Chapter 208 Psychological Warfare

I was alert to any of Lin Qizhong’s tricks, but I didn’t know what he meant by this. Was his “sister” a mechanism, or some other kind of preventive measure? In short, I didn’t want him to touch anything now, lest he decide to cause trouble.

As a result, my general response to such a remark was to stay quiet, not speak, and stare at him coldly.

This was the oppressive atmosphere method Black Glasses had taught me, which he said he had learned from Poker-face. Poker-face was the kind of person that would make you feel very uneasy if you weren’t his buddy, and that uneasiness would only increase. People who knew him would realize that he was really just taking a nap when he was leaning there, but people who didn’t know him would feel that such a gloomy guy was full of evil intentions, and ready to torture them.

Moreover, this state was also hard to see through. When most people were at a disadvantage, they always tried to use psychological warfare to find a chance for themselves. But in front of Little Brother, the psychological pressure of trying to see through his thoughts was even greater than surrendering.

Even when Little Brother was at a disadvantage, his attitude often made it hard for others to tell whether he was really at a disadvantage or not.

To sum up what Black Glasses said: only someone with a mental disorder was invincible.

Black Glasses told me that the prerequisite for such a person to be invincible was to have legends and achievements, just like “Xiaoli Feidao” (1). If there were no exaggerated legends, that kind of unreasonable lifestyle would lead to a very weary life.

The facts had proven that Black Glasses was right.

I had changed from how I used to be, because even if I acted arrogantly and had a gun in my hand, others would feel the weakness of the bluff. So I became someone that made others go: “After being provoked, the Wu family’s demonic blood was awakened, and his character became abnormal and terrifying”, or “that Wu Xie is crazy, and shouldn’t be provoked.”

I was the only one who knew what I had to undergo to prove my ability, and I was able to fully display that in front of Lin Qizhong just now. The result should have been enough to deter him, but he was different this time. When he saw that I didn’t speak, he insisted on repeating what he had said.

“You won’t regret the exchange. If you’re interested in such things, then you’ll like it.”

I continued looking at him, but truthfully, my heart was a little shaken upon seeing him act so sincere. But I tried hard to hold back, because I knew that legends couldn’t be shaken.

“I know you don’t trust me, so tell me first. Assuming I’m not lying, will you accept this exchange?”

This was a step-by-step break to try to guide my mind. As long as I relaxed a little, he could take advantage of the situation. Lin Qizhong’s current state was completely different when we had first arrived. It seemed like he was also a person with a diverse personality, and his counterattack under duress may be stronger than I could handle.

I still refrained from saying anything, and Lin Qizhong finally panicked. At this time, I said something to make him desperate: “Why should I make an exchange with you? Although I won’t kill you, I have plenty of ways to get you to hand that thing over.”

This was the kind of negotiation I had determined needed to be adopted since I was the strong one here, and he was the weak one.

Lin Qizhong’s face twitched, and he finally managed to squeeze out: “I see you came back safely. I know it wasn’t easy for you to live, but now you’re being so unreasonable. You can’t blame me for what I’m about to do.”

I listened to his words, and felt a chill in my heart. I had to admit that his bluff was quite realistic, and more professional than mine. I was just about to smile when Lin Qizhong started yelling at the back room in the Yinchuan dialect.

Wang Meng had been rubbing his hands at the door to the back room, and reflexively looked inside when Lin Qizhong started yelling. In an instant, there came a series of noises that sounded like chains dragging.

I became nervous, and asked Wang Meng what was going on.

Wang Meng said, “I don’t know, it came from under the bed.”

Lin Qizhong looked at me coldly, and said, “That’s my sister.”

I looked at the box on the table, “Isn’t your sister in this box?”

Lin Qizhong sneered: “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I told myself, you’re fucking over-thinking it, and flipped the lid open. There was suddenly a loud “peng” from the box, and a fierce light exploded outward. There was white all around, and I fell back on the sofa, unable to see anything.

