20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 807 Whistleblower
Upon hearing this, Second Master Jiang was unconvinced, but said, "Boss Jiang, who will be in charge of Fengtian in the future is none of my business. Right now, I just want to keep my job. That's what matters. If you don't mind, I'll take a few of these things off the ground. Whether the case can be closed or not is another matter. At least the case will have made some progress!"

Jiang Lianheng was too lazy to argue with him, so he waved his hand and said, "Fine, take it away!"

"Then... could you call another brother to come back with me to make a statement?"

Jiang Lianheng thought for a moment. He decided that it was better to leave the task of making a statement at the yamen to someone who was prudent in his words and deeds. So he said, "Let Guoyan go with you later!"

Master Jiang nodded and bowed, saying hurriedly, "Yes, yes, thank you very much for your help, Boss Jiang."

Jiang Lianheng said, "Second Master, Guo Yan is injured, please bear with him. Remember to release him before noon."

"Oh, Mr. Jiang, don't worry, it'll be at most two hours. If I neglect Uncle Zhao, you can rip my head off and use it as a ball!"

Master Jiang thanked him repeatedly, then turned and walked out of the backyard, calling out to the detective team at the gate: "Come here! If there's no mole, where did this outsider come from? Based on my years of experience in handling cases, there must be a traitor among the Jiang family's bodyguards. You guys come and carry him back for a proper interrogation!"

The person is already dead, what's the point of investigating?

However, the detectives were already used to this and immediately responded loudly, "Yes, sir!"

After saying that, they all went to the backyard to move the bodies.

While everyone was busy with their tasks, Second Master Jiang approached Zhao Guoyan with a beaming smile and asked, "Uncle Zhao, Boss Jiang just said he'd like to trouble you to come with me to the yamen. Let's work together and it won't take long. I heard you're injured. Should I call you a rickshaw?"

Zhao Guoyan didn't immediately respond. Instead, he turned to look at the backyard and happened to see Jiang Lianheng winking at him. Only then did he nod in agreement.

After a long while, everyone finally left the Jiang family residence one after another.

After Lao Chai left, Jiang Lianheng immediately called Hai Xinnian and whispered, "Go and bring those three ladles!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand to beckon Xifeng, and together with two other brothers, strode toward the gatehouse.

Inside the room were five people captured the previous night, a mix of old and young. They were all bound hand and foot, blindfolded, gagged, and stripped of their cotton robes, leaving them in only a single layer of clothing. They huddled in a corner, shivering.

"Heartless Liang," who was in charge of watching the rice seedlings, was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). When he saw Jiang Lianheng come in, he hurriedly got up and greeted him, "Master!"

Jiang Lianheng raised his hand, walked straight over and sat down, and instructed his brothers to remove the gags from the five men.

The robbers reacted differently to the commotion.

Some people hung their heads, remaining silent and unresponsive.

Someone desperately scrambled into a corner, pleading with a sob in their voice, "Boss Jiang, I was forced into this! They dragged me away. I didn't kill a single person!"

There were also young, ignorant and fearless individuals who pretended to be heroes, shouting against the wind, "Kill me if you want, skin me if you want! We're all from the same gang, don't give me that nonsense. If you're really capable, then give me a clean break. When I'm in the afterlife, I'll still remember you fondly!"

"boom!"

Li Zhengxi suddenly fired a shot, the bullet hitting the wall behind them and sending up some gravel.

The five robbers froze, not daring to move, and immediately became obedient.

Shortly after, Hai Xinnian pushed open the door and came in. He placed the package in his hand on the kang table, took out the human heads, and arranged them in a row along the edge of the kang.

Jiang Lianheng gave a signal, and one of his men went over and removed the blindfolds from the faces of the five robbers.

The group was startled when they heard footsteps approaching. They only stopped hiding when they were sure that the other party was there to show them something.

Light returned to my eyes, and my vision gradually became clearer.

But then they saw Jiang Lianheng wearing a woolen overcoat, sitting upright on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), with one hand resting on the kang table, and three heads frozen to a deep purple color beside him.

"Gudong-"

One of the more timid men felt a tightness in his throat, swallowed instinctively, and stammered, "Boss Jiang, this... this wasn't me!"

"Snapped!"

Li Zhengxi walked over, slapped him hard across the face, and yelled, "Just answer whatever I ask you. If I don't ask you anything, shut your mouth!"

"Okay, I'll shut up... I'll shut up!"

The man knelt on the ground, turned to the side, and desperately tried to hide in the corner of the wall.

