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Chapter 334 The Way of Killing, Resonance of the Soul
Seeing the spoiled food on the table, Xiao Sa's heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly.

He knew very well that his mother was blind and had difficulty moving around, and that he was the main person who would support her.

During the three months I was detained, how could the little money my family left behind possibly be enough?

He could almost imagine how his mother would break a meal into several smaller meals on a regular basis.

In darkness and loneliness, I don't know how much suffering I endured to get through those ninety-odd days and nights.

A huge wave of guilt and heartache surged into my heart.

Xiao Sa abruptly turned his head away, not wanting his mother to notice.

He wiped away the dampness from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, but the tears, which he couldn't control, still broke free and flowed down between his fingers.

Li Guifen was unaware of her son's thoughts, and simply kept rambling on:
“Ah Ren, although running a ship can make money, it’s too hard and too dangerous.”

“A few days ago, Mom asked Aunt Wang next door to ask you about a few jobs. Although they are all manual labor, they are stable.”

She paused, lowered her voice even further, and spoke in a cautious, consultative tone:

"Mainly handling goods in dock warehouses, or swinging a sledgehammer on construction sites, what do you think?"

In fact, Li Guifen knew that her son was uneducated, had no proper background, and was being dragged down by his blind mother, making it extremely difficult for him to find a decent job.

So she spoke very tactfully, afraid of hurting her son's self-esteem.

Listening to his mother's words, Xiao Sa felt a mix of emotions.

He forced himself to stay alert, vigorously wiped his face, and said with a smile:
"Mom, I made quite a bit of money this time on the ship. In a couple of days, I'll take you to a big hospital to get your eyes checked; maybe they can be cured!"

Li Guifen waved her hand, her voice carrying a calm acceptance of fate:

"My eyes have been like this for so many years, I've long since given up hope. Whether I can see or not, life goes on the same way."

"As long as you are safe and sound, find a stable job, stop messing around like before, and get married, I will be content for the rest of my life."

After going through so much, and enduring three months of torment in the detention center.

Xiao Sa longed for stability more than ever before, and longed to be able to provide her mother with a good life in a respectable manner.

He silently made a vow in his heart and nodded solemnly:
"Mom, don't worry, I know what to do."

The mother and son talked for a while longer, mostly Li Guifen giving instructions while Xiaosa responded from the side.

The night is getting darker.

Seeing the weariness on his mother's face, Xiao Sa advised her:
"Mom, it's getting late. You should go and rest. I'm going to take a shower and then go to bed."

Li Guifen nodded and groped her way back to the inner room.

Xiao Sa poured a basin of cold water in the main room, took off the designer casual jacket that Secretary Liu had given him, revealing his body covered in bruises and welts.

I quickly washed off the blood and sweat and changed into some old clothes from home.

Then he lay down on another creaking wooden bed.

He stared blankly at the large patches of mold that had spread across the ceiling due to dampness.

My mind is a jumble of thoughts.

From Chen Chen's proposal for cooperation, to that mysterious and unpredictable expert, and then to the expectant look in his mother's eyes...

Scenes flashed before my eyes.

I tossed and turned in bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

But ultimately, the fatigue and shock of the past few days couldn't overcome it, and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

Soon, even, slightly heavy snoring began.

Xiao Sa and Li Guifen's rooms weren't exactly two separate rooms; they were only separated by a thin curtain.

The room was completely silent, save for the sounds of the mother and son breathing heavily and softly, their voices rising and falling in the small space.

In the distance, the occasional weak bark of a stray dog ​​could be heard, adding to the desolation of the quiet night.

I do not know how long it has been.

A figure appeared silently inside the room.

In the darkness, the newcomer's eyes shone with a terrifying light, faintly glowing with a blood-red light.

A few rays of cool moonlight peeked in through the gaps in the tattered curtains.

The light perfectly illuminated the white mask on his face, making it look ferocious and terrifying, like a demon.

A figure lifted the curtain, walked to Xiaosai's bedside, and stared down at Xiaosai, who was snoring loudly and sleeping soundly without any guard.

The eyes behind the mask flickered slightly.

He seemed to be hesitating about something, or perhaps weighing the pros and cons.

"Cough-cough-"

From behind the curtain next door, one could hear Li Guifen coughing softly.

The figure's shoulders trembled, and its movements froze instantly.

After a moment, the hesitation in his eyes gradually disappeared, eventually turning into calm.

Without alerting anyone, he slipped out of the room silently.

Just as abrupt and mysterious as it appeared.

The nights in urban villages are always exceptionally quiet.

The low houses are jagged and the narrow alleyways are interwoven.

A figure stood silently in the dark corner, like a ghost blending into the night.

"Xu..."

Fang Cheng gently exhaled a breath of stale air and looked up at the continuous, dazzling lights in the distance.

