“…Hmph.” He paused for a moment before letting out a hum: “I was born in the border region between China and Vietnam, where people can all speak a few words of Chinese.”
"Have you ever fought in a war?" I looked at his palms; the calluses on them clearly showed he was someone who was used to handling guns.
"...I fought." A sinister smile crept across his face. "I was exactly eighteen when the Sino-Vietnamese War broke out." He seemed to feel a sense of oppression, and suddenly roared, "Give me a knife! If I fall into your hands, I'll die! I accept it! I'll take care of myself!!"
Looking at his face, which had become somewhat ferocious with excitement, I sighed softly and waved my hand: "No rush, no rush."
I slowly leaned back on the sofa: "Who are you? The famous Little Nguyen! The number three figure in Vietnam. Wouldn't it be a waste for someone like you to fall into my hands and be killed with a knife and a gun?"
After saying that, I glanced back at the stone and asked, "Did you find it?"
Stone immediately handed me something. He laughed and said, "Found it, and it's a high-end item."
I took it in my hand and glanced at it. It was a Sony digital camcorder, a very high-end model. This was what Shi Tou found in this house.
Stone glanced at me, a strange smile on his face: "I just took a look, and there are some fun things inside."
"Oh?" I fiddled with it casually for a bit, then pressed the play button...
Immediately, the screen of the digital camera showed the sounds of a man and a woman panting, moaning, and shouting. The image was somewhat blurry and the angle wasn't great, but the screen showed a bed with a naked man and a woman entangled together... And this man and woman were none other than Xiao Ruan and his mistress in front of him.
Xiao Ruan's face immediately turned ugly, while the woman's face flushed red, her eyes showing fear and shyness. She seemed to want to snatch the digital camera, but didn't dare to.
I only glanced at it a few times before turning it off casually. I looked at Xiao Ruan and said, "I didn't expect you to like this kind of thing, taking selfies... hey!"
This guy surprised me. He straightened up and said fiercely, "Nonsense! I'm in my own home, I can film it myself, so what! What I do in my own home, even if it's just pointless farting, is none of anyone else's business!"
I pursed my lips and smiled amicably: "Oh, I didn't mean to make fun of you, I was just a little surprised."
Then my smile vanished. I slowly said, "Mr. Ruan, whether you accept your fate or not, it's useless now that you're in my hands. However, I won't kill you easily... You're still very useful to me..."
"You want to use me to threaten my brother?" He sneered, cursing in Vietnamese. Then he said fiercely, "You think my brother would be threatened by you?"
"Probably not." I shook my head. "Da Ruan isn't stupid. Even if I threaten him with you, he won't give in. People who live in this world are already risking their lives. I wouldn't do something so stupid. What I need you to do for me is something else..."
"What?" He looked at me with some suspicion.
I stared at him for several seconds, a sly smile creeping across my face. The longer I smiled, the more uneasy he became…
When he was already starting to get restless, I saw that the time was right, so I waved my hand, then leaned closer and whispered something in his ear...
There's a reason I deliberately talked so much nonsense with him earlier.
This Xiao Ruan is no ordinary person; he's tough and fearless. But I've always believed that truly fearless people are very, very rare! Most so-called "fearless" people are merely sustained by a surge of inner strength; once that strength fades, they'll become afraid!
When we first caught Xiao Ruan, he was so emotionally charged that he wasn't afraid of death. So even when I threatened him then, he wouldn't back down. But now, once he's calmed down, the effect will be completely different!
"..." After hearing what I said, Xiao Ruan's face showed a look of horror. She stared at me with wide eyes and suddenly exclaimed, "What! You! You poisonous snake! You are so vicious!! Even if you kill me, I would never do such a thing!!"
My smile vanished the moment he refused, and my face darkened instantly: "I'm not negotiating, I'm giving an order. Your life is in my hands, it's mine! You have no choice but to obey!"
Seeing that Xiao Ruan was still sneering, I waved my hand, and Scorpion, who was standing next to me, came up and, together with two other brothers, dragged Xiao Ruan off the sofa and onto the open space in the living room next to the room...
Without saying a word, the scorpion raised its foot and kicked Xiao Ruan in the stomach...
"ah!"
The scream came from the woman. The scorpion's appearance was already frightening, and the scar on her neck made it look even more grotesque. Although the woman tried her best to hold onto Xiao Ruan, my men pulled her away.
Then I casually picked up a newspaper from the sofa and started reading it.
A full five minutes!
The beating lasted for five minutes!
