That morning, the three of them went to the Fuxing District Public Security Bureau together and cooperated with the police to describe the appearances of the three suspects and create portraits.
In the afternoon, the three of them sat together in the Ancient Fragrance Pavilion.
Around 9 p.m., Chen Chaojiang and Xu Zhengyang drove away from the antique market on a motorcycle.
Located in the northwestern suburbs of Fuhe City, about 20 kilometers west along National Highway 302, you'll see rolling hills to the north of the road. During the day, these hills are covered in lush greenery, offering beautiful and pleasant scenery. Several winding cement roads extend from the highway into the mountains, leading to various villages and tourist attractions such as agritourism sites.
North of Xiangru Village, several farmhouses developed for tourism are nestled among various fruit trees. Driving along the cement road into the mountains, you can see tall billboards popping up from time to time, advertising farmhouses, fruit picking day trips, local farm meals, and so on.
"Shanwei Farmhouse" is arguably the worst-performing one. Not only is its location remote, but the owner also neglects its management, resulting in the farmhouse declining year after year while other farmhouses are raking in profits. The courtyard and the stone path leading to it are overgrown with weeds, creating a rather desolate atmosphere.
At this moment, in the spacious courtyard of Shanwei Farmhouse, two 125cc motorcycles were parked in front of the east room.
Inside the room, four men with fierce appearances were drinking around a small table.
"Ping-ge, you really shouldn't have agreed. The police are investigating this case right now. If we take action, aren't we just walking into the line of fire?"
"Yeah, Ping, why don't we talk to Boss Zou again and give him a couple of days to cool things off, until things calm down..."
Zeng Ping swung his bandaged right wrist and said with a gloomy face, "Now is the most opportune time. Everyone thinks that no one will dare to make a move recently."
The other three were stunned, pondering Zeng Ping's words.
“That pale-faced kid knows martial arts, and he’s quite skilled…” Zeng Ping’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he gritted his teeth and said, “And that Xu Zhengyang, damn it! We really capsized in the gutter this time, we were too careless.”
"Brother Ping, no matter how skilled he is, can he withstand bullets?" the man with his right hand wrapped in gauze said viciously. Recalling the scene where the pale-faced young man stabbed his clothes with a knife, pinning his right hand, which was already gripping the gun handle, to his chest so he couldn't pull out the pistol, he felt intense hatred, but also a mixture of fear and admiration.
Another man with bandages wrapped around his head said resentfully, "It's also our fault for not being good marksmen. Otherwise, we could have just driven by and shot them through the car window without even getting out!"
The only driver who wasn't injured said, "It's better to be safe. Let's wait until things calm down, keep a close watch on them, and then run them over on the road..."
Zeng Ping shook his head, remained silent for a while, and then said with a cold smile, "Since Zou Mingyuan is willing to add 100,000 yuan, let's go all out and give him a good beating... After it's done, make Zou Mingyuan come up with another 200,000 yuan. If he dares not to give it, we'll take him out too!"
The other three were stunned.
After hesitating for a moment, the driver asked, "Brother Ping, what should we do?"
"Use explosives, blow up Gu Xiang Xuan tonight! Kill as many as you can." Zeng Ping's eyes flashed with malice.
The man with the injured right hand exclaimed in surprise, "No way? There are people in the shops over there too..."
The man with a bandage wrapped around his head sneered, "Why do you care about the people in other shops? They're not your relatives."
The room fell silent.
The four of them were all calculating in their minds how to proceed, how much money they would get afterward, how to properly handle the aftermath, and how to avoid being caught by the police...
On the cement road a few hundred meters away from the Shanwei Farmhouse, dappled shadows of trees are visible under the moonlight.
A black Yamaha 250 motorcycle approached from a distance and stopped at the intersection leading to Shanwei Farmhouse.
Chen Chaojiang drove the motorcycle in front, and Xu Zhengyang sat behind him; neither of them got off.
Is this the place?
"Okay," Xu Zhengyang said, "It's a promise, no killings allowed!"
"I'll listen to you." Chen Chaojiang nodded, then frowned slightly and said, "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes."
"That's not your fault..."
Chen Chaojiang turned his head, reached out and took out a cigarette, handed one to Xu Zhengyang, lit one for himself, took a puff and said, "Zhengyang, they have guns."
“Even if they have guns, they can’t use them,” Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
"Oh." Chen Chaojiang had no doubts, because Xu Zhengyang was a god; what couldn't he do? "Then you don't need to lift a finger."
