Chapter 37: 5 Million in Hand

  Zhao Zhi slapped Xiao Jirou's chubby face with a loud slap, "Mr. Xiao Jirou, as long as you hand over those few boxes, I'll let you go, otherwise, my brothers here will skin you alive and send your hide back to your family in Japan." Zhao Zhi's tone was icy cold, scaring Xiao Jirou so much that his legs went weak, and he wet himself again.

  "Drink, still a coward, this old man was scared to pee!" The black-clothed strongmen standing by burst into laughter, and the small Jiro's face turned bright red as his fat head almost hid into his crotch. Zhao Zhi also felt a chill in his heart, this seemingly clever Jiro was indeed a coward, just a few words and he was scared to pee, what a loss of face for Japan.

  Kojirō was still pretending to be foolish, trying to bluff his way through, but before he could continue, he felt a chill in his left ear, followed by a piercing pain that reached his heart. Kojirō's mouth opened wide, ready to let out a wail, but unexpectedly, Zhao Zhi had anticipated him and stuffed the same cloth from earlier into Kojirō's mouth. Kojirō's anguished cry was stifled, suppressed by the cloth in his throat, and he fainted on the spot, his eyes rolling back.

  "Give him to me and splash some water on his face, the city gate is about to close." Zhao Zhi looked at the ear on the ground with disgust, it was cut off from Xiao Cilang's body by a man in black just now. A large basin of cold water was poured directly onto Xiao Cilang's head, and he jumped up like being pricked by a needle as his wound was stimulated by the water. His mouth, which was covered with a towel, still made a sound similar to a howl.

  Zhao Zhi walked up to Xiao Cilang, using the butt of his gun to knock on the latter's forehead several times. In just a few hits, Xiao Cilang's nearly bald head was covered in large red blood blisters. The pain caused Xiao Cilang's expression to contort into an eerie grimace. Zhao Zhi suppressed his laughter and slowly pulled out the gag from Xiao Cilang's mouth, then inserted the barrel of the gun into it. In a darker and colder tone, he said, "I'll only count to three; if you still refuse to speak, I'll have no choice but to kill you right here."

  Kojirō, a man in his late forties, with a stout body always dressed in high-quality silk, looked spirited. His oily face was a testament to his good health. However, the cloth he had stuffed into his mouth earlier reeked of sweat and almost choked him to death. The severe pain in his left ear also made him unbearable. He thought he could pretend to be tough like the thugs from Beiping, but this time he saw blood and realized he underestimated these kidnappers - they were ruthless and willing to take lives.

  Zhao Zhi didn't say another word, but instead used his pistol to gesture at Xiao Cilang's head, intentionally or unintentionally. Xiao Cilang naturally didn't dare speak either, and the hall fell into an awkward stalemate. "Damn it, our master is asking you a question! Where are those few boxes? If you take them out, we'll spare your life. Otherwise, we'll let you taste the flavor of the gun!" Zhao Zhi gave a signal with his eyes, and a short, black-clad man stepped forward and slapped Xiao Cilang, knocking him to the ground while he was still petrified.

  "Umm... spare my life, good sirs......" Xiao Cilang covered his left ear and finally couldn't bear the silent suffering, opening his mouth to beg for mercy. He couldn't help but beg for mercy, that short black-clothed man was too hateful, that one slap had landed right on Xiao Cilang's left ear, although it had already been cut off, wasn't there still a wound there?

  "Hmm" thought Kotaro to himself for a moment, then opened his mouth and said "You good fellows, as long as you let me go, I'm willing to give you another 50,000 yuan in cash, how about it?" As soon as Kotaro's words came out, he secretly glanced at Zhao Zhi and those black-clothed men's faces, but he was very disappointed. These people's faces didn't show any expression, no joy or anger, just a complete lack of emotion. Kotaro's heart skipped a beat, had he said the wrong thing again?

  "Come on, cut off his other ear and then his nose!" Zhao Zhi slammed his hand on the table beside him, his eyes wide with anger. He sneered at Xiao Cilang, his legs crossed, "You think you can just dismiss us with 50,000 taels? Do you think we're beggars?" The mocking glint in Zhao Zhi's eye made Xiao Cilang shudder involuntarily again.

  "Five hundred thousand! Not a single cent less, or I'll chop off one of your fingers!" Zhao Zhi pointed at Xiao Cilang and cursed, the black-clad men beside him looked even more scornful.

  "Five hundred thousand?" Xiao Cilang, who loved money like his life, was so heartbroken that he almost bit his teeth to pieces. "No way, no way, I don't have that much money, I can only give you 100,000 yuan." At this time, Xiao Cilang didn't care about the severe pain in his left ear anymore, and began to haggle with Zhao Zhi, counting on his fingers. If he gave all the gold bars to Zhao Zhi, then he would have nothing left for himself. This outcome was absolutely unacceptable to Xiao Cilang.

  "Hmm, you're showing some sincerity now, but 100,000 yuan is still a bit too little, it's not enough to divide among my brothers." Zhao Zhi smiled and lit a cigar with the help of Luo Ying, who immediately pulled out a lighter.

  "What? 100,000 is not enough?" Kojiro was taken aback for a moment, but immediately almost jumped up from the ground. "Then how much do you want? Give me a specific number!" Kojiro thought that as long as he could settle it with money, it meant the kidnapper didn't want to hurt anyone. He decided to use his merchant's silver tongue to talk down the price, and the money saved would be his own, wouldn't it?

  "Didn't our boss just say that? Of course, it's still 500,000! Hmph! You think a mere 100,000 can buy back your life? Ah?" The short and stout kidnapper kicked Xiao Cilang again, who was in so much pain he almost cried out, but seeing the knives in the hands of the black-clad men around him, he swallowed his cry.

  "Gentlemen, heroes... good guys..." Xiao Cilang panicked and became somewhat incoherent. He now knew that these kidnappers were not so easy to deal with after all. "Good guy, I say, I say, the 500,000 yuan was exchanged for gold bars and is buried under the lotus pot in the courtyard." In the end, Xiao Cilang chose to pay the ransom to save his life, leaving him with a way out.

  "Ah, isn't this just right? Come on in, let Mr. Xiao Zilang take a seat, and serve some tea." Zhao Zhi waved his hand, and several men in black went to the courtyard to dig for treasure. The others busied themselves according to Zhao Zhi's orders, as if he had become the master of the house. Before long, several trunks were carried before Zhao Zhi's eyes. The gold bars inside the trunks sparkled so brightly that they almost dazzled Zhao Zhi's eyes - this bastard Xiao Zilang really knew how to make money! 500,000 yuan, just like that.

  "Mr. Xiao, we have to trouble you again to send us out of the city. As long as we can safely leave Beijing, we will immediately let you go back." Zhao Zhiyi gave a signal with his eyes, and several men in black clothes brought over a large wooden box that had been prepared earlier, using hemp ropes to tie up Xiao Jie like a rice dumpling and throwing him into the box. Of course, gagging him was necessary, and they used that piece of cloth with a strong smell again. "Brothers, let's go! We're leaving the city!" Carrying the suitcase full of gold bars, the group got on several horse-drawn carriages that had been prepared earlier, which were also loaded with various fabrics and sundry goods, looking like a group of traveling merchants.