Bloodshed Loomed

The heavy stone hammer slammed into the wall, cracking it open.

Ammona took a few steps back, initially looking timid and afraid. But when she saw the tall shadow outside the door and Daphne standing next to her in her wool coat, she finally broke into a smile, and all her fear and grievance turned into tears.

Jiang Xueming brushed the dust off his gloves. Seeing the two sisters hugging each other and crying their eyes out, he didn't say anything and was about to pack his things to leave.

"Wait a minute! Father! Just a moment!"

Daphne called out as soon as she saw the priest about to leave.

"Don't go yet!"

Jiang Xueming had just stepped onto the stairs and was about to go downstairs to check on the receptionist when he heard Daphne's shout. He immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

Daphne: "Why... why are you helping me?"

"Thank you for the hat and the coat." Xue Ming made up an excuse and showed the brand label on the inside pocket of the coat. "I've always wanted to buy this brand of wool winter coat, but I couldn't bear to spend that much money."

Daphne was suspicious; she absolutely did not believe in free lunches, just like the young Xue Ming, she was extremely cautious.

"It's that simple?"

"Yes." Jiang Xueming stood at the entrance of the stairwell, looked up at the two sisters and said, "There's one more thing. I hope you won't become a newspaper boy anymore. If you were living a carefree life alone, I wouldn't be advising you like this. Everyone has their own way of surviving."

"I am not you, and I cannot stand in your shoes to criticize your survival strategies, but you couldn't protect Ammona."

"This industry is too risky. Just listen to stories about how the consequences might not affect your family; don't take them seriously."

Daphne pressed further, "Is that all you ask for?"

Jiang Xueming: "You suspect I have ulterior motives?"

Daphne: "Yes"

Jiang Xueming: "Mr. Pan from the King's Gang kidnapped your sister, and instead of questioning, cursing, and doubting him, you doubt me, the one who helped you?"

Daphne immediately fell silent.

Jiang Xueming pulled his hat brim down, hiding his face even deeper. Only a sliver of light shone on his chin.

Both remained silent, listening intently to the groans emanating from the receptionist, who had six bones broken by Jiang Xueming and was tied to a chair.

After about ten seconds, Daphne finally spoke and asked, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm a priest, and also a part-time psychologist," Jiang Xueming replied. "I have a medical license."

"Helping me will definitely cause trouble," Daphne said. "The people from the King's Gang won't let you off easily."

Jiang Xueming didn't reply. The person transporting drug money on the train wasn't Mr. Pan, nor was the person who kidnapped Daphne. Mr. Pan wouldn't do such dirty and tiring work; these were all gang henchmen. The gang's business wasn't limited to forcing a skilled newsboy to submit. Such a small task was probably just a drop in the ocean in the King's Gang's eyes.

The sample of the new gun has been delivered to Foreman Eric of the Dead Puppet Agency. The people at the Ironworks will help Xue Ming continue to improve its ergonomics and materials science. Xue Ming should be able to obtain two tested finished products in just two or three days.

In the next two or three days, he decided to stay in the City of Tears and see the help through to the end.

As for the "trouble" Daphne mentioned --

Xue Ming didn't take it to heart at all. Meeting this little girl on the train was a good thing, so it had to bear good fruit.

"Why don't you go home first? You can hide at the Qingjin Police Department if you want." He said this, and walked into the depths of the corridor without looking back.

Daphne wanted to chase after her, but Ammona was too weak, and she couldn't bear to leave her younger sister behind.

"--Father!"

She could only weakly shout a few words. Deep down, she had always been afraid of Mr. Pan from the King's Gang. To ordinary people, the underworld was a lawless place with little surveillance. Civilized areas only existed in the bustling downtown area of the Grand Station. Once outside the city lights, all that remained was deep darkness. It was far too easy for someone to disappear.

Back in the temporary interrogation room, the guards from the King's Gang were unyielding. Even with several broken bones, they still tried to maintain their composure and put on a fierce expression when they saw Jiang Xueming return, determined to face the enemy with imposing presence.

"Who sent you? Are you Qingjin? Or a militiaman?"

"Let me tell you! I'm not afraid of you!"

"Are you a member of 41st Brotherhood?"

41st Brotherhood is another gang in City of Tears, and a larger version of Silver Bay. When the beggar brothers of Silver Bay no longer wanted to be beggars and had some capital to do some small business, these people became itinerant merchants or had their own shops. They would form gangs and start secret societies, and were also mortal enemies of old gangs like the King's Gang.

The receptionist spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which splattered onto Jiang Xueming's clothes. He then saw that the tall figure blocked the only light source at the entrance and exit. An inexplicable pressure surged over him like a tide. The man who had broken his ribs and leg bones walked forward unhurriedly, and when he reached him, he pulled over another chair and sat down.

Receptionist: "Hello!"

Xue Ming didn't speak, his hands were on his knees, his fingers were covered by construction gloves, and his eyes looked like those of a dead man.

For a fleeting moment, the receptionist even thought the Asian man in front of him was a stone statue—was there a ghoul inside him? Why did he look so lifeless? Was he really looking at me?

Why did he just sit down like that? How will he treat me?