Jiang Lianheng remained expressionless, pointed to the three heads on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and asked, "Do you recognize these three people?"

"No, I don't know him..."

"See it clearly!"

"Look closely," the group squinted, scrutinized the object for a while, and still shook their heads blankly. "We really...we really don't recognize it!"

Jiang Lianheng was very dissatisfied with this.

Seeing this, Li Zhengxi simply called his brothers to drag those men to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), grabbed one of them by the hair, and pressed him almost face to face in front of the three heads, sternly scolding, "Open your dog eyes wide and take a good look, do you recognize them or not?"

The three human heads remained frozen overnight, their brows covered with a layer of frost. Although their facial features were clearly discernible, they were no longer alive and looked like wooden sculptures.

"No... I... I really don't know him!"

The man was trembling violently, whether from the cold or fear, and his teeth were chattering as he spoke.

Seeing that he wouldn't budge, Li Zhengxi glanced at Jiang Lianheng. After getting his tacit agreement, he turned around and borrowed a dagger from one of his men. He waved it in front of the man a couple of times and pressed him again, "I'll ask you one last time, do you know these three people or not?"

"Big brother, I've never seen them before, really, really, if I dare to lie—"

Before he could finish speaking, a pitiful wail followed.

Li Zhengxi had no patience to listen to his explanation and immediately began to torture him.

The knife tip pressed against the man's eyelid, stabbing, gouging, and then flicking—something fell down, leaving only a bloody hole in the eye socket.

Blood immediately stained half of his face red.

The man convulsed and rolled on the ground in pain, howling and screaming like a beast, his groans sounding like roars.

Standing to the side, "Heartless Liang" grabbed a handful of ashes from the cooled furnace and forcibly stuffed them into the man's eye sockets before dragging him to a corner of the room.

Immediately afterwards, Li Zhengxi grabbed another person by the neck, pressed him in front of the three heads, and asked, "Do you recognize these three people?"

The man was so frightened that his body went limp, and he hurriedly explained, "Brother... Brother, listen to me... I really have never seen these three before... Ah! Ah! Ah!"

"pat-"

A mass of flesh and blood fell to the ground.

Li Zhengxi stomped on it, crushed it, and kicked it away, like a factory assembly line worker. Then he brought another survivor to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

This time, before he could even open his mouth to question him, the man was so frightened that he wet his pants. He looked at Jiang Lianheng with a pale face, opened his mouth, and stammered for a long time without being able to say a word.

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand, signaling Xifeng to sheathe his sword. Then he bent down, stared at the man's face, and asked, "Whose man are you?"

"Huo... Huo..." "Old Ghost Huo?"

The man nodded, but he was so terrified that all his words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say anything. He could only make gurgling sounds like he was coughing up phlegm.

He was terrified.

Asking further questions now is pointless.

Jiang Lianheng was very impatient. He frowned and said, "Take him away and let him rest for a while!"

Then he turned to the remaining two robbers and asked, "Whose men are you two?"

One of them, a bit older and with a full beard, quickly replied, "I... I'm with Whistle Li..."

Jiang Lianheng nodded and said with a sneer, "Fine, you dare to smash my kiln, which means you've thought through the final outcome, whether you succeed or fail?"

"No, no, they forced me to!"

The man hurriedly said, "Boss Jiang, you're the boss, you can't possibly not know the rules of the underworld. In that situation, if I hadn't come along, they would have definitely killed me first. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree. But last night, I really didn't have any blood on my hands. I... I just came to rob some things."

This is true.

According to the rules of the underworld, once you've sworn allegiance to the leader, it's equivalent to entrusting your entire life and fortune to him.

If your elder brother orders you to smash the kiln, you can't refuse, no matter how difficult it is. Otherwise, you'll be stabbed three times and have your head pierced six times, and you'll be expelled from the family on the spot.

Of course, those who are determined to betray their country are another matter.

The first half of his statement was fine, but the second half seemed a bit presumptuous.

Regardless of whether he had blood on his hands or not, the destruction of the kiln was a done deal. If he had managed to escape by sheer luck, that would have been one thing, since everyone has their grievances and debts to settle. In a gang fight involving dozens of people, it's impossible to settle scores one by one; the goal is always to catch the ringleader. But since he was unable to walk properly and couldn't escape, he could only accept his bad luck.

Jiang Lianheng had no interest in listening to his complaints and immediately pressed on, "Where did you get your guns?"

"A gun? Whistleman Li gave it to me!"

"West Wind!"

