Killing the Wrong Person

"Gurgle..."

On the stove, a large pot was steaming. The chunks of meat inside bobbed up and down in the bubbling broth, which was a milky white, like mutton fat.

An unusual aroma wafted through the air. Beside the pot was a bowl of pre-mixed seasonings and chopped scallions, just waiting for the soup to be poured in. The thought alone was unbearable.

However, neither Chen Jing, Qi Liang, nor Zhao Ke had any appetite. Qi Liang and Chen Jing were tied up with rope and sitting on the ground, their mouths gagged with cloth, unable to make a sound.

A visible gash on Qi Liang's thigh exposed bone. He sat there, large drops of cold sweat beading on his forehead, his face deathly pale.

As for Zhao Ke, he was lying on the ground, his hands tied behind his back with rope. His back was a bloody mess, looking like shredded flesh, the blood soaking through his shirt.

"Moo..."

Chen Jing kicked Zhao Ke with her foot, her large eyes blinking at him as if asking how much longer they had to wait.

She then glanced at Qi Liang's leg wound. Although Zhao Ke had assured her the injury wasn't fatal, seeing the blood, Chen Jing couldn't help but worry for Qi Liang.

Zhao Ke understood Chen Jing's meaning. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and knew his own work best. He didn't even need to look; the sensation of the blade piercing flesh told him the nature of the wound. He had avoided vital spots and bones. Such an injury would heal with a little treatment back home; there was no need to worry.

"Bang!"

At that moment, Zhao Ke's eyes snapped open, and he whispered, "They're here!"

Footsteps outside grew closer, each one heavy, as if stones were stuffed in the soles of the shoes.

"Buzz..."

The door was pushed open. Due to the angle, Zhao Ke could only see a foot step inside first. It was bare, with a layer of scarlet mud clinging to the sole. As the person walked, Zhao Ke could smell the strong scent of blood.

At the same time, his peripheral vision quickly scanned the person's feet. The joints were thick, and the feet were estimated to be at least size 47, much larger than an average adult's.

"Wuwuwu..."

At this point, Qi Liang and Chen Jing saw something that made their expressions change. Qi Liang's eyes widened in terror.

A large foot stepped towards Zhao Ke. With a "clang," something heavy was thrown onto the table.

Zhao Ke remained still on the ground. After a moment, he felt a cool sensation on his head, as if something was flowing down, dripping onto his neck. It was viscous and unpleasant, carrying a strong smell of blood.

Zhao Ke tilted his head and glanced sideways. Two severed hands lay on the table, blood dripping continuously from them.

"It's her!"

Zhao Ke's heart leaped. He could tell one of the hands belonged to a woman. It was the female office worker he had thrown into the bushes. He remembered her fingernails were painted pink and adorned with rhinestones. There was no mistaking it.

He then noticed another severed hand beside it. This one, however, had thick bones, clearly not belonging to the female office worker. It looked more like a man's hand.

At this moment, the large man squinted, his gaze sweeping over Zhao Ke and the other two on the ground. His rugged face showed confusion and annoyance. His triangular eyes scrutinized the three before he tossed the axe from his waist onto the table with a questioning look. He then glanced at the large iron pot.

His gaze fell upon the pot on the stove, where the bubbling broth emitted a rich aroma. He had been drawn in by the smell even before entering the room.

The man walked to the pot and frowned after looking at the seasonings in the bowl beside it.

He picked up a ladle, scooped out some meat chunks from the pot, and poured a spoonful of broth over them. The distinct red and white meat pieces, nestled in the broth sprinkled with scallions, made the man swallow involuntarily. He eagerly grabbed the bowl and began to eat heartily.

"Slurp slurp..."

In the large room, the only sound was the man eating. The three on the ground couldn't see what was happening on the table, but by the sound, they knew the man seemed to be enjoying the meat soup Zhao Ke had hastily prepared.

One bowl of meat and soup wasn't enough, so the man stood up to get another serving.

Seeing this, Qi Liang couldn't help but quietly nudge Zhao Ke's foot, winking at him and gesturing, asking why nothing had happened yet.

Zhao Ke shook his head, signaling Qi Liang not to rush.

He wasn't sure what medicine the old woman had put in the kettle, but even he felt slightly dizzy from the smell. Zhao Ke deduced that the medicine must be potent.

Li Hongbing must have drunk the medicated water from the old woman and passed out, leaving him defenseless to be killed by her.

He had added the entire kettle, so the potency was definitely significant.

"Clang!"

Just as Zhao Ke wondered why the man wasn't collapsing, the bowl in the man's hand suddenly slipped, falling heavily. He stumbled forward, not taking two steps before collapsing onto the ground with a "thud."

"It worked!"

Zhao Ke and the other two rejoiced. Chen Jing and Qi Liang struggled, quickly breaking free from the ropes. Their ropes had been loosely tied, easily broken with a slight tug.

Zhao Ke also got up from the ground, picked up the fruit knife, and walked over to the middle-aged man. The man lay on the ground, snoring soundly. He had to admit the old woman's medicine was unusually strong. It seemed Li Hongbing hadn't died unjustly.

"That was easy!"

Qi Liang couldn't believe it. According to their previous speculation, this Xiong Er was likely the bear that had been chasing them. He never expected such a simple trick to succeed.

