Hunter 121: You’re Too Kind
"You didn't kill Hu Jie, did you?"
Xu Si recalled that Hu Jie, the young master of Dongxiang Manor, was a second-generation rich kid who relied heavily on his father. If he acted arrogant and unruly when encountering Lin Jiu, he might have gotten himself killed.
"Hmm? How did you know?"
Lin Jiu hadn't looked into the specific details of a minor character like Hu Jie, so he was curious about the basis of Xu Si's guess. Could it be that their organization, Express Delivery Company, had also suspected something was wrong here?
"Why were you the one notifying them? Shouldn't it have been Hu Lin... Wait, you didn't kill Hu Lin too, did you?"
Xu Si suddenly shot up in shock, despite his illness.
"Hu Lin is dead, but I didn't kill him. It was his son, Hu Jie… This is related to the Quan Xing. I'll explain more when there's a chance."
After notifying the relevant departments and fulfilling his civic duties as a good citizen, Lin Jiu left the area and set off to find Lu Liang.
"Fourth Brother, what's the situation this time?"
Xu San quickly asked when he saw Xu Si's indescribable expression after hanging up the phone.
Xu Si took one last puff of his cigarette, stubbed it out in the ashtray, and sighed, "It's that Sect Leader Red again. Everywhere he goes, people die! Both Hu Lin and Hu Jie are dead, and Dongxiang Manor is practically done for! Notify Old Dou to send someone to clean up!"
"Uh…"
Xu San silently added a note to Lin Jiu's file, marking him as "harmless in personality, but extremely dangerous."
Not long after Lin Jiu left the manor, Dou Le, the head of the East district, arrived at Hu Lin's manor with some Express Delivery Company staff, including the compassionate Comrade Xiao.
Although Dongxiang Manor was largely supported by Hu Lin alone, it was still a second-rate organization of Outcast people, so it was normal for the person in charge to come and inspect the situation.
Actually, if Hu Lin hadn't had his will eroded by Xia He and hadn't been caught off guard by his son's sudden attack, he wouldn't have died so easily, like a piece of trash.
"Old Xiao, what's the situation?"
Dou Le asked Xiao Zizai, who was standing nearby.
After investigating the manor, they found Hu Lin's corpse in a cellar. Judging by the livor mortis on the body, Hu Lin had been dead for several days.
"The one who called us here was that guy named Red, right? If I'm not mistaken, Hu Jie was killed by him—one strike, decisive. But Hu Lin was killed by someone else, and that someone was Hu Jie."
Xiao Zizai concluded after examining the wounds on the two corpses.
"A son killing his father… Could it be the Four Sorcerers of Quan Xing?"
Xu Si had mentioned the existence of Quan Xing, and Dou Le knew that only the Four Sorcerers were capable of manipulating people's minds like this.
"Old Xiao, which one of the Four Sorcerers was here?"
Dou Le wasn't much of a fighter himself, so he had to rely on professionals to deduce based on the traces of the battle.
Xiao Zizai walked through the courtyard, where traces of the battle were evident. He looked toward the wall in one direction, adjusted his glasses, and said, "It wasn't just one of them—it was all four! In other words, this Red first killed Hu Jie with a single strike and then calmly withdrew from a fight with the Four Sorcerers!"
"Haha, interesting! When did Xu Si's territory produce such an expert?" Dou Le chuckled, rubbing the few strands of hair left on his head.
"Old Dou, stop rubbing those few hairs! Let's clean up this mess and head back!"
Xiao Zizai said, glancing at the wound on Hu Jie's throat, a gentle smile on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.
Except for Dou Le. As an old partner, Dou Le naturally had a good idea of what Xiao Zizai was thinking, so he reminded him, "You can't…"
"Don't worry, I won't do anything rash. Unless you give the okay…"
Xiao Zizai continued to smile gently.
"That's good!"
Dou Le trusted Xiao Zizai's word, given their long-standing partnership.