At first, Xiao Ruan tried to appear tough, gritting her teeth and refusing to cry out in pain. But who were Scorpion and his gang? They were seasoned veterans of violence! They knew exactly which parts of the human body were weakest and most vulnerable to blows! They targeted the very spots that would hurt the most!
I simply looked down at the newspaper, a cigarette between my fingers, my face calm and serene. All I could hear were the sounds of fists hitting flesh, the stomping of leather shoes, Xiao Ruan's initially suppressed, painful gasps, and later, her uncontrollable, low cries of pain.
A few minutes later, I finished both of my cigarettes. I also finished reading a whole page of the newspaper. Only then did I look up and slowly say, "That's about enough." Scorpion and the others stopped.
Xiao Ruan was dragged back to me.
He looked like a dead dog, his body limp as mud. His body was covered in bruises, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth, clearly from being beaten until he vomited blood. He couldn't even stand up straight in front of me; if it weren't for Scorpion holding him up from behind, he would have collapsed to the ground long ago.
I looked at his face carefully. Thankfully, Scorpion remembered my instructions and didn't hit him in the face. Although there was blood on his face, it was from when he vomited blood earlier, and it could be wiped clean.
I sighed, lifted his chin with two fingers, and looked at him carefully. His eyes were weak, and the fierce look he had just had had faded considerably.
I released my grip, and his head drooped again. I casually pulled out a tissue, wiped the blood from my fingers, and said calmly, "So? Xiao Ruan, will you agree or not?"
"You...kill him..." His voice was weak, but still stubborn.
"Hmm..." I hesitated for a moment, then bent down, reached out, and lifted one of his hands, placing it on the coffee table in front of him. I casually drew my dagger and, with a sharp sound, plunged it between his index finger and thumb!
"Look at your hands, you're pretty good with a gun." I said casually, "But I've never heard of someone being able to handle a gun well after losing their thumb!"
Before I could finish speaking, the dagger in my hand had already swiftly pressed down...
"Ah!!~!!!"
With a soft cracking sound, accompanied by Xiao Ruan's shrill scream, I severed a bloody thumb cleanly at the root!
Xiao Ruan's face suddenly flushed red, then turned deathly pale. He struggled and trembled in excruciating pain. But with Scorpion and the others holding him down from behind, how could he possibly move?
I remained expressionless, gently shifting the blade of the dagger until it pressed lightly against his index finger, my tone still calm: "I'll ask you one more time, will you do it or not?"
Xiao Ruan gasped for breath, her voice trembling as she screamed, "Kill me, kill me... kill me..."
I sighed and pressed down with my hand...
"Ahhhhhh"
The room echoed with heart-wrenching screams. My severed index finger rolled to the ground, leaving a bloody mark.
The table was covered in blood. As Xiao Ruan struggled, I said calmly, "Use the other hand."
Xiao Ruan's other hand was forcefully pressed onto the table by the scorpion behind her. Her eyes were already closed, and she was still making low screams.
I looked at his face, sighed, and said in a calm voice, "Why bother? Why suffer this physical pain? I didn't want to torture you like this in the first place. If you cooperate, I'll release you now and even heal your injuries."
Xiao Ruan remained silent, but I could see his brows trembling, clearly indicating an inner struggle.
Without hesitation, I raised my hand and slashed!
"Uh..." This time he couldn't even utter a sound!
I looked at the two remaining severed thumbs and one index finger on the table and sighed, "Xiao Ruan, I'll ask you one more time, are you willing?"
Xiao Ruan had lost consciousness from the pain, her mouth trembling as she murmured, "Kill me...kill me...kill me..."
"Kill you?" I sneered, my eyes full of mockery. "If you're really not afraid of death, if you're really that tough and want to die, you could just bite your own tongue and die! Have you dared to do that since just now?"
Xiao Ruan's body trembled, and her face turned ashen.
Yes, he was actually afraid of dying too!
That's normal! He's not some fearless hero! He's not some revolutionary martyr!
This kind of person, although he claims to be a gangster, and what goes around comes around... he's not the kind of person who fights on the front lines! He's the boss!
What is a leader?
The boss's motto is: "If it's life-threatening, your underlings will do it! If it's murder, your underlings will do it! If it's wrong, your underlings will take the blame!" As the boss, all you need to do when necessary is say a few harsh words, make a few tough statements, and the fighting and killing will naturally be done by your men! Most of the time, when bosses get angry, they'll roar, "I'll chop you up! I'll wipe out your whole family!"
Hmph, I'll chop it up! But it'll be my underlings who do the chopping!
They have to be wiped out, even if it means it! But it'll be their underlings who do the work!
