Two minutes later.
Old Third was holding two broken pool cues, looking somewhat unsatisfied. In front of him, the seven or eight punks were all lying on the ground, each wearing a pained expression and moaning continuously.
The little punk behind the counter, who had been about to rush out, was knocked senseless by a slap from Old Third. Now, he was leaning against the wall, staring at Old Third with a ghostly look, trembling violently.
Chu Yuxuan knocked on the counter and asked, "Can you tell me where Li Bin is now?"
The punk, shivering, saw the muscular and powerful man approaching and immediately abandoned any so-called brotherhood. He pointed to the second floor, saying, "He got drunk last night and... is still asleep."
Old Third stopped and turned to head upstairs.
"Don't be scared," Chu Yuxuan said with a faint smile, asking the punk, "Do you know Chen Hong?"
The punk shook his head rapidly, "No, no... I don't know him!"
Chu Yuxuan's smile faded. He took out his phone and showed a photo of Chen Hong, asking, "Have you seen him?"
The punk still shook his head, "Never seen him."
Chu Yuxuan suddenly grabbed his hair, his eyes cold and harsh, "Really never seen him?"
The punk was almost terrified out of his wits, his face full of despair, "I really don't know! I... I have no reason to lie to you!"
Seeing that the punk seemed to be telling the truth, Chu Yuxuan released his grip.
A moment later, a woman's scream came from the second floor, and at the same time, a man shouted, "Who the hell are you?"
With the sound of a dull thud, Old Third soon appeared, dragging a middle-aged man covered in tattoos and wearing only a floral pair of shorts down the stairs. The man, in his early forties, looked fierce and was the type who would get his ID checked by police on the street. His right cheek was swollen, blood was dripping from his mouth, and his curly hair was being yanked by Old Third, making him look extremely disheveled.
"Li Bin?" Chu Yuxuan asked.
The man glanced at his subordinates lying in the hall, fear immediately filling his eyes.
He had heard a commotion downstairs in a semi-conscious state and thought it was just his men messing around. He never expected... the place to be raided?!
"I'm Li Bin. Brother, which faction are you from? I haven't offended anyone recently!"
Chu Yuxuan cut to the chase, "Where is Chen Hong?"
Li Bin frowned, confused, "Who is Chen Hong?"
Chu Yuxuan's lips curled into a sneer, glancing at Old Third. The latter immediately raised the half-broken pool cue and struck Li Bin's shoulder with great force, breaking the cue into pieces.
"Ah!"
Li Bin grimaced in pain, shrinking his neck and shouting, "I really don't know who Chen Hong is!"
Old Third pried open his mouth with one hand and reached inside with the other, forcefully pulling out a tooth, shouting, "If you don't talk, I'll beat your sh*t out of you!"
Li Bin, with tears streaming down his face and blood filling his mouth, mumbled, "I don't know, what do you want me to say? Who is Chen Hong?"
Chu Yuxuan said impatiently, "You're being tough... don't know if your body is as tough, huh?"
"Brother, I... I really don't know!" Li Bin cried out, "At least give me a hint!"
Chu Yuxuan said, "Alright, you must have been to Chen's BBQ, right?"
Li Bin was taken aback, "Isn't he called Chen Qiang? Oh! You got it wrong, brother. He's not Chen Hong, he's Chen Qiang! I know where he is. He was beaten up recently and is now at the Second Municipal Hospital."
Chu Yuxuan, "Don't want to speak properly? Don't you think, how did I find you here?"
Li Bin panicked, "He... he really is Chen Qiang! And has a sister named Chen Ting! I'm puzzled, why did you come to me? I have some grievances with him, but... you don't look like you're here to help them educate me! What's going on?"
Chu Yuxuan found it increasingly odd. After some contemplation, he stopped Old Third from suspending Li Bin and asked, "Li Bin, you mentioned you had grievances with Chen Qiang. What grievances?"
Li Bin, trembling, spat out the blood in his mouth and said, "It's because of Chen Ting. I... I thought she was pretty and wanted to be friends with her, but she slapped me in public. So, I... I beat up both siblings and threatened them to pay me money, otherwise, I'd cause trouble every day. But later, Chen Qiang had an accident, so I didn't look for them again. A few days ago, I went to the hospital and ran into Chen Ting. Before I could say much, her sister-in-law shouted to call the police, so... I ran away."
