Free Web NovelThe inside of the trailer was a complete wreck.
Bright red blood soaked the floor, and Cheon Jiyoung’s clothes and accessories were scattered everywhere like trash. freēwebnovel.com
I slowly looked around and muttered to myself.
“So she lived in a place like this all this time.”
They said it would take about two hours to reach the nearest hotel, so she must have spent almost all her time here... it must have been incredibly uncomfortable.
“Let’s clean this up a bit first.”
Manager Ma ordered the staff to start roughly tidying the interior.
“You don’t have to wipe the blood. We’re scrapping this trailer today anyway.”
I had zero intention of letting Cheon Jiyoung continue using this trailer.
Just seeing it would remind her of the trauma. There was no world where I would let that stand.
Once the rough cleanup finished, Manager Ma guided me to the sofa attached to the trailer.
As soon as I sat down, they dragged in the guys I had pointed at earlier and forced them to kneel in front of me.
“Hm...”
Even on their knees, both men had insolent expressions on their faces.
I let out a low sound of displeasure as I looked at them. Their attitude was seriously rubbing me the wrong way.
I lightly loosened my wrist and held out my hand to Manager Ma.
“Director, hand me an axe.”
Manager Ma handed me a hand axe with both hands.
I stood up and crouched in front of the two.
Then I tapped the wrist of the one who had dragged Jiyoung out earlier with the blunt side of the axe.
“Which hand? Which hand hit my sister?”
He didn’t seem to understand and frowned.
“What?”
“Forget it. You don’t need to answer. I’m cutting it off anyway.”
I signaled with my eyes to Manager Ma. He grabbed the man’s arm and slammed it down against the floor.
After confirming the palm was flat against the ground, I swung the axe.
“Uaaaagh!”
The man’s left hand dangled, bone exposed.
Because the blade was dull, it didn’t sever cleanly; the axe buried halfway into the torn flesh.
The man struggled wildly, but under Manager Ma’s strength, he couldn’t move at all.
His mouth gaped open in agony as drool spilled down.
I watched him without emotion, then yanked out the axe and tossed it aside.
“A man only needs one mouth, so deal with the rest yourselves.”
I wiped the blood on my hand and stood up. Then °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° I turned to the other man and smiled.
He visibly stiffened—completely unlike before.
“From now on, answer everything I ask. If your answer is even a little late, or you try any bullshit...”
I deliberately trailed off and turned my head toward the man being dragged away.
The remaining man followed my gaze.
Blood kept pouring from the dangling left hand of the fainted man who had collapsed from the pain.
Seeing that grotesque sight, the kneeling man swallowed harshly. He didn’t need me to spell out what would happen to him.
I tossed the bloodstained handkerchief to the floor and sat back on the sofa.
“Your name.”
“...I’m Wei Dabao of 14K.”
“Why did you try to take Cheon Jiyoung and Zhao Mi, those two?”
“The boss ordered us to bring Cheon Jiyoung and Zhao Wei. We just followed orders.”
Having just watched me slice open his subordinate’s wrist without hesitation, Wei Dabao answered immediately without any sign of hesitation.
His tone was still cocky, but that wasn’t the important part right now.
“Your boss?”
“You won’t be able to leave here now. We will chase you to the ends of hell. Favor must be repaid with favor, death with death. That is the rule of our organization.”
I let out a short, incredulous laugh. Where the hell did these lunatics crawl out from?
“Repay favor with favor, and death with death? Bastard punks trying to act like they have some grand philosophy.”
Being openly mocked, Wei Dabao bit his lips hard in humiliation.
“Cut the nonsense and answer the questions. I asked you the reason. Why take them?”
“I don’t know the details. We were only ordered to bring them.”
So without knowing the reason, they tried to kidnap two well-known celebrities?
In a place with this many eyes?
I crossed my legs and looked down at Wei Dabao.
“So this kind of thing must be common, huh? Orders to kidnap female celebrities.”
