Although I'd known for a long time that Black Sis and Mo Xiaoling had ulterior motives, I hadn't expected things to develop this way.
Jin Shanshan had lost control so completely, yet she'd still been refined into a vengeful ghost and brought under Black Sis's control.
Black Sis was quite satisfied. She turned to the villagers and said, "All right, we're done here."
"Black Sis." The villager holding the banner came over.
The owner of the little shop stopped pretending he couldn't speak Mandarin. When he opened his mouth, he spoke with a perfect accent, the kind you heard in the capital.
Black Sis raised an eyebrow and looked at him.
"This time was pretty dangerous. About the price..." He grinned ingratiatingly. The wrinkles on his face were layered and deep, like those of an old farmer who'd spent his whole life laboring. Yet his expression had an oily slickness that was hard to describe.
"We'll settle up the way we always have. Got a problem with that now?" Black Sis's expression turned cold.
"It's just that the situation's different this time. You brought outsiders, too. Think about it... If they call the police, the cops will come asking questions around here. That'll be trouble for us, too. I've got all those people working for me to feed." He spoke as if he were negotiating, but made it clear he wasn't willing to back down.
Black Sis gave him a faint, mocking smile. "You've got all those people working for you to feed? You think I don't know you're still in the old business? How many women and children are locked up in those houses? My being here this time hasn't interfered with your usual business."
My heart lurched, and I instinctively looked at the houses around us.
Could they