Chapter 014: The Tool Man Makes His Entrance

All of them? Su Jingxing was taken aback for a moment, then quickly caught on. Lowering his voice as well, he replied, “Fine, but you’ll cover the transfer fee.”

“No problem!” The short, stocky man sounded rather eager. “How about we go make the transfer right now?”

“Alright.” Hearing this, Su Jingxing swiftly packed up his stall and headed to the administration office with the short, stocky man.

…

The staff at the administration office didn’t ask any questions about how Su Jingxing managed to sell his wares so quickly or why someone had come to make a transfer. Such things happened every day. This was one of the hallmarks of the black market—once someone set their sights on something, the deal was completed in a flash. Su Jingxing’s case was nothing out of the ordinary.

Once the transaction amount was confirmed, and after the short, stocky man paid the transfer fee, a straightforward sum of ninety thousand Dayu coins was moved from a secure bank account into Su Jingxing’s card. Three hundred coins per pill, three hundred pills in total, making exactly ninety thousand.

As soon as Su Jingxing received the text message confirming the deposit, he handed over all the Vitality Pills to the short, stocky man. The man checked and counted the goods, then strode away without another word.

He left the black market directly and boarded a bus. After switching buses twice and making sure he wasn’t being followed, he finally removed his cloak and mask and returned to the western suburbs.

Ninety thousand Dayu coins—enough for Su Jingxing to rent a place and live comfortably for some time. Money won without effort always felt especially sweet.

As for why the short, stocky man bought all the Vitality Pills at once—whether for his own use or to resell—Su Jingxing didn’t care. The sooner he was rid of them, the sooner he could have peace of mind.

…

Qinghe City’s buses ran until eleven at night. Because Su Jingxing’s transaction had gone so quickly, by the time he’d switched buses twice, it was only ten o’clock. There was no rush to return to the dormitory at that hour.

Putting away his cloak and mask, he stepped out from a narrow alley and strolled leisurely toward a nearby bus stop. Since it wasn’t on a main road, there weren’t many people waiting—just five in total, including Su Jingxing. No one spoke; each stood beneath the shelter, gazing out at the distant street.

While waiting—

“Help! Somebody help!” A sudden cry rang out from a side alley not far from behind the bus stop.

Along with the shouting came the hurried sound of running footsteps. All five at the stop instinctively turned to look.

They saw a slender young girl, panic-stricken, running out from the alley toward the bus stop. Three men chased after her. Leading them was a burly man with a brutish face, thick with scars. Catching sight of the five people beneath the stop, he shouted loudly, “This is Little Knife Society business! If you know what’s good for you, don’t meddle!”

At his words, two of the four others, aside from Su Jingxing, immediately bolted and ran. The remaining two quickly turned away, pretending not to see a thing.

Su Jingxing followed suit, turning his back. He had neither the desire nor the right to get involved in such matters. At most, once the brutes chased the girl off, he could call the security patrol. The rest—he could only wish her luck.

However…

“Stop right there! You little wretch, keep running and I’ll grab your brother and wipe out your whole Wei family!” The brute’s guttural threat echoed down the silent street.

The girl kept running. When she saw that none of the five at the stop would help, she changed direction and darted into the same alley Su Jingxing had just emerged from.

“You filthy whore! Stop right there!” Seeing this, the burly brute and his two cronies rushed after her.

From a distance, Su Jingxing could still hear the brute’s threats echoing from the alley.

“You think Wei Zhongting has any friends left who’ll help you?”

“I’m telling you, there’s no one left!”

“Those relatives and old acquaintances of your father—if they haven’t already stretched their hands out to snatch the Wei family estate, they’re already showing plenty of respect. Don’t even dream of them coming to your rescue!”

“If you’d just behave, maybe I’d leave you something. Keep defying us, and I’ll wipe out your Wei family for good!”

“Stop! You filthy whore—still running?”

The voices faded into the distance and finally vanished.

Under the bus stop, Su Jingxing stiffened slightly.

Wei Zhongting?

The creator of “Seven Steps Fist”—a member of the Wei family?

The fleeing girl—Wei Zhongting’s daughter?

Su Jingxing frowned. He’d intended to stay out of it, but if the girl was Wei Zhongting’s daughter, things were no longer so simple. Because of “Seven Steps Fist,” he’d already crossed paths with Wei Zhongting. If their paths had not crossed here, he could have ignored it.

His strength was lacking—he could have simply turned a blind eye.

But now, he had the ability to intervene—

“I’ll take a look.”

A flurry of thoughts raced through his mind, and Su Jingxing made his decision. He left the bus stop and hurried toward the alley.

The two left at the stop exchanged glances. Neither said a word; after watching Su Jingxing’s retreating figure, they turned away. Just then, the bus arrived. The two boarded and departed.

…

Winded and gasping, Wei Jiajia felt nothing of the cold wind lashing her face as she ran for her life. All she knew was the growing pain in her chest and the numbness spreading through her knees. Her hurried breaths made her whole body tremble, and no matter how far she ran, the end of the alley seemed unreachable.

Just as she was about to collapse—

Bang!

A tremendous force slammed into her back. Wei Jiajia could no longer keep her footing—she stumbled forward and crashed to the ground, scraping her palms raw against the pavement.

Before she could even cry out in pain, a heavy blow struck her back. A foot pressed hard between her shoulder blades, and harsh, labored breathing sounded in her ears.

“You… filthy whore… keep running… run some more!” The brute, his face thick with scars, planted his foot on Wei Jiajia’s back, wheezing and cursing.

His two henchmen, breathless, bent over with their hands on their knees, gasping for air.

“Boss… We… can’t… just let this bitch go…” one managed between breaths.

“Yeah, she needs to pay for this!” said the other.

The brute straightened with a wicked grin. “No need to remind me. I’ll make sure she pays. Pretty little thing like this—if I don’t have some fun, it’d be a shame to send her off to her ancestors so soon.”

The two henchmen leered, grinning obscenely.

“You… you wouldn’t dare!” Wei Jiajia, sprawled on the ground, went pale at their words. Struggling, she cried out, “If you touch me, when my eldest brother returns, he’ll make you pay with your lives!”

“Your eldest brother?” The brute sneered, his mouth twisting in scorn. “That so-called eldest brother of yours? If nothing unexpected happened, he’s long dead out there!”

“Impossible! He’s not dead!” Wei Jiajia tried to convince herself.

“Ha! Even if he’s not, he can’t save you now!” the brute snapped. With a wave of his hand and a nasty grin, he barked, “Hold her down! When I’m done, you two can have your turn!”