...
Meanwhile, Lin Jiu, unaware that Xiao Zizai had taken note of him, was already on a plane.
Lin Jiu arrived at his destination the next day. First, he took a high-speed train from Fuzhou to Nanchang, and then he flew to Qufu, Shandong.
Normally, even members of the same organization don't know each other's whereabouts if they belong to Quan Xing. However, lately, Lu Liang has been acting together with Xia He and the others, so Xia He knows a bit about Lu Liang's movements.
Using the information Xia He provided, Lin Jiu hurried to Qufu. If Lu Liang had already left Qufu, Lin Jiu would have to find another member of Quan Xing to ask for Lu Liang's location again.
"Young man, need a ride? Taxi?"
As soon as Lin Jiu exited the airport, the most enthusiastic people were the taxi drivers. They were experts at grabbing your luggage and putting it in their car, leaving you with no choice but to get in, whether you wanted to or not.
"Take me to Xuejia Village in Shizhuang Town. And make it quick."
This taxi driver was about to use his usual trick when he realized that Lin Jiu had no luggage at all and thought this fare might be a lost cause. But then the situation turned around—Lin Jiu just wanted to get there fast and didn't care if it was a shady cab.
Not long after getting in the car, Lin Jiu, worried that the driver might take a detour, pulled out [Flame Sun] and pointed it at the driver's head, saying, "No detours!"
Driver: "...…"
"Okay! Okay! Sir, let's talk this over, please put the gun down!"
The driver initially thought that the [Flame Sun] was a toy, but the cold metal pressed against his skin made him panic.
People don't know their true potential until they're pushed to the limit. The driver pushed himself to 200% and sped to Xuejia Village.
Luckily, they weren't heading into the city; otherwise, a few police cars would surely have been on their tail at that speed. However, the traffic cameras recorded the driver's extraordinary performance, and he wouldn't be short on fines later.
Lin Jiu transferred money to the driver and walked away. The driver, who had just survived an encounter with a criminal, was moved to tears when he saw the transfer on his phone.
"What a good man!"
...
"This Lu Liang is quite interesting… To be so fascinated by Zhang Chulan." Lin Jiu chuckled as he entered the village.
After extracting a fragment from Zhang Huaiyi's corpse, many people were either more curious about the Jia Shen Rebellion or more interested in Feng Baobao. However, Lu Liang seemed more intrigued by Zhang Chulan, who didn't even appear in that memory fragment.
Qufu's Shizhuang Town, Xuejia Village, was where Zhang Chulan had been after Zhang Huaiyi's death and Zhang Deyu's disappearance. The orphanage he stayed at and the elementary school he attended as a child were both here.
It was only because Lin Jiu knew the life details of the main characters so well that he understood Lu Liang's reason for coming here.
Soon, Lin Jiu found Lu Liang chatting with the director in an orphanage.
"What a shame. If only I could find where that guy lived before moving… The school should have transfer records, but after so many years, who knows if they've been preserved?"
Lu Liang muttered to himself as he left the orphanage, having gained nothing from his conversation with the old director. By this time, Zhang Chulan had already learned to hide himself.
As Lu Liang pondered the feasibility of investigating Zhang Chulan's transfer records at the elementary school, he suddenly felt someone watching him. He looked up.
He saw a handsome young man leaning against a large tree, staring at him. When he realized Lu Liang had noticed him, the man even smiled. That smile sent a chill down Lu Liang's spine, giving him a sense of foreboding.
"May I ask who you are?"
Lu Liang steadied his mind, keeping a certain distance from Lin Jiu as he asked.
Lin Jiu smiled and said, "Lu Liang of Quan Xing, if I didn't ask the Four Sorcerers, I wouldn't have found you."
"So you're one of us."
Lu Liang let out a sigh of relief. If this person had connections with the Four Sorcerers, he was likely an Outcast from Quan Xing.