Qin Qiancheng remained silent for a long time.
Seeing Qin Qiancheng’s silence, He Wei smiled nonchalantly, “It seems the General needs time to consider. I shall take my leave then. If you change your mind any day, you may seek me out on Yunlan Street.”
He did not explain how or where to find him, as if his presence on Yunlan Street would immediately make him discoverable.
With his words, he turned and left, offering Qin Qiancheng no opportunity to ask questions.
Qin Qiancheng quickly pursued him, but in the blink of an eye, He Wei had vanished without a trace. The cold wind blew, instantly dispersing the smell of alcohol from him. Qin Qiancheng looked at the empty courtyard, his hand gripping the doorframe tightly, his heart sinking further.
...
The First-Ranked Residence.
Gambling on the first floor, gambling for lives on the second, and selling souls in the private rooms on the third.
At the First-Ranked Residence, anything could be bought or sold as long as one dared to name a price.
In a private room on the third floor, a man clad in embroidered brocade knelt on the ground, his eyes blindfolded with a piece of black cloth. He trembled like a sieve, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, trickling down his temples and into his clothes.
“Someone, quickly untie Young Master Wang!”
The arrogant voice, with its peculiar intonation, was like a tempting hook. Merely hearing it made one feel a dry, burning heat, yet no one present dared to look directly at the owner of the voice. The man kneeling on the ground, upon hearing this voice, was so terrified he almost lost control of himself then and there.
The courtesan of the First-Ranked Residence.
Only her name was known, but she herself remained unseen.
No one who had seen her had ever left the First-Ranked Residence alive.
The black cloth before the man’s eyes was torn away. Light blazed directly onto his face. The man trembled, his eyes unfocused. After a long while, he managed to adjust to the light in the room. The moment he saw the person before him, a stream of hot liquid flowed down his leg and onto the floor.
The courtesan frowned and waved her fan dismissively.
A hideous scar that spanned her entire face moved like a wriggling centipede with her frown. Merely looking at it sent a prickling, terrifying sensation through one’s scalp.
Young Master Wang’s eyes were filled with fear. He lowered his head, every cell in his body trembling violently.
A malicious glint of frost flashed in the courtesan’s eyes. She suddenly let out a laugh, her voice, thick with desire, drifting into the man’s ears: “Oh, Young Master Wang, do you find me so ugly that you won’t even look at me? In that case, Xiao Wu…”
The only visible eye on her entire face curved slightly, a smile, yet this smile made her face appear even more horrifying and grotesque: “Since Young Master Wang refuses to look at this humble servant, then these eyes of yours are quite useless.”
As her words fell, the man named Xiao Wu, understanding her intent, moved beside Young Master Wang. His hand moved like lightning, stabbing his finger fiercely into the man’s eye socket, then digging with force, brutally gouging out the man’s eyeballs.
A scream of absolute misery immediately echoed throughout the room, yet it was blocked by the walls, not reaching the outside at all.
Blood flowed from the man’s eye sockets onto the floor, mixing with his urine, creating an unbearable stench.
Xiao Wu presented the gouged-out eyeballs to the courtesan. She played with them for a moment without any sign of disgust, then casually threw them on the ground and stomped on them forcefully.
The bursting eyeballs made a crisp sound.
Footsteps were heard from outside the door. The courtesan, wiping the blood from her hands, said to Xiao Wu while wiping, “Alright, Young Master Wang has paid the price. His debts are now cleared.”
Xiao Wu nodded. He walked to Young Master Wang’s side, picked him up, and as he pushed the door open to leave, he happened to see He Wei, who was about to push the door open.
“Sir!”
Xiao Wu lowered his head respectfully, as if afraid the garbage in his hand would dirty his eyes, and hid the person behind him.
Looking at the person Xiao Wu was holding, He Wei glanced into the room and frowned. He didn’t say much, merely nodded to Xiao Wu, then stepped into the room.
Xiao Wu, carrying the man, left from another direction, evading guests as he went to the backyard. He circled the garden and walked for several hundred meters. Suddenly, the quiet surroundings were filled with countless dog barks. Xiao Wu stood before a doghouse enclosed by a fence and casually tossed Young Master Wang inside.
His debt was cleared, so there was no point in keeping this life.
The wolves, smelling the scent of blood, rushed towards Young Master Wang, opening their mouths to savagely tear at his flesh.
...
Hearing the screams from the backyard, He Wei cast a displeased glance at the courtesan.
The courtesan ordered the mess on the floor to be cleaned and walked over to He Wei. She picked up a teacup and personally poured him a cup of tea, handing it to him, and inquired with a smile, “What did Qin Qiancheng say?”
He Wei did not accept the teacup; he didn’t even glance at it. Instead of answering the courtesan’s question, he reprimanded her, “Courtesan, you have become more and more undisciplined over the years. Do I need to remind you again which questions you should ask and which you should not?”
The courtesan smiled nonchalantly. Seeing that he did not take the teacup, she was not angered. She retrieved the cup, took a sip herself, and then continued speaking, “It seems Qin Qiancheng did not agree. But then again, if he were to defect so easily, we would not dare to use him.”
Looking at the courtesan’s indifferent demeanor, He Wei’s expression instantly became unpleasant. However, looking at the scar on her face, He Wei ultimately did not say anything harsher, merely changing the subject: “What was the situation with that person just now?”
“Him?”
The courtesan let out a cold laugh, “He lost money gambling and, to recoup his losses, he gambled with his life.”
“But he wasn’t gambling his own life; he used his own sister’s life as the stake. Unfortunately, this man had poor luck and lost again. After personally witnessing his sister being thrown into a snake pit in public, he then gambled with his mother’s life.”
“However, even after ruining the lives of his family, he still couldn’t pay his debts. Fortunately, the gambling matches he set with his family’s lives did clear his debts.”
“Since his debts are cleared, I might as well let him reunite with his family!”
“What, are you feeling sympathetic towards him?”
Upon hearing that the man had gambled with the lives of his entire family, He Wei said no more. For such a desperate gambler, throwing him to the dogs was perfectly acceptable!