“...Not common, but it happens sometimes.”
The symbiotic relationship between the Triads and Chinese entertainment circles was widely known.
Many famous actors were deeply connected to the Triads—or were even active senior members.
“And after taking them, what then? Force them to sign contracts for your movies? You know such signatures have no legal power. It’s not your first time, right?”
“...”
Wei Dabao, who had been answering smoothly until now, clamped his mouth shut.
Oh? Something reeks here.
I glanced at Manager Ma. He lifted the hand axe I had thrown earlier.
Seeing that, Wei Dabao hurriedly spat out words.
“T-T-they take photos and videos... and use them as leverage. Then they make them shoot whatever films we want, and provide hospitality for—”
Before he could finish, Manager Ma swung the axe.
Wei Dabao pulled his hand back too late; he couldn’t prevent a finger from being sliced off.
“Gaaah!”
I raised my hand to stop him. Manager Ma bowed lightly.
“Stop whining and keep talking. That’s the only way you’re getting out of here alive. If you make me ask again, it won’t end with just that.”
I nudged a towel on the floor with my foot and tossed it toward him.
“So, you're saying you kidnap actresses, take photos or videos, then use them to force them into projects? And even force them into sexual hospitality? You bastards planned to do that—to my sister?”
Wei Dabao used the towel to cover his severed finger, but it quickly turned red with blood.
My tone was calm, but inside, fire surged.
How should I kill these bastards? What method spreads the word that they died properly?
“Ha, fuck. This is insane. So where can I meet this ‘boss’ of yours?”
“He’s in Guangzhou. But I don’t know the exact location. He changes his lodging every time...”
Despite trembling violently, Wei Dabao answered every question.
Ever since losing his finger, his tone had become polite.
Animals really do understand only when beaten.
“There must be a place where you were supposed to take the two of them.”
“The boss never sees them directly. We finish the job and report. The deputy boss waits at the location.”
“So you don’t know the boss’s location. Then I have no reason to keep you alive.”
“N-No! The deputy boss will know. I can take you to where he is!”
Wei Dabao grasped for his life.
He even volunteered to betray his deputy boss without hesitation.
I smirked at the sight of someone who had talked about loyalty groveling for survival.
“One last thing. Who hit my sister? Was it that bastard earlier?”
“It wasn’t me. I was supposed to take Zhao Wei, and Zhao Wei knows who we are, so she didn’t resist. But Cheon Jiyoung’s manager resisted. That guy stabbed the man in the stomach as a warning. As soon as the manager collapsed, Miss Cheon Jiyoung screamed, and that guy slapped her. I really didn’t do anything.”
Wei Dabao trembled violently as he watched my expression.
Should I just kill him here?
At that moment, Manager Ma’s phone rang. He checked the caller ID and answered.
After speaking quietly for a moment, he approached and handed the phone to me.
“Boss, it’s Hao Xun.”
I nodded and took the phone.
— Sir. This is Hao. Have you been well?
“I was fine until a moment ago. But not now. Now I’m fucking pissed.”
Hao Xun inhaled sharply over the line, startled.
Usually, I treated him politely, so this must have rattled him.
— Excuse me? What do you...?
“I said I’m in a fucking awful mood. Listen carefully, Hao Xun.”
— ...
“I know why you called, so we’ll talk about that later. First, something else. Do you know 14K? They also call them ‘Yanzabang,’ apparently.”
Hao answered immediately.
— They originated in Hong Kong, but lately they’re a Guangzhou-based Triad overseeing Hong Kong and Macau.
“Do you do business with them? Any connection? You better not. Because I’m planning to erase those bastards completely.”
— What happened?
I summarized the situation to Hao Xun.
— ...So you’re saying those men tried to kidnap your sister? No, that’s insane.
“They probably didn’t know she’s my sister. Maybe they don’t know me either. Whether they knew or not doesn’t matter. What matters is—they tried to lay a hand on Jiyoung.”