Chu Yuxuan felt increasingly uneasy, his expression growing more serious. After telling Old Third to "keep an eye on them," he quickly left the leisure bar and walked to the G-wagon. When his phone finally had signal, he urgently called Chen.
"Big Brother Chu," Chen Ting was still crying.
"Xiao Ting, is your sister-in-law there?" Chu Yuxuan asked.
Chen Ting replied, "No, she went to contact the funeral home. She hasn't come back yet. I just called, and her phone is off. It's probably out of battery."
When Li Ping said she was going to contact the funeral home, Chu Yuxuan was still waiting for Old Fifth at the hospital. It had been over two hours since then!
The most critical thing was that Li Ping's phone was off!
"This woman is up to something!" Chu Yuxuan immediately hung up and told Old Fifth in the car, "Track Li Ping's location!"
Old Fifth had already found a way to hack Li Ping's phone, so tracking her location was not difficult. However, with the phone off, even the gods couldn't find her.
"Oh my God, her phone is probably off. We can't find her."
Chu Yuxuan's mind was in chaos. He couldn't understand why Li Ping would deceive him. Even if Chen Qiang had deceived him, he could understand! But why would Li Ping, who had been married for just over a year and had only met Chen Hong once, cover for Chen Hong?
What on earth was going on?
Chu Yuxuan forced himself to stay calm. The face of Li Ping kept flashing in his mind. Suddenly, he noticed Li Ping's eyes, which seemed familiar, an inexplicable feeling of recognition...
Recalling what Li Bin had said earlier, the elderly man suffering from cancer, and Chen Qiang's unnatural reactions when he saw him... a terrible suspicion suddenly arose in his mind!
At that moment, Old Fifth exclaimed, "D*mn it! I checked her phone number. She bought a ticket to Seoul two hours ago. The plane... took off ten minutes ago!"
"From Jiangcheng to Seoul is about three hours..." Chu Yuxuan took a deep breath, found the number labeled "Old Fourth" in his contacts, and hesitated for a moment before dialing.
One hour later, in Seoul, South Korea, at a church in the New Daerlin District,
Since it was not the weekend, the church was empty, with only a devout pastor sitting upright in front of a statue of Jesus, silently reciting from a heavy Bible.
A woman wearing a red hairpin entered the church, closed the door, and scanned the area before her gaze landed on the pastor. "Park Buchung!" she called out, her snake-like face grim as she walked towards the pastor. "You need to give me half of that house, understand?"
The pastor slowly closed the Bible and placed it on a nearby table before turning around. His face, with typical Korean features, was expressionless as he blinked calmly and said, "You were the one who cheated, why should you get anything?"
The woman argued confidently, "Look at you, you don't know how to cry or laugh, always with a poker face, like a robot. Who can live with you?"
The pastor nodded, "So, I'm not blaming you. I agreed to divorce you and give you some money. But that house was left to me by my mother, and you can't touch it."
The woman, haughty, said, "Then we'll see each other in court! You know, my boyfriend is a prosecutor!"
The pastor remained expressionless, "Do we have to do this?"
The woman mocked, "You brought this on yourself! I suggest you sell the house and give me half!"
The pastor slowly raised his left hand, holding the cross around his neck, gently rubbing it with his thumb and forefinger. After a moment, he extended his right hand and made a cross gesture in front of him.
An hour later, in the church's garden, the pastor was shoveling dirt when his phone suddenly rang.
When he saw who was calling, his face, though still expressionless, showed some surprise. After a moment of shock, he answered the phone, speaking in a not-so-fluent but much more authentic Mandarin than Old Fifth's, "Big Brother, what's the matter?"
Here's the translation:
On the other end of the line, Chu Yuxuan said, "I need you to do something. Go to Seoul Airport and intercept someone. Old Fifth will send you the flight information."
"Okay," the pastor replied, his tone flat, "Should I deal with them or bring them back to you?"
Chu Yuxuan said, "Find a place to lock them up. I'll be on the next flight to Seoul... You've already gotten married, showing up suddenly in Jiangcheng would be hard to explain to your wife."
The pastor looked down at the red hairpin at his feet, gently kicked it into the pit in front of him, and said expressionlessly, "I'm divorced."
After a pause, he added, "Just got divorced."
Chu Yuxuan:...