Flash bomb!

I cursed in my heart, so it was a trap. I heard Lin Qizhong laugh, and then he punched me on the jaw, and fled.

I couldn’t see anything, and groped everywhere, but didn’t manage to catch him. I heard him running down the stairs, so I shouted to Che Zhong outside.

I finally started to recover my eyesight five minutes later, and saw Brother Xiao Man sitting nonchalantly at the door. It seemed like Lin Qizhong had stepped on his tail during his escape, so Brother Xiao Man was licking it. It appeared this dog was a Zen master when he wasn’t following his master’s orders.

I touched my beaten jaw, and went to Lin Qizhong’s bedroom. I looked under the bed, and saw that the old woman had been chained to the floor.

I ordered Wang Meng, “Turn this place upside down, and call Mute Sister. Tell her not to lose track of him.” Wang Meng nodded. I knew that Mute Sister— who had been lying in wait down there for a long time— was experienced, and the real fight with Lin Qizhong was just beginning. I squatted down, and looked at Lin Qizhong’s mother. The old woman’s gaze was out of focus, and her eyes were murky. She must have been drugged.

I looked at the countless marks that the iron chain had scratched onto the floor, and thought they looked both fresh and old. The old woman’s arms and legs showed no signs of being chained up for years, so these chains must not have been meant for her.

I had an idea, but I still needed to prove it. I told Wang Meng to take the old woman to the hotel, and then I grabbed the box of bones, and ran downstairs with a snap of my fingers.

Brother Xiao Man still understood this at least, and eagerly followed behind.

I saw Mute Sister as soon as I got downstairs. Even after not seeing her for so long, she still looked very young. I shouldn’t have bothered her, but luckily, her child was three years old, so she didn’t have any problems coming out.

“Little Master Three.” She greeted, while looking at me. She always seemed to look at me differently from other people, and I figured it was because she saw Uncle Three in me. “The man named Che is gone.”

I looked in the car, and saw Che Zhong really was gone.

“He left something for you.” Mute Sister handed it over. It was a thick letter full of instructions on how to take care of Brother Xiao Man. If my wife had such a problem, I would definitely feed her to the fish in West Lake. It was just a dog.

At the very end, he wrote the following: Although it’s your dog, please treat it well. After things have calmed down—and if everyone is still alive— I hope we can meet again.

I stuffed the letter into my pocket— there was no time to sigh with emotion—and then asked Mute Sister, “Which direction did Lin Qizhong go in? Can you tell where he’s headed?”

“He’s just four blocks away, and he’s not moving,” Mute Sister replied.

“Where’s the one tailing him?”

“I suddenly couldn’t get in touch with him. Someone’s been sent to check on him.”

Just as she finished speaking, the phone rang. She picked it up, put it on speaker, and I could hear a voice hurriedly saying: “Mute Sister, Lin Qizhong and our guy are dead. Their jaws were ripped off.”

As soon as he finished speaking, I saw Brother Xiao Man’s ears suddenly perk up, and he went and stood at the corner.

His eyes slowly changed, and then he turned to another street corner, looking back and forth. I noticed that the people in the street had disappeared, and the shops across the way were all closed.

“How many more?” I asked, feeling the cold sweat start coming down.

Mute Sister whistled, and four or five guys came out of the nearby bushes. I said to them, “We’re surrounded. Let’s all go upstairs. Don’t act without my orders.”

<Chapter 207> <Table of Contents><Chapter 209>

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TN Notes:

(1) Wuxia novel series by Gu Long. Translates to “Little Li Flying Dagger”. Info here

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First off, that poor old woman. What a piece of shit son (or husband, don’t think we ever found out the answer to that). Second, if you all don’t remember, Mute Sister was from Vol 8. She was Uncle Three’s purported lover/protege. And third, I found the idea of 4-5 grown men suddenly popping out of the nearby bushes hilarious (I’m so easily amused)