Jiang Lianheng beckoned, and Li Zhengxi immediately went over and cut off the man's left ear with a single stroke.

The man felt a chill on his cheek, and only when he saw his ear fall to the ground did he start to wail loudly.

Li Zhengxi grabbed the man's hair, shoved the dagger into his mouth, and cursed, "Fuck your mother, scream again!"

The man cowered and immediately fell silent.

Jiang Lianheng leaned down and asked, "When did Whistleman Li issue you the guns?"

"Just last night... no, it was yesterday afternoon, anyway, it was already dark by then."

"Getting into the sedan chair now, and having your ears pierced right away?"

"I...I don't know what he was thinking. Anyway, I only saw the gun when I received the message. I don't know exactly where he got it from."

"You already know how to use the gun I just gave you?"

“Boss Jiang, I’m from the countryside. I used to hang out with Hengba’er. I’m used to tinker with guns. I’ve only been in the city for less than two years, and I’ve been hanging out with Shaozi Li for even less. We’re not always together. They only call me when there’s something to do.”

"How many people came in total last night?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

The man thought for a moment and said, "There were probably... about fifty people!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lianheng frowned.

He had a good idea of ​​Whistle Li's strength; he shouldn't have had fifty or so brothers.

If it were just icing on the cake and someone wanted to bolster their forces, Whistle Li could pull out a hundred or so brothers, but that would be useless against a real tough opponent. Especially last night, with the turmoil in the pass and everyone feeling insecure, even the Jiang family couldn't get anyone to come. So how could Whistle Li possibly summon more than fifty brothers?

"Hey, Mr. Jiang, aren't there still refugees in this city?"

The man quickly explained, "The people from western Liaoning are naturally quite fierce. They're refugees who haven't had enough to eat or wear. Last night, things were so chaotic that even if you gave them a kitchen knife, they would have still fought back, let alone a gun. They're all somewhat related. There were probably about ten refugees among us last night."

That makes sense.

Whistle Li can seek help from refugees, but Jiang Lianheng cannot do so.

Of course, it's not just the Jiang family; no wealthy family would recruit a large number of refugees to help guard their property in the near future, as this could very well be like inviting a wolf into the house.

Li Zhengxi also agreed with this person's statement.

Last night, when he led the Kaoshan Gang to reinforce the Jiang residence, the members of the Whistle Li's group did indeed appear too chaotic, unlike the proper reaction of a senior leader. Whistle Li also did not intend to care about those brothers who were unable to escape.

In contrast, the situation in the outer residences of the southern city was quite different.

Although Huo Laogui's forces were not numerous, they did not immediately collapse without a fight when faced with the support of Lao Dao and others.

Jiang Lianheng didn't intend to waste his energy on this matter, and then asked, "Did you have a backup plan when Whistle Li brought you here to smash the kiln?"

What is a contingency plan?

"What if you get pricked and can't smash it? What are you going to do then?"

The man thought for a moment, then said somewhat blankly, "I don't know... Whistle Li didn't say anything. He said last night... Commander Zhang is about to flee. In Fengtian City now, the bold get rich and the timid starve. As long as we go with him to smash the kiln, whether we succeed or not, we're guaranteed to live a life of luxury..."

"Fuck you!" Li Zhengxi cursed. "You better behave yourself. Who are you trying to fool with this bullshit?"

“Brother, I’m not lying to you, I really am!” the man hurriedly said. “Think about it, yesterday afternoon he suddenly handed out guns to all of us, so many Japanese goods, we all thought he had given them away, and he even said, he even said…”

"What did you say, Salem!"

"He also said that if Old Zhang is no longer effective, how many more days can Jiang Lianheng... how many more days can he keep going?"

Jiang Lianheng smiled and did not refute, then asked, "Where is Whistle Li now? After you all ran away, you should at least have somewhere to meet up, right?"

The man shook his head and said, "This, this I don't know either... Boss Jiang, I already said that I'm not a core member. People like me who just spread rumors and gossip, smashed the kiln, took the money, and can't wait to break up and go home to find a place to hibernate. We just want money, not lives, and we have no intention of following him down this dark path!"

"You're not being honest!" Jiang Lianheng stared at him coldly. "Very dishonest!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and summoned Xifeng, ordering sternly, "Take him to the backyard and have him put on his armor!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the robber who had remained silent suddenly spoke up: "Southern Railway Warehouse."

"What?" everyone asked urgently.

But then the robber knelt on the ground, his shoulders slumped, and he said listlessly, "The meeting place is at the South Railway warehouse..."

(End of this chapter)