My icy voice made Hao fall silent.
Then cautiously, he asked:
— Do you know who’s behind it? 14K’s boss, Wan Kuokkoi, is currently in prison.
“What? Is that true?”
— Yes. He was imprisoned after the Macau war. Too many people died when they fought another Triad, Hua Anle. Public security investigated, and when the noose tightened, Wan Kuok-koi did something insane. He tried to stop the investigation by bombing the car of the Macau police chief, intelligence director, and the captain investigating them. The government mobilized the military, and he was arrested. He got twenty years.
That’s not what I heard. I kept the phone at my ear and asked Wei Dabao:
“Hey, your boss is supposedly in prison. Did you lie to me?”
“N-No! Boss Wan Kuokkoi is imprisoned, but the current boss is Zhou Zhuohua!”
Wei Dabao protested loudly, then added quickly:
“I don’t know who you’re speaking to on the phone, but Boss Wan Kuokkoi has no real power.”
Hao seemed to hear that; a low sound escaped him on the other end.
“You heard that? They say Zhou Zhuohua is the new boss.”
— That guy? No way. He’s incapable of that. I know exactly who he is. Good at business, yes, but not someone with the backbone to do this.
Hao talked at length.
“Well, we’ll know once I meet him. Anyway, everything else is on hold until this is over. I suspect someone high-ranking is behind this, so let’s hope it isn’t Chairman Hu Jintao or Premier Wen Jiabao. If it is, our ties end here. Same for you, Hao Xun.”
— S-Sir, I will take care of this myself. I just arrived in Shenzhen. Guangzhou isn’t far. I’ll meet you and—
Hao must have come all the way to Shenzhen to meet me.
He knew exactly how big the incident could get if I personally stepped in.
That’s why he was desperately trying to take responsibility himself.
But that wasn’t what I wanted.
“Hao Xun. I have no intention of solving this through dialogue. This involves my family. If I hadn’t come to China, hadn’t found this place, you know better than anyone what would have happened.”
— ...I will capture them myself and drag them before you. Please hand the phone to that man for a moment.
I held the phone out to Wei Dabao.
“Take it.”
Wei Dabao accepted it carefully and held it to his ear.
“Who is this? Yes? Vice Boss Hao Xun?? Yes. Yes, understood. Yes.”
He even nodded while answering submissively.
I lifted an eyebrow.
Judging by his reaction, Hao Xun must have considerable influence even in the Triads.
Wei Dabao returned the phone.
— Sir. I’m heading there now. I will clean everything up, capture Zhou Zhuohua and the deputy boss, then contact you. Please give me a chance.
His voice was almost pleading.
At first, I’d intended to butcher every one of them myself, but with him this desperate, perhaps it was worth giving him an opportunity.
He waited, breathless, until I finally spoke:
“Can I trust you? You’re not hiding anything?”
— I am not. That organization has nothing to do with us.
“All right. Come over. Manager Ma will give you the location. And... clean up this place too.”
— Yes. I will bring cleaners as well.
I handed the phone back to Manager Ma.
He finished speaking with Hao Xun while I looked down at Wei Dabao.
“How do you know Hao Xun? Do your groups have a connection?”
“N-No. He is just famous. Among the Chinese Triads, he is a major figure.”
“I see. Anyway, Hao Xun is coming here, so when he arrives, you’ll go with him to the location where you were supposed to bring the actresses. Then you live.”
“T-Thank you. Thank you!”
Overjoyed at the promise of survival, Wei Dabao lowered his head repeatedly. He looked ready to prostrate himself on the floor.
After Manager Ma ended the call, I spoke.
“Treat his injuries and keep him restrained. Gather the rest of them inside the trailer. Hao Xun will take care of everything when he arrives.”
Cleanup could be left to Hao Xun.
With that, I rose from my seat and stepped out of the trailer.
