At this critical moment, an accident occurred. The more than 400,000 silver dollars handled by the other two were deposited into foreign bank accounts, but the nearly 700,000 silver dollars that Song Chunzhong's apprentice should have handled were delayed in being deposited.
Before the three could react, the police had already raided and surrounded the hotel where Chen Zhifeng was staying. Chen Zhifeng and Luo Zongchang were taken to the police station on the spot, while Song Chunzhong was unharmed and the police did not ask him a single question.
Chen Zhifeng's men, some of Song Chunzhong's men, and even Luo Zongchang's men who were still in Western Hunan and had not yet evacuated were almost all arrested quickly. Only a few people, such as Ning Zikun, managed to escape by disguising themselves.
Newspapers soon published news that the police had cracked a major case, arresting dozens of fraudsters involved in hundreds of millions of Fabi in fraudulent activities. The perpetrators were found guilty of heinous crimes and sentenced to death by firing squad as a warning to others.
Besides the Kuomintang police department pocketing most of the 400,000 silver dollars, nearly 700,000 silver dollars were still missing. Therefore, Ning Zikun and the other survivors naturally believed that Song Chunzhong, who was safe and sound, had set up a trap within a trap and betrayed them in order to keep the nearly 700,000 silver dollars for himself.
"Three groups of people joined forces to set up a trap, and only you are safe and sound. You're saying it wasn't you?!" Ning Zikun's eyes were bloodshot, and he couldn't help but speak up when Song Chunzhong got to this point.
Song Tianyao and Lou Fengyun, who were standing nearby, listened intently. Their uncle, Chen Zhifeng, Luo Zongchang, and others were all formidable figures. In this world, the easiest to deceive are the poor, and the hardest to deceive are the rich. Yet this group of people went to Shanghai Bund, the place with the most wealthy people in China at the time, and swindled 1.1 million silver dollars from those shrewd rich people.
Lou Fengyun felt that the money she made from cheating and killing gamblers in her small Gambling den back then was nothing compared to what these two people had done before.
Ning Zikun angrily questioned him, while Song Chunzhong said with a wry smile, "Fourth Brother, look..."
As Song Chunzhong spoke, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his entire chest. A gunshot wound on his left chest caught the eye of Song Tianyao, Ning Zikun, Lou Fengyun.
The location of the gunshot wound terrified Lou Fengyun so much that she covered her mouth. It was clearly a shot to the heart. She wondered how Song Chunzhong had survived being shot in the heart!
"I've been in this underworld for so long, and I never imagined I'd be betrayed by my own apprentices. Four of them conspired against me, setting up a trap within a trap. They leaked information to the police beforehand, using 400,000 silver dollars to lure them into arresting you all, leaving only me alive. This was to prevent any of you from escaping and seeking revenge. They spared my life to make you believe I was the one who embezzled the money. Luckily, I suspected them too, so I left a mark on the Garden Bridge to arrange a meeting with them. The result was the bullet to the heart you saw. If I hadn't reacted quickly and struggled to jump into the Huangpu River..." "Huangpu River was lucky; the bullet missed by a tiny bit, and he was rescued by a fishing boat in time. He went down to join Chen Zhifeng and Luo Zongchang long ago." Song Chunzhong said to Ning Zikun, "When I woke up, the newspapers had already published the news of your execution. After I recovered from my injuries, I left marks on all the places we had stayed in Shanghai, but no one responded. I waited for a month, using the money I earned from killing some poor people on the street for travel expenses, and fled Shanghai all the way to Guangzhou. I earned money in Guangzhou for two more months before returning to Malaya. Whether you believe it or not, that's the whole story."
Ning Zikun stared intently at Song Chunzhong with bloodshot eyes. Song Chunzhong, however, looked straight ahead with a calm expression, his chest puffed out.
Who knows if you're lying!
"Fourth Brother, you've spent your whole life as a stripper, and you're a master of makeup and deception. If you don't believe me, then take a close look at this gunshot wound on my chest to see if it's fake!"
The two remained locked in a stalemate once again. Song Tianyao, standing to the side, said, "Whether it's true or false, Mr. Ning, does it still matter?"
Ning Zikun was taken aback by Song Tianyao's question and looked at Song Tianyao.
Song Tianyao pointed at Song Chunzhong: "You think it's fake, that you killed him to avenge your deceased confidant and apprentice? And you're prepared to pay with your own life, to be dragged away by the police and hanged? Maybe of the three gangs that stormed Shanghai Bund back then, only the two of you are left now. If he dies, you'll be all alone. Wouldn't that be even more lonely? I think it would be better if you went to Malaysia with him, the two of you could be neighbors, chat about old times in your spare time, and if you're in a good mood, sit down for a drink, reminisce, and spend your old age together."
"No!" Ning Zikun said decisively, "I'm afraid he'll betray me again. If he kills me, there won't even be anyone to collect my body in that kind of place! Feng Yifa, let it go this time! After I die, I'll go down and ask my dead brothers and sisters to find out if it's true or false! If it's false, I'll haunt you as a ghost!"
After saying that, Ning Zikun gave Song Chunzhong one last glare, got up and walked quickly outside, no longer mentioning his intention to fight Song Chunzhong to the death.
After Ning Zikun left, Song Tianyao hesitated, wanting to say something but then stopping himself. Song Chunzhong glanced at Lou Fengyun, and Song Tianyao waved to Lou Fengyun, "Go check on Mr. Ning, don't let him be upset. Also, have Brother Xiong go and keep him company."
After Lou Fengyun left, Song Chunzhong lit a cigarette, two plumes of smoke billowing from his nostrils. "A-Yao, are you wondering whether what I just said was true or false?"
"I am somewhat curious," Song Tianyao said.
"Of course it's fake, a scam to Ning Zikun. In terms of brains, how could a swindler like him compare to a master strategist like me?" Song Chunzhong said naturally. "In the beginning, I was the one who suggested going to Shanghai Bund to pull off a big heist. If things weren't arranged properly, how could I trust Chen Zhifeng and Luo Zongchang's gang to participate? Seven hundred thousand silver dollars went into my pocket, dozens of swindlers were executed because I leaked information to the police, and I silenced two of my apprentices. The gunshot wound was real; I paid a skilled gunman to mark my chest and shoot me. I originally wanted to use this wound to lure out fish like Ning Zikun who had slipped through the net, to completely eliminate them. Unfortunately, it didn't work. So, this 'Heavenly Immortal Scheme' wasn't exactly perfect."
Song Tianyao was completely convinced by Song Chunzhong. Who said that the Song Family had no ruthless figures in the martial arts world besides his third uncle? This uncle was definitely no less ruthless than his third uncle, only his methods of ruthlessness were different.