A Proof of Loyalty

Seeing that the two "fellow Daoists" signaled their accomplices to drive over the van and prepare to take the person away, K suddenly stepped forward, stretched out his arm, and blocked their way like an invisible barrier.

The two men, who were about to turn around, froze. The cruel smiles that had appeared on their faces after finding a "Zhiyin" vanished instantly, replaced by confusion and a hint of impatience at being interrupted. The man with High Cheekbones frowned, his cloudy eyes fixed on K: "Brother, what do you mean by this? The goods have all been inspected, and the money... oh, you don't want any money either, so we're even, right? We still need to get back to 'get to work'."

A faint smile slowly spread across K's face, but it remained merely a muscle contraction, failing to penetrate his eyes, which were like a deep, cold pool. His gaze remained icy and lifeless.

"I said," K's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable, penetrating power, clearly reaching their ears, "I want to see them torn to pieces with my own eyes."

Upon hearing this, the two "fellow Daoists" turned completely pale. The Skinny beside them, whose eyes were darting around, also spoke with a hint of hostility, shrilly. "Buddy, aren't you a bit ignorant of the rules? In all our years in this line of work, we've never had a precedent of letting outsiders 'observe'! This is against the rules!"

Their attitude hardened, and clearly, the demand for "observation" crossed their bottom line.

K seemed to have anticipated their reaction; he maintained his indifferent expression as if they were refusing not a bloody request, but a trivial matter.

"That was before," K said calmly, his tone eerily even, "Before you made a deal with me."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the two of them, and continued in a statement of fact:

"If you had met me earlier, this rule would have been in place long ago." His words carried an almost arrogant confidence, yet they didn't sound exaggerated at all; it was as if he were simply stating an established truth.

He then offered a more tempting and probing reason:

"I have many enemies. We... will continue to cooperate in the future."

He deliberately emphasized the word "follow-up cooperation" slightly, implying that this would not be a one-off deal, but a long-term relationship that could bring more "supplies".

"Further cooperation?" The man with the High Cheekbones and the Skinny exchanged a glance, both able to see a hint of hesitation in each other's eyes. A long-term, stable supply from their "enemy" was indeed an irresistible temptation for them. It was much safer and more "efficient" than risking their lives to catch "live goods" outside.

However, in their line of work, vigilance is ingrained in their bones. The Skinny's eyes darted around, and he looked K up and down again. Suddenly, he lowered his voice and asked with intense suspicion:

"Why should I believe you? That sounds nice... Who knows if you're a setup by the cops to follow us to our hideout and take us all down?"

This question was extremely pointed, directly addressing the core issues of trust and security. The air instantly froze, and the other accomplices who were moving the "goods" also stopped what they were doing, their unfriendly gazes surrounding K, subtly enveloping him in the middle, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Upon hearing this, the fake smile on K's face vanished completely. He offered no explanation, nor did he make any further moves.

Under the watchful, suspicious, and even murderous gazes of several people, he remained silent and slowly reached for his lower back.

This action caused the men surrounding him to tense up instantly, their hands instinctively reaching for the places where they might hide weapons at their waists, their eyes becoming even more ferocious.

However, what K pulled out was not the gun they had imagined, but an ordinary-looking dagger whose blade reflected a cold, eerie light in the dim moonlight.

He held the dagger, not pointing it at anyone, nor even making any defensive or offensive gesture. He simply held it as if it were a natural extension of his body.

Then, under everyone's astonished and uncertain gaze, K turned around and walked back to the trunk of his SUV.

In the trunk, Wei Guangyuan and Qian Zhiming remained unconscious, completely unaware of the impending doom.

K's gaze fell on Wei Guangyuan's hand, which hung limply at his sides, bound and helpless. That hand, which had once signed countless documents that determined the fate of others, once held great power and influence, was now covered in grime and utterly fragile.

K reached out and grabbed Wei Guangyuan's right wrist, pressing it firmly against the metal edge of the trunk.

Then, before anyone could react, he swiftly brought the knife down!

The movements were swift, clean, and precise, without the slightest hesitation, as if they were not cutting the flesh of a living person, but rather handling a piece of lifeless wood.

"Pfft--"

A soft, yet teeth-grinding, dull thud as a sharp blade slices into flesh and bone.

A bloody piece of Wei Guangyuan's left little finger was severed off!

Blood gushed out instantly from the severed finger, flowing down the slope of the trunk. Wei Guangyuan, still unconscious, seemed to experience a barely perceptible, instinctive twitch due to the intense pain, but he remained unconscious—the anesthetic used earlier was indeed very effective.

K didn't even glance at the wound. He simply used the tip of his dagger to pick up the severed finger, as if it were just an insignificant object, and then casually and nonchalantly tossed it towards the two men, the one with the High Cheekbones and the Skinny.

The severed finger, still warm and dripping with blood, drew a brief arc in the air before landing with a "thud" on the ground in front of the two people, bouncing slightly in the dust.

K's voice remained calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. He looked at the two men and asked:

"Does it still look like it now?"

Do they still look like police officers?

Would a police officer treat a "key suspect" and even "evidence" in such a ruthless and uncompromising manner?

The dock was deathly silent. Only the sea breeze continued to blow tirelessly, bringing with it an even stronger stench of blood.

The man with the High Cheekbones and the Skinny, along with their accomplices, stared dumbfounded at the severed finger on the ground, then at Wei Guangyuan, who was unconscious and missing a finger, in the trunk, before finally focusing their gaze on K's emotionless face.

The suspicion, wariness, and hostility on their faces... all the negative emotions vanished without a trace at that moment, like smoke blown away by the wind.

Instead, an expression emerged that was a mixture of fear, acceptance, and even a hint of barely perceptible awe.

The Skinny bent down, disgustedly picked up the severed finger with two fingers, casually examined it in front of his eyes, and then threw it back into the trunk of the SUV like trash, where it landed right next to Wei Guangyuan's legs.

He clapped his hands, his cruel and mercenary smile returning to his face, and said to K:

"It certainly doesn't seem like it." He shook his head, his tone becoming relaxed and even somewhat familiar. "The cops wouldn't do something like that, nor do they have the guts."

He paused, glanced at his companion beside him, and then said to K:

"Since that's the case, buddy, you're a tough one, we admit it. However, we can't make the decision about 'observation' ourselves; we need to report to the boss. Please wait a moment."

K seemed completely unsurprised. He remained expressionless, casually wiping the blood-stained dagger on Wei Guangyuan's clothes before retracting it to his waist. Then, he gestured for the Skinny and the High Cheekbones to leave, before leaning against the SUV door and waiting quietly, as if the bloody scene had never happened.