In the afternoon, when we went to the workshop, Li Jianguo finally came to work with his face wrapped in bandages. His steady steps and fierce eyes, driven by hatred, made me feel like there was nothing he couldn't do.
Liu Shiyi wouldn't let him go after Yang Lianting, probably fearing that he'd go berserk and run away, or accidentally get his hands on that incriminating USB drive.
I didn't feel like working all day, just chatting aimlessly, which frustrated Er Pang, but there was nothing he could do.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching. If we didn't escape the KK Compound soon, I'd be doomed to die here.
"Bro, only five days left until the Mid-Autumn Festival. Look at the decorations outside, it's so ironic," Ba Yi said, pointing to the brightly decorated playground and a few lackeys hanging banners.
About 89% of the people here are from China, so we follow Chinese traditions and celebrate these important days. For example, on the day of the festival, there will be fireworks and firecrackers, and there are competitions for making dumplings or cash rewards for top performers to motivate everyone to make money for the boss.
I coldly responded with a "hmm" and continued typing on the keyboard.
Ba Yi seemed to notice my concern and stopped talking, just lowering his head and thinking.
"Congratulations to Li Jianguo for securing a 1.2 million RMB order!" Er Pang's shrill voice echoed through the workshop.
I looked up at Li Jianguo, whose face was wrapped in bandages and eyes were bloodshot. I forced a smile and clapped along with everyone else.
Despite being able to secure big orders, he still hadn't figured out who his real enemy was, and whether his wife was really dead. Liu Shiyi was just using him as a tool for killing. I felt sad and pitiful for him.
Even if he secured a three million RMB order, Liu Shiyi wouldn't reward him a penny. They had some private agreement that if Li Jianguo achieved a certain performance, he'd get a name of someone involved in his wife's death.
This fool never considered that it might be Liu Shiyi himself who killed his wife and child.
Yang Lianting, being the second-in-command, had no real power in front of Liu Shiyi, or he wouldn't have planned his escape. If he had been an hour late, he would've been killed by Li Jianguo.
"Damn, Li Jianguo is fierce. Went crazy all night and still has the energy to secure orders today! Bro, you're truly his great teacher!" Ba Yi shook his head in disbelief, yawning.
"No, I'm not his mentor. I just passed on what old Fox Ace taught me. His performance is driven purely by his desire for revenge."
I looked at the excited Er Pang, suddenly feeling he was even more insidious than Yang Lianting. He always appeared to be a kind person, but who knows how many people he had betrayed behind the scenes.
I even suspected that the deaths of Lasi and Laisi were related to him.
After securing the big order, Li Jianguo rushed off to the small villa to find Liu Shiyi. I guessed he'd hit a wall again since Liu Shiyi would never let him go after Yang Lianting. At most, he'd give him a nonexistent supervisor's name, sending him on a wild goose chase.
I heard that the giant lizard named "Lion" raised by Yang Lianting was taken to the basement by Liu Shiyi. He fed Yang Lianting's brother's corpse to the lizard.
"Ahhh!"
Another scream came from the dark room. A new girl was being tortured by the lackeys for disobedience.
I didn't know what game Liu Shiyi was playing, bringing these women who had seen me kill the general to the workshop. Wasn't he afraid they'd recognize me?
Maybe he didn't expect me to live past the Mid-Autumn Festival!
Looking at the decorated playground outside, I felt incredibly pained. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, we were struggling to survive like pigs and dogs in Myanmar, while my family in China probably had no idea what was happening to me.
I struggled through the day and went straight to bed, skipping dinner.
Wrench told me that before escaping, Yang Lianting killed the supervisor from the adjacent compound, a 50-year-old woman who was likely his accomplice. He took her phone, cash, jewelry, and possibly some confidential information.
This enraged the higher-ups, including the Karen Border Guard Forces, who were now searching for Yang Lianting to capture and interrogate him.
As for the medical ship, it had long sailed away. The doctors we killed were just scapegoats, posing no real threat.
The driver who helped Yang Lianting escape also ran away with him, making it impossible to pursue the matter further.
The medical ship's captain decided to drop the investigation until after completing their big organ trafficking deal.
For us, the matter was settled. Whether Yang Lianting would be caught depended on the compound's capability.
"Boom"
A bolt of lightning split the sky, accompanied by thunder.
I remembered when my grandmother was still alive, I'd bring her gifts early on Mid-Autumn Festival. I'd pass through a mountain, getting soaked every time it rained.
Mom would plant sweet potato vines on rainy days. Once they matured in winter, she'd dig them up to feed the pigs or cut them into pieces, dry them in the sun, and make natural sweet potato strips.
"Miss home?" Chen Weiqiang came in, smoking, and stood beside me.
"Yeah, I remember during our first semester of freshman year, Mid-Autumn and National Day fell on the same day. The university held a martial arts competition. I broke my opponent's nose and had to pay 10,000 yuan. My master was so reluctant to pay and told the media that injuries were inevitable in the ring, not a street fight.
Finally, the school paid the medical bill. I wonder if they'll..."
I couldn't finish the sentence. My master was getting old, and my mother wasn't in good health. Sigh!
Chen Weiqiang looked at the cloudy sky. "The weather's changing! Don't blame yourself too much. Things will turn around! If Yang Lianting could escape, so can we. It's just a matter of timing!"
The lackeys spent the whole morning decorating the compound, even hanging up big red lanterns used for Chinese New Year.
Seeing the red lanterns swaying in the wind made me uncomfortable.
These demons sometimes skinned pigs alive and made "human skin lanterns" to hang on trees. The thought alone was chilling.
"How often do the guards switch shifts? Can we escape KK Compound if we cross the mountain near the crocodile pond? If it rains for three days, let's try to save ourselves!"
I turned to Wrench and the others, who were also filled with worry.