Thinking about it, Qi Liang felt indignant. "Damn it, if I'd known it was this easy, why did you stab me?" The more Qi Liang thought about it, the more he felt it wasn't worth it.

Zhao Ke didn't offer a detailed explanation for Qi Liang's accusation, but Chen Jing understood clearly. From the moment the man stepped into the room, he had walked right into Zhao Ke's meticulously laid trap.

An injured prey, tied up before him, the enticing aroma from the pot, the prepared seasonings in the bowl—everything was like waiting for the master's return, full of suggestion.

An hungry master returning home would psychologically relax upon seeing this. Most people would choose to eat their fill before dealing with the prey. Of course, Zhao Ke dared to do this for another reason.

Freshness! Here, even lighting relied on an oil lamp, let alone refrigerators. Preservation was a serious issue. Before the food in the pot was finished, Zhao Ke was certain they would subconsciously choose to keep the prey alive. Since they couldn't escape anyway, it was better to save them for later.

Of course, there were risks. If they encountered a psychopath who didn't want to eat first but kill them instead, Zhao Ke could only count himself unlucky. Adhering to the principle of "rather die a fellow Taoist than myself," he would immediately get up and flee.

This was why he had stabbed Qi Liang's thigh instead of simply killing him with a knife.

Seeing the large man lying on the ground, Qi Liang and Chen Jing by his side couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. The man's physique was as strong as an ox, and he was half a head taller than Qi Liang.

His arms were almost as thick as Chen Jing's thighs. If a fight had broken out, let alone if he had transformed into a bear, even without transforming, the three of them wouldn't have been enough for him to even gnaw on.

Zhao Ke picked up the fruit knife, his face cold, and walked up to the large man. He pointed the blade at the man's throat and made a swift cut!

"Splat..."

Blood spurted out from his throat with a thump. The large man trembled, as if regaining consciousness. His eyes opened and looked at the three of Zhao Ke with a complex gaze. He seemed to want to say something, but the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

"YSI! The mission is complete! Can we go back now?"

For some reason, seeing the scene of blood gushing from the large man's throat, Chen Jing didn't feel cruel as she usually would. Instead, she felt a sense of ease, even relief.

It wasn't just her; even Qi Liang by her side felt a sense of relaxation. In just one day and one night, it felt like he had experienced a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. Now, he just wanted to wake up quickly.

"No!"

Just as the tension in their hearts began to ease, a cold shout interrupted their thoughts.

Qi Liang looked up. Upon seeing Zhao Ke's stern expression, his heart skipped a beat. Zhao Ke's eyes were fixed on the large man's corpse, his face terrifyingly grim.

"What is it??"

"He... isn't Xiong Er!"

Zhao Ke pointed at the corpse on the ground and continued, "If he were Xiong Er, his body should have transformed into a bear like the old woman. Besides, we haven't received any notification that the mission is complete."

Chen Jing and Qi Liang were stunned. They stared blankly at the corpse on the ground, and an involuntary shiver ran through their bodies. A chill crawled up their spines, from their heads to their feet.

"Damn it, how could he not be Xiong Er! Was all that effort for nothing?"

Qi Liang found it hard to accept this fact. After all their hard work, they had killed the wrong person. Where was the real Xiong Er?

Zhao Ke squatted down and began searching the large man's corpse. He pulled out a crumpled map from the man's chest. He examined it carefully under the oil lamp. The map was hand-drawn and very clear, seemingly of this area. In one corner, a circle was drawn in red pen.

Continuing his search, he found a dagger, some dry rations, and a bottle.

When he opened the bottle, a peculiar scent seeped out. Upon closer inspection, it was a powder of a very unusual color.

Zhao Ke gently brought it to his nose and sniffed a few times. It smelled like some kind of pollen, not pungent, but not pleasant either. Other than that, he couldn't detect anything different.

"Did you find anything?"

Chen Jing walked over, wanting to see what Zhao Ke had found. Zhao Ke was straightforward and placed everything on the table, saying, "Just these things."

As he spoke, Zhao Ke handed his fruit knife to Chen Jing and picked up the heavy, black dagger himself.

His fingers gripped the blade of the dagger. The dark, lustrous blade reflected an unusual cold light under the oil lamp. On the back of the blade, there was a hidden groove, emitting an eerie red glow.

"Two feet long, three fingers wide, weighing eight taels and three qian. A good knife!"

As the saying goes, an expert's touch reveals their skill. Having handled blades for years, Zhao Ke was all too familiar with them. This seemingly unremarkable, all-black dagger was undoubtedly a deadly weapon.

However, what displeased Zhao Ke was that the previous owner of this knife apparently didn't like to clean it. The blood in the groove had completely solidified, causing the dagger to emit a pungent smell of blood that anyone with a decent sense of smell could detect.

"What a waste of a good item." Zhao Ke glanced at the corpse on the ground, pursed his lips, and silently lamented for the dagger in his heart.

"What do we do now?"

Qi Liang looked at the large man's corpse on the ground, feeling a bit annoyed. He muttered to himself, "Since this guy wasn't Xiong Er, why didn't he just let us go? And what about those two severed hands on the table? Really..."

Qi Liang stopped mid-sentence, instinctively glancing at the window behind them. He paused, and saw a pair of scarlet eyes staring coldly at him from outside the window!