There's no way Li Caiyi would ever forget that person. They only met once, but his first impression was so strong that it was almost impossible to ignore.
Li Caiyi stretched her neck to look better, but that man moved nimbly among the crowd like his big body wasn't a handicap at all.
"Caiyi? What are you looking at?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Nian, I'm sorry, but I think I'm tired. Can we go home for today?"
"Sure. I'm sorry for dragging you here with me."
"It's okay. I'm worried about Ruolan too, so doing this puts me at ease now."
Li Caiyi glanced at that man again, and he was still there, on the last spot she saw him.
Feng Nian nodded in agreement. "Right. Then we will have to go our separate ways now. See you later, Caiyi."
"Yeah. See you later."
Li Caiyi waited until Feng Nian couldn't be seen anymore before she dashed towards the last spot she saw that bald man.
He was Dai Zhiqiang's colleague, so there was a chance she could meet Dai Zhiqiang if she followed him.
It wasn't easy to move around in the bustling street with many people. But Li Caiyi kept pushing forward while looking around wildly.
"Where did he go? I'm sure I saw him walking past here just now."
That bald man had a huge body, so it was unthinkable he could disappear so quickly like that.
As she looked around, she noticed a dark alleyway between the two stores. An idea struck her, making her gulp nervously. This scene gave her a sense of deja vu.
The last time she had a conflict with those debt collectors aiming for Dai Shenqiang, it was in an alleyway like this too. But except for this place, Li Caiyi couldn't think of any other way how that bald man could escape her watch so quickly.
She peeked inside hesitantly. Would Dai Zhiqiang really be in a suspicious place like this?
[That man is suspicious and has a lot of secrets. He is dangerous].
Li Caiyi clenched the strap of her bag tightly. She didn't want to believe Meng Renshu's words and now was her chance to confirm it. But still, her legs rooted in their place, sensing the possible danger ahead.
Then, she heard some faint noises from inside. It was barely audible because of the crowd, but Li Caiyi undoubtedly heard someone shrieking.
[You should be careful around him].
Li Caiyi shook her head vehemently.
Sure enough, she couldn't feel settled if she didn't see it with her own eyes. That bald man was Dai Zhiqiang's colleague, so whatever he did must somehow be related to her boyfriend. She had to find out!
Steeling her resolve, Li Caiyi clutched the little bird pendant on her necklace while threading forward carefully. It was still in the middle of the day, but this alleyway was dark. Or perhaps it just looked like that because of her current emotional state.
Li Caiyi carefully walked toward the source of the voice and found that this alleyway headed straight to a medium-sized parking lot behind the building. It seemed it had been long abandoned and used as a dumpster.
There, she saw that bald man cornering a haggard-looking man with shabby clothes with a few other men with huge bodies.
Li Caiyi couldn't hear what they said from where she stood, so she sneakily used the pile of garbage to hide her figure as she approached them. While holding her breath because of the dumpster's horrible stench, she opened her ears widely to listen.
"You know this won't end just because you said you didn't know, right?"
"I swear to God, I really don't know anything. I was just a hired man who knew nothing. Please spare me!"
"Heh. A man like you swear to God? Do you know how many of our brothers got injured because of you? Even God won't save you now."
"Hiii! Mercy, please! I'm really sorry!"
"How dare the likes of you try to defy the great Ye Wang? You are courting death!"
Li Caiyi had to clamp her mouth with her hand when one of the big men stomped the haggard man violently.
The haggard man covered his head while pleading for his life. It was a violent scene she often saw in drama, making her uncomfortable.
It was tough to watch the haggard men being abused like that. The bald man said nothing from the beginning. He only watched coldly as the other men beat him, making him more intimidating and ruthless.
Li Caiyi dreaded to find out if Dai Zhiqiang was also like that. She could almost imagine her cold and indifferent boyfriend overlapping with that bald man.
She didn't know the situation well, but that haggard man would die if this continued.
Li Caiyi was conflicted about whether or not she should call for help. From their conversation, that haggard man seemed to do something wrong, and these men were here to seek revenge.
And she was there to find more information about Dai Zhiqiang's job. If she did that, she would lose her only chance.
Her desire to help fought with the reason inside her. It only stopped when the bald man suddenly raised his hand, prompting the other men to stop abusing the haggard man. She assumed that the bald man must be their superior or something.
Li Caiyi thought the violent scene had ended, but she was quickly proven wrong when the bald man mercilessly lifted his head by the hair and slammed it to the ground.
Splurt of red-colored liquid wet the ground littered with garbage, causing a ghastly view.
"!!!"
Li Caiyi's eyes widened in shock, and a nauseous feeling rose inside her. Her whole body shook like a leaf looking at the horrendous view of the haggard man who fell limply to the ground with his head covered with blood.
He sprawled motionlessly on the ground with fresh blood gushing out from his head.
'Is he dead? Did I just see a murder happen before my eyes?'
Li Caiyi's whole body trembled, and a chill ran down her spine.
Instead of checking the man's vital, the bald man only coldly nudged his body with the tip of his shoes.
"This one is a failure too. Get rid of him."
Li Caiyi watched how the other men lifted the unconscious man's body roughly and brought him somewhere else, leaving only the bald man in the middle of this dumpster. She watched how he casually lit a cigarette like that was the most normal thing to do after killing someone.
'I have to get out of here. No matter what, this is too dangerous.'
Careful to not make any noise, Li Caiyi turned away and walked to where she came from.
"Aren't you tired of hiding? It's about time for the snoopy rat to come out. Will you come out by yourself, or should I come to you?"
The bald man's low voice reverberated in the silence of a deserted dumpster.
Li Caiyi's heart sank to the ground as fear built up inside her, recalling the scene of violence earlier.
She probably wouldn't come out alive from this place.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om