Money for Goods

"Are there shameful secrets inside?"

Li Ran shook the ID card in his hand, looking suspiciously at the incredibly flustered Yang Baobao.

"No. Please return my ID card. I have already shown my sincerity, so please keep your promise."

"Promise? When did I ever make a promise?"

"You..."

Facing a scoundrel like Li Ran, Yang Baobao felt as if her lungs were about to explode with rage.

But now that her leverage was in his hands, and another unspeakable secret was on the verge of being discovered, she was trapped.

For a moment, her complexion turned ghastly, a mix of sheer panic and burning fury.

Li Ran pushed Yang Baobao aside and headed straight for the basement.

The path to the basement was blocked by a locked green iron door, hung with a heavy chain and a brass padlock. A faint chill seeped from the gap at the bottom; standing by the door, one could feel the cold emanating from below.

Yang Baobao immediately chased after him, blocking the iron door with her body. "If you insist on entering, I swear, I will kill you, and then I will kill myself!"

Li Ran opened his mouth, not expecting Yang Baobao's attitude to be so desperate.

What was in the basement?

Others might not know, but Li Ran did.

He still clearly remembered the look of terror on Deng Zhiwei's face back then.

"My master likes to collect human faces, especially the faces of beautiful women."

"She stores the faces in the basement like works of art."

A sharp glint flashed in Li Ran's eyes as he stared at the iron door behind Yang Baobao. If he wasn't mistaken, that was also where Deng Zhiwei had disposed of the bodies.

"My master made me clean up the mess... I was so scared, I didn't know what to do... Do you know? When I was disposing of the body, she was still awake. Hahaha... In the end, I flushed them all down the sewer."

Deng Zhiwei's words sounded truly hair-raising. If Yang Baobao hadn't forced him to do it, if she hadn't made him dispose of the bodies, Deng Zhiwei wouldn't have been infected with the virus in the middle of the night, nor would his inner murderous desires have been triggered, eventually turning him into a butcher-like monster.

Thinking of this, Li Ran felt not a shred of sympathy for the gender-bending person in front of him.

If he were strong enough, he would have avenged Deng Zhiwei himself.

The killing intent in Li Ran's eyes slowly receded; he knew very well that if a real fight broke out, he was no match for Yang Baobao.

"I can choose not to go in," Li Ran said.

Yang Baobao let out a sigh of relief, and the murderous intent in her eyes faded as well.

"I can also return your ID card."

The expression on Yang Baobao's face softened significantly, but as soon as she realized Li Ran's next word would be "but," her face turned ugly again.

"However..."

Li Ran paused, studying Yang Baobao's expression, and said with a serious tone, "Many young girls have gone missing recently, and without exception, they all visited your shop. Mr. Yang Shuo, don't you want to explain that?"

After speaking, Li Ran glanced once more at the green iron door to the basement.

Upon hearing this, Yang Baobao's face changed drastically, and a terrifying wave of killing intent surged forth!

Li Ran quickly retreated to the stairs, watching the murderous Yang Baobao with vigilance.

"Don't be impulsive. I'll give you back your ID."

Li Ran tossed the ID card to Yang Baobao, which finally suppressed her overwhelming killing intent.

In truth, the ID card was no longer a tool of leverage for Li Ran; he had already made a backup. If he didn't leave the beauty shop safely, in ten minutes, Yang Baobao's true identity and the secret of her murdering people to steal their faces would be made public.

This was the real reason Li Ran was so fearless.

"I've returned your ID, so you should at least give me a finder's fee. I came all this way to bring it to you." Li Ran wore such a straight face that anyone who didn't know better would think he was a model citizen returning lost property.

"Kid, my patience has its limits. Those two things just now were the absolute limit of my tolerance!" Yang Baobao had completely lost her patience.

Li Ran said with a cheeky grin, "Those two things were just hush money for the basement. You haven't paid the finder's fee for the ID yet."

"You... you are simply shameless!"

Yang Baobao was so angry her chest ached; she had finally witnessed a true scoundrel today.

"Older Sister, actually, you only need to give me a little benefit."

"In ten minutes, if I don't walk out of here safely, your past and your little hobbies will be known to everyone!"

At this moment, in Yang Baobao's eyes, Li Ran was nothing but a vampire sucking people dry!

Yang Baobao's chest heaved with rage; if looks could kill, Li Ran would have long since been a mangled corpse.

"Older Sister, I promise this is the last time," Li Ran said with a smile.

This served as a sedative for Yang Baobao.

As long as she could keep that brat's mouth shut, her secrets would remain hidden.

Thinking of this, she gritted her teeth hard, as if making a difficult decision, and slowly walked up to the second floor.

Li Ran heard the sound of rummaging through cabinets, and shortly after, Yang Baobao came back down holding a white box.

"This is a treasure I've cherished for many years."

Yang Baobao's words nearly made Li Ran's eyeballs pop out.

Purple glowing equipment?

Rare grade?

Rare grade equipment was something one could only hope for by chance, its value was self-evident.

In the points mall, a rare item with no skills and trash attributes cost at least three thousand points. One with some skills would reach five thousand, and one with skills and excellent attributes would be at least seven to eight thousand. If both skills and attributes were top-notch, it would cost at least ten thousand.

After Li Ran spent points on the rare skill [Magic Shadow Bite] last time, he only had 150 points left.

He didn't even dare to dream of rare equipment now.

At this moment, Li Ran's expression moved for the first time, and he couldn't suppress his excitement.

He reached out to take it, but unexpectedly, Yang Baobao immediately retracted the item, looking at Li Ran with suspicion: "You took the benefits, what if you keep a backup?"

Yang Baobao was referring to Li Ran's backup.

Li Ran also understood his concern. If he didn't hand over the backup, he wouldn't get that top-tier equipment, let alone get out of here.

Moreover, he had already obtained two excellent-grade refined equipment from here. It wouldn't be appropriate to not give something in return.

Thinking of this, Li Ran blew a whistle towards the door.

In the alley opposite, a gray cat slowly walked out, a USB drive in its mouth.

"Put the item in the middle of the road," Li Ran said to the gray cat.

The gray cat nodded, placed the USB drive in the center of the pedestrian street, and then retreated back into the alley.

"Money first, goods second," Li Ran said.

Yang Baobao threw the box to Li Ran, then his body transformed into a blood-red shadow and he rushed out, his speed as fast as lightning.

He quickly picked up the USB drive on the ground.

"Crack!"

Yang Baobao crushed the USB drive into powder on the spot.

He turned back sharply to look at the shop, but Li Ran's figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Yang Baobao let out a frantic, soul-shattering scream.

After venting, Yang Baobao's eyes became extremely venomous:

"Bastard, don't let me see you again, I will definitely rip off your face and use your body as fertilizer for my pets!"

"Ah!!"