Volume 2: The Source of Life Chapter 4: Murder

  Weeds grow thickly, ruins pile up.

  The factory was brightly lit, and I lay quietly on the hillside next to it, watching everything inside.

  There were five people inside, playing mahjong around the table. Next to them were piles of empty wine bottles and cigarette boxes, as well as many instant noodles, clearly they had been there for several days already.

  Based on my observation, there were four people playing and one person watching. After a round of play, the person who won more money would leave and another person would take their place. The person who left would often go outside to relieve themselves.

  Everything is completely different from what I remembered.

  But that doesn't mean I can be careless. I've saved these five people many times, but because the timing of my actions can't be precise to the second, the specific process of each rescue is always a little different.

  I crouched down and slipped out of the door like a cat, listening to their conversation while waiting for action to begin.

  "One tube...... Brother Tiger, according to Manager Qian's meaning, tomorrow is the delivery date."

  "Twenty thousand... what's wrong, don't be stingy, this old lady's skin is still quite tender, otherwise, Brother Tiger will take charge, and tonight he'll make you feel good?"

  "Haha, Brother Tiger, what are you talking about? After I deliver the goods, I can call ten beauties from Bailing City, this old lady is not even worth my attention."

  "Hey monkey, stop messing around, can you even handle ten girls?" another person laughed.

  The monkey hummed: "I like to perform, can't help it, I'll make one, and let the remaining nine be the audience, what's it to you?" After a pause, he said: "Tiger brother, actually I wanted to say... Hehe, wait until tomorrow when we get 5 million, we'll slip away directly, and that dog money manager can go die."

  "Three strokes, haha, give me the money." Tiger Brother burst out laughing and suddenly said seriously: "Monkey, don't be too greedy. This time we can smoothly take 10% of the action, that's not bad. That old man Lao Tou is familiar with both black and white ways, he's not easy to mess with. You're still young, there will be many opportunities in the future, you need to have a long-term vision!"

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh," the monkey nodded repeatedly, "That's what Big Brother Tiger taught."

  Brother Tiger burst out laughing: "Well done, kid! You take over for me and go rest for a bit, let me win some more."

  The mahjong continued, and I quietly stood guard outside, as if the whole person had completely merged into the black night. And didn't worry too much about my mother, because I knew that these days she hadn't been bullied too much except for not eating well.

  It wasn't until the second lap that the sound of footsteps heading outwards finally echoed. My relaxed body suddenly tensed up, the bone-picking knife tightly gripped in my hand, my eyes fixed on the gate like a hawk.

  A shadow was cast by the light on the bright spot at the door, and the black shadow grew larger and larger, and the footsteps also grew louder and louder.

  I held my breath, and suddenly felt a hint of tension in my heart. This technique of killing people, I haven't done it for hundreds of years.

  A figure finally appeared at the door, it was that monkey, tall and thin, with a very slender body.

  As soon as he stepped out the door, before he could even pull up his zipper, I swiftly moved in like a ghost, my left hand tightly covering his mouth, and the deboning knife in my right hand also shot out.

  "Whoosh!" A smooth, light sound, without any hindrance, the sharp deboning knife slid from the back of his neck to the trachea, and the monkey fell down silently.

  I carefully put the monkey on the ground and let out a breath. It's been so long since I've used it, but my skills haven't completely faded away.

  At this time, the mahjong game in the house continued.

  My time is limited, if they see the monkey not coming back for a long time, they will definitely be suspicious. At that time, it won't be like in the movies where Tiger Brother calls one person out to take a look, lets me handle it, and then sends another person out to take a look again.

  These four people are going to charge up together, and with my current physical condition, I really can't handle it.

  So I must take the initiative to attack.

  I stealthily stuck out my head and looked inside from the window, taking advantage of the difference in light intensity between indoors and outdoors. I could easily see them, but they couldn't see me outside the window.

  I was like an old hunter, gazing at the prey inside.

  I wait, waiting for a chance to go in. Before long I discover that when they have just finished dealing the cards and are sorting them out, it is precisely at this moment when their attention is focused on the cards.

  So they picked up their second card and I walked in with a big smile.

  "Haha, you little kid got prostatitis, taking so long to pee." Tiger Brother sat facing the door, catching a glimpse of someone coming in with the corner of his eye, thinking it was Monkey, and cursed with a smile.

  I didn't make a sound, and quickened my pace slightly. The factory wasn't small, from the entrance to the mahjong table was about five or six meters away, I just needed two to three seconds.