Even in the deepest of nights, the city center remains bustling and noisy, with music and singing never ceasing.

In stark contrast to the desolation and darkness of the area beneath their feet, it seemed like two completely different worlds.

Fang Cheng withdrew his gaze and shook his head slightly.

In the end, he was just like Ma Donghe, unable to bring himself to kill.

It was indeed possible to easily take his life while he was asleep, thus completely eliminating this potential threat.

But when they sneaked into that simple house, they overheard Xiaosa's conversation with his mother and saw the two of them relying on each other for survival.

An inexplicable emotion touched a soft spot in Fang Cheng's heart.

This petty thug, despite his long history of misdeeds, showed genuine filial piety towards his blind mother.

This reminded Fang Cheng of his mother.

Killing is not a difficult thing.

But because he killed a target who still had humanity, his elderly and blind mother spent the rest of her life in despair.

It seems... that's gone a bit too far.

It was tantamount to indiscriminate killing of innocent people.

The path I truly want to take isn't like this...

"Woof... woof woof..."

A few soft barks came from the depths of the alley, interrupting Fang Cheng's thoughts.

His eyes, sharp as a hawk even in the darkness, quickly swept across the crisscrossing streets and alleys around him.

At both ends of the alley, several figures wearing masks and baseball caps could be seen.

They crouched furtively, their eyes frequently glancing at Xiao Sa's dilapidated house.

A fierce glint flashed in Fang Cheng's eyes.

With a slight sway, he vanished silently from the spot, like a shadow merging into the night.

After a while.

A few faint groans and the "thud" of heavy objects being thrown to the ground echoed from the depths of the alleyway.

The sound was short and suppressed, and was quickly dispersed by the wind.

It stood out starkly in the still of the night, yet quickly returned to silence.

It was as if nothing had happened.

About half an hour later, in a remote suburb.

Inside an unassuming minivan, the back seats had been folded up, creating a large empty space.

Four men, dressed only in shorts, with bruises and bloodstains, were forced to kneel on the carriage floor as punishment.

They were all covered in large tattoos, depicting dragons and tigers, with menacing expressions.

At this moment, however, they showed none of their usual arrogance; they trembled like leaves, their eyes filled with terror.

Like a weak and helpless lamb facing a ferocious beast.

Fang Cheng was still wearing that white mask, casually sitting on a chair to the side.

The red gemstones inlaid around the eyes of the mask shimmered with an eerie red glow in the dim light inside the car.

Like a vengeful ghost returned from hell, they terrified these thugs who had spent years fighting and killing people on the streets.

"What's your name? Tell me about your background and identity."

Fang Cheng pointed to the thug kneeling on the first spot on his right. The thug was tall and thin, and was already terrified. Fang Cheng's sudden pointing made him almost wet his pants on the spot.

He opened his mouth tremblingly, as if he wanted to answer.

But because of fear, all that could come out of his throat was a "uh uh" sound.

Fang Cheng frowned slightly, raised his hand impatiently, and slapped him across the face.

"Snapped!"

There was a crisp sound.

The thug screamed and fell backward as if struck by a heavy blow, crashing into the carriage wall.

He clutched his swollen cheek, coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with a few broken teeth, and whimpered and begged for mercy:

"Big...big boss...I...I..."

Unfortunately, his mouth was slurred and his head seemed to be spinning from being slapped, so he couldn't even speak clearly.

Fang Cheng was speechless and sighed.

I only touched her lightly, and she couldn't handle it.

So he waved his hand again, trying to help him out.

The thug let out another short cry of pain before completely losing consciousness and falling silent.

Fang Cheng turned his gaze to the second thug, a short man with a dagger lying at his feet.

"You tell me."

The man was already terrified. Witnessing his companion's miserable state, he trembled even more violently and was unable to utter a word for a moment.

Fang Cheng frowned again, reached out and pinched the man's shoulder once more.

Click!

A sickening cracking sound of bone breaking could be clearly heard.

"what--"

The skinny thug let out a shrill scream, his forehead instantly covered in cold sweat.

This completely shattered the psychological defenses of the remaining two.

The other two thugs, seeing this, were terrified and started screaming in unison:
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Boss, spare me! I'll tell you anything!"

"It's Brother Chen, the leader of the Red Tiger Gang, who sent us..."

Men with facial scars, in particular, showed great enthusiasm.

They wished they could expose the mastermind behind it all and tell this devil in front of them everything.

I was terrified that if I was even a fraction of a second slower, I would be the next one to have my bones broken.

Fang Cheng's masked face showed no expression, only his ruby-like eyes still gleamed with a cold light.

During the subsequent interrogation, he quickly figured out what had happened.

These four thugs were indeed sent by Chen Chen to keep an eye on Xiaosai.

It turns out that although Chen Chen had reached a cooperation agreement with Xiao Sa on the surface...