This guy is the "boss"!!
People like Xiao Ruan are usually served by a large group of henchmen, drink fine wine, embrace beautiful women, ride in luxury cars, and live in mansions...
I simply don't believe someone like that isn't afraid of death!
"How are you, Xiao Ruan?" I patted his face hard.
He looked up absently, his eyes unfocused. But when he saw me clearly, hatred returned to his pupils.
I looked at his blood-soaked hands and sighed, "Why did you do this... If you had cooperated obediently, your hands wouldn't be crippled now... Now look what's happened, you won't be able to hold knives or guns anymore, I don't think you can even hold chopsticks."
After a pause, I smiled and said, "How about that? All you have to do now is nod your head, and all this suffering will be over."
Xiao Ruan was starting to waver; fear was clearly visible in his eyes!
"Hmph," I sneered inwardly. "A mongrel is a mongrel."
Mongol dogs look like wolves, but they don't have the ferocity of wolves!
Seeing that Xiao Ruan was wavering and hesitating, I waved my hand again, and someone immediately dragged the woman behind her over.
The woman had fainted from fright but quickly woke up. However, seeing me cut off three of Xiao Ruan's fingers without batting an eye, she fainted twice more. This time, one of my men grabbed her by the hair and dragged her over, waking her up in pain.
Ignoring the woman's struggles, I grabbed one of her hands and pressed it onto the table. In my other hand, the dagger twirled between my fingers, the blade turning back and forth, while my eyes were fixed on Xiao Ruan.
"Look, what a beautiful woman, her fingers are as tender as freshly peeled scallions... Such a beautiful hand, if it were missing a few fingers, sigh..."
After saying that, I gently inserted my dagger between the woman's two fingers, the blade lightly pressing against her thumb, and looked at Xiao Ruan: "It's all up to you."
At that moment, even I couldn't help but feel like a devil. Fear was written all over the woman's face. She tried to struggle, but I held her down tightly. She was shouting something in Vietnamese, desperately pleading.
“The calamity…the calamity…don’t let the family be implicated!” Xiao Ruan squeezed out these words through gritted teeth, her tone already pleading: “My affairs have nothing to do with her, she’s just a woman who knows nothing…you…you’re a very famous person too…the rules of this underworld…”
Snap!
Before Xiao Ruan could finish speaking, and before I could say anything, Shi Tou suddenly rushed up from behind and slapped me across the face.
Before I could even shout, half of Xiao Ruan's face swelled up, and she spat out another tooth.
"Rules?! Rules?!" Stone's face was cold and filled with murderous intent. "You Vietnamese people dare to talk about rules? I fought against you Vietnamese people back in the day! What despicable, filthy, and vile methods haven't you Vietnamese people used? You dare to talk about rules with me?" Stone's eyes were a little red. "One of my brothers was captured by you! And what the hell was the rule that said no killing of prisoners of war, no mistreatment of prisoners of war? My brother was hung on a tree with wire, disemboweled, and burned alive! You Vietnamese people dare to talk about rules!"
Just as Shi Tou was about to slap me again, I quickly grabbed his hand and laughed, "Don't hit his face! We still have a big use for that face!"
I sheathed the dagger, looked at Xiao Ruan, and smiled sinisterly: "Fine, I won't cut off your woman's fingers! Looks like cutting off fingers won't scare you... like this..."
I frowned and said slowly, word by word, "I heard that the reason you like this woman is because she's pregnant with your child... right..."
I felt a little nauseous, but my face remained as hard as steel as I gritted my teeth and said, "Your taste is good, Xiao Ruan. This woman is pretty... and the child she gives you will definitely be good too... However, I've heard that pregnant women shouldn't do strenuous exercise, right..."
My face flashed with murderous intent: "Stone, find a rope and hoist this woman off the balcony!"
"Ah!!" Xiao Ruan suddenly sprang up, roared, and actually broke free from the scorpion's grasp behind him, lunging towards me, only to be kicked in the crotch by me, and immediately fell to the ground.
I stepped on his head, expressionless. "You're probably cursing me in your heart, cursing me for being ruthless, cruel, and vicious..." I chuckled, looking down at him. "But I know that if I fell into your hands, your methods would probably be ten times more ruthless than mine! You Vietnamese are a bunch of despicable dogs! When you came to provoke us, when you killed our brothers, you should have thought about this revenge!"
Seeing that my men were already dragging the woman inside, Xiao Ruan finally broke down and suddenly shouted, "I surrender! I surrender! I'll do it! I'll do it! I'll do whatever you say!!"
...