Chapter 7: Henry's Hard Times

  Henry didn't eat much at dinner, and after moving boxes for a while, he felt a bit hungry. He remembered that there were some sausages and bread in the kitchen, so he walked towards the kitchen wearing his slippers. Henry was wearing a casual robe with a loose belt around his waist, and half of his hairy chest was exposed.

  Henry was a London scoundrel who made his living by stealing every day, until he put his hand into the pocket of an earl and his good days of wandering around on the streets came to an end. Henry, locked in prison, thought that this would be the end of him, but things took a turn for the better. The stolen earl did not sue Henry, instead giving him a new identity and job - to go to China as a pastor. Of course, all this was at a price: the earl would periodically send some boxes to China by ocean liner, while Henry in Shanghai was responsible for handing over these boxes to people who came to collect them.

  It's been three years since Henry came to Shanghai, and he has adapted to life in China. In Britain, he was just a thief and a swindler, but on this Oriental soil, he is indeed the benevolent Pastor Henry, God's messenger. Henry had no idea what was inside the boxes until another worker accidentally smashed one while moving it, revealing that Lord Vickers had been smuggling weapons into China.

  They say that when you're well-fed and warm, lustful thoughts arise. Henry's horizons broadened after arriving in Shanghai, and he developed some small desires. He secretly rented a house and kept a mistress, but his meager income couldn't sustain these indulgences. So Henry laid his cards on the table with the Earl, demanding a share of the money. The Earl was still quite agreeable and agreed without hesitation. However, from then on, Henry's church had four additional pastors, all of whom Henry knew were the Earl's people, sent to keep an eye on him.

  Henry lit the lamp, humming a tune while slicing the ham and mentally calculating how much money he could get this time. Since the Earl started giving him his own share of money, Henry felt comfortable and thought everything was delicious. Moreover, his Russian mistress who lived outside had also become more considerate recently, at least every time he went to see her, she was thoughtful and no longer perfunctory as before. Henry knew this was all because he gave her an extra 300 dollars every month.

  Just as Henry was busy filling his belly, Zhao Zhi had already opened the back door of the church with a thin steel wire and entered the kitchen next to it. He saw a tall and fat guy humming a British tune, stuffing smoked sausage and bread into his mouth. Without saying a word, Zhao Zhi quickly pulled out a sharp knife and approached Henry, placing the blade across his neck.

  The cold blade was stuck to his neck, and for a moment, Henry was stunned. The bread that had not been swallowed in his mouth fell out with a plop. A chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to his head, and Henry was completely stunned. Who could it be? He himself was law-abiding and had no enemies. Panicked, Henry quickly thought back in his mind.

  Henry was about to speak when a hand reached out from behind and grabbed his throat, pushing him against the wall like a dead dog. Henry half-crouched against the wall, his neck constricted by the person's grip, making it hard for him to breathe normally, let alone make a sound. The person was masked, dressed in black, with eyes that gleamed with an eerie chill, making people dare not meet their gaze.

  "How many people are there in the church?" Zhao Zhi slightly loosened his hand that was gripping Henry's neck, but his voice was icy cold, causing Henry to shiver involuntarily.

  "Five, plus five." Henry concealed the two delivery men temporarily staying in the church. The two delivery men were both proper British Royal Marine soldiers, and Henry also fantasized that he could rely on those two brave marine soldiers to rescue himself.

  "You're lying, what about the people who came in the truck? There were three of them when they arrived, but when they left, there was only the driver, so where are the other two?" Zhao Zhi's hand with the sharp knife pressed down slightly, and a line of blood flowed from Henry's neck into his pajamas.

  "I said, I said, there are two more people, they temporarily live in my room, and I squeeze into another room with other pastors." The severe pain in Henry's neck made him choose to tell the truth. He was afraid that the black-robed masked man opposite him would really kill himself.

  "Take me to your room." Zhao Zhi dragged Henry, letting him walk in front. Although Henry had a European build, he couldn't break free from Zhao Zhi's hand. Walking down the corridor for a short distance, Henry pointed at a white door and gestured repeatedly, his throat having been slit by a knife, so he could only use his hands to gesture back and forth, indicating that was his room.

  Zhao Zhi didn't dare to relax, tightly holding onto Henry who was stuck on the wall, while he himself pressed his ear against the door to listen for any movements inside. Right, two snoring sounds came from inside, which meant that Henry hadn't lied, and there were indeed only 2 people sleeping inside. Zhao Zhi then had Henry point out a few other rooms before bringing him back to the kitchen.

  "Sorry, today is your day of suffering." Zhao Zhi pinched Henry's throat and slashed a few knives, cutting off the tendons in his hands and feet. Zhao Zhi's knife was too sharp, so that Henry didn't even feel pain before his tendons were cut off, and it wasn't until his body lost control and fell to the floor that he felt the intense pain spreading from his hands and feet.

  Before he could even cry out, Zhao Zhi lifted his foot and kicked Henry's head with great force, kicking him into a daze. He quietly stuck to the wall and listened for a while, but didn't hear any movement. Then, Zhao Zhi pushed open the back door and went out, Ah Dai should have brought people over by now.

  He lit a cigarette, and Zhao Zhi's smoke ring spun three times in the air, which was a pre-arranged signal with Ah Dai. Sure enough, upon seeing Zhao Zhi's signal, a group of people emerged from a small alley across the street, rushing towards the church. It was unclear what kind of shoes they were wearing, but despite there being over a dozen people, their footsteps were eerily silent, making them seem like ghosts as they converged on the church.

  "Zhao, how's it going?" A familiar figure emerged from the crowd - Han Te. Damn, Zhao silently cursed, what was this guy doing here in person? If a conflict broke out inside and bullets started flying, they wouldn't discriminate between friend or foe. If Han Te got killed, who would Zhao collect his pay from?

  "Henry had his tendons cut and was knocked unconscious, locked in the kitchen. There are 6 more inside, all asleep. Do you want to live or die?" Zhao Zhi looked at Hunter, waiting for him to make a decision, after all, he was the one paying the bills.

  "Except for Henry, kill the rest." As expected of a standard arms dealer, at this moment, Han Te still had the same ferocity as when he first met Zhao Zhi, and with one word, five people's lives were gone.

  "Wait a minute, I'll be right back." Following Henry's previous instructions, Zhao Zhi turned on the flashlight fixed on his shoulder and entered the rooms where the pastors lived one by one. With one hand covering his mouth and the other hand holding a sharp knife, he swiftly cut through their throats. It only took a few seconds for the people whose throats were cut to lose consciousness and eventually bleed to death. Zhao Zhi didn't dare to boast about how good his knife skills were, but they were more than enough to deal with these pastors. In just a few short minutes, Zhao Zhi had searched through all the pastors' rooms, and when he went out to meet Hunter again, his body was covered in a strong bloody smell.