The Eldritch Files

Chapter 7: Chapter 5: Black Table Bounty

Han Su let out a low breath. He wouldn’t be leaving just yet.

He turned to the man in the duck-billed cap. His expression was hidden behind his sunglasses. "A lawless friend of mine once told me that assault is illegal," he said, "especially when you’re caught on camera."

The men blocking Han Su’s path, one in front and one behind, just grinned silently, as if Han Su had told some hilarious joke.

The man in the duck-billed cap, who was sitting in a chair, spoke with a laugh. "What are you thinking, buddy? We’re not here to hurt anyone. We just want you to cooperate with an investigation."

"At worst, you’ll just get a little too emotional, start shoving my boys here, and there’ll be a small misunderstanding. There are no cameras in this place, so you’d better not go spouting nonsense..."

"Besides, I think it would be in your best interest to cooperate with us."

"You might not know this, but someone posted a bounty on the Black Table to investigate your kidnapping case. The reward... is a full three million..."

He even paused when he mentioned the number, his narrowed eyes glinting with greed. "We won’t be the only ones coming for you, and the others won’t be as reasonable as us. Some things can’t stay hidden. You’ll talk eventually."

"Heh, kidnapped by monsters? You’ve got some imagination. But what normal person would believe that crap?"

"Why don’t you just tell us what really happened back then? We can solve this amicably, once and for all. It’d be good for you, too..."

"..."

"Three million?"

Han Su listened, his brow furrowed slightly. ’A bounty on the Black Table?’

In his current life, he was at the bottom of society and wasn’t privy to many of the more... interesting things happening in Qinggang City.

But during that life when he’d been the son of a rich family, he had become intimately familiar with the etiquette, lifestyle, and even the underhanded methods of high society.

Take this Black Table, for example. It was a rather shady website that even directives from the Administrative Hall couldn’t shut down.

It was often used to post unsavory private commissions and conduct clandestine transactions. Its services covered everything from investigations and hired muscle to smuggling and assault.

Many private investigators, bounty hunters, and desperados made their living by accepting commissions or hunting bounties on the site.

But to everyone else, this kidnapping was a ten-year-old case. The newspapers couldn’t even be bothered to rehash such outdated gossip. Why would someone suddenly post such a high bounty?

Seeing the change in Han Su’s expression, the three men surrounding him knew he understood the gravity of the situation. They were no longer in a hurry to make a move.

A subtle glance was exchanged, and the two men were motioned to help Han Su into a seat.

’If anyone actually believed my story,’ Han Su sighed inwardly, ’I’d be tempted to take that three-million bounty myself...’

He looked up at them, a polite smile on his face, and said, "There’s no smoking in the library."

"Huh?"

All three of them were taken aback, especially the one with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Before they could react, Han Su suddenly slammed his backpack into the face of the muscular man in front of him, then spun around and viciously slapped the man with the cigarette.

"Wha—huh?"

The man was completely dazed by the slap. The knife in his hand froze in mid-air, unsure of what to do.

’Wasn’t I just paid two hundred yuan to show up and look tough? Why are we actually fighting?’

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Han Su, deciding to go all in, followed up the slap by stepping forward and grabbing the man’s dagger-wielding arm.

He twisted it backward. CRACK!

The man shrieked in pain. The knife clattered to the floor, and Han Su casually kicked it under a bookshelf. He turned back to see the muscular man, who had already thrown the backpack aside. His eyes were vicious as he strode toward Han Su.

Pushing off his back leg, he threw a straight punch. His movements were fierce and swift; he was clearly a trained expert, even possessing the stance of a professional fighter.

But he never expected that Han Su’s expression wouldn’t even flinch in the face of his fist.

His one good eye watched coldly. The moment the man entered striking range, Han Su swayed slightly, dodging the punch. At the same time, he splayed his right hand, thumb apart from the other four fingers, and struck viciously at the man’s throat.

The man was surprised by Han Su’s quick reaction and tried to pull back, but Han Su stuck to him like a shadow.

He grabbed the man’s arm, kneed him in the groin, then pivoted to put his back to him, leveraging his shoulder and elbow.

Another sharp CRACK!

"AAGH!"

The muscular man’s roar of pain was choked in his throat. Veins bulged on his forehead as he clutched his broken arm, stumbling backward with his legs clamped tightly together.

Han Su, however, acted as if nothing had happened and picked his backpack up off the floor.

Others might see him as a gentle, well-mannered scholar. But years of being imprisoned in the Dark Castle, constantly searching for an escape route and facing immense pressure, had honed his Spatial Sense and reflexes to an astonishing degree.

