Tortured to the Extreme

"Bang!"

Li Wei pressed the pimp's head down and slammed it heavily against the floor of the shack!

Bright red blood flowed uncontrollably down his forehead. The pimp was wailing; his initial threats and curses had now turned into desperate pleas and begging.

"Go inside, Xiao Wei. Your mother is sleeping, so you need to watch over her. No matter what sounds you hear outside, do not come out!"

Xiao Wei looked up, nodded obediently, then shakily lifted the door curtain and walked into the inner room. Li Wei had already moved Su Ya's body inside earlier.

"I don't want the compensation anymore! I don't! Brother! Big Brother! I beg you! It was my eyes that failed to recognize a titan! Please, let me go! Spare me!"

The pimp surnamed Yan wailed, having fully realized the gap in strength between himself and Li Wei, praying only to keep his life.

Li Wei's expression remained calm as he pressed the man's upper body onto the cutting board. He drew the short sword from his coat and slammed it down, piercing the wood less than five centimeters from the man's neck!

The pimp shuddered violently. His forehead was covered in a mixture of blood and sweat, and his body went limp as mud, lying on the board without daring to move a muscle.

"I ask, you answer. If you dare tell a single lie, I will cut off an ear. Once the ears are gone, I'll dig out your eyes, then your nose and fingers. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I understand! Ask! As long as I know it, I will tell the truth!!"

"Why was Su Ya sold to you?"

"It was the councilman's wife! She held a grudge because this maid from Afterglow was carrying the councilman's child! A boy, at that! She wanted Su Ya to suffer a fate worse than death and ensure the boy would be a slave for the rest of his life!"

"How did Su Ya die?"

Hearing this question, beads of sweat the size of beans dripped from the pimp's forehead. But when he felt the sharp blade pressing against his ear, he immediately shrieked!

"The councilman's wife ordered me to do it, too! Su Ya's health was already poor, and because she lacked Yaoguang citizenship, she had to rely on others to buy her medicine! The councilman's wife instructed me to offer 'help' and then put chronic poison in her medicine! It made her condition worsen day by day without killing her outright. She said she wanted her to live as a wretch and suffer every torment!"

He didn't dare lie, spilling everything he knew.

"What about that councilman? Did he have nothing to say about it?"

"The councilman raped Su Ya! He didn't care for a whore from Afterglow at all! He only wanted to pretend to be close to the laborers to gain a reputation for kindness and virtue, all to help his political rise! He didn't care for this illegitimate child either. Even if he had no other heirs, he would never let a descendant with Afterglow blood inherit anything of his!"

Li Wei looked coldly at the terrified pimp and asked in a low voice.

"You're just a pimp. How do you know so much about a councilman?"

The cold tone made the pimp shiver. His body trembled incessantly as he tried his best to explain.

"I—I am an employee of Green Bamboo Human Resources Company! My superior's superior is the company's general manager, and he has a very close relationship with that councilman! The two of them maintain a business trafficking cheap prostitutes and labor from Afterglow. Because of this connection, my boss has always been doing dirty work for that councilman, and those tasks were usually passed down to me—just like the business with Su Ya!"

He clearly didn't want to die, his eyes darting around as he desperately searched for a way to survive. After swallowing hard, he continued.

"So, that councilman has many secrets in my hands! If you are willing to spare me, I can give all these secrets to you! With this information, you can threaten him and make him pay! We can cooperate! We can—"

"Pfft!"

The blade sank into his back. Li Wei didn't give him a chance to continue.

Since he had learned everything he wanted to know, this pimp was naturally of no further use.

Slowly pulling the short sword from the man's heart, Li Wei picked up a rag from the side. As he wiped the blood from the blade, he called out toward the inner room.

"Xiao Wei."

The boy lifted the curtain and walked out. He didn't cry or make a fuss, simply looking at the blood-stained Li Wei with his large, bright eyes.

"Uncle."

"Does your home have a large duffel bag?"

"Under Mother's bed. It has winter quilts inside."

Li Wei took off his blood-stained trench coat and pulled the bag from under the bed. After emptying the bedding, he went into the inner room and placed Su Ya's body inside.

Then, he took the boy's hand with one, and hoisted the duffel bag with the other.

"Let's go. You have no family left here. I'll take you to Afterglow. You still have a great-uncle there who will take good care of you and your mother."

Xiao Wei, half-understanding, let Li Wei lead him by the hand. He led him out of the dilapidated shack and away from Hongle Street—a place that looked bright and glamorous, but in Li Wei's eyes, was hundreds of times filthier than Afterglow.

With Xiao Wei now wearing a change of clothes and a baseball cap pulled low to hide his face, Li Wei returned to the inn.

When he arrived, Feng Zi was reading. Seeing Li Wei walk through the door, she immediately stood up from her chair.

"It's not even dinner time yet. You've already finished your big meal?"

As soon as her words fell, she saw Xiao Wei behind Li Wei, blinking his eyes and looking at her with curiosity.

Feng Zi's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't expected Li Wei to go out and return with a child!

"Whose child is this?"

"The son of Li Ming, the head of the Afterglow Union. His name is Xiao Wei. Help me look after him for a moment. His mother is in this bag; keep an eye on them both. I need to go get something else. Once I have it, I'll send the two of them away."

Feng Zi, who had initially wanted to scold Li Wei for bringing the boy's mother in a duffel bag, turned pale and fell silent when she saw the large, blood-soaked stain at the bottom of the bag.

At the same time, she guessed what Li Wei was about to do.

"Are you going to kill someone?"

"Not 'people,' I suppose. Just a nest of scum."

As Li Wei spoke dismissively and reached for the door again, Feng Zi stumbled over to him and grabbed his hand.

"Take this."

Li Wei looked down to see a digital voice recorder in his palm. When he met Feng Zi's gaze again, her blue eyes were exceptionally earnest and bright.

"We aren't bloodthirsty executioners, nor are we villains who slaughter the innocent. Even if we don't care what others say, the evil deeds these people have committed need to be brought to light one day, don't they?"