Jiang Xueming leisurely took out the scriptures, used them as a cushion, and rested his hands on them. Then he took out his phone to read the news.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!"

The receptionist deliberately raised her voice and shouted very enthusiastically.

Xue Ming still did not respond, continuing to roam the internet world on his own.

After about ten minutes, the intense and frenzied emotions were finally washed away by the bone-chilling cold. All the resentment and courage vanished, leaving only unknown fear and despair.

The receptionist asked in a low voice, "Do you need money?"

Jiang Xueming still didn't answer. He took out a large iron box from his doctor's bag and pulled out two walnuts from it. Focusing all his attention on the walnuts, he took out a small hammer that detects knee jerk responses and gently cracked the walnuts open. The crisp cracking sound was very jarring in the quiet room.

The receptionist seemed to be under a spell; he finally realized that his body wasn't quite healthy. The fracture was slowly drawing away his body heat, and the blood pooling in the wound was gradually turning into a swollen embolism—he started to have all sorts of wild thoughts.

Could this guy in front of me be some kind of psychopathic killer?

They beat me so badly I couldn't move, and then just watched me die?

"What are you trying to do? What... what exactly are you trying to do?"

Xue Ming opened the Bible to read, but remained silent. The sound of his rough gloves rubbing against the pages made the receptionist tilt his head repeatedly, as if he had suffered a severe mental shock.

"Say something! Say something! Open your mouth and say something!"

After Jiang Xueming finished eating six walnuts, he was reading a book while eating when he finally seemed to realize that the person in front of him was calling for help. He looked up and glanced at them.

The receptionist immediately introduced himself, "My name is Luo Kang! I'm a telephone operator for the King's Gang! I'm just a lowly henchman who helps pass on intelligence and does odd jobs! You're a magnanimous man, you won't kill me, will you?"

Jiang Xueming immediately stood up, packed her things, and left the room.

Luo Kang seemed relieved when he saw the man get up and leave.

But a minute later, two bags of cement were seen falling in front of the door, and bricks were piled up, seemingly to bury the poor prisoner to death in the narrow room.

Luo Kang shouted, "No! No! No! No! I'm working for Mr. Pan! This wasn't my idea! I didn't mean to mistreat that little girl!"

Xue Ming squatted by the door, continuing to lay bricks. His technique was clumsy, not as skillful as when his wife was laying mortar. The wall he built was crooked, and he always had to push the red bricks back to straighten it. The sound of mortar scraping against stone with the trowel in his hand seemed to scrape a layer of flesh and blood from Luo Kang's heart.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?! What the hell are you trying to do?!"

Luo Kang roared helplessly and desperately. At this moment, he wished the Lapis Lazuli Guards could arrive at the scene. These law-abiding armed personnel from the Transportation Bureau would never resort to vigilante justice. No matter what, he would not die in such a godforsaken place.

Another eight minutes passed, and the "clumsy" mysterious man continued to build the wall, finally leaving only a small feeding window, from which a faint light shone through. It was so weak that Luo Kang felt as if the oxygen in the air had become thin.

Before he even had to wait seven days and seven nights, he smelled a strange, rotting odor emanating from his body. Perhaps the little girl named Ammona had also smelled this odor—it was the smell of despair, the scent of a soul that was already half dead even before the body had died.

"Now, Mr. Luo Kang," Jiang Xueming's voice came from outside, "Let's talk about your life."

Luo Kang suddenly raised his head. "Me? My life?"

Jiang Xueming: "Yes, I am a psychologist and a priest. I worked at Evangelical Church in Brenwell and later went to work in the capital of the Nine Realms."

Luo Kang: "So what?"

Jiang Xueming: "It was quite a coincidence. On my way to a small station, I met Daphne and heard the story of the two sisters' misfortune. By chance, I ended up in front of you."

Luo Kang: "Bullshit!"

Jiang Xueming: "Even now, do you still think that imprisoning a thirteen-year-old girl is wrong?"

"This has nothing to do with me!" Luo Kang interrupted innocently, "I'm just doing my job for money!"

Jiang Xueming: "You were just unlucky?"

Luo Kang: "I'm just a cog in the King's Gang!"

Jiang Xueming: "You just think you're unlucky and happened to encounter a construction accident? You think you, a cog in the machine, have been treated unfairly? You think your life has become unbearably burdened?"

Luo Kang: "Otherwise what!? This matter should have been completed smoothly! But that bastard Daphne! Why is she so disobedient? It was just a matter of her lifting a finger! Helping our boss steal a little money, just a tiny bit! I wouldn't need to stay here any longer."

"Mr. Luo Kang, calm down," Jiang Xueming asked in a low voice. "Whenever people suffer and face desperate situations, God always gives them a way out—you need to think carefully before you speak."

"A person's mental energy usually exists inside the body. It is in our blood vessels, flowing to the brain with the blood, in the synapses of our brain nerves, and in the frequent activity of the brain—but once you start speaking, this energy is used up and dissipates."

"You must be very tired after saying so much."

Luo Kang was breathing rapidly. He truly felt listless and unable to pull himself together. He had fallen into a state of hysteria and was unable to think clearly.

