptoes.'

"Hey, sis, having a smoke?" His uncle sauntered over to Tang Xingxiong with a cheeky grin. "No filter? What's the fun in that? Try one of mine. Universe Brand!"

Tang Xingxiong, however, ignored him completely. She said coldly, "This isn't over. He attacked me, and given all the strange circumstances, I have reason to suspect your nephew is a spy for the Third Line."

Zhang Wenda's heart skipped a beat at her words.

Thankfully, he didn't have to face her alone this time. Hearing her accusation, his uncle immediately shot back, "Whoa there, don't just go throwing around baseless accusations. So we had a thing once, so what? Do you have to hate me so much you take it out on my nephew?"

"The hell?!" Zhang Wenda was relatively calm, but beside him, Song Jianguo's cat ears perked straight up, his face a mask of curiosity.

"I never let personal feelings interfere with official business. If I say there's something wrong with your nephew, then there's something wrong!" As Tang Xingxiong spoke, the moon in the sky instantly turned red.

Zhang Wenda was about to speak but his uncle pulled him back. "So you're targeting me, is that it? You knew he was my nephew, so you deliberately dragged him into this mess? I'd like to know what you're playing at!"

"What's the deal? You drag my nephew in, frame him as a Third Line agent, all to get back at me? Is this your idea of blatant revenge?"

"Whatever happened between us is our business. Don't you know the rules of the Big Circle? You don't bring family into it, understand?"

Seeing him derail the conversation again, Tang Xingxiong completely lost her temper. "I don't care what you say! Zhang Wenda has to answer for what happened today!"

"Oh? And what if I don't?" A faint red glow lit up from behind his uncle's dark shades, and the zipper on his back rattled ominously.

As the atmosphere grew tense again, it seemed this wasn't going to end peacefully. Zhang Wenda quietly pulled Song Jianguo aside. "If a fight breaks out, you and I take on Saber. We'll tie up one of them first."

Just as Tang Xingxiong's body began to show signs of transforming into crows again, a hearty laugh echoed from a nearby tunnel.

Then Zhang Wenda saw him: Liu Jianming, the garlic-eating Vampire, strode in laughing heartily. Hu Maomao, wearing a tinfoil pot on her head, followed silently behind him, along with several other people.

The moment he saw Zhang Wenda's uncle, his eyes lit up. "Well, look at you! Biaozi! When did you get back?"

"Hahaha! Number Two! Long time no see, my friend!" His uncle and Liu Jianming embraced in a tight hug, looking every bit the old comrades.

Song Jianguo leaned in and whispered in Zhang Wenda's ear, "Your uncle sure knows a lot of people. Looks like he's got some serious status in the Big Circle."

"Shut up!" Zhang Wenda's heart sank at his words. He instinctively glanced at Hu Maomao. Sensing his gaze, she tilted her head up slightly.

At that moment, his uncle, arm slung around Liu Jianming's shoulders, walked over to Zhang Wenda. "Come on, come on. This is my nephew, Zhang Haozi. Don't just stand there like a post, call him 'Uncle'."

"So this is your nephew? No wonder! He really takes after his uncle, hahaha! You always did like to keep the good stuff for yourself!"

"Hahaha, oh, get outta here." His uncle then pointed at Hu Maomao. "Come on, Wenda. Call her 'Auntie'."

"'Auntie?'" Zhang Wenda's face scrunched up in confusion. 'What's the deal with their relationships? How is my uncle such a social butterfly in the Big Circle? He seems to know everyone.'

"These are all your uncle's friends," his uncle said with a chuckle, gesturing to the group. "If you ever run into trouble, they're the ones to find. Got it?"

Hearing this, the silent Hu Maomao suddenly spoke. "Your nephew is our nephew. Anyone who messes with your nephew is messing with us."

Watching the group completely ignore her, chatting away like old family, Tang Xingxiong trembled with rage, but there was nothing she could do.