"Got it!"
Seeing Qin Ran's intense reaction, Lu Xin immediately had a rough idea of what was going on.
Having a gun pointed at him was naturally unsettling. Even though he also had a gun, Lu Xin noticed that his sister had somehow appeared next to Qin Ran. She was standing there, staring at his head, which reassured him. He simply adjusted his sitting posture slightly.
"It wasn't me."
He looked at Qin Ran seriously and said, "I'm here to investigate whether you've been having any problems recently."
Chen Jing had sent him to check if there was anything wrong with this person named Qin Ran, but Lu Xin wasn't sure how to investigate.
So, he figured he might as well just ask.
Finding the right approach to work can save time, effort, and improve efficiency.
"Investigate my problems?"
Qin Ran's eyes turned cold. He pulled back the safety on his gun slightly and aimed it directly at Lu Xin's head.
His gaze was sharp and sinister. "Are you from the Security Bureau?"
"I'm not from the Security Bureau, don't be nervous..."
Lu Xin wondered how to reassure him, but being held at gunpoint was inevitably uncomfortable.
Moreover, he could tell that Qin Ran, despite appearing calm on the surface, was in a terrible mental state. It was as if he had been tightly bound like a string, on the verge of snapping. People like this, especially when holding a loaded gun, were unpredictable. No one could guarantee that one wrong word wouldn't set them off, making them act impulsively.
So, Lu Xin glanced at his sister.
A strange smile appeared on her face, half-hidden behind her long hair.
Seeing Qin Ran aiming a gun at her brother, she suddenly reached out and flicked his hand.
Qin Ran was caught off guard and lost his grip. The gun slipped from his hand and flew straight toward Lu Xin. Lu Xin calmly reached out, caught the gun, flipped off the safety, and tucked it into his bag. Only then did he look back at Qin Ran.
"I'm not investigating you. I'm investigating whether you've encountered any problems."
Qin Ran was already sweating profusely. He nervously scanned the room but didn't see anyone else.
Then, he fixed his gaze on Lu Xin, his voice trembling. "You… how did you do that?"
"Don't ask. Even if you do, you wouldn't be able to learn it."
Lu Xin hugged his backpack and asked again, "Have you encountered anything strange?"
"I..."
Qin Ran was suddenly flustered by the question.
Especially because Lu Xin, sitting so calmly in front of him, was making him uneasy.
By all appearances—his image and demeanor—Lu Xin seemed like an honest, unassuming young man from the city.
But because he was too calm, it actually made him seem eerie.
If you can't overpower someone with your presence, you might end up being the one overpowered.
So, after hesitating for a moment, Qin Ran slowly asked, "What kind of problems?"
Lu Xin thought for a moment and then said, "For example, those deaths?"
"You..."
Qin Ran's expression immediately showed panic.
His gun had been inexplicably taken away, and now, in this office, he was unarmed while Lu Xin had two guns.
Normally, he should have been the one feeling nervous.
But unexpectedly, after the initial panic, he instead became agitated. His face gradually showed a look of excitement.
He suddenly cursed, "Damn it! So someone else understands this kind of thing! I knew it! There's no way I was the only one experiencing this..."
Then, he stared intensely at Lu Xin, his eyes bloodshot. "I don't know which side you're from, but I… I have encountered something!"
Lu Xin immediately became serious and asked, "What?"
Qin Ran gritted his teeth and said, "I was hunted down for revenge!"
Lu Xin was slightly surprised. For someone like Qin Ran, it shouldn't be unusual to have people coming after him for revenge…
"It wasn't normal revenge."
Qin Ran drained a cup of hot tea in one gulp and stared at Lu Xin. He seemed to be battling an internal struggle, but in the end, his fear won out.
Slowly, he began to speak. "It started fourteen days ago. I don't care if you know this—I don't just do transport jobs. Too many people die in this business, and it barely makes any money. So, I take on all kinds of side hustles, the Security Bureau knows that too."
Lu Xin nodded, pretending he already knew.
"It all started with a deal over a batch of 'Little Bear Pills.'"
The blood vessels in Qin Ran's eyes seemed to expand, and his voice grew low. "I was dealing with Old Cui from the west side of the city. That bastard Cui Wang specializes in smuggling this stuff. We've worked together a few times, but that day, he had the nerve to come alone. Did he really think I was that trustworthy? Of course not—I took the chance and finished him off..."
"I took all the Little Bear Pills. Selling them could easily earn me tens of thousands..."
"Tens of thousands?"
Lu Xin was startled.
"That's not the point!"
Qin Ran shot him a glare before continuing. "I chopped up Old Cui's body and fed it to the stray dogs. I thought that was the end of it. But the next day, a woman suddenly showed up. I had never seen her before, but she claimed to be Cui Wang. She cursed me for being untrustworthy and demanded that I pay with my life and return the goods."
Lu Xin's expression shifted slightly. Now, he was genuinely intrigued.
"I had no idea what her deal was. I thought she was one of Cui Wang's lovers, so I killed her too!"
Qin Ran spat on the ground. "I mixed her body into the cement over by the weighbridge."
Lu Xin remained expressionless as he listened.
"Then I started feeling like something was off. I had my people investigate, and we found out that the woman's name was Wang Ting. She was a factory worker from the south of the city. Apparently, she had never even met Cui Wang. Tell me, isn't that creepy as hell?"
Lu Xin nodded slightly to show he was following.
"But the real weirdness came next..."
Qin Ran's expression grew darker. "A few days later, two more people came looking for me. One was an old man, and the other was a teenage beggar. The old man claimed he was Cui Wang, and the boy said he was Wang Ting. Both of them came to get revenge, charging at me like madmen even though I was surrounded by my crew."
As he spoke, he ran a finger across his neck. "So I got rid of them too."
"That makes four people now..."
Lu Xin was surprised.
"And then things got even more disturbing..."
Qin Ran spoke in a low voice. "I had my guys look into those two. It turned out they had no known connections to Cui Wang or Wang Ting. They were complete nobodies. But then…"
He paused twice, unable to continue for a moment. Finally, he swallowed hard and said, "Four days later, another four people showed up. I didn't know any of them. But they broke into my house, went straight for my throat... Damn it, four of them, all crazy, one claiming to be Cui Wang, one saying she was Wang Ting, another calling himself Old Zhang, and the last one saying he was Wu Zi… It was insane! Their eyes… Those eyes were terrifying..."
Lu Xin was finally shaken. "And what happened to them?"
"I didn't dare kill them."
Qin Ran's bloodshot eyes flickered as he whispered, "It was too eerie. I just locked them up. But..."
He hesitated, then beckoned Lu Xin to follow. "Come with me."