Jiang Xueming said, "I'm not a madman who indiscriminately kills innocent people, nor do I have any strange hobby of liking to kill. I locked you in this room simply because I wanted you to experience what little Ammona felt like—this was Mr. Pan's idea, and it's his specialty."

"This is fucking damn bad!" Luo Kang cursed, then said, "I... I didn't know things would turn out like this, I didn't know..."

Jiang Xueming: "In other words, if you knew beforehand."

Luo Kang immediately interjected, "I wouldn't do that! Oh my god, what have I done? I left a little girl in a place like this for seven days and seven nights! Oh my god, I can't stand it for even a minute longer! I'm about to see my great-grandmother, Father!"

Jiang Xueming: "That's a hallucination caused by lack of oxygen."

Luo Kang: "Really? Did I pee?"

Jiang Xueming: "It smells like urine. You've lost control of your bladder. This isn't a good sign. It means you're about to die."

Luo Kang: "I was wrong, I admit my mistake. I'll kneel down before you, okay? I was wrong. I'm willing to turn myself in. If you can give me a chance, I'll turn myself in immediately. I'll never be involved in the underworld again, Father. I want to convert to Christianity."

"I have two more questions," Jiang Xueming asked. "Where do you usually work? You're a telephone operator, who do you relay messages for?"

Luo Kang: "At number 11 St. Monica Street in the Lower City, there's a clothing store. Go through the back door and you'll find a small gambling den. I work there. I relay messages to One -One-Eyed Cock of the King's Gang. It's usually passed on to his underlings who sell appetizers (soft drugs), telling them to either back off or sell their stuff boldly. It's that simple."

"I'm so sorry." Xue Ming pushed aside the bricks and stepped into the room, where the stale air immediately felt fresh. "It seems you've seized the opportunity God gave you."

The heavy weight on Luo Kang's heart lifted instantly; he saw a glimmer of hope and immediately broke into a smile, "Hahahaha! Father, hahahahaha!"

Jiang Xueming took out a small knife, untied the bandit's ropes, took the bandit's still-intact arm, and brought him a small water cup containing products made by White Lady.

"Drink it, you're going to die soon."

Luo Kang immediately lowered his head and drank the medicine. During this time, he felt the priest twisting and turning his hands and feet, and his broken leg bones and arms were put back in place one by one. He was in so much pain that he grimaced but dared not utter a curse.

Until this mysterious priest once again began reciting his mystical classics.

"Now another test lies before you, Luo Kang."

The wheezing sound of a car engine shut down could be heard downstairs.

"--I didn't answer the phone on time. I..." Luo Kang immediately tensed up. "The gang's sentries came looking for me, Father."

This subtle change was putting Luo Kang's mind to the test.

The knife remained on the chair; the priest had left it there after using it to cut the wires. It was only thirty centimeters from Luo Kang's hand; he could reach it with just a slight step and a bend of his head.

If they wait until the sentries come knocking and news of Ammona's disappearance gets out, Luo Kang, the telephone operator, will also be in trouble—he can't afford that responsibility; Mr. Pan will definitely make him chop off his hands and feet to pay for it.

"Hehehehe. Hehehe." Luo Kang's face revealed a hysterical laugh, "You're bluffing me? Is that it? As soon as I pick up this knife, you'll kill me immediately? Right? Hehe. I won't fall for it, I won't!"

Jiang Xueming nodded.

"--You've passed the test, Mr. Luo Kang, and seized another opportunity sent by God."

The three sentries from the King's Gang smoked as they hurried up to the thirteenth floor, the floor where Ammona was being held. When they reached the twelfth floor, they saw a strange-looking man in a long robe standing on one side of the corridor.

The lead sentry was about to draw his gun when Xue Ming grabbed his outstretched hand and snapped it. Before he could even scream, his Adam's apple was struck hard, and he staggered and fell to the ground.

The second person followed closely behind, but as he tried to draw his gun, he was struck by his companion's weakened body and rolled all the way back to the eleventh floor.

The last poor wretch hid on the eleventh floor, shouting loudly.

"Luo Kang! Luo Kang, are you there?! Luo Kang! Where did this bastard come from?! Who is he?! Luo Kang!"

Mr. Luo Kang remained motionless; at that moment, he felt like a wild beast.

The priest, like a hunter, slowly tamed him into a domesticated dog; he no longer dared to touch the knife on the chair, nor dared to answer the sentry brother.

As muffled groans and cries of pain came from downstairs, the priest ran back and forth, carrying the three unconscious sentries back to Luo Kang, his pristine white work gloves completely unstained by blood.

"They're all in your hands now, Mr. Luo Kang."

Ten minutes later.

Luo Kang received a call from the King's Gang Santa Monica; it was One-Eyed Cock calling.

"Boss."

Cock: "Why aren't you answering the phone!? Why!"

Luo Kang: "I met a man."

Cock: "What?!"

Luo Kang: "He has a damn charm. I feel like I can only listen to him. I... can't control myself."

Cock: "Huh?"

Luo Kang had already gotten into the car with his three wounded sentry brothers and was heading to the nearest infirmary.

"Boss! I quit! I quit!"