Chapter 16: Someone Wants Revenge

“Found him!”

Seeing Qin Ran’s intense reaction, Lu Xin instantly knew he was on the right track.

Being held at gunpoint was naturally terrifying, even if he also had a gun. But Lu Xin saw his Sister appear beside Qin Ran, staring intently at his head, and his worry vanished. He merely shifted his posture slightly.

“It’s not me!”

He looked earnestly at Qin Ran. “I’m here to investigate if you’ve run into any problems recently!”

Chen Jing had asked him to check if this man named Qin Ran had any issues, but Lu Xin really didn’t know how to investigate.

So, he figured he might as well just ask.

Finding the right method saves time and effort, making work efficient.

“Investigate my problems?”

Qin Ran’s eyes hardened. His thumb clicked off the safety, raising the gun slightly to aim at Lu Xin’s head.

His gaze turned somewhat sinister. “Are you from the Security Hall?”

“I’m not from the Security Hall, don’t be nervous…”

Lu Xin wondered how to reassure him, but being stared down the barrel of a gun was uncomfortable no matter what.

Moreover, he could tell that this Qin Ran, despite appearing calm, was actually in a poor mental state, like a tightly wound string. A person like that, holding a loaded gun… no one could guarantee that a wrong word wouldn’t provoke him into impulsively firing. So, he glanced at his Sister.

A strange smile crept onto the face half-hidden by his Sister’s hair.

Seeing Qin Ran pointing the gun at her brother, she suddenly reached out and flicked Qin Ran’s hand.

Caught off guard, Qin Ran lost his grip. The gun flew from his hand straight towards Lu Xin. Lu Xin caught it, flipped the safety back on, and put it in his backpack before looking up at Qin Ran again.

“I’m not investigating *your* problems, I’m investigating if you’ve *encountered* any problems!”

By now, Qin Ran was drenched in cold sweat, nervously looking around but seeing no one else.

Then his gaze locked onto Lu Xin, his voice trembling slightly. “You… how did you do that?”

“Don’t ask. You couldn’t learn it even if I told you!”

Lu Xin hugged his backpack and asked again, “Have you encountered anything strange or not?”

“I…”

Qin Ran felt inexplicably flustered by the question. Lu Xin, sitting before him, seemed far too calm.

His appearance and demeanor were those of an ordinary, honest young man from the city.

But his excessive calmness made him seem unsettlingly eerie.

When you can’t dominate someone’s presence, you risk being dominated yourself.

He hesitated, then slowly countered, “What kind of problems?”

Lu Xin thought for a moment, then slowly said, “Like those few deaths, perhaps?”

“You…”

Confronted directly with this question, Qin Ran’s expression showed clear panic.

His gun had been inexplicably taken, leaving him unarmed in the office while Lu Xin now had two. He should have been nervous, but surprisingly, after the initial panic, he stared intently at Lu Xin, his face gradually showing excitement. He suddenly cursed, “Damn it! So someone *does* know about this stuff! I knew it couldn’t just be me…”

He glared at Lu Xin, eyes bloodshot. “I don’t know whose side you’re on, but I… I really did encounter something!”

Lu Xin also tensed up slightly and quickly asked, “What?”

Qin Ran enunciated each word, “Someone is seeking revenge against me!”

Lu Xin was a bit surprised. For someone like Qin Ran, having people seek revenge shouldn’t be considered strange…

…

…

“Not ordinary revenge…”

Qin Ran gulped down a cup of seemingly hot tea in one go, staring fixedly at Lu Xin. He seemed to have gone through an internal struggle, but ultimately, the fear won out. He slowly began, “It’s the kind of thing nobody would believe if I told them…”

Lu Xin saw his intense emotions and advised, “Take your time.”

Qin Ran let out a slow breath, seemingly trying to read something on Lu Xin’s face, but eventually deflated. After a moment, he said, “It started fourteen days ago. I’m not afraid to tell you, my business isn’t just hauling cargo. Too many people die in that line of work, and it doesn’t pay much. So, I do all sorts of messy things to make money. The Security Hall knows about it too!”

Lu Xin could only nod, putting on an expression that suggested he understood perfectly.

“It all started with a deal for a batch of Little Bear Pills!”

The blood vessels in Qin Ran’s eyes seemed to multiply, but his voice lowered. “I was dealing with Old Cui from the West City. That bastard’s name is Cui Wang, specialized in trafficking this stuff. We’d worked together a few times. But that day, he unexpectedly came alone to trade with me. Damn him, treating me like a good guy! How could I pass up that chance? So I took care of him…”

“I took the whole batch of Little Bear Pills. Enough to make me tens of thousands…”

“Tens of thousands?”

Lu Xin was taken aback.

“The main point comes later!”

Qin Ran glanced at him and continued, “I chopped up Old Cui’s body right then and fed it to wild dogs. I thought that was the end of it. But unexpectedly, a day later, a woman showed up. I didn’t know her at all, but she claimed her name was Cui Wang, cursed me for being dishonorable, demanded my life, and told me to hand over the goods…”

Lu Xin’s expression changed slightly. Now he was genuinely interested.

“I had no idea what this woman was playing at. Just figured she was Old Cui’s mistress. Took care of her too!”

Qin Ran spat. “Her body’s in wet cement. Yup, over there, in that newly built weighing scale…”

Lu Xin listened expressionlessly.

Qin Ran continued, “But afterwards, I felt something wasn’t right. I had people check her out. Turns out, the woman’s name was Wang Ting, a female worker from a clothing factory in the South City. Supposedly, she didn’t even know Old Cui. Tell me, isn’t that damn weird?”

Lu Xin had to nod along obligingly.

“But the weirder part came later…”

Qin Ran’s expression grew fiercer as he spoke. “Two days after that, two more people suddenly came looking for me. One was an old man, the other a seventeen or eighteen-year-old beggar boy. One said he was Cui Wang, the other said she was Wang Ting. Both came demanding my life. Even though they were surrounded by my men, they just charged in, ready to fight to the death…”

As he spoke, he gestured towards his neck. “Slaughtered them too!”

“Four people now…”

Lu Xin was slightly shocked.

“And then came the real headache…”

Qin Ran spoke in a low voice, “I had people investigate these two guys’ identities. Found out they seemed to have no connection whatsoever to Old Cui or that woman Wang Ting. But they damn well just showed up. And… and the creepiest part… is… is…”

He couldn’t help but swallow hard here, his voice sounding raspy. “Another four days passed, and suddenly four more people came. People I didn’t recognize at all. But they… they snuck right into my house and started strangling me… Damn it, all four of them were like madmen! One said he was Old Cui, one said she was Wang Ting, one said he was Zhang Abo, one said he was Wuzi… Crazy! They were all damn crazy! Those eyes… terrifying…”

Hearing this, Lu Xin finally showed some surprise. “And those people?”

“I didn’t dare kill these ones…”

Qin Ran whispered, eyes red, “It felt too damn bizarre. So I locked them up. But…”

He said “but” twice and trailed off, then whispered to Lu Xin, “Come with me!”