Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  The boy did not agree, though. “Since the body of the old woman has been found, we must know what happened to the young one just to be safe. Finding her corpse will be the surest way to determine her death. Her being alive will cause problems for us eventually.”


  His assistant nodded in agreement but added with some hesitation, “It’s not easy to locate a body in the vast Eastern Sea, but I’ll do my best; I just can’t promise anything.”


  The boy tidied the stack of notes on his table and mulled over his words with pursed lips.

  Indeed, trying to look for a body in the sea was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

  After a while, he instructed, “You try to see if you can enlist the help of the local fishermen there. As they go out fishing regularly, they may discover something before us. If they find something suspicious, tell them to inform us immediately. We have to seal the news before they call the police.”


  His henchman nodded in acquiescence.

  This was probably the only way they could clear up the mess at this point.

  As the lad drummed his fingers on the tabletop, he commented with absolute disgust, “As for that Li Dongqiang, there’s no point keeping him with his poor performance.”


  “Understood. I know what to do.”
……

  At 2 AM, an underground gambling den on East Street was bustling with activities as usual.

  Li Dongqiang was keeping watch over the gambling arena with a cigarette hanging between his lips. Like a tiger surveilling its territory, he was roaming the perimeter when his lackey came up to him suddenly and whispered into his ear, “Boss, someone is looking for you.”


  The ruffian furrowed his brows and asked with a side-eye, “Who?”


  His man shook his head cluelessly but hinted, “I’m unsure, but the person said he has a ‘big business’ for you.”


  The ruffian pricked up his ears at the magic phrase, his eyes shining with interest.

  ‘Big business’ was a code used in underground dealings to mean that someone wanted him to handle a dirty job.

  He immediately spit out his cigarette butt and stepped on it, asking his lackey, “Where is the person?”


  “Waiting for you inside the building.”


  Li Dongqiang barked an order before leaving. “Help me look after this place; I’ll return once I’m done speaking to the person.”


  He then walked toward the building.

  As he approached the entrance, he deftly caught the scent of fresh blood. As someone who was often involved in shady businesses and homicides, his nose was especially sensitive to this smell. Confounded by the smell, he hesitated as he placed his hand on the doorknob. Eventually, he decided to push the door open.

  Just as he took a step into the place, a burly man in black appeared next to the door, grabbed him by the collar, and shoved him to the floor.

  Caught off guard, he crashed to the ground. As he tried to support his fall with his hands, he felt something sticky on the floor. When he looked at it, he found himself staring at a lifeless pair of orbs.

  He got a rude shock once he had a good look at the corpse lying on the ground.

  “What the f*ck?!”


  The door behind him slammed shut as he cursed at the sight.

  He swung his head around warily. Two men in black were standing guard at the door; one walked toward him, lifted him up by the hair, and eyed him.

  “Are you Li Dongqiang?”


  “Yes…… I-I am. Who the hell are you?!” The hooligan was tongue-tied with fear by now. By the time he managed to regain his composure, he realized that the bodies lying on the floor were all his men.

  These were the ones who had helped him punish Lu Jingtian—none of them had survived.

  “Get rid of this one, too,” instructed the other man standing at the door.

  Realizing that the men were after his life, the ruffian quickly crawled up from the floor and wanted to make a dash for the exit.