Chapter 19: Would you like some too?

Shao Risheng groaned incessantly as he was trampled underfoot, his expression resembling a piglet about to be slaughtered on the table.

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Luo Yajun raised his hand and casually fired a shot without even looking. The bullet, accompanied by a scorching blast of air, grazed Shao Risheng's face and hit the ground, leaving a shallow bullet hole and a bloody trail on his face.

Shao Risheng immediately stifled his wailing in pain, although his body twitched slightly from the intense agony, and tiny beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Luo Yajun leisurely took another drag from his cigarette before speaking.

"You see, I'm not an unreasonable person," he said. "I just came here to ask a few simple questions. Personally, I don't endorse violence. I prefer peaceful means, by comparison."

At that moment, Chu Cheng noticed that the door of the bar behind Luo Yajun slowly opened, and a man in a blood-soaked black vest stumbled out.

The man held a foreboding object in his hand, with sharp corners and a square shape. It was versatile for both close and long-range attacks, doubling the damage when struck from the side and delivering a fatal blow with a diagonal strike to the head. It was known as the number one ancient divine artifact, revered as the Brick by the martial world.

Just as Chu Cheng was about to warn his teammate of the impending ambush, he saw Luo Yajun, without even turning his head, suddenly fire a shot with a resounding "bang." Without looking, he eerily shattered the man's knee with a single shot, completely neutralizing the intended sneak attack.

However, despite wielding an ancient divine artifact, the man in the black vest was utterly defeated. His knee was shattered by a single shot, causing a burst of splendid blood splatter. He let out a miserable scream as he fell to the ground, unconsciously releasing the brick from his hand, which coincidentally struck his own forehead with a resounding thud, rendering him unconscious.

This turn of events surprised Chu Cheng as well.

To hit the target without even looking back, isn't that incredible?

If he were in the shoes of the man in the black vest, he would probably have frozen in fear by now.

Enough of this, it's not interesting anymore.

Moreover, not only were these gangsters taken aback, but even Chu Cheng himself was surprised by how ruthless Luo Yajun was.

When it came to the Public Security Bureau, they had to carefully consider firing their weapons and afterwards write lengthy and foul-smelling reports. Yet, here was Luo Yajun, openly engaging in a brawl and gunfight in broad daylight, without any hesitation or fuss.

The gunshot made Shao Risheng, who was being trampled, tremble all over. He now fully realized that this person was not to be trifled with, as he existed on a completely different level than the law enforcement officers they usually dealt with.

As soon as Luo Yajun finished firing his gun, the barrel turned towards Shao Risheng, causing him to tremble all over. He quickly spoke up, "Wait, I'll talk! I'll talk! It's the 'Snakehead'! Our boss recently intervened in his business, and he's very unhappy, so he wants revenge. The recent deaths you're investigating, they're all our brothers. We've been targeted for retaliation."

"Who is the Snakehead?" Luo Yajun asked.

"He's another local boss, and his business mainly involves illegal drug trafficking," Shao Risheng replied.

Without a second thought, Luo Yajun pressed the barrel against the man's abdomen and fired with a resounding bang.

A piercing scream reverberated through the entire street, a sound that tore through the heart and lungs.

"Wrong answer, think again," Luo Yajun said lazily, blowing a smoke ring.

Shao Risheng had no idea how he had exposed his lie, nor did he know how much information this person before him actually possessed. His face, covered in sweat and tears, was a pitiful sight, with his flesh hanging loose. He sobbed and pleaded, "Please, if I reveal anything, our boss will grind me to dust. I still have family."

Without saying a word, Luo Yajun fired another shot. The bullet tore through the flesh, and bone fragments sprayed out along with the gushing blood.

Once again, a chilling scream filled the air.

"If you still refuse to cooperate, I believe that by the time your boss arrives, there will be nothing left of you but your tombstone," Luo Yajun shrugged.

"You madman! Devil!" Shao Risheng screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Perhaps," Luo Yajun said nonchalantly, "but I'm a madman with a gun." He paused for a moment. "Now, give me the answer."

Shao Risheng dared not delay any further and gritted his teeth as he confessed, enduring the pain. "Alright, those people who died, those murder cases... they weren't ordinary gang affairs. We... we encountered something supernatural."

"That's a good start," Luo Yajun nodded. "Go on."

"Well, it started as a very ordinary business deal," Shao Risheng said through the intense pain, "just a regular transaction involving illegal contraband."

We arrived at the location agreed upon with the seller, and it was supposed to be a routine transaction with money and goods exchanged. However, something went wrong along the way, and we were seen by someone during the deal."

The street where the bar was located was already quite secluded, and the commotion just now scared away the few pedestrians that were around. The street was now so quiet that one could hear a pin drop, allowing Chu Cheng to catch most of their conversation from inside the car.

Upon hearing this, Chu Cheng pondered whether the next part of the story would involve them catching the peeping tom, with the boss shooting him and saying, "No, I want to test the drugs."

"We didn't pay much attention to who that guy was at the time. He looked like a homeless person, all dirty and unkempt. I can't even remember his appearance clearly. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that he showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time," Shao Risheng said, enduring the pain.

"He begged us to let him go, but it was obvious that there was no way that would happen. The boss leading us ran over him with the car, and later, he didn't even resemble a human anymore. We then poured cement over him, just a routine thing to do."

Everyone who's been in this line of work knows that if you cause trouble, you have to pay the price. No one knows how many human bones are hidden in the bustling city within those cement piles."

These words made Chu Cheng feel somewhat uncomfortable. He thought there might be an element of exaggeration in them. But if he felt that it was somewhat precarious when he saw Luo Yajun's approach earlier, resembling a Ubisoft-style infiltration followed by a cremation-style interrogation, he now felt that these people deserved what was happening to them.

"This time, it was Chris and Ah Qiang from our group who were responsible for pouring the cement. They have more experience in this kind of work, knowing how to do it efficiently, ensuring the highest hardness of the piles so they won't break during piling. They also need to consider long-term sealing, making sure that once poured, they won't crack open."

"They finished the job quickly, and that night, we all went out for supper together."

Shao Risheng paused at this point, a look of horror appearing on his face.

"But this time was different," he said. "The next day, without any warning, Chris killed Ah Qiang. No, that's an understatement."

His face contorted with pain and fear, and his voice became coarse.

"When we arrived, Ah Qiang had already turned into... a putrefied corpse. Chris was kneeling beside him, muttering something incoherent while repeatedly stabbing and slashing him with a knife.

He only stopped when we arrived. Then he stood up, turned to look at us, his mouth and face covered in blood. I will never forget that gaze.

What's even more eerie is... damn it, he actually laughed. He even spoke to us. He said..."

Shao Risheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood, his face pale, whether from blood loss or fear.

"...Would you like some too?"