Chapter 68: Deal With Him First
In the real world, inside the wreath and burial clothes shop next to Su Xiao's accessory store.
The owner of this shop was named Fatty Ma, a feng shui master, 'proficient' in fortune-telling, divination, astrology—in short, anything related to the occult, he was 'skilled' at.
Of course, that wasn't the truth. What Fatty Ma was best at was bluffing. He could guess what his customers were thinking from their speech and subtle expressions, making 'fortune-telling' simple.
Although Fatty Ma was a fraud, he was a fraud with a conscience. Of course, he never thought what he did was honorable; it was all just for a living.
As a feng shui master, Fatty Ma was very good at reading people's minds. But today, he encountered the Waterloo of his life.
The outer door of the wreath and burial clothes shop was locked tight, with several sheets of yellow paper and a large patch of cinnabar scattered on the floor. Fatty Ma wasn't setting up some ritual; this was the result of him being unable to suppress the anger in his heart a few minutes ago.
"Where did you take my brother!"
Fatty Ma clenched his fists and roared, then punched a thin, dry man tied up with ropes in the stomach.
Bang.
The fist landed, and Fatty Ma's fat trembled. A thin layer of fine sweat had already formed on his forehead.
The thin, dry man let out a muffled groan. He was tied to a wooden chair, and the punch nearly toppled the chair backward.
"Heh heh heh heh."
The thin, dry man let out a dry laugh.
"This fat guy is interesting. Black Skin took something he shouldn't have. Tying him up was just to keep things from blowing up. Not killing him was already merciful. Oh, by the way, I'm hungry. Go get me something to eat."
The thin, dry man didn't care at all about Fatty Ma, because he knew the other party didn't dare to do anything to him.
"You motherf*cker..."
Fatty Ma's face fat trembled. He dared to beat the guy up, but as for torture and interrogation? He'd only seen scenes like that in movies. If he had to do it himself, he really wouldn't dare. Besides, his brother Black Skin was still in these people's hands; he couldn't act rashly.
"Cousin, calm down."
A girl in a light blue dress grabbed Fatty Ma's arm. She was his cousin, who had come to visit him today. Fatty Ma was about to treat his cousin to hotpot when this happened. He had tried to persuade his cousin to leave earlier, but although she looked gentle, she was actually quite stubborn.
"This fat guy doesn't look like he can cook. Woman, go get me something to eat. I haven't eaten in almost a day."
The thin, dry man moved his neck. He had already figured out that Fatty Ma wasn't the type to kill him, so he became even more brazen.
The thin, dry man was a desperado. Originally, he was supposed to catch Black Skin, but who would have thought Black Skin carried a stun gun and zapped him in the chest, knocking him out cold.
Knowing things were bad, Black Skin immediately tried to escape the city, but he was intercepted by that group halfway, leading to the kidnapping. As for what Black Skin had taken, it was still unknown. Black Skin himself was a gray-market dealer who sold crossbows or stun guns, and he also took in items of dubious origin.
Before Fatty Ma could treat his cousin to hotpot, he naturally called his brother Black Skin. The two brothers' shops were separated only by Su Xiao's accessory store.
The kidnapped Black Skin, of course, couldn't answer the phone. When Fatty Ma arrived at Black Skin's shop, he saw the thin, dry man lying on the ground, with signs of a struggle around him indicating that Black Skin was in trouble.
That led to the scene of Fatty Ma tying up the thin, dry man for 'torture and interrogation.' Fatty Ma had already beaten the thin, dry man a few times and thought about calling the police, but the thin, dry man said just one sentence that dispelled Fatty Ma's idea of calling the police.
"If you don't want your brother to die, untie me right now and turn on the air conditioner. It's hot as hell."
The thin, dry man smiled at Fatty Ma. Fatty Ma picked up the phone beside him and dialed a number. He had called this number many times, but no one answered.
"I warned you, no calling the police."
The smile on the thin, dry man's face suddenly disappeared, and his eyelids drooped.
Seeing the thin, dry man's gaze, Fatty Ma's hand trembled. He had seen that look before, which immediately told him that the thin, dry man had blood on his hands. This was a genuine desperado, completely different from those little thugs who would give in after a beating.
Doo, doo, doo...
In the dead silent room, the busy tone of the phone reached the ears of the three. In truth, the thin, dry man wasn't as calm as he appeared. He was very afraid that Fatty Ma would call the police. He had several lives on his hands; if he went in, he would never come out.
"What is it?"
A male voice came from the phone. Fatty Ma let out a long sigh of relief, and the thin, dry man also secretly relaxed. A police officer would never ask 'What is it?' as their first question.
"I'm in trouble. Do you have time?"
"Five minutes."
The phone was hung up. Fatty Ma looked at the thin, dry man, a hint of pity even in his gaze.
"Cousin, did you call for backup?"
The stubborn cousin asked tentatively.
"I called... a professional."
Fatty Ma clenched his fists. He was already pushed to the edge.
The backup Fatty Ma called was, of course, Su Xiao. As for why Fatty Ma didn't come to find him in person, it was out of necessity. Last time, he tried to go to Su Xiao from the back door of the accessory store, but who would have thought he would step on a landmine in the backyard!
Thinking back to that landmine experience, Fatty Ma was still a bit shaken.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock came at the door. Fatty Ma stood up with a whoosh and quickly went to open it.
The rolling shutter door rose, and Bubu Wang was the first to walk into the shop. Su Xiao also bent down and stepped inside, holding chopsticks in one hand and, surprisingly, a bowl of noodles in the other.
Su Xiao surveyed the situation in the room. Soon, his gaze settled on the thin, dry man tied up.
"Talk. What's the matter?"
Su Xiao sat on the sofa opposite the thin, dry man and calmly continued eating his noodles.
The cousin's gaze never left Su Xiao. The thought in her mind was, is this guy, dressed casually and eating a bowl of noodles, really reliable?
Fatty Ma detailed everything he knew. Su Xiao quickly understood what had happened. He looked at the thin, dry man a few times. The other party wasn't a contractor; judging by the faint, almost negligible smell of blood, he was at most a desperado.
"I roughly understand. Deal with him first."
Su Xiao put down the bowl of noodles and walked toward the thin, dry man.
"You..."
The thin, dry man's body instinctively leaned back. He just felt that Su Xiao was off, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
Their eyes met. The thin, dry man's eyes gradually widened, and his pupils rapidly contracted. His long years of life as a fugitive had honed his instincts. When he looked into the other party's eyes, it was like staring into an abyss—his scalp went numb, and his legs went weak.
"Black Skin was taken to the western suburbs. If you kill me, he'll never..."
Zzzz~
A fiber thread, so thin it was almost invisible, wrapped around the thin, dry man's neck. Drops of blood seeped from the indentation of the thread. The thin, dry man's face quickly flushed red, and the whites of his eyes began to fill with blood.
"Wait, wait, I'll... tell you everything."
The thin, dry man's voice began to grow hoarse. He struggled violently, but he was tied to the chair.
"I don't need you to say anything."
Su Xiao pulled out his phone and dialed a number.