Chapter 299: The Underground Has Its Own Ways

"Brother, where are we heading? Back to your place?" the driver asked.

His name was Wang Dahan, though the body's original owner usually just called him Dahan.

He lived up to the name—simple, honest, and stubborn to a fault.

"No. Head to Xinmin Street," Yan Jing said slowly, his eyes closed.

"Got it."

Dahan spun the steering wheel, heading toward Xinmin Street.

"Brother, where have you been these past few days?" Dahan asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "I almost thought something happened to you. I went by your headquarters a few times, but the front desk couldn't give me a straight answer."

"I don't have much of a foothold there," Yan Jing said. "It's full of Xiong Er and Hu San's people. They wish I'd just disappear, so of course no one would give you the time of day."

"Exactly! It was so frustrating!"

Dahan slapped the steering wheel, making the car swerve.

Yan Jing shot him a helpless look, and Dahan immediately scratched his head, laughing like a kid caught doing something wrong.

"And then what?" Yan Jing asked.

"Then what?" Dahan chuckled. "Then I staked out the entrance until I caught Boss Rat and told him about it. That was the day before yesterday. I didn't expect you to contact me today."

Yan Jing nodded. "Thanks for your hard work."

Only a stubborn fool like him would have actually tracked down Boss Rat.

"It was nothing, really," Dahan said. "So where did you actually go, Brother? Out on business?"

"I was set up."

As he said this, Yan Jing narrowed his eyes and perked up his cat ears, carefully watching Dahan's reaction.

Screech—

The tires shrieked against the asphalt. Momentum pitched Yan Jing forward.

The benefits of being a cat became apparent at times like this. With a tap of his toes, he steadied himself.

"Who?! Brother! Who set you up?!"

Dahan whipped his head around, his eyes red with explosive anger.

Yan Jing sighed. "We're going to find him right now. Focus on driving!"

"Right!" Dahan gave a heavy nod.

The car accelerated, moving noticeably faster than before.

Yan Jing said nothing more, tinkering with his Information Component.

In all likelihood, this foolish man had nothing to do with it.

The original owner hadn't said anything to Dahan before the incident, and they hadn't contacted each other in days.

The only suspicious detail was that before heading to that unfinished building, the original owner had Dahan drop him off at the subway station.

But it was just the subway station.

He hadn't told the man where he was going after that.

'To be able to take out a Fourth Tier Soundlessly... ruling out unforeseen variables, even in an ambush, it had to be at least a Fifth Tier...'

The original owner had strong vigilance and even possessed abilities that boosted his awareness. An ambush from someone in the same tier was virtually impossible.

Moreover, the original owner wasn't weak. After collecting protection fees for a while, his second job was acting as a primary fighter for the gang.

It barely took any time before he became their top fighter.

If the gang were ranked by strength, aside from Pops, the original owner would have been second.

Yet someone like that had died in that unfinished building.

The killer was not simple.

...

...

In a cramped room, various colored lights bloomed from a disco ball on the ceiling, flashing continuously.

The large screen opposite them was still playing the unfinished song of the previous customer.

The shifting lights danced across the faces of a row of people standing below. They all stared nervously at a big-bellied man lounging on the sofa opposite them.

The man was shirtless, not caring in the slightest as he exposed his flab to the row of people without reservation.

When a beam of red light fell across his face, it startlingly revealed his true appearance—

A pig's head.

From his unfocused eyes, it was clear he was already quite drunk. The table in front of him was packed with bottles, all filled with highly potent liquor. Even someone in the Transcendent Tier might struggle to drink this much.

"Do you know why I called you all here?"

The man looked at the row of 'people' opposite him.

They came in all shapes and sizes: men, women, pure robots, human-like cats and dogs, and animal species that looked like cats and dogs...

Faced with the man's question, no one dared make a sound.

They all knew his temper. Speaking up right now guaranteed a vicious beating.

Unexpectedly, a weak voice piped up from the corner.

"Is it because it's time to pay our wages, boss?"

Everyone's eyes widened in horror. For a moment, they didn't even dare to breathe.

The man found this amusing, letting out continuous grunts of laughter from his pig snout.

He stood up, his massive frame nearing two meters tall, and looked toward the figure in the corner.

It was a small white snake, about the length of a baby's arm.

She was wearing a pink dress that left almost everything exposed except for her private parts.

This kind of animal species was very popular with certain customers nowadays, giving them the illusion of being intimate with the celebrities seen on those high-rise billboards.

After all, these animal species all looked roughly the same.

"What's your name?" the Pig-Headed Man asked with a smile.

His voice was incredibly gentle, but the person next to the small dog visibly shuddered.

"Mi Xiaobai, boss!" the little snake said.

"Xiaobai. Good name. Very good, you're not bad."

The man started to laugh. He grabbed a bottle from the table and slowly approached the little snake. "Are you new here?"

"Y-yes."

The small snake's voice grew even weaker. Sensing something bad was about to happen, she shrank back.

"You want your wages, right?" the Pig-Headed Man laughed uproariously. "Come here, I'll give you your wages!"

In the next second, he smashed the bottle heavily downward!

Crash!!!

The bottle hit nothing. At the very last second, the white snake sprang away in terror and dodged the strike.

