“What are they so afraid of?” Su Wan murmured to herself, her brow furrowed.
Normally, if these two had found her here, they should have been aggressive—threatening her, pressuring her, or even resorting to violence.
But what was happening before her eyes was the complete opposite.
They seemed to have experienced something so utterly terrifying that the moment they saw her, they were consumed by nothing but pure fear and the desperate urge to flee.
Su Wan’s gaze slowly swept across the construction site, which looked particularly dilapidated in the early morning light, before she looked up at the unfinished building she was staying in.
Is it because of this building?
That would actually be unexpected “good news.”
However, Su Wan was still a bit disappointed. She had originally planned to use these two to test her newly mastered abilities.
...
At four in the afternoon, Li Bao was still asleep.
But a moment later, he was jolted awake by the persistent ringing of his phone.
He had been out at a club until the early hours of the morning and had brought back two “sisters” he’d just met for a wild session, only finally falling asleep at dawn.
He was currently in a deep sleep, and being woken up filled him with a surge of irritation.
He fumbled for his phone and saw it was a call from one of his small-time leaders. Li Bao answered it impatiently.
The leader’s voice sounded anxious. “Brother Leopard, A Biao and Punk Chen are back!”
“They’re back?” Li Bao’s mind was still foggy, and he instinctively cursed, “So they’re back. Why the hell are you waking me up for that? Those two useless wastes—I sent them to handle a small matter last night, and they didn’t answer their phones or show their faces. Where the hell did they die off to?”
“Brother Leopard... something’s wrong with them, and...” The subordinate hesitated. “They didn’t bring the van back. They took a taxi! Both of them are walking like they’re floating, like they’ve seen a ghost.”
“Seen a ghost?” Li Bao scoffed. Most of his sleepiness vanished, replaced by an even hotter temper. “Damn it, they’re playing tricks! Tell them to get their asses over here! Now! Immediately!”
Half an hour later, in the ostentatious yet tacky living room of his villa, Li Bao sat on a wide leather sofa, dressed in a silk robe and slippers, his face dark with anger.
In front of him, A Biao and Punk Chen stood trembling, flanked by two burly subordinates holding them in place.
The two of them were indeed a mess.
Their clothes were crumpled and stained with dirt and grass; fresh scrapes and bruises marked their faces and arms.
Most notably, the dark circles under their eyes were so heavy they looked bruised. Their complexions were a sickly yellow, and their lips twitched uncontrollably.
They kept their heads down, not daring to even look at Li Bao.
Li Bao, already fuming, felt his anger spike even higher seeing their pathetic state.
Especially when he saw they were empty-handed and that the van—which was old but still functional—was missing.
“Where’s the van?” Li Bao squeezed the words through his teeth.
“B-Brother Leopard... the van... we left it outside that unfinished building...” A Biao’s voice shook.
“What?!” Li Bao slammed his hand onto the coffee table, making the ashtray jump. “You two useless trash! I sent you to deal with one pampered woman, and not only did you fail, you didn’t even bring the van back? It’s late afternoon now! Where have you been playing dead all this time?!”
The more he spoke, the angrier he got. He didn't even care to hear an explanation, signaling the subordinates holding them. “Give them something to remember first!”
The subordinates understood immediately. They began rain down punches and kicks, giving A Biao and Punk Chen a brutal beating.
The two had no way to defend themselves.
After they had fled the construction site, they had run like their lives depended on it until they were exhausted.
Only then did they manage to calm down.
They knew they had botched the mission and were terrified, but no matter how scared they were, they had to give Brother Leopard an account.
After discussing it, they went to get some food and rested for a while before finally dragging themselves back.
The sound of heavy thuds and painful wails filled the living room.
Li Bao watched coldly, lighting a cigar and taking slow, deliberate puffs.
Only after the two were beaten black and blue, slumped on the floor and unable to get up, did Li Bao wave his hand for his men to stop.
“Now, tell me everything clearly.” Li Bao blew out a ring of smoke, his eyes predatory. “What exactly happened last night? If you tell a single lie, I’ll throw you into the river to feed the fish!”
Enduring the intense pain, A Biao and Punk Chen sobbed and stammered out their experience from the previous night.
From the van mysteriously stalling outside the building, to the eerie, deathly silence upon entering the site, to the bizarre darkness that swallowed their flashlight beams, and finally the terrifying phantoms that lunged out of the dark—and their desperate struggle where they couldn't find their way out no matter how much they ran...
Their description was jumbled, filled with panicked details and incoherent repetitions, but the genuine terror on their faces was impossible to fake.
As Li Bao listened, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and he even forgot to puff on his cigar.
Ghosts? Bats? Couldn't run out?
And they were unconscious all night, only waking up at the entrance in the morning?
He had been in the business for years; what kind of tough characters hadn't he seen? What kind of dirty deeds hadn't he done?
But when it came to this supernatural stuff, he had always scoffed at it.
“Bullshit!” Li Bao didn’t believe a word. He crushed his cigar out violently. “It’s clearly just you two useless trash failing at your job and making up excuses to fool me!”
“Ghosts and monsters? Can that bitch Su Wan command demons now? If she had that kind of power, would she be hiding from me like a rat?”
He stood up and paced the living room, his gaze vicious. “Damn it, Miss Bai is still waiting for an answer! Whether that place is haunted or not, I’m going to go see for myself today!”
“I want to see who’s brave enough to play tricks on my turf and scare my men!”
He waved his hand. “Go! Call more brothers and bring some hardware! I want to see exactly what kind of trickery is hidden in that unfinished building!”
“And that bitch Su Wan—we’re dragging her out today!”
At six in the evening, a black business van stopped on the dirt road outside the unfinished building at the foot of Phoenix Mountain.
The van that A Biao and Punk Chen had driven the night before sat there alone.
Li Bao stepped out of the business van. He had changed into a tight black short-sleeved shirt, revealing the tattoos on his arms.
The muscles on his face were taut, his gaze fierce. Behind him followed four equally menacing and burly lackeys, each carrying long objects wrapped in newspaper or cloth—clearly not people to be trifled with.
A Biao and Punk Chen had been dragged along as well. With their new injuries added to the lingering shock from the previous night, they looked exceptionally haggard and terrified.
Pushed along by the other lackeys, they cowered at the back of the group, refusing to take another step forward. They simply pointed at the unfinished building, their voices trembling.
“B-Brother Leopard... it’s right there... that window...”
Li Bao looked in the direction they were pointing.
The sun was nearly down. In the twilight, the grey, unfinished building looked like any other ordinary abandoned construction site. Aside from being remote and dilapidated, there was nothing special about it.
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