"Bragging!" Xu Zhengyang laughed.
Chen Chaojiang said calmly, "Why do this?"
"Didn't you want to vent your anger?" Xu Zhengyang patted Chen Chaojiang on the shoulder, smoking a cigarette, and said, "You still want me to act like I used to? What would we do after we got beaten up?"
"have no idea."
"Um?"
Chen Chaojiang grinned and said, "I've never been beaten up before... or at least, I've never suffered a loss."
"Damn!" Xu Zhengyang slapped Chen Chaojiang on the shoulder. "Let's go, hurry up!"
Chen Chaojiang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, shifted gears, twisted the throttle, and the Yamaha 250 roared into the depths of the alley.
The motorcycle sped into the Shanwei Farmhouse courtyard, passed in front of the two motorcycles, and stopped in front of the east room, its bright headlights shining on the door.
The shadows of people flickered on the glass window.
Xu Zhengyang calmly got off the motorcycle and walked towards the door of the east room.
The motorcycle was turned off, and Chen Chaojiang got off and quickly followed.
What ordinary people could not see was that more than a dozen ghostly figures had already rushed into the house before the two of them, and five or six more ghostly figures were still circling around Xu Zhengyang.
"who?"
With a loud shout, the curtain was lifted, and Xu Zhengyang stepped forward and kicked the person whose face was still hidden behind the curtain in the chest. The person cried out in pain and staggered back into the room.
Chen Chaojiang strode past Xu Zhengyang and rushed into the house first. Although he knew Xu Zhengyang was confident and the other party wouldn't have a chance to use a pistol, Chen Chaojiang still wanted to protect Xu Zhengyang and stood in front of him. As soon as he entered the house, Chen Chaojiang immediately delivered a high kick, slamming it hard into the face of the man who had just regained his footing. Before the man could recover, he was struck again and staggered several steps to the side before falling to the ground.
"Damn it!" The other three people in the room suddenly stood up, and Zeng Ping even reached out and picked up the pistol on the table.
Then……
Zeng Ping was startled and suddenly threw the pistol into the corner.
The other two men swung bottles and stools at him, but Chen Chaojiang didn't dodge at all. He rushed forward and, before the bottles could even fall, his iron shoulder slammed into the man's chest. The man cried out in pain and staggered back. Without pausing, Chen Chaojiang swung his leg to the side and kicked the stool back, which hit the man whose head was already wrapped in gauze in the face.
"Get the gun, get the gun and shoot them! Damn it!" The guy who was suffocating from Chen Chaojiang's shoulder bump rushed into the house, and the driver who was sitting on the innermost side also rushed into the house.
They all knew that if these two young men, or even just the pale-faced one, were to fight hand-to-hand, the four of them combined would only be able to get beaten up.
A bizarre scene unfolded, and the four of them paused almost simultaneously. Then, they all walked to the wall directly opposite the door, turned around, and stood with their backs against the wall like trainees, staring blankly at Chen Chaojiang and Xu Zhengyang.
Chen Chaojiang, who was about to chase and kill, was pulled back by Xu Zhengyang. Chen Chaojiang was also a little stunned. What was going on?
Xu Zhengyang, unhurried and calm, patted Chen Chaojiang's shoulder, then walked to the sofa and sat down. Chen Chaojiang had already come to his senses. He remained silent, coldly walking to Xu Zhengyang's side. He didn't sit down, but stood to Xu Zhengyang's side. His long, icy eyes stared at the four people standing against the wall. A delicate, sharp dagger had appeared in his left hand, which he deftly twirled between his fingers, its cold light gleaming under the lamplight.
Xu Zhengyang smiled, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the four men. He thought to himself, "From now on, at night in Fuhe City... except for a few places, who are we afraid of? Even if they have pistols, or even if they're carrying an atomic bomb, we're not afraid!"
The four people, including Zeng Ping, who were standing against the wall, suddenly relaxed, and then their eyes revealed surprise and fear, but none of them dared to move.
"Don't even think about getting a pistol or anything, it's useless," Xu Zhengyang reminded him, then smiled with narrowed eyes, "You still recognize us, right?"
The four people's eyes grew increasingly fearful and confused.
Xu Zhengyang casually flicked his cigarette ash and smiled, "I'll give you a chance." He turned to look at Chen Chaojiang, then turned his gaze back to the four of them, and continued, "Fight him one-on-one. Whoever can beat him can leave..."