But being naturally suspicious, he didn't completely trust the intermediary.

He was worried that Xiao Sa might leak the contents of tonight's conversation or do something underhanded behind his back.

That's why I sent these men to secretly monitor Xiao Sa's every move.

If Xiaosa is found to be behaving abnormally or in contact with other suspicious persons, report it immediately.

If necessary, one can even directly "dispose" of Xiaosa.

Of course, these four thugs had no idea about the specifics of the collaboration between Chen Chen and Xiao Sa.

They were simply following orders after receiving a call from Secretary Liu.

After listening to the thugs' confessions, Fang Cheng understood.

Since the people sent to keep watch were just some low-level thugs, not the well-trained hunters of the Noah Organization.

This shows that Chen Chen did indeed have ulterior motives towards the Noah organization to some extent.

At the very least, he didn't want to reveal his contact with "Mr. Killer" to Noah.

Otherwise, what's standing here right now wouldn't be just a few small fry who aren't even qualified to deliver food to Fang Cheng.

However, this also proves Chen Chen's cunning and caution.

He wanted to use himself as a weapon, but was unwilling to take too much risk.

Seeing that Fang Cheng remained silent, the thugs assumed that this masked devil was about to kill him.

He even started crying and begging, making all sorts of oaths and vows, saying that he had elderly parents and young children to support and was just trying to make a living.

Fang Cheng ignored their pleas for mercy, having his own plans.

Killing a few defenseless henchmen serves no purpose other than providing a slight release of pent-up desire.

After a moment's thought, Fang Cheng spoke coldly:
"Do you want to live?"

Upon hearing this, the three sober thugs nodded frantically, like chickens pecking at rice.

"Go back and tell Chen Chen."

Fang Cheng's voice was deep and devoid of any emotion:
"If you want to cooperate, show sincerity and honestly follow the rules."

"I hate people who don't follow the rules. Don't try to be clever behind my back."

"This time, I can pretend nothing happened. But if there's a next time..."

"Crack!" There was a crisp sound.

The armrest of the chair next to him snapped off and fell in front of the thugs.

A chilling murderous intent suddenly flashed in Fang Cheng's voice:
"I will personally go to the Yuanchen Group building and have a good talk with that Mr. Chen."

That chilling, bone-chilling killing intent, even through the masks, made the three thugs feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave, their hair standing on end.

They nodded and bowed hastily, swearing that they would deliver the message verbatim.

Fang Cheng ignored them, opened the car door, and threw them out like trash.

Then, the van emitted a low rumble and quickly disappeared into the night.

As for how these thugs should get back to the city center from the suburbs and report to Chen Chen, let them figure it out themselves.

The hustle and bustle of the city gradually faded away, and a cool night breeze swept by.

When Fang Cheng returned to the tenement building and took out his key to open the door, the living room light was still on.

The mother, Li Biyun, was sitting on the sofa, holding a well-worn cookbook, seemingly studying something.

Hearing the door open, she immediately looked up, a smile spreading across her face:

"Chengcheng, you're back? Are you tired from studying?"

As they spoke, a faint aroma of porridge wafted from the kitchen.

"Mom, why aren't you asleep yet? Didn't I tell you not to wait for me?"

Fang Cheng changed his shoes, his tone tinged with helplessness.

The wall clock showed it was past 11 o'clock.

"It's okay, I'm used to working in the hospital, I can't sleep at this hour."

Li Biyun stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"Seeing how hard you've been studying lately, Mom made you some sea cucumber and millet porridge. It's good for your stomach, replenishes your blood, and boosts your immunity. Drink some while it's hot."

Fang Cheng felt a warmth in his heart.

The excuse he used to sneak out to run errands was to study in a nearby study room to prepare for the upcoming postgraduate entrance examination interview.

Because of the good learning atmosphere there, there are many postgraduate entrance exam takers, and you can exchange experiences with each other.

His mother firmly believed this and always tried her best to take care of him in his daily life.

Watching my mother's busy figure in the kitchen, and the bowl of steaming millet porridge on the table.

Suddenly, the scene inside that dilapidated little house flashed through Fang Cheng's mind.

I think of Xiaosai, and that blind old mother who also silently devoted herself to her son.

Two completely different families, two mothers who both deeply love their sons, seem to experience a strange resonance and overlap at this moment.

"Mom, please don't stay up late waiting for me anymore. It's bad for your skin and can cause wrinkles."

Fang Cheng picked up the bowl of porridge and said softly.

"I know, you talk too much."

Li Biyun smiled and playfully scolded him, but the faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes smoothed out with her smile.

"Drink up, then get some rest."

After finishing his porridge and chatting with his mother for a while, Fang Cheng washed his face and feet and returned to his bedroom.

The room fell silent the moment the door closed.

(End of this chapter)