When Chu Yuxuan woke from his dream, the car had already reached the entrance of Xinying Village.
Suh Dong was shaking uncontrollably, clearly strung out, and kept sniffling. Chu Yuxuan glanced at him with visible disgust and said in a low voice, "Do you know the exact address?"
"N-No…" Suh Dong stammered.
As he spoke, a faint yellow light was visible ahead. As the car approached, it became clear that it was a small convenience store, where the sounds of a game of rock-paper-scissors and the noise of men drinking could be heard.
Xiao Qing turned to Chu Yuxuan and asked, "Sir, should I go and inquire?"
"Don't," Chu Yuxuan said, pulling out a hundred yuan and handing it to Suh Dong. "You go and buy a pack of cigarettes, and casually ask around."
Suh Dong took the money and got out of the car, trembling. Unlike the city, the countryside had a strong sense of community, and since Liu Jun used to be quite a prominent figure, finding his home wasn't too difficult.
Soon, Suh Dong returned from the convenience store and said, "Go straight ahead. At the end of the alley, there's a utility pole. Turn in there, and his house is the second one on the left. Someone has already inquired about it earlier."
Hearing this, Lao San immediately slammed on the gas. Chu Yuxuan felt a sudden unease, wondering who else might be investigating this matter. If it were the real culprit he was looking for, there would be no need to ask Suh Dong about past events!
Another question arose: back then, why wasn't Liu Jun silenced immediately after Chen Hong escaped? Did Liu Jun hold significant importance to them? If so, why did they abandon him after he was caught for smuggling?
The situation was becoming increasingly puzzling to Chu Yuxuan.
Before long, the big G reached the alley with the utility poles. Lao San was about to turn in when Chu Yuxuan stopped him. "Stop here. Get out."
Xiao Qing quickly drew his gun and chambered a round, then handed another gun to Chu Yuxuan.
Though Suh Dong was a drug dealer, he had none of Blackie's courage and was shaking even more violently. He stammered, "Young Master Chu, I-I think I should stay in the car…"
Chu Yuxuan looked at Lao Wu and instructed, "You stay and watch him."
Then, Chu Yuxuan, Lao San, and Xiao Qing got out of the car and stealthily made their way into the alley. Under the dim moonlight and in the dead silence, they saw a business vehicle parked at the end of the alley.
Chu Yuxuan whispered, "Be cautious and keep someone alive!"
Liu Jun's home was a typical small courtyard house in the countryside. The three approached slowly along the wall. As they were about ten meters from the entrance, a man holding a gun suddenly appeared at the door, apparently on lookout duty. He scanned the surroundings cautiously and, coincidentally, spotted Chu Yuxuan and his group.
At such a distance, it was impossible to rush over silently and eliminate him, especially since the man had already raised his gun! In a moment of desperation, Xiao Qing had no choice but to shoot. "Bang!"
The gunshot shattered the stillness of the alley.
Chu Yuxuan gestured to Lao San and then, with Xiao Qing, rushed towards the door. Lao San circled around, waiting for Chu Yuxuan and Xiao Qing to engage the enemies at the door before climbing over the wall.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
After nearly a minute of gunfire, the shooting finally ceased. Xiao Qing pushed the door open and cautiously searched each room to ensure no other gunmen were hiding.
Chu Yuxuan stood in the yard, glanced at the three corpses on the ground, and a gunman who was barely alive and about to become a corpse. He frowned and shouted, "Lao San!"
"Hey!" Lao San responded, emerging from a corner of the yard, dragging a bloodied gunman to Chu Yuxuan's feet. He also tossed a gun to Chu Yuxuan. "Big Brother, I heard someone call him 'captain,' so I made sure to capture him. He must know more!"
Chu Yuxuan looked at the gun Lao San threw him and frowned. "German-made, quite impressive… Who are you people?"
The man, who had only received a punch from Lao San, was now dazed and, after a while, said, "We… we are from the Ye family."
"Ye family?" Chu Yuxuan was taken aback. "Which Ye family?"
"Yongsheng Group."
"Ye Yongsheng?" Chu Yuxuan had heard of him before. He was a prominent figure in Jiangcheng's business world, on par with Chu Zhiqing.
But… what did this have to do with him?
While pondering this, Xiao Qing peeked out from a room on the east side and called out, "Young Master, come and take a look."
"Keep an eye on him," Chu Yuxuan instructed Lao San, then walked briskly towards Xiao Qing. Upon entering the room, he saw it was in disarray, likely because those men had been searching for something.
By the window lay a man, about fifty years old, with a knife stabbed in his chest. Blood was still oozing from the wound.
"He died not long ago," Xiao Qing said.
Though this corpse didn't have a ponytail, Chu Yuxuan knew it was most likely Liu Jun.
The person they had finally tracked down was dead!
Chu Yuxuan, unwilling to give up, had Lao Wu bring Suh Dong over.
"Is this Liu Jun?"
Due to his drug withdrawal, Suh Dong was somewhat delirious. He stared at the corpse for a moment, then collapsed on the ground, mistaking Chu Yuxuan for the perpetrator. He pleaded, "Young Master Chu! Spare me! Please, spare me!"
Chu Yuxuan's face darkened. "I'm asking you if this is Liu Jun!"
"Yes! Yes, it's Brother Jun! You've already killed him, so you can't… you can't kill me now, right? Young Master Chu, please spare me!"
Chu Yuxuan's heart sank. Taking a deep breath, he dragged Suh Dong into the yard and asked, "Check if any of these people are the ones who were supposed to meet you at noon."
Suh Dong searched through the bodies, trembling, and pointed at two of them. "It's, it's these two!"
Chu Yuxuan walked over to the captain Lao San had captured and tried to control his emotions. "Tell me everything you know!"
The captain, trembling and swallowing hard, nodded. "Our chairman received information that Chu Zhiqing was looking for someone with a special tattoo on their arm. Since he had always been at odds with Chu Zhiqing, he asked us to investigate and see what Chu Zhiqing was looking for. When we learned that it was Liu Jun, the chairman was overjoyed and told us to find Liu Jun quickly and bring him back."
Chu Yuxuan was suspicious. "Overjoyed?"
The captain replied, "Our chairman knew that Liu Jun used to do dirty work for Chu Zhiqing a long time ago, so he wanted to extract some dirt on Chu Zhiqing from Liu Jun."
Chu Yuxuan's heart tightened. Liu Jun had once done dirty work for Chu Zhiqing?! The situation was becoming increasingly bizarre…