As soon as he said that, not only the four people, but even Chen Chaojiang couldn't help but turn his head to look at Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang ignored their gazes, thinking to himself, "Chao Jiang, didn't you want to vent your anger? Nothing feels better than personally beating someone up, right? And, well, this feeling of having the upper hand is pretty good too..."
"It's settled then, no knives or guns..." Xu Zhengyang smiled, but there was no disdain or contempt on his face. He seemed genuinely sincere in his conversation with Zeng Ping and the others. "Yeah, he won't use a knife either..." Xu Zhengyang took out his extremely outdated cell phone and fiddled with it in his hand, saying, "I'll call the police in a bit... Hurry up, who's first? Whoever wins can leave."
Chen Chaojiang withdrew the dagger from his left hand, took a step forward, and said coldly, "Come at me all at once."
"Nonsense," Xu Zhengyang interrupted. "One at a time." He didn't want Chen Chaojiang to suffer even the slightest injury, not even a scratch. Who knew if Chen Chaojiang would go berserk and tear all four of them to shreds if he sustained even a minor injury...
"Don't hesitate, hurry up," Xu Zhengyang urged.
The four men stood there dumbfounded for a while before Zeng Ping finally came to his senses. His face, which had been filled with fear, quickly turned into one of violence and determination. In this situation, the other party was blatantly humiliating them, but they were powerless to fight back. He gritted his teeth and said, "Go ahead and call the police. I'm done for by you. I accept it."
"Chicken out?" Xu Zhengyang laughed.
"There's no chance of fighting him, so why get beaten up again?" Zeng Ping had completely given up hope, so his expression calmed down.
The other three felt more helplessness than fear and despair.
To this day, they still can't figure out what these two young men did to suddenly immobilize them. If they wanted to kill them or call the police, they wouldn't even need to tie them up.
Chen Chaojiang sighed softly, "Four of them, let's go at it together."
"Well, he's given you a chance, come at me all at once..." Xu Zhengyang simply agreed, since there were a bunch of ghosts watching over them, so he wasn't afraid of any unexpected situations.
Although I don't believe that defeating this pale-faced kid will really allow me to escape, it's my only hope right now.
Zeng Ping turned to look at his three accomplices, then said with a grim face, "Don't fucking be a coward, even if you die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zeng Ping turned around and pounced on Chen Chaojiang, while the other three also rushed at him, cursing loudly.
Fists flew and bodies swayed, just like a scene of chaotic fighting in a movie.
The muffled thuds of meat colliding, the crisp sounds of tables and chairs being overturned and cracked, the deep groans of pain and the piercing screams, along with the occasional sound that seemed to be bones breaking, all blended together and filled the room.
...
A moment later, Xu Zhengyang sat on the sofa, looking up at Chen Chaojiang standing next to him with a somewhat surprised expression, and said, "Damn, how did you become so abnormal? Are you made of iron?"
“When I was inside, I would bang my head against the wall whenever I was bored,” Chen Chaojiang said coldly.
"Are the fellow inmates inside... all sitting ducks?" Xu Zhengyang asked.
Chen Chaojiang thought for a moment and then replied, "It was true when I first went in, but it wasn't anymore. At first, there were more of them, and I got beaten up too."
Xu Zhengyang realized that in the later stages of the game, who would dare to fight a monster like him?
Looking at the mess on the ground and the four people lying there, some curled up and some sprawled out, Xu Zhengyang curled his lip, picked up his phone and dialed Zhong Zhijun's number: "Hey, Zhijun, drive over here right away, I've found those four people..."
"Where?" Zhong Zhijun exclaimed in surprise.
"The address is..." Xu Zhengyang said the address once, then continued, "Hey, Zhijun, don't say I didn't warn you, want to make a name for yourself? If you want to make a name for yourself, drive over here yourself... Capturing four vicious armed murderers by yourself, what a great achievement that is!"
Zhong Zhijun was stunned for a moment, then cursed, "Damn it, are you kidding me?"
"Believe it or not, Chaojiang and I are right here," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
“…” Zhong Zhijun hesitated for a moment, then said, “Wait, I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, Xu Zhengyang turned to Chen Chaojiang and said, "Sit down, aren't you tired?"
Chen Chaojiang remained unmoved, still standing beside Xu Zhengyang.
"So you're really going to be a bodyguard?"
"Hmm," Chen Chaojiang replied coldly.
"Damn..." Xu Zhengyang pulled Chen Chaojiang down to sit, laughing, "Don't do this to me again..."
Chen Chaojiang grinned, revealing a slightly forced smile: "You look three years younger."