Chapter 434: Chapter 309: This Is a Matter of Face, and It Must Be Taken Seriously
"Yes. We’ll find the killer within three days..." the sub-leaders of the Red Blood Gang all nodded and replied in unison.
They were all already scheming. As soon as the meeting was over, they would send out their men to launch a full-scale investigation into who had murdered their fellow gang members.
After Hong Jiu finished giving his orders, he waved a hand and said, "Meeting dismissed."
Just as the Red Blood Gang’s sub-leaders were about to leave the hall, one of the gang’s grunts approached to make a report.
"Reporting to the Gang Leader! I found a letter on my way to the latrine. It says it’s for you..."
As the grunt spoke, he showed the letter in his hand to everyone present. The envelope was indeed inscribed with the four words, "For Gang Leader Hong."
However, the writing on the envelope was hideous—all crooked and sloppy. You could tell at a glance that the writer was uneducated.
Of course, the only educated men in the room were Hong Jiu and Fang Jingtang. The others weren’t exactly men of culture, so aside from those two, none of the sub-leaders thought the sloppy writing on the envelope looked ugly at all.
Hong Jiu typically wouldn’t handle a letter from an unknown source himself.
"Let me see it." Without waiting for a nod from Hong Jiu, Fang Jingtang spoke to the grunt.
After Fang Jingtang took the letter, he opened it in front of everyone, took out the paper inside, and quickly scanned it.
"Huh?!"
There wasn’t much written on the paper, and Fang Jingtang finished reading it in moments. When he was done, he couldn’t help but let out a startled cry.
"What is it?" Hong Jiu asked. "What does it say?"
"Gang Leader, the writer claims to have accidentally witnessed the entire murder of our men. He knows where the killer is living now and has written the address in the letter," Fang Jingtang said.
"What? Are you serious?" The sub-leaders had been planning to send their men out to find the killer after the meeting. They were shocked that someone had taken the initiative to come to them with a tip.
"Let me see." Hong Jiu held out his hand and took the letter from Fang Jingtang. He glanced at the writing—it was just as crooked and ugly as described.
When he finished reading, he passed the letter to the others.
"What a meddling bastard. I’m going to rip his head off," a hot-tempered Red Blood Gang sub-leader cursed after reading the letter’s contents.
The other sub-leaders immediately chimed in, and for a moment, the quiet meeting hall was filled with foul language.
Hong Jiu frowned, raised his right hand, and gestured for his men to be quiet.
Seeing their Gang Leader’s hand gesture, the sub-leaders immediately shut their mouths, though the anger on their faces didn’t subside.
From their perspective, their two brothers had just robbed some woman. What was the big deal? To dare kill them over it—the perpetrator had some serious nerve.
"Mr. Fang, what’s your take on this letter?" Hong Jiu asked Fang Jingtang.
He wasn’t about to immediately trust an anonymous letter. After all, you don’t survive this long in the underworld and rise to his position by being reckless.
"Gang Leader, we can’t determine if this letter is real or fake. However, since it specifies the killer’s address, we can just send someone to verify it. It won’t take much time," Fang Jingtang said.
"Mm." Hong Jiu nodded. That was his thinking as well. He glanced over his subordinates. Before he could even speak, the fuming sub-leaders were already vying to take the job.
"Gang Leader, let me handle this! I’ll go check this guy out."
"I’ll do it. I haven’t gotten my hands dirty in a while. I’m getting an itch."
"Let me do it! It’s been even longer for me."
"Stop fighting over it. I’ll handle this. After all, the two dead brothers were my men."
Everyone’s gaze fell on a burly, shaven-headed man sitting in the corner of the hall.
This man was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. His eyes were bloodshot; he clearly hadn’t slept well last night.
At that moment, his face was grim as he stared at the two corpses lying on the floor.
The sub-leaders who had been eager to show off for the Gang Leader all quieted down.
After all, the man had said the deceased were his. It was only reasonable to let him handle it. For anyone else to keep fighting for the task would be disrespectful.
"Fine, you’ll handle it. Remember, confirm that he’s actually the killer before you make a move.
Also, based on their wounds, the killer is a Cultivator with a certain level of skill. Take some good men with you..." Hong Jiu said.
"Yes, Gang Leader." The burly, shaven-headed man nodded, and a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Energy pulsed from him.
Hong Jiu saw that Fang Jingtang seemed to have something to say, so he asked, "Mr. Fang, is there anything you’d like to add?"
"After confirming he’s the killer, don’t make your move in a crowded place. The Zhou Family’s young master, Zhou Tianci, was beaten up in the street recently, and they still haven’t found the assailant. It caused a huge stir.
The authorities have sent word for us to keep a low profile for a month. If you make a move in public, it will be very bad for us," Fang Jingtang reminded them.
"Did you hear that? Keep Mr. Fang’s warning in mind. Don’t be impulsive and act rashly in front of a bunch of passersby," Hong Jiu said to the burly, shaven-headed man.
"Gang Leader, Mr. Fang, rest assured. I’ll take it to heart. I won’t bring trouble to the gang and have the authorities knocking on our door," the burly, shaven-headed man replied earnestly.
Afterward, everyone who attended the meeting left the hall.
After leaving the hall, the burly, shaven-headed man immediately gathered several of his underlings who were also Cultivators and headed for the inn where the suspected killer was staying.
Behind a leafy tree on the side of the street, a tall, bald man stepped out.
He watched as the burly, shaven-headed man and his underlings departed, a smirk on his face as if he were looking forward to a good show.
Then, he thought for a moment and decided to go back and tell his boss about what was happening.
* * *
Inside an inn in the eastern part of the city, a figure appeared out of thin air in a guest room.
Lin Li, dressed in a gray training suit, took off his sunglasses and stored them away on the Mysterious Small Island.
Walking out of his room, Lin Li went to the door of the adjacent room and knocked.
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK."
A moment after the knocking, footsteps could be heard from inside the room.
"Who is it?"
The woman in the room came to the door but didn’t open it immediately, instead asking warily.
Lin Li could understand Qin Muqing’s caution. After all, any normal person would react this way after surviving such a dangerous robbery.
"It’s me."
Hearing the familiar voice, Qin Muqing quickly unlatched the bolt and opened the door.
"Benefactor."
After opening the door, Qin Muqing quickly stepped aside, inviting Lin Li into the room.
"I won’t come in. I just came to tell you that I’m going out to look for a house," Lin Li said.
"Okay," Qin Muqing nodded.
Lin Li looked at this plain-looking, simple, and quiet woman and asked, "Have you eaten breakfast?"
"Not yet," Qin Muqing said quietly.
"It’s this late and you still haven’t eaten? You must have been up for a while, right?"
"Yes."
"..." Lin Li was silent for a few seconds. ’This woman is probably too embarrassed to call the waiter to order food,’ he thought.
"Sigh..."
Lin Li sighed inwardly. "Didn’t I tell you yesterday? If you need to eat, just call for the waiter.
Remember, you need to eat to have the strength to work. After I find a house, there will be a lot of housework for you to do, so you have to eat well.
And eat what you should. Don’t try to save money for me. I’m not short on cash."
"Okay," Qin Muqing nodded.
Seeing that the quiet, simple woman seemed to have taken his words to heart, Lin Li stopped nagging. He told her he’d have the waiter bring her some breakfast and then left.
The quiet, simple woman watched Lin Li disappear at the top of the stairs, then retracted her gaze.
After closing the door, the woman’s simple and quiet demeanor vanished in an instant, her eyes filling with a spirited light.
* * *
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