This clearly fueled the man's anger even more. Weird energy flared out from him. Within moments, he snatched the white snake out of the air. He smashed several bottles against her, beating her half to death.

The little snake's originally snow-white skin was now stained with blood. Her body hung limply, her pink clothes torn to shreds, and blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

The Pig-Headed Man dangled the little white snake in the air, grinning savagely. "Do you still want your wages?"

"N-no... I don't want them..." the little white snake murmured, barely able to speak clearly.

"Heh."

The Pig-Headed Man looked back at the row of people and laughed. "Did you see that? This is what happens when you don't work hard—"

"What happens when you don't work hard?"

A raspy voice rang out from the doorway, cutting the man off. Hearing that familiar voice, his eyes bulged as if he had just seen a ghost.

Before he could even react, the door was kicked open with a loud bang.

Yan Jing stood in the doorway, looking into the foul, smoke-filled room with a smile.

Behind him, standing like a small mountain, Dahan glared furiously at the scene inside.

"You... you..."

The Pig-Headed Man stared at Yan Jing in terror. The fear in his eyes only made Yan Jing's smile grow brighter.

"It's been a long time, Jiu Jing!"

Yan Jing laughed. "You seem very surprised to see me."

"You... you..."

The Pig-Headed Man took a deep breath and gulped heavily, finally suppressing his internal shock.

Forcing a smile, he said, "If it isn't Fourth Brother. What brings you here in such a good mood today—"

Without wasting another word, Yan Jing blinked right in front of the Pig-Headed Man and slapped him forcefully across the face!

Pfft! With just one slap, the Pig-Headed Man spat out a huge mouthful of blood.

But Yan Jing had absolutely no intention of stopping there. The moment his feet touched the ground, he grabbed a bottle off the table, lunged forward, and smashed it over the Pig-Headed Man's head with a loud crack.

Blood splattered everywhere along with shards of broken glass.

The man immediately let out a screech like a slaughtered pig.

Yan Jing turned his head and looked behind him at the cats, dogs, men, women, and robots...

Grinning maliciously, he asked, "Did any of you see anything?"

"N-no, we didn't see anything..."

Everyone hurriedly waved their hands in panic.

"I don't want to deal with the cleanup," Yan Jing laughed. "After all, our country values peace above all else."

"I-I'll hand over my Memory Chip," one of the robots immediately spoke up, drawing a wave of silent curses from the people around him.

Motherfucker, they didn't have any Memory Chips! Wasn't this just sending them to their deaths?

"Get the fuck out. All of you."

Yan Jing grabbed another bottle and smashed it viciously against that pig face. Blood splattered onto his black suit. He turned back, looked at the trembling crowd, and gave a cruel smile. "If you want to blab about this, go ahead and try."

"Understood, we understand..."

The crowd scrambled madly out of the private room, vanishing without a trace.

Some security guards at the door heard the commotion, but the moment they saw Dahan, they pretended they hadn't heard a thing and turned away.

Yan Jing told Dahan, "Go ask them for the security footage."

Not only did he need to delete the footage of their arrival, but he also needed the footage of everything that had happened here previously.

He couldn't be bothered arguing with those Enforcers.

He'd have to pay them another sum of money otherwise.

He was incredibly broke right now.

Getting some leverage would save him a lot of trouble.

"Got it."

A short while later, the two of them left with the Pig-Headed Man and the security footage. The KTV staff reported the damages as usual, but absolutely no one dared call the Enforcers.

...

...

Splash—

A basin of water was poured over the head of the Pig-Headed Man named Jiu Jing.

It instantly jolted him awake.

The Pig-Headed Man squirmed in panic, discovering he was in a completely white room, bound to a chair with thick iron chains.

Yan Jing was sitting on a custom-made little stool, watching him with great interest.

"Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother, I'm innocent! I don't know, I don't know anything!"

The Pig-Headed Man babbled in absolute panic.

"Jiu Jing," Yan Jing smiled. "I haven't even asked anything yet."

"Fourth Brother, Fourth Brother, I'm begging you, let me off! I have elderly parents and young kids to take care of. Fourth Brother, I really don't know what happened..."

Watching Yan Jing take a handsaw that Dahan handed over, the Pig-Headed Man felt the blood in his veins turn ice-cold as he pleaded endlessly for mercy.

"Jiu Jing, you're the one who told me there were clues in that building, aren't you?" Yan Jing asked.

"It was me, it was me, Fourth Brother! But I really don't know what happened after that! I just got a phone call saying there were clues there. Really, I'm telling the truth..."

Seeing Yan Jing step closer and closer, the Pig-Headed Man's voice grew louder and louder, his terror spilling over completely.

"You don't know?"

Yan Jing hopped onto the Pig-Headed Man's bound right hand, resting the saw against his wrist, its sharp teeth pressing right into his veins.

"Really, I really don't know, Fourth Brother!"

The Pig-Headed Man convulsed violently, trying to pull away from the saw, but the stool beneath his feet was firmly secured, making it impossible to break free.

"Jiu Jing, you made a mistake. Do you know what it is?" Yan Jing smiled.

"..."

The Pig-Headed Man stared blankly, raising his head to look at Yan Jing.

"Why haven't you called me since that day?"

Yan Jing gave a slight smile, looking like a devil straight out of hell.

"Jiu Jing, didn't you miss me?"