Chapter 73: Money Moves People, and Can Also Harm People

In the Xinaluo region, inside a home in the living village.

Xu Er pressed down on the young man's head: "Know why we're looking for you?"

"Big Brother, you must have the wrong person, I...!" The young man's face turned pale as he tried to explain, his eyes filled with terror.

Xu Er looked at him coldly and replied expressionlessly: "You took eight watches in total, found someone to sell seven of them in Harley, and took 100,000 in cash, right? Do I need to be more specific?"

The young man was completely stunned hearing this.

"Damn it, do you know what I do? Hijacking, smuggling, I'm your ancestor's generation! Never mind Harley, even if you ran hundreds of kilometers further, with goods this expensive, do you believe I could still track you down?" Xu Er grabbed his hair: "I won't waste time with you. I have some questions to ask you. If you answer clearly, I'll spare your life."

"This... this... brother, my son...!" The old man put down the watch he hadn't yet put on and stood up trembling.

"Bang!"

Xu Er raised his leg and kicked the old man in the chest, sending him and his chair flying: "This has nothing to do with you. Stay still, understand?"

The old man was kicked dizzy but still begging for mercy, though the other party completely ignored him.

After the lackeys had controlled the young man's family members, Tang Baiqing and Xu Er grabbed the young man's hair and took him to the inner room.

The young man knelt on the ground, trembling.

Xu Er sat on the bed, pointing at his face and said: "I'll ask you three questions. Who's your superior, who hired you to receive the boat, and who was responsible for connecting with you?"

The young man shouted: "Big... Big Brother, I really don't know about these things. I'm just a boat-driving lackey. I went on the boat that day because they were short-handed. I don't know anyone."

Hearing this, Xu Er laughed coldly: "Don't know anyone, and they just let you on the boat? You think I'm an idiot?!"

"We had intermediaries for the work. I have a friend in Harley who introduced me to this job. I thought the money was good, and if I... if I did well, I could have a prosperous New Year, so I went along," the young man pleaded. "But I really don't know the specifics."

"What's your friend called?"

"His nickname is Second Rat, he used to hang around Harley."

"Can you contact him?"

"It's New Year's, he's probably gone home already, I doubt I can contact him," the young man shook his head. "You know how it is with us who do shady business, we don't really become true friends."

"Ah, so what you're saying is you can't help with anything?" Xu Er smiled.

"Big Brother, take the watches back, I was wrong, I'll never dare again...!" The young man bent down to kowtow.

"What do you think we should do?" Xu Er looked up at Tang Baiqing.

"Fuck!" Tang Baiqing cursed and turned to walk outside.

Thirty seconds later, the young man's parents and his young wife were all brought into the room.

"Won't talk, huh?" Xu Er slowly stood up, stretched, and directly pulled out his belt: "Dealing with you isn't interesting. In the underworld they say misfortune shouldn't extend to family members, but I think that's pure bullshit, only idiots would say that. My style is more real - I like extending misfortune to family members."

"Slap!"

As he finished speaking, Xu Er took his belt and, with all his strength, whipped it across the young man's mother's face.

The old woman was over sixty, and one can imagine the result of such a hit. She fell immediately, her face torn and bleeding from the belt buckle.

"Do it!" Xu Er shouted, and Tang Baiqing and two lackeys unhesitatingly started attacking the young man's parents and wife.

These people had all been in bad moods lately. The loss of goods alone amounted to over ten million, and many people had been arrested - some imprisoned, some suspended from duty. They had gone red-eyed now, beating the young man's family members with extreme brutality.

The old man was quickly beaten unconscious, and the old woman had three people stepping on her head, grinding it viciously against the ground.

During this time, the young man kept begging for mercy, even reaching the point of breakdown, shouting that he was willing to cooperate, but everyone still didn't stop. Instead, they continued to destroy him psychologically.

After beating them for a full three or four minutes, the old man and woman lay motionless on the ground, while the young man's wife was also covered in blood, lying under the bed, her whole body convulsing.

After the intense activity, Tang Baiqing was also covered in sweat. He looked at the woman on the ground with eyes full of hatred and said concisely: "Take her to that room, I want to play with her."

No one stepped forward to stop him, they just did as told.

Tang Baiqing gritted his teeth and kicked the young man's head in a manic state: "Willing to talk now? Fuck your mother, do you know how much blame I've taken because of you poor bastards, you scum?! Just because you want to make some money, do you know how many people have been implicated? You still pretend to have principles with me? I want to cut you into ten thousand pieces!"

Not satisfied after cursing, Tang Baiqing kicked the young man several more times before turning to leave the room.

Soon after, heart-wrenching screams and pleas from the woman could be heard from the next room. Xu Er sat on the bed with an inexplicable smile, just listening, saying nothing.

The young man begged pitifully like a dog lying on the ground, but no one paid attention to him.

Whether running in the underworld or eating from the Thunder Boys' bowl, if you've taken money for a job, you should follow the rules and complete your assigned task. If the wealth isn't yours, you shouldn't touch it, or it's easy to invite disaster.

But while this principle sounds very correct and simple, in real life, how many people are willing to follow the rules?

Even knowing that selling gold bricks carries the death penalty and ruins people, some still risk it; even knowing gambling can bankrupt families, people still sit at the card table every day.

Among those who risk their lives to make money, how many aren't doing it for wealth and profit? When five hundred yuan is put in front of your face, anyone can have self-control, but what about fifty thousand? Five hundred thousand? Who can guarantee they won't waver?

The young man would get at most ten or twenty thousand per job, but taking the watches meant an income of over a hundred thousand, so he couldn't resist. It was tragic, pitiful, and hateful all at once.

Fifteen minutes later, the young man stopped begging and knelt sitting on the ground, motionless.

"What's your name?" Xu Er finally asked.

"...Liang Feng," the young man replied, head down.

"How many people were working with you?"

"About ten or so, not fixed. Each time the leader would arrange the formation."

"Who hired you?"

"...Seemed to be surnamed Yu. The leader took the job, didn't tell us the details."

"Very good." Xu Er grabbed his hair and said word by word: "From now on, I'll be staying here. You need to find a way to lure the others over."

In the other room.

Tang Baiqing fastened his pants and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The turbid qi that had been pent up inside him was finally somewhat released.

But just as Tang Baiqing was feeling he had vented some anger, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, Brother Yang?"

"Damn it, how did your family negotiate this? How did that kid taking the fall for you escape?!"

"Ah?!" Tang Baiqing was stunned.