Even the coach at the boxing gym thought he was a natural-born fighter.

Besides, to ensure he could escape each time he was kidnapped and sent back, he had been training relentlessly in the present. After all, when he returned to the Ancient Castle, his body was only that of a ten-year-old, and his physical strength was locked at that level.

But his reaction speed and techniques for generating force often allowed him to act much more efficiently.

Furthermore, because of the torture in the Dark Bunker, Han Su had lived many different lives.

Lives where he was blind, disfigured, crippled, or gravely ill... This had made him exceptionally skilled at effectively utilizing whatever healthy parts of his body he had.

Of course, the most important point was that no matter how vicious these people in the real world tried to act, they were nothing compared to the monsters.

’I spend my days in the Ancient Castle getting chased around by monsters and screaming my head off. You think I’m going to let myself get pushed around by you guys back in reality?’

Slinging the backpack on, Han Su turned to the man in the duck-billed cap, took two steps closer, and said:

"Give me your arm."

The man’s playful smirk was long gone, his eyes swirling with utter shock.

’The one hired for two hundred yuan was one thing, but the other one cost over five thousand! He’s been my go-to muscle ever since I got into the private commission business. How did this unremarkable student take him down in just a couple of moves?’

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he forced a difficult smile. "K-Kid, there’s no need for this, right? Assault is illegal..."

"You said there were no cameras here."

Han Su didn’t waste any more words. He raised his hand as if to slap him. The man instinctively raised an arm to block, but it was instantly grabbed. The man’s body went rigid.

Han Su looked at him with a humorless smile. "Since you’re a private investigator, don’t you understand a simple truth? In this city, there are at least two kinds of people you can’t afford to mess with."

"One is the rich. You can’t afford to provoke them."

"The other kind is people like me, who can’t even fucking make it from one day to the next..."

"..."

"Wait..."

The man broke out in a cold sweat, shouting in alarm, "You got into Qinggang University! You have a bright future ahead of you..."

"But I’m pissed off every single day..."

Amidst his shouts, Han Su was already slamming the man’s arm against the edge of the table.

Once. Twice. Three times. On the third slam, the man’s arm emitted a third sickening CRACK, followed by a heart-wrenching scream.

"OOH! OOH! OOH! OOH!"

His cap fell off, revealing a man with greasy hair.

Only then did Han Su release his arm. He straightened up, feeling refreshed. He rummaged through a pile of books and found the symbol he had just drawn for the long-haired female student. After a moment’s thought, he traced over it again, making it a bit more distinct.

He slapped the paper down in front of the greasy-haired man and made a "shushing" gesture. "I won’t let you leave empty-handed. You want a clue? This symbol is your clue. Go investigate it."

"If you actually find something, I’ll give you thirty million!"

"..."

After saying his piece, he wasted no more time and left the library.

Although these private investigators and bounty hunters who operated at the bottom of society usually weren’t very skilled...

...Han Su didn’t mind casting another line out. What if they hit the lottery and actually managed to dig something up?

Of course, he didn’t actually have thirty million.

’Who suddenly posted this bounty? And who had the nerve to put up three million in one go?’

After leaving the library, Han Su managed to rein in his emotions. On the way to the bus stop, his mind was still racing.

This was an era where two hundred thousand could buy a life, and one hundred thousand could get someone a broken leg or a permanent disability. Three million was an enormous sum.

But the key issue was that while the kidnapping case still haunted him like a shadow, to everyone else, it was a cold case that was already ten years old.

Why would someone suddenly offer such a high bounty at this point in time?

His "present" was uncertain, which had led Han Su to stop paying much attention to the events of his current life for a long time.

The only thing he could think of now was that this bounty would probably bring him a lot more trouble. But it didn’t matter. After all, he would be dragged back to the past within half a month at most, and there was no guarantee he could escape again.

Lost in thought, Han Su arrived at the bus stop outside and silently pulled up his collar to hide his face.

"Mr. Han..."

But just as Han Su was patiently waiting for the bus, a figure appeared before him.

He looked up and saw a very thin man wearing a black raincoat, revealing only a scruffy, unshaven face.

He looked to be in his thirties, but his expression carried a deep weariness. He was holding a dusty, silver-colored case, looking like a traveler who hadn’t been home in a long time.

’What a great day. They’re just lining up to find me...’

Han Su was already quite displeased, but since there were cameras here, he still looked at the man politely, his eyes narrowing slightly. "And you are...?"

"Song Chushi. We’ve met before."