  At this moment, Tiger Brother suddenly shouted: "Who are you?"

  "I strode forward, shouting loudly: 'This is my factory, who allowed you to enter?'"

  In that stunned half-second, I rushed to the mahjong table. The person with their back to the door had just turned around when my hand, shining with a deboning knife, stabbed out.

  "Whoosh!" Blood and water splattered everywhere.

  I let out a silent sigh of failure, my killing technique having gone unused for so long that I had grown quite rusty. Due to his conditioned reflexes causing him to dodge, the slash did not hit any vital spots but instead sliced open his carotid artery.

  I didn't have the energy to look at this poor guy, who was lying on the ground with his neck bent back, convulsing. With a flick of my wrist, I stabbed him in the direction of the person on the right.

  At this moment, Tiger Brother let out a loud roar and with both hands, he violently flipped the mahjong table over. The scattered mahjong tiles hit my face, forcing me to narrow my eyes.

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two people on either side of me hastily retreated from the table and dodged to both sides. However, they still underestimated me. Before taking action, I had already calculated everything.

  Completely ignoring those two who dodged out of the way, I grasped the deadly Bone-Picking Knife in my hand and charged towards Tiger Brother with a ferocious expression.

  "Brother Tiger, hide quickly." The man on the right saw me rushing towards Brother Tiger, picked up a steel pipe from beside him and turned around to rush back.

  I smiled to myself, my footsteps suddenly stopped, and I stepped out with the pace of Wu Xing Xi. In three turns and two turns, I floated to his side. The fierce weapon in my hand did not stop, aiming at his heart, 'Peng', a ball of hot blood splashed on my face, smelling of gore, and another one was solved.

  All this happened in just a few breaths, when the two fell down, the man on the left also ran to the camp bed, and a black pistol hung from the head of the bed.

  I sprinted over but it was definitely too late. I had a sudden inspiration, swung my arm in a half circle behind me and flung the bone knife out with all my might.

  With a whistling sound, the dagger was thrust into his back and vital organs, the powerful impact pushed him forward several steps, heavily falling onto the military bed, the protruding eyeballs staring straight at the handgun.

  So accurate! I couldn't help but secretly admire it.

  "Ahh!" A sharp cry suddenly rang out in the factory, and Mother woke up at some point, staring blankly at the blood-soaked floor with a shocked face.

  My heart sank, and I secretly thought it was going to be a disaster. This is the change caused by the difference in time when saving people.

  Brother Tiger, reminded by this sharp cry, suddenly had an epiphany and picked up a beer bottle from the ground, smashing it and placing it on his mother's neck, crazily shouting: "Don't come over, you damn well don't come over."

  I waved my empty hands and took a few steps back. "I didn't come to fight, don't get agitated, let's talk this out."

  Brother Tiger saw me retreat far away, and his mood finally calmed down a bit. He was also someone who had seen things happen before. After a slight pause, he shouted in a deep voice: "Who are you?"

  I nodded slightly towards Mother, "A friend entrusted me to save her."

  The mother was tied to a chair, already stunned and speechless for a long time.

  She let out a sigh of relief, and in her memory, it was almost the same as my mother's. In the midst of panic, she didn't notice that the murderer wearing a stocking mask and a baseball cap was her own son.

  The atmosphere was a bit awkward, so I sat down beside him and gazed at him calmly.

  This move also eased some of Tiger's tension. He hesitated for a moment and said sternly, "What do you want?"

  "It doesn't matter, let her go, I'll let you leave."

  "Really?" a hint of suspicion flashed in Tiger Brother's eyes.

  "Of course." I nodded.

  Brother Tiger's heart was moved, and his face revealed a heroic and painful expression. "This time, I admit that my brother's move wasn't bright enough, I lost, next time... Alas, I hope we never see each other again."

  I'm in no mood to listen to his nonsense, it's almost dawn, "You take her away, I'll stand at the door, and when you think it's safe, let her go. How about that?"

  Brother Hu thought for a moment and nodded: "Good, let's do it this way."

  So I retreated to the side, watching Brother Tiger release my mom and take her away. I also slowly walked to the door and stopped, looking at the two of them disappearing into the darkness of the mountain forest.

  A faint smile played on my lips, who else would be more adapted to the mountains than me, who has spent hundreds of years crossing them?

  It was now the darkest hour before dawn, when all was quiet and the world was hushed.