Chapter 1 A Family in Sinaloa

Inside a house in a Sinaloa village.

Xu Er pressed down on the young man's head: "Do you know why we're looking for you?"

"Big brother, you've got the wrong person, right? I..." The young man's face was pale, his eyes filled with terror as he tried to explain.

Xu Er stared at him coldly, replying expressionlessly, "You took a total of eight watches, sold seven in Halle, and took away 100,000 in cash, right? Do I need to be more specific?"

Hearing this, the young man was completely stunned.

"Damn it, do you know what I do? Robbery, smuggling, I'm your granddaddy in this business! Don't even mention Halle, even if you ran hundreds of kilometers further, I could still find you, you believe that?" Xu Er grabbed his hair. "I'm not going to waste time with you. I have something to ask you, and if you explain it clearly, I'll spare your life."

"This... this... brother, my son...!" The old man put down the watch he hadn't put on yet and stood up shakily.

"Bang!"

Xu Er kicked the old man in the chest, sending him and the chair flying. "This has nothing to do with you. Stay put, understand?"

The old man was dizzy from the blow, still begging for mercy, but the other party ignored him.

After the henchmen controlled all of the young man's family members, Tang Baiqing and Xu Er dragged the young man by his hair to the inner room.

The young man knelt on the ground, trembling.

Xu Er sat on the bed, pointing at his face and saying, "I'm going to ask you three questions. Who's your contact, who hired you to pick up the shipment, and who's responsible for connecting with you?"

The young man strained his neck and replied, "Big... Big brother, I really don't know these things. I'm just a boat driver. I got on the boat that day because they were short-handed. I don't know anyone."

Xu Er sneered upon hearing this. "You don't know anyone, and they just let you on the boat? Are you taking me for a fool?!"

"We have a middleman who hires us. I have a friend in Halle, and he introduced me to this job. I thought the money was good, and if I did a good job, I could have a prosperous new year, so I went along with it," the young man pleaded. "But I really don't know the specifics."

"What's your friend's name?"

"His nickname is Er Haozi (Second Mouse), and he used to hang out in Halle."

"Can you contact him?"

"It's New Year's, and he might have already gone home. I probably can't contact him," the young man shook his head. "You know, we guys in this line of work, we don't treat each other like real friends."

"Ah, so what you're saying is that you can't help at all?" Xu Er smiled.

"Big brother, take the watches back. I was wrong, I'll never dare to do it again...!" The young man bent down to kowtow.

"What do you think we should do?" Xu Er looked up at Tang Baiqing.

"Fuck!" Tang Baiqing cursed, turning and walking out of the room.

Thirty seconds later, the young man's parents and his young wife were all brought into the room.

"You're not going to talk?" Xu Er slowly got up, stretched, and then pulled out the belt from his waist. "Torturing you is boring. People in the martial world always say, 'Don't harm the family,' but I think that's bullshit. Only an idiot would say that. I'm more realistic. I like to harm the family."

"Slap!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Er swung the belt with all his might, striking the young man's mother in the face.

The old lady was over sixty years old, and the result of this blow was predictable. She was knocked to the ground, her face cut by the belt buckle, blood flowing freely.

"Do it!" Xu Er roared, and Tang Baiqing and two henchmen immediately began beating the young man's parents and wife.

These guys had been in a bad mood lately. The losses on the goods alone amounted to more than ten million, and many people had been arrested. Some were imprisoned, others were suspended from their duties. They were now red-eyed and ruthlessly beating the young man's family.

The old man was quickly beaten unconscious, and the old lady was held down with three people stepping on her head, grinding it into the ground.

During this time, the young man kept begging for mercy, even to the point of collapse, shouting that he was willing to cooperate, but everyone still didn't stop, further psychologically torturing him.

After everyone had been beating them for three or four minutes, the old man and old lady were lying motionless on the ground, and the young man's wife was also covered in blood, lying under the bed, convulsing.

Tang Baiqing, sweating profusely after the strenuous exercise, looked at the woman on the ground with hatred in his eyes and said concisely, "Drag her to that room. I'm going to play with her."

No one stepped forward to stop him, only following his orders.

Tang Baiqing gritted his teeth, kicking the young man in the head in a frenzied state. "You're willing to talk now? Damn you, do you know how much trouble I'm in because of you poor bastards?! Just because you want to make some money, do you know how many people are affected? You're still pretending to be stubborn? I wish I could tear you to pieces!"

Tang Baiqing, still not appeased after cursing, kicked the young man several more times before turning and leaving the room.

Before long, the sounds of a woman's desperate pleas and screams came from the next room. Xu Er had a strange smile on his face, sitting on the bed and listening without saying a word.

The young man lay on the ground like a dog, begging bitterly, but no one paid attention to him.

Whether you're in the martial world or making a living in the underworld, once you take the money for a job, you should follow the rules and complete your assigned task. If it's not your money, you can't touch it, or you'll attract disaster.

But this principle sounds very correct and simple, but in real life, how many people are willing to follow the rules?

Knowing that selling gold bricks is punishable by death and scams people, some people are still willing to take the risk; knowing that gambling will lead to ruin, some people still sit at the gambling table every day.

How many people who risk their lives to make money aren't doing it for wealth and profit? Five hundred dollars in front of your face, anyone can have resolve, but what about fifty thousand? What about five hundred thousand? Who can guarantee they won't waver?

The young man would only get one or two thousand for each job, but taking the watches meant an income of more than ten thousand, so he couldn't resist. He was both tragic, pitiful, and hateful.

Fifteen minutes later, the young man stopped begging for mercy and knelt on the ground, motionless.

"What's your name?" Xu Er finally asked.

"...Liang Feng," the young man replied, lowering his head.

"How many people are working with you?"

"About ten or so, it's not fixed. Each time, the leader arranges the team."

"Who hired you?"

"...It seems like his surname is Yu. The leader took the job, and he didn't tell us the details."

"Very good." Xu Er grabbed his hair, saying each word slowly and deliberately, "From now on, I'll be here. You need to find a way to lure the others over."

In the other room.

Tang Baiqing fastened his pants, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and finally released some of the pent-up anger in his heart.

But just as Tang Baiqing was feeling relieved, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, Brother Yang?"

"Damn it, how did your people negotiate this? How did the kid you got to take the fall escape?!"

"Ah?!" Tang Baiqing was dumbfounded.