Chapter 67 – Violence Is the Most Direct Form of Dialogue

In the car, Gouzi drove carefully while probing, “Su-Ge, who was following you?”

As he saw it, anyone bold enough to tail Su Lifeng had to be a Xenospecies, or else a Mutant like Su-Ge, right?

When Su Lifeng did not answer, Gouzi realized he had only invited embarrassment on himself and quickly changed the subject. “Su-Ge, about the matter you asked me to look into-I’ve had quite a few brothers keeping a close eye on things this whole time. We didn’t dare slack off in the slightest, and finally, this morning, we made an important discovery!”

“Not bad. What did you find?” Su Lifeng nodded and asked.

After his little bit of self-praise received Su Lifeng’s approval, a hint of excitement immediately appeared on Gouzi’s face. “Here’s what happened. One of my brothers helps watch over a pretty high-end club. His main job is to keep an eye out for customers getting into conflicts and that sort of thing, since most of the people who go there are local rich kids and second-generation types. Among them, there’s this young woman who comes every single day. I heard she’s the only daughter of some company boss, and she spends money very freely.”

“Mm?” Su Lifeng truly knew nothing about nightlife places like that. Thinking it over carefully, the closest place he had ever been to was probably a KTV, right? But a group of tone-deaf bookworms howling into microphones had left him with some serious psychological scars…

Gouzi continued, “She usually has a whole group of friends with her. They’re all rebellious young people, and they were really close to her. But recently, for some reason, she suddenly started acting all secretive. She stopped hanging out with those people and went upstairs every day to open a private room and stay there by herself. That brother of mine said he thought it was pretty interesting, and even guessed that maybe she’d secretly hooked up with some male employee at the club, so he paid extra attention…”

“Get to the point,” Su Lifeng said.

“Here it comes, here it comes. This is the point… My brother discovered that she was chatting with a woman! But that woman-he remembered very clearly that she hadn’t come in through the front entrance at all! As it happened, that young woman’s group of friends showed up, so my brother told them about it, and the whole group went upstairs. He went off to the side to smoke a cigarette, and only when he came back did he find out that every last one of them had left. He asked one extra question, and the greeter said they left laughing and smiling. A few of the guys were even talking about how they could have some fun with that woman later that night. But once something like that leaves the club, my brother can’t exactly manage it anymore, right…” Gouzi even sighed with feeling at that.

“But Su-Ge, you know what happened? Early this morning, they found those people’s corpses behind the club! Every single one of them was dried up like a mummy! The moment I heard it, I knew it had to be mons… a Xenospecies showing up. Since this time it happened at the club my brother watches over, and he’d seen those people while they were still alive, I figured maybe he could give you some clues. I didn’t dare delay, so I called you right away,” Gouzi said.

“Mm. You did the right thing. So they haven’t called the police yet?” Su Lifeng asked.

“Well… with people dead, they definitely can’t keep it hidden, but the boss probably wants to do an internal check first,” Gouzi said, scratching his head.

“Oh…” Su Lifeng did not understand these gray-area matters, nor was he particularly interested in them. It was just that if the police were called, it would likely become much harder for him to investigate. And judging by his current situation, he did not want to have any more dealings with the police.

Before long, the car arrived in a relatively quiet district. On one side was a river channel, while on the other stood all kinds of neon signs. The interiors looked quite upscale, and at the same time they carried the decadent allure of a place drowning in luxury and desire. This was Su Lifeng’s first time coming to a place like this. Judging by its location, it was not all that far from Third People’s Hospital, yet it looked like another world entirely.

“Yeah, that hospital’s been completely sealed off. The official story for the public is that there was an accidental fire, and a lot of people burned to death.” Seeing Su Lifeng looking in the direction of Third People’s Hospital, Gouzi sighed as he spoke. A complicated look flashed across his face, as if he felt fortunate, yet also guilty and saddened. But what was done was done. No matter how much he thought about it, nothing could be changed now.

At least he was still alive, even if he had one foot in a far more dangerous world…

“I see,” Su Lifeng replied casually.

Just as the car was about to turn into an alley, Su Lifeng sensed someone watching him. He turned his head, but all he saw was a figure clutching a utility pole and vomiting.

“Damn drunks. Don’t mind her, Su-Ge,” Gouzi said with a glance.

Su Lifeng looked away, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Before long, the car stopped outside a rather luxurious-looking building. “This is the place.”

A man who had been smoking by the entrance looked as if he had been waiting there for quite some time. The moment he saw Gouzi’s car, he immediately came over.

“Gouzi-Ge…” The man had only just opened his mouth anxiously when he stared in astonishment at Su Lifeng, whom Gouzi was welcoming out of the car. “This is the… amazing big bro you were talking about? Come on, we’re brothers, don’t mess with me. I’m in real trouble this time…”

He wasn’t very old and was fairly good-looking, but he had a refined air about him, practically radiating the scent of books and ink. Although the man himself hadn’t studied much, he could tell at a glance that this guy was obviously a student!

How could someone like this possibly become the boss of street thugs? What did he rely on, reasoning with people?

Su Lifeng knew this had to be the Gouzi-Ge had mentioned, and when Gouzi saw his buddy reacting like this, he immediately panicked.

“What are you saying-“

Before he could finish, he felt a shadow blur beside him. In the next instant, his brother’s eyes went wide, and the cigarette clenched between his teeth dropped to the ground.

The man slowly and with great difficulty shifted his eyes toward the cold gleam pressed against his throat. Then he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the young man who had appeared in front of him at some point. “B-Big bro…”

“Can we talk business now?” Su Lifeng asked, putting away the scalpel.

“O-of course. Ask whatever you want. Ask anything. Xiao Liu will definitely tell you everything he knows.” The man called Xiao Liu wiped away his cold sweat, then shot Gouzi a look. The meaning was obvious: Where the hell did this big bro come from?! I’ve never heard of anyone doing things like this! Pulling a knife right away-he’s trying to kill me!

Gouzi glared at him, then silently wiped the sweat from his own palms on his clothes, thinking, Good thing I’ve been through this before. Otherwise, I would’ve screamed… and that would’ve been humiliating.

It had to be said: a knife really was the simplest, most direct way to explain things. By the time Xiao Liu led Su Lifeng through the front doors, he had already very consciously given a full account of the whole situation, including the parts